Dev:2.5/Source/Architecture/NamingConvention

From BlenderWiki

Function name conventions

A function should be named with subject first, then the verb:

       <prefix>_<what it is>_<what it does>

Prefix is the "module", and can be upper or lower case, if it's upper case, means exported outside its own module (the API), with lower case it's a local module only, for example:

        void WM_screen_activate()
 
        void wm_check()

If a function is only used inside a C file, it should be made static. It then doesn't have to follow the prefix rule, depending on clarity...

        static void wm_window_close()
        static int query_qual()

Struct name conventions

The same prefix and order rule can apply to exported struct names, but with the openGL convention, to have them clearly distinguished from function names. for example:

        struct wmWindowManager {
        };
 
        struct uiBlock {
        };

Structs on global (kernel) level can get a 'b' prefix:

        struct bContext {
        };

But that's not enforced really... (see DNA structs)

#define name conventions

Defines are always fully capitalized, and have prefix to show origin:

       WM_NOTE_WINDOW_REDRAW

to prevent prefixes to become confusingly long, special ones are fine too, like for keymap defines:

       KM_ALT
       KM_PRESS

Operator definitions

For Operator definitions it's important to find out where they are located. Here an extra OT is added in the name, to indicate "Operator Type"

       WM_OT_window_duplicate
       ED_SCR_OT_cursor_type
       ED_UI_OT_button_activate

Since these are names saved in operator stacks (macros) it's important to make them nice and future proof.

Variables

• Variable names are lower case only, also in structs
• Names are minimal 2 characters, unless it's a counter in a loop.

Code Layout

Preferred usage of {} and () and spaces/newlines:

 void function(int *v1, int *v2)
 {
    int *v3= v1;
 
    /* initialize */
    if (v1)
        something(v1);
    else if (v2) {
        something_else(v2);
    }
    else if (v3 || v1) {
        something_else(v3);
    }
 
    /* now do something different */
    function_different(v1, v2);
 }