Hi, I am a new user of fantastic Houdini. And know very little about programming too. So I am confused with some alien words. I want to know

1. what does it mean by $C ?
2. What is $ and when I should use it?
3. Where I should get the list of these things and their jobs?

Thanks in advance. Please dont mind if these are hilarious questions. I am trying to grab Houdini day and night. Have done some cool things too. But these things are questioning me and it has to be solved. Thanks again.
:cry:

The $ sign is to evaluate the value of a “variable”. Google search “variable” in the online help.

There are different scope of “variables”, ie. where the variable is valid. The “local” (scope) variables are only available on a particular node, so you can see them in the help for the particular node. I think $C (in CHOPs) is one such example and is available only in certain chops (see Wave CHOP [sidefx.com] for example, look in the bottom of the linked page).

Some variables can be accessed everywhere and are called “global” (scoped). Here's one list of them: http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini13.0/expressions/_globals [sidefx.com]

Some variables are from the “environment” and come from outside the Houdini process. See for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable [en.wikipedia.org] (NOTE: Environment variables are always accessed using the $ sign within Houdini, even on Windows)

You can also define your custom variables in the environment yourself, or within Houdini: http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini13.0/ref/windows/alias [sidefx.com]

Thanks a lot!