Ability to add description to custom editor settings

[starcin]

Currently, it is possible to add some information to a custom setting to the editor settings panel is possible by using add_property_info with a Dictionary like this:

But it results with "No description" when you hover the setting:

What I am proposing is adding a description field to the information dictionary:

[asciifaceman]

I'm running into this now developing an addon and I was kind of shocked that this wasn't already a thing. There doesn't seem to be an API for managing descriptions in the actual project settings code - my guess is the docs system is used to lift those out of the documentation based on config path by a tooltip.

I imagine the shortest path would be to extend the docs system to work at the project-level with those tooltips (be able to effectively extend the built in documentation with project-level docs, including config property paths), but I don't actually know. Perhaps this is already possible in an opaque/undocumented way?

I'd be very interested in this.

[Calinou]

Descriptions are sourced from https://github.com/godotengine/godot/blob/master/doc/classes/EditorSettings.xml, which is statically compiled in the engine binary.

GDScript code can have its own documentation that is generated in real-time, but this isn't available in non-GDScript languages yet.

I suppose the easy way to go around this would be to add a description field as suggested, but it may be nontrivial to handle this from the editor side (handling descriptions from a second data source in a single class display).

PS: The above also applies to ProjectSettings.

[asciifaceman]

Would treating it like an override make sense? If it is defined in project docs, override the first data source.

[AnidemDex]

Maybe it can be used in object properties as well? Sometimes I want to add a description for custom properties added through _get_property_list

[betalars]

I would love to see this for the sake of improving project settings as well.

[neth392]

This is something that would greatly benefit addon/plugin creators, and the end users of them so that they don't need to refer to the project's github for every setting

[CycloneRing]

Please implement this for GDExtension as well.

[sylbeth]

Is this still not a thing? Why does the editor have so many things unavailable to users?

[Calinou]

This isn't implemented yet.

Why does the editor have so many things unavailable to users?

As per the best practices for engine contributors, we try to avoid speculation when designing APIs. This leads to some things being hardcoded or not exposed to the scripting API at first, unless there's a proven need for it.

[sylbeth]

What are the hurdles for this to be implemented? I have only dabbled with the GDExtension icons, but I could get around to try and PR.

I understand the need not to create useless solutions to things no one uses, but I'd still say documentation is not an option but a must. Are there no guidances on the matter? It feels the same with access to editor icons with GDExtension nodes, but that may just be my naïvety talking as I am no maintainer of a project as big as this.

[Calinou]

I don't know what the API for exposing documentation for custom project/editor settings would look like, but if you're interested in implementing this, I suggest joining the Godot Contributors Chat and asking in the #editor channel.

There's definitely interest in this feature, but we should make sure it's usable from all languages (which means it can't rely on GDScript/C#/GDExtension-specific mechanisms).

[sylbeth]

Alright, thank you. I will take a deep look at it when I have the time, since now I don't have it. So if anyone else wants to implement it and has the time, please do go ahead.