Howto to pass arguments to a python script

Gaal Dornik

Hello, i'd like to pass arguments for a python script via shortcuts, is this possible?

Thanks.

ferdinand

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About your First Question

Just as note for future support requests, your question is very ambiguous, please try to be more precise in the future, as we have to guess and cover multiple cases otherwise.

The answer to your question depends on what you would consider to be a 'Python script' and 'arguments'.

When you run your script against an instance of c4dpy, arguments are handled just as in a vanilla interpreter, i.e., command line arguments will end up in sys.argv. When a script is for you a Script Manager script, the question is hard to answer, as there is no way to pass arguments here, as such scripts are invoked by clicking a button.

In a Script Manager script, you can open a dialog to let the user make inputs, or as a naiver approach, put global constants to be modified by the user at the top of the file. To have the pattern of a cogwheel icon next to a command icon as shown below, to allow users to define settings before running the command, you will have to implement a CommandData plugin. But opening a dialog in a script is not that much different functionality wise.

Cheers,
Ferdinand

Gaal Dornik

To eliminate ambiguity - i want to bind multiple keyboard shortcuts to a single python script, but with different arguments obviously.
It's supporsed to be done inside of Cinema 4D (not c4dpy). In Modo for example you can bind a shortcut to a script with arguments pretty easily - you just add args separated with a space after name of the script: cmds.mapKey F5 @{script.py} arg1 arg2 ... etc. I was hoping for a similar solution...

I guess i'll take dialog route in this case.

Thanks.

ferdinand

Hey @Gaal-Dornik,

In Cinema 4D you can bind a command to multiple shortcuts, but adding arguments is not possible. You would have to poll the keyboard yourself to distinguish such events.

Cheers,
Ferdinand

Result:

Code:

"""Runs different code based on which keys are pressed.

Must be run as a Script Manager script. Pressing Shift+ALT+A while the script is invoked will
print "Foo", while pressing Ctrl+Alt+A will print "Bar".

See:
    https://developers.maxon.net/docs/py/2024_0_0a/misc/inputevents.html
"""
import c4d

def CheckKeyboardState(*args: tuple[str]) -> bool:
    """Returns #True when the given key sequence is pressed, #False otherwise.
    """
    result = []
    for char in (n.upper() for n in args if isinstance(n, str)):
        if char == "SHIFT":
            c = c4d.KEY_SHIFT
        elif char == "CTRL":
            c = c4d.KEY_CONTROL
        elif char == "ALT":
            c = c4d.KEY_ALT
        else:
            c = ord(char)
            
        bc = c4d.BaseContainer()
        if not c4d.gui.GetInputState(c4d.BFM_INPUT_KEYBOARD, c, bc):
            raise RuntimeError("Failed to poll the keyboard.")

        result += [True if bc[c4d.BFM_INPUT_VALUE] == 1 else False]

    return all(result)

def main() -> None:
    """
    """
    if CheckKeyboardState("Shift", "Alt", "A"):
        print ("Foo")
    elif CheckKeyboardState("Ctrl", "Alt", "A"):
        print ("Bar")
    else:
        print("None")



if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()