HOM Migrating from HScript

The following tips may be helpful when moving from Hscript to Python:

• See the “replaced by” sections in the Hscript command and expression help to find the equivalent functionality in the hou module.

• If a desired hou module function or method is not yet implemented, you can find the Hscript equivalent in the “replaces” section of the hou module help. You can call Hscript commands with hou.hscript, run expressions with hou.hscriptExpression, and evaluate Houdini variables with hscriptExpandString.

• Take advantage of the language features that Python has over Hscript. Instead of cd'ing around like you would in Hscript, use variables to store hou.Node objects and and operate on those nodes. Write Python functions to reduce the amount of code you write.

• If the hou module functions, methods, or classes are too verbose, create your own aliases. For example, you could write the following:

  >>> n = hou.node
  >>> hou.Node.p = hou.Node.parm
  >>> n("/obj/geo1")
  <hou.ObjNode of type geo at /obj/geo1>
  >>> n("/obj/geo1").p("tx")
  <hou.Parm tx in /obj/geo1>