The changes to the API are described in the following sections:
A number of methods which do not modify their objects have been changed to be const.
A number of method parameters which are not modified by the method have been changed to be const.
API reference documentation for Maya now has improved styles and new functions to provide more useful and readable documentation, including:
We have added a number of new classes to this release.
The MAtomic class provides cross-platform atomic operations, such as incrementing and decrementing counters, which are useful when writing multi-threaded code.
The MContainerMessage class provides the ability to register callback functions for changes in the published attributes of a container.
The MFnContainerNode class is a function set for creating, querying and editing containers.
MFnUint64SingleIndexedComponent
The MFnUint64SingleIndexedComponent class is a function set for working with components which are indexed by an MUint64 (64-bit unsigned integer), such as subdivision surface vertex ids.
The MMeshSmoothOptions class is used to set and retrieve the options to be used with the MFnMesh::generateSmoothMesh method.
The MNurbsIntersector class provides methods for efficiently finding the closest point to a NURBS surface.
The MPxManipulatorNode class is used to create user-defined manipulators which can be used standalone or with MPxManipContainer.
The MRenderPassDef class provides the ability to create, query and edit a render pass.
The MRenderPassRegistry class is used to register render pass definitions with Maya and to retrieve already-registered render pass definitions.
The MRichSelection class provides a selection list which retains soft selection and symmetry information.
The MThreadUtils class provides utility methods which are useful when writing threaded plug-ins.
We have added the following new methods to this release:
void getScreenPosition( int& x, int& y, MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL ) const
Returns the position of the view's upper-left corner, in screen coordinates.
MStatus colorMask( bool& r, bool& g, bool& b, bool& a )
Retrieves the current color mask.
MStatus setColorMask( bool r, bool g, bool b, bool a )
static MCallbackId addPreConnectionCallback( MMessage::MPlugFunction func, void* clientData = NULL, MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
Adds a callback which is called just prior to a connection being made or break.
bool inUserInteraction() const
Returns true if the current refresh is the result of the user interacting with the scene.
bool userChangingViewContext() const
Returns true if the current refresh is the result of the user manipulating view context tools such as tumble, dolly, track, etc. This is useful for changing drawing mode to something simpler to speed up interactive redraws.
static MPxFileTranslator* beforeOpenUserFileTranslator( MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
Can be used within MSceneMessage::kBeforeOpen and MSceneMessage::kBeforeOpenCheck callbacks to return the plug-in file translator being used, if any.
static MPxFileTranslator* beforeImportUserFileTranslator( MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
Can be used within MSceneMessage::kBeforeImport and MSceneMessage::kBeforeImportCheck callbacks to return the plug-in file translator being used, if any.
static MPxFileTranslator* beforeSaveUserFileTranslator( MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
Can be used within MSceneMessage::kBeforeSave and MSceneMessage::kBeforeSaveCheck callbacks to return the plug-in file translator being used, if any.
static MPxFileTranslator* beforeExportUserFileTranslator( MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
Can be used within MSceneMessage::kBeforeExport and MSceneMessage::kBeforeExportCheck callbacks to return the plug-in file translator being used, if any.
static MPxFileTranslator* beforeReferenceUserFileTranslator( MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
Can be used within MSceneMessage::kBeforeReference and MSceneMessage::kBeforeReferenceCheck callbacks to return the plug-in file translator being used, if any.
void setResolveMethod( MFileResolveMethod method )
Sets how file path resolution should be done.
MFileResolveMethod resolveMethod() const
MStatus getViewParameters( double windowAspect, double& apertureX, double& apertureY, double& offsetX, double& offsetY, bool applyOverscan = false, bool applySqueeze = false ) const
Returns the raw viewing parameters which MFnCamera::getViewingFrustum and MFnCamera::getRenderingFrustum use internally in their calculations.
MStatus setDisplayGateMask( bool displayGateMask )
If the film or resolution gate is active, this method can be used to set whether the masked portion outside the gate is shaded to make it more visible.
bool hasWeights() const
Returns true if the component has soft selection or symmetry weight data attached.
MWeight weight( int index, MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL ) const
Returns the soft selection or symmetry weight data for a given element within the component.
MStatus dgTimerOn()
Turns the node's dependency graph timer on. DG timers are used to collect timing information for performance analysis.
MStatus dgTimerOff()
Turns the node's dependency graph timer off. DG timers are used to collect timing information for performance analysis.
MdgTimerState dgTimerQueryState( MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
Returns the current state of the node's dependency graph timer. DG timers are used to collect timing information for performance analysis.
