Script Editor menus and hotkeys

Loads the contents of a text file into the Script Editor.

Executes the contents of a text file.

Locally scoped procedure definitions must appear before they are called. (MEL doesn't let you forward reference locally scoped procedures.) For example, in a file called noForwardRef.mel, define the local procedures before they are referenced as follows:

proc myLocalProc() 
{ 
    print "In myLocalProc()\n" ; 
}
proc anotherLocalProc()
{
    print "In anotherLocalProc()\n";
    myLocalProc;
}
global proc noForwardRef() 
{ 
    print "Calling anotherLocalProc()\n";
    anotherLocalProc;
}

If you change a script after sourcing it, the change is not automatically picked up by Maya. You need to re-run the script with File > Source Script.

Saves the selected text to a text file.

Adds a button to the current shelf which executes the selected text.

Goes to the specified line number.

Opens a search dialog where you can search for a string and replace it with a different string. You can choose the search direction and choose whether your search is case-sensitive.

You can indent or clear the indent of selected text.

Clears the history pane.

Clears the input pane.

Clears both the history and input panes.

Shows batch rendering messages in the Script Editor.

When this item is on, all MEL commands executed by Maya appear in the top pane of the Script editor.

For example, if you select Create > Polygon Primitives > Sphere, the corresponding MEL command (polySphere) that Maya executes is printed in the top pane.

Shows line numbers in errors.

Opens another window which lists errors and their line numbers in external script files. This is very useful for debugging scripts in external files.

When turned on, the Script editor does not show the result of commands. Result messages start with // Result:.

When turned on, the Script Editor does not show informational messages. Informational messages are of many different types and do not have a set prefix (except for //).

When turned on, the Script Editor does not show warning messages. Warning messages start with // Warning:.

When turned on, the Script Editor does not show error messages. Error messages start with // Error:.

Disable this option so that a warning is generated when a MEL variable is declared within the same scope as another variable with the same name. In general, the warning indicates an error in the script. The default state for this option is on.

Warnings are generated when a script is sourced, not when it is executed.

A scope in MEL encompasses all the code between a pair of { } that is not further nested within another pair of { }.

See the following for examples of scope:

proc testo(int $arg1)
{
    <scope A>

    if ($arg1 > 3)
    {
        <scope B>
    }

    else
    {
        <scope C>
    }

    <scope A>
}

A procedure's parameters are considered to be variables declared within the procedure's top scope. In the example above, $arg1 is considered to be a variable declared within scope A. Therefore, if you subsequently declare a variable as $arg1 anywhere in scope A, a warning occurs.

Code outside of all procedures is considered global scope and should not generate any warnings.

In addition to this menu item, you can also use the melOptions command's duplicateVariableWarnings flag to control the generation of warnings. When this flag is enabled, warnings are generated.

The setting of the menu item and the setting of the command flag have an inverse relationship. Changing the state of one also updates the state of the other. When you enable the menu item, the command flag is disabled, and if you enable the command flag, the menu item is disabled.

Upon start up of Maya, the melOptions -duplicateVariableWarnings flag is set according to the value saved in the optionVar melDuplicateVariableWarnings. If this optionVar does not exist, the flag is set to 0. The optionVar is updated every time the Suppress Duplicate Variable Messages checkbox is enabled or disabled; or, whenever preferences are saved. In other words, if you change the state of the flag using melOptions -duplicateVariableWarnings, the optionVar is only updated when preferences are saved. This implies that the optionVar generally reflects the state of the flag, unless it is changed via the melOptions command, in which case the optionVar must wait until the next time preferences are saved to be updated.

You can query the value of the duplicateVariableWarnings flag by running melOptions -q -duplicateVariableWarnings in the command line. Querying does not change the value of the flag.

When turned on, the Script editor suppresses the stack window. If stack trace is enabled, results are returned to the output window instead of a separate stack window.

Shows line numbers in the Script Editor.

Select this option so that when you click Tab to indent, a tab will be created rather than individual spaces.

Automatically closes blocks with a curly brace.

Auto-completes command names as you type them. If Show Tooltip Help is on, command names appear automatically as you type. If Show Tooltip Help is off, you must press Ctrl + Spacebar to make them appear.

Auto-completes object path names as you type them. If Show Tooltip Help is on, command names appear automatically as you type. If Show Tooltip Help is off, you must press Ctrl + Spacebar to make them appear.

Displays auto completed commands and object paths as you type them.

Displays the Quick Help panel. You can search for commands and the panel displays all valid flags for that command.

Runs the MEL script in the bottom pane of the Script Editor. You can also press Enter on the numeric keypad.

Creates a new tab. The source type window opens and lets you choose either MEL or Python as the executer source language. You must choose whether the tab is for MEL or Python. Alternatively, you can click on the bottom pane or use the Ctrl+T hotkey.

Renames the current tab.

Select this option or use the Ctrl+W hotkey to delete the current tab.

Deletes all tabs except for the current tab.