Willian Padovani Germano
039a8c95f3
- Pontus Lidman contributed a new module: Blender.Key + access to key objects from NMesh, Lattice and Curve + docs (thanks and sorry for taking so long to check/commit the patch!) - Allowing EVENT spacehandlers to call the file selector (scriptlinks in general are not allowed, but this special case should be able to). Requested by Paolo Colombo (thanks!) - tiny doc update (Ken Hughes pointed an error in the space handlers example) I didn't have time to update the Key module to follow the current bpython design, will do that later and also test it better than I did.
565 lines
22 KiB
Python
565 lines
22 KiB
Python
# This is not a real module, it's simply an introductory text.
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"""
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Blender Python related features
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===============================
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L{Back to Main Page<API_intro>}
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Introduction:
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=============
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This page describes special features available to BPython scripts:
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- Command line mode is accessible with the '-P' and '-b' Blender options.
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- Registration allows scripts to become available from some pre-defined menus
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in Blender, like Import, Export, Wizards and so on.
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- Script links are Blender Texts (scripts) executed when a particular event
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(redraws, .blend file loading, saving, frame changed, etc.) occurs. Now
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there are also "Space Handlers" to draw onto or get events from a given
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space (only 3D View now) in some window.
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- Proper documentation data is used by the 'Scripts Help Browser' script to
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show help information for any registered script. Your own GUI can use
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this facility with the L{Blender.ShowHelp} function.
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- Configuration is for data in your script that can be tweaked according to
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user taste or needs. Like documentation, this is another helper
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functionality -- you don't need to provide a GUI yourself to edit config
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data.
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Command line usage:
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===================
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Specifying scripts:
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-------------------
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The '-P' option followed either by:
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- a script filename (full pathname if not in the same folder where you run
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the command);
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- the name of a Text in a .blend file (that must also be specified)
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will open Blender and immediately run the given script.
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Example::
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# open Blender and execute the given script:
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blender -P script.py
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Passing parameters:
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-------------------
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To pass parameters to the script you can:
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- write them to a file before running Blender, then make your script parse that file;
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- set environment variables and access them with the 'os' module:
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Examples with parameters being passed to the script via command line::
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# execute a command like:
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myvar=value blender -P script.py
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# and in script.py access myvar with os.getenv
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# (os.environ and os.setenv are also useful):
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# script.py:
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import os
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val = os.getenv('myvar')
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# To pass multiple parameters, simply write them in sequence,
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# separated by spaces:
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myvar1=value1 myvar2=value2 mystr="some string data" blender -P script.py
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Background mode:
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----------------
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In '-b' mode no windows will be opened: the program will run as a command
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line tool able to render stills and animations and execute any working Python
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script with complete access to loaded .blend's file contents. Once the task
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is completed, the program will exit.
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Background mode examples::
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# Open Blender in background mode with file 'myfile.blend'
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# and run the script 'script.py':
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blender -b myfile.blend -P script.py
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# Note: a .blend file is always required. 'script.py' can be a file
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# in the file system or a Blender Text stored in 'myfile.blend'.
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# Let's assume 'script.py' has code to render the current frame;
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# this line will set the [s]tart and [e]nd (and so the current) frame to
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# frame 44 and call the script:
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blender -b myfile.blend -s 44 -e 44 -P script.py
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# Using now a script written to render animations, we set different
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# start and end frames and then execute this line:
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blender -b myfile.blend -s 1 -e 10 -P script.py
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# Note: we can also set frames and define if we want a single image or
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# an animation in the script body itself, naturally.
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The rendered pictures will be written to the default render folder, that can
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also be set via bpython (take a look at L{Render.RenderData}). Their
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names will be the equivalent frame number followed by the extension of the
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chosen image type: 0001.png, for example. To rename them to something else,
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coders can use the C{rename} function in the standard 'os' Python module.
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Reminder: if you just need to render, it's not necessary to have a script.
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Blender can create stills and animations with its own command line arguments.
