The Project Grid

The grid shows one row for each target of the project, with a column for any setting you choose. Use it for projects with many targets and for changes that apply to several of them.

Grid view of a project with seven targets: the toolbar with Filter targets, Group by flow, Setup public obfuscation, Setup merge and the count 7 targets, the columns #, State, File, Details, Output, Progress, String Encryption and Control Flow Obfuscation, six rows completed and BubbleBurst.exe selected with Completed with warnings and 4 warnings, and the properties panel of BubbleBurst.exe open on the right — The grid with two setting columns added and the properties panel open

Switching Views

Switch views with Canvas | Grid at the top right, View > Canvas / View > Grid (Ctrl+Shift+C / Ctrl+Shift+G, Cmd+Shift+C / Cmd+Shift+G on macOS), or View: Canvas / View: Grid in the command palette. The canvas is the default. Babel Desktop remembers each project’s view on this computer; switching neither changes the project file nor marks it as modified.

Selecting a row is like clicking its node, and the properties panel works the same in both views. In the grid, the toolbar adds Run results next to the view switch, and a second row with Filter targets, Group by flow, Setup public obfuscation and Setup merge (see Setup Commands).

Rows and Columns

Each row is a target. Assemblies merged into a target have no row and appear in its Inputs tab. The count at the right of the toolbar reads, for example, 7 targets, 1 target · 10 merged when targets are merged into another target, or 3 of 12 targets when filtered.

Column	Content
#	Position in project order
State	Ready, Running, Completed, Completed with warnings, Failed or Missing input
File	Input file, with the chevron that opens the details
Details	A summary such as merges 3 · embeds 1 · refs 2, or the warning count after a run
Output	The output file set for the target; empty when the target writes to the default `BabelOut` folder
Progress	Progress of the target during a run, kept after the run ends

Choosing Columns

Right-click a column header, or press the menu key or Shift+F10 on a header, to choose the visible columns. Besides the default columns you can add Flow · Step, Run after, Input path and any setting of the properties panel, such as String Encryption or Control Flow Obfuscation. Restore defaults goes back to the default set. File is always shown.

Column chooser open over the grid header, with check boxes for # · Project order, State, File (always on), Details, Output and Progress checked, and Flow · Step, Run after, Input path and Dynamic Proxy unchecked — Choosing the visible columns

Drag a header, or press Alt+← / Alt+→ on it, to move a column. The column set and order are remembered on this computer and apply to every project.

Sorting, Filtering and Grouping

Click a header to sort by that column, then again for descending order. Sorting changes only what you see; it never changes the run order. Click # to go back to Project order.

Type in Filter targets to show only the rows whose text matches. Group by flow puts the rows of each flow under a Flow 1, Flow 2 heading. With the Flow · Step and Run after columns added, the grid shows what runs before what.

Grid grouped by flow with the Flow · Step and Run after columns: Flow 1 with CrossAssembly1.dll at 1 · 1 and CrossAssembly1App.dll at 1 · 2 running after CrossAssembly1.dll, Flow 2 and Flow 3 with the same pattern for CrossAssembly2 and CrossAssembly3, and Flow 4 with BubbleBurst.exe alone at 4 · 1 — Rows grouped by flow

Selecting and Editing

You select rows and edit cells as in a spreadsheet, with the mouse or entirely from the keyboard.

To	Do
Select a row	Click it, or move with the arrow keys
Add or remove a row from the selection	`Ctrl`+click (`Cmd`+click on macOS), or `Ctrl+Space` on the focused row
Select a range	`Shift`+click, or `Shift` with the arrow keys
Select every row shown	`Ctrl+A` (`Cmd+A` on macOS). With a filter, only the rows that match are selected.
Move between cells	Arrow keys, `Home`, `End`, `Page Up`, `Page Down`
Edit a cell	`Enter`, `F2`, a double-click, or start typing
Confirm or cancel an edit	`Enter` or `Tab` confirms, `Esc` cancels

A setting cell is edited with the same control as in the properties panel: a check box, a list, a text field or a file picker. Composite settings show a summary, such as on · goto, switch or 3 filters, and open their editor in a popover.

