COLUMBO MaxScript Release 0.4 for 3ds max 4+ (08/01/2002) Copyright (c) 2000-2002 by Borislav Petrov, Bobo's Rendert**ls.

SHORT DESCRIPTION

• Perform complex search operations by combining multiple Queries.
• Search at both Object and Sub-Object level
• Apply Select, Select More, Unselect, Hide, Unhide, Freeze, Unfreeze actions to the filtered objects.
• Save the Search Queue to disk and use the Presets later.

INSTALLATION

• COLUMBO is an R3-style MacroScript with a Floating Rollout.
• Download and Unzip the distribution file to your \Scripts directory.
• Start 3ds max, select MAXScript > Run Script and select the file (Alternatively open Windows Explorer and drag&drop the file to your Viewports)
• Right-click a toolbar, select Customize..., find Category "Bobo_s Tools" and drag&drop COLUMBO to the toolbar.
• Press the button to launch the script.

FEATURES AND USAGE

Version 0.4 (08/01/2002)

• Made gmax compatible - all Presets-related features will be disabled though.
• Fixed crasher when Renaming non-existent Presets

• Fixed crasher when no Queue selected and Delete/Update/Down button pressed
• Added Material Names Hints.
• Changed == and != to "Equal" and "Not Equal" in dropdown list
• Removed some obsolete code from older versions

• Fixed another bug that crashed the script when attempting to load a preset when no presets exist.

Version 0.31 (01/30/2001)
 

• Fixed the only known bug (the code to prevent it was there in 3.0 but somehow it forgot to work ;o)

When a SubAnims /SearchFor option with higher index was selected, going back to Object or Material
left the Search For list undefined and Adding a Query crashed COLUMBO. This is now fixed.
• When a new Level/Search For option is selected, the Hint List will now always reset itself to the first choice in the list.
• Added Name Hints for Objects. (Basically Search By Name is now faster since you will get all names in the drop-down list)
• Made some cosmetic changes to the Progress Report language - whenever the result is 1, the text will use singular.

For example, instead of reporting "Search String Encountered 1 Times", it now says "Search String Encountered Once."

THE INTERFACE - AN OVERVIEW

• COLUMBO has 4 main areas in a large single floating rollout. (You might need a second monitor to use it ;o)
• The top 3 rows of the UI contain the drop-down lists for defining Query and the buttons for managing the Search Queue.
• A large window represents the Search Queue itself. It will display the Queries to be batch-processed.
• The 3rd area contains the Presets buttons and fields and the large "Execute Queue" button which starts the Search.
• Lastly, there is a wide Progress Report window which will inform you of the performed operations and their results.

DEFINING QUERIES

• COLUMBO provides a set of basic "building blocks" to define a logical sentence describing a search Query. These blocks tell the system what sets of objects to check, which parameters to compare with what values and what actions to perform with the matching objects.

For example, to perform a simple sub-string search for all objects whose names end with 01, the user has to define the following Search Query: "Check all objects in the scene, look at Object Level only, Look at the Name of each Object and find those names that End With "01". Then select all matching objects."
To do this, the user selects "Scene" from the "Search In" list, "Select" from the "And Do" list, "Objects" from the "At Level" list, "Name" from the "Search For" list, "Ends With" from the "Compare" list. He will have to type in "01" in the "With" field. After pressing the "Add Query" button, a Query sentence will appear on the Queue reading:
"Search Scene and Select Objects whose Name Ends With "01""
 
• The first list labeled "Search In" contains the following Options:
• Scene - search ALL objects in the scene. Includes Hidden and Frozen objects of ALL classes.
• Selected - search only the current selection. Useful for "Logical AND" Queries at Object Level when the first Query has provided a selection and a second Query limits the selection by searching for another property inside the first selection only.
• Unselected - search only the unselected Objects.
• Unhidden - search only visible Objects. Hidden Objects will not be checked.
• Hidden - search only hidden Objects. Visible Objects will not be checked.
• Frozen - search only frozen Objects.
• Unfrozen - search only unfrozen Objects.
• SO Results - search only those Objects that have been filtered by a preceeding Sub-Object Level search. Useful for "Logical AND" Queries at Sub-Object Level - for example if the first Query has delivered a list of objects containing a certain Sub-Anim track, the second Query can check only these tracks of only these objects and search for their value. ("If Object has Radius Property and Radius > 10")

