Hey,
well, "intended" would be the wrong word, but I am aware. The whole resource parsing situation is a bit of a mess at the moment, both in C++ and the Python API.
Why is it like this?
A description is defined by a res file (more or less its GUI declaration) and an h file which declares symbols for parameter IDs. The resource for the loop tool looks like this:
CONTAINER ToolLoopSelection
{
NAME ToolLoopSelection;
INCLUDE ToolBase;
GROUP MDATA_MAINGROUP
{
BOOL MDATA_LOOP_SEL_STOP_AT_SELECTIONS { }
BOOL MDATA_LOOP_SEL_STOP_AT_NON_QUADS { }
BOOL MDATA_LOOP_SEL_STOP_AT_POLES { }
}
HIDE MDATA_COMMANDGROUP;
}
I.e., it indeed only defines three parameters. But the header file looks like this:
#ifndef TOOLLOOPSELECTION_H__
#define TOOLLOOPSELECTION_H__
enum
{
MDATA_LOOP_SEL_STOP_AT_SELECTIONS = 1100, // BOOL
MDATA_LOOP_SEL_STOP_AT_NON_QUADS = 1110, // BOOL
MDATA_LOOP_SEL_STOP_AT_POLES = 1120, // BOOL
MDATA_LOOP_FIRST_VERTEX = 1130, // LONG
MDATA_LOOP_SECOND_VERTEX = 1131, // LONG
MDATA_LOOP_POLYGON_INDEX = 1132, // LONG
MDATA_LOOP_BOTH_SIDES = 1133, // BOOL
MDATA_LOOP_SWAP_SIDES = 1134, // BOOL
MDATA_LOOP_SELECTION_TYPE = 1140, // LONG (must be SELECTION_NEW, SELECTION_ADD or SELECTION_SUB)
MDATA_LOOP_SEL_POLYGON_OBJECT = 1150, // LINK
};
#endif // TOOLLOOPSELECTION_H__
I.e., it not only defines these three parameters, but also all the others. Because there are all these "hidden" parameters which are written into the data container of the tool, but never show up in the GUI. What collides here is (a) the a bit irregular (but not illegal) behavior of a resource to define more parameters in its header file than are used in the resource and (b) the questionable decision of our resource parser to ignore hidden parameters.
Our resource parsing is automated, i.e., I cannot just go into a file and just add these parameters for a docs build. I could touch the resource parsers for Python and C++, but I do not have the time for that right now as they has been written in a very opaque manner.
My advice is simply what the docs suggest: Search in the header files directly. Go to your Cinema folder, make sure that the resource.zip is either unpacked to the local folder (the folder existing does not mean necessarily that it has been fully unpacked) or an external folder of your choice. And then simply search in that folder with an editor of your choice.
[image: 1775557617243-c122abc5-8cfc-40da-90be-534532600b4a-image-resized.png]
At some point I will replace the resource and symbols parsing for Python and C++, because we made there quite a mess in the past with questionable parsers and manually curated lists. But for now this cannot be changed and using the files directly is the way to go when you want to look at descriptions.
Cheers,
Ferdinand
PS: The C++ docs are NOT inherently better in that regard. The parser shares there the same flaws. The reason why you find some symbols there is because developers have duplicated them from the resources into the frameworks.
