How to store BaseShader to HyperFile

gheyret

I'm trying to store the Shaders created in my plugin into Hyperfile for next use.
I can store the GetDataInstance() of the shader, but when I encounter layer shader, the internal shaders can't be stored.
So I'm wondering if I can store the shader directly to the hyperfile.

ferdinand

Hey @gheyret,

Thank you for reaching out to us. To store multiple nodes in a HyperFile, you can use HyperFile.WriteData as GeData can wrap a BaseList2D. The alternative would be to just use C4DAtom.Write or .WriteObject. What to use concretely depends a bit on what you are doing.

In general I would also avoid serializing nodes myself, but in some cases it can be necessary, it again depends on the case.

Cheers,
Ferdinand

gheyret

Hi @ferdinand
Thank you for your reply.
I try to use HyperFile.WriteData to store my shader and save it on my local path.
And when I try to read the hyperfile to get that shader, that return None for me.
This is my test code:

import c4d


key = 12345
path = "..."

def store_shader(data):
    hf = c4d.storage.HyperFile()
    if hf.Open(ident=key, filename=path, mode=c4d.FILEOPEN_WRITE, error_dialog=c4d.FILEDIALOG_NONE):
        hf.WriteData(data)
        hf.Close()
        return True
    return False

def read_shader():
    hf = c4d.storage.HyperFile()
    if hf.Open(ident=key, filename=path, mode=c4d.FILEOPEN_READ, error_dialog=c4d.FILEDIALOG_NONE):
        data = hf.ReadData()
        hf.Close()
        return data
    return None


def main() -> None:
    shader = doc.GetActiveMaterial()[c4d.MATERIAL_COLOR_SHADER]

    # this will print True
    print(store_shader(shader))

    # this will print None, the shader is missing?
    print(read_shader())


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

ferdinand

Hey @gheyret,

sorry, today is a bank holiday in Germany, I just answered this on the side. This probably means nodes have not been implemented in the Python wrapper for HyerFile.WriteData. I would try my luck with the C4DAtom methods then.

Cheers,
Ferdinand

gheyret

it's okay, It's not a big rush for me.
Hope you enjoy your holiday.
Cheers~

ferdinand

Hey @gheyret,

okay, I had a brief look, and I could not get the shader deserialization to work either. Not sure why, I think I was passing the wrong disk level. This is too much of a complex problem as that I could answer this on the side, we will have a closer look after our company meeting.

I would recommend to use c4d files in the mean time to store your shaders as materials in a file. Alternatively, you could also store them as assets if you want to get all fancy.

Cheers,
Ferdinand

gheyret

Hi @ferdinand ,

Yeah! I'm actually considering saving the shader to .c4d file as well.
But it would be great if posible to store BaseList2D in Hyperfile.

Thank you!
Cheers!