 
• The second list is labeled "And Do" and contains the possible actions to perform with the filtered list of objects:
• Select - select the filtered Objects
• Select More - grow the existing selection without deselecting. Useful for "Logical OR" Queries.
• Deselect - deselect the fitered Objects.
• Hide - hide the filtered Objects.
• Unhide - unhide the filtered Objects.
• Freeze - freeze the filtered Objects.
• Unfreeze - unfreeze the filtered Objects.

 
• The third list labeled "At Level" specifies the Object Level to perform the Search at.

NOTE that the state of this list changes the content of the next "Search For" list!
• Objects - check only object Properties at Object Level. "Search For" will list:
• Name - the Object Name as string. String Operations allowed are Equal To, Not Equal To, Contains, Does Not Contain, Starts With, Ends With.

NOTE that COLUMBO is completely CASE-INSENSITIVE!
The rest of the Comparators (>,<, >=, <=) will be applied to the NUMBER OF CHARACTERS of the Name!. If you enter a name with 4 characters and use ">", all objects with names longer than 4 characters will be filtered out.
• Class - check the Object Class.

NOTE that a list of all class names encountered in the scene will be provided bellow the "With" field. You can also enter any class name or part of it (Substring) manually. Search Comparators work the same as with Names.
• SuperClass - check the Object Type. A list of available SuperClass names will be provided. These include "GeometryClass", "Shape", "Light", "Camera", "Helper" and "SpacewarpObject".
• Wirecolor - check for the wireframe color of the object.

All wireframe colors currently in the scene will be displayed as Hints. Loading a color from the Hints List will also update the color swatch. You can use the color swatch on top of the "With" field - adjusting the color will fill in the color as string.
NOTE that MAX is still unable to drag&drop a Wirecolor from the "Object Color" dialog to any color swatch in the UI. You can drag&drop other colors to search for Material Colors for example.
• X Dimension / Y Dimension / Z Dimension - the size of the object's Bounding Box
• Vertex Count - the number of vertices of the mesh on top of the Modifier Stack (where applicable).
• Face Count - the number of faces in the mesh on top of the Modifier Stack (where applicable).
• Materials - checks only the Material Object Properties. This does NOT include any SubAnim properties of the material or its bitmaps.
• Name - search for the Material Name. Same as with Object Name. Any actions will be performed with the Object the Material is assigned to.
• Class - the Class of the Material. A list with standard names will be provided. You can type in any specific 3rd party names manually (like Blur's Materials etc.)
• SubAnims - recursively traverses all SubAnim Tracks in the object. If a track matches the Query, both the matching SubAnim and its Object will be stored. You can search for additional properties in the same SubAnims or the same Objects in further Queries.
• Name - the name of the SubAnim. Using this option, you can search for specific parameters common to multiple objects like "Radius" or "Height". This will also include any Material or Bitmap Parameters.

FOR EXAMPLE, "Search Scene and Select SubAnims whose Name Contains "radius"" will find all Spheres, GeoSpheres, Cylinders, Tubes, Tori, Cones etc.
All properties found in the scene will be listed in the Hint List when enabled.
• Value - the value of the SubAnim track. This is the value of the track at the current time. Especially useful when used in conjunction with the Name option for checking for objects whose parameter has a specific value. FOR EXAMPLE, a second Query after the one above "Search SO Results and Select SubAnims whose Value Is Greater Than 10" will reduce the selection to only those objects whose "radius", "radius1" or "radius2" property is greather than 10 units...
• Controller Class - checks for the class of the controller used in the SubAnim track (if any). A list of usual controller names will be provided.
• Value Class - checks the class of the value itself (Float, Integer, Boolean etc.) Rare usage. A Hint List will be provided.
• Filename - specifically for Bitmaptexture objects, this option checks the file name of the bitmap and allows for Sub-String Search to localize objects using a certain bitmap (Contains "CLDSMAP"), ending with a certain bitmap type (Ends With "JPG") or residing on a specific drive (Starts With "F:")

