Hey Mel-Freaks!
You know here actually are quite a few guys that maybe have a solution for your MEL-problem. But sometimes people make it real hard to understand them. Sometimes the same mistakes are made over and over again. I mean its interesting and fun to read and post here. But to make it a more neat experience for us all we put together a little list of things you could keep in mind. This way you a) may get a quicker response b) may get a better fitting solution c) save us all a lot of time d) help others to find solutions for similar or same problems faster:
- use "echo all commands" (to better find out whats going on when your problem occurs. Turn it off if you don't need it (sucks performance))
- use whatIs and maybe runTimeCommand (to find procedures and especially build in Maya procedures ( "MAYA_INSTALL_PATH/scripts"-folder) that you deal with and get to know them)
- use the Maya Mel Commands Reference (and try the examples given there)
- search the Mel Scripts and Plugins sections of highend3D (maybe there already IS a good solution for your problem)
- search the Mel board (use the input field at the bottom of the MEL-page)
- give an adequate topic title (helps others to search and remember. No: "Mel question"/ "mel n00b", "Help", "Help with my script", Thing is when you search for something you only see the topic titles, regardless of if there is something relevant IN the posts)
- post code in the [code]-thingy (thats the #-button, so your indentation will be kept)
- get to the heart of the problem (remove irrelevant code, you cannot demand people reading 3 pages of code if there maybe is a ";" missing.)
- tell us about the general idea (often helps to understand what you actually need, thats quite often something different from what people asking for!)
- don't post multiple problems into one thread (open up a new one for each request)
- if it helps provide images (use a free image host if you want)
Needless to say that politeness and patience also helps to have a cool conversation. ;]
If you have other tips feel free to post. I'll amend the list then.