feat(Blenvy):

* added some material helpers (wip)
 * copied over old docs & images from old add-ons

tools/blenvy/README_auto_export.md

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+# gltf_auto_export
+
+This [Blender addon](./)  
+- automatically exports your level/world from Blender to gltf whenever you save your Blend file.
+- in Blueprints mode (highly recommended !) : 
+    - supports automatic exports of used collections as [Gltf blueprints](../../crates/bevy_gltf_blueprints/README.md)
+    - supports any number of main/level scenes 
+        - Blender scenes where you define your levels, and all collection instances are replaced with "pointers" to other gltf files (all automatic)
+    - supports any number of library scenes
+        - Blender scenes where you define the assets that you use in your levels, in the form of collections
+    - automatic export of **changed** objects & collections only ! a sort of "incremental export", where only the changed collections (if in use)
+        get exported when you save your blend file
+   
+
+## Installation: 
+
+
+* grab the latest release zip file
+
+![blender addon install](./docs/blender_addon_install_zip.png)
+
+
+* in Blender go to edit =>  preferences => install
+
+![blender addon install](./docs/blender_addon_install.png)
+
+* choose the path where ```gltf_auto_export.zip``` is stored
+
+![blender addon install](./docs/blender_addon_install2.png)
+
+
+
+
+## Usage: 
+
+> ***IMPORTANT***
+
+if you have used a version of this add-on prior to v0.9, there was an issue that kept generating orphan (junk) data on every save !
+You can easilly clean up that data 
+
+- go to orphan data:
+
+![purge orphan data](./docs/purge_orphan1_data1.png)
+
+- click on purge
+
+![purge orphan data](./docs/purge_orphan1_data2.png)
+
+- validate
+
+![purge orphan data](./docs/purge_orphan1_data3.png)
+
+
+
+This issue has been resolved in v0.9.
+
+
+### Basics
+
+* before it can automatically save to gltf, you need to configure it
+* go to file => export => gltf auto export
+
+![blender addon use](./docs/blender_addon_use.png)
+
+* set the autoexport parameters  in the **auto export** panel: 
+
+    ![blender addon use3](./docs/blender_addon_use3.png)
+
+
+    - export folder: root folder to export models too
+    - export scene settings: exports "global"/scene settings like ambient color, bloom, ao, etc 
+        
+        This automatically generates additional components at the scene level 
+
+    - pick your main (level) scenes and/or library scenes (see the chapter about [Blueprints](#blueprints) and [multiple Blend filles workflow](#multiple-blend-file-workflow) below)   
+        - click in the scene picker & select your scene
+
+        ![select scene](./docs/blender_addon_add_scene.png)
+
+        - click on the "+" icon
+
+        ![select scene2](./docs/blender_addon_add_scene2.png)
+
+        - your scene is added to the list
+        
+        ![select scene3](./docs/blender_addon_add_scene3.png) 
+
+    - export blueprints: check this if you want to automatically export blueprints (default: True)
+    - blueprints path: the path to export blueprints to , relative to the main **export folder** (default: library)
+    - collection instances: select which option you want to use to deal with collection instances (aka combine mode) (both inside blueprint collections & main collections)
+
+        * split (default, highly recomended) : the addon will 'split out' any nested collections/ blueprints & export them
+        * embed: choose this option if you want to keep everything inside a gltf file (less efficient, not recomended)
+        * embedExternal: this will embed ONLY collection instances whose collections have not been found inside the current blend file
+
+        These options can also be **overridden** on a per collection instance basis: (if you want to split out most collection instances, but keep a few specific ones embeded
+        inside your gltf file)
+            
+        ![combine override](./docs/combine_override.png) 
+
+        - simply add a custom property called **_combine** to the collection instance, and set it to one of the options above
+
+        please read the dedicated [section](#collection-instances--nested-blueprints) below for more information
+
+
+    - Export dynamic and static objects seperatly : For MAIN scenes only (aka levels), toggle this to generate 2 files per level: 
+
+        - one with all dynamic data: collection or instances marked as dynamic (aka saveable)
+        - one with all static data: anything else that is NOT marked as dynamic, the file name will have the suffix **_dynamic**
+
+        Ie if you add a "Dynamic" custom property/ component to either your collection instances or your blueprint, you get a clean seperation between 
+
+        - your static level data (anything that will never change during the lifetime of your Bevy app)
+        - your dynamic objects (anything that will change during the lifetime of your Bevy app, that can be saved & reloaded in save files for example)
+
+    - export materials library: check this if you want to automatically export material libraries (default: False)
+    please read the dedicated [section](#materials) below for more information
+
+        > This only works together with blueprints !
