File Importer Tool

Overview

This session creates a simple file import utility with a custom UI window. Users can browse for files using Maya's file dialog and import them directly into the scene. The tool demonstrates basic UI layout with buttons and text fields, and file system operations.

Key Concepts

• File dialog browsing with fileDialog2 - using fileMode=1 to select a single file
• Text field data handling - using setText() and getText() to manage text field content
• File import operations - using pm.importFile() to bring external files into the scene
• UI layout with rowLayout and columnLayout - arranging widgets horizontally and vertically
• None checking for cancelled dialogs - handling the case when users cancel the file browser

Code

The file importer tool (importer.py):

import pymel.core as pm

class ImporterUI():

    def __init__(self):

        self.window_handle = 'ImporterTool'

        if pm.window(self.window_handle, exists=True):
            pm.deleteUI(self.window_handle)

        if pm.windowPref(self.window_handle, exists=True):
            pm.windowPref(self.window_handle, remove=True)

        
        with pm.window(self.window_handle, title='Importer', width=700, height=50):

            with pm.columnLayout(rowSpacing=10):

                with pm.rowLayout(numberOfColumns=2):

                    pm.button(label='Browse', width=100, height=30, command=pm.Callback(self.browse))

                    self.ui_filepath = pm.textField(width=600, height=30)

                    pm.button(label='Import', width=700, height=20, command=pm.Callback(self.import_file))

        pm.showWindow(self.window_handle)

    def browse(self):
        result = pm.fileDialog2(dialogStyle=2, fileMode=1, caption='Import')
        print result

        if result == None:
            return

        self.ui_filepath.setText(result[0])

    def import_file(self):
        file_path = self.ui_filepath.getText()

        pm.importFile(file_path)