How to call an environment variable inside an other one ?

[sebkaine]

HI guys !

in the Aliases and Variables panel (Alt+Shift+A)

i have created the following env var :

SHOT = D:\PROJECT\2013\TOTO\SHOTS\TOTO_0001

now i would like to create the following env var :

RENDER = $SHOT\3DWORK\RENDER

CACHE = $SHOT\3DWORK\CACHE

But it doesn't work ... i also give a try to the following synthax as i am working on windows 7

RENDER = %SHOT%\3DWORK\RENDER

CACHE = %SHOT%\3DWORK\CACHE

just in case i also try to invert the \ to follow the linux synthax so i use the same command but i replace all the \ by /

Both trial doesn't work either ...

So i would like to know if you guys have any idea on what i am doing wrong ?

Thanks for your time !

Cheers

E

Edited October 19, 2013 by sebkaine

[edward]

Have you tried this combination? (Also, save and re-load your .hip file after making these changes before checking)

SHOT = D:/PROJECT/2013/TOTO/SHOTS/TOTO_0001

RENDER = $SHOT/3DWORK/RENDER

[sebkaine]

Hi Edward,

Thanks for your support ! well i did try this setup

SHOT = D:/PROJECT/2013/TOTO/SHOTS/TOTO_0001

RENDER = $SHOT/3DWORK/RENDER

But it doesn't work ...

I would be curious to know if this work on LINUX just to isolate if the problem is

- OS related

- Houdini related

For the moment i use this layout to write my images

SHOT = D:/PROJECT/2013/TOTO/SHOTS/TOTO_0001

RENDER = 3DWORK/RENDER

$SHOT/$RENDER/myImage.$F4.exr

This works perfectly , But i have to call 2 variable instead of only one , so it would be far more elegant if i could find a way to only use this command :

$RENDER/myImage.$F4.exr

Cheers

E

[edward]

Yeah, I'm not sure that you can have variables refer to other variables. I think the only way to do this is to set your SHOT variable first before setting your RENDER. Then it will cause RENDER to be set to an expanded value.

[Guest mantragora]

Windows itself can expand variable in variable, I just tested it and explorer properly opens directory that second variable points too, but in Houdini it doesn't work it so I suppose it's a Houdini thing.

PS. Besides, I'm using similar system for setting up my VisualStudio where I use one variable to set some value in another variable and then VS reads it to correctly setup project.

Edited October 21, 2013 by mantragora

[sebkaine]

Many thanks for your help guys !

In fact as windows manage to call env var in env var with %% synthax i was thinking of a Houdini issue ! But i prefer to be sure that i was not forgetting something !

So if i want to use this synthax with the alias and variable panel :

SHOT = D:/PROJECT/2013/TOTO/SHOTS/TOTO_0001

RENDER = $SHOT/3DWORK/RENDER

$RENDER/myImage.$F4.exr

It looks that it's not possible at the moment ! it's not a big deal but it force us to use redundant var in the path instead of only one ...

Thanks again for taking the time to help me !