+
+    - materials path: where to export materials to
+
+* and your standard gltf export parameters in the **gltf** panel
+
+    ![blender addon use2](./docs/blender_addon_use2.png)
+
+
+* click on "apply settings"
+* now next time you save your blend file you will get an automatically exported gltf file (or more than one, depending on your settings, see below)
+
+### Blueprints
+
+You can enable this option to automatically replace all the **collection instances** inside your main scene with blueprints
+- whenever you change your main scene (or your library scene , if that option is enabled), all your collection instances 
+    * will be replaced with empties (this will not be visible to you)
+    * those empties will have additional custom properties / components : ```BlueprintName``` & ```SpawnHere```
+    * your main scene/ level will be exported to a much more trimmed down gltf file (see next point)
+    * all the original collections (that you used to create the instances) will be exported as **seperate gltf files** into the "library" folder
+
+- this means you will have 
+    * one small main gltf file (your level/world)
+    * as many gltf files as you have used collections in the main scene , in the library path you specified :
+    for the included [basic](../../examples/bevy_gltf_blueprints/basic/) example's [assets](../../examples/bevy_gltf_blueprints/basic/assets/), it looks something like this: 
+
+    ![library](./docs/exported_library_files.png)
+    
+    the .blend file that they are generated from can be found [here](../../examples/bevy_gltf_blueprints/basic/assets/advanced.blend)
+
+- the above only applies to collections that have **instances** in your main scene!
+    if you want a specific collection in your library to always get exported regardless of its use, you need to add 
+    a **COLLECTION** (boolean) custom property called ```AutoExport``` set to true
+    > not at the object level ! the collection level !
+
+    ![force-export](./docs/force_export.jpg)
+
+    It will get automatically exported like any of the "in-use" collections.
+
+- you can also get an overview of all the exported collections in the export menu
+
+    ![exported collections](./docs/exported_collections.png)
+
+- there are some workflow specificities for multi blend file [workflows](#multiple-blend-file-workflow)
+
+#### Collection instances & Nested blueprints
+
+To maximise reuse of meshes/components etc, you can also nest ***collections instances*** inside collections (as normally in Blender), but also export each nested Blueprint as a seperate blueprints.
+
+> Don't forget to choose the relevant option in the exporter settings (aka **"split"**)
+
+> This replaces the previous "export nested blueprints" checkbox/ option
+
+![instance combine mode](./docs/blender_addon_use4.png)
+
+
+
+- To make things clearer: 
+
+    ![nested-blueprints](./docs/nested_blueprints.png)
+
+    - **Player2** & **Enemy** both use the **Humanoid_cactus** nested collection/blueprint, so **Humanoid_cactus** gets exported as a Blueprint for re-use ...but
+    - **Humanoid_cactus** is also made up of a main mesh & two instances of **Hand** , so **Hand** gets exported as a Blueprint for re-use ...but
+    - **Hand** is also made up of a main mesh & three instances of **Finger**, so **Finger** gets exported as a Blueprint for re-use
+
+- The exported models in this case end up being:
+
+    ![nested_blueprints2](./docs/nested_blueprints2.png)
+
+    - Note how **Player2.glb** is tiny, because most of its data is actually sotred in **Humanoid_cactus.glb**
+    - **Enemy.glb** is slightly bigger because that blueprints contains additional meshes
+    - All the intermediary blueprints got exported automatically, and all instances have been replaced with "empties" (see explanation in the **Process section** ) to minimize file size
+
+- Compare this to the output **WITHOUT** the nested export option:
+
+    ![nested_blueprints3](./docs/nested_blueprints3.png)
+
+    - less blueprints as the sub collections that are not in use somewhere directly are not exported
+    - **Player2.glb** & **Enemy.glb** are significantly larger
+
+
+TLDR: smaller, more reuseable blueprints which can share sub-parts with other entities !
+
+### Materials
+
+You can enable this option to automatically generate a **material library** file that combines all the materials in use in your blueprints.
+
+![material_library](./docs/blender_addon_materials2.png)
+
+Since each blueprint is normally a completely independant gltf file, without this option, if you have a material with a large texture for example, 
+**ALL** of your blueprints using that material will embed that large texture, leading to **significant bloat & memory use**.
+
+
+- When this option is enabled, you get a single material library per Blender project, and a **MaterialInfo** component is inserted into each object using a material.
+- The correct material will then be inserted on the Bevy side (that loads any number of material libraries that you need) into the correct mesh (see the configuration
+options in **bevy_gltf_blueprints** for more information on that)
+- Only one material per object is supported at this stage, ie the last material slot's material is the one that is going to be used
+
+![material_library](./docs/blender_addon_materials.png)
+
+TLDR: Use this option to make sure that each blueprint file does not contain a copy of the same materials 
+
+
+### Multiple blend file workflow
+
+If you want to use multiple blend files, use Blender's asset library etc, we got you coverred too !
