history

DIC Preprocess replaces its generic state bucket

id: LK-20260716-dic-preprocess-state-capabilities
date: 2026-07-16
sequence: 85
type: refactor
compatibility: compatible
component: `labkit_DICPreprocess_app` | `1.5.2 -> 1.5.3`
scope: DIC
scope: App ownership

Context

The generic +appState package mixed three unrelated concepts: durable align/crop undo history, mask editing and undo, and a predicate over transient source-image cache state. The name exposed storage mechanics without helping a maintainer find the behavior they needed.

Decision and rationale

Group these operations by the capability that owns their invariants. editHistory owns align/crop snapshots and reset behavior, maskEditing owns mask canvas composition and undo snapshots, and sourceFiles owns the loaded image-pair predicate. None is promoted to LabKit because the project fields, undo limits, image semantics, and operation order are specific to DIC Preprocess.

Changes

Moved four edit-history operations into +editHistory.
Moved five mask composition/history operations into +maskEditing.
Moved the image-pair readiness predicate into +sourceFiles.
Updated actions, presenters, preview requests, and direct state tests to use the capability paths.
Removed the generic +appState package without adding an adapter.

User and data impact

All controls, calculations, undo limits, project fields, masks, alignment/crop history, and viewport behavior are unchanged. Code navigation now starts from the user capability rather than an undifferentiated state bucket.

Compatibility and migration

This is an app-internal ownership change. Project payloads and public GUI-free scientific APIs are unchanged, so saved projects require no migration.

Validation

State tests cover history trimming, reset/restore behavior, mask composition, and image-pair readiness through the new capability paths. The full DIC Preprocess unit and hidden GUI workflows verify the unchanged callers.

Evidence

Known limitations and follow-up

definitionActions.m remains a large but cohesive workflow coordinator. Its callbacks will be compared with other interaction-heavy image Apps before any further extraction; file length alone is not a reason to create another technical package.