List all comps in project in a popup parameter

[Adonis W.]

Is there a way to scan the project, identify all comps in the project and list these comps in a popup parameter (of a Effects plugin)? I checked the sample projects, but couldn't find a project that had this feature.

I'm new to developing After Effects plugins, so would greatly appreciate all help you can give me.

Thanks.

[françois leroy · Accepted solution]

Hi!

Yes, it should be possible.

First, create a string to store all the names. I ususally do it like this:

int     accum = 0;

string myPopupList = "";

Second, scan all project items and check their ItemType. When you hit one, get its name and add it to your popup string:

accum++;

myPopupList.append(intToString(accum));

myPopupList.append(".");

myPopupList.append(myCompName);

myPopupList.append("|");

You can have a look at this thread to avoid crashes when updating popuplist: Re: string.append() crash

In parallel, you'll probably want to store reference to comps in a std::vector so you can access the comp whithout re-scanning when you use the popup...

Cheers,

François