== Action Editor - Groups for Action Channels (Peach Request) ==

Now, you can assign Action Channels to named (folder-like) groups, which help to organise the channels (important for more complex rigs). These are collapsible, can be "protected", and show a "summary" of the keyframes in the channels the Group contains. They are drawn as bright-green (active) or a darker shade of green (not active) channels.

* Each Action has its own set of Groups. 
* An Action-Channel can only occur in one Group at a time. It can also not occur in any group.
* Action-Channels can be moved between Groups
* Groups + grouped-channels always occur BEFORE un-grouped channels

Important Hotkeys:
* Shift-G  :  Adds the selected Action-Channels to the Active Group. This will create a new group if need be
* Ctrl-Shift-G : Always adds a new group, and adds the selected Action-Channels to it
* Alt-G : Removes selected Action-Channels from their groups
* Ctrl-Shift-Alt-G : (Note: this will be removed soon) This is a simple debugging-hotkey I added, which just prints a list of the groups, channels, and their addresses...
* NKey / Ctrl-LMB: While hovering over the name of a group, this shows a popup like for other channels, which allows the editing of the channel's name, etc.


Assorted Notes:
* Some tools may not work yet with this (Ctrl Numpad+/- for example)
* Fixed some bugs in various places in Action Editor code
* Added theme colours for group channels
* The nomenclature of these tools may change in future when a better alternative is found
* The ability to auto-assign action-channels to groups when they are keyframed will be coming up shortly

source/blender/include/BDR_drawaction.h

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ struct Ipo;
 struct IpoCurve;
 struct gla2DDrawInfo;
 struct bAction;
+struct bActionGroup;
 struct Object;
 struct ListBase;
 
@@ -75,14 +76,16 @@ void draw_cfra_action(void);
 /* Channel Drawing */
 void draw_icu_channel(struct gla2DDrawInfo *di, struct IpoCurve *icu, float ypos);
 void draw_ipo_channel(struct gla2DDrawInfo *di, struct Ipo *ipo, float ypos);
-void draw_action_channel(struct gla2DDrawInfo *di, bAction *act, float ypos);
-void draw_object_channel(struct gla2DDrawInfo *di, Object *ob, float ypos);
+void draw_agroup_channel(struct gla2DDrawInfo *di, struct bActionGroup *agrp, float ypos);
+void draw_action_channel(struct gla2DDrawInfo *di, struct bAction *act, float ypos);
+void draw_object_channel(struct gla2DDrawInfo *di, struct Object *ob, float ypos);
 
 /* Keydata Generation */
 void icu_to_keylist(struct IpoCurve *icu, ListBase *keys, ListBase *blocks);
 void ipo_to_keylist(struct Ipo *ipo, ListBase *keys, ListBase *blocks);
-void action_to_keylist(bAction *act, ListBase *keys, ListBase *blocks);
-void ob_to_keylist(Object *ob, ListBase *keys, ListBase *blocks);
+void agroup_to_keylist(struct bActionGroup *agrp, ListBase *keys, ListBase *blocks);
+void action_to_keylist(struct bAction *act, ListBase *keys, ListBase *blocks);
+void ob_to_keylist(struct Object *ob, ListBase *keys, ListBase *blocks);
 
 #endif  /*  BDR_DRAWACTION_H */
 

source/blender/include/BIF_editaction.h

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 /* Some types for easier type-testing */
 enum {
 	ACTTYPE_NONE= 0,
+	ACTTYPE_GROUP,
 	ACTTYPE_ACHAN,
 	ACTTYPE_CONCHAN,
 	ACTTYPE_ICU,
@@ -53,6 +54,10 @@ enum {
 };
 
 /* Macros for easier/more consistant state testing */
+#define EDITABLE_AGRP(agrp) ((agrp->flag & AGRP_PROTECTED)==0)
+#define EXPANDED_AGRP(agrp) (agrp->flag & AGRP_EXPANDED)
+#define SEL_AGRP(agrp) ((agrp->flag & AGRP_SELECTED) || (agrp->flag & AGRP_ACTIVE))
+
 #define VISIBLE_ACHAN(achan) ((achan->flag & ACHAN_HIDDEN)==0)
 #define EDITABLE_ACHAN(achan) ((VISIBLE_ACHAN(achan)) && ((achan->flag & ACHAN_PROTECTED)==0))
 #define EXPANDED_ACHAN(achan) ((VISIBLE_ACHAN(achan)) && (achan->flag & ACHAN_EXPANDED))
@@ -81,7 +86,6 @@ enum {
 
