Godot: Return RaycastHit instead of Dictionary when using intersect_ray()

[somnivore]

Godot version:

37e198c32006d18c9443bf65963ba8182b7d76a6

OS/device including version:

Arch Linux

Issue description:

Physics2DDirectSpaceState.intersect_ray() returns a dictionary with various entries related to how the ray went:

{
   position: Vector2 # point in world space for collision
   normal: Vector2 # normal in world space for collision
   collider: Object # Object collided or null (if unassociated)
   collider_id: ObjectID # Object it collided against
   rid: RID # RID it collided against
   shape: int # shape index of collider
   metadata: Variant() # metadata of collider
}

While this is functional, I think it would be better if a distinct type were returned, as autocomplete could then be used with the result. It seems that this is one of the only functions in the engine that uses a dictionary instead of a type; I'm not sure if there's an explicit reason for this or not.

This is also the case for the 3D variation, PhysicsDirectSpaceState

[bojidar-bg]

Ran a quick check for methods which have return type of Dictionary or Array of Dictionaries, here are some more that might need changing:

• Intersection: Physics{,2D}DirectSpaceState
  
  
  
  • {collider, metadata (only 2d), shape, collider_id, rid}: intersect_point, intersect_shape
  
  
  • {..., normal, position}: intersect_ray
  
  
  • {..., linear_velocity}: get_rest_info (has point instead of position)
  
  
• Dates: OS::get_{date,time,datetime,datetime_from_unix_time,time_zone_info}
• Tuples of a few values:
  
  
  
  • Currently dictionary: Geometry::make_atlas, TreeItem::get_range_config
  
  
  • Currently array: @GDScript::rand_seed, Physics{,2D}DirectSpaceState::cast_motion, Mesh::*arrays*, Animation::transform_track_interpolate
  
  
• Property info: Object::{,_}get_property_list, ClassDB::class_get_property_list, VisualServer::shader_get_param_list, EditorImportPlugin::get_import_options, AnimationNode::get_parameter_list
• Method Info: Object::get_method_list, ClassDB::class_get_method_list, ClassDB::class_get_signal_list, ClassDB::class_get_signal, Object::get_signal_list
• Misc:
  
  
  
  • Licensing: Engine::get_*_info
  
  
  • Used only once: GraphEdit::get_connection_list, ARVRServer::get_interfaces, VisualServer::texture_debug_usage, Object::get_incoming_connections, Object::get_signal_connection_list
  
  

In light of that, I think it would be nice to have the following changes:

• Intersection{,2D} classes, with the following properties:
  
  
  
  • collider, collider_id, shape, rid: as is now
  
  
  • metadata: from PhysicsServer{,2D}::shape_get_data, both 2d and 3d
  
  
  • position: for all functions, except intersect_shape (unless it is possible without perf. problems)
  
  
  • normal: Vector2(0, 0) when unknown (as is with intersect_point)
  
  
  • linear_velocity: Vector2(0, 0) when unknown (as is with all except get_rest_info)
  
  
• Date class, which replaces the functions in the OS class: #6463
• PropertyInfo and MethodInfo as real classes. Not sure how doable this is though.
• Some slight changes to Dictionary formats used only once, either by adding a small class or by refactoring those cases to not use Dictionaries:
  
  
  
  • Change Geometry::make_atlas to either return one thing or return an array, for consistency.
  
  
  • Change TreeItem::get_range_config to return an array, for consistency.
  
  
  • Change ARVRServer::get_interfaces (which currently returns {idx, name}) to ARVRServer::get_interface_names or make it return the actual interface objects as done by ::get_interface(idx).
  
  

[madmiraal]

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