Parameter
 
 
 

Parameter

Object Hierarchy | Related C++ Class: Parameter

Inheritance

SIObject

Parameter

Introduced

v1.5

Description

Represents a parameter value, which defines an attribute of an object; for example, the angle parameter of the twist operator or the color of a light. Parameters (sometimes called properties), are the 'atomic' elements of a parameter set (the posx in Cone.kine.ltransfo.pos.posx) whose values determine the behavior of something.

Note: A parameter set (often called a 'property set') is a collection of parameters whose values can determine the appearance, behavior, or simply provide information about an element in a scene. Parameter sets (the Property object for scripting) define the visual aspect of objects as displayed in the viewport; some provide motion information such as time; and others are used internally to control the way specific operations are performed.

In the user interface, you can edit and animate the parameters of most parameter sets using property editors. Related parameters are usually displayed as a property page within a property editor.

In the object model, the Parameter object is a member of the ParameterCollection, which you can get using ProjectItem.Parameters. For custom-defined parameters, you can create them on the CustomProperty object (see CustomProperty.AddParameter and CustomProperty.AddParameter2).

Besides representing a regular parameter in Softimage, this object is the base class for a number of specializations, including the ArrayParameter, ShaderParameter, ProxyParameter, etc.

For more information, see "Object Hierarchy" in the Softimage user guide.

Methods

AddCustomOp AddExpression AddFCurve AddFCurve2
AddScriptedOp AddScriptedOpFromFile AnimatedParameters Connect
ConnectFromFile ConnectFromFile2 ConnectFromPreset ConnectFromPreset2
ConnectFromProgID ConnectFromProgID2 Disconnect Enable operator
GetInstanceValue GetValue2 operator IsAnimated IsClassOf operator
IsEqualTo operator IsLocked operator IsSupportedInstanceValue PutValue2 operator
SetCapabilityFlag operator SetInstanceValue SetLock Show operator
UnSetLock      
       

Properties

Animatable operator Application Capabilities operator Categories
Default operator Description operator FullName operator HasInstanceValue
Help Keyable operator LockLevel operator LockType operator
Marked Max operator Min operator Model
Name operator NestedObjects Origin OriginPath
OriginalValue operator OverridenObject OverridingObject Parameters operator
Parent Parent3DObject ReadOnly operator ScriptName operator
Source Sources SuggestedMax operator SuggestedMin operator
Tags operator Type operator Value operator ValueType operator

Examples

1. VBScript Example

' 
' This example shows how to loop through all parameters on the object
'
NewScene , false
' Access Parameters Directly Off the Object
Set oRoot = Application.ActiveProject.ActiveScene.Root
Set oCube =  oRoot.AddGeometry("Cube", "MeshSurface", "MyCube")
' Print the names of all parameter exposed by the cube object
For Each oParameter In oCube.Parameters
        LogMessage oParameter.ScriptName & " = " & oParameter.Value
Next
' Expected results:
'INFO : "Name = MyCube"
'INFO : "blendweight = 1"
'INFO : "active = True"
'INFO : "posx = 0"
'INFO : "posy = 0"
'INFO : "posz = 0"
'INFO : "rotx = 0"
'INFO : "roty = 0"
'INFO : "rotz = 0"
'INFO : "quatw = 1"
'INFO : "quatx = 0"
'INFO : "quaty = 0"
'INFO : "quatz = 0"
'INFO : "sclx = 1"
'INFO : "scly = 1"
'INFO : "sclz = 1"
'INFO : "sclorix = 0"
'INFO : "scloriy = 0"
'INFO : "scloriz = 0"
'INFO : "cnsscl = True"
'INFO : "cnsori = True"
'INFO : "cnspos = True"
'INFO : "affbyscl = True"
'INFO : "affbyori = True"
'INFO : "posxmaxactive = False"
'INFO : "posxminactive = False"
'INFO : "posymaxactive = False"
'INFO : "posyminactive = False"
'INFO : "poszmaxactive = False"
'INFO : "poszminactive = False"
'INFO : "rotxmaxactive = False"
'INFO : "rotxminactive = False"
'INFO : "rotymaxactive = False"
'INFO : "rotyminactive = False"
'INFO : "rotzmaxactive = False"
'INFO : "rotzminactive = False"
'INFO : "siscaling = True"
'INFO : "rotorder = 0"
'INFO : "subdivu = 1"
'INFO : "subdivv = 1"
'INFO : "subdivbase = 1"
'INFO : "length = 8"

2. VBScript Example

' 
' This example demonstrates how to get at individual parameters; if you change the value of
' a parameter you want to access through the UI, you can get its name to use in your script.
' For example, toggling the View Visibility parameter of a torus logs the following message 
' to the Script Editor History pane:
'
'               SetValue "torus.visibility.viewvis", False
'
NewScene , false
' 
'       How to Access Parameters (the Long Way)
' 
' First get the camera (Camera object)
Set oCamera = ActiveSceneRoot.FindChild( , "camera" )
' Underneath the camera are its properties (Properties returns the PropertyCollection)
Set oProps = oCamera.Properties
' Once you have all the property sets (PropertyCollection) you can specify the one you 
' want (the Property object is returned)
Set oVis = oProps( "visibility" )
' Now you have a single Property (property set), so you need to get all the 
' parameters for that property set (Parameters returns the ParameterCollection)
Set oParams = oVis.Parameters
' Again you choose the single parameter you want from the collection (the 
' Parameter object is returned)
Set oViewVis = oParams( "viewvis" )
' 
' How to Get Parameter Values
' 
' And once you have a single Parameter object, you can get it's value...
bOldValue = oViewVis.Value
LogMessage "Parameter originally was set to " & oViewVis.Value
' 
' How to Set Parameter Values
' 
' ...or set it...
oViewVis.Value = not(bOldValue)
LogMessage "Parameter has been changed to " & oViewVis.Value
' 
' How to Access Parameters (the Short Way)
' 
' ...and you can make as many shortcuts as you like, so...
oCamera.Properties("visibility").Parameters("viewvis").Value = not(bOldValue)
LogMessage "Parameter is back to " & oViewVis.Value
' Expected result:
'INFO : "Parameter originally was set to False"
'INFO : "Parameter has been changed to True"
'INFO : "Parameter is back to True"

See Also

ParameterCollection ProjectItem.Parameters Property CustomProperty CustomProperty.AddParameter CustomProperty.AddParameter2 ProjectItem