Is there a way to set a comment window to popup automatically when a hip file is first loaded?

With my tutorials I'd like to have initial comments pop-up when a hip file is loaded.

Put a “message” script into a Logic CHOP maybe? Or just

run(“message something”)

into an object's pivot or something? As long as it cooks it should come up…

Cheers,

POeter B

Hey Pete,

Okay. How about a message in the “On Loaded” event for a dummy OTL? I just tried this and it worked.

Create a subnet, and “Create Digital Asset” from it. In the Type Properties->Events tab for the event type: “on loaded” enter something like: message “hello Peter R.”
Save and quit and load the hip file. You should see the message.

cheers,
b.

PS. Linux Houdini 8.1.704 Crash: I thought I'd be sneaky, and add an “oprm /obj/popup1” after the message line (to delete the OTL after the message pops up) and Houdini crashed. Changing it to “oprm $arg1” means the message comes up before the crash..

You guys are awesome!! Thanks.

I went with Ben's idea since it provides more space to write stuff.
Since I don't hscript all that much, how do I create new lines in the textport?
I know about “\n” to provide a carriage return in the popup window.

Anyway around the message holding the Houdini launch until the popup window is clear?

I think the only way to stop holding up HOudini would be to us “xmessage” via a Unix command rather than using Message… then you could run it in the background with &.

Also, I've used Ben's method with success as well. I have a message in my 456.cmd that asks if I want Autosave turned on (which I almost always do) that works well.

Cheers,

Peter B

Thanks Peter,

It's a great solution but looks like a bit too primitive for what I'm really after. In this case I've just been writing out loud on an idea for having a preliminary explanation popup when a student loads a file.
Likely what I'm after is to have another application launch that would display a page that is a bit prettier than just plain text.

While it may seem a bit over-complicated I think there is value in having an “introductory” bit of information popup automatically.

What about something in 456.cmd that opens a new floating pane, set to a Help browser, then point that at an HTML file. Pretty info, easy to update and add to, can even load .hip files if you want )

Cheers,

Peter B

Yes that would work, but I want it specific to a hip file.

So, I've set it up like this, at least for my environment.
For the OnLoad event in the otl.

unix firefox http://www.sidefx.com [sidefx.com] &

I suppose I'll having to figure out how to search for the default browser.
This though means I can launch a hip file and have it open a browser to a specific URL.

You guys were a great help, thanks.