XML loading/saving interface

[Kelson]

I wrote up a quick patch for 1.7.2 exposing an XML interface on ISceneManager to load/save scenes and posted it on the tracker https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=d ... tid=540679 (seems I'm not allowed to use [url]). The latest version appears to be using an increasingly file-centric design though.

Would there be interest in revectoring to XML for parsing structures w/o file information?
Any thoughts on a generic interface like getMesh to load ISceneNode[s]?
Are there plans to add an ISceneSaver to match ISceneLoader?

[CuteAlien]

Welcome to the forum. You just can't post links in your first post (has to do with spam-bots), in your next posts you can do so.
Can you give the motivation for that interface? I think xml readers and writer can only work with files anyway (as the xml has to come from somewhere - those files can for example also be memoryfiles), so I'm not sure right now when this would be needed.

[hybrid]

I was also wondering about the necessity for this patch. You can use the new saveScene interface to save .irr files starting from a certain scene node already. Everything beyond this node, i.e. children, will be saved to an own scene file. Loading results in a subscene, which simply means a sub scene graph starting with one or more scene nodes and the hierarchy beyond.
Please have a look at the new API in Irrlicht's SVN/trunk repository. New functions need tom be implemented for that developer version anyway. If there's still some improvement with your patch, please explain where and how.

[Kelson]

Thanks for the response!

From a certain perspective, I was basically reinventing FileSystem::createMemory[Read|Write]File, so I don't see this providing much beyond that capability. I was essentially working run-time serialization to/from XML for in-game editing.

I'd agree it isn't necessary given the MemoryFile abstraction.

[CuteAlien]

You mean you wrote your own xmlreader/writer as well and need it for that?