 /* constants for setting ipo-extrapolation type */
 enum {
-	
 	SET_EXTEND_MENU = 9,
 	SET_EXTEND_POPUP = 10,
 	
@@ -91,9 +95,19 @@ enum {
 	SET_EXTEND_CYCLICEXTRAPOLATION
 };
 
+/* constants for channel rearranging */
+/* WARNING: don't change exising ones without modifying rearrange func accordingly */
+enum {
+	REARRANGE_ACTCHAN_TOP= -2,
+	REARRANGE_ACTCHAN_UP= -1,
+	REARRANGE_ACTCHAN_DOWN= 1,
+	REARRANGE_ACTCHAN_BOTTOM= 2
+};
+
 
 struct bAction;
 struct bActionChannel;
+struct bActionGroup;
 struct bPoseChannel;
 struct Object;
 struct Ipo;
@@ -125,11 +139,14 @@ void free_actcopybuf(void);
 void copy_actdata(void);
 void paste_actdata(void);
 
-/* Channel/strip operations */
-void up_sel_action(void);
-void down_sel_action(void);
-void top_sel_action(void);
-void bottom_sel_action(void);
+/* Group/Channel Operations */
+struct bActionGroup *get_active_actiongroup(struct bAction *act);
+void set_active_actiongroup(struct bAction *act, struct bActionGroup *agrp, short select);
+void action_groups_group(short add_group);
+void action_groups_ungroup(void);
+
+/* Channel/Strip Operations */
+void rearrange_action_channels(short mode);
 
 void expand_all_action(void);
 void openclose_level_action(short mode);

source/blender/include/BSE_editaction_types.h

@@ -37,9 +37,12 @@
 /* FILTERED ACTION DATA - TYPES */
 
 /* types of keyframe data in ActListElem */
-#define ALE_NONE	0
-#define ALE_IPO		1
-#define ALE_ICU		2
+typedef enum ALE_KEYTYPE {
+	ALE_NONE = 0,
+	ALE_IPO,	
+	ALE_ICU,
+	ALE_GROUP	
+} ALE_KEYTYPE;
 
 /* This struct defines a structure used for quick access */
 typedef struct bActListElem {
@@ -53,6 +56,8 @@ typedef struct bActListElem {
 	void	*key_data;	/* motion data - ipo or ipo-curve */
 	short	datatype;	/* type of motion data to expect */
 	
+	struct bActionGroup *grp;	/* action group that owns the channel */
+	
 	void 	*owner;		/* will either be an action channel or fake ipo-channel (for keys) */
 	short	ownertype;	/* type of owner */
 } bActListElem;
@@ -61,17 +66,21 @@ typedef struct bActListElem {
 /* FILTER ACTION DATA - METHODS/TYPES */
 
 /* filtering flags  - under what circumstances should a channel be added */
-#define ACTFILTER_VISIBLE		0x001	/* should channels be visible */
-#define ACTFILTER_SEL			0x002	/* should channels be selected */
-#define ACTFILTER_FOREDIT		0x004	/* does editable status matter */
-#define ACTFILTER_CHANNELS		0x008	/* do we only care that it is a channel */
-#define ACTFILTER_IPOKEYS		0x010	/* only channels referencing ipo's */
-#define ACTFILTER_ONLYICU		0x020	/* only reference ipo-curves */
-#define ACTFILTER_FORDRAWING	0x040	/* make list for interface drawing */
+typedef enum ACTFILTER_FLAGS {
+	ACTFILTER_VISIBLE		= (1<<0),	/* should channels be visible */
+	ACTFILTER_SEL			= (1<<1),	/* should channels be selected */
+	ACTFILTER_FOREDIT		= (1<<2),	/* does editable status matter */
+	ACTFILTER_CHANNELS		= (1<<3),	/* do we only care that it is a channel */
+	ACTFILTER_IPOKEYS		= (1<<4),	/* only channels referencing ipo's */
+	ACTFILTER_ONLYICU		= (1<<5),	/* only reference ipo-curves */
+	ACTFILTER_FORDRAWING	= (1<<6)	/* make list for interface drawing */
+} ACTFILTER_FLAGS;
 
 /* Action Editor - Main Data types */
-#define ACTCONT_NONE		0
-#define ACTCONT_ACTION		1
-#define ACTCONT_SHAPEKEY	2
+typedef enum ACTCONT_TYPES {
+	ACTCONT_NONE = 0,
+	ACTCONT_ACTION,
+	ACTCONT_SHAPEKEY
+} ACTCONT_TYPES;
 
 #endif