evaluationManager

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Synopsis

evaluationManager [-cycleCluster string] [-disableInfo string] [-downstreamFrom string] [-empty] [-enabled] [-fallbackTriggered boolean] [-idleAction int] [-idleBuild boolean] [-invalidate boolean] [-manipulation boolean] [-manipulationPrevalidation boolean] [-manipulationReady boolean] [-mode string] [-nodeTypeGloballySerialize boolean] [-nodeTypeParallel boolean] [-nodeTypeSerialize boolean] [-nodeTypeUntrusted boolean] [-safeMode boolean] [-upstreamFrom string]

evaluationManager is NOT undoable, queryable, and NOT editable.

Return value

In query mode, return type is based on queried flag.

Keywords

Flags

Long name (short name)	Argument types	Properties
-cycleCluster(-ccl)	string
Returns a list of nodes that are stored together with the given one in a cycle cluster. The list will be empty when the evaluation mode is not active or the node is not in a cycle.
-disableInfo(-di)	string
Returns a list of strings that contain the reasons that the evaluation manager has been disabled (as distinct from it being deliberately turned off, e.g. because an unsupported node type or attribute value was encountered). If the list is empty then the evaluation manager is operating normally.
-empty(-mt)
Valid in query mode only. Checks to see if the evaluation graph has any nodes in it. This is independent of the current mode.
-enabled(-e)
Valid in query mode only. Checks to see if the evaluation manager is currently enabled. This is independent of the current mode.
-fallbackTriggered(-ft)	boolean
Valid in query mode only. Checks to see if fallback serial evaluation has been triggered. Will be true if errors during parallel execution have forced a fallback to serial mode. Will reset to false if the mode is changed again after the fallback was triggered.
-idleAction(-ia)	int
This flag sets the actions EM will perform on idle. It accepts the following values: 0 - No action 1 - Graph Rebuild 2 - EM Manipulation Preparation 3 - Graph Rebuild and EM Manipulation Preparation Where: Graph Rebuild will rebuild the evaluation graph on an idle event as soon as it is able to do so. EM ManipulationPreparation will get the evaluation manager to perform all the steps necessary for EM manipulation to be available after the next idle event. Note: These idle actions only apply to the graph attached to the normal context. All other graphs will be built according to their own rules. The disadvantage of enabling idle actions is that for some workflows that are changing the graph frequently, or very large graphs, the graph build and manipulation preparation time may impact the workflow. If workflows are impacted it is suggested to turn idle actions off by passing this flag a value of 0.
-idleBuild(-ib)	boolean
This flag is obsolete. Please use the -idleAction flag with a value of 1 in order to activate evaluation graph rebuild on idle.
-invalidate(-inv)	boolean
This flag invalidates the graph. Value is used to control auto rebuilding on idle (false) or forced (true). This command should be used as a last resort. In query mode it checks to see if the graph is valid.
-manipulation(-man)	boolean
This flag is used to activate evaluation manager manipulation support.
-manipulationPrevalidation(-mp)	boolean
This flag is used to activate evaluation manager manipulation prevalidation. Prevalidation checks for known patterns in manipulation. In case of a successful prevalidation, there is no need to use dirty propagation in the first frame of manipulation to validate that EM manipulation can safely be used, and fast manipulation can start right away.
-manipulationReady(-mr)	boolean
Valid in query mode only. Checks to see if the evaluation manager manipulation is currently ready/allowed. This is independent of the current mode.
-mode(-m)	string
Changes the current evaluation mode in the evaluation manager. Supported values are "off", "serial" and "parallel".
-downstreamFrom(-dst)	string
Find the DG nodes that are immediately downstream of the named one in the evaluation graph. Note that the connectivity is via evaluation mode connections, not DG connections. In query mode the graph is walked and any nodes downstream of the named one are returned. The return type is alternating pairs of values that represent the graph level and the node name, e.g. if you walk downstream from A in the graph A -> B -> C then the return will be the array of strings ("0","A","1","B","2","C"). Scripts can deconstruct this information into something more visually recognizable. Note that cycles are likely to be present so any such scripts would have to handle them. In query mode, this flag needs a value.
-nodeTypeGloballySerialize(-ntg)	boolean
This flag is used only when the evaluation manager is in "parallel" mode but can be set at anytime. It activates or deactivates the override to force global serial scheduling for the class name argument(s) in the evaluation manager. Legal object values are class type names: e.g. "transform", "skinCluster", "mesh". When queried without specified nodes, it returns the list of nodes with the global serial scheduling override active. Scheduling overrides take precedence over all of the node and node type scheduling rules. Use with caution; certain nodes may not react well to alternative scheduling types.
-nodeTypeParallel(-ntp)	boolean
This flag is used only when the evaluation manager is in "parallel" mode but can be set at anytime. It activates or deactivates the override to force parallel scheduling for the class name argument(s) in the evaluation manager. Legal object values are class type names: e.g. "transform", "skinCluster", "mesh". When queried without specified nodes, it returns the list of nodes with the parallel scheduling override active. Scheduling overrides take precedence over all of the node and node type scheduling rules. Use with caution; certain nodes may not react well to alternative scheduling types.
-nodeTypeSerialize(-nts)	boolean
This flag is used only when the evaluation manager is in "parallel" mode but can be set at anytime. It activates or deactivates the override to force local serial scheduling for the class name argument(s) in the evaluation manager. Legal object values are class type names: e.g. "transform", "skinCluster", "mesh". When queried without specified nodes, it returns the list of nodes with the local serial scheduling override active. Scheduling overrides take precedence over all of the node and node type scheduling rules. Use with caution; certain nodes may not react well to alternative scheduling types.
-nodeTypeUntrusted(-ntu)	boolean
This flag is used only when the evaluation manager is in "parallel" mode but can be set at anytime. It activates or deactivates the override to force untrusted scheduling for the class name argument(s) in the evaluation manager. Legal object values are class type names: e.g. "transform", "skinCluster", "mesh". When queried without specified nodes, it returns the list of nodes with the untrusted scheduling override active. Scheduling overrides take precedence over all of the node and node type scheduling rules. Use with caution; certain nodes may not react well to alternative scheduling types. Untrusted scheduling will allow nodes to be evaluated in a critical section, separately from any other node evaluation. It should be used only as a last resort since the lost parallelism caused by untrusted nodes can greatly reduce performance.
-upstreamFrom(-ust)	string
Find the DG nodes that are immediately upstream of the named one in the evaluation graph. Note that the connectivity is via evaluation mode connections, not DG connections. In query mode the graph is walked and any nodes upstream of the named one are returned. The return type is alternating pairs of values that represent the graph level and the node name, e.g. if you walk upstream from C in the graph A -> B -> C then the return will be the array of strings ("0","C","1","B","2","A"). Scripts can deconstruct this information into something more visually recognizable. Note that cycles are likely to be present so any such scripts would have to handle them. In query mode, this flag needs a value.
-safeMode(-sfm)	boolean
This flag activates/deactivates parallel evaluation safe mode. When enabled, parallel execution will fall back to serial when evaluation graph is missing dependencies. Detection is happening on scheduling of parallel evaluation, which means potential fallback will happen at the next evaluation. WARNING: This mode should be disabled with extreme caution. It will prevent parallel mode from falling back to serial mode when an invalid evaluation is detected. Sometimes the evaluation will still work correctly in those situations and use of this flag will keep the peak parallel performance running. However since the safe mode is used to catch invalid evaluation disabling it may also cause problems with evaluation, anything from invalid values, missing evaluation, or even crashes.

