Couple of n00b Skinning questions
#1
I'm having a go at modifying Estuary a little just for a learning experience and have a couple of basic starting questions:

I'm using this Estuary and v17.1 nightly and referencing this guide. I'll update it with any findings I make:
http://kodi.wiki/view/First_skin_tutorial

So to the questions:

- I've added the skinning keymap file. What does F6 and F7 actually do? Do I need to turn on debugging? I don't see any change when pressing these keys.
- Is there any reason there are hardly any comments in Estuary? It would be useful to know what things do especially with all the includes.
- How do I know what view relates to which XML file? I can probably guess but it would be nice if logging showed the skin file for each view.
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#2
Hi,

If you mean the general example keymap with F6 being skin.togglesetting(DebugGrid) then that makes 2 of us as F6 / F7 have never done anything for me, I think an xml or something maybe missing?

It seems not many skinners comment their code in a manner in which you are asking, you are just supposed to know what everything is doing. I myself have not commented everything I've done. Sometimes this may not be done so not to help people who rip off your code without so much as a please or thankyou.

- The easiest way to find the xml for a view is just press F8 (Skin.ToggleDebug) to switch on Debug, this will generally give the name of the xml that you are currently in and even the button etc. you currently have focused, if things like buttons etc exist in the view you are in in the top left corner of the screen.

Happy to help with my limited knowledge if you have more questions.

Mike.
SKIN: Aeon Madnox
RIP Schimi2k, we miss you.
When I grow up I want to be a skilled skinner
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#3
Thanks!

F8 just brings up a notification as the wiki sets out for the skinning keymap:

Code:
<keymap>
    <global>
        <keyboard>
            <F5>XBMC.ReloadSkin()</F5>
            <F6>Skin.ToggleSetting(DebugGrid)</F6>
            <F7>Skin.ToggleSetting(HideDebugInfo)</F7>
            <F8>Notification(Testing 123,Hello world)</F8>
        </keyboard>
    </global>
</keymap>

Image
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#4
Cool got it

Code:
<keymap>
    <global>
        <keyboard>
            <F5>XBMC.ReloadSkin()</F5>
            <F7>Notification(Testing 123,Hello world)</F7>
            <F8>Skin.ToggleDebug()</F8>
        </keyboard>
    </global>
</keymap>

Image

Would be much nicer if the debug info was at the bottom of the screen! Wink
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#5
If you use sublime text phil65 created a plug-in that helped me a lot with the includes.
221682 (thread)
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#6
(2017-03-07, 14:39)Av3nged Wrote: If you use sublime text phil65 created a plug-in that helped me a lot with the includes.
221682 (thread)

Sadly not... you would have to take notepad++ out of my cold dead hands Smile
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#7
The debug grid has to use the files downloadable from here (there is a png and custom window xml you need for it -- the custom window xml will also enable the other debug command).
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=129094

The one for Gotham should still work because its nothing too major, just a custom window and a few label overlays. Read the included readme for instructions of where to put the files. You have to edit the custom overlay file to use the 1080 grid instead of the 720 one if you are skinning in a 1080 resolution.

Keep the skinning manual by your side. It is a rare day when I don't need to reference it at least once
http://kodi.wiki/view/Skinning_Manual

Regarding comments in the skin code. I think its mostly just laziness haha. I'd rather be writing code than writing comments. Plus once you get your head around how skinning works, 95% of it is pretty straightforward. And the rest is usually some convoluted hack you had to do to get around the limitations of the skinning engine.

Get a text editor that can search multiple files at once - this will help you locate where different parts of the code are located. This is essential to keeping your sanity! (EDIT: Never mind, I see you are using Notepad++ which should suffice just fine.)

Once you get going a bit, I highly recommend using SublimeText3 as your text editor. It has multiple cursors so you can edit multiple lines of code simultaneously (highlight something, press ctrl+d to select each following iteration and then you can type on those multiple lines at once -- really amazing when you need to change a number of conditions at the same time, or past a code chunk but need to change the ids). Plus it has a bunch of plugins available through package management like auto increment (highlight the same number with ctrl+d and then hit ctrl+alt+i and each line will increment by 1). A bunch of autocomplete options. And with phil65's kodidevkit package it really becomes something else - syntax correction, localized string lookups, color hex opacity values, auto put strings in your translation file, sanity checks. (EDIT: Hahaha I see someone else has already mentioned sublimetext)...

Start with some small basic changes and you will quickly get the hang of it.


Good luck!
Arctic Fuse - Alpha now available. Support me on Ko-fi.
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#8
If you do need the comments then check out igconq... Almost everything is commented... But it is a basic skiing as well.
Shield TV | Windows 10 | Mariadb | Mii Box
Evolve Ecosystem Repo | TV Melodies | Madnox Holiday Mod
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#9
Thanks everyone, some great advice here Smile

I've written a new wiki page to help new potential skinners start off editing the default skin Estuary.

I would appreciate any feedback or corrections, as I am a beginner myself!

Image

http://kodi.wiki/view/Estuary_Modification
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Couple of n00b Skinning questions0