ResInsight/docs/agents/push-button-refactoring.md

Push Button Refactoring: PdmField → PdmUiButton

Overview

Push buttons in the PDM UI can be implemented two ways:

• Old pattern: caf::PdmField<bool> with PdmUiPushButtonEditor (deprecated for new code)
• New pattern: caf::PdmUiButton added via uiOrdering.addNewButton() in defineUiOrdering

The new pattern is preferred because it requires less boilerplate, eliminates the field lifecycle, and keeps the action logic co-located with the UI layout.

Old Pattern (to be replaced)

Header

caf::PdmField<bool> m_myButton;

Constructor

CAF_PDM_InitField( &m_myButton, "MyButton", false, "" );
caf::PdmUiPushButtonEditor::configureEditorLabelHidden( &m_myButton );
m_myButton.xmlCapability()->disableIO(); // if not serialized

defineEditorAttribute

else if ( field == &m_myButton )
{
    if ( auto* attr = dynamic_cast<caf::PdmUiPushButtonEditorAttribute*>( attribute ) )
        attr->m_buttonText = "Click Me";
}

defineUiOrdering

group->add( &m_myButton );

fieldChangedByUi

else if ( changedField == &m_myButton )
{
    doSomething();
    m_myButton = false; // reset
}

Required include

#include "cafPdmUiPushButtonEditor.h"

New Pattern (PdmUiButton)

Header

No field declaration needed.

Constructor

No init call needed.

defineUiOrdering

group->addNewButton( "Click Me", [this]() { doSomething(); } );

With layout options:

group->addNewButton( "Click Me", [this]() { doSomething(); }, { .newRow = false, .totalColumnSpan = 1 } );

Required include

#include "cafPdmUiButton.h"

Migration Steps

1. Header: Remove caf::PdmField<bool> m_myButton;
2. Constructor: Remove CAF_PDM_InitField, configureEditorLabelHidden, and disableIO lines
3. defineEditorAttribute: Remove the else if ( field == &m_myButton ) block
4. defineUiOrdering: Replace group->add( &m_myButton ) with group->addNewButton( "Text", [this]() { ... } )
5. fieldChangedByUi: Remove the else if ( changedField == &m_myButton ) block (move logic into lambda)
6. Includes: Replace cafPdmUiPushButtonEditor.h with cafPdmUiButton.h (if no other push button fields remain)

Files Already Migrated

• ApplicationLibCode/Application/RiaPreferences.cpp — migrated m_deleteOsduToken, m_deleteSumoToken, m_importPreferences, m_exportPreferences

Files Still Using Old Pattern

Run the following to find remaining files:

grep -rl "configureEditorLabelHidden\|configureEditorLabelLeft" ApplicationLibCode/