Flag can appear in Create mode of command	Flag can appear in Edit mode of command
Flag can appear in Query mode of command	Flag can be used more than once in a command.

MEL examples

// Enable evaluation manager in serial mode
evaluationManager -mode "serial";
// Result: 1 //

// Confirm that the evaluation manager is currently enabled
evaluationManager -q -enabled;
// Result: 1 //

// Check if the evaluation manager has at least one animated node in it
evaluationManager -q -empty;
// Result: 1 //

// Does nothing since it was already in serial mode
evaluationManager -mode "serial";
// Result: 1 //

// Return the current evaluation manager mode and graph state
evaluationManager -q -m;
// Result: serial //

// Return all supported evaluation modes
evaluationManager -q;
// Result: off serial //

// Disable evaluation manager
evaluationManager -mode "off";
// Result: 1 //

// Activate parallel scheduling override on transform nodes
evaluationManager -nodeTypeParallel on "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Query for node types with the parallel scheduling override
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeParallel;
// Result: "transform" //

// Query the parallel scheduling override of a particular node type
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeParallel "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Activate locally serial scheduling override on transform nodes
evaluationManager -nodeTypeSerialize on "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Query for node types with the locally serial scheduling override
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeSerialize;
// Result: "transform" //

// Query the locally serial scheduling override of a particular node type
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeSerialize "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Activate globally serial scheduling override on transform nodes
evaluationManager -nodeTypeGloballySerialize on "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Query for node types with the globally serial scheduling override
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeGloballySerialize;
// Result: "transform" //

// Query the globally serial scheduling override of a particular node type
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeGloballySerialize "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Activate untrusted scheduling override on transform nodes
evaluationManager -nodeTypeUntrusted on "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Query for node types with the untrusted scheduling override
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeUntrusted;
// Result: "transform" //

// Query the untrusted scheduling override of a particular node type
evaluationManager -q -nodeTypeUntrusted "transform";
// Result: 1 //

// Force rebuild of evaluation graph for normal context
evaluationManager -invalidate on;
// Result: 1 //

// Test if evaluation graph is valid for normal context
evaluationManager -q -invalidate;
// Result: 0 //

// Activate safe mode for parallel executor
evaluationManager -safeMode on;
// Result: 1 //

// Query safe mode for parallel executor
evaluationManager -q -safeMode;
// Result: 1 //

// Enable manipulation with evaluation manager
evaluationManager -man on;
// Result: 1 //

// Query manipulation with evaluation manager
evaluationManager -q -man;
// Result: 1 //

// Enable manipulation prevalidation with evaluation manager
evaluationManager -mp on;
// Result: 1 //

// Query manipulation prevalidation with evaluation manager
evaluationManager -q -mp;
// Result: 1 //

// Query if evaluation manager manipulation is ready/allowed
evaluationManager -q -mr;
// Result: 1 //

// Show immediate downstream nodes
evaluationManager -downstreamFrom myNode;
// Result: myDownstreamNode //

// Show all downstream nodes
evaluationManager -downstreamFrom myRoot -q;
// Result: 0 myRoot 1 myNode 2 myDownstreamNode //

// Show upstream nodes
evaluationManager -upstreamFrom myDownstreamNode;
// Result: myNode //

// Show cycle cluster
evaluationManager -cycleCluster myNodeInCycle;
// Result: myNode, myNodeInCycle, myNode2 //

// Show the reasons the evaluation manager was disabled
evaluationManager -q -disableInfo;
// Result: //

// Query for fallback evaluation status
evaluationManager -q -fallbackTriggered;
// Result: 0 //