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Concepts

Core concepts

This section explains what each part of PropUI is and why it exists, so the detailed Building the UI and reference pages make sense. If you just want to build something, start with the Quickstart.

The two layers

PropUI has two separate layers, and almost everything else builds on this idea:

  •  The Entry List

    The source list of controls you author. Hierarchical, organized your way.

    Entry List

  •  The Generated Layout

    Decides where entries appear in the output: rows, shared rows, row boxes, sub-panels.

    Generated Layout

The Entry List is what you have. The Generated Layout is what gets built. They are independent on purpose — you can author entries one way and arrange a completely different panel from them.

The editor vs. its settings

PropUI uses the word editor in two different ways. Keeping them apart makes the rest of the docs click:

  • The editor — the thing that makes the UI. The workspace where you author entries and build a panel: Output Setup, the Entry List, Selected Entry, and the Generated Layout. Everything in these Concepts and under Building the UI is about this.
  • Editor settings — how that editor looks, works, and where it lives. Configuring the tool itself, not the panel you're making: display and confirmation preferences and reset tools (Editor Settings), which sections are shown and in what order (Editor Layout), the keyboard shortcuts, and which sidebars or Properties tabs it appears in (Finding the editor). These are documented in the Full edition and Reference pages.

One builds your panel. The other configures the tool you build it with.

The editor sections

The PropUI editor is split into native collapsible sections. Most are for building the UI; the last group only configures the editor itself.

Building the UI

Section Purpose
Diagnostics Appears when PropUI has recent warnings.
Output Setup Generation, variants, generated-UI lifecycle, panel visibility, and storage.
Entry List The authored source entries.
Selected Entry Settings for the active Entry List item.
Generated Layout The output layout editor.

Configuring the editor - collected in Editor settings

Section Purpose
Editor Settings Display settings, confirmations, import/export, saved defaults, reset tools.
Editor Layout Reorder and hide editor sections (staged, then applied).

Hiding is not deleting

Editor Layout only reorders and hides editor controls. It does not delete data, generated panels, entries, row boxes, variants, or settings. See the Editor Layout reference.

The normal workflow

The typical path from nothing to a working panel:

  1. If the setup has managed custom-property entries, pick Property Storage in Output Setup — their default owner.
  2. Add entries in the Entry List.
  3. Configure the selected entry in Selected Entry.
  4. Import or add entries into Generated Layout.
  5. Arrange rows, shared rows, row boxes, and sub-panels.
  6. Set the generated panel title, tab, location, and visibility.
  7. Press Generate UI.
  8. Use the generated panel like a native Blender panel.

Properties without a panel

Apply Properties can be used without generating a panel, if you only want to create or update the managed custom properties on the chosen storage target.

Read the concepts in order