Expected int,,got unicode error

[kunal-deshpande]

im creating a tool which will create shurikens(weapon thrown by ninja's also called ninja stars).

the following is the code -

import maya.cmds as mc
dWin = mc.window(title = "shuriken_maker",wh=(256,256))
mc.columnLayout()
mc.button(label = "create shuriken!!",command = "Shuriken()")
mc.text(label = "enter the number of ends")
ends = mc.floatField( minValue=-10, maxValue=10, value=0 ) #ends are the number of teeth shuriken will have
mc.showWindow(dWin)
def Shuriken():
    shurikenda = mc.polyPipe(subdivisionsAxis = ends*2)
    intSA = getAttr(shurikenda[1]+".subdivisionsAxis")
    intStartFace = intSA *2
    intEndFace = intSA *3-1
    mc.select(clear = true)
    for i in range (intStartFace,EndFace,2):
        mc.select(shurikenda[0]+".f[%d]%i",add = True)
        mc.polyextrudeFacet (ltz = 1)
        mc.scale(0.1,0.1,0.1,add = true)
        mc.polySmooth(shurikenda[0])

the UI is being displayed however after clicking on create shuriken im getting a error

# Error: Invalid arguments for flag 'subdivisionsAxis'.  Expected int, got unicode
# Traceback (most recent call last):
#   File "", line 1, in
#   File "", line 9, in Shuriken
# TypeError: Invalid arguments for flag 'subdivisionsAxis'.  Expected int, got unicode #

i tried converting subdivisionalaxis to int but it didnt work.
its my first tool in maya ..any advice is most welcome.

Thankyou

[joojaa]

int(ends)*2

[kunal-deshpande]

did you mean -
shurikenda = mc.polyPipe(subdivisionsAxis = int(ends)*2)??
i also tried ends = int(ends)
there is still a error -
# Error: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'window5|columnLayout6|floatField10'
# Traceback (most recent call last):
#   File "", line 1, in
#   File "", line 9, in Shuriken
# ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'window5|columnLayout6|floatField10' #

thanks for helping me out.

[joojaa]

yes but i didnt actually think yes you need to ask for the value

 
import maya.cmds as mc
dWin = mc.window(title = "shuriken_maker",wh=(256,256))
mc.columnLayout()
mc.button(label = "create shuriken!!",command = "Shuriken()")
mc.text(label = "enter the number of ends")
ends = mc.floatField( minValue=-10, maxValue=10, value=0 ) #ends are the number of teeth shuriken will have
mc.showWindow(dWin)
 
def Shuriken():
    intSA = int(mc.floatField(ends , q=True , value = True))
    shurikenda = mc.polyPipe(subdivisionsAxis = intSA * 2)
    intStartFace = intSA * 4 
    intEndFace = intSA * 6 - 1
    selection = [shurikenda[0]+".f[%d]"%i for i in range (intStartFace,intEndFace,2)]
 
    mc.polyExtrudeFacet (selection, ltz = 1, lsx = .1, lsy =.1, lsz =.1)
    mc.polySmooth(shurikenda[0])

Im not even going to TRY to follow yourfor loop. the entire methodology is so whacked

PS use a int field

PPS: theres no reason why you cant make a node connection thet does the exact same thing, then you wouldnt need to build a gui because maya would build one for you and you could change your mind later as to how many sided shuriken you wanted. (yeah you can change selections of allready created nodes runtime)

[kunal-deshpande]

ahh i get it there are simpler way of doing this..using a prompt dialogbox would also have been much easier.
and there isnt much in my for loop -

for i in range (intStartFace,EndFace,2):
        #increment by 2 for selecting the alternate faces of the pipe
        mc.select(shurikenda[0]+".f[%d]%i",add = True)#selection of the faces 
        mc.polyextrudeFacet (ltz = 1)#extruding the face
        mc.scale(0.1,0.1,0.1,add = true)#scaling the extruded face inorder to get a pointed and sharp end
        mc.polySmooth(shurikenda[0])#smooth the object.
        #shurikenda[0] for ppipe1
        #shurikenda[1] for polypipe1

i guess i still need to get my concepts straight could you please suggest me some books or tutorials for python in maya.ive already finished with the digital tutors python tutorial.

thanks again

[joojaa]

ive already finished with the digital tutors python tutorial.

