Suggest snake_case script names by default

[neqs20]

Script Create Dialog will now suggest snake case file names for GDScript, VisualScript and NativeScript.

This doesn't apply to C# which requires PascalCase file names (to match the class name).

Closes: godotengine/godot-proposals#1211.

[capnm]

typo defualt → default

[neqs20]

typo defualt → default

Corrected. Thanks!

[capnm]

Works fine for me on the 3.2 branch

Adds _ around numbers, e.g. AnimCollision-b01 → anim_collision-b_01_.gd

After using this patch for a while, I am now personally against renaming the object script names. It causes the names to get mixed up, e.g. If you don't want or can't follow exactly the PascalCase convention.

[EricEzaM]

I don't like how this implementation relies on a "magic string" to determine whether case should be snake or pascal. What if another language is added in the future and we want it to use this option? What if other custom languages in modules also want to make use of this option? They can't because it is defined within the core codebase. This does not follow the Open-Closed principle. Also remember that C# is not part of core - it is a module too. So if you compile Godot without the mono module, this code kind of makes no sense since C# doesn't exist.

I suggest moving this to a method in ScriptLanguage which can be overridden. This way, any language which inherits script language will be able to make use of this switch. A method like virtual bool prefers_snake_case_names() { return true; } will do. This can then be overridden where desired to return false;, such in the C# script language and any other language which is added in the future. I believe this could also be exposed to GDNative plugin script via godot_pluginscript_language_desc so that custom language bindings (i.e. rust, python, etc) could also use this option.

You would also need to apply the logic when the language is changed in ScriptCreateDialog::_lang_changed() so that when you change the language the filename is updated accordingly. You may also want to cache the original filename (or use initial_bp) so that you don't need to constantly convert between pascal and snake case as you switch languages. However, this would reset the filename when the user switches, so maybe implementing a snake case to camel/pascal case method would be better.

Here is what I did on a local branch:
master...EricEzaM:WIP/snake-case-for-script-names

I made VisualScript use the switch so I could test easily:

[EricEzaM]

@capnm underscores are added by the string method which converts camel to snake case - this would be an implementation detail of that method. Not sure if core devs would be willing to change a core method for this. I think most of the time though you would want underscores around numbers. It just so happens that in the example you gave it is not ideal with that particular naming format.

An underscore is added unnecessarily at the end because of the dot for the file extension. If the extension and the dot are removed, and then the conversion is done, it works just fine as in my gif above.

[capnm]

@capnm underscores are added by the string method which converts camel to snake case

I understand what is going on. I'm just saying that now, after practical testing in my projects, I am against this idea of automatic name change (i.e.enforcing a snake_case file naming convention). Personally, I think it's better if the filenames match the object names.

[EricEzaM]

Fair enough - good feedback to have.

[capnm]

Looks like I'm not alone. The code of the guys around the new Godot-docs hire confirms for me, that the snake_case filename convention wasn't a smart idea. I secretly hope @NathanLovato will fix the convention documents;)

https://github.com/GDQuest/godot-2d-tactical-space-combat/tree/master/godot

[Calinou]

@capnm We'd prefer keeping the snake_case recommendation as it sidesteps case sensitivity issues that can occur when exporting projects on Windows.

[capnm]

We'd prefer keeping the snake_case recommendation as it sidesteps case sensitivity issues that can occur when exporting projects on Windows.

Looks like a Godot bug to me. The editor should then not allow file names that differ only in upper and lower case and internally ignore the case in file names.

[robbertzzz]

+1 for keeping CamelCase for consistency. The alternative would be to rename all internal classes so they also follow a snake_case convention.

[Calinou]

@robbertzzz Godot's C++ source files use snake_case even though the class names use PascalCase. We don't intend to change that anytime soon. Most GDScript conventions come from the C++ conventions used through Godot.

[capnm]

When you save a scene, the dialog also uses the PascalCase name from the root node ...
I think it would be better to fix the case issues than to force users to use lowercase filenames
for scripts. The C++ convention is a different domain.

[NathanLovato]

The convention has been PascalCase node, scene, and gdscript file names since the first release of Godot in the editor.

I'm not against snake_case for all files, but if that's the way you're expected to name all files, then the editor should take care of that for all files. Otherwise, you're asking the user to work against the program.

[NathanLovato]

Ah, and I second that this repo is the engine's back-end, a separate domain, so its conventions don't have to be applied to and affect the user's experience when working with the editor. I mean that consistency with the C++ back-end doesn't have to be part of the equation; it's a separate project.

[Shatur]

When you save a scene, the dialog also uses the PascalCase name from the root node ...

Should be fixed in #41991.

[fire]

@Calinou I think this one is fixed.

[Calinou]

@Calinou I think this one is fixed.

I've tested the current behavior on master 9d1626b. While this is fixed when the scene file is already saved, this is not fixed yet when the scene isn't saved to disk yet and you attach a script to the root node:

This is also not fixed yet when adding a script to a node that isn't the scene root. Therefore, this PR is still relevant 🙂

[akien-mga]

This should be re-assessed against the current 4.0 branch, I think this is now the default behavior for scenes already, but maybe not yet for scripts.

CC @Calinou @KoBeWi

[KoBeWi]

Ok so

• scenes already support this, with a project setting (defaults to 🐍case), which makes this PR still relevant
• Suggest snake_case script names by default #41991 (comment) needs to be addressed
• this needs some setting to make the behavior optional, similar to editor/scene/scene_naming setting

[akien-mga]

Superseded by #78119. Thanks for the contribution!