Datasheet

An annotation note and its position within the Hypergraph Hierarchy window

The annotation node is parented to a locator, which in turn is parented to the object. In

reality, the arrow has a desire to point toward the locator. The annotation and locator nodes

can be unparented and “freed” from the object or simply deleted if no longer needed. You can

update the text at any time by opening the annotation node’s Attribute Editor tab.

You can also use MEL scripting to create a note window that a user can launch from a

shelf icon. For example, you can MMB drag the following text from the Script Editor work

area to a shelf:

window -title “Notes” noteWin;

rowColumnLayout;

text -label “Note A: Try this.”;

text -label “Note B: Then this.”;

showWindow noteWin;

When the new shelf icon is clicked, the note window

opens. If you have the patience, you can make the window

quite detailed.

In another variation, the text of the confirm dialog win-

dow is provided by an external file:

$fileRead = `fopen $fileName “r”`;

string $readText = `fgetline $fileRead`

confirmDialog -message $readText;

With this example, the script reads a binary file established by the $filename variable.

You can create your own custom Maya binary files with the

fopen command, which is dis-

cussed in the next section.

A custom note window

Creating Notes for Your Fellow Animators

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