+There are only a few things to keep in mind 
+
+#### Assets/library/blueprints files
+- mark your library scenes as specified above, but **do NOT** specify a **main** scene
+- mark any collection in your scenes as "assets" (more convenient) or add the "AutoExport" custom property to the collection
+- choose "split" for the combine mode (as you want your gltf blueprints to be saved for external use)
+- do your Blender things as normal
+- anytime you save your file, it will automatically export any relevant collections/blueprints
+- (optional) activate the **material library** option, so you only have one set of material per asset library (recomended)
+
+#### Level/world files
+- mark your main scenes as specified above, but **do NOT** specify a **library** scene
+- configure your asset libraries as you would usually do , I recomend using the "link" mode so that any changes to asset files are reflected correctly
+- drag & drop any assets from the blueprints library (as you would normally do in Blender as well)
+- choose "split" for the combine mode (as you want your gltf blueprints to be external usually & use the gltf files generated from your assets library)
+- do your Blender things as normal
+- anytime you save your file, it will automatically export your level(s)
+
+
+Take a look at the [relevant](../../examples/bevy_gltf_blueprints/multiple_levels_multiple_blendfiles/) example for more [details](../../examples/bevy_gltf_blueprints/multiple_levels_multiple_blendfiles/art/) 
+
+
+### Internal Process overview
+
+This is the internal logic of the export process with blueprints (simplified)
+
+![process](./docs/process.svg)
+
+ie this is an example scene...
+
+![](./docs/workflow_original.jpg)
+
+and what actually gets exported for the main scene/world/level
+
+![](./docs/workflow_empties.jpg)
+
+all collections instances replaced with empties, and all those collections exported to gltf files as seen above
+
+
+## Development 
+
+- since the code has now been split up into multiple modules, to make your life easier, I highly recomend (if you are using vscode like me) to use 
+[this](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=JacquesLucke.blender-development) excellent extension , works easilly and fast , even for the latest 
+versions of Blender (v4.0 as of this writing)
+- this [article](https://polynook.com/learn/set-up-blender-addon-development-environment-in-windows) might also help out 
+(easy enough to get it working on linux too)
+
+## License
+
+This tool, all its code, contents & assets is Dual-licensed under either of
+
+- Apache License, Version 2.0, ([LICENSE-APACHE](../LICENSE_APACHE.md) or https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+- MIT license ([LICENSE-MIT](../LICENSE_MIT.md) or https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

tools/blenvy/README_components.md

@@ -0,0 +1,297 @@
+# Bevy components
+
+This [Blender addon](https://github.com/kaosat-dev/Blender_bevy_components_workflow/tree/main/tools/bevy_components)  gives you an easy to use UI to add and configure your [Bevy](https://bevyengine.org/) components inside Blender !
+
+- **automatically generates a simple UI** to add/configure components based on a **registry schema** file (an export of all your Bevy components's information, generated)
+by the [bevy_registry_export](https://crates.io/crates/bevy_registry_export) crate/plugin
+- no more need to specify components manually using custom_properties, with error prone naming etc
+- adds **metadata** to objects containing information about what components it uses + some extra information
+- uses Blender's **PropertyGroups** to generate custom UIs & connects those groups with the custom properties so that no matter the complexity
+of your Bevy components you get a nicely packed custom_property to use with ...
+- the ideal companion to the [gltf_auto_export](https://github.com/kaosat-dev/Blender_bevy_components_workflow/tree/main/tools/gltf_auto_export) to embed your Bevy components inside your gltf files
+<!-- - adds the ability to **toggle components** on/off without having to remove the component from the object -->
+
+
+> Important: 
+  the tooling is still in the early stages, even if it is feature complete : use with caution!.
+
+> IMPORTANT !! if you have previously used v0.1 , v0.2 had a breaking change, please see [this](#regenerate-ui-values) section on how to upgrade your data to v0.2.\
+This problem should not be present going forward
+
+> IMPORTANT !! if you have previously used v0.2 , v0.3 had a breaking change, please see [this](#regenerate-custom-property-values) section on how to upgrade your data to v0.3.
+
+## Installation: 
+
+* grab the latest release zip file from the releases tab (choose the bevy_components releases !)