Popover editor of the Control Flow Obfuscation cell of CrossAssembly1.dll, with one list for each property: Enable / default set to Default, goto set to Enabled, and switch, case, if, call, value and token set to Default — Editing a composite setting in a popover

An edit applies to every selected row. When some targets refuse the value, Babel Desktop lists them under Not applied to every selected target:, and the other targets keep the new value.

Settings cannot be changed while a run is in progress. #, State, File, Details, Progress, Flow · Step and Input path are read-only.

Run Order

The order of the rows in project order is the order of the targets in the project file. To change it, sort by # first, then drag rows, press Alt+↑ / Alt+↓, or use Move up / Move down in the row menu. These act on the selected rows and the new order is saved with the project.

The Run after cell lists the targets this one waits for. Editing it opens a list of the other targets with a check box each: ticking a target adds a flow edge from that target to this one, clearing the box removes the edge. Targets this one reads a map from are ticked and cannot be cleared there; remove the map link instead.

Targets still run after their flow edges and map links: moving a row never makes a target run before a target it waits for. With Settings > Obfuscation > Run independent flows in parallel off, the targets run in row order within those limits. With it on, independent flows can run at the same time.

Target Details

The chevron in the File cell, or Show details / Hide details in the row menu, opens five tabs under the row, each with a count:

Tab	Content
Inputs	Merged, embedded and referenced assemblies, each with an Action list (Merge, Embed or Reference). A file that does not exist is marked The file was not found.
Rules	XML rules files
Maps	Map files the target reads. A map written by another target of the project reads From and the name of that target.
Plugins	Engine plugin DLLs
Search directories	Folders where the engine looks for referenced assemblies

Details of BubbleBurst.exe open under its row on the Inputs tab with the count 4: BubbleBurst.View.dll, BubbleBurst.ViewModel.dll and MvvmFoundation.Wpf.dll set to Merge and Thriple.dll set to Embed, each with a trash icon, and the Rules, Maps, Plugins and Search directories tabs at 0 — The inputs of a target

The + icon at the right of the tabs adds entries with a file or folder picker; on the Inputs tab it offers Add assemblies to merge…, Add assemblies to embed…, Add assembly references… and Add dependency automatically…. The trash icon of an entry removes it. Right-click a Rules or Maps entry and choose Apply to all targets to add that file to every target that does not have it yet.

Details of CrossAssembly1App.dll on the Maps tab with the count 1: the entry CrossAssembly1.dll.map.xml marked From CrossAssembly1.dll, with a trash icon — A map written by another target

Dropping Files

Drop files from the file manager on the grid:

Assemblies on an empty area create targets. On a row or on its Inputs tab they are merged into that target.
A .snk or .pfx file on a row becomes its key file, or that of every selected row when the row is part of the selection.
.xml files on the Rules or Maps tab are added as rules or map files, and .dll files on the Plugins tab as plugins.
A .babel file opens that project.

Other files are refused with These files cannot be dropped here.

Right-click a row, or press the menu key or Shift+F10, to open its menu. For one row it starts with the commands of the node menu; for several selected rows it starts with Remove targets, which asks for confirmation.

Row menu of CrossAssembly2App.dll with Merge into..., Embed into..., Add assemblies to merge..., Add assemblies to embed..., Add assembly references..., Add dependency automatically..., Properties, Remove target, Set obfuscation level, Copy settings, Paste settings (unavailable), Move up, Move down and Show details — The menu of a row

Command	Effect
Set obfuscation level	Level: Light, Level: Balanced or Level: Maximum on the selected rows. See Protection Levels.
Copy settings	Remembers the protection settings of this row
Paste settings	Replaces the protection settings of the selected rows with the copied ones
Move up, Move down	Moves the selected rows in project order
Show details, Hide details	Opens or closes the tabs under the selected rows

Paste settings also clears protections that are not set on the source row, so the targets end up with the same protection. Paths, dependencies, passwords, map and log settings, plugin arguments and inline XML rules are never copied.

Working with Many Targets

A few ways to configure a large project quickly:

Configure one target, then Copy settings on its row, select the other rows and choose Paste settings.
Type part of a name in Filter targets, press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on macOS) to select the matching rows, and edit a setting column once for all of them.
Select rows and use Set obfuscation level to give them a starting point, then adjust single settings in their columns.
Add a rules file or a map file to one target and use Apply to all targets on its entry.
Add the Flow · Step and Run after columns and turn on Group by flow before a run to check the order.