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Example:
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- a single image at frame 44: blender -b myfile.blend -f 44
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- an animation from frame 1 to 10: blender -b myfile.blend -s 1 -e 10 -a
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Script links:
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=============
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Object script links:
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--------------------
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Users can link Blender Text scripts and objects to have the script
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code executed when specific events occur to the objects. For example, if a
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Camera has an script link set to "FrameChanged", the script will be executed
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whenever the current frame is changed. Links can either be manually added by
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users on the Buttons window -> Scripts tab or created by another script (see,
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for example, L{Object.addScriptLink<Object.Object.addScriptLink>}).
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These are the types which can be linked to scripts:
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- Camera Data;
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- Lamp Data;
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- Materials;
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- Objects;
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- Scenes;
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- Worlds.
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And these are the available event choices:
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- Redraw;
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- FrameChanged;
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- Render;
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- OnLoad (*);
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- OnSave (*).
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(*) only available for scenes
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There are three L{Blender} module variables that script link authors should
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be aware of:
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- B{bylink}: True if the script is running as a script link;
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- B{link}: the object the running script was linked to (None if this is
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not a script link);
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- B{event}: the event type, if the running script is being executed as a
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script link.
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Example::
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#script link
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import Blender
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if Blender.bylink: # we're running as a script link
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print "Event: %s for %s" % (Blender.event, Blender.link)
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B{Important note about "Render" events}:
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Each "Render" script link is executed twice: before rendering and after, for
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reverting changes and for possible clean up actions. Before rendering,
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'Blender.event' will be "Render" and after rendering it will be "PostRender".
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Example::
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# render script link
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import Blender
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event = Blender.event
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if event == "Render":
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# prepare for rendering
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create_my_very_detailed_mesh_data()
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elif event == "PostRender":
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# done rendering, clean up
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delete_my_very_detailed_mesh_data()
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As suggested by the example above, this is specially useful for script links
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that need to generate data only useful while rendering, or in case they need
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to switch between two mesh data objects, one meant for realtime display and
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the other, more detailed, for renders.
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Space Handler script links:
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---------------------------
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This is a new kind of script linked to spaces in a given window. Right now
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only the 3D View has the necessary hooks, but the plan is to add access to
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other types, too. Just to clarify naming conventions: in Blender, a screen
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is partitioned in windows (also called areas) and each window can show any
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space. Spaces are: 3D View, Text Editor, Scripts, Buttons, User Preferences,
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Oops, etc.
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Space handlers are texts in the Text Editor, like other script links, but they
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need to have a special header to be recognized -- B{I{the first line in the
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text file}} must inform:
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1. that they are space handlers;
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2. the space they belong to;
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3. whether they are EVENT or DRAW handlers.
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Example header for a 3D View EVENT handler::
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# SPACEHANDLER.VIEW3D.EVENT
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Example header for a 3D View DRAW handler::
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# SPACEHANDLER.VIEW3D.DRAW
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Available space handlers can be toggled "on" or "off" in the space header's
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B{View->Space Handler Scripts} submenu, by the user.
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EVENT space handler scripts are called by that space's event handling callback
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in Blender. The script receives the event B{before} it is further processed
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by the program. An EVENT handler script should check Blender.event (compare
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it against L{Draw} events) and either:
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- process it (the script must set Blender.event to None then);
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- ignore it.
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Setting C{Blender.event = None} tells Blender not to go on processing itself
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the event, because it was grabbed by the script.
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Example::
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# SPACEHANDLER.VIEW3D.EVENT
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import Blender
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from Blender import Draw
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evt = Blender.event
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return_it = False
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if evt == DRAW.LEFTMOUSE:
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print "Swallowing the left mouse button press"
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elif evt == DRAW.AKEY:
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print "Swallowing an 'a' character"
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else:
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print "Let the 3D View itself process this event:", evt
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return_it = True
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# if Blender should not process itself the passed event:
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if not return_it: Blender.event = None
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DRAW space handlers are called by that space's drawing callback in Blender.
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The script is called B{after} the space has been drawn.
