TECHNICAL PAPER Building Tools for Houdini 9

Appendix D: Development ChecklistIcons and Help1.2.Each tool should have an appropriate icon for each context. [see icon guidelines]Each tool must have a tooltip (F1 Help). An abbreviated purpose/usage description is appropriate.3. Each tool must have a Help Card formatted using textbook formatting [see Appendix B]4.ContextAny non-standard parameters must have tooltips.1.2.Specify valid pane(s) in which the tool can be TAB-ed or drag-n-dropped: viewport, network editor.Specify valid networks: SOPs, DOPs, etc.Behavior1.2.3.4.5.6.Each tool will try to make do with the pre-defined selection, regardless of the selection type. If theincoming selection is incompatible with the selection required by the tool, the tool will automaticallyconvert it to a type it understands or inform the user of the problem.If a selection does not exist when the tool is invoked the tool will prompt for one, and will set the(component) selection mask appropriately.Each tool will set the selection mask according to the type of data it works with (particles, DOPs,points, uvs, etc).If the operation results in some kind of selection, as it usually does, the selection should be highlightedunless it is really stupid to do soAll tools must have prompting/hinting messages. Furthermore, the prompts must be complete. Forexample, if you want the user to select points, say so (not “select geometry”). If the tool requires anaction to complete the operation, the prompt must specify it: “press Enter to complete”.If the tool creates a node, the name of the node should be descriptive and have a suffix of “1”. This isimportant so that the node name sequence will be like “gravity1”, “gravity2”, “gravity3”, etc. insteadof “gravity”, “gravity1”, “gravity2”, etc.UI1.2.3.4.5.6.The toolbox above the viewport will contain a meaningful subset of the parameter set of the instantiatednode.Parameters should be named descriptively and according to existing conventionsParameter ranges and defaults should provide good results out of the boxConsider providing presets where appropriateHandles will be bound where feasible.Use relative paths to reference other nodes wherever possibleBuilding Tools for Houdini 9 | 35