Documentation Changes in 3ds Max 2008

New Navigation Methods

Added breadcrumb trails to several classes including Core Interfaces, MAXWrapper derived classesand some more. The trail provides quick access to the common properties and methods of the superclasses the class inherits from:

Additions

Changed the nameof the existing mental ray shaderAmbient_Reflective_Occlusion__Base to Ambient_Reflective_Occlusion__3dsMax. The shader was renamed in the 3ds Max 9 Productivity Booster Extension.

Added missing documentation of the XREF_Controller originally introduced in 3ds Max 9.

Updated the documentation of the Point_CacheSpacewarpModifier - superclass: SpacewarpModifier replaced by PointCach2 version in 3ds Max 9.

Added previously undocumented callbacks to the Callbacks File Notifications subtopic of General Event Callback Mechanism topic: #filePreOpenProcess, #filePostOpenProcess, #filePreSaveProcess, #filePostSaveProcess .

Added previously undocumented global variables related to Pre- and Post-Render Scripts in the Render Scene Dialog.

Added previously undocumented method appendMaxClip() to the MxTrack Class documentation. The method is used to append 3ds Max Animation .XAF clips to the Animation Mixer (as opposed to .BIP clips)

Updated the documentation of the Interface: IKSys.

Added a note and workarounds to the existing exprForMaxObject() method in MAXWrapper Common Properties, Operators and Methods topic regarding incorrect return result for ambient Color Controller

Updated and reformatted the documentation of the mental ray renderer.

Updated and reformatted the documentation of the Editable_Poly: GeometryClass

Updated and reformatted the documentation of the Edit_Poly : Modifier

Updated and added more examples to the documentation of Time Values

Added a separate topic documenting the Units Struct - Accessing System and Display Units.

Updated and added a better example to the topic Rollout .Controls Property

Updated and added a better example to the topic Rollout Systems 'category' Mechanism

Updated and added a better example to the topic Radiobuttons

Updated the example anesthetics Visibility of Locals, Functions, Structures and User-Interface Items in Rollout Code

Added popups to various topics explaining the use of a [Mixin Interface]. Popups are enclosed in rectangular brackets [].

How To - MAXScript Tutorials

How To ... Copy The Last Rendered Image To The Windows Clipboard

How To... Call a MAXScript Function Periodically using DotNet

MAXScript Frequently Asked Questions

The How To Make It Faster? FAQ topic had grown too long and has been split into multiple sub-topics.

The following topics have been added to the MAXScript FAQ:

How do I call the dropdownList Selected handler as a function?

How do I uncheck a MacroScript button correctly?

For Loop By Index Vs For Loop Through Collection Performance

Optimizing Particle Flow Script Operator For Loops For Speed

How do I set the default path for file operations in MAXScript?

Other Updates

Changed titles background to black to make search result highlights (typically dark blue) easier recognizable.

As an ongoing effort to improve readability, the spacing between properties and methods definitions has been increased in most topics.

Replaced all screenshots in the Introduction to MAXScript to reflect the modern look of viewports and dialogs.

Reformatted the documentation of the maxOps Interface for easier navigation.

Changed formatting of Notes and Examples (Work In Progress)

some code here

Bug Fixes

Fixed description of the macros.new() method in Macro Scripts topic. It listed first argument as Name and second as Category. The correct order is Category first, then Name.

Added missing link to the Area_Shadows : Shadow topic from the Contents tab and fixed broken link to the same topic from Light Common Properties, Operators, and Methods.

Fixed description of the #viewportChange general event callback. Old documentation claimed that it is called whenever the viewport layout changes. In reality, it is called each time the viewport parameters change, including panning, zooming, orbiting or changing the active viewport.

Fixed property name in the RBCollection : Helper- .rigidBody was listed as .rigidBodyTab .

Fixed method name in the Interface: ProCutter- .addStocks() was listed as .addStock() .

Removed claims from render() method description about it being re-entrant. The only special case where render() can be called reentrantly is documented in Scripted RenderEffect Plug-ins

The content of the Path Constraint topic was very outdated and misleading. It has been completely rewritten, incl. notes and examples.