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Two of the L{Blender} module variables related to script links assume
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different roles for space handlers:
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- B{bylink} is the same: True if the script is running as a script link;
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- B{link}: integer from the L{Blender}.SpaceHandlers constant dictionary,
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tells what space this handler belongs to and the handler's type
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(EVENT, DRAW);
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- B{event}:
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- EVENT handlers: an input event (check keys and mouse events in L{Draw})
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to be processed or ignored.
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- DRAW handlers: 0 always.
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B{Guidelines (important)}:
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- EVENT handlers can access and change Blender objects just like any other
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script, but they should not draw to the screen, B{use a DRAW handler to do
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that}. Specifically: L{Draw.Image} and the L{BGL} drawing functions
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should not be used inside an EVENT handler.
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- DRAW handlers should leave the space in the same state it was before they
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were executed. OpenGL attributes and the modelview and projection matrices
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are automatically saved (pushed) before a DRAW handler runs and restored
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(poped) after it finishes, no need to worry about that. Draw handlers
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should not grab events;
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- If script handlers need to pass information to each other (for example an
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EVENT handler passing info to a DRAW handler), use the L{Registry} module.
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- in short: use the event handler to deal with events and the draw handler to
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draw and your script will be following the recommended practices for
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Blender code.
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Registering scripts:
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====================
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To be registered a script needs two things:
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- to be either in the default scripts dir or in the user defined scripts
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path (see User Preferences window -> File Paths tab -> Python path);
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- to have a proper header.
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Try 'blender -d' to know where your default dir for scripts is, it will
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inform either the dir or the file with that info already parsed, which is
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in the same dir of the scripts folder.
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The header should be like this one (all double and single apostrophes below
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are required)::
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#!BPY
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# \"\"\"
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# Name: 'Script Name'
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# Blender: 233
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# Group: 'Export'
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# Submenu: 'All' all
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# Submenu: 'Selected' sel
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# Submenu: 'Configure (gui)' gui
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# Tooltip: 'Export to some format.'
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# \"\"\"
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where:
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- B{Name} is the string that will appear in the menu;
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- B{Blender} is the minimum program version required to run the script;
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- B{Group} defines where the script will be put, see all groups in the
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Scripts Window's header, menu "Scripts";
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- B{Submenu} adds optional submenus for further control;
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- B{Tooltip} is the (short) tooltip string for the menu entry.
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note:
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- all double and single apostrophes above are required;
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- you can "comment out" the header above, by starting lines with
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'#', like we did. This is not required (except for the first line, #!BPY,
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of course), but this way the header won't conflict with Python tools that
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you can use to generate documentation for your script code. Just
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remember to keep this header above any other line with triple
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double-quotes (\"\"\") in your script.
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Submenu lines are not required, use them if you want to provide extra
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options. To see which submenu the user chose, check the "__script__"
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dictionary in your code: __script__['arg'] has the defined keyword (the word
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after the submenu string name: all, sel or gui in the example above) of the
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chosen submenu. For example, if the user clicked on submenu 'Selected' above,
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__script__['arg'] will be "sel".
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If your script requires extra data or configuration files, there is a special
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folder where they can be saved: see 'datadir' in L{Blender.Get}.
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Documenting scripts:
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====================
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The "Scripts Help Browser" script in the Help menu can parse special variables
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from registered scripts and display help information for users. For that,
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authors only need to add proper information to their scripts, after the
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registration header.
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The expected variables:
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- __bpydoc__ (or __doc__) (type: string):
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- The main help text. Write a first short paragraph explaining what the
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script does, then add the rest of the help text, leaving a blank line
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between each new paragraph. To force line breaks you can use <br> tags.
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- __author__ (type: string or list of strings):
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- Author name(s).
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- __version__ (type: string):
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- Script version. A good recommendation is using a version number followed
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by the date in the format YYYY/MM/DD: "1.0 2005/12/31".
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- __url__ (type: string or list of strings):
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- Internet links that are shown as buttons in the help screen. Clicking
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them opens the user's default browser at the specified location. The
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expected format for each url entry is e.g.
