GSoC 2023: Outliner Tree Refactoring

Hi!
My name is Almaz Shinbay, and this topic is meant for posting weekly reports as well as the final report at the end of the program.
You can have a look at the proposal here.
Feedback topic: GSoC 2023: Outliner Tree Fefactoring - Feedback
Working Branch: temp-id-mesh-refactor (merged into main branch and deleted)

20 Likes

Report Week 1 (May 29 - June 2)

This week’s progress:

5 Likes

Report Week 2 (June 5 - June 9)

This week’s progress:

Next week’s goals:

  • Port ID_LS and ID_GD_LEGACY to new code design
  • Start working on porting ID_OB
3 Likes

Report Week 3 (June 12 - June 16)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 4:

  • Continue work on porting object elements
  • Resolve any changes required after the review of #108964
3 Likes

Report Week 4 (June 19 - June 23)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 5:

  • After successful review of #109256, remove isExpandValid() from AbstractTreeElement and its sub-classes
  • Discuss with mentor the next steps of the project
5 Likes

Report Week 5 (June 26 - June 30)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 6:

  • Continue work on porting other tree elements
5 Likes

Report Week 6 (July 3 - July 7)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 7:

  • Because of traveling in the following week, I can’t do much work and the main goals will be the followings:
    – Merge into the main #109793
    – Try to finish the work with TSE_DEFGROUP, TSE_DEFGROUP_BASE
5 Likes

Report Week 7 (July 10 - July 14)

As mentioned a week before, I didn’t do much work due to traveling, but main goals were achieved.
This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 8:

  • Merge into the main branch #110003, making required changes from review
  • Continue to port other tree element types used in TreeElementIDObject, starting from TSE_LINKED_PSYS
5 Likes

Report Week 8 (July 17 - July 21)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 9:

  • Wait for review of PRs and make any required changes
  • Discuss with the mentor about porting modifier and constraint elements
6 Likes

Report Week 9 (July 24 - July 28)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 10:

  • Get PRs merged into main branch
  • Work on porting modifier and pose related tree elements
4 Likes

Report Week 10 (July 31 - August 4)

During this week, I focused solely on the project during the evenings because I took part in the Kazakhstan training camp for ICPC.

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 11:

  • Complete the work on porting TSE_MODIFIER
  • Start to port TSE_POSE_CHANNEL and TSE_LINKED_OB
7 Likes

Report Week 11 (August 7 - August 11)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 12:

  • Complete TSE_CONSTRAINT, TSE_CONSTRAINT_BASE
  • Port TSE_POSE_CHANNEL, TSE_LINKED_OB
  • Fall semester just has started in my university. If there will be more free time, try to work on other remaining types.
6 Likes

Report Week 12 (August 14 - August 18)

This week’s progress:

TO-DO for Week 13:

  • Get merged PRs into main branch
  • Prepare and submit final report of the project
7 Likes

Final Report - Outliner Tree Refactoring

Overview

The primary objective of the project was to migrate all remaining elements of the Outliner tree to the new code design for tree elements.

For more details on the new design, refer to issue #96713 - Continued Outliner Code Refactor. You can also check the porting status for each element type in that link.

Summary

All tree elements, with the exception of TSE_ID_BASE, have been successfully migrated to the new object-oriented design. Numerous new classes for tree elements have been created, each corresponding to a type, within the source/blender/editors/space_outliner/tree folder.

All commits are listed in this topic thread above.

Progress

Weeks 1-5

During this period, all ID tree elements, specifically the subtypes of TSE_SOME_ID, were transitioned to the new code design.

In addition, the following cleanups were performed:

  • The removal of the temporary isExpandValid() function, which was utilized during the transition to the new tree-element design. This was necessary because expanding wasn’t applicable to certain types. (4094cd207a)
  • Renaming of outliner class functions to adhere to style conventions. (65f40a4e5d)

Additionally, I began work on the refactoring of tree_element_get_icon() to make greater use of AbstractTreeElement::getIcon(). This task was suggested by my mentor to diversify my project work, but I wasn’t able to complete it at this time. (Refactor: tree-element-get-icon)

Weeks 6-12

Throughout the remainder of the program, my focus shifted to other tree elements. This period also provided me with the opportunity to gain more experience in handling git merges and resolving conflicts.

There was a situation when, due to my oversight, a pull request containing a bug was merged into the main branch. This experience underscored the importance of code review and the need to ensure that changes do not lead to software crashes, at least within my own development environment, before creating a PR. It also provided insight into the role of buildbot in the development process.

Week 13

During this final week, the remaining pull requests were reviewed and successfully merged into the main branch:

Future Work

Moving forward, the remaining tree element, TSE_ID_BASE, needs to be ported to the new design for the Outliner. Additionally, efforts will be directed toward cleaning up the mess present in outliner_add_element().

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor, Julian Eisel, for his invaluable guidance and mentorship. He has not only provided me with insightful guidance and direction but has also encouraged me to explore new concepts and best practices. Additionally, I am profoundly grateful to other developers who have offered their assistance and support throughout this journey. Thanks for all of you!!

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