Possibly via “Indexed Access to Animateable Properties?”
ie
tst = $[#transform][#rotation]
SubAnim:Rotation
tst.isanimated
true
[font=Verdana]EDIT …oops, too late
[/font]
no, not too late, drdubosc. Funny I was reading about this method before ZeBoxx2 posted his answer.
It looks like another good method to get the same results. I was using it with numbers, instead of #tranform and #rotation, since I’m not very familiar with the # character yet.
Oh, good. I’m still straining my head trying to work out what the code behind this behaviour of properties must look like, so I can get a mental picture of it. An overload of “=”, perhaps. Just a phase. It will pass :).
as far as * goes, it’s the dereferencing operator, otherwise you’re just left with another reference, while you need the value of it.
Basically the whole referencing thing is a powerful (albeit somewhat confusing-at-first) method of getting a value at the time you dereference the reference. This is different from variables in that variables are static. It’s similar to a function, in that regard, but without the need for defining a function.
e.g.
fn selRadius = ( $.radius )
selRadius()
myRadius = $.radius
26.223
selRadius()
26.223
myRadiusRef = &$.radius
(prop radius* (%"getDollarSel"()))
$.radius = 10
10
myRadius
26.223
selRadius()
10.0
myRadiusref
(prop radius* (%"getDollarSel"()))
*myRadiusRef
10.0
Of course a function (or an UI element’s callbacks code bock) is much more flexible as you can make calculations, put in conditional tests, etc. But sometimes, a reference is all you need and it’s much more light-weight.
thanks ZeBoxx2 for that deeper explanation.
In the end I went with $[#transform][#rotation], it works perfectly with what I’m trying to do and it’s simple enough.
Now if I can just figure out how the # character is working in this expression… I know # character is used for arrays, but I can’t see exactly how it works here.
In Maxscript the # refers to a Name Literal. You can look it up in the Maxscript Help for more info.
-Eric
