Difference between revisions of "Adding interface verbs"

From Inkscape Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 1: Line 1:
=Introduction to Verbs=
=Introduction to Verbs=


Commands in Inkscape are called 'Verbs'.  They permit invoking internal functionality through menus and keyboard shortcuts.
Commands in Inkscape are called 'Verbs'.  They permit invoking internal functionality through menus and keyboard shortcuts.


Verbs are not difficult to add.  You don't need to have much coding know-how in order to add a verb.  The aim of this page is to provide novice coders with a "paint by numbers" process you can follow to add a new verb to Inkscape.
Verbs are not terribly difficult to add.  You don't need to have much coding know-how in order to add a verb, and only a minimal knowledge of Inkscape internals.  The aim of this page is to provide novice coders with a "paint by numbers" process that can be followed to add a new verb to Inkscape.




=How to Add a Verb=
=How to Add a Verb=


First, add IDs for new verbs to verbs.h:
First, add IDs for your new verbs to verbs.h:


[http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/inkscape/inkscape/trunk/src/verbs.h?r1=13280&r2=13309&sortby=date verbs.h]
[http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/inkscape/inkscape/trunk/src/verbs.h?r1=13280&r2=13309&sortby=date verbs.h]
Line 18: Line 17:
whichever makes most sense.
whichever makes most sense.


Then in verbs.cpp, fill in the verb structure with the name,
Then is the meat of the matter.  In verbs.cpp, fill in the verb structure with the name,
description, action ID, etc; also in the same file, write the actual
description, action ID, etc; also in the same file, write the actual
commands that the verb will do, in a switch case in one of ::perform
commands that the verb will do, in a switch case in one of ::perform
Line 60: Line 59:
[http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/inkscape/inkscape/trunk/share/keys/adobe-illustrator-cs2.xml?r1=13304&r2=13308&sortby=date adobe-illustrator-cs2.xml]
[http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/inkscape/inkscape/trunk/share/keys/adobe-illustrator-cs2.xml?r1=13304&r2=13308&sortby=date adobe-illustrator-cs2.xml]


Finally update the release notes:
Finally update the [[ReleaseNotes]] with your new work!  :-)
 
[[ReleaseNotes]]

Revision as of 07:50, 8 November 2006

Introduction to Verbs

Commands in Inkscape are called 'Verbs'. They permit invoking internal functionality through menus and keyboard shortcuts.

Verbs are not terribly difficult to add. You don't need to have much coding know-how in order to add a verb, and only a minimal knowledge of Inkscape internals. The aim of this page is to provide novice coders with a "paint by numbers" process that can be followed to add a new verb to Inkscape.


How to Add a Verb

First, add IDs for your new verbs to verbs.h:

verbs.h

The place of the ID in the list determines to which group it belongs (EditVerbs, FileVerbs, etc) - however, this is pretty arbitrary, so don't sweat if you can't find a perfect group for your verb, just use whichever makes most sense.

Then is the meat of the matter. In verbs.cpp, fill in the verb structure with the name, description, action ID, etc; also in the same file, write the actual commands that the verb will do, in a switch case in one of ::perform methods:

verbs.cpp

As you see, these verbs do different things depending on which tool you are in. Before verbification, this was coded into tool context files, and now we can remove that:

node-context.cpp select-context.cpp draw-context.cpp draw-context.cpp

(the last one required writing two functions that will be called by the verb).

Now assign the keys to the newly created verbs:

inkscape.xml

and then copy inkscape.xml to default.xml.

Note: even if you are not assigning any key, you MUST list the new verb in inkscape.xml, using a <bind> without a key. Not only this file is a keymap, but it's also a reference for keymap writers, so it must have all verbs, assigned or not.

If you added a shortcut which didn't exist before, update also doc/keys.xml.

If you want the new verb in the menu, edit menus-skeleton.cpp and insert it there in an appropriate place.

Also review the other keymaps to see if you can assign the new verb to some key that would make sense. So in adobe-illustrator.xml, I assigned the new verbs to Alt+Ctrl+[], which seems to be the same thing according to the comments:

adobe-illustrator-cs2.xml

Finally update the ReleaseNotes with your new work!  :-)