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"Author's site, http://www.somewhere.com". The first part, before the
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comma (','), is used as the button's tooltip. There are two preset
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options: "blender" and "elysiun", which link to the Python forums at
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blender.org and elysiun.com, respectively.
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- __email__ (optional, type: string or list of strings):
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- Equivalent to __url__, but opens the user's default email client. You
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can write the email as someone:somewhere*com and the help script will
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substitute accordingly: someone@somewhere.com. This is only a minor help
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to hide emails from spammers, since your script may be available at some
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site. "scripts" is the available preset, with the email address of the
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mailing list devoted to scripting in Blender, bf-scripts-dev@blender.org.
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You should only use this one if you are subscribed to the list:
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http://projects.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-scripts-dev for more
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information.
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Example::
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__author__ = 'Mr. Author'
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__version__ = '1.0 2005/01/01'
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__url__ = ["Author's site, http://somewhere.com",
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"Support forum, http://somewhere.com/forum/", "blender", "elysiun"]
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__email__ = ["Mr. Author, mrauthor:somewhere*com", "scripts"]
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__bpydoc__ = \"\"\"\\
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This script does this and that.
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Explaining better, this script helps you create ...
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You can write as many paragraphs as needed.
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Shortcuts:<br>
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Esc or Q: quit.<br>
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etc.
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Supported:<br>
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Meshes, metaballs.
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Known issues:<br>
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This is just an example, there's no actual script.
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Notes:<br>
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You can check scripts bundled with Blender to see more examples of how to
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add documentation to your own works.
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\"\"\"
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B{Note}: your own GUI or menu code can display documentation by calling the
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help browser with the L{Blender.ShowHelp} function.
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Configuring scripts:
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====================
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The L{Blender.Registry<Registry>} module provides a simplified way to keep
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scripts configuration options in memory and also saved in config files.
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And with the "Scripts Config Editor" script in the System menu users can later
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view and edit the options easily.
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Let's first clarify what we mean by config options: they are simple data
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(bools, ints, floats, strings) used by programs to conform to user
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preferences. The buttons in Blender's User Preferences window are a good
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example.
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For example, a particular exporter might include:
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- SEPARATE_MATS = False: a bool variable (True / False) to determine if it
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should write materials to a separate file;
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- VERSION = 2: an int to define an specific version of the export format;
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- TEX_DIR = "/path/to/textures": a default texture dir to prepend to all
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exported texture filenames instead of their actual paths.
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The script needs to provide users a GUI to configure these options -- or else
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directly editing the source code would be the only way to change them. And to
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store changes made to the GUI so they can be reloaded any time the script is
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executed, programmers have to write and load their own config files (ideally at
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L{Blender.Get}('udatadir') or, if not available, L{Blender.Get}('datadir')).
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This section describes BPython facilities (based on the L{Registry} module and
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the config editor) that can take care of this in a simplified (and much
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recommended) way.
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Here's how it works::
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# sample_exporter.py
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import Blender
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from Blender import Registry
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# First define all config variables with their default values:
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SEPARATE_MATERIALS = True
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VERSION = True
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TEX_DIR = ''
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EXPORT_DIR = ''
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# Then define a function to update the Registry:
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def registry_update():
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# populate a dict with current config values:
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d = {
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'SEPARATE_MATERIALS': SEPARATE_MATERIALS,
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'VERSION': VERSION,
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'TEX_DIR': TEX_DIR,
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'EXPORT_DIR': EXPORT_DIR
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}
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# store the key (optional 3rd arg tells if
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# the data should also be written to a file):
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Registry.SetKey('sample_exporter', d, True)
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# (A good convention is to use the script name as Registry key)
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# Now we check if our key is available in the Registry or file system:
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regdict = Registry.GetKey('sample_exporter', True)
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# If this key already exists, update config variables with its values:
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if regdict:
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try:
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SEPARATE_MATERIALS = regdict['SEPARATE_MATERIALS']
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VERSION = regdict['VERSION']
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TEX_DIR = regdict['TEX_DIR']
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EXPORT_DIR = regdict['EXPORT_DIR']
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# if data was corrupted (or a new version of the script changed
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# (expanded, removed, renamed) the config vars and users may have
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# the old config file around):
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except: update_registry() # rewrite it
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else: # if the key doesn't exist yet, use our function to create it:
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update_registry()
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# ...
