XPOP Menus are fully customizable popup menus that can be used with all scripting languages available in Softimage.
example for an xPOP menu
download links are at the bottom of the page.
New Features for XPOP V3.0
Greyed out menu items
Icon support (including Checkmark)
Icon collection included
Object oriented API (similar to Patrick Boucher's python extension for XPOP2)
Section headers for more linear grouping than submenus
Visual customization options: margins, spacing, font, fontsize, coloring
1. Installation
Start XSI then drag-and-drop the .xsiaddon file into the application in order to install it into the USER directory. In case you want to use a different directory for the installation, go to the File menu and select Addon->Install to install the downloaded .xsiaddon file into a directory of your choice.
2. Usage
The addon creates the custom command XPOP(). This command returns an empty menu object that you can populate, one-by-one, with your own menu items, and eventually invoke using the Track() function. Here is an example code snippet for that:
popup = XPOP(); // create the initial empty menu object
popup.font = "Comic Sans MS";
popup.fontsize = 16;
popup.AddHeader( "Example Popup", 0xBB2222 ); // adds a red header to the popup
popup.AddItem( "Create a Box", "CreatePrim('Cube', 'MeshSurface');" ); // adds a menu item with some callback code
mysubmenu = popup.AddSubmenu( "More items .." ); // adds a Submenu
mysubmenu.SetIcon( "Flag" ); // sets a "flag" icon for the submenu - for icon names see picture below
item1 = mysubmenu.AddItem( "Create a Sphere", "CreatePrim('Sphere', 'MeshSurface');" ); // assign new item to a variable
item1.color = 0x0000FF; // sets item1's text color to blue
item2 = mysubmenu.AddItem( "Selection", "XYZ();" );
item2.SetIcon( "Checkmark" ); // adds a checkmark to item2
item2.SetIcon( "" ); // clears the checkmark again, for demonstrative purposes xD
item2.EnableItem(0); // disables and greys out item2
header = popup.AddHeader( "Sub section", 0xAAAAAA ); // adds a grey header to the popup menu
header.spacing_top = 12; // add 12 pixels of empty space above header
item3 = popup.AddItem("New Scene", "NewScene();");
item3.SetIcon( "Star" ); // adds a star to item3
eval( popup.Track() ); // Track() returns callback string, eval executes it
resulting xPOP menu
Copy/paste this into a script editor and press "run" for an easy way to test the menu and the handlers. As you see, the Track() command only returns the hander string associated with the picked item. This string is executed as code using the JScript "eval" method. (Note that the VBScript equivalent of eval is "ExecuteGlobal", Python equivalent is "exec".)
Such a snippet of code would usually be wrapped inside a custom command, which would then be mapped to a hotkey using the keyboard mapping manager (preferably ALT key combos, just as a suggestion). For an instruction on how to do this, see section 8.
Three example commands, one for each scripting language, are included with the plugin distribution. These examples also demonstrate how to grey out menu items, use toggle menu items, dynamic icons and checkboxes.
3. XPOP() command reference
This is the syntax for the custom command that is installed by the XPOP3 plugin:
4. Basemenu object reference
The Basemenu object represents the main popup menu. It is created by the XPOP() custom command.
available methods:
available attributes:
5. Item object reference
The Item object represents a menu item. An item object is created by the AddItem/AddHeader method.
available methods:
available attributes:
6. Submenu object reference
The Submenu object represents a submenu. It is created by the AddMenu method.
available methods:
available attributes:
7. Icons
Usage example:
You can use your own icons by using the LoadIcon instead of the SetIcon function. You will need to point it to a 16*16 .ico file
available icons:
8. How to create a custom command
Here's how to create a custom command out of the above code snippet:
Start Softimage. Pick File->Plugin Manager
Right-Click User Root, pick New->Add-On Directory... (We will create the command plugin inside its own add-on directory so it can be distributed as an .xsiaddon file later)
Name the add-on exampleXPOPAddon, hit OK.
In the tree view, click the + to open the new exampleXPOPAddon add-on.
Right Click exampleXPOPAddon->Plug-ins, pick New->Command.
Inside the new window, enter exampleXPOP for the command name. Plug-in name will be automatically filled in.
Set Coding Language to JScript, hit Generate Code. A script editor will open.
Copy the code snippet from this web page, paste it into the Softimage script editor into the exampleXPOP_Execute() function, replacing the TODO comments.
Save the code, this will register the command already.
From the Softimage main menu, pick File->Keyboard Mapping, select the Custom Script Commands group.
Scroll down to exampleXPOP, then hold down the ALT key while dragging the exampleXPOP item on the T key.
The new popup is now mapped to ALT+T. Exit the Keyboard Mapping dialog and hit ALT+T to test it.