Hi!
I would like to present my new scripts :) CustomUI project.
Using it you can add a custom buttons and menus to CommandBar.
!!! The latest version works only with MoI v.3.0 !!! V.1.03 is not compatible with MoI v.4 beta, use v2.0 beta instead (http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=6507.268)





Advantages of CustomUI:
1. CustomUI adds only one line to the CommandBar.htm file.
2. Flexible module structure
3. All CustomUI files stored separately from MoI files. (in other words, you can delete it in one second :)

Installation:
- Backup /ui/CommandBar.htm
- Extract CustonUI archive into the MoI directory
- Run moi.exe

Files description:
"objects" - Object library directory (contains some demo objects).
"snapshots" - directory where Snapshot addon stores snapshots
/ui/CommandBar.htm - replaces original CommandBar.htm file
/ui/EmptyStrings.txt - empty language file (Snapshot addon uses this file to switch on/off a viewport labels (Front/Left/3D etc.) for taking clean screenshots. Michael, please make something like moi.view.showViewportLabels )
/ui/customui/-05 Select.htm ..... /ui/customui/88 LightingPresets.htm - buttons/menus modules
/ui/customui/CustomInit.js - CustomUI initialization script
/ui/customui/mods/ - directory for additional scripts/configs/menus data.. etc.

Usage:
Go to the /customui directory and select modules which you want to use. To disable module, just put "-" symbol at the beginning of a filename (most of modules are already disabled).
-45 History.htm - history button disabled
45 History.htm - history button enabled
You can change buttons order by editing a two digit numbers in filenames. 00 - will be first, 99 - last.

Note: I use BASE64 encoding to store icons directly in htm file intstead of creating a png-file.

Almost all modules executes a built-in MoI commands (copy, paste, hide, lock .....). But I wrote four addons to show a real power of this system.

ObjLibrary
---------------
With this addon you can add an objects to object libraries.
Select object(s). Open Library menu. Click to the Library name (+ symbol appears). Enter object name. All selected objects will be added as single library object.
If no objects is selected, all objects will be saved to the library as single object.
To import objest: Open Library, Left click - import object (import part command). Right click - fast import (import command).
Use the middle mouse button to rename object. Leave name field blank and press OK to delete the object.

You can use any directory as library. Edit /customui/mods/ObjLibrary.cfg.htm with notepad to add/delete libraries.
ObjLibrary.cfg.htm is a plain text file with comma-separated values.
Library name,Full path to the directory (";" symbol is also accepted)
*) You can use MOI abbreviation instead of full path to point to the MoI directory
Examples:
Local objects;MOI\objects
Dropbox;C:\Users\DropboxUser\Dropbox\MoI library
Hint: To get the full path of a folder in Windows, hold Shift, Right click and select "Copy as path"

ExtScripts
--------------
This addon dynamically generates list of all external scripts. Also it adds to the list some "hidden" MoI commands.
There is another version of this addon - ExtScriptsFull. It works exactly as ExtScripts, but It loads all MoI commands.
You can open ExtScripts.menu.htm(ExtScriptsFull.menu.htm) with Notepad and edit "maxlines" value ( default 40 ) to change the maximum number of lines.
By default this addon checks only /commands directory, but you can create /customui/mods/ExtScripts.cfg.htm with notepad to add any directory you want.
Example:
MOI\commands
MOI\commands\myscripts
MOI\myscripts2
D:\dir1\dir2\myscripts3

Note: As you noticed (or maybe not), I always use "_" symbol in the beginning of my scripts names. Using this trick I can easily find and manage external scripts in /command directory.
ExtScripts automatically removes "_" symbol, so "_vClone" script will be shown as "vClone".

Snapshot
-------------
With this addon you can make a snapshot of last clicked viewport.
Resolution is fixed: 1600x1200
Left click - grid is visible
Right click - grid is hidden
Shift + click = resolution x 2
Ctrl + Shift + click = resolution x 3
Snapshots will be saved to "snapshots" directory.

LightingPresets
---------------------
This addon can be used only with Lighting Options plugin (by Dinos). Great plugin! Thanks Dinos.
Use Lighting options to create a lighting presets. After that you can switch presets on the fly using this addon.

Update history:
1.0 Initial release
1.01 ObjLibrary.menu.htm - Now, while making an icon the script hides all unselected objects.
1.02 All scripts have been rewritten using newest filesystem functions.
1.03 Fixed "flashing" effect while taking a snapshot; Added the ability to specify ExtScripts directories.