+
+<!--![blender addon install](./docs/blender_addon_install_zip.png)-->
+
+* in Blender go to edit =>  preferences => install
+
+![blender addon install](./docs/blender_addon_install.png)
+
+* choose the path where ```bevy_components.zip``` is stored
+
+![blender addon install](./docs/blender_addon_install2.png)
+
+
+## Configuration & overview
+
+Before you can use the add-on you need to configure it
+
+### Bevy side
+
+ - setup [bevy_registry_export](https://crates.io/crates/bevy_registry_export) for your project (see the crate's documentation for that), and compile/run it to get the ```registry.json``` file
+
+### Blender side
+
+- Go to the new Bevy Components tab in the 3D view
+
+![configuration](./docs/configuration.png)
+
+- click on the button to select your registry.json file (in the "configuration" panel)
+
+![configuration 2](./docs/configuration2.png)
+
+- the list of available components will appear
+
+![configuration 3](./docs/configuration3.png)
+
+ #### registry file polling
+
+
+  * by default, the add-on will check for changes in your registry file every second, and refresh the UI accordingly
+    * you can set the polling frequency or turn it off if you do not want auto-refresh
+
+    ![registry file polling](./docs/registry_polling.png)
+
+
+
+## Use
+
+
+### Existing components & custom properties
+
+* If you already have components defined manualy in Blender inside **custom properties** you will need to define them again using the UI!
+* avoid mixing & matching: if you change the values of **custom properties** that also have a component, the custom property will be **overriden** every time
+you change the component's value
+* you can of course still use non component custom properties as always, this add-on will only impact those that have corresponding Bevy components
+
+### adding components
+
+- to add a component, select an object and then select the component from the components list: (the full type information will be displayed as tooltip)
+
+![components list](./docs/components_list.png)
+
+- click on the dropdown to get the full list of available components
+
+![components list](./docs/components_list2.png)
+
+- you can also filter components by name for convenience
+
+![filter components](./docs/filter_components.png)
+
+
+- add a component by clicking on the "add component" button once you have selected your desired component
+  
+  it will appear in the component list for that object
+
+![add component](./docs/add_component.png)
+
+### edit components
+
+- to edit a component's value just use the UI: 
+
+![edit component](./docs/edit_component.png)
+
+it will automatically update the value of the corresponding custom property
+
+![edit component](./docs/edit_component2.png)
+
+### Create components from custom properties
+
+- IF you have a valid component type  and the correct corresponding RON string in the custom_property value (this button will not appear if not), this add-on can automatically
+generate the corresponding component for you:
+
+- Fill/check your custom property (here for Aabb) 
+
+![generate_components 2](./docs/generate_components2.png)
+
+- click on the button
+
+![generate_components](./docs/generate_components.png)
+
+-voila !
+
+![generate_components 3](./docs/generate_components3.png)
+
+
+### copy & pasting 
+
+- you can also copy & paste components between objects
+
+- click on the "copy component button" of the component you want to copy
+
+![copy component](./docs/copy_component.png)
+
+- then select the object you want to copy the component (& its value) to, and click on the paste button.
+
+It will add the component to the select object
+
+![paste component](./docs/paste_component.png)
+
+> if the target object already has the same component, its values will be overwritten
+
+
+## Additional components UI features
+
+- for large/ complex components you can toggle the details of that component:
+
+![toggle details](./docs/toggle_details.png)
+
+
+## Supported components
+
+- normally (minus any bugs, please report those!) all components using **registered** types should be useable and editable
+- this includes (non exhaustive list):
+  * enums (even complex ones !)
+
+    ![enums](./docs/enums.png)
+
+    ![enums](./docs/enums2.png)
+
+  
+  * complex structs, with various types of fields (including nested ones)
+
+    ![complex](./docs/complex_components2.png)
+
+  * lists/ vecs (here a vec of tuples)
+
+    ![lists](./docs/vecs_lists.png)
+
+  * etc !
+
+## Unregistered types & error handling
+
+- non registered types can be viewed in this panel : (can be practical to see if you have any missing registrations too!)
+
+    ![unregistered types](./docs/unregistered_types.png)
+
+- if you have a component made up of unregistered structs/enums etc, you will get visual feedback & the component will be deactivated
+
+    ![invalid component](./docs/invalid_components.png)
+
+  > see [here](#invalidunregistered-type-renaming--conversion) for ways to convert invalid / unregistered components to other types.
