Multiple search criteria using & operator

[htranbos]

I am making a simple python script to calculate the number of items added to a list. I have multiple rectangles and nurb curves in the scene. My script is below. According to VS:Search Criteria, multiple search criteria are created using the & operator to chain individual search criteria terms.

 

However, I got the unsupported & operator error. 

 

Does anyone know how to perform multiple search criteria with Python script?

 

Thanks fam!

 

myList = []

def sel(h):
	myList.append(h)

vs.ForEachObject(sel, "T=RECT" & "T=NURBSCURVE")
vs.AlrtDialog('Number of selected objects: {}'.format(len(myList)))

 

[Pat Stanford]

I think your criteria are wrong. I am a Vectorscript guy not Python, but I think you need parentheses and not quotes.

 

Open the VS editor and use the Criteria builder there to generate the criteria you need and then paste it into your script.

 

I always fight to get the parentheses correct,  but from memory I think you need:

 

vs.ForEachObject(sel, ((T=RECT) & (T=NURBSCURVE)))

 

[htranbos]

Hi Pat, I tried your suggestion and got the following error message. I didn't know about the criteria builder inside VS editor. This is awesome. Thank you!!

[htranbos]

It works if I break down the code like below: 

myList = []

def sel(h):
	myList.append(h)

vs.ForEachObject(sel, "T=RECT")
vs.ForEachObject(sel, "T=NURBSCURVE")
vs.AlrtDialog('Number of selected objects: {}'.format(len(myList)))

 

[Pat Stanford]

The criteria builder gives:

 

(((T=RECT) & (T=NURBSCURVE)))

 

But Looking at the ForEachObject sample code on the developer site it looks like you may need to use quotes in Python.

 

https://developer.vectorworks.net/index.php?title=VS:ForEachObject

 

((("T=RECT") & ("T=NURBSCURVE")))

 

Good luck. Please report back when you figure it out.

 

 

[JBenghiat]

1 hour ago, Pat Stanford said:

But Looking at the ForEachObject sample code on the developer site it looks like you may need to use quotes in Python.

In Python, the entire criteria needs to be a string 

[Pat Stanford]

So like this?

 

"(((T=RECT) & (T=NURBSCURVE)))"

 

Or does that have one to many sets of parens?  Or do the individual criteria also need to be quoted separately?

[JBenghiat]

I feel like with criteria, you can never have too man parentheses, but at least the outer-most set is redundant. 
 

You don’t need more quotes than with vs, so just record and field names, object names, etc. Should have single quotes. 

[htranbos]

I am able to make the script run without any error message.... but the output of this code should be 1 not 0. I don't know what I did wrong.

 

myList = []

def sel(h):
	myList.append(h)

vs.ForEachObject(sel, "(T='NURBSCURVE') & (VSEL=TRUE)")
vs.AlrtDialog('Number of selected objects: {}'.format(len(myList)))

 

[twk]

1) For your first post:

The second parameter for the ForEachObject must be a criteria string.

 

so:

vs.ForEachObject(sel, "T=RECT" & "T=NURBSCURVE")

should actually be written as:

vs.ForEachObject(sel, '"T=RECT" & "T=NURBSCURVE"')

 

2) For your most recent post:

why are you using VSEL and SEL? shouldn't just SEL work?

 

tips:

You could place criteria strings in variables:

crit_string_1 = '"T=RECT" & "T=NURBSCURVE"'

so it would be:

vs.ForEachObject(sel, crit_string_1)

and also leveraging pythons f-string capabilities:

type_1 = 'RECT'
type_2 = 'NURBSCURVE'

crit_string_1 = f'"T={type_1}" & "T={type_2}"'

 

Edited February 17 by twk

[htranbos]

Thanks @twk. I will try SEL and see if it the result is correct.

[htranbos]

@twk I tried your suggestion placing criteria strings in variables. Each method works and produced no error. However, the output is still 0 instead of 1. For this test, I only have 1 Nurbs curve object in the scene and it is selected. The output of this script should be 1 instead of 0. I don't know why I can't get it to produce the correct result.

 

myList = []

def sel(h):
	myList.append(h)
	
crit_string_1 = '"SEL=TRUE" & "T=NURBSCURVE"'

vs.ForEachObject(sel, crit_string_1)
vs.AlrtDialog('Number of selected objects: {}'.format(len(myList)))

 

 

[htranbos]

Hello all, I finally made it to work. In order for the above code to produce the correct result, you need to put each search criteria inside a () like below. 

 

crit_string_1 = "(SEL=TRUE) & (T=NURBSCURVE)"