RGP Lua Class Browser
The RGP Lua Class Browser is a re-implementation in pure Lua of the Class Browser in JW Lua. It displays the available classes from embedded C++ frameworks, along with their methods and properties. As of version 0.70 of RGP Lua, the embedded C++ frameworks are:
finale: the classes and constants in the PDK Framework for Finale.finenv: the methods and properties in the finenv namespace.tinyxml2: the classes and constants in the tinyxml2 library.
The Class Browser is included as rgpluaclassbrowser.lua in the zip archive of RGP Lua Utilities available on the download page for RGP Lua.
The rgpluaclassbrowser.lua script requires version 0.56 or higher of RGP Lua. It also requires the jwluatagfile.xml from the zip file. Other than that it has no dependencies. You may place the two files together anywhere on your hard drive. Once you have configured the .lua file in RGP Lua, it will be available to run.
The edit boxes across the top allow you to filter classes, properties, and methods. The filter is case-insensitive and finds the filter text anywhere in the name. In the example you can see that a filter of “note” has found every class whose name includes the word “note”, ignoring case.
Starting with RGP Lua v.70, the class browser shows deprecation status and first available version for methods and properties. These are based on the PDK Framework documentation and are only as accurate as the documentation is. However, every effort is made to keep the documentation correct and current.
Class Documentation This button launches a browser to the page for the class on the PDK Framework website.
Doc. The Doc. buttons launch a browser to the specific method page that is selected in their respective columns. The Doc. button for properties launches the page for the property getter method.
Copy The Copy button copies the currently selected item to the clipboard. Items in the Classes column are prepended with the namespace. Items in the Class Methods column are prepended with namespace and class name. The goal is to be able to insert them directly into a script without any additional typing. You can also use cmd+C (macOS) or ctrl-C (Windows) instead of pressing this button.
Double clicking an item or pressing the Enter Key while an item is selected brings up the Details dialog box for that item.
Keyboard commands
The list boxes in the Class Browser respond to the standard OS keystrokes for navigation: up arrow, down arrow, home, end, etc. You can also type an initial letter and it jumps to the first item starting with that letter.
In addition, the Class Browser list boxes respond to the following keystrokes:
- Copy:
cmd+C(macOS)ctrl+C(Windows) - Select Item:
Enter(brings up the Details dialog box.)
The ‘jwluatagfile.xml’ File
You can run the any version of RGP Lua Class Browser with any version of RGP Lua from 0.56 on. However, for best results you should always run with the latest version of jwluatagfile.xml. It is the version that matches the links on the PDK Framework website.
The latest version (and the version that matches the PDK website) is always available at the download site in the RGP Lua Utilities zip file link.
Details Dialog
The Details Dialog appears when you select an item in one of the list boxes, either with the Enter key or by double clicking. It shows the same information as the column under the list box, but it is wide enough to show the complete information for argument lists and return types.
The editable text field is initialized with the same value that the Copy button would copy to the clipboard. You can edit it to anything you wish and then copy it from there.
The rest of the dialog shows static information about the class or method. This information is gathered from the jwluatagfile.xml file as well as internal metadata that RGP Lua provides to the Lua environment. In particular, RGP Lua (starting with v0.70) provides the following metadata about each method or property directly:
- deprecation status
- first available RGP Lua version or blank if it was available in JW Lua
These values are manually maintained based on the PDK Framework documentation. Every effort is made to keep them current and accurate, but they should be treated as information only. Do not use these to control program flow as there are more reliable approaches to determine the availability of a particular method or property inside your scripts. (The most straightforward is checking it for nil.)