Here is my basic script for handling command line arguments in Python(pre version 2.7 when optparse
was deprecated). The optparse library is very useful in not only handling the command line
arguments, but setting up your help menu as well.

You will need to create an OptionParser and the usage argument lets you print the usage statement
for the script. Then you can add options, add groups for options or collect the left over
parameters as a secondary command or list of files. I use this method often as I create scripts
that help automate build processes.

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys, optparse

# This creates an OptionParser object with the usage string.
op = optparse.OptionParser(usage=" %prog [options]")
# This will add an option -m or --mode which takes sets the mode variable as
# True or False
op.add_option("-m","--mode",help="Specify the mode for the command", 
            action="store_true", dest="mode",default=False)
# This parses the options and places the selected options above in the _options
# object and the rest in arguments.
_options,arguments = op.parse_args()

# Checks if no arguments are passed and if so, runs the print_help method of 
# the OptionParser object
if len(sys.argv) == 1:
    op.print_help()

# This was just to show what happened when you did or didn't pass the
# --mode argument.
if  _options.mode:
    print "Mode is on"
else:
    print "Mode is off"

This method is currently deprecated as of version 2.7. I will write a follow-up post that uses
the newer argparse routine to highlight any differences.

Tags: Python, scripting

When I am writing build automation scripts, there are times that I have to insure that the previous command completed
with no errors. I have found that ERRORLEVEL gets filled in with the return value from a command.

dir %1

if (%ERRORLEVEL%) == (0) echo Found File: %1
if (%ERRORLEVEL%) == (1) echo Missing File: %1

So if you save the previous in a file and run the command with one (1) argument, it will display the output of the dir command
but also print either “Found file: ” or “Missing File: “.

Tags: DOS, scripting

So in 3DSMax it is sometimes useful to insert a background image usually when you are modelling
something and using the background image as a guide. There is no easy way to remove it. You
can reassign another image or set it to not display the background image, but this can lead to
problems if the file is moved or removed as it is still linked to your max file.

MaxScript to the rescue! You can use the MaxScript Listener(F11) to type in the following to
clear the background filename:

backgroundimagefilename=""

This will clear the entry for the filename. I have noticed that you do need to exit 3DSMax to
fully make the change complete.

Tags: 3D, 3DSMax