Zugg Software :: View topic - [1.26] Settings leaking between packages/windows

Wizard Joined: 03 Mar 2001 Posts: 1127 Location: London

create new session
name: test
host: test
port: 23

Save and close. Open 'test' offline.

settings. file -> new package.
named 'comms'.
change from global to local
convert to window

select 'no network connection'
uncheck 'command line'
check 'window is visible'

leave 'default window position' as tabbed, relative to <blank>

save changes

cmud flickers for a second and sorts itself out as having a 'tells' and 'comms' window open

check everything is working by typing ':comms: test123'. works fine

close cmud, reopen cmud

open 'test' offline

'test' now has no network connection and no command line. for some reason it's copied settings from 'comms'

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:39 pm

Well, I figured out what is causing this. I'm just not sure how to fix it yet.

Packages form a chain of "inheritance". When you created the "comms" package, it got added to the list of packages loaded for your session. Your packages get loaded in the order listed in the Files tab, with the primary package (test.pkg in this case) loaded last. Each package inherits the settings from the previous package.

So, when you turned off the command line setting in "comms", this got inherited when "test" was loaded, causing the "test" window to no longer have a command line either.

This is done so that you can create your own "defaults" package which can change the default settings inherited by your main package. For example, you can create the "comms" package and then change all of the default colors, and these changes will be inherited and used by your main package.

So, this is really an important feature, but in this case it is causing problems. Obviously there are some settings that should *not* be inherited (like whether there is a command line in a window). But I'd hate to add a flag to every preference to determine if it can be inherited or not. So I need to think about this problem a bit more to decide how best to fix it.

Wizard Joined: 11 Jul 2002 Posts: 1265 Location: USA

Why not make one master check to say If package is Default inherit.
Then do not inherit for any of the others?
Then add a radio tick box somewhere for us to choose the Default package?

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:59 pm

I hate to add even more confusing options like that. People are having enough trouble with packages as they stand.

But I think I figured out an obvious solution to this...It should only inherited preferences from *modules* and not *windows*. A window is supposed to be local to itself. It doesn't make any sense to have your "test" window inherit settings from the "comm" window.

If "comm" was a *module*, then it would make sense to inherit preferences from it. If you want to change the default colors, you can set them for a *module* just like if you wanted to create inherited aliases or triggers.

So, I changed it so that any *windows* created in the loaded packages do not put themselves into the inherited chain. This seems to work well and fixes the problem that you reported.

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:54 pm

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:01 am

Sure it would. If you create a new module in a new package and then go into the Preferences and change the Output window font for that specific module, then any window loaded after that module will inherit the new font setting.

The only thing this won't apply to is the new Style stuff. The global styles for the syntax highlighting come from an INI file (styles.ini) rather than from the packages. But the Output window font isn't yet set by styles yet since this requires a "local" style stored in the PKG file, which is what I haven't implemented yet. The new global styles only replace the previous global fonts that were stored in the cmud.ini file.

But the intent is to allows allow you to inherit the Output window font from your own "defaults" package.