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bschneider1 post(s)
#24-May-18 03:01

Is there a way to save styles (e.g. for image/surface or layout objects) as an xml (or equivalent) in Manifold 9, like there is in Manifold 8? I have a number of styles saved that would be a pain to recreate from scratch every time.

Dimitri


7,413 post(s)
#24-May-18 08:08

Styles are just text strings in JSON format. You can save them in a Comments component within a project, or, if you prefer, in a .txt file. Copy from the Properties of a component and Paste into the text file. Or, if you have many to do at once, copy from the mfd_meta table and paste.

See examples in the Example: Style Properties in the Mfd_meta Table topic and also in the Style: Channels and Outputs Tutorial topic.

StanNWT
196 post(s)
#24-May-18 17:29

Wouldn't it be useful to have a "save style", "import style" and "customize style" options in the style editor? And for saving and importing styles, having a user selectable, or even built in Manifold folder where styles are stored might be useful?

The "save style" could be just "import style" and "export style" as well as "customize style" this way it would a little more formalized and easy for people to incorporate? Also I bet that people would start trading styles they've saved, that others may find useful? But it's really for me just a way to save that stuff. Yes I get that you can make individual text files on disk and save them somewhere.

you could even have a context driven "import" and "export" button that changes what is being imported or exported based on depending on whether you're in Component, Layers, Record,Select, Style or Transform?

All this JSON stuff, makes me think of Friday the 13th... pardon the corny analogy. Now I have Brian Adams "cuts like a knife" running through my head!

Dimitri


7,413 post(s)
#25-May-18 06:19

Wouldn't it be useful to have a "save style", "import style" and "customize style" options in the style editor? And for saving and importing styles, having a user selectable, or even built in Manifold folder where styles are stored might be useful?

Yes, I agree. To do that well there are very many nuances. You want to be able to capture the full range of what can be done now, plus there are many possibilities within 9 not yet leveraged, so those have to be considered as well.

All that will be sorted out and introduced. None of it is rocket science but there is a lot of detail. Until that is done, there is a more manual way: copy the style you want to use and paste it. Done.

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