From 9d6301319b76d10b6adcd8deddd75e16e973025d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: AndreaRigoni <andrea.rigoni@igi.cnr.it>
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2026 10:15:16 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] separate display properties from properties

---
 src/Core/Property.h        | 36 ++++++++++++++++--------------------
 src/Vtk/uLibVtkInterface.h | 15 +++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/Core/Property.h b/src/Core/Property.h
index 1d86bab..0501646 100644
--- a/src/Core/Property.h
+++ b/src/Core/Property.h
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ namespace uLib {
 
 namespace Archive {
 class property_register_archive;
-class display_properties_archive;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -68,7 +67,6 @@ public:
   virtual void serialize(Archive::log_archive & ar, const unsigned int version) override = 0;
   
   virtual void serialize(Archive::property_register_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) = 0;
-  virtual void serialize(Archive::display_properties_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) = 0;
 };
 
 /**
@@ -109,7 +107,9 @@ public:
   const T& Get() const { return *m_value; }
   void Set(const T& value) {
     T val = value;
-    if (m_HasRange) { if (val < m_Min) val = m_Min; if (val > m_Max) val = m_Max; }
+    if constexpr (std::is_arithmetic<T>::value) {
+      if (m_HasRange) { if (val < m_Min) val = m_Min; if (val > m_Max) val = m_Max; }
+    }
     if (*m_value != val) {
       *m_value = val;
       ULIB_SIGNAL_EMIT(Property<T>::PropertyChanged);
@@ -168,7 +168,6 @@ public:
   virtual void serialize(Archive::log_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) override { serialize_helper(ar, v); }
   
   virtual void serialize(Archive::property_register_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) override;
-  virtual void serialize(Archive::display_properties_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) override;
 
   virtual void Updated() override { PropertyBase::Updated(); this->PropertyChanged(); }
 
@@ -213,7 +212,6 @@ public:
   virtual void serialize(Archive::log_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) override { serialize_enum_helper(ar, v); }
   
   virtual void serialize(Archive::property_register_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) override;
-  virtual void serialize(Archive::display_properties_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) override;
 
 private:
   std::vector<std::string> m_Labels;
@@ -352,12 +350,6 @@ protected:
     std::set<const void*> m_Visited;
 };
 
-class display_properties_archive : public property_register_archive {
-public:
-    friend class boost::archive::detail::interface_oarchive<display_properties_archive>;
-    display_properties_archive(Object* obj) : property_register_archive(obj, true) {}
-};
-
 } // namespace Archive
 } // namespace uLib
 
@@ -368,19 +360,10 @@ inline void Property<T>::serialize(Archive::property_register_archive & ar, cons
   ar.register_property(*this);
 }
 
-template <typename T>
-inline void Property<T>::serialize(Archive::display_properties_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) {
-  ar.register_property(*this);
-}
-
 inline void EnumProperty::serialize(Archive::property_register_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) {
   ar.register_enum_property(*this);
 }
 
-inline void EnumProperty::serialize(Archive::display_properties_archive & ar, const unsigned int v) {
-  ar.register_enum_property(*this);
-}
-
 namespace Archive {
 
 #define ULIB_ACTIVATE_PROPERTIES(obj) \
@@ -397,6 +380,19 @@ private: \
 
 } // namespace Archive
 
+// Convenience macro: declares a named Property<T> member with a default value.
+// Usage inside a class body (requires 'this' to be available, so use in-class initializer):
+//   ULIB_PROPERTY(int, MyProp, 42)
+#define ULIB_PROPERTY(type, name, defaultVal) \
+    ::uLib::Property<type> name{this, #name, (type)(defaultVal)};
+
+// Common property type aliases
+typedef Property<bool>        BoolProperty;
+typedef Property<int>         IntProperty;
+typedef Property<float>       FloatProperty;
+typedef Property<double>      DoubleProperty;
+typedef Property<std::string> StringProperty;
+
 template <class ArchiveT>
 void serialize_properties_helper(ArchiveT &ar, const std::vector<PropertyBase*> &props, unsigned int version) {
     for (auto* prop : props) prop->serialize(ar, version);
diff --git a/src/Vtk/uLibVtkInterface.h b/src/Vtk/uLibVtkInterface.h
index d797f84..42ef572 100644
--- a/src/Vtk/uLibVtkInterface.h
+++ b/src/Vtk/uLibVtkInterface.h
@@ -284,6 +284,21 @@ public:
   void save_override(const boost::archive::class_name_type &t) {}
   void save_override(const boost::archive::tracking_type &t) {}
 
+  // Called by Property<T>::serialize() and EnumProperty::serialize() to
+  // directly register an existing property object as a display property.
+  void register_property(uLib::PropertyBase &p) {
+    if (m_Puppet) {
+      m_Puppet->RegisterDisplayProperty(&p);
+      Vtk::Puppet *puppet = m_Puppet;
+      uLib::Object::connect(&p, &uLib::PropertyBase::Updated,
+                            [puppet]() { puppet->Update(); });
+    }
+  }
+
+  void register_enum_property(uLib::EnumProperty &p) {
+    register_property(p);
+  }
+
 private:
   Vtk::Puppet *m_Puppet;
   std::vector<std::string> m_GroupStack;