[Bf-committers] proposal for better integration of addon functionality

[CoDEmanX]

1.) you can set the plugin-icon for any custom menu entry, see python 
template "Addon Add Object". This isn't used by most addons though, and 
I actually like it - the plugin icon (as well as the old 2.49 snake 
icon) kind of annoy me in menus - most menus don't have any icons, and 
the ones with plugin-icon would get the most (visual) attention; menus 
like Add > Mesh do have icons, but the plugin-icon doesn't mean anything 
here, the icon should indicate what shape to expect.

2.) I like the idea, but the menu entry should read as "Online Manual 
(addon)" or something like that. There should be an indicator if that 
entry was created by an addon, and it should be possible to jump to the 
addon docs - bl_info['wiki_url'] - but not sure if it's a good idea to 
replace the online manual target, maybe rather add an additional entry 
like "Addon Manual".

3.) Well, how? Using an index number won't work, if another addon 
already added something, maybe even in different (non-subsequent) 
places, your entries will end up somewhere - but not where you wanted 
them. And new built-in menu entries may be added, and they also may 
change. So a "before/after menu entry of name x" wouldn't work either. 
Nonetheless, I'd like to have an operator / low-level API for 
re-ordering panels - currently it's like with menus, either prepend or 
append...


Am 26.02.2013 10:41, schrieb Gaia:
> Hi;
>
> Currently you can not tell if a button or a panel has been added by an
> addon.
> We also can not always add additional functionality to meaningful locations.
>
> A hypothetical example:
> =====================
>
> Lets say my addon has added a new transform function in Object mode:
>
>      "Transform Origin to Active"
>
> The natural location for that new option would be (marked with "[A]"):
>
> Object -> Transform -> ...
>
>                          Origin to Geometry
> Origin to 3D Cursor
>                      [A] Origin to Active
>
>                          Randomize Transform
>                          ...
>
> But an addon can not add new menu entries "inbetween" existing entries.
> We only can add a menu entry to the top or the bottom of a menu.
> And we can not tell if a function has been added by an Addon or if it is
> a Blender default.
>
> A possible solution:
> =================
>
> 1.) mark menu buttons as addon using a color code and/or an icon,
> similar to how blender 2.49 marked python scripts.
> 2.) Optional: allow to click on the marker icon and get beamed to the
> online documentation of that function (currently available under RMB ->
> Online manual)
> 3.) Allow to add menu buttons at any functional reasonable location
> within a menu.
>
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