MStatus dgTimerReset()
Resets the node's dependency graph timer and counters to zero. DG timers are used to collect timing information for performance analysis.
double dgTimer( const MdgTimerMetric timerMetric, const MdgTimerType timerType, MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL ) const
Returns the specified timer value for the node. DG timers are used to collect timing information for performance analysis.
MStatus dgCallbacks( const MdgTimerType type, MStringArray& callbackName, MDoubleArray& value )
Returns how much of the time logged against a node's DG timer was spent in each type of callback. DG timers are used to collect timing information for performance analysis.
MStatus dgCallbackIds( const MdgTimerType type, const MString& callbackName, MCallbackIdArray& callbackId, MDoubleArray& value )
Returns how much of the time logged against a node's DG timer was spent in each callback method for a given type of callback. DG timers are used to collect timing information for performance analysis.
MString pluginName( MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL ) const
If the node is from a plug-in, this method returns the plug-ins pathname.
MStatus getSmoothMeshDisplayOptions( MMeshSmoothOptions& options ) const
Retrieves the current display smoothing options for the mesh.
MStatus setSmoothMeshDisplayOptions( const MMeshSmoothOptions& options )
Sets the current display smoothing options for the mesh.
MStatus booleanOp( BoolOperation op, MFnMesh& mesh1, MFnMesh& mesh2 )
Computes a boolean operation between two meshes.
const float* getRawPoints( MStatus* ) const
Returns a pointer to the internal vertex list for this mesh.
const float* getRawNormals( MStatus* ) const
Returns a pointer to the internal normal list for this mesh.
MStatus getVertexNormal( int vertexId, bool angleWeighted, MVector& normal, MSpace::Space space = MSpace::kObject ) const
This variant of getVertexNormal allows the caller to turn off the weighted averaging Maya normally uses when calculating normals in favor of a simple average which is much faster.
MStatus getVertexNormals( bool angleWeighted, MFloatVectorArray& normals, MSpace::Space space ) const
This variant of getVertexNormals allows the caller to turn off the weighted averaging Maya normally uses when calculating normals in favor of a simple average which is much faster.
MStatus getColorSetFamilyNames( MStringArray& familyNames ) const
Get the names of all of the color set families on this object.
MStatus getColorSetsInFamily( const MString& familyName, MStringArray& setNames ) const
Get the names of the color sets that belong to a color set family.
bool isColorSetPerInstance( const MString& name, MStatus* ReturnStatus ) const
Returns true if the specified color set is per-instance and false if it is shared across all instances.
MStatus getAssociatedColorSetInstances( const MString& setName, MIntArray& instances ) const
Returns the instance numbers of all instances which use a given color set.
MObject getDataObject() const
Returns an MObject if the class has been constructed with an MFn::kNurbsSurfaceData entity, otherwise MObject::kNullObj is returned.
MStatus registerCacheFormat( const MString& cacheFormatName, MCreatorFunction creatorFunction )
Register a custom cache format with Maya.
MStatus deregisterCacheFormat( const MString& cacheFormatName )
De-register a custom cache format with Maya.
MStatus registerRenderPassImpl( const MString& passImplId, MRenderPassDef* passDef, MCreatorFunction creatorFunction, bool overload )
Register a custom render pass implementation with Maya.
MStatus deregisterRenderPassImpl( const MString& passImplId )
MStatus externalRenderPasses( MObjectArray& renderPassArray ) const
Returns an array of all the render pass nodes in a render layer.
bool passHasObject( const MObject& renderPass, const MDagPath& objectPath, MStatus* ReturnStatus ) const
Returns true if the specified object instance contributes to the given render pass.
bool passHasLight( const MObject& renderPass, const MObject& light, MStatus* ReturnStatus ) const
Returns true if the specified light contributes to the given render pass.
static MStatus getRichSelection( MRichSelection& dest, bool defaultToActiveSelection )
Returns the active selection with any soft selection and symmetry applied.
static SelectionMethod selectionMethod( MStatus* ReturnStatus )
Returns the selection method that should be used in the currently active viewport.
MWeight weight( MStatus* ReturnStatus ) const
Returns the weight of the current component.
int exactCount( MStatus* ReturnStatus )
Returns the exact number of items in this iteration.
MStatus allPositions( MPointArray& points, MSpace::Space space ) const
Returns the position of all the points/CVs/vertices. This operation is faster than using the iterator to get values one by one.
