# XCUI Phase Status 2026-04-05 ## Scope Current execution stays inside the XCUI module and `new_editor`. Old `editor` replacement is explicitly out of scope for this phase. ## Latest Checkpoint - Phase 1 sandbox batch committed and pushed as `67a28bd` (`Add XCUI new editor sandbox phase 1`). - Phase 2 common/runtime batch committed and pushed as `ade5be3` (`Add XCUI runtime screen layer and demo textarea`). - Phase 3 has now produced a stable mixed batch across common/runtime/editor: - schema document definition data is now retained on `UIDocumentModel` and round-trips through the UI artifact path - engine runtime coverage was tightened again around `UISystem` and concrete document-host rendering - `LayoutLab` continues as the editor widget proving ground for tree/list/property-section style controls - the demo sandbox and editor bridge APIs were tightened again without touching the old editor replacement scope - Old `editor` replacement remains deferred; all active execution still stays inside XCUI shared code and `new_editor`. ## Three-Layer Status ### 1. Common Core - `UI::DrawData`, input event types, focus routing, style/theme resolution are in active use. - `UIDocumentCompiler` is buildable again after repairing the duplicated schema helper regression introduced by overlapping schema work. - `UIDocumentModel` / `UIDocumentResource` now retain schema definition metadata explicitly, including memory accounting and `UISchema` accessors. - `.xcschema` round-trip coverage is now present through compile, loader, artifact write, and artifact read paths. - Build-system hardening for MSVC/PDB output paths has started in root CMake, `engine/CMakeLists.txt`, `new_editor/CMakeLists.txt`, and `tests/NewEditor/CMakeLists.txt`. - Shared engine-side XCUI runtime scaffolding is now present under `engine/include/XCEngine/UI/Runtime` and `engine/src/UI/Runtime`. - Shared engine-side `UIDocumentScreenHost` now compiles `.xcui` / `.xctheme` screen documents into a runtime-facing document host path instead of leaving all document ownership in `new_editor`. - Core regression coverage now includes `UIContext`, layout, style, runtime screen player/system, and real document-host tests through `core_ui_tests`. Current gap: - Minimal schema self-definition support is landed, but schema-driven validation for `.xcui` / `.xctheme` instances is still not implemented. - Shared widget/runtime instantiation is still thin and mostly editor-side. - Common widget primitives are still incomplete: multiline text editing, tree/list virtualization, property-grid composition, and native image/source-rect level APIs. ### 2. Runtime/Game Layer - The main concrete progress here is that the retained-mode demo runtime now supports a real `TextField` input path with UTF-8 text entry and backspace handling. - The demo runtime has moved past single-line input: multiline `TextArea` behavior is now covered in the sandbox testbed. - Engine-side runtime ownership is no longer zero: `UIScreenPlayer`, `UIDocumentScreenHost`, and `UISystem` now define a shared runtime contract for loading a screen document, ticking it with input, and collecting `UI::UIDrawData`. - `UISystem` now supports layered screen composition semantics: stacked screen players, top-interactive input routing, and modal layers that block lower screens. - Runtime screen emission now also carries concrete button text in the shared document host path instead of silently dropping button labels. Current gap: - No production game-loop integration has been wired yet from scene/runtime systems into `UISystem`. - The runtime widget library is still shallow and missing the editor-grade controls that will later be shared downward. ### 3. Editor Layer - `new_editor` remains the isolated XCUI sandbox. - Native hosted preview is working as `RHI offscreen surface -> ImGui shell texture embed`. - `XCUI Demo` remains the long-lived effect and behavior testbed. - `XCUI Demo` now covers both single-line and multiline text authoring behavior, including click caret placement, delete/backspace, tab indentation, and optional text-area line numbers. - `LayoutLab` now includes a `ScrollView` prototype and a more editor-like three-column authored layout. - `LayoutLab` now also covers editor-facing widget prototypes: `TreeView`, `TreeItem`, `ListView`, `ListItem`, `PropertySection`, and `FieldRow`. - Panel diagnostics were expanded to clearly separate preview/runtime/input state and native vs legacy paths. - The editor bridge layer now has smoke coverage for swapchain after-UI rendering hooks