Rename the .shader file extension to .gdshader

[Calinou]

This lets third-party software recognize Godot shaders more easily, without relying on guesswork since the .shader extension is generic.

Existing .shader files will have to be renamed to .gdshader to be recognized by Godot again.

This closes godotengine/godot-proposals#2488.

[YeldhamDev]

This should be added to Godot's MIME metadata file then: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/blob/master/misc/dist/linux/org.godotengine.Godot.xml

[Calinou]

This should be added to Godot's MIME metadata file then: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/blob/master/misc/dist/linux/org.godotengine.Godot.xml

Done 🙂

[aaronfranke]

Another reason that it's good to change this is that VS Code currently displays .shader files with the Unity logo.

.gdshader is better than .shader. It might also be worth considering .gdsl, I think I like .gdshader better, but I'm just putting this on the table for discussion.

(Note: I haven't actually tested the code, but I'm gonna give this an approval anyway)

[akien-mga]

I'm not opposed to the change, but this raises the questions of what to do with other extensions that are used for specific resource formats (most of which are the same format as .res with a nicer extension that communicates what the resource is), e.g. .material, .translation, .image, .stex, etc. Should they all be prefixed with .gd too?

However we might consider that shaders are different since those are actually text files with code, like GDScript's .gd.

Another reason that it's good to change this is that VS Code currently displays .shader files with the Unity logo.

I'd consider this to be a VS Code bug and not a good reason to do the change. Unity also uses extensions for metadata such as .asset (like we use .import) and I don't think any software should attempt to infer application-specific properties for such generic extensions.

[aaronfranke]

other extensions that are used for specific resource formats

I would recommend using .tres instead for those in most cases, but then there's also the question of whether we want things like .tmat or .tmaterial or similar.

[neikeq]

I'm not in favor of replacing the extensions with a harder to read one (like gdshader) just because someone gave another software the monopoly on generic extension names.

[YeldhamDev]

I'm not in favor of replacing the extensions with a harder to read one (like gdshader) just because someone gave another software the monopoly on generic extension names.

As Calinou's proposal stated, this is more so those files get identified for what they are: Godot's own shading language. ".shader" makes everything else think it's just GLSL.

[neikeq]

But this leaves us with an extension that's weird to read.
.gdShader could be ok, but I suppose we don't want that casing on extensions.

.gdsl is shorter and should be familiar as it's similar to glsl, so I think that one is better.

[LikeLakers2]

I'm a bit concerned about using .gdsl, because while it is similar to .glsl, it may be hard to spot the difference between the two while scrolling through a long file list. Admittedly, Godot projects will only use .gdsl, and not .glsl, but I still think .gdshader would be the better option as a result.

[josefkaragoli]

Admittedly, Godot projects will only use .gdsl, and not .glsl, but I still think .gdshader would be the better option as a result.

Godot projects in 4.0 can use glsl shaders directly

[akien-mga]

We discussed this in a PR review meeting and finally reached a consensus that renaming the extension to .gdshader would be fine, and paves the way for implement syntax highlighting for the Godot Shader Language in relevant IDEs/libraries.

Another reason that it's good to change this is that VS Code currently displays .shader files with the Unity logo.

We also discussed that if this is accurate, this is a bug and should be reported as such to VS Code. .shader is a very generic extension and shouldn't be attributed to a single game engine.

[akien-mga]

Thanks!