Attribute Editor templates determine how attributes are displayed in the Attribute Editor.
For example, you can create different views, such as Modeling, Animation, and Rendering, with each displaying a different subset of attributes. See Custom Attribute Editor templates and Parts of an Attribute Editor template.
Templates are in .xml format. You can create an Attribute Editor template for a specific node type, for example, phong; or, for a specific node; for example, phong1. You can customize the Attribute Editor for Maya nodes, or for your own custom nodes.
To create an Attribute Editor template for a node type, save the template as AE<NodeType>Template.xml.
To create an Attribute Editor template of a specific node, save the template as AE<NodeType>.<NodeName>Template.xml.
See Create an Attribute Editor template for a node type and Create an Attribute Editor template for a specific node.
By default, Attribute Editor templates are found in the ../scripts/AETemplates folder of your installation directory. You can also override this default location by setting MAYA_CUSTOM_TEMPLATE_PATH. You can set the environment variable to multiple paths.
Maya searches for AE templates in the following order. The first template found is used:
MAYA_CUSTOM_TEMPLATE_PATH
In the Hypershade Property Editor, Maya shaders appear in a Lookdev view by default. This is because a Lookdev view definition exists in each Maya shading node's corresponding AE<NodeType>Template.xml.
See Viewing your attributes in the Hypershade Property Editor and Look development using the Hypershade.
To display your custom shading nodes in a similar Lookdev view in the Hypershade Property Editor, edit AE<NodeType>Template.xml to include a Lookdev view definition and save the .xml file in the ../scripts/AETemplates folder (or the folder set by MAYA_CUSTOM_TEMPLATE_PATH).
If no Lookdev view exists in AE<NodeType>Template.xml for the corresponding node, then its Attribute Editor layout is shown in the Property Editor.