BLUR Python....syntax confusion

lets try something...

Hi Steve,

Lets say 1st that am not play with Python and what i know about is from that i read incidentally online, as we have DotNet in Max i not see a reason to start with Python, but never mind, maybe can help a bit anyhow?...

From what i know, i think that you cannot convert this to py-code, but i have some thought in mind. :)

Note that Py3dsMax come with zero help documentation. That's poor page is all the help blur-dev offer about. Far away from enough to can say its ready for public. According to this docs there only 2 hard for implementation holes and they show how to deal in this cases.

One of those is for your case - coverting Max's Name value type. Your second parameter (cloneType) need Name value and if you install their init_pyhelper.ms script in your Startup scripts, should do something like:

cloneType=mxs.pyhelper.namify("instance")

But what about the third parameter (newNodes)? It's need by reference variable. The ByRef/ByVal in many languages is crabbed in Python. Here is an interesting topic about, in case not get what i mean.

So, as i see, this is not implemented in that extension (Py3dsMax). I cannot say if is easy or not for Blur to implemente that. I only can see how much complicate the coding this lack of control is in Python about ref's/val's.

But if you open those init_pyhelper.ms script will catch an idea how-to solve this.

I use only logic while helping on this, so first that come to my mind is to use Max Execute function where to pass the maxOps.cloneNodes as string expression (follow Mxs-syntax) like:

# using max execute("mxs_syntax_expression")
mxs.execute("maxOps.cloneNodes $ cloneType:#instance newNodes:&newObjs")

But don't ever sure how you can get back the result from the newly created variable newObjs (which is the array of all new clones). Is this will work...

# get global var (newObjs) back in py
nodes = mxs.globalVars.get newObjs

...or mabe this...

nodes = mxs.execute("newObjs")

But skip that, Execute is awkward solution, right? What's next then?

Read that init_pyhelper.ms and see how they deal with functions that needs ByRef params. Lets say those function:

function getLayerNodes layer = (
	local output = #()
	layer.nodes &output
	output
)

So, they wrap that function to can "move" that ByRef param to become a return result from the function, and this way "patch" the function. In other words, you need to make your own custom function wrapper like:

fn cloneObjs nodes type = (
	type = type as Name
	local output = #()
	maxOps.cloneNodes nodes cloneType:type newNodes:&output
	output
)

And there a lot of Max script functions like this one you should re-pack unfortunately to fill that hole in Py3dsMax.

Ok, to end this... i presume you save this function to .ms file and put that file in your Startup scripts folder, then in Python should work this one:

newObjs = mxs.cloneObjs(selection, "instance")

Ok, let me know if this help at all ;-) but not expect more help thouch, am not a py-coder, all this is just my logical efforts :)

Regards,
Anubis