ls

Go to: Synopsis. Return value. Flags. MEL examples.

Synopsis

ls [-absoluteName] [-allPaths] [-assemblies] [-cameras] [-containerType string] [-containers] [-dagObjects] [-defaultNodes] [-dependencyNodes] [-exactType string] [-excludeType string] [-flatten] [-geometry] [-ghost] [-head int] [-hilite] [-intermediateObjects] [-invisible] [-leaf] [-lights] [-live] [-lockedNodes] [-long] [-materials] [-modified] [-noIntermediate] [-nodeTypes] [-objectsOnly] [-orderedSelection] [-partitions] [-persistentNodes] [-planes] [-preSelectHilite] [-readOnly] [-recursive boolean] [-referencedNodes] [-references] [-renderGlobals] [-renderQualities] [-renderResolutions] [-renderSetups] [-selection] [-sets] [-shapes] [-shortNames] [-showNamespace] [-showType] [-tail int] [-templated] [-textures] [-transforms] [-type string] [-ufeObjects] [-undeletable] [-untemplated] [-uuid] [-visible] [object [object...]]

ls is undoable, NOT queryable, and NOT editable.

The most common use of ls is to filter or match objects based on their name (using wildcards) or based on their type. By default ls will match any object in the scene but it can also be used to filter or list the selected objects when used in conjunction with the -selection flag.

If type names are requested, using the showType flag, they will be interleaved with object names so the result will be pairs of <object, type> values.

Internal nodes (for example itemFilter nodes) are typically filtered so that only scene objects are returned. However, using a wildcard will cause all the nodes matching the wild card to show up, including internal nodes. For example, ls * will list all nodes whether internal or not.

Use the syntax "::" to denote a recursive namespace search when listing nodes. For example, ls "::pSphere1" would match objects named "pSphere1" in any namespace, at any depth. ls "ns::*" would match any node in namespace "ns" or children namespaces.

When Maya is in relativeNames mode, the ls command will return names relative to the current namespace and ls * will list from the the current namespace. For more details, please refer to the -relativeNames flag of the namespace command.

The command may also be passed node UUIDs instead of names/paths, and can return UUIDs instead of names via the -uuid flag.

