Help!
Posted on Thu 10 May 2018 in blog
If (like I often dow) you’ve forgotten the countless different flags that go with a particularly involved Maya command, it’s a pain to have to hop over to google just to remember the cryptic codes for the different options. Consider a monster like, say, file which has somewhere north of 50(!) flags you have to keep track of. Most aren’t complicated, but apart from the most common ones you’ll never remember them all.
In MEL you can type
help file;
from the command line, which prints a nicely formatted list of the whole shebang:
Synopsis: file [flags] [String]
Flags:
-e -edit
-q -query
-a -activate
-add -
-amf -anyModified
-ap -activeProxy
-at -applyTo String
-bls -buildLoadSettings
-c -command String String
-ch -constructionHistory on|off
-chn -channels on|off
-cmp -compress
-cnl -copyNumberList
-con -constraints on|off
-cr -cleanReference String
-de -defaultExtensions on|off
-dns -defaultNamespace
-dr -deferReference on|off
-ea -exportAll
-ean -exportAnim
-ear -exportAnimFromReference
-eas -exportSelectedAnim
-ec -editCommand String
-er -exportAsReference
-err -errorStatus
-es -exportSelected
-esa -exportSelectedAnimFromReference
-esn -executeScriptNodes on|off
-esr -exportSelectedNoReference
-ess -exportSelectedStrict
-eur -exportUnloadedReferences
-ex -exists
-exn -expandName
-exp -expressions on|off
-exs -exportAsSegment
-f -force
-fmd -fileMetaData
-fr -flushReference String
-gl -groupLocator
-gn -groupName String
-gr -groupReference
-i -import
-ifr -importFrameRate on|off
-ir -importReference
-itr -importTimeRange String
-iv -ignoreVersion
-l -list
-lad -loadAllDeferred on|off
-lar -loadAllReferences
-lck -lockReference
-lcu -lockContainerUnpublished on|off
-lf -lockFile on|off
-lfo -lastFileOption
-lnr -loadNoReferences
-loc -location
-lr -loadReference String
-lrd -loadReferenceDepth String
-lrp -loadReferencePreview String
-ls -loadSettings String
-ltf -lastTempFile
-mf -modified on|off
-mnc -mergeNamespacesOnClash on|off
-mnp -mergeNamespaceWithParent
-mnr -mergeNamespaceWithRoot
-mns -mapPlaceHolderNamespace String String (multi-use)
-ms -moveSelected
-new -newFile
-ns -namespace String
-o -open
-op -options String
-pm -proxyManager String
-pmt -prompt on|off
-pn -preserveName
-pns -parentNamespace
-pos -postSaveScript String
-pr -preserveReferences
-prs -preSaveScript String
-pt -proxyTag String
-pu -preserveUndo on|off
-pv -preview
-r -reference
-ra -renameAll on|off
-rdi -referenceDepthInfo UnsignedInt
-rdn -removeDuplicateNetworks
-rep -replaceName String String (multi-use)
-rer -resetError
-rfn -referenceNode String (Query Arg Optional)
-rn -rename String
-rnn -returnNewNodes
-rns -relativeNamespace String
-rpl -renamingPrefixList
-rpr -renamingPrefix String
-rr -removeReference
-rts -renameToSave on|off
-s -save
-sa -selectAll
-sdc -saveDiskCache String
-seg -segment String
-sh -shader on|off
-shd -sharedNodes String (multi-use)
-shn -shortName
-sn -sceneName
-sns -swapNamespace String String (multi-use)
-sr -saveReference
-srf -sharedReferenceFile
-sru -saveReferencesUnloaded
-str -strict on|off
-stx -saveTextures String
-typ -type String
-uc -uiConfiguration on|off
-un -unresolvedName
-uns -usingNamespaces
-ur -unloadReference String
-w -writable
-wcn -withoutCopyNumber
maya.cmds, alas, does not support this directly. Python’s built-in help() function is very handy for remembering options and syntax but it works off of docstrings, and cmds does not include useful ones. If you try
help(file)
in the listener you get the supremely useless
Help on built-in function file in module maya.cmds:
file(...)
I’ve been annoyed by that one for years — but it finally struck me today that there’s an easy workaround. A little function like this will let you hide the built-in help function in the listener so you can use the MEL help and Python help() interchangeably:
import maya.cmds as cmds
import maya.mel as mel
if __name__ == '__main__':
_original_help = help
def maya_help(obj):
if obj.__module__ == cmds.__name__:
mel.eval( "help {}".format(obj.__name__))
else:
_original_help(obj)
globals()['help'] = maya_help
If you toss that into your userSetup.py or some other code that runs at startup you should be able to type things like help (cmds.file) and get the relevant info in your listener.
It only took a decade of Maya Python for that one to occur to me.
Doh.