[SleepyP]

If I understand the skin as it exists in SVN presently, the View types for each section (Programs, Videos, etc) can be defined in multiple places. In addition, each viewtype must be references specifically from within multiple skin XML files.

The change I propose would be to simply move the view type definitions into a specific standard file, with sections for each portion of XBMC. This would make it much easier for the power user to customize their view modes.
It would also make it possible to make a Python script that could modify the current view modes (by commenting out blocks of XML for view modes that the user wants to disable).

[Jezz_X]

I don't see the point it would be too limiting on the skinner and force complience to a standard like we used to have when we only had 3 views (list, Icons, bigIcons).
Also the way its done now prvents code duplication and thus easier editing why would you need to remake Icon view 4 times one for each section when its the same in every section
As for your script well its asy done on a skin by skin basis now anyway by just making the script comment out the include lines the skinner could even make it easier by adding in a comment like

<!-- View type Includes start here -->
blah blah blah
<!-- View type Includes end here -->


so the script can tell what part to edit as long as the includes have a freindly name

[jmarshall]

With includes you can put them all in one file if you like.

Most views in PM3 are in CommonViewTypes.xml for instance.

The include is in the separate files, but you could always take those includes and combine them (eg <include>allthemusicviews</include>) and dump them out to a separate file for editting purposes.

[gzusrawx]

That's hilarius I seriously thought of this like 2 or 3 days ago and was gonna put in a request. Maybe use xbmcscripts.com or somewhere similar to have a place where viewtypes could be posted, and maybe these viewtypes could be made skin independant. So that when a skin is created it would need to define available space parameters for each view ex. movies, music, tv shows, and Programs.

[gzusrawx]

Instead of making all of them modular maybe have 2 or 3 viewtypes built-in.

[gzusrawx]

and the rest modular.

[Jezz_X]

Ok from a skinner point of view here "I make what I want to make you don't like it then feel free to edit them out its just xml" other than that I still think its a bad Idea because

* honestly who apart from the original skinner is going to bother to make seperate views for a skin.
* It just dosn't work the way of being able to have 50 view types and then pick what you want we have limited to 10 different views for each window yeah with a fixed id between 50 and 59.
* Often the skin preforms animation Hides/shows things based on what view type is available so needs to know its specific ID and is stuff unrelated to the view type
* View like pm3 3D List just wouldn't be possible as a plug in because it needs a whole heap of code unrelated to the list/panel to even work
* Not all skins are the same layout and things arn't located in the same place or same sizes

Ok thats probably me done for now
But basically if you ever coded a skin you would know how hard it is to seperate out these things and if you did seperate then out once you update the main skin it would probably break any third part views

[gzusrawx]

Abviously this would require work on both the skinners and the devs part and so it would be abviously their call on whether the amount of work required to put it in place is worth the outcome to them. It would be cool if anyone who has more knowledge about this had any ideas to get around some of the problems Jezz has expressed, we certainly wouldn't want to create too much work for the devs or the skinners seeing as without them we wouldn't have a product and it wouldn't look nice.