toon-boom-extension-framework/docs/ToonBoomActionManager_Classes.md

ToonBoomActionManager.dll Class Analysis

This document describes the reverse-engineered class structures from ToonBoomActionManager.dll.

IDA Database: RE/ToonBoomActionManager.dll.i64

Overview

ToonBoomActionManager.dll provides the action/command management infrastructure for Toon Boom applications (Harmony Premium, Storyboard Pro). It implements:

• Responder Chain: First responder and selection responder management
• Menu System: XML-based menu creation and management
• Toolbar System: Customizable toolbars with dynamic item insertion
• Shortcut Management: Keyboard shortcut handling
• Action Triggering: Command execution and validation

Class Hierarchy

AC_Manager (abstract interface)
└── AC_ManagerImpl (concrete, inherits QObject)

AC_Object (abstract interface)
├── AC_Item (abstract interface)
├── AC_Separator (abstract interface)
└── AC_Toolbar (abstract, also inherits AC_Container, AC_Help)
    └── AC_ToolbarImpl (concrete, inherits QToolBar)

AC_Container (abstract interface)
└── AC_ContainerImpl (concrete)

AC_Help (abstract interface)

AC_Responder (abstract interface)
└── AC_ResponderTemplate (concrete)
    └── AC_ResponderTemplateWidget<T> (template)

---

AC_Manager / AC_ManagerImpl

Purpose

Central manager for the action/command system. Handles responder registration, menu/toolbar creation, and action triggering.

Key Addresses

Symbol	Address
AC_Manager vtable	0x18004e508
AC_ManagerImpl vtable (QObject)	0x18004e750
AC_ManagerImpl vtable (AC_Manager)	0x18004e7c8
AC_ManagerImpl::AC_ManagerImpl	0x18000ef20
AC_ManagerImpl::~AC_ManagerImpl	0x18000f300

Memory Layout (AC_ManagerImpl)

Total size: 0x158 (344 bytes) on x64

Offset	Size	Type	Field
+0x00	0x10		QObject base
+0x10	0x08	vptr	AC_Manager vtable
+0x18	0x08	void*	m_keywords (shared ptr data)
+0x20	0x08	void*	m_keywords (continued)
+0x28	0x08	void*	m_keywords (continued)
+0x30	0x01	bool	m_trimShortcuts (init value)
+0x38	0x18		Responder name→list tree
+0x50	0x18		Menu tree
+0x68	0x08	ptr	m_shortcutManager
+0x78	0x18	QString	m_hoverId
+0x90	0x18	QString	m_genericImage
+0xA8	0x18	QString	m_toolbarCustomizeImage
+0xC0	0x18		Toolbar tree
+0xD8	0x18	vector	m_registeredResponders
+0xF0	0x18	vector	m_responderStack
+0x108	0x08	ptr	m_menuBar
+0x118	0x08	ptr	m_applicationResponder
+0x120	0x08	ptr	m_selectionResponder
+0x128	0x08	ptr	m_itemGenerator
+0x130	0x01	bool	m_option_trimShortcuts

Key Methods

Responder Management

• firstResponder() - Returns top of responder stack (offset +248)
• applicationResponder() - Returns m_applicationResponder (offset +296)
• registerResponder(responder, widget) - Adds responder to registry; if widget != nullptr, inserts into a global widget map and calls QObject::connect(widget, destroyed(QObject*), ...) (see docs/AC_Manager_registerResponder_QBitArrayCrash.md:1)
• setFirstResponder(responder) - Sets active first responder
• pushUp(responder) - Stack manipulation (note: pushOut exists on the AC_ManagerImpl QObject vtable in this build, but is not part of the AC_Manager* vtable at 0x18004e7c8)

Menu/Toolbar Creation

• createMenuBar(element, parent) - Create menu from XML
• createToolbar(element, ids, mainWindow, area, name, owner) - Create toolbar
• loadMenus(path) / loadToolbars(path, ids) - Load from file

AC_Manager Toolbar Vtable Slots (Verified in IDA)

• loadToolbars(const QDomElement&, QList<QString>&) - slot 46 (+0x170) at 0x180015940
• loadToolbars(const QString&, QList<QString>&) - slot 47 (+0x178) at 0x180015f20 (parses file then forwards to slot 46)
• toolbarElement(const QString&) - slot 52 (+0x1a0) at 0x180016240 (returns QDomElement by value via MSVC x64 hidden sret out buffer)
• updateToolbars() - slot 53 (+0x1a8) at 0x180016350 (schedules fireUpdateToolbars() via QTimer::singleShot(300, ...))

Note: loadToolbars(...) does not call updateToolbars() directly (verified by decompilation of 0x180015940 / 0x180015f20).

Framework ABI note: AC_Manager is a vtable interface; loadToolbars(const QDomElement&, ...) must be declared before loadToolbars(const QString&, ...) to match slots 46/47. If your call appears to hit updateToolbars() or the wrong loadToolbars overload, suspect an ABI mismatch (wrong virtual order and/or wrong base pointer/vptr).