MStatus setAllPositions( const MPointArray& points, MSpace::Space space )
Sets the position of all the points/CVs/vertices at once. This operation is faster than using the iterator to set values one by one.
unsigned int hashCode() const
Returns a hash code for the internal Maya object referenced by the MObject within this MObjectHandle. This provides a way for safely using internal Maya objects as keys in hash-based lookups, such as Python dictionaries.
virtual void beginBufferNotify()
This method is called when the GL buffer is being setup by the viewport renderer.
virtual void endBufferNotify()
This method is called when the GL buffer is being shutdown by the viewport renderer.
MStatus addMPxManipulatorNode( const MString& manipTypeName, const MString& manipName, MPxManipulatorNode*& proxyManip )
This method creates a custom MPxManipulatorNode and adds it to the manip container.
MStatus setResult( const MDoubleArray& result )
This method should be called when the result of the panel command is a double array.
MStatus setResult( const MIntArray& result )
This method should be called when the result of the panel command is an integer array.
virtual MString editorCommandName() const
Returns the name of the model editor command.
virtual MPx3dModelView* makeModelView( MStatus* ReturnStatus )
This method is called when the modelEditor is being created and it can be overriden to allow the user to handle the allocation of the modelView directly or alter the creation according to command flags.
Changes were made to a number of existing methods. In those cases where the change has made the new calling sequence incompatible with the old, the old calling sequence has been retained as well for backward compatability, but is marked as deprecated in the documentation.
For brevity, those methods that only had changes in their constness or the constness of their parameters are not listed.
MStatus open( const MString& fileName, const char* type = NULL, bool force = false, ReferenceMode refMode = kLoadDefault, bool ignoreVersion = false )
The optional ignoreVersion parameter has been added to indicate whether Maya should ignore the version number when opening the file.
MStatus createColorSet( MString& colorSetName, MDGModifier* modifier, bool clamped, MColorRepresentation rep, const MUintArray* instances = NULL )
The optional instances parameter has been added to allow the color set to be only associated with specific instances of the node.
MString createColorSetWithName( const MString& colorSetName, MDGModifier* modifier = NULL, const MUintArray* instances = NULL, MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
The optional instances parameter has been added to allow the color set to be only associated with specific instances of the node.
MString currentColorSetName( int instance = kMFnMeshInstanceUnspecified, MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL ) const
The optional instance parameter has been added to return the instance-specific color set, if there is one.
MObject generateSmoothMesh( MObject parentOrOwner = MObject::kNullObj, MMeshSmoothOptions* options = NULL, MStatus* ReturnStatus = NULL )
The optional options parameter has been added to allow the caller to set the options used in generating the smooth mesh.
MStatus getCurrentColorSetName( MString& setName, int instance = kMFnMeshInstanceUnspecified )
The optional instance parameter has been added to return the instance-specific color set, if there is one.
MStatus selectFromScreen( const short& x_pos, const short& y_pos, MGlobal::ListAdjustment listAdjustment = kAddToList, MGlobal::SelectionMethod selectMethod = kWireframeSelectMethod )
The optional selectMethod parameter has been added to specify whether objects should be selected as wireframes or as surfaces.
MStatus selectFromScreen( const short& start_x, const short& start_y, const short& end_x, const short& end_y, MGlobal::ListAdjustment listAdjustment = kAddToList, MGlobal::SelectionMethod selectMethod = kWireframeSelectMethod )
The optional selectMethod parameter has been added to specify whether objects should be selected as wireframes or as surfaces.
An optional ReturnStatus parameter has been added to the following methods:
virtual MStatus handleNewTargets( MDagPath& dagObject )
The dagObject parameter has been changed from an MObject to an MDagPath so that it can distinguish between different instances of the same node.
virtual MStatus connectTarget( MDagPath& targetPath, int index )
Previously the target was passed as an opaque pointer. This has been changed to an MDagPath, providing the developer with more flexibility when overriding this virtual method.
MStatus connectTargetAttribute( MDagPath& targetPath, int index, MObject& tarAttr, MObject& constraintAttr, bool instanced = false )
Previously the target was passed as an opaque pointer. This has been changed to an MDagPath, providing the developer with more flexibility when overriding this virtual method.
An optional instanced parameter has been added to indicate if the target attribute is instanced.
We have added a number of new enums to existing classes in this release:
The types of boolean operations which can be performed on meshes.
Selection methods available in the various selectFromScreen functions.
The following is a list bugs fixed in this release of Maya which are most likely to be of interest to users of the API:
