The basics of the basics

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On 10/03/2011 at 17:17, xxxxxxxx wrote:

OK, I've got some super simple questions related to extending C4D.

In looking around, I'm getting a bit confused about all of the options and I'm not even sure where to start. Plug ins, scripts, generators, different languages. etc.

I have a strong development background, I'm just trying to get a handle on the C4D portion of it :-)

I want to create a new Tag that has a simple interface that will allow me to interact with the object the tag is assigned to.  Of all of the supported languages, I am most familiar with Python, so I would rather use that, but C++ would be fine as well.

- Am I creating a plug-in or script (or something else)?
- How to scripts and plug-ins differ?
- Can I choose ANY language, or are some of the APIs functionally different
- Can a tag store information in an external file, to maintain state between sessions, or is this saved with the scene file?

Sorry for the ultra basic questions, just trying to oriented a little.

_mike

THE POST BELOW IS MORE THAN 5 YEARS OLD. RELATED SUPPORT INFORMATION MIGHT BE OUTDATED OR DEPRECATED

On 10/03/2011 at 17:41, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

Am I creating a plug-in or script (or something else)?

If you want to create a tag, it's not a skript. Either write a tag plugin (using Python, Coffee or C++), or use the Coffee Tag or Python Tag to create a simple expression tag.
However, if you want to use descriptions (GUI), you will have to write a tag plugin.

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

• How to scripts and plug-ins differ?

Plugins can do (almost) everything. Especially Python and C++ plugins. Scripts can't do that much, as they act more like a Command plugin. Scripts can't give you the functionality of generator objects, scene hooks, expression tags, etc..

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

• Can I choose ANY language, or are some of the APIs functionally different

C++ provides the biggest API of course. The Python API is almost as big as the C++ API. the Coffee API covers the smallest part of the C++ API.

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

• Can a tag store information in an external file, to maintain state between sessions, or is this saved with the scene file?

You can write external files, of course. However, you can store almost anykind of data in the tag's BaseContainer. And if you really want to store custom data that doesn't fit into a BaseContainer, you can embed that data into the C4D file, too.

THE POST BELOW IS MORE THAN 5 YEARS OLD. RELATED SUPPORT INFORMATION MIGHT BE OUTDATED OR DEPRECATED

On 11/03/2011 at 02:12, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Awesome!  Thank you for the quick reply.  IS any of this documented, or is it just a meter of discovery? I did poke around quite a bit and couldn't find any of this "bigger picture" information.

_mike