+
+
+- if you are encountering this type of view: don't panic your component data is not gone ! It just means you need to reload the registry data by clicking on the relevant button
+
+    ![missing registry data](./docs/missing_registry_data.png)
+
+  
+
+## Advanced Tools
+
+In this section you will find various additional more advanced tooling
+
+### Invalid/unregistered type renaming / conversion
+
+If you have components that are
+  * invalid : ie some error was diagnosed
+  * unregistered: a custom property is present on the object, but there is no matching type in the registry
+
+Here you will get an overview, of ALL invalid and unregistered components in your Blender project, so you can find them, rename/convert them,
+or delete them, also in bulk
+
+![component rename overview](./docs/component_rename_overview2.png)
+
+* you can click on the button to select the object in your outliner (this also works across scenes, so you will be taken to the scene where the
+given object is located)
+
+![update custom properties](./docs/component_rename_object_select.png)
+
+
+#### Single object component renaming/ conversion
+
+  - to rename/convert a single component for a single object:
+    
+    * go to the row of the object you want to convert the component of
+    * in the dropdown menu, choose the target component
+    * click on the button with the magic wand to convert the component
+
+       ![single rename](./docs/component_rename_single.png)
+
+  > the tool will attempt to automatically convert the source component, including the field names/values, if the target component has the same ones
+    If it fails to do the conversion, you will get an error message, and you will either have to change the custom property yourself, or you can simply
+    change the values in the UI, which will automatically generate the custom property value
+
+  - to delete a single component for a single object:
+
+    * go to the row of the object you want to remove the component from
+    * click on the button with the "x" to remove the component  
+
+       ![single delete](./docs/component_remove_single.png)
+
+#### Bulk component renaming/ conversion
+
+  - use this method if you want to convert ALL components of a given type of ALL objects 
+
+    * click on this button to pick your source component
+
+      ![bulk convert remove](./docs/component_rename_remove_bulk.png)
+
+    * for conversion: in the dropdown menu, choose the target component & click apply to convert all matching components
+    * for deletion: clic on the "x" to remove all matching components
+
+      ![bulk convert remove](./docs/component_rename_remove_bulk2.png)
+
+
+ ### For conversion between custom properties & components & vice-versa
+
+ #### regenerate custom property values
+
+  - "update custom properties of current object" : will go over **all components** that you have defined for the **currently selected object**, and re-generate the 
+
+    corresponding custom property values 
+
+     ![update custom properties](./docs/other_options.png)
+
+
+  - "update custom properties of ALL objects" : same as above but it will do so for the **ALL objects in your blend file** (so can be slow!), and re-generate the 
+
+    corresponding custom property values 
+
+     ![update custom properties for all](./docs/other_options2.png)
+
+     > IMPORTANT !! use this if you have previously used v0.1 or v0.2 , as v0.3 had a breaking change, that makes it **necessary** to use this **once** to upgrade components data
+     You should also re-export your gltf files , otherwise you might run into issues
+
+  
+  #### regenerate component/ UI values
+
+   - since v0.2, you have the option to regenerate (for the selected object or all objects, as above) to regenerate your UI values from the custom property values
+
+   ![update UI FROM custom properties](./docs/update_ui_from_custom_properties.png)
+
+   > IMPORTANT !! use this if you have previously used v0.1 , as v0.2 had a breaking change, that makes it **necessary** to use this **once** to upgrade the UI data
+
+
+
+> Note: the legacy mode support has been removed since version
+
+
+## Examples
+
+you can find an example [here](https://github.com/kaosat-dev/Blender_bevy_components_workflow/tree/main/examples/bevy_registry_export/)
+
+## Known issues & limitations:
+
+* **Range** data (ie ```Range<f32>``` etc) are not handled at this time (issue seems to be on the Bevy side)
+* **Entity** structs are always set to 0 (setting entity values on the Blender side at this time does not make much sense anyway) 
+
+## License
+
+This tool, all its code, contents & assets is Dual-licensed under either of
+
+- Apache License, Version 2.0, ([LICENSE-APACHE](../LICENSE_APACHE.md) or https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+- MIT license ([LICENSE-MIT](../LICENSE_MIT.md) or https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

tools/blenvy/TODO_auto_export.md

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+- investigate remove_blueprints_list_from_main_scene (could be a case of changes to bpy.data not being applied immediatly)
+- investigate clearing of changed_objects_per_scene
+- it seems bevy_components does not trigger updates
+- undo redo is ignored: ie save, do something, undo it, you still get changes
+
+
+- [ ] serialize scene
+   - [ ] for collection instances: 