and SRV-backed ImGui texture descriptor registration. - `XCNewEditor` builds successfully to `build/new_editor/bin/Debug/XCNewEditor.exe`. Current gap: - The shell is still ImGui-hosted. - Editor-specialized widgets are still incomplete at the shared-module level: the authored prototypes exist, but virtualization, selection models, command routing, property editing models, toolbar/menu chrome, and icon-atlas widgets are not yet extracted into reusable XCUI modules. ## Validated This Phase - `new_editor_xcui_demo_runtime_tests`: `7/7` - `new_editor_xcui_layout_lab_runtime_tests`: `6/6` - `new_editor_xcui_rhi_command_compiler_tests`: `6/6` - `new_editor_xcui_rhi_render_backend_tests`: `5/5` - `XCNewEditor` Debug target builds successfully - `core_ui_tests`: `14/14` - `core_ui_style_tests`: `5/5` - `ui_resource_tests`: `11/11` - `editor_tests` targeted bridge smoke: `3/3` ## Landed This Phase - Demo runtime `TextField` with UTF-8 text insertion, caret state, and backspace. - Demo runtime multiline `TextArea` path in the sandbox and test coverage for caret movement / multiline input. - Demo runtime text editing was extended with: - click-to-place caret - `Delete` support - `Tab` / `Shift+Tab` indentation for text areas - optional text-area line-number gutter rendering - Demo authored resources updated to exercise the input field. - LayoutLab `ScrollView` prototype with clipping and hover rejection outside clipped content. - LayoutLab editor-widget prototypes for tree/list/property-style sections with dedicated runtime coverage. - Schema document support extended with: - retained `UISchemaDefinition` data on `UIDocumentModel` - artifact schema version bump for UI documents - loader/resource accessors and memory accounting - schema compile/load/artifact regression coverage - schema consistency rules for: - `allowedValues` only on `enum` - `documentKind` / `restrictDocumentKind` only on `document` - explicit `documentKind` required when `restrictDocumentKind=true` - Engine runtime layer added: - `UIScreenPlayer` - `UIDocumentScreenHost` - `UISystem` - layered screen composition and modal blocking semantics - Runtime document-host draw emission now preserves button labels for shared screen rendering. - RHI image path improvements: - clipped image UV adjustment - mirrored image UV preservation - external texture binding reuse - per-batch scissor application - Editor bridge helpers now expose: - an `afterUiRender` swapchain callback hook in `D3D12WindowRenderer` - SRV-view based texture descriptor registration in `ImGuiBackendBridge` - smoke tests for window renderer, ImGui backend bridge, and console sink registration - `new_editor` panel/shell diagnostics improvements for hosted preview state. - XCUI asset document loading changed to prefer direct source compilation before `ResourceManager` fallback for the sandbox path, fixing the LayoutLab crash. - `UIDocumentCompiler.cpp` repaired enough to restore full local builds after the duplicated schema-helper regression. - MSVC debug build hardening was tightened again so large parallel `engine` rebuilds stop tripping over compile-PDB contention. ## Phase Risks Still Open - Schema instance validation is still open beyond `.xcschema` self-definition and artifact round-trip coverage. - `ScrollView` is still authored/static; no wheel-driven scrolling or virtualization yet. - `Image` widgets still do not have source-rect/atlas-subregion level API in the high-level draw command model. - Editor shell still depends on ImGui as host chrome. - Editor widget coverage is still prototype-driven inside `LayoutLab`; it has not yet been promoted into a reusable shared widget/runtime layer. ## Next Phase 1. Expand schema rules just one level further inside `UIDocumentCompiler.cpp`: - `allowedValues` only for `Enum` - `documentKind` / `restrictDocumentKind` only for `Document` - `restrictDocumentKind=true` requires explicit `documentKind` 2. Expand runtime/game-layer ownership from the current document host + layered `UISystem` into reusable menu/HUD stack patterns and engine runtime integration. 3. Promote the current editor-facing widget prototypes out of authored `LayoutLab` content and into reusable XCUI widget/runtime modules, then continue with toolbar/menu and more native shell-owned chrome. 4. Start the window-level compositor split in `new_editor` so the editor shell can run through `ImGuiHostCompositor` first and then grow a native XCUI compositor path on the same seam. 5. Continue phased validation, commit, push, and plan refresh after each stable batch.