Initialize the spline control in a Python tag?

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On 30/06/2012 at 15:01, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Hi, I am experimenting with a very basic Python tag.
The resource (rs) file looks like this:
CONTAINER mytestcontrol
{
 NAME mytestcontrol;
 GROUP MYTESTCONTROLSETTINGS
 {
  SPLINE FOOSPLINE {}
 }
}
 
When I add  the tag to an object in c4d, I get this:
 

When I right-click the spline control, I can select "Reset":
 

 
Then I get this:
 

 
Actually, this is what I want.
How can I make my plugin set the spline control up with a default spline like this?
Can I do it in the res file? Or in the Python code? Or both?
And how?
 
I am sorry to say - I spend countless hours trying to find out how to carry out the simplest tasks in Python. The lack of examples is overwhelming. For eaxmple, I know you can enter code here in the res file to set default values:
 {
  SPLINE FOOSPLINE {BLA; BLA; MORE BLA BLA}
 }
But how? This seems to be a well kept secret, and I have studied the documentation.
I finally managed to access the spline control under the Execute function, like this:
Here I can get the spline Y value for a certain X value, in this case 0.6
tag[FOOSPLINE].GetPoint(0.6).y
I spent the whole day figering out this. And this does not work in the Init() function, only in Execute(). Why? Don't ask me..
I hope someone  can help me with this. And also with another question: Where is the documentation for Python in C4D really? Does it exist at all? The SDK I have downloaded is full of class hierarchies, methods, functions, constants etc. But alas, with almost no useful examples. The Spline Data control, which I believe is new in R13, does not come with any examples at all, as far as I can see. 
Ingvar

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On 30/06/2012 at 16:33, xxxxxxxx wrote:

I've only used the SplineGUI at a very basic level
and it looks like this. (It makes an ease in out curve,
I haven't looked yet to set a linear spline, love to know)
But basically, you make the spline gui in the res file and
then fill it with your curve in the init.

In res file:

  
// myTAGPLUGIN res   
CONTAINER myTAGPLUGIN   
{   
NAME myTAGPLUGIN;   
INCLUDE Texpression;   
  
GROUP MY_GROUP   
   {   
    SPLINE FOOCURVE { MINSIZE_H 120; MINSIZE_V 90; }   
   }   
}   

And in myTAGPLUGIN.pyp file

  
import c4d   
import os   
from c4d import plugins, utils as u, bitmaps, Vector as v, documents   
from c4d.utils import SplineHelp   
  
class myTAGPLUGIN(plugins.TagData) :   
     def Init(self, mytagplugin) :   
          self.InitAttr(mytagplugin, c4d.SplineData, [c4d. FOOCURVE])   
          icurve = mytagplugin[c4d. FOOCURVE]   
          icurve.SetRange(0.0, 1.0, 0.01, 0.0, 1.0, 0.01)   
          icurve.InsertKnot(1,1,0) # End   
          icurve.InsertKnot(0,1,0) # Start   
          mytagplugin[c4d. FOOCURVE] = icurve   
          return True   
  
     def Execute(self,mytag,doc,op,bt,priority,flags)   
          thespline = mytag[c4d. FOOCURVE]   
          pos       = thespline.GetPoint(0.6).y   
          print pos   
          return True   
  
#Then the register part.   

Cheers
Lennart

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On 01/07/2012 at 06:50, xxxxxxxx wrote:

I strongly suggest you download the C++ SDK docs as well. They have a useful index/search frame which makes it a lot easier to find what you want. For example, in the C++ docs if you type 'spline' into the search box the first thing you hit is 'SPLINE (description element)' which is probably what you're after. If you do that in the Python docs you get a long, long list of everything with 'spline' in its name. The one you want then is near the bottom of that list - c4d.gui.SplineCustomGui'.

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On 01/07/2012 at 08:07, xxxxxxxx wrote:

First thanks to spedler, yes I have the C++ SDK, but have not used it before now. It is a great tip to look there, indeed. However, my plugin does not work properly, for some reason.Here:
GROUP PULSEEMITTERSETTINGS
{
 SPLINE FOOSPLINE {GRIDSIZE_V 2;}
}
Regardless of what I type in here, it is either ignored, or - believe it or not - makes C4D freeze so that I have to kill it using task manager in Windows. can you make this work? Does what you tyupe in here really have any influence on the Spline control?
And thank you too Lennart, it was a great help to me, now I somehow got it working. But there are still things I do not uderstand.
This:
 [c4d. FOOCURVE]
In my plugin, the values I have defined in the *.h file are not recognized. I have to either redefine them in the pyp file like this:
FOOCURVE = 12345
self.InitAttr(mytagplugin, c4d.SplineData, FOOCURVE)
or type the value directly in like this:
self.InitAttr(mytagplugin, c4d.SplineData, 12345)
Why is it that you can access values defined in the *.h file, and I not?
Then, constants that I would guess are defined somewhere inside the C4D system are not recognized, like this:
icurve.InsertKnot(0,0, SPLINE_KNOT_FLAG_NO_HORIZ_MOVE)
icurve.InsertKnot(0,0, c4d.SPLINE_KNOT_FLAG_NO_HORIZ_MOVE)
they are mentioned in the Python docs, but are flagged as unknown when I execute the code. I had to experiment to find out that
SPLINE_KNOT_FLAG_NO_HORIZ_MOVE = 32
SPLINE_KNOT_FLAG_NO_VERT_MOVE = 64
Is this normal, that those constants are not accessible?
_
Lennart:
> I haven't looked yet to set a linear spline, love to know)
_This will do it, at least it looks like that here to me:
icurve.MakeLinearSplineLinear(-1)
Ok, your help is very much appreciated. I am slooooooooooowly making progress, like swimming in molasses
-Ingvar

