As I understood it, Maya would always rename things to create a unique dag path. I’m running into an issue where
cmds.ls(node, l=True)
Errors with RuntimeError: More than one object matches name:…
cmds.ls(node + ‘*’, l=True) yields a list with multiple objects of the exact same dag path. casting as a set confirms that they are identical.
How does this happen so I can fix/avoid it?
Thanks
This sounds familiar, not sure but this old thread might help. I think I was having a similar issue a while back: Grouping issue - Python/Mel - Coding - Tech-Artists.Org
I looked through there and i don’t think its the same issue. I’m getting the full dag path for the objects and maya is reporting there is 5 objects with the exact same full dag path.
Was this generated from a scripted node creation? I lost my old work due to my hard drive failing, but I do remember some of it from memory(Well, mental memory lol), and I think that was where I was having the issue of multiple exact DAG path names being created.
I ran into this as well at one point, but it was a couple of years ago. I’ll see if i can dig up anything.
I’d like to see proof. It’s not really possible to have multiple objects with the exact same longName/dagPath.
I didn’t think the Maya architecture allowed it?
that’s what im saying. I’ll try to put together a test scene. This is definitely an edge case, but it did crop up. using the + “*” trick allowed me to work around the error.
Ok so i found some more info on this issue. I still havent narrowed down the exact problem however, but maybe something will ring a bell with someone here.
So at some point, maya’s autonaming numbering has been completely thrown off. If i select a node and duplicate it CTRL + D, i get the node name and the number it appends to make it unique is a neagtive number:
my_node1 gets duped to my_node-2791188118153996061
So that obviously contains an illegal character, the “-”. If i rename it slightly, add a number, then maya will take care of the “-” and replace it with an underscore. The problem is, that it will allow things to be named the same if they contain this “-”, thus resulting in identical DAG paths.
That’s all the info I have and I haven’t been able to get a repro case that doesn’t contain game assets yet.
I would run a test of the computers memory. Does the problem occur on other workstations as well?
yes. The problem was on an artists machine, then they sent me the file and the problem persisted on my own machine. It sucks because as of now, i havent been able to reproduce the issue on purpose.
You might be able to try and save it out as an .ma, just reopening it again might cause some changes. Otherwise, try opening the .ma in a text editor, do a search for thr suspicious files and se what they are called in there. That would be their original name, before any name-resolution takes place. Also, you could strip out anything that isn’t the creation pf those nodes and save it out. Might help you to isolate the problem into a very small