+      * [ ] blueprints export should also take the split/embed mode into account: if a nested collection changes AND embed is active, its container collection should also be exported
+      * [ ] level exports should do the same
+   - [ ] add tests for the above
+   - [ ] look into caching for serialize scene
+   - [ ] replace field name based logic with type base logic 
+
+- [ ] to make things easier overall we need a mapping of Blueprints/Collections to
+   - [x] their instances
+   - [x] their objects/sub collections instances etc
+   - [ ] a mapping of objects to the blueprints they belong to
+- [ ] things to alter/remove using the new & improved Blueprints/collections scanning and mapping
+   - [x] get_sub_collections                          => remove , but rewrite how BlueprintsList are generated
+   - [x] get_used_collections                         => remove , but rewrite how BlueprintsList are generated
+   - [x] get_exportable_collections                   => remove , but replace with new function to get exportable blueprints
+   - [x] get_collections_per_scene
+   - [x] get_collections_in_library
+   - [ ] traverse_tree                                => keep, used
+   - [x] find_layer_collection_recursive              => remove, unused
+   - [ ] recurLayerCollection                         => unclear, analyse
+   - [x] find_collection_ascendant_target_collection  => remove, double check
+   - [x] set_active_collection                        => keep, used
+   - [x] get_source_scene                             => remove, unused 
+   - [x] assets_list["BlueprintsList"]
+      BLUEPRINTS LIST {'Blueprint1': [], 'Blueprint6_animated': [], 'Blueprint4_nested': ['Blueprint3'], 'Blueprint3': [], 'Blueprint7_hierarchy': [], 'External_blueprint': [], 'External_blueprint2': ['External_blueprint3'], 'External_blueprint3': [], 'Blueprint8_animated_no_bones': []}
+   - [x] internal_collections => replace with "internal_collections" or "local_collections"
+   
+- [x] fix COMBINE MODE passed as int instead of enum value
+   => comes from our custom logic for add_on prefs
+- [ ] double check compares to "None" values
+
+- [ ] add tests for relative/absolute paths
+
+- [x] move all things that alter data "permanently" to pre-save
+   - [x] lighting/ scene components injection
+   - [x] blueprintNames ?
+   - [x] or more simple: just remove them after save as we do for others: lighting_components
+
+   - [ ] if we want the blueprintsList / future paths of blueprints to be present inside external assets, we are going to need to keep them around, ie: inject them in pre-save & not remove them 
+
+- [ ] update cleanup_materials
+
+- [x] remove legacy mode
+   - [x] from auto_export
+   - [x] from rust code
+   - [x] from examples
+   - [x] added notes & workaround information in docs
+
+- [ ] remove bulk of tracker related code
+- [ ] clean up
+- [x] split up change detection in settings to its own panel
+
+
+
+
+Change storage of 'blueprint' assets : (from BlueprintsList)
+ - store at the SCENE level: a list/map of assets 
+   - asset name + asset path
+   - the asset PATH is determined by the export output folder parameters
+   - make asset storage generic enough to allow adding additional asset types
+   - get inspired by bevy_asset_loader ?
+

tools/blenvy/TODO_components.md

@@ -0,0 +1,229 @@
+Basics
+- [x] add panel
+- [x] add a "create blueprint" button
+    - [x] when clicked: 
+        - [x] create collection 
+        - [x] add an empty inside collection and name it <COLLECTION_NAME>_components
+        - [x] add a **AutoExport** Boolean property to collection 
+        - [x] add name imput(popup for name input ?)
+
+- [x] add a list of existing components/custom properties
+- [x] add an "edit blueprint" section
+    - [x] only filled when there is ONE selection, and that selection is a collection
+    - [x] add a dropdown of possible components  
+    - [x] add a checkbox for enabling disabling a component (enabled by default)
+    - [x] add a button for copying a component
+    - [x] add a button for pasting a component
+
+
+UI:
+ - [x] filterable list of components to DISPLAY for selection : ComponentDefinitionsList
+
+- Filter out invalid objects for components that have no _components suffix ? (that is too limiting I think)
+- -[x] How to deal with pre-existing custom properties that have NO metadata
+    * if there is one without metadata: find if there is an available component with the same name & type ?
+    * if there is , insert metadata
+    * otherwise, mark it in some way visually ?
+
+- [x] for OBJECT enums: add two ui pieces
+    - [x] one for selecting the TYPE to choose (ie normal enum)
+    - [x] one for setting the VALUE inside that
+
+
+- [x] vecs => (not vec2, vec3 etc) more complex UI to add items in a list
+    - [x] generate contained CollectionGroup
+    - [x] CollectionProperty => type = the above
+- [x] find ways to "collapse" the different levels of nested data of structs/tupples into a single custom property (ideally on the fly, but we can do without)
+
+- [x] for single tupple components that represent a single unit type, re_use the base type's UIPropertyGroup instead of creating specific ones (ie TuppleTestF32_ui...) => will not work, would cause overriden "update callback"
+- [x] pre_generate default values/values for each main type
+
+- [x] fix issues with vec2 etc not having the correct number of items
+- [x] fix bad defaults in ui group
+- [x] fix object enums handling on updates (??)
