Tip Pages

2021-08-12T20:26:36+00:00

Tip Pages

This page is a WIP. There is likely to be incomplete and or missing information while the page is being built.

Summary

Tip Pages are intended as a powerful and dynamic means of providing users with hints and tips on how to use a portion of the User Interface (UI), more specifically a Pane (Tab), directly from within DAZ Studio.

Our desire to make the process as painless as possible for potential developers, while allowing ultimate flexibility, has prompted us to create templates comprised of several scripts and QtDesigner .ui files as examples of how to construct them.

A Tip Page is displayed within a DzInfoTabs widget, contained within a DzInfoDivider, positioned at the bottom of a Pane. The Panes within the UI that have the ability to display a Tip Page are:

Cameras (WIP)
- className: DzCamerasPane
Content Library
- className: DzContentLibraryPane
Draw Settings
- className: DzDrawSettingsPane
Environment (WIP)
- className: DzEnvironmentPane
Face Transfer (WIP)
- className: DzFaceTransferPane
Install
- className: DzInstallPane
Lights (WIP)
- className: DzLightsPane
Parameters (WIP)
- className: DzParametersPane
Posing (WIP)
- className: DzPosingPane
PowerPose (WIP)
- className: DzPowerPosePane
Render Library (WIP)
- className: DzRenderLibraryPane
Render Settings
- className: DzRenderSettingsPane
Scene (WIP)
- classname: DzHierarchyPane
Shaping (WIP)
- className: DzShapingPane
simulation_settings
- className: DzSimulationSettingsPane
Smart Content
- className: DzSmartContentPane
Surfaces (WIP)
- className: DzSurfacesPane

Terms

Pane: The term commonly used to refer to a DzPane subclass within the UI.
Page: Used to refer to a widget associated with a tab of a tabbed widget that is the immediate child of a Pane.
Info Divider: A collapsible area at the bottom of a Pane that contains a Tip Page.
Tip Content: A collection of files delivered to a user as a tip to a particular Pane or Page in the UI.

Folders & Files

Below are descriptions of the various folders and files that [together] implement the Tip Page concept. The naming conventions, along with the folder/file structure, exist in effort to simplify the creation of Tip Content through the use of visual tools like QtDesigner.

Folders

Pane Folder: This folder is named according to the className of the DzPane that the Tip Page will be displayed on, and is case-sensitive. It contains all of the Page Folders and Page Builder Scripts for the Pane.

Page Folder: Each Page is contained within its own folder. This folder is named based on the label for the Page of the DzPane that the Tip Page will be displayed for. In cases where a Pane has no Pages, such as with DzContentLibraryPane, DzParametersPane and DzRenderLibraryPane, a folder named Default is used.

Scripts

Page Builder Script: This script is responsible for validating the existence of the corresponding Page Folder and Tip Page Script. It subsequently causes the Tip Page Script to be executed.

The <install_path>/resources/tip pages/Common/PanePage.dsa script distributed with the application is included by this script and does the majority of the work.

Tip Page Script: Each Page Folder contains one of these scripts. This script is executed by the Page Builder Script. It is responsible for validating the existence of the Tip Page UI Definition file, and subsequently causing it to be loaded into the DzInfoTabs widget.

The <install_path>/resources/tip pages/Common/TipPage.dsa script distributed with the application is included by this script and does the majority of the work.

UI Files

Tip Page UI Definition: Each Page Folder contains one of these QtDesigner .ui files. This file determines the layout and widgets that will be presented in the DzInfoTabs widget. The Tip Page Script will use the statusTip of any button in this file to create a DzCallBack that will open the specified path in the system default application for that path, triggered by clicking and releasing the button.

Documentation Center public:software:dazstudio:4:referenceguide:scripting:api_reference:samples:education:tip_pages

Tip Pages

Tip Pages

Summary

Terms

Folders & Files

Folders

Scripts

UI Files