AltSystem/docs/4-redesign.md

Feature: Major Redesign

This redesign of the Addon's window will start by following the following design

• The window will be a tabbed window
• The 'Use Skills' tab will correspond to the current roll screen
• The 'Build Skills' tab will be a new screen, to be implemented later. For now, leave it empty.
• The 'Log' should record all rolls made by the user, and be displayed in a scrollable list.
  • They should be displayed in the same style as the announced rolls, even when the announce option is off
• The log should store a maximum of 100 rolls

Implementation plan

1. Restructure the main window layout (UI.lua)

• Increase WINDOW_WIDTH to roughly double (≈660) to accommodate the two-column layout (left panel for tabs, right panel for the log)
• Replace BasicFrameTemplateWithInset or layer a new structure inside it:
  • Left column (~50% width): contains two tabs ("Use Skills", "Build Skills") and their content panels
  • Right column (~50% width): contains the "Log" header and a scrollable log list
• Keep the title bar ("AltSystem") and close button at the top spanning the full width

2. Implement the tab system (UI.lua)

• Create two tab buttons ("Use Skills" and "Build Skills") anchored at the top of the left column
• Use PanelTemplates_SetNumTabs / PanelTemplates_SetTab or manual highlight toggling to switch active tab styling
• "Use Skills" tab content: migrate all existing UI elements (Roll Type radios → Skill dropdown → Armor radios → Modifiers checkboxes → Announce dropdown → Roll button) into this tab's content frame
  • Adapt the current layout from CreateMainFrame — re-parent all widgets to the tab content frame instead of f directly
• "Build Skills" tab content: create an empty placeholder frame (can show a "Coming soon" label)
• Toggling tabs shows/hides the corresponding content frame

3. Redesign the "Use Skills" tab to match the mockup (UI.lua)

• Replace the current separate Attack/Defense buttons with a Roll Type radio-button group ("Attack Roll" / "Defense Roll") that sets AltSystem.State.rollType
• Keep the Skill dropdown as-is (already matches the mockup)
• Replace the current Defense dropdown with an Armor radio-button group ("No Armor" / "Basic Armor (+1)" / "Heavy Armor (+2)")
  • Map these to the existing AltSystem.Data.Defenses entries; show armor options only when Defense Roll is selected, or always visible per mockup
• Group Shield and Pet checkboxes under a "Modifiers (optional)" section header with a "Label" sub-header matching the mockup
• Replace the Announce checkbox + channel dropdown with a single "Announce Roll" dropdown whose options are "Self Roll" (no announce) plus the existing channel list (Emote, Party, Raid, Guild)
  • "Self Roll" maps to announceEnabled = false; any other selection maps to announceEnabled = true with the corresponding channel index
• Add a single "Roll $rollType" button at the bottom (text dynamically reflects "Roll Attack" or "Roll Defense")
• Remove the old roll-result text area from this tab (results now go to the Log panel)

4. Build the Log panel (UI.lua)

• Create a right-side panel with a "Log" header label
• Inside, create a ScrollFrame (using UIPanelScrollFrameTemplate or a manual scroll child) to hold log entries
• Each log entry is a small frame/fontstring displaying the roll result in the same format as the announced message:
  • "[Name] rolled [d20 result] [modifiers] = [total]" (reuse BuildModifierString from Roll.lua)
  • Critical rolls show "rolled a Critical Failure!" or "rolled a Critical Success!"
• Entries are listed newest-first (most recent at top) in a vertically stacked layout

5. Implement the roll log data store (Core.lua / Roll.lua)

• Add AltSystem.State.rollLog = {} — an array of log entry tables, each containing: { text = "...", timestamp = time() }
• In Roll.lua, after every roll result is calculated (in CalculateAndDisplayResult), build the log message string (same format as announce) and insert it into AltSystem.State.rollLog
• Cap the log at 100 entries: if #rollLog > 100, remove the oldest entry (table.remove(rollLog, 1))
• After inserting, call a UI refresh function to update the scroll frame content
• The log is always populated, regardless of the announce setting (per the requirement: "displayed in the same style as the announced rolls, even when the announce option is off")
• Log does not need to persist across sessions (not mentioned in requirements); keep it in memory only

6. Wire up the new Roll button (Roll.lua)

• The single "Roll $rollType" button calls AltSystem:PerformRoll(state.rollType) where state.rollType is set by the radio-button group ("attack" or "defense")
• Existing PerformRoll and CalculateAndDisplayResult logic remains largely unchanged; only the final display step changes from setting ResultText to appending to the log + refreshing the log UI

7. Update state persistence (Core.lua)

• Save/restore rollType selection (attack/defense) in AltSystemDB
• Update announce state handling to work with the new single-dropdown approach (save selected option index)
• Armor selection (radio group) replaces selectedDefenseIndex — reuse same key or migrate

8. Update the .toc file if needed (AltSystem.toc)

• No new Lua files are expected (all changes fit in existing files), but verify the load order is still correct

9. Testing checklist

• Window opens at new size, tabs switch correctly
• "Use Skills" tab shows all controls matching the mockup layout
• "Build Skills" tab is empty / shows placeholder
• Attack and Defense rolls work correctly via the new single Roll button
• Log panel populates with each roll, formatted like announce messages
• Log scrolls when entries exceed visible area
• Log caps at 100 entries, oldest removed first
• Log populates even when announce is set to "Self Roll" (off)
• Announce still works when a channel is selected
• State (roll type, armor, announce option) persists across sessions
• Window is draggable and clamps to screen