+- [x] fix issues with lambads in loops
+
+- [x] object enum should be <EntryName>(params)
+    ie  *Collider:
+            * Cuboid(Vec3)
+            * Sphere(radius)
+- [x] deal with enums variants that do not have any data: ex   {
+          "long_name": "Mesh"
+        }
+
+- [x] remove / change use of ComponentDefinitionsList 
+    - when filling the list, use the long_name as index ie items.append((str(index), item.name, item.long_name)) => items.append((item.long_name, item.name, item.long_name))
+- [x] when removing a component, reset the value of the attribute in the property group (or not ? could be a feature)
+- [x] deal correctly with fields of types that are NOT in the schema.json (for ex PlayingAnimation in AnimationPlayer)
+- [ ] deal correctly with complex types 
+            CascadeShadowConfig: has an array/list
+            ClusterConfig: one of the enum variants is an object
+- [ ] possibly allow Color to be an enum as it should be ?
+- [x] for sub items , the update functions "Name" should be the one of the root object
+- [x] fix copy & pasting
+    - it actually works, but the value of the custom property are not copied back to the UI, need to implement property_group_value_from_custom_property_value
+- [ ] we need a notion of "root propertyGroup" =?
+- [x] notify user of missing entries in schema (ie , unregistered data types)
+- [x] clarify propgroup_ui vs named nested fields
+- [x] fix basic enums handling
+- [x] add a list of not found components to the registry, add to them on the fly
+- [x] add configuration panel (open the first time, closed on further user once configured)
+
+- [x] add limits to ixxx types vs utypes
+- [x] only display the "generate components xx" when relevant ie:
+    - go through list of custom properties in current object
+        - if one does not have metadata and / or propgroup: 
+            break 
+
+- [x] remove custom property of disabled component ? => NOpe, as we need custom properties to iterate over
+- [x] what to do with components with n/a fields ? perhaps disable the component ? add a "invalid" field to meta ?
+- [x] format output as correct RON
+    - [x] fix issue with empty strings
+- [x] change custom property => propGroup to convert RON => Json first => obsolete
+- [x] cleanup process_lists
+
+- [x] fix issues with enum variants with only a long_name
+
+- [x] display single item enums inline, others in a seperate row
+
+- [x] add button to "apply all" (in configuration), to apply/update all custom properties to ALL objects where relevant
+- [x] add button to "apply to current" to do the same with current
+- [x] add warning sign to the above
+
+- [x] what about metadata ?
+- [x] only upgrade custom properties to metadata when asked/relevant
+- [x] implement move list up/down
+- [ ] change property_group_value_from_custom_property_value => just disregard it for now, its point is very limited (helping people with old custom properties by attempting to generate real values)
+    and give the change to a real ron format, it is too limiting
+- [x] fix reload registry clearing list of missing types 
+- [x] clean up metadata module, a lot of repeated code
+- [x] some fields when original is 0 or 0.0 are not copyable ? (seems like a bad boolean check )
+- [x] fix issues with object variants in enums (see clusterconfig)
+
+
+- perhaps directly export default values within the schema.json ?
+        - for most types , it is straighforward, but others, not so much: like the default color in Bevy , etc
+
+- [x] change default schema.json to registry.json
+- [x] pasted components do not get updated value in custom_property
+- [x] finish documentation
+- [x] add storage of registry path
+    - [x] save after setting the data (browse for)
+    - [x] load after each reload ?
+
+# Additional
+    - [x] check if output "string" in custom properties are correct
+
+    - gltf_auto_export
+        - [x] add support for "enabled" flag
+        - [ ] add special components 
+                - "AutoExport" => Needed
+                - "Dynamic" ? naah wait that should be exported by the Bevy side
+        - [x] filter out Components_meta ??
+        - [x] add legacy mode to the persisted parameters
+
+    - bevy_gltf_components:
+        - [x] first release patch for current issues
+        - [x] make configurable 
+        - [x] add "compatibility mode" and deprecation warnings for the current hack-ish conversion of fake ron
+        - [x] update docs to show we need to use ComponentsFromGltfPlugin::default
+
+    - bevy_gltf_blueprints
+        - [x] update dependency
+        - [x] update version
+        - [x] add ability to set legacy mode for bevy_gltf_components ? 
+
+    - [x] release all versions
+    - [x] update main documentation, add compatibility version grid
+
+    
+## Phase 2
+
+- [x] fix handling of long component names
+    - [x] fix nesting level handling issue for new system : ie basic component DOES NOT work, but nestedLevel2 does
+    - add goddam tests !
