Button

Description

File

Provides general-purpose commands that apply to all plug-ins or to the Plug-in Tree as a whole.

• File > New provides access to wizards for creating plug-ins, shaders, and toolbars. By default, the wizards create the plug-ins in the User location.

To create a plug-in in a specific location, expand the location in the tree, right-click the Plug-ins folder, click New, and choose the type of plug-in you want to create.

• File > Load Plug-in opens a browser that allows you to locate and load plug-ins.

• File > Update All reloads all self-installing plug-ins.

• File > Show Errors expands the Plug-in Tree to show the plug-ins that caused errors during loading.

• File > Preferences allows you to configure how Softimage resolves conflicts when it finds multiple copies of the same plug-in, and what information is displayed in the Plug-in Tree

Selection

Provides commands that apply to the currently selected node in the Plug-in Tree.

You can access the same commands by right-clicking a node in the tree. For example, to create a new toolbar in a workgroup, right-click the Toolbars folder and then choose New > Toolbar.

Load

Loads a self-installing plug-in.

Update All

Reloads all self-installing plug-ins.

To do this

Do this

Create a self-installing plug-in

In the Plug-in Tree, expand a location (such as a workgroup or an Add-on directory) and right-click the Plugins folder. Click New and choose the type of plug-in you want to create (Command, Property, or Event).

Choose New > Empty Plug-in if you want to create a different type of plug-in, such as a filter.

Create a shader

In the Plug-in Tree, expand a location (such as a workgroup or an Add-on directory) and right-click the SPDLs folder. Choose New > Shader.

Edit a self-installing plug-in

Do one of the following:

• Right-click a plug-in and choose Edit.

• Drag the plug-in to a script editor.

Run a command

Expand a plug-in, right-click the custom command, and choose Invoke <Command-Name>, where <Command-Name> is the actual name of the command.

Create a property

Expand a plug-in, right-click the property, and choose Create Property. This adds the custom property to the scene root and opens the property page.

Unload a plug-in

Right-click the plug-in and choose Unload.

To load the plug-in again, you have to click Update All or use the LoadPlugin command. If the plug-in is in a workgroup, you could disable and then re-enable the workgroup (Rescanning the workgroups would reload all workgroups).

Update a plug-in

Right-click the plug-in and choose Update. This unloads and reloads the plug-in.

Delete a plug-in

Right-click the plug-in and choose Delete.

Remove a plug-in from the cache

Right-click the plug-in and click Cached to clear the check mark.

To do this

In the Plug-in Tree, do this

Create a toolbar

Expand a location (such as a workgroup or an Add-on directory) and right-click the Toolbars folder. Choose New > Toolbar.

Add a command to a toolbar

Double-click the toolbar to open it. Then drag a custom command from the Plug-in Tree to the toolbar.

Edit a toolbar

To customize a toolbar, double-click the toolbar to open it. Then right-click the toolbar and choose Customize Toolbar.

To edit the .xsitb file, do one of the following:

• Right-click a toolbar and choose Edit.

• Drag the toolbar to a script editor.

Note You can edit a toolbar directly in a workgroup (as long as the file is not read-only).

To do this

In the Plug-in Tree, do this

Package an add-on

Right-click an add-on and choose Package Add-on.

In the Package Add-on Options dialog box, set the packaging options:

• Source is the location of the Add-on directory. The .xsiaddon file will contain everything under the source folder.

• Destination is where the .xsiaddon file will be created.

• Directories to Exclude is a semi-colon (;) separated list of folders that you do not want to include in the .xsiaddon file.

Install an add-on

Right-click the first workgroup in the tree, and choose Install .xsiaddon. In the Select Add-on File, Locate the .xsiaddon file and click OK.

If you want to install an add-on in a different workgroup (a workgroup that is not first in the tree), click the Workgroup tab, click the workgroup, and then click Move Up until the workgroup is the first workgroup.

Uninstall an add-on

Right-click the add-on node and then choose Uninstall Add-on.

Generate a help page for an add-on

Right-click an Add-on and choose New > Add-on Help. Type a brief description and click OK.

To do this

In the Plug-in Tree, do this

Edit a SPDL file

Right-click the SPDL file and choose Edit.

Check a SPDL file for syntax errors

Right-click the SPDL file and choose Run spdlcheck.

Find the .dll/.dso associated with a SPDL file

Right-click a SPDL file and choose Find Libraries.

Generate a preset

Right-click a SPDL file and choose Regenerate Preset.

Explore or browse the preset folder

Right-click a SPDL file and choose Browse Preset Directory to open an Softimage browser, or Explore Preset Directory to open Windows Explorer.

Check if the SPDL file is used in the scene

Right-click a SPDL file and choose Select Instances. All instances (for example, of shaders or operators) will be selected.

Relocate a SPDL file

Drag the SPDL file to the destination SPDL folder. Softimage also relocates the preset, if it exists.