Adding a button to the attribute editor 2003-11-20 - By Bryan Ewert
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?from Thu, 20 Nov 2003 11:44:07 -0800
> I was curious if there's an easy way to add a button to the attribute
> editor and call some functionality. Any pointers would be appreciated.
Yep.
The Attribute Editor, like any UI, is built via MEL scripts. The scripts
which build the Attribute Editor are found in:
/AW/Maya5.0/scripts/AETemplates/
Each nodetype has its own script:
AE[nodetype]Template.mel
You may either edit these scripts in-place, or override them with a script
in your own scripts folder. Much of the AE is modular. For example, all
shape nodes call AEshapeTemplate() which adds the Display Info and Node
Behavior sections (and a couple others).
Some tips when modifying AE template scripts:
1. Maya initializes the controls for the Attribute Editor _only once_,
the first time it sees a node of a given type. If you modify
AEmeshTemplate.mel, for example, the Attribute Editor won't reflect
the changes immediately. You'll need to do two things:
source AEmeshTemplate;
resetAE;
This works most reliably if the AE is torn off in its own window.
2. For simple attributes, you can simply use:
editorTemplate -addControl myAttribute;
and you're done. However, if the UI for the control requires more, err,
control, then you'll need to use the -callCustom flag.
3. For custom layouts, look into the attr* MEL commands; e.g. attrFieldGrp.
These have the attribute connection/feedback built into them already, so
there's less work for you to do.
4. If the attr* control groups don't satisfy your needs, consider using
connectControl. If this doesn't work for you either, then you're down
to handling all of the UI callbacks yourself to synchronize the UI
with the attribute.
5. At the end of your "New" procedure for custom control layouts, call
your "Replace" procedure. The "Replace" procedure is responsible for
editing the control groups to attach them to the attribute for the
currently selected node (e.g. via the -attribute flag, or the
connectControl command). Note that you don't need to perform a
"ls -sl" at any time; the argument passed into these procedures
provides the current node for you.
6. If you use a custom layout for your attribute, add an extra line to
the template:
editorTemplate -suppress myAttribute;
This prevents the attribute from being added in the Extra Attributes
section.
7. Your additions need not be restricted to attribute controls. You can
add buttons or textual information (e.g. a textScrollList) as well,
if it suits your purpose. How about a custom camera viewport? I'd bet
money that the boys at Secret Level have an Internet Explorer browser
docked into their AE somewhere...
It's a bit of work, but it makes for intuitive integration of your tools. I
use custom AETemplates extensively.
--
Bryan Ewert ?maya@(protected) ?http://www.ewertb.com ?
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