Wow, that looks really good.
i tryed it but i did get theis script error, since i am running Moi un a Mac

hep,
Sorry, forgot to say that I use ActiveX Scripting.FileSystemObject in some scripts. So, at the moment this scripts doesn't support Mac. I use ActiveX to check existance of files and folders. Also, I use it for deleting and renaming.
I'll try to find a way to solve this problem.

Hi
Thanks a lot, that would be very nice

Hi Max,

you can use moi.filesystem object for file operations (check for a file: moi.filesystem.fileExists) to avoid ActiveX dependancies.

Dinos

wow this is looking good! will try out tonight.
matt

Thank you, dinos,
I know about this command, but it doesn't check directory existence. Also, I use ActiveX to determine the absolute path to the MoI folder.
Just downloaded MoI (Mac version). I think it's no need to determine it, because that path is fixed (c:\moi). It's very good news for me.
I will make Mac version of this script today, but I need to turn off some checks. Also I need to block Delete/Rename function. I'll think about it later.

Okay, guys! Here is Mac version of the CustomUI.
Unfortunatelly I can't test it. MoI doesn't work on my MacOS virtual machine.

OMG this is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much Max!

I recently felt more and more that 3/4 of the power of MoI is strewn about somewhere in this forum and that it is almost impossible to keep track of the fantastic scripts people come up with and have them integrated easily and visually fitting.

As much as I respect Michaels zeal to keep the interface clean, I personally don't think going hunting for internal scripting tricks to find even relatively basic things like open edges etc. is a good "UI" in the extended meaning of using a software to it's fullest in a clear and easy way.

I very often recommend MoI to others and find myself constantly explaining that "yes the website looks like it's a childs toy but it's really powerful, trust me" and "yes, the GUI looks really simple but it beats some really expensive apps hands down". ;-)


Brilliant!

Cheers,

Tom

Thank Max, very useful added feature.

.

> > "... it is almost impossible to keep track of the fantastic scripts people come up with and have them
> > integrated easily and visually fitting. I personally don't think going hunting for internal scripting tricks
> > to find even relatively basic things like open edges etc. is a good "UI" "
>
> I agree.

I agree too!

But a good UI is one that is developed carefully and not rushed... There are only really a small handful of scripts that are useful to a wide range of users, most of them are pretty specialized things and so optimizing MoI for presenting those just hasn't been a major priority as of yet. It is something that I expect to get to eventually though!

- Michael

Hi, that was quick of the Mac version :-)

It works pretty good. I just found 2 small issues.
the list of external scripts is is overlapped by the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and it dont change size even if i resize the "Moi window" - Iworks oki if i just move or hide the bottom taskbar :-)
I use this black/orange layout for moi, so i need to change the color of the background so i can see the icons. On the picture below the "snapshot" icon is hoovered byt the mouse and the "lighetning" icon is not

""""""""""... it is almost impossible to keep track of the fantastic scripts people come up with and have them integrated easily and visually fitting. I personally don't think going hunting for internal scripting tricks to find even relatively basic things like open edges etc. is a good "UI" """""""""""

I agree with the theory but not in this case.

There is no hunting. They are all in one place on the resources page of the MoI website. Anything that is not in there is just a "custom experience" script Michael made for someone who asked in the forum.

I guess you have to ask yourself if you like the Rhino UI?

I like Max's plug. It's exactly (though a little different) like something I wanted to do (although Max did it better). But, There's no long term thought and planning in it. For a plug, that's ok, because he can change it later with no great affects. But for the main app? You cant just cram things in, then make sweeping changes 3 years from now when what you crammed in doesn't work.

Oh Yeah,

Very cool Max!!! Great work...

When I just click on the download, I am getting a "partial download, file may have moved error". This has never happened before.
(Windows7 PC)
But using "save target as", I was able to download Mac and Windows version.

(Superb praise message still in preparation :-)

- Brian

hep,
open ExtScripts.menu.htm as text file, and change "maxlines" value to 30.

So on my win7, with the filesystem writing, I have to set "run as administrator" on MoI, or the object library wont work.

Is there any way the scripting could be changed to avoid this? Any way to set the privileges from within Max's environment?

Hi Max
30 works perfect ;-)

Rhino really isn't the alternative I'm looking at. It has a relatively bad GUI (as most CAD tools seem to enjoy).
But I'm working with many 3D applications and there are IMO several well working solutions to this kind of problem.

Having a dropdown menu with all installed plugins wouldn't directly lead to GUI-mageddon. ;-)

It could be very simple with sub-menus created from file system subfolders, so you could have folders for Points/Curves/Solids/etc. put the respective scripts in there and have them show up in equally named submenus.
Just an example though.

I personally enjoy MoI 10 times more now with Max' script installed :-)

And I have totally zero problem if it will change somehow in 3 years...

Cheers,

Tom