THE CLASS NAME HINT LIST

• When searching for a Class or SuperClass, COLUMBO will provide a list of possible names.
• The list will contain either a fixed set of default options, or the scene will be scanned for possible entries matching for the current context.
• Toggling the "az" checkbutton allows you to see the list sorted alphabetically or unsorted.
• When the "At Level" list is set to "Objects" and the "Search For" is set to "SuperClass", the hint list will show the main object types: "GeometryClass", "Shape", "Light", "Camera", "Helper" and "SpacewarpObject"
• When the "At Level" list is set to "Materials" and "Search For" is set to "Class", a hint list of default Material Types will be provided.
• When the "At Level" list is set to "SubAnims" and "Search For" is set to "Controller Class", the hint list will display all shipping Controller Classes.
• When the "At Level" list is set to "SubAnims" and "Search For" is set to "ValueClass", the hint list will display the most common values like "Float", "Integer", "Quat", "Point3" etc.
• When seaching for "Object" > "Wirecolor", a list of all available wireframe colors in the scene will be displayed. Selecting from the list will also update the color swatch so you can see which color you have picked.
• When "SubAnim" and any color value is being searched for, you can set a color using the color swatch in the upper right corner. Its value will be convered to a string. You can also drag&drop an existing color from a Material color swatch.
• NOTE that the Hint list is only for your convenience - you may enter ANY search criteria in the field without using the hints.
• WARNING! Name Hints scans the WHOLE scene for SubAnim names - this can take some seconds with thousands of objects, but it yields exactly the names that are trackable through COLUMBO. To avoid long waiting time when scanning thousands of objects for SubAnims (about 500 objects/second on a PII400), there is a checkbutton "SubAnim Hints" to enable the feature. When enabled, all scene objects will be scanned and a list of Name Hints will be generated. If the number of objects does not change between searches, the scan will NOT be performed again. If the number of scene objects changed since last Scan and the checkbutton is still pressed, a new scan will be performed. If the checkbutton is depressed and the number of objects has not changed since last Scan, the old list will still be used.

MANAGING THE QUEUE

• When first started, only the "Add Query" button will be enabled. Pressing it will add a new Query Sentence to the Queue.
• Pressing the "Delete Query" button will remove the line from the Queue. You will be prompted to confirm the destructive operation.
• You can edit the search criteria of any of the Queries on the Queue ANYTIME. Select a Query and its parameters will appear in the drop-down lists and fields again. Make your changes and press the "Update Query" button.
• The order of the Queries will affect the results of the Queue (not unlike the MAX Modifier Stack). You can reorder Queries by using the "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons. Please make sure the resulting Queue is reasonable, for example "SO Results" will have no effect if used in the first Query on the Queue since no Results will be available.
• To disable a Query temporarily, double-click it - it will be prefixed by two "--" signs and will not be executed unless you toggle it back to active state - just double-click again. This state will be stored in the presets, too.
• To reset the Queue (clear and start again), press the new "Reset Queue" button.

EXECUTING THE QUEUE

• To start a search, either define a new Queue or load a Preset. Then press the "Execute Queue" button.
• Two progress bars will display the progress - the top one will show the progress of each single Query, the second will show the total progress of the whole Queue.
• The progress and results of each Query will be reported in the Report Window at the bottom. Success events will be prefixed by "+", failures will be prefixed by "-". Search Query Action Reports will be prefixed by ">".
• The total search time in milliseconds will be reported at the end of the Queue processing.
• The viewports will not redraw during the search. Only the final result will be displayed.

