Link/Append: separate instantiation of loose data from core link/append code #125814

Jacques Lucke · 2024-08-02T13:48:54+02:00

Jacques Lucke commented

2024-08-02 13:48:54 +02:00

When appending e.g. an object, it's generally expected that it is not just appended but also added to the active collection. Something similar happens for adding collections, or just geometry like a mesh data-block. This is called "loose data instantiation" in the source code.

Which data is instantiated and how depends on context. Generally, it's best to first do the low-level link or append operation and only afterwards do the instantiation at a higher level where more context is known. For example, when dragging an object asset into the 3D view, it's expected that the object is added to the active collection. When dragging a node group into the node editor that uses an object internally (e.g. as mesh storage), not so much.

This patch adds a new BKE_blendfile_link_append_instantiate_loose method that does the "default instantiation", i.e. the one we want to happen when using the general link/append operator to import data. Instead of calling this directly from low level BKE_blendfile_append, it's now called in wm_link_append_exec (and other places where desired).

Furthermore, view3d_ob_drop_copy_external_asset does not use this anymore, but explicitly adds only the dragged object to the active collection. Some places, e.g. when linking/appending using the Python API, don't do any instantiation at all. They didn't do this before either, but it was way less obvious (it used BLO_library_link_params_init instead of BLO_library_link_params_init_with_context). Now there is always an explicit call to do instantiation in higher level code.

When appending e.g. an object, it's generally expected that it is not just appended but also added to the active collection. Something similar happens for adding collections, or just geometry like a mesh data-block. This is called "loose data instantiation" in the source code. Which data is instantiated and how depends on context. Generally, it's best to first do the low-level link or append operation and only afterwards do the instantiation at a higher level where more context is known. For example, when dragging an object asset into the 3D view, it's expected that the object is added to the active collection. When dragging a node group into the node editor that uses an object internally (e.g. as mesh storage), not so much. This patch adds a new `BKE_blendfile_link_append_instantiate_loose` method that does the "default instantiation", i.e. the one we want to happen when using the general link/append operator to import data. Instead of calling this directly from low level `BKE_blendfile_append`, it's now called in `wm_link_append_exec` (and other places where desired). Furthermore, `view3d_ob_drop_copy_external_asset` does not use this anymore, but explicitly adds only the dragged object to the active collection. Some places, e.g. when linking/appending using the Python API, don't do any instantiation at all. They didn't do this before either, but it was way less obvious (it used `BLO_library_link_params_init` instead of `BLO_library_link_params_init_with_context`). Now there is always an explicit call to do instantiation in higher level code.

Jacques Lucke added 2 commits 2024-08-02 13:49:05 +02:00

refactor fb7bf1c4d4

fix

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035441f113

Jacques Lucke commented

2024-08-02 14:07:31 +02:00

@blender-bot build

Jacques Lucke requested review from Bastien Montagne 2024-08-02 14:07:41 +02:00

Bastien Montagne approved these changes 2024-08-05 15:15:36 +02:00

Bastien Montagne left a comment

LGTM

source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_blendfile_link_append.hh Outdated

						
				@ -169,2 +169,4 @@

				void BKE_blendfile_link(BlendfileLinkAppendContext *lapp_context, ReportList *reports);

				/**

				 * Instantiate loose objects in the scene (e.g. add object to the active collection).

Bastien Montagne commented

2024-08-05 14:56:42 +02:00

loose data (or loose IDs), not loose objects ;)

`loose data` (or `loose IDs`), not `loose objects` ;)

JacquesLucke marked this conversation as resolved

source/blender/blenkernel/intern/blender_copybuffer.cc Outdated

						
				@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ static void copybuffer_append(BlendfileLinkAppendContext *lapp_context,

				  /* Append, rather than linking */

				  BKE_blendfile_append(lapp_context, reports);

				  /* Instantiate loose objects in the scene (e.g. add object to the active collection). */