Action Triggering

• trigger(responderIdentity, actionName, forEach) - Execute action
• performValidation(responderIdentity, actionName, enabled, checked) - Validate action state

Signals

void firstResponderChanged();
void selectionResponderChanged();
void updateToolbarsSignal();
void updateToolbarsText();

---

AC_Toolbar / AC_ToolbarImpl

Purpose

Customizable toolbar with support for:

• Dynamic item insertion from XML
• Placeholder-based customization
• Configuration save/restore
• Context-sensitive help

Key Addresses

Symbol	Address
AC_ToolbarImpl vtable (QObject)	0x180054c90
AC_ToolbarImpl vtable (QPaintDevice)	0x180054e70
AC_ToolbarImpl vtable (AC_Toolbar)	0x180054eb0
AC_ToolbarImpl vtable (AC_Container)	0x180054ef8
AC_ToolbarImpl vtable (AC_Help)	0x1800550f8
AC_ToolbarImpl::AC_ToolbarImpl	0x180032df0
AC_ToolbarImpl::~AC_ToolbarImpl	0x180033080

Memory Layout (AC_ToolbarImpl)

Total size: 0x118 (280 bytes) on x64

Offset	Size	Type	Field
+0x00	0x28		QToolBar base (includes QObject, QPaintDevice)
+0x28	0x58	AC_ContainerImpl	m_container (embedded)
+0x80	0x08	vptr	AC_Toolbar vtable
+0x88	0x08	vptr	AC_Container vtable
+0x90	0x08	vptr	AC_Help vtable
+0x98	0x18	QString	m_responderIdentity
+0xB0	0x18	vector	m_defaultConfig
+0xC8	0x01	bool	m_isCustomizable
+0xD0	0x08	ptr	m_customizeButton
+0xD8	0x08	ptr	m_unknown
+0xE0	0x08	QObject*	m_owner
+0xE8	0x10	QWeakPointer	m_mainWindow
+0xF8	0x04	float	m_scaleFactor (default 1.0)
+0x100	0x18	QString	m_translationContext

Interface Pointers

When you have an AC_Toolbar*:

• QToolBar* = (char*)this - 128
• AC_ContainerImpl* = (char*)this - 88
• Identity QString is at (char*)this - 72

Key Methods

Item Management

• insert(beforeObject, element) - Insert item from XML
• insertAtPlaceholder(placeholder, element) - Insert at named placeholder
• insertSeparator(beforeObject) - Insert separator
• removeObject(identity) - Remove item by identity
• clear() - Remove all items

Configuration

• config() - Get current item order as QList
• setConfig(list) - Restore from saved configuration
• defaultConfig() - Get default item order
• isDefaultConfig() - Check if current matches default

Validation

• validateContent() - Update enabled/checked states
• validateContentIfVisible() - Only validate if toolbar is shown
• updateSeparators() - Hide separators adjacent to hidden items

Signals

void customized(QString identity);

---

AC_ContainerImpl

Purpose

Base container implementation for managing AC_Object children.

Memory Layout

Total size: 0x58 (88 bytes) on x64

Offset	Size	Type	Field
+0x00	0x08	vptr	AC_ContainerImpl vtable
+0x08	0x08	ptr	m_manager (AC_ManagerImpl*)
+0x10	0x18	QString	m_identity
+0x28	0x01	bool	m_enabled
+0x29	0x01	bool	m_isToolbar
+0x30	0x18	vector	m_objects
+0x48	0x10		Placeholder tree

---

Enumerations

AC_Result

enum class AC_Result : int {
    Handled = 0,     // Action handled successfully
    NotHandled = 1,  // Action not handled by any responder
    Error = 2        // Error during handling
};

AC_ManagerOption

enum class AC_ManagerOption : int {
    TrimShortcuts = 0  // Whether to trim whitespace from shortcuts
};

AC_Help::cshHelpType

enum cshHelpType {
    Type0 = 0,
    Type1 = 1,
    Type2 = 2,
    Type3 = 3,
    Type4 = 4,
    ToolbarHelp = 5
};

---

XML Element Types

AC_ToolbarImpl::insert() handles these XML element types:

Tag Name	Handler	Creates
item	sub_1800363E0	AC_ToolbarItemImpl
menu	sub_1800363E0	AC_ToolbarItemImpl (menu button)
multibutton	sub_180037F30	AC_ToolbarMultiButtonImpl
combobox	sub_1800395D0	AC_ToolbarComboBox
placeholder	sub_18001B9F0	Placeholder object
separator	sub_18003ABD0	AC_ToolbarSeparatorImpl

---

Usage Patterns

Getting AC_Manager Instance

// Via PLUG_Services (from ToonBoomPlugInManager.dll)
AC_Manager* manager = PLUG_Services::getActionManager();

Creating a Toolbar

QList<QString> ids;
AC_Toolbar* toolbar = manager->createToolbar(
    xmlElement,        // QDomElement with toolbar definition
    &ids,              // Output: list of created item IDs
    mainWindow,        // QMainWindow to attach to
    Qt::TopToolBarArea,// Toolbar area
    "myToolbar",       // Object name
    owner              // Owner QObject for cleanup
);

Triggering an Action

AC_Result result = manager->trigger(
    "NetworkView",     // Responder identity
    "onActionZoomIn",  // Action/slot name
    false              // Don't iterate all responders
);

Validating an Action

bool enabled, checked;
manager->performValidation("NetworkView", "onActionZoomIn", &enabled, &checked);

---

Related Files

• framework/include/toon_boom/ac_manager.hpp - AC_Manager header
• framework/include/toon_boom/toolbar.hpp - AC_Toolbar header
• framework/include/toon_boom/PLUG_Services.hpp - Service access

---

Methodology

This analysis was performed using:

1. IDA Pro decompilation of ToonBoomActionManager.dll
2. Vtable analysis to identify class hierarchies
3. Constructor/destructor analysis for memory layout
4. Cross-reference analysis for method identification
5. String analysis for signal/slot names

All offsets verified against x64 Windows builds of Toon Boom Harmony Premium.