TIP: If you Search And Select and want to hide all objects that have NOT been filtered out by the Queue, you can add a last Query "Search Unselected and Hide Objects whose Name Is Not Equal To "". This will leave only the selected result in the scene and hide the rest!

MANAGING PRESETS

• When first started, COLUMBO will create a new sub-directory of the \Scripts directory called "Columbo". If the directory already exists, it will be scanned for existing "CMB" files (Columbo Presets). Any existing CMB files will be displayed in the Presets drop-down list.
• To save a Preset, just enter a descriptive name and press the "Save Preset" button - a new CMB file containing the current Queue content will be generated. Note that the name is used as a file name - using an existing name will overwrite the old file, but you will be prompted about overwriting.
• To load a Preset, select its name from the list and press the "Load Preset" button. You will be prompted that doing so will replace the current Queue.
• To rename a Preset, select it from the list, type in the new name and press "Rename Preset". You will be prompted and if answered with Yes, the name of the Preset File will be changed.
• To delete a Preset, press the "Delete Preset" button. After a prompt the file will be deleted from the disk.

SEARCH EXAMPLES
 
 

Search Task	Search In	And Do	At Level	Search For	Compare	With	Comments
Find Objects with Name Starting with "Box"	Q1:Scene	Q1:Select	Q1:Objects	Q1:Name	Q1:Starts With	Q1:"box"	Other Sub-String Searches like "Contains", "Ends With" etc. possible.
Find Objects that have no Material assigned	Q1:Scene Q2:Unselected	Q1:Select Q2:Select	Q1:Material Q2:Objects	Q1:Name Q2:Name	Q1:!= Q2:!=	Q1:"" Q2:""	Q1 selects all objects with materials. Q2 selects all unselected objects and thus inverts the selection.
Find all Objects with a Bend Modifier Angle higher than 10 degrees.	Q1:Scene Q2:Selected Q3:SO Results	Q1:Select Q2:Select Q3:Select	Q1:SubAnims Q2:SubAnims Q3:SubAnims	Q1:Name Q2:Name Q3:Value	Q1:Contains Q2:== Q3:>	Q1:"bend" Q2:"angle" Q3:"10"	The 1st Query selects all objects with a Bend mod. The 2nd Query collects the SubAnim Tracks containing "Angle" in the name. The 3rd Query compares the value of these Tracks.
Find all Boolean Compound Objects containing a Sphere as Operand	Q1:Scene Q2:Selection	Q1:Select Q2:Select	Q1:Objects Q2:SubAnims	Q1:Class Q1:Name	Q1:== Q2:Contains	Q1:"Boolean2" Q2:"sphere"	Use the Hint List button to get quickly the "Boolean2" class name from the list into Query 1.
Find all Objects using a TGA texture in the diffusemap slot	Q1:Scene Q2:SO Results	Q1:Select Q2:Select	Q1:SubAnims Q2:SubAnims	Q1:Name Q2:Filename	Q1:Contains Q2:Ends With	Q1:"diffuse" Q2:".TGA"	The first Query finds all sub-anims with name containing "diffuse". The second query checks only these tracks and searches for the ending of the filename. Placing a TGA in a Specular slot would not select the object.
Find all Editable Meshes whose Vertex Count is between 100 and 1000	Q1:Scene Q2:Selection Q3:Selection	Q1:Select Q2:Select Q3:Select	Q1:Objects Q2:Objects Q3:Objects	Q1:Class Q2:Vert.Count Q3:Vert.Count	Q1:== Q2:> Q3:<	Q1:"Editable_mesh" Q2:"100" Q3:"1000"	NOTE that Primitives with modifiers on the stack evaluate to Editable_mesh, but a Boolean Compound with a Modifier evaluates to PolyMeshObject...
Find all Geometry Objects without texture coordinates.	Q1:Scene	Q1:Select	Q1:Objects	Q1:TVert.Count	Q1:==	Q1:"0"	Although we didn't specify Geometry Objects explicitly in a separate Query, COLUMBO will ignore objects like Lights or Cameras that don't know about TVertices...

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