Skip to content

plugin_browser.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
133 lines (104 loc) · 4.58 KB

plugin_browser.md

File metadata and controls

133 lines (104 loc) · 4.58 KB

Plugin Browser Implementation

Overview

The Plugin Browser is a new UI component that displays all available LV2 plugins in a hierarchical tree view, organized by category. This component is now integrated into the main window.

Features Implemented

1. Tree View Display

  • Hierarchical Organization: Plugins are grouped by category (Effect, Generator, Analyzer, Utility, etc.)
  • Plugin Information: Each plugin shows:
    • Plugin name
    • Author name (in parentheses)
    • Audio port configuration [inputs/outputs]
    • Example: "Delay Plugin (Author Name) [2in/2out]"

2. Search Functionality

  • Real-time Search: Type in the search box to filter plugins
  • Multi-field Search: Searches both plugin name and author
  • Case-insensitive: Search is not case-sensitive
  • Placeholder Text: Search box shows "Search plugins..." hint

3. User Interface

  • Left Panel: Plugin browser occupies 250px on the left side of the window
  • Resizable: Automatically adjusts height when window is resized
  • Category Expansion: All categories are expanded by default for easy browsing
  • Selection: Click to select a plugin (highlighted in tree view)
  • Double-click Ready: Infrastructure in place for double-click to load plugins

Technical Details

Files Created

  • include/violet/plugin_browser.h - Header file with class definition
  • src/ui/plugin_browser.cpp - Implementation file

Integration

  • Integrated into MainWindow class
  • Connected to PluginManager for plugin enumeration
  • Automatically populated with available LV2 plugins on startup

API

Key Methods

// Create the browser
bool Create(HWND parent, HINSTANCE hInstance, int x, int y, int width, int height);

// Set plugin manager
void SetPluginManager(PluginManager* manager);

// Refresh plugin list
void RefreshPluginList();

// Search
void SetSearchFilter(const std::string& filter);
void ClearSearchFilter();

// Get selected plugin
std::string GetSelectedPluginUri() const;

Usage

The Plugin Browser is automatically created when the main window is initialized:

  1. Initialization: Plugin manager scans for available LV2 plugins
  2. Display: Plugins are automatically populated in the tree view
  3. Search: User can type in search box to filter plugins
  4. Selection: User can click on a plugin to select it
  5. Integration Ready: Selected plugin URI can be retrieved for loading

Next Steps

Planned Enhancements

  1. Drag-and-Drop: Drag plugins from browser to active plugins panel
  2. Context Menu: Right-click menu for plugin actions
  3. Plugin Details: Show detailed plugin information on selection
  4. Custom Categories: Allow user to create custom category filters
  5. Favorites: Mark plugins as favorites for quick access
  6. Recent: Show recently used plugins
  7. Plugin Loading: Double-click to load plugin into processing chain

Example Use Case

// In MainWindow
if (pluginBrowser_) {
    // Get selected plugin
    std::string pluginUri = pluginBrowser_->GetSelectedPluginUri();
    
    if (!pluginUri.empty()) {
        // Load plugin into processing chain
        if (processingChain_) {
            uint32_t nodeId = processingChain_->AddPlugin(pluginUri);
            // Display plugin in active plugins panel
        }
    }
}

Screenshot Description

The Plugin Browser appears on the left side of the window:

+-------------------+----------------------------------+
| Violet - LV2 Plugin Host                           |
+-------------------+----------------------------------+
| File  Audio  Help |                                 |
+-------------------+----------------------------------+
| [Search plugins...] |                                |
| ├─ Effect          |                                |
| │  ├─ Delay (Auth)|                                |
| │  ├─ Reverb (...)|                                |
| │  └─ ...         |                                |
| ├─ Generator       |      Active Plugins Panel     |
| │  └─ ...         |        (To Be Implemented)     |
| ├─ Analyzer        |                                |
| └─ ...             |                                |
+-------------------+----------------------------------+
| Ready | Audio: Stopped | CPU: 0% | Plugins: 42      |
+------------------------------------------------------+

Build Information

The plugin browser is automatically built as part of the Violet project:

meson setup build --cross-file cross-mingw64.txt
ninja -C build

The implementation successfully compiles with MinGW-w64 for Windows target.