* This by no means replaces PySide2, but it allows python extensions to write
simple UIs without needing to rely on PySide2, which might not be available
(generally all windows builds have it as well as recent binary linux builds,
but local windows builds may not and most linux builds probably won't).
* When the pyside2 we ship was built it accidentally included a small dependency
on Qt5Qml, which we don't distribute so the pyside2 libraries wouldn't load.
* We can generate a tiny stub with the right exports and load it manually from
the PySide2 folder on 32-bit qrenderdoc builds to allow pyside2 to load
subsequently. The stub source is tiny, and added alongside.
* Putting it in the PySide2 folder means that even if someone puts RenderDoc's
build folder in their PATH, our stub Qt5Qml won't break anything because it
won't be loaded. If they put PySide2 in the PATH it might, but then it's their
fault!
* This allows persistent config storage and registering tweak variables that
works independent of the UI's configuration.
* Config vars can be debug only, which means they will be compiled out in stable
version releases. This allows for debug-logging tweaks that are available in
all builds (including nightly builds) for diagnostic purposes, but have zero
overhead in stable releases.
* Variables have a loose hierarchy defined with _ or . to separate nodes.
* We instead always have 3rdparty/ in the relevant include search paths and rely
on that. Each library still has its own unique base dir within 3rdparty to
clarify where the include is coming from.
* The defaults can be configured from the settings menu, and there's a new "Open
Capture with Options" menu option to open a capture with different options
temporarily.
* Instead of just configuring SPIR-V disassemblers and picking only the first
one when we need to edit SPIR-V, we allow setting up any shader processor that
goes between two shader encodings.
* When editing, the default will still be to use embedded source, and then after
that the first tool that goes from the native shader format to a text format,
but the drop-down allows you to pick any of them.
* Similarly in the shader viewer you can configure the compilation options and
method, to choose the compiler you want to use. Embedded command line
parameters in the shader are automatically appended.
* This is a bit less ambiguous and less confusing in the case where
someone is expecting a "compile" type button instead of "save changes"
type button.
* It's already optional on linux due to distributions not necessarily
carrying packages for it yet. We also make it optional on windows
since by the same measure it's not a huge problem if it's missing, and
official builds will include it. This means we don't have to ship the
binary dependencies
* On windows, the change in a global GIT_COMMIT_HASH define in each
project needing it meant a full rebuild every time the commit changed.
* Ideally we'd set the define only on one file in each project, but
MSBuild doesn't seem to support that. Instead we make a new tiny
project that compiles a single cpp exporting a global var, and
reference that global var in each other project.
* The main addition here apart from some extra stubs is a new rdc type
for date time objects.
* Although the module doesn't do anything and is only used for docs
reflection it is desirable to not have to link against Qt as this
can cause problems when linking the module without unresolved symbols.
* These .py wrappers are relevant for the non-builtin path, but since we
use -builtin they serve no purpose except to make things more complex.
* So instead we make the module directly exported as 'module' instead of
'_module'.
* On windows there's no conflict because we have renderdoc.dll vs
renderdoc.pyd. On linux it's librenderdoc.so vs renderdoc.so.
* To prevent supporting files like .lib / .pdb from conflicting on
windows we build the python modules into a subdirectory. They're not
ever used by the UI (it links in the bindings directly).
* We split the "update available" off to a top-level menu item, instead
of a sub-item under Help. This gives explicit text saying an update is
available.
* Change the icon from an hourglass to a slightly more 'updatey' image.
* We now re-cehck every week even if an update is marked available. That
way people who delay for longer than it takes to release a new version
will get the latest when they do update. It also gives them a reminder
every week so that hopefully those delayers will be less common!
* The UI dialog is now in Qt. We run qrenderdoc.exe with a very minimal
startup to display the dialog and send the report.
* The flow has been simplified to have less text and an easier time to
just click through and send.
* On the first report, the user is gently nudged to enter their email
address for contact and by default the email is saved for next time.
They're not nagged more than once about this.
* Optionally the user can select to upload the capture. This is always
default off, and there is a confirmation dialog making sure the user
intended to select it.
* After the bug is reported, a unique URL is generated and returned
which the user can then click back on to see if there's any update. By
default the UI will also remember the URL and check it every couple
of days and alert the user in the help menu that there's an update.
* This is a *very* light-touch analytics system that will track the
simplest and most anonymous statistics that can be useful in
determining which features are most used or perhaps underused, and
where it's best to direct development attention.
* It is entirely implemented in the UI layer, no analytics-gathering
code exists in the library that's injected into programs, and of
course no capture data (screenshots, resource contents, shaders, etc
etc) is transmitted.
* Once it's turned on, it will apply to both development and release
builds. It tracks stats over a month, and then at the beginning of a
new month it sends the previous data.
* When the user first starts up a build with analytics if there's no
previous analytics database then they are informed of the new code and
asked to approve it. They have the option of selecting to manually
verify any sent reports, or just opt-ing out entirely.
baldurk