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Hint: nicer code than the simplistic example above can be written by keeping
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config var names in a list of strings and using the exec function.
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B{Note}: if your script's GUI lets users change config vars, call the
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registry_update() function in the button events callback to save the changes.
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On the other hand, you don't need to handle configuration
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in your own gui, it can be left for the 'Scripts Config Editor',
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which should have access to your script's config key as soon as the
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above code is executed once (as soon as SetKey is executed).
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B{Note} (limits for config vars): strings longer than 300 characters are
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clamped and the number of items in dictionaries, sequences and the config key
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itself is limited to 60.
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Scripts Configuration Editor:
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-----------------------------
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This script should be available from the System menu in the Scripts window.
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It provides a GUI to view and edit saved configuration data, both from the
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Registry dictionary in memory and the scripts config data dir. This is
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useful for all scripts with config vars, but specially for those without GUI's,
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like most importers and exporters, since this editor will provide one for them.
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The example above already gives a good idea of how the information can be
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prepared to be accessible from this editor, but there is more worth knowing:
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1. String vars that end with '_dir' or '_file' (can be upper case, too) are
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recognized as input boxes for dirs or files and a 'browse' button is added to
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their right side, to call the file selector.
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2. Both key names and configuration variables names starting with an
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underscore ('_') are ignored by the editor. Programmers can use this feature
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for any key or config var that is not meant to be configured by this editor.
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3. The following information refers to extra config variables that may be
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added specifically to aid the configuration editor script. To clarify, in the
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example code above these variables (the string 'script' and the dictionaries
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'tooltips' and 'limits') would appear along with SEPARATE_MATERIALS, VERSION,
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TEX_DIR and EXPORT_DIR, wherever they are written.
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Minor note: these names are case insensitive: tooltips, TOOLTIPS, etc. are all
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recognized.
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3.1 The config editor will try to display a 'help' button for a key, to show
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documentation for the script that owns it. To find this "owner script", it
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will first look for a config variable called 'script', a string containing
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the name of the owner Python file (with or without '.py' extension)::
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script = 'sample_exporter.py'
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If there is no such variable, the editor will check if the file formed by the
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key name and the '.py' extension exists. If both alternatives fail, no help
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button will be displayed.
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3.2 You can define tooltips for the buttons that the editor creates for your
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config data (string input, toggle, number sliders). Simply create a dict
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called 'tooltips', where config var names are keys and their tooltips,
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values::
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tooltips = {
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'EXPORT_DIR': 'default folder where exported files should be saved',
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'VERBOSE': 'print info and warning messages to the console',
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'SEPARATE_MATERIALS': 'write materials to their own file'
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}
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3.3 Int and float button sliders need min and max limits. This can be passed
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to the editor via a dict called 'limits' (ivar1, ivar2 and fvar are meant as
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extra config vars that might have been in the example code above)::
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limits = {'ivar1': [-10, 10], 'ivar2': [0, 100], 'fvar1': [-12.3, 15.4]}
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4. The Config Editor itself maintains a Registry key called "General", with
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general options relevant to many scripts, like "verbose" to tell if the user
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wants messages printed to the console and "confirm overwrite", to know if
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a script should ask for confirmation before overwriting files (all exporters
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are recommended to access the General key and check this var -- L{sys.exists
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<Sys.exists>} tells if files or folders already exist).
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Hint: for actual examples, try the ac3d importer and exporter (it's enough to
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call them from the menus then cancel with ESC), as those have been updated to
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use this config system. After calling them their config data will be available
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in the Config Editor. We also recommend adding a section about config vars
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in your script's help info, as done in the ac3d ones.
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L{Back to Main Page<API_intro>}
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===============================
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"""
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