You can use symbolic pathnames in the form $<name> anywhere a filename can be supplied to MAXScript.
This support was added in 3ds Max 4 and was largely enhanced in 3ds Max 9.
Any filename you provide to MAXScript can begin with a '$' followed by one of the symbolic directory names below.
The following symbolic names are recognized:
Please note that these are similar to the 3ds Max System Directories filetype_names which start with a "#"and are used as arguments to the GetDir() and SetDir() methods.
The following example will open the file "foo.ms" in the current 3ds Max Scripts directory.
In 3ds Max 9 and higher , the $maps and $plugins symbolic pathnames can also specify an index. In this case, the indexed directory will be used.
When no index is provided, the first map resp. plugins path will be used.
In 3ds Max 9 and higher, the SymbolicPaths struct provides methods to access existing and define new symbolic paths:
Returns the number of symbolic path names. This includes both system and user-defined path names
Returns the indexed symbolic path name.
Returns true if the string corresponds to a symbolic path name, false otherwise.
Returns the path associated with the specified symbolic path name (specified either by index or by name string).
Returns the number of user-defined symbolic path names.
Returns the indexed user-defined symbolic path name.
Returns true if the string corresponds to a user-defined symbolic path name, false otherwise.
Returns the path associated with the specified user-defined symbolic path name
Sets path associated with the specified user-defined symbolic path name
Adds user-defined symbolic path name and path
Removes user-defined symbolic path name