Frequently-used tools can be started from the startup directory; but if rarely used, start them by dragging into the scene.
Do not create a tool twice
- Do not confuse creating a tool with showing a tool.
- Use the startup directory to create a tool, and then show it with the Tool Manager.
- If you prefer to show a tool by dragging a script into the viewer, use the code in SafeToolCreationExample.py. This tests
if a tool exists to avoid creating it again.
If all tools in the startup directory are created like SafeToolCreationExample.py, you have the best of both worlds: a tool
is executed once and can be dragged and dropped in the viewer when needed.
Rather than using FBTool, you should use pyfbsdk_additions::CreateUniqueTool or pyfbsdk_additions::CreateTool which ensure that the tools are added to the tool list and that the Tool Manager knows about them.
Unlike FBTool, CreateUniqueTool and CreateTool use the Tool Manager.
- pyfbsdk_additions::CreateUniqueTool
-
Recommended: checks whether a tool with a similar name exists, and if so, it destroys that tool. It then creates a new tool
with the same name. So each time you re-execute your script during testing, there is only one tool instantiated.
- pyfbsdk_additions::CreateTool
-
Recommended: creates a tool without destroying the previous tool.
- pyfbsdk::FBTool
-
Not recommended, as it does not register your tool with the Tool Manager.