Skip to content
This repository has been archived by the owner on Sep 16, 2021. It is now read-only.

Plan: 0.5.0 Directional Connections

Tom Barham edited this page Jan 18, 2019 · 1 revision

This is a planning document for the 0.5.0 Directional Connections feature. The described feature is in flux and probably will be different from the final implementation, but any feedback is welcome and will be used to further evolve the feature.

High-Level Description

Currently, connections in the editor are visually directionless - there are no visual indicators to show which controls are inputs or outputs, and which way information 'travels' along a connection. This is because, to the editor, these are indeed directionless - however, the direction is determined in the compiler for use in various passes. To make understanding and modifying a project easier, it would be beneficial to use this information to display directions in the editor.

Additionally, this extra semantic clarity in the editor allows nicer, more intuitive behavior around connections - one example is making multiple connections going into the same number control add the numbers or MIDI streams together (this will be discussed in a separate feature).

Changes to Control Visual Style

'Plug' style controls will have arrows to indicate direction. Other styles will not, as the style can typically be used to infer the direction (e.g. knobs, sliders, and buttons are almost always inputs).

Changes to Wire Visual Style

Wires will also have arrows added in some way, the exact styling is still uncertain.