TECHNICAL PAPER Building Tools for Houdini 9

Appendix C: The .shelf file formatThis specification of the XML shelf file contains definitions of the various shelf elements - shelf sets, toolshelves, and tools.Houdini will look for files with the extension .shelf in its TOOLBAR_PATH (which includes the directories suchas $HH/toolbar, $HOME/houdini9.0/toolbar, and $HOME/toolbar). All files that were found will be parsedand their contents will be available in the Houdini session. If a shelf set refers to an undefined shelf, or a shelfrefers to an undefined tool, such entities will be reported in the shelf UI.One architectural restriction is that one .shelf file cannot contain two tools, two shelves, or two shelf sets bythe same name.Most of the XML element attributes are optional (and default to empty string) except any ‘name’ attribute.Turn to the next page is an example of the .shelf file that illustratesall aspects of the xml shelf file.Building Tools for Houdini 9 | 31