Understanding [Metadata] section

[oZone]

I have noticed that some skins in Metadata section have some of these options

Code: Select all

Config=
Description= 
Instructions=
Credits=
Tags=
Variant=
Preview=

Does Rainmeter use them or they are just description/labels from skin author.
I think that Description= and Instructions= are deprecated options, and we should use Information= instead, but I didn't find about it in documentation.

[CyberTheWorm]

https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/skins/metadata-section/

[oZone]

https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/skins/metadata-section/

I know about this. But there is no information about Description= and Instructions=. You can use them instead of Information=. This is why I am asking if there some other "hidden" options in metadata section.

I am asking here so I don't have to look through rainmeter source code.

[jsmorley]

I know about this. But there is no information about Description= and Instructions=. You can use them instead of Information=. This is why I am asking if there some other "hidden" options in metadata section.

I am asking here so I don't have to look through rainmeter source code.

There are some previous and deprecated options for Metadata. Just use the ones in the documentation, the others are just there for backwards compatibility reasons. Description and Instructions, if found, are just moved to Information when the skin is displayed in Manage. Any other deprecated options are just ignored.

[oZone]

There are some previous and deprecated options for Metadata. Just use the ones in the documentation, the others are just there for backwards compatibility reasons. Description and Instructions, if found, are just moved to Information when the skin is displayed in Manage.

Ok thanks

[jsmorley]

Ok thanks

One last note, if Information is found, then Description and Instructions are ignored. If Information is not found, than any Description and Instructions are moved to become the Information entry, with a linefeed between them.

Any of the other deprecated options:

Config=
Credits=
Tags=
Variant=
Preview=

Are all just ignored.

I often use a format like this:

Code: Select all

[Metadata]
Name=ClockWeather
Author=JSMorley
Information=Description:|Digital Clock / Date - Speaks the time and current weather when clicked.||Instructions:|Middle-click to edit variables files.||Set text and other speech variables in @Resources\ClockWeatherSpeech.inc|Set weather location code in @Resources\WXDataWeatherVars.inc|Set font and color and other shared variables in @Resources\GeneralVariables.inc
Version=Feb 7, 2017
License=Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

GIF.gif

None of it is "required", but it's useful information for your users.