Seperator Tag Plugin
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On 07/06/2016 at 07:55, xxxxxxxx wrote:
My bad for not recognizing it's about COFFEE.
You're example that implements PluginTag::Edit()
is probably the best available option then.
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On 10/06/2016 at 05:10, xxxxxxxx wrote:
Scott & NiklasR, thank you very much for your replies and sorry for only replying now.
It only occurred to me last night that there's a free COFFEE plugin which has a dialog setup exactly like what I want to make with mine. The dialog of Fabian's MirrorPointPosition plugin has a non-modal dialog when you double-click on the plugin. However, even though he kindly supplies the COFFEE code with his plugin, his scripting skills are so many light years beyond mine that I can't seem to figure out how he does it.
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On 10/06/2016 at 08:02, xxxxxxxx wrote:
I took a quick look at that plugin's code. And he's doing what I said earlier about using a GeDialog to target the active object. Only he goes one step farther, and targets a custom tag on the active object.
The tag in his plugin is only there to hold some data.
C4D creates these kinds of vertex tags automatically when you make a new object. But they are hidden by default.
But you can also make your own tag to hold the data like he did.The key components are:
1- GeDialog class: The non modal dialog with all the gizmos in it
2- Command class: Launches the GeDialog from the C4D plugins menu (hosts the GeDialog when it's closed)
3- ExpressionPluginTag class: The tag pluginDepending on what you want to do. You might not need the tag plugin part. It's only there to hold some specific data.
But in any case. If you want to write plugins in any language. You will need to get a good grip on writing classes and class methods.
Scripts don't use classes very often. But that's what plugins are all about. Classes and methods.
There's a ton of tutorials about that on the internet. But it will probably take you a bit of head banging before it finally clicks. It's a necessary thing to learn to make plugins.-ScottA
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On 10/06/2016 at 16:23, xxxxxxxx wrote:
Originally posted by xxxxxxxx
I took a quick look at that plugin's code. And he's doing what I said earlier about using a GeDialog to target the active object. Only he goes one step farther, and targets a custom tag on the active object.
The tag in his plugin is only there to hold some data.
C4D creates these kinds of vertex tags automatically when you make a new object. But they are hidden by default.
But you can also make your own tag to hold the data like he did.The key components are:
1- GeDialog class: The non modal dialog with all the gizmos in it
2- Command class: Launches the GeDialog from the C4D plugins menu (hosts the GeDialog when it's closed)
3- ExpressionPluginTag class: The tag pluginDepending on what you want to do. You might not need the tag plugin part. It's only there to hold some specific data.
But in any case. If you want to write plugins in any language. You will need to get a good grip on writing classes and class methods.
Scripts don't use classes very often. But that's what plugins are all about. Classes and methods.
There's a ton of tutorials about that on the internet. But it will probably take you a bit of head banging before it finally clicks. It's a necessary thing to learn to make plugins.-ScottA
Hi Scott
Thank you very much for having a look at the code and giving your insights.
I suspected that a full fledged plugin would be much more complex than the scripts I've been delving into. It appears I'll have to start looking into C++ as that will also help me overcome some of the limitations associated with COFFEE. However, just the thought of it, makes my hair stand on end. I think I'll have to follow your course on Youtube to begin with and work from there but that will have to wait untill I've got more time on my hands. Untill then I'll see if I can grasp the classes and stuff as that really makes my head spin.
Thanks again.
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On 10/06/2016 at 17:21, xxxxxxxx wrote:
Many of COFFEEs limitations can be circumvented with Python already. While it's still limiting in some areas, it's certainly powerful in most others.
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On 10/06/2016 at 18:00, xxxxxxxx wrote:
And the slight learning curve for Python and the C4D Python API is well worth the power gained over COFFEE.
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On 10/06/2016 at 18:18, xxxxxxxx wrote:
He's stuck with R12 which doesn't support Python.
So Python is not an option for him guys.-ScottA
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On 10/06/2016 at 18:24, xxxxxxxx wrote:
There was Py4D but it wasn't integrated into C4D yet and probably not totally compatible with the integrated API, I agree.
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On 13/06/2016 at 08:51, xxxxxxxx wrote:
Hey guys,
nice discussion you have going on here.
Not sure the SDK team can contribute much more here.
In general we recommend to use the latest version of C4D (which seems to be no option here) and from our point of view Python would be the road to go. Also we can support only the latest version of C4D. While we usually try to stretch this rule as far as possible, I'm afraid R12 or even R10.5 are completely out of our scope. Sorry. -
On 13/06/2016 at 23:08, xxxxxxxx wrote:
Thank you to everyone who responded. I really appreciate the help & insights tremendously.
Originally posted by xxxxxxxx
Hey guys,
nice discussion you have going on here.
Not sure the SDK team can contribute much more here.
In general we recommend to use the latest version of C4D (which seems to be no option here) and from our point of view Python would be the road to go. Also we can support only the latest version of C4D. While we usually try to stretch this rule as far as possible, I'm afraid R12 or even R10.5 are completely out of our scope. Sorry.Hi Andreas
I didn't intend to upset the forum guidelines so could you please clarify: Should I rather not pose questions about COFFEE scripting here? Should I rather post on a 3rd party forum like CGTalk? I don't think my question was version specific and I only mentioned my version situation so that it would be clear that I was specifically seeking COFFEE help.
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On 14/06/2016 at 00:37, xxxxxxxx wrote:
Hi Uncle-Ox,
I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention.
You didn't upset any forum guidelines. Everything's alright. It's fine to post COFFEE questions in here. I just wanted to say, that we have no better ideas, than already discussed.
And of course you are also free to discuss older versions (only partly the case here, I know), even if the SDK team might not be able to help in such cases.