Well i have some bad news for you. forget everything you think you learned.

i guess i still need to get my concepts straight could you please suggest me some books or tutorials for python in maya.

I feel this is the wrong question. Because its the wrong question you will nine times out of ten get the wrong aswer*, which is why tutorials like the digital tutors python tutorial will not find its goal the way youd wish. It fulfills your need to learn "a named something", since you and a lot of other people thing it ought to exist. (digital tutors is a company its not in their interest to tell the audince the approach is wrong. See they deal in your feel good factor, if you feel you got what you paid for they are done. Irrespectively if you really did).

See there's only one thing, do you know how to use maya. If you know how to use maya you know by proxy how to script in maya even if you do not know scripting. So there's 2 separate issues here:

• knowing maya
• knowing python

If you know maya then teaching you scripting sould be a 5 minute job. But only if you really KNOW how to use maya. See the prerequisite to maya scripting is to realize that scripting is equal to rigging.

If you know python, your not actually qualified for anything. You really need to know maya. See your not actually writing code in a way that makes sense in a standalone development sense. This is one of the problems, almost all coputer programming courses around the world teach the wrong thing. They teach standalone in program development. Because for sme reason its considered better to teach how to read and write before they teach you what the hell you use reading and writing for. (unfortunately thts usually left for you to discover and usually takes a few years to get after you land your first job)

and there isnt much in my for loop -

yes but you dont need it for anything. run my script it makes a shuriken even without the loop. Besides your loop does not even work if it did it would be horribly inefficient, as you run the smooth way too may times.

PS:  prompt dialogbox may be easier but really theres no place for modal dialogboxes in modern design. Seriously.

• ,imd tough the explanation may be sane but in wrong context the result doesent change.

[kunal-deshpande]

thanks for the advice i really appreciate it..i guess i fall in the category of knowing python and not maya.i can do modelling,texturing,lighting,animation in bits and pieces but i havent mastered anything.wat all can i do to really KNOW maya?

[joojaa]

Ok to learn maya form a scripting/rigging perspective you should pop up the hood of maya and do something with history on and then with the newly made stuff selected go and choose

Window -> Hypergraph: Connections

this shows you the nodes, please not that theres 2 separate graphs one for hierarchy (called DAG = Directed Acyclic Graph) and one for history (called DG = Dependency Graph), youve now graphed history. Now you may notice theres some arrows going in and out of the boxes these are connections and the boxes are nodes.

nodes do something and they have a set number of inputs and outputs. What nodes and connections do are explained in the node reference (hit f1 -> Show/hide technical documentation quicklinks -> Nodes and Attributes)

The slots for connections are called attributes, and you can either change their value directly to the attribute or slave the value out from some node (which in essence overrides you as it now comes form someplace else, change thet else and the connected data changes as does hopefully the nodes output). Whenever you do, virtually anything in maya, you either put one more node in the chain (if history is on, for example try extrude while you have the graph open on the side see a new node appears), or you edit existing attributes (for example translate).

The key idea of maya is to understand that scripting is a efficient way to automate building the graphs. And everything you do is graph related in one way or another (except for the gui, which is a totally separate entity slapped on the side of things). Now what you can do by connecting several things together is infinite, its like Lego's you can do a lot with the basic blocks (except maya has about 750 basic blocks, and you can make your own with the API binding)

The gui tries to some extent mirror how theese blocks work, but doesnet expose it all as some stuff is just not much of use for normal users because without connections they make little sense. With connections sky is the limit, and nobody can tell what mya can do, nobody has iterated all the cases trough.

[kunal-deshpande]

i tried the hypergraph connection its really very interesting..i knew i had read somewhere about the concepts DAG,DG etc i searched in a few books i have..it is all very well covered in the complete maya programming book by david gould..it has a chapter called fundamental maya concepts which i think has everything you are talking about.i had skipped it at that time as it had no programming in it.

thanks a bunch!!

[joojaa]

alled fundamental maya concepts which i think has everything you are
talking about.i had skipped it at that time as it had no programming in it.

Thats pretty much all the pages thats worth reading in the gould book*. Rest is just plain misleading. Seriously i dont think theres but one good example in the book.

*you may find that i indeed have a very low oppinion on the gould book. I mean more than half of the book is devoted to whats in the maya manual.