Return value

Flags

Long name (short name)	Argument types	Properties
-absoluteName(-an)
This flag can be used in conjunction with the showNamespace flag to specify that the namespace(s) returned by the command be in absolute namespace format. The absolute name of the namespace is a full namespace path, starting from the root namespace ":" and including all parent namespaces. For example ":ns:ball" is an absolute namespace name while "ns:ball" is not. The absolute namespace name is invariant and is not affected by the current namespace or relative namespace modes.
-allPaths(-ap)
List all paths to nodes in DAG. This flag only works if -dag is also specified or if an object name is supplied.
-assemblies(-as)
List top level transform Dag objects
-cameras(-ca)
List camera shapes.
-containerType(-ct)	string
List containers with the specified user-defined type. This flag cannot be used in conjunction with the type or exactType flag.
-containers(-con)
List containers. Includes both standard containers as well as other types of containers such as dagContainers.
-dagObjects(-dag)
List Dag objects of any type. If object name arguments are passed to the command then this flag will list all Dag objects below the specified object(s).
-defaultNodes(-dn)
Returns default nodes. A default node is one that Maya creates automatically and does not get saved out with the scene, although some of its attribute values may.
-dependencyNodes(-dep)
List dependency nodes. (including Dag objects)
-exactType(-et)	string
List all objects of the specified type, but not objects that are descendents of that type. This flag can appear multiple times on the command line. Note: the type passed to this flag is the same type name returned from the showType flag. This flag cannot be used in conjunction with the type or excludeType flag.
-excludeType(-ext)	string
List all objects that are not of the specified type. This flag can appear multiple times on the command line. Note: the type passed to this flag is the same type name returned from the showType flag. This flag cannot be used in conjunction with the type or exactType flag.
-flatten(-fl)
Flattens the returned list of objects so that each component is identified individually.
-geometry(-g)
List geometric Dag objects.
-ghost(-gh)
List ghosting objects.
-head(-hd)	int
This flag specifies the maximum number of elements to be returned from the beginning of the list of items. Note: each type flag will return at most this many items so if multiple type flags are specified then the number of items returned can be greater than this amount.
-hilite(-hl)
List objects that are currently hilited for component selection.
-intermediateObjects(-io)
List only intermediate dag nodes.
-invisible(-iv)
List only invisible dag nodes.
-leaf(-lf)
List all leaf nodes in Dag. This flag is a modifier and must be used in conjunction with the -dag flag.
-lights(-lt)
List light shapes.
-live(-lv)
List objects that are currently live.
-lockedNodes(-ln)
Returns locked nodes, which cannot be deleted or renamed. However, their status may change.
-long(-l)
Return full path names for Dag objects. By default the shortest unique name is returned.
-materials(-mat)
List materials or shading groups.
-modified(-mod)
When this flag is set, only nodes modified since the last save will be returned.
-noIntermediate(-ni)
List only non intermediate dag nodes.
-nodeTypes(-nt)
Lists all registered node types.
-objectsOnly(-o)
When this flag is set only object names will be returned and components/attributes will be ignored.
-orderedSelection(-os)
List objects and components that are currently selected in their order of selection. This flag depends on the value of the -tso/trackSelectionOrder flag of the selectPref command. If that flag is not enabled than this flag will return the same thing as the -sl/selection flag would.
-partitions(-pr)
List partitions.
-persistentNodes(-pn)
Returns persistent nodes, which are nodes that stay in the Maya session after a file > new. These are a special class of default nodes that do not get reset on file > new. Ex: itemFilter and selectionListOperator nodes.
-planes(-pl)
List construction plane shapes.
-preSelectHilite(-psh)
List components that are currently hilited for pre-selection.
-readOnly(-ro)
Returns referenced nodes. Referenced nodes are read only. NOTE: Obsolete. Please use "-referencedNodes".
-recursive(-r)	boolean
When set to true, this command will look for name matches in all namespaces. When set to false, this command will only look for matches in namespaces that are requested (e.g. by specifying a name containing the ':'... "ns1:pSphere1").
-referencedNodes(-rn)
Returns referenced nodes. Referenced nodes are read only.
-references(-rf)
List references associated with files. Excludes special reference nodes such as the sharedReferenceNode and unknown reference nodes.
-renderGlobals(-rg)
List render globals.
-renderQualities(-rq)
List named render qualities.
-renderResolutions(-rr)
List render resolutions.
-renderSetups(-rs)
Alias for -renderGlobals.
-selection(-sl)
List objects that are currently selected.
-sets(-set)
List sets.
-shapes(-s)
List shape objects.
-shortNames(-sn)
Return short attribute names. By default long attribute names are returned.
-showNamespace(-sns)
Show the namespace of each object after the object name. This flag cannot be used in conjunction with the showType flag.
-showType(-st)
List the type of each object after its name.
-tail(-tl)	int
This flag specifies the maximum number of elements to be returned from the end of the list of items. Note: each type flag will return at most this many items so if multiple type flags are specified then the number of items returned can be greater than this amount
-templated(-tm)
List only templated dag nodes.
-textures(-tex)
List textures.
-transforms(-tr)
List transform objects.
-type(-typ)	string
List all objects of the specified type. This flag can appear multiple times on the command line. Note: the type passed to this flag is the same type name returned from the showType flag. Note: some selection items in Maya do not have a specific object/data type associated with them and will return "untyped" when listed with this flag. This flag cannot be used in conjunction with the exactType or excludeType flag.
-ufeObjects(-ufe)
When used in conjunction with the -sl/selection flag, will return objects that are defined through the UFE interface as well as native Maya objects.
-undeletable(-ud)
Returns nodes that cannot be deleted (which includes locked nodes). These nodes also cannot be renamed.
-untemplated(-ut)
List only un-templated dag nodes.
-uuid(-uid)
Return node UUIDs instead of names. Note that there are no "UUID paths" - combining this flag with e.g. the -long flag will not result in a path formed of node UUIDs.
-visible(-v)
List only visible dag nodes.

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

// create some objects to operate on and select them all.
// Note that there are two objects named circle1;
circle -n circle1; group; circle -n circle1;
sphere -n sphere1; group; instance;
select -ado;

// list all objects
ls;

// List all selected objects
ls -selection;

// List all hilited objects
ls -hilite;

// List last selected object
ls -selection -tail 1;

// List all objects named "sphere1". Note that since sphere1 is
// instanced, the command below lists only the first instance.
ls sphere1;

// To list all instances of sphere1, use the -ap/allPaths flag.
ls -ap sphere1;

// List all selected objects named "group*"
ls -sl "group*";

// List all geometry, lights and cameras in the DAG.
ls -geometry -lights -cameras;

// List all shapes in the dag.
ls -shapes;

// One thing to note is that it is better to always use the
// -l/long flag when listing nodes without any filter. This is
// because there may be two nodes with the same name (in this
// example, circle1). 'ls' will list the names of all the objects
// in the scene. Objects with the same name need a qualified
// path name which uniquely identifies the object. A command
// to select all objects such as "select `ls`" will fail because
// the object lookup can't resolve which "circle1" object is
// intended. To select all objects, you need the following:
// select `ls -l`;

// When trying to find a list of all objects of a specific
// type, one approach might be to list all objects and then
// use the nodeType command to then filter the list. As in:
// string  $allObjects[];
// string  $obj;
// $allObjects = `ls -l`;
// for ( $obj in $allObjects ) {
//     if ( `nodeType $obj` == "surfaceShape" ) {
//         print ($obj + "\n");
//     }
// }
//
// The problem with this is that 'nodeType' returns the
// most derived type of the node. In this example, "surfaceShape"
// is a base type for nurbsSurface so nothing will be printed.
// To do this properly, the -typ/type flag should be used
// to list objects of a specific type as in:
// $allObjects = `ls -type surfaceShape`;
// for ( $obj in $allObjects ) {
//     print ($obj + "\n");
// }

// List all geometry shapes and their types
ls -type geometryShape -showType;

// List all paths to all leaf nodes in the DAG
ls -dag -lf -ap;

// List all nodes below the selected node
ls -dag -ap -sl;

// List all ghosting objects
ls -ghost;

// List all dag nodes that are read-only (i.e. referenced nodes)
ls -dag -ro;

// List reference nodes associated with specific files
ls -references;

// List all reference nodes, including unknown and shared reference
// nodes
ls -type reference;

// Select some components and then get the list in both selected and numeric order
string $obj1[] = `polySphere -r 1 -sx 20 -sy 20 -ax 0 1 0 -cuv 2 -ch 1`;
select -clear;
selectPref -trackSelectionOrder 1;

select ($obj1[0]+".f[100]");
select -add ($obj1[0]+".f[50:55]");
select -add ($obj1[0]+".f[0]");
select -add ($obj1[0]+".f[56:60]");

// regular -selection flag returns the components in compacted numeric order.
ls -selection;
// Result: pSphere1.f[0] pSphere1.f[50:60] pSphere1.f[100] //
// -orderedSelection flag returns the components in the order that we selected them.
ls -orderedSelection;
// Result: pSphere1.f[100] pSphere1.f[50:55] pSphere1.f[0] pSphere1.f[56:60] //

// turn off tracking when we are done
selectPref -trackSelectionOrder 0;

// init some namespace
namespace -add "A:B:C";

// add object into namespace
namespace -set ":A:B";
polySphere -name "obj1";
namespace -set ":A:B:C";
polySphere -name "obj1";
polySphere -name "obj2";

// The current Namespace is ":A:B:C" and relative mode is off
// List all objects and their namespace in the scene
// If the object is in the root namespace, then return root ":"
// Note that the results shown below have been elided (...) for documentation purposes.
ls -showNamespace;
// Result: time1 : sequenceManager1 : renderPartition :  (...) A:B:obj1 A:B A:B:C:obj1 A:B:C A:B:C:obj2 A:B:C //

select -r ":A:B:obj1";
select -add ":A:B:C:obj2";

// List both name and namespace of each selected object
ls -showNamespace -selection;
// Result: A:B:obj1 A:B A:B:C:obj2 A:B:C //

// List name and namespace of all objects named "obj1"
ls -showNamespace -recursive true "obj1";
// Result: A:B:obj1 A:B A:B:C:obj1 A:B:C //

// Set current namespace
namespace -set ":A:B";

// Enable relative mode
namespace -relativeNames true;

// Now the current namespace is ":A:B" and relative mode is on
// Note that the name of the current namespace is "" in relative mode
// List both name and namespace of each selected objects
ls -showNamespace -selection;
// Result: obj1  C:obj1 C //

// Make a new scene, modify the transform of the camera perspective, play with the timeline and modify the camera's shape
file -new -force
setAttr "persp.translateX" 10;
currentTime 8 ;
setAttr "perspShape.horizontalFilmAperture" 16;

// List all modified objects of type camera and type time
ls -modified -type time -type camera;
// Result: perspShape time1 //

ls -modified;
// Result: persp perspShape time1 //

ls -excludeType camera -modified
// Result: persp time1 //

// Return a node's UUID
ls -uuid sphere1;
// Result: ECE85CCC-438D-8113-0236-39A6917DE484 //

// Find a node by UUID
ls "ECE85CCC-438D-8113-0236-39A6917DE484";
// Result: group2|sphere1 //