+    - [ ] verify some weird prop => custom property values (Calculated Clip for example)
+
+- [x] fix "reload registry" not clearing all previous data (reloading registry does not seem to account for added/removed components in the registry )
+- add file watcher for registry
+    - [x] have the watcher work as expected
+    - [ ] add handling of removed registry file
+    - [ ] clear & reset handler when the file browser for the registry is used
+- [ ] re-enable watcher
+
+- tests
+    clear && pytest -svv --blender-executable <path_to_blender>/blender/blender-4.0.2-linux-x64/blender
+
+    - [x] load registry
+    - just check list of components vs lists in registry
+    - [x] try adding all components
+        - [x] select an object
+        - [x] call the add_component operator 
+
+    - [x] change params 
+        - use field names + component definitions to set values
+        - [x] find a way to shuffle params of ALL components based on a reliable, repeatable seed
+
+    - [x] test propgroup values => custom property values
+    - [x] test custom property value => propgroup value 
+
+    - check if all went well
+
+ - [x] fix issues with incorect custom_property generation
+   - [x] fix issue with object variants for enums
+
+ - [ ] add handling for core::ops::Range<f32> & other ranges
+ - [x] add handling for alloc::borrow::Cow<str>
+ - [x] add handling of isize
+
+ - [x] indirection level
+    - currently 
+        - short_name +_"ui => direct lookup
+        - problem : max 64 chars for propertyGroupNames
+    - possible solution
+        - propertyGroupName storage: simple , incremented INT (call it propGroupId for ex)
+        - lookup shortName => propGroupId
+
+    - do a first pass, by replacing manual propGroupNames creation with a function
+    - in a second pass, replace the innards
+
+- add button to regenerate cutom prop values from custom properties (allows us to sidestep any future issues with internals changing)
+    - [x] fix lists
+    - [x] fix enums (see Clusterconfig)
+        - [x] need an example with one tupple one struct
+        - [x] projection
+        - [x] additionalmassproperties
+    - [x] fix tupleStructs (see TupleVecF32F32) =>  always the same problem of having us pre-parse data without knowing what we have inside
+        - find a way to only split by level 0 (highest level) nesting "," seperators, ignoring any level of nesting until we dig one level deeper
+        - solve nesting level use issues
+
+- [x] remove metadata when deleting components
+- [x] add try catch around custom_prop =>  propGroup
+- [x] enhance the GenerateComponent_From_custom_property_Operator to use the new system to actually generate the stuff
+
+- coherence in operators: 
+    - component_name vs component_type
+    - [x] delete => remove
+
+- [x] clean up reloading of registry settings
+- [x] clean up file watcher
+
+
+=========================================
+Restructuring of storage of components
+- [x] marking of invalid root propgroups/components should be based on long name
+- [x] overhaul & check each prop group type's use of short names => long names
+    - [x] lists
+- [x] property_name = short_name in process enum: will likely require to use another indirection helper to keep the propery names short
+
+- [x] in conversions from propgroups
+        component_name = definition["short_name"]
+- [ ] fix is_component_valid that is used in gltf_auto_export
+- [x] update all tests
+
+- Hashmap Support
+    - [x] fix parsing of keys's type either on Bevy side (prefered) or on the Blender side 
+    - [x] fix weird issue with missing "0" property when adding new entry in empty hashmap => happens only if the values for the "setter" have never been set
+    - [ ] handle missing types in registry for keys & values
+
+- [ ] Add correct upgrade handling from individual component to bevy_components

tools/blenvy/materials/materials_helpers.py

@@ -43,4 +43,31 @@ def add_material_info_to_objects(materials_per_object, settings):
         material = materials_per_object[object]
         # TODO: switch to using actual components ?
         materials_exported_path = os.path.join(materials_path, f"{materials_library_name}{export_gltf_extension}")
-        object['MaterialInfo'] = f'(name: "{material.name}", path: "{materials_exported_path}")' 
+        object['MaterialInfo'] = f'(name: "{material.name}", path: "{materials_exported_path}")' 
+
+
+# get all the materials of all objects in a given scene
+def get_scene_materials(scene):
+    used_material_names = []
+    materials_per_object = {}
+
+    root_collection = scene.collection
+    for cur_collection in traverse_tree(root_collection):
+        for object in cur_collection.all_objects:
+            used_material_names = used_material_names + get_materials(object, materials_per_object)
+
+    # we only want unique names
+    used_material_names = list(set(used_material_names))
+    return (used_material_names, materials_per_object)
+
+# get all the materials of all objects used by a given blueprint
+def get_blueprint_materials(blueprint):
+    materials_per_object = {}
+    used_material_names = []
+
+    for object in blueprint.collection.all_objects:
+        used_material_names = used_material_names + get_materials(object, materials_per_object)
+    
+    # we only want unique names
+    used_material_names = list(set(used_material_names))
+    return (used_material_names, materials_per_object)