Is it possible to copy the (custom) formatted value in Pattern Data tab?

[mkpoli]

I could not find a way to copy the value that is formatted. I tried copy menu but it does not have the option of format output, cannot use Ctrl+C in Pattern Data tab, double click, right click, etc. I even tried to print it using std::print(my_str); but I found out that I cannot copy from there either because the text is not selectable (once selected selection will disappear immediately). I'm also aware of the fact that there is no way to export the pattern data from within the editor according to #998.

To be exact, I have a null-terminated sized strings in the binary file, so I wrote a custom struct and formatter as the following, but I cannot find a way to easily copy the formatted result.

struct SizedNullString {
    u32 size;
    char content[size - 1];
    u8 sentinel;
}[[format("format_SizedNullString"), transform("format_SizedNullString"), sealed]];

fn format_SizedNullString(auto v) {
    return std::format("{}", v.content);
};

If this is not possible, I think it would be extremly convenient to make a right-click context menu similar to that in Data Inspector.

[paxcut]

I tested your code and created a dummy string of size 5 with content Test and was able to copy is onto my clipboard using four different methods.The formatting in this case is not really doing anything other than selecting the actual string without the zero.

1. You are locking the ability to select the field by using the sealed attribute which makes the members unavailable for copying or modifying. Remove the sealed attribute and click on the pattern and you'll be able to copy the data in the content field as I did.

2. The console has a bug where you can only select the first line but ctrl-c will copy it and you can use ctrl-v to paste it in the editor or any other place that accepts the clipboard. The video shows this where i use ctrl-c and crtrl-v

Recording.25.mp4

3)Exporting patterns should work no problem by using the arrow button and selecting the format type.

4. Perhaps the easiest way to copy the string is to select it from the ascii column and use right click> copy as >ascii string.
   Select the string without the null terminator or include it if you want to. See attached video.

Recording.26.mp4

[mkpoli]

That was incredibly helpful — thank you so much for the detailed and thoughtful answer! 🥰

1. So non-primitive data structures are not editable (writable directly), so that the formatted value doesn’t have a textbox to copy from directly. I now understand that in my case, I can unseal it to the primitive to be able to copy from the primitive field inside the struct. That being said, I still believe it would be a nice UX improvement to allow copying the representative value via the context menu, similar to how it's handled in the Data Inspector tab. I’d love to propose this as a suggestion in the future. (Update: [Feature] Add Copy Value / Edit Value context menu to the Pattern Data tab #2204)
2. Cool, since the feedback is bugged now, I hadn’t realized we can do that. I hope it gets fixed soon.
3. I honestly have no idea how I completely overlooked that button 😅 Good to know it’s there — and it looks like the information in Feature request: export pattern data as plain-text JSON file format or similar #998 is outdated, so I’ll leave a follow-up comment for future reference.
4. Yeah that was definitely a last resort in my case! Still, I’d love to see a more general solution like the one mentioned above. I actually have a similar case in the same project involving an uncommon date representation, and it's even trickier to copy the value in that case.

Thanks again for the effort — your response made a huge difference, and the videos were one of the most impressive and effective ways I’ve ever seen someone answer a question. Truly appreciated! 🆒

[paxcut]

Thank you for the kind words.I agree that the value displayed by the format function should be copy-able since it may not be easily obtainable from the field values.