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On 01/07/2012 at 08:23, xxxxxxxx wrote:

I don't know if this will help you out or not.
But I have an R13 SplineGUI example posted on my plugins site:https://sites.google.com/site/scottayersmedia/plugins

-ScottA

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On 01/07/2012 at 08:34, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

However, my plugin does not work properly, for some reason.Here:GROUP PULSEEMITTERSETTINGS{ SPLINE FOOSPLINE {GRIDSIZE_V 2;}}Regardless of what I type in here, it is either ignored, or - believe it or not - makes C4D freeze so that I have to kill it using task manager in Windows. can you make this work? Does what you tyupe in here really have any influence on the Spline control?

The .res file affects the appearance of the control and sets some limits on it. So yes, it makes a real difference to the control but doesn't initialise the control or set any default values.

Whatever you type in the control parameters shouldn't hang Cinema. What normally happens when you make a mistake in the .res file (and it's easy to do - Cinema is *very* picky about the syntax) you get an error message as soon as you invoke the plugin in Cinema. Usually it tells you something like 'Error in reading resource file line 10' and you have to figure out what you did wrong. I don't think Python plugins would behave any differently.

So I don't know why the plug hangs but it probably isn't the .res file. I don't know if you can step through the code in debug mode, as you can if you use C++. If you can do that you can see exactly where the problem is, which makes it a lot easier. There is a Python interactive debugger - pdb, I think it is - but whether you can use it within Cinema, you'll need to look into.

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On 01/07/2012 at 08:48, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Hi ScottA, yes, it helps a lot!
Your code is different. And I also realize there is a lot to learn in Python, this:
 self.sd.SetRange(xmin=0, xmax=100, xsteps=1..
is very unfamiliar to me, unless I am creating an object in C#
 
I will study your code with great interest later!
In the mean time.. there is more I do not uderstand, why does this work:
 
icurve = mytagplugin[SOME_ID]
icurve.DoSomething()
mytagplugin[SOME_ID] = icurve

and not this:
mytagplugin[SOME_ID].DoSomething()
 
In the programming languages  I have used so far, both would work
 
-Ingvar

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On 01/07/2012 at 09:04, xxxxxxxx wrote:

@ingvarai:
This behaviour is API dependent and doesn't have anything to do with the programming language. For the latter example to work, it would require that the __getitem__ method ([] syntax) would return the real reference to the object. When it doesn't work this way, it means that the item-access via [] returns a copy of the object that is internally used.

Try these two examples:

class SomeClass(object) :  
  
  def __init__(self, x) :  
      self.x = x  
  
class Container(object) :  
  
  def __init__(self) :  
      self.obj = SomeClass(9999)  
  
  def __getitem__(self, name) :  
      if name == "obj":  
          return self.obj  
      else:  
          raise KeyError  
  
c = Container()  
c["obj"].x = 0  
  
print c.obj.x

class SomeClass(object) :  
  
  def __init__(self, x) :  
      self.x = x  
  
class Container(object) :  
  
  def __init__(self) :  
      self.obj = SomeClass(9999)  
  
  def __getitem__(self, name) :  
      if name == "obj":  
          # a copy of the instance  
          return SomeClass(self.obj.x)  
      else:  
          raise KeyError  
  
c = Container()  
c["obj"].x = 0  
  
print c.obj.x

In the first example, you will see the value of the x attribute has changed to zero. But in the latter example, it is still unchanged, being 9999.

-Nik

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On 01/07/2012 at 09:49, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Spedler,
it may not neccesarily freeze, but in any case it does not respond properly because the error message (just like you say) keeps popping up so I have to kill it.
I have tried to change some of the parameters. But the spline control looks exactly the same, regardless. And I restart C4D between each change. Right now it does not mean anything, the default spline control is fine as it is. But I am trying to understand how the whole plugin business is assembled and screwed together, that is why I experiment with so many settings and values.
 
-Ingvar

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On 01/07/2012 at 09:55, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

@ingvarai:
This behaviour is API dependent and doesn't have anything to do with the programming language.

Nik,
I realized this shortly after having posted my message. Foolish of me. The roblem is, in other languages I hav had no problems understanding this, but in Python, I often have no clue about what object I really have at hand, to do something to. It is a trial / error approach, for me.
You help is invaluable, I will study the code.
 
-Ingvar

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On 01/07/2012 at 11:56, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

Spedler,

it may not neccesarily freeze, but in any case it does not respond properly because the error message (just like you say) keeps popping up so I have to kill it.

-Ingvar

You don't have to do kill Cinema if all you're getting is that message. Believe me, I've done this many times! What you do is:

* when the error message box appears, hit Esc and it will go away
* if it comes back again, repeat step 1
* DON'T move the mouse as Cinema will redisplay the error
* wait until Cinema gets tired of showing you that box and then hit Alt-F4
* you can then click OK and Cinema will exit - no need to force kill

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On 01/07/2012 at 12:09, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

* you can then click OK and Cinema will exit - no need to force kill

Ok, thanks
I am of the impatient kind, probably. And killing it does mot do any harm, it will rise again
 
-Ingvar