GUI Analysis Tool

Contents 1 What problem(s) does this solve? 2 What problem(s) does this not solve? 3 Analysis tool is implemented in HSL 4 Invoking the GUI Analysis Tool 4.1 Edit a GUI Control 4.2 Delete GUI Control

The GUI Analysis Tool fills a gap between editing the prototype/XML of a GUI Control in the GUI Editor, and working with an instantiation in the "game". It provides an easy to use interface for viewing and modifying the properties of an instantiation of a GUI Control.

One of the utility scripts that licensees typically encounter during training is a script written by one of our developers for use in Hero's Journey (the "aarontest" script). It held a number of useful utilities for working with GUIs, many of which were among the most commonly requested features for inclusion into the MMO Foundation Framework. The GUI Analysis Tool is the improved version of those tools.

What problem(s) does this solve?

• View the properties of an instantiated GUI Control
• Modification of the properties of an instantiated GUI Control
• Delete a GUI instantiation

What problem(s) does this not solve?

• Not a replacement for the GUI Editor for the creation of GUI prototypes/XML

Analysis tool is implemented in HSL

The GUI Analysis Tool is implemented fully in HSL and leverages the Generic Node Property Editor control to display the properties of an instantiated GUI Control.

Invoking the GUI Analysis Tool

The GUI Analysis Tool may be invoked only while in HeroBlade's edit mode, with a selection tool active. With the selection tool, hover your mouse over a visible GUI control and press "CTRL-SHIFT-T".

Typically, you will see a menu similar to the graphic displayed here. The second section of the menu has options for how deep the analysis should go, up to three levels deep (just the Control, the Control and its children, or the Control its children and their children), or ALL. For extremely complex GUI Controls, using the ALL option can take a significant amount of time while the tool builds controls to represent each child control.

Once you select the depth of analysis, you can choose to analyze just the Control that was directly under the mouse (chatbubble 1000000432) or the option "root" which uses the rootParent() method to find the ultimate parent of the control under the mouse as the starting point for analysis.

Edit a GUI Control

You may invoke the editor control either via the menu that is displayed when you use "CTRL-SHIFT-T", or via the menu displayed when you right-click on one of the rows in the GUI Analysis Tool.

Either method will invoke a Generic Node Property Editor for the selected GUI Control that will look approximately like the diagram (right). This editor may be used to make direct modifications to the GUI Control's field values; changing the state presentations, size, texture and so on.

• "ok" button will apply the changes to the GUI Control and close the editor
• "apply" button will apply the changes to the GUI Control but leave the editor open
• "cancel" button will close the editor without changing the GUI Control

Delete GUI Control

The "CTRL-SHIFT-T" menu supports deletion of a control under the mouse, or all other controls, but the specified control (and by necessity its root parent (plus all of its children) is preserved.

Example usage, assume you wish to keep the chat window, but delete all other controls. You would select "Other Controls" from the delete menu. Optionally, if you wanted to delete just the specific control under the mouse, you would select that control from the menu.

• This page was last modified on 3 November 2011, at 20:43.
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