Shelf Labels and tab menu labels, can they be different?

[LaidlawFX]

Howdi all,

So when you add an otl to the shelf it will create a button that lets you drop the otl. The shelf does not let you add many letters to it to define itself, unlike a tab menu, so I need to make short labels for the shelf buttons that are legible, while we use the long form label of the tool in the tab menu. For instance, I have a custom transform otl at the object level but I can't spell out the whole words transform I can only use something like trans. I'm having an issue that when starting my houdini file that the shelf label will override the tab menu label. When I first make these labels it does not have this effect. Is there a guaranteed way to have two separate labels for this in the shelf and the tab menu? or could this be a bug? or if you can't replicate there could be a problem on my end I need to chase down.

To replicate just make a blank shelf and drag a otl from your object area up to the blank shelf, re-label the button on the shelf. Then restart your houdini file. If you get the same problem as I your otl name will change in the tab menu(most cases the label actually in the otl in type properties is not changed, but the shelf seems to override it).

-Ben

[graham]

Not quite sure what you are seeing, but all tools behave the same.

A tool is defined by the tool definition. Each tool has a name and a label. In the case of a digital asset the tool name is be default tablename_typename i.e sop_xform and the label defaults to the operator description/label, ie. Transform. This data is used wherever tools are, so that is why things will always appear the same in the Tab menu and on any shelf.

You say you are dragging and dropping assets onto the shelf? That's not the proper way to put assets there. What that does is basically jam a bunch of code into a new tool based on the operator name that will reproduce that node as is (I think). This tool gets stored somewhere and I imagine is what you are referring to.

The proper way to install a tool/asset to the shelf is to edit the shelf and add the corresponding tool for your asset. If you want one with a different label then I recommend you make another tool inside the asset with similar settings as the normal one, but then modify the context settings of the new tool so it is not available in the tab menu and install that new tool onto the shelf.

In the attached file I have an embedded asset TestAsset. If you instantiate it and look at the Tools tab of the Operator Type Properties you'll see there is the standard, default "object_test" tool, and a new one, "object_test2". This new tool is exactly the same as the default one however I have changed its label to "Cool" and given it a different icon. In the Tab menu of the object level you will notice that TestAsset shows up but Cool does not. If you then edit a shelf and find the "Cool" entry and install it, that tool with its custom label and icon is now on the shelf and puts down the TestAsset object when run.

alternate_asset_tool.hip