Improvements to Python script autoexecution #57197

New Issue

Francesco Siddi · 2018-10-14T15:05:15+02:00

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-10-14 15:05:15 +02:00

As discussed in person several weeks ago, I would like to propose a change to the behavior of Blender when opening a file containing Python scripts (when auto execution is disabled).

Currently:

Proposed change:

Over the years the lack of a visible warning about having auto-run disabled has caused an unquantifiable amount of frustration to artists and TDs alike. I hope the issue can be addressed before the beta release.

As discussed in person several weeks ago, I would like to propose a change to the behavior of Blender when opening a file containing Python scripts (when auto execution is disabled). Currently: ![Screen Shot 2018-10-14 at 14.30.15.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5063748/Screen_Shot_2018-10-14_at_14.30.15.png) Proposed change: ![Screen Shot 2018-10-14 at 15.06.03.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5063825/Screen_Shot_2018-10-14_at_15.06.03.png) Over the years the lack of a visible warning about having auto-run disabled has caused an unquantifiable amount of frustration to artists and TDs alike. I hope the issue can be addressed before the beta release.

Campbell Barton was assigned by Francesco Siddi

2018-10-14 15:05:15 +02:00

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-10-14 15:05:15 +02:00

Added subscribers: @fsiddi, @pablovazquez

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-10-31 17:35:18 +01:00

Added subscriber: @WilliamReynish

Stephen Swaney commented

2018-10-31 17:40:42 +01:00

Added subscriber: @StephenSwaney

William Reynish commented

2018-10-31 21:53:50 +01:00

Yes, this would be a nice improvement.

In many productions I've seen the auto-run script issue be a pain.

The best solution would be to try and circumvent this entire issue so that we wouldn't even need this. The first step , which is already done, is avoiding Python for expressions, but there seems to be other issues too.

Yes, this would be a nice improvement. In many productions I've seen the auto-run script issue be a pain. The best solution would be to try and circumvent this entire issue so that we wouldn't even need this. The first step , which is already done, is avoiding Python for expressions, but there seems to be other issues too.

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-10-31 22:48:25 +01:00

Added subscriber: @brecht

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-10-31 22:48:25 +01:00

This has been an open issue since auto-run prevention was introduced (thinking about the implications at the time would have been ideal). I think that a blocking warning is the best solution. This is a losing-work situation, like quitting Blender with an unsaved file.

I would really appreciate a confirmation from @ideasman42 or @brecht that this will be introduced before the beta.

This has been an open issue since auto-run prevention was introduced (thinking about the implications at the time would have been ideal). I think that a blocking warning is the best solution. This is a losing-work situation, like quitting Blender with an unsaved file. I would really appreciate a confirmation from @ideasman42 or @brecht that this will be introduced before the beta.

Andrew Charlton commented

2018-10-31 22:55:05 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Scaredyfish

Andrew Charlton commented

2018-10-31 22:55:05 +01:00

In addition to this, some other software has the concept of trusted locations - if I open a file saved in my own trusted folder, it would auto-run scripts without prompting, otherwise it would prompt.

Campbell Barton commented

2018-10-31 22:57:00 +01:00

@Scaredyfish Blender has this too. https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/scripting/security.html#setting-defaults

Andrew Charlton commented

2018-10-31 23:05:54 +01:00

Did not know that!

I do think it's kind of backwards, though - I'd rather have a list of trusted paths, than a list of excluded paths.

Did not know that! I do think it's kind of backwards, though - I'd rather have a list of trusted paths, than a list of excluded paths.

Campbell Barton was unassigned by Brecht Van Lommel

2018-11-01 17:56:33 +01:00

Brecht Van Lommel self-assigned this 2018-11-01 17:56:33 +01:00

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2018-11-01 17:56:33 +01:00

Added subscriber: @ideasman42

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2018-11-01 17:56:33 +01:00

We can do it for the beta, I'll try to do it myself or assign it to someone else.

blender-admin commented

2018-11-01 18:32:37 +01:00

This issue was referenced by c2bcde5c28

This issue was referenced by c2bcde5c285ec731c3f869324455d85c39ff3c75

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2018-11-01 19:47:29 +01:00

This is what it looks like now:

The popup is not strictly blocking at the moment, you can click outside of it to dismiss it, as this is not supported by the Blender UI code at the moment. I'm not sure if that's an issue in practice, it does appear in the center of the window where the file was opened.

This is what it looks like now: ![warning.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5327717/warning.png) The popup is not strictly blocking at the moment, you can click outside of it to dismiss it, as this is not supported by the Blender UI code at the moment. I'm not sure if that's an issue in practice, it does appear in the center of the window where the file was opened.

William Reynish commented

2018-11-01 21:25:29 +01:00

Looks quite good to me.

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-11-01 21:27:46 +01:00

Fantastic. Thank you!

Pablo Vazquez commented

2018-11-02 01:08:24 +01:00

Looks good! But it can get annoying rapidly and there is no help about how to prevent this.

I would add a button like "Allow Permanently", or a checkbox "Allow future scripts to execute automatically", "Allow this and future scripts to run automatically", or similar text.

Looks good! But it can get annoying rapidly and there is no help about how to prevent this. I would add a button like "Allow Permanently", or a checkbox "Allow future scripts to execute automatically", "Allow this and future scripts to run automatically", or similar text.

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-11-02 10:12:51 +01:00

If it's annoying, then it's secure, right? :)
On a more serious note, you don't want to accidentally allow execution of any future script by clicking on the wrong button. In one mockup I though of adding a text that hints where to change the setting, but that would make the message too verbose.

Having a (?) element in the interface would allow for more verbose hints, but that's for a separate topic.

If it's annoying, then it's secure, right? :) On a more serious note, you don't want to accidentally allow execution of any future script by clicking on the wrong button. In one mockup I though of adding a text that hints where to change the setting, but that would make the message too verbose. Having a (?) element in the interface would allow for more verbose hints, but that's for a separate topic.

Pablo Vazquez commented

2018-11-02 12:24:25 +01:00

If it's annoying and there is no solution then it's a poor user experience where you have to google for a solution online. The UI should hint how to solve it or allow to prevent this in the future.

A verbose message doesn't work, people don't like to read.

A checkbox on the other hand (off by default), that allows to save the user preference should be added. This kind of widgets are pretty common, usually a checkbox with the label "Don't show this dialog anymore" or similar, which wouldn't work in our case because it's not about not showing the dialog, it's about auto running scripts. Something like "Save this preference for future scripts" could do.

If it's annoying and there is no solution then it's a poor user experience where you have to google for a solution online. The UI should hint how to solve it or allow to prevent this in the future. A verbose message doesn't work, people don't like to read. A checkbox on the other hand (off by default), that allows to save the user preference should be added. This kind of widgets are pretty common, usually a checkbox with the label "Don't show this dialog anymore" or similar, which wouldn't work in our case because it's not about not showing the dialog, it's about auto running scripts. Something like "Save this preference for future scripts" could do.

Francesco Siddi commented

2018-11-02 12:53:54 +01:00

Permanently allow execution of scripts

That might be nice. What do you think?

- [ ] Permanently allow execution of scripts That might be nice. What do you think?

blender-admin commented

2018-11-02 17:24:19 +01:00

This issue was referenced by aa41c17d32

This issue was referenced by aa41c17d32b92a07c4a9478b638ee58d01eabd46

Pablo Vazquez commented

2018-11-02 17:33:40 +01:00

Yeah something along those lines. What do you think @WilliamReynish ?

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2018-11-02 17:34:12 +01:00

I can add the checkbox. The only concern is that people will just click it and then stop worrying about opening unsafe .blend files, but I guess they will have at least gotten one warning to be aware of the risk.

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2018-11-02 17:35:51 +01:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Resolved'

Brecht Van Lommel closed this issue

2018-11-02 17:35:51 +01:00

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2018-11-02 17:35:51 +01:00

Will consider this resolved unless more issues come up.

Pablo Vazquez commented

2018-11-02 17:36:46 +01:00

In #57197#549276, @brecht wrote:
I can add the checkbox. The only concern is that people will just click it and then stop worrying about opening unsafe .blend files, but I guess they will have at least gotten one warning to be aware of the risk.

I think we can live with that, as it's a better solution than a verbose message. Also, people nowdays do it all the time when allowing permissions on apps, grant login credentials, etc.

> In #57197#549276, @brecht wrote: > I can add the checkbox. The only concern is that people will just click it and then stop worrying about opening unsafe .blend files, but I guess they will have at least gotten one warning to be aware of the risk. I think we can live with that, as it's a better solution than a verbose message. Also, people nowdays do it all the time when allowing permissions on apps, grant login credentials, etc.

Inês Almeida commented

2018-11-02 18:00:48 +01:00

Added subscriber: @brita

Inês Almeida commented

2018-11-02 18:00:48 +01:00

I don't think the dialog is annoying, it's a great improvement. Personally, I think I'll finally have the auto-run scripts off and start choosing case by case. So that's a win!

William Reynish commented

2018-11-02 21:37:29 +01:00

Yes this is a definite improvement. But there seems to be no great solution to this that is both secure and flexible.

The best solution by far would be to make it so our rigging systems don’t use Python for expressions, so that there are no security issues, and no need for this popup message for most rigs.

Yes this is a definite improvement. But there seems to be no great solution to this that is both secure and flexible. The best solution by far would be to make it so our rigging systems don’t use Python for expressions, so that there are no security issues, and no need for this popup message for most rigs.

Campbell Barton commented

2018-11-05 02:28:23 +01:00

In #57197#549428, @WilliamReynish wrote:
Yes this is a definite improvement. But there seems to be no great solution to this that is both secure and flexible.

The best solution by far would be to make it so our rigging systems don’t use Python for expressions, so that there are no security issues, and no need for this popup message for most rigs.

Disabling Python entirely means we loose functionality for advanced riggers,
however for nearly all cases math expressions don't use Python in 2.8x (so the common cases AFAICS wont need Python).

The more common issue now might be rigs that define their own user-interfaces in Python.

> In #57197#549428, @WilliamReynish wrote: > Yes this is a definite improvement. But there seems to be no great solution to this that is both secure and flexible. > > The best solution by far would be to make it so our rigging systems don’t use Python for expressions, so that there are no security issues, and no need for this popup message for most rigs. Disabling Python entirely means we loose functionality for advanced riggers, however for nearly all cases math expressions don't use Python in 2.8x (so the common cases AFAICS wont need Python). The more common issue now might be rigs that define their own user-interfaces in Python.

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Improvements to Python script autoexecution #57197