What IDE do you use for MEL development?

#101

I use PsPad, it has syntax highlighting and I’ve written a live connection with Maya, so it can source scripts into an open session of maya. It also does the same with maxScript. It supports vbScript scripts and javaScript scripts to extend its functions. It also supports snippets, blocks of code that can be defined and then inserted on demand, could be as simple as a for loop or as complex as a setting up an initial UI. Best of all its free.

#102

I use Notepad++, which has syntax highlighting feature and a basic Java and C compiler. You can also expand or collapse proc and global proc statements - very useful feature if you are writing a lot of code.

Download it here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/notepad-plus

#103

Very cool and attractive editor and I am starting to get used of it.

#104

Mel Studio LE (someday I’d like to work somewhere where they’d purchase the pro version) for development. You can’t beat hitting enter to test your script and hit the line number to zero in on what’s not working.

SourceEdit for code clean-up, checking matching brackets and parentheses and having a bunch of scripts and test-log and file creation debugging opened.

I use SourceEdit for all text editing except stuff that needs fancy formatting that needs to look nice :wink:

#105

may i know where to download the syntax?

#106

MEL Studio Pro is awesome; the only thing misssing from it, is that I cant get it to be a default editor, which would allow editing of expressions to be more fluid.

Though you can edit expressions with MEL Studio; and you get a list of the expressions in a side nav, along with a list of files, and procs.

Otherwise its the best i have seen…so far

#107

jEdit with custom plugins and scripts. At first I was leary because the Java platform on Windows seems to hog memory, but I have really come to like this application.

#108

Mel studio is great, the only thing I hate about the workflow is when an infinite loop occurs, you lose everything you haven’t saved in the script :(.

but hey, I guess that’s just my fault for being a crap programmer.

#109

the only thing I hate about the workflow is when an infinite loop occurs, you lose everything you haven’t saved in the script :(.

when I suspect an infinite loop, I always implement a counter that increments with each loop. If the counter reaches a certain value (depending on the kind of loop), I break out of it…

Guess you already knew this anyway. But this approach can spare you from a lot of shait.

#110

yeh, but I always think “meh…chances that this causes an infinite loop are slim…hits execute…SHIT!”

#111

I know the problem, thrust me…

#112

VIM hands down the best editor in my opinion.

#113

Here’s a tutorial I put together on how to configure jEdit to work with Maya. It describes how to setup and use all the plugins I’ve written and how to get syntax highlighting, autoComplete, custom buttons and other things to work.

http://www.highend3d.com/maya/tutorials/using_tools_scripts/Configuring-jEdit-with-Maya-319.html

#114

I regularly just use the build-in Script Editor in Maya to build the base of my MELs, but if the script gets extensive i’ll flip it over to EditPlus …

#115

When a infinite loop occurs (using MEL Studio Pro), after restarting maya and MEL Studio, check in the File->Resque Saved… You didn’t loose anything.

MEL Studio Pro saves a temporary copy of your file before each execution, and every 5 minutes. You can even customize these rules in the preferences.

Max

#116

I like to use Scite for all languages, it’s very light and the instal dir can be copied without admin rights, it works on linux and windows.
You can also compil from it etc…
I use it for all programming (except bigger c++ projects, for which i use vc++ or devc++ depending on the compiler)
I use tcl lexer to get mel syntax highlighting , just go in
options>open tcl properties
and edit the begining of the file like this:


   # Define SciTE settings for tcl and itcl files. (and mel files....)
   
   file.patterns.mel=*.mel
   file.patterns.tcl=*.tcl
   file.patterns.itcl=*.itcl
   file.patterns.tcl.like=$(file.patterns.tcl);$(file.patterns.itcl);$(file.patterns.mel);
   
   filter.mel=mel (mel)|$(file.patterns.mel)|
   filter.tcl=Tcl (tcl)|$(file.patterns.tcl)|
   filter.itcl=itcl (itcl)|$(file.patterns.itcl)|
   
   lexer.$(file.patterns.tcl)=tcl
   lexer.$(file.patterns.itcl)=tcl
   lexer.$(file.patterns.mel)=tcl
#117

I just got an email the other day from the developers of MEL Studio and the 8.5 version is in final testing and should be out before too much longer.

#118

I just got an email the other day from the developers of MEL Studio and the 8.5 version is in final testing and should be out before too much longer.

they’re moving a bit to slow if you ask me… maya 9 is just several days away now :wink:

#119

There was a bug in Maya 8.5 API that was preventing MEL Studio to work. I had to wait untill Maya 8.5 SP1 to get the bug fixed. MEL Studio Pro for maya maya 8.5 is available since a couple of weeks.

I hope there won’t be any other critical bug affecting MEL Studio in Maya 2008.

EDIT: remember you need maya 8.5 SP1 to run the plug-in.

#120

Whoa, you mean MEL Studio Pro is back? Man, I’ve been waiting since Maya 7 for this!