You can use a script to customize the way your asset can interact with the Maya UI. For example, if you’ve created an asset that encapsulates a number of shaders or materials, it maybe useful to have this asset appear in the Assign Existing Materials list that appears when you -click an object.

To customize how an asset is treated in the UI

1. Select the asset in the Outliner.
2. Open the Attribute Editor.
3. In the asset tab, under the Asset Attributes section, click UI Treatment.
4. Do one of the following:
5. • If you want to treat the asset as a shader, select Shader from the drop-down menu.
   • If you want to assign some other custom treatment, select Custom from the drop-down menu and enter a string in the Custom Treatment field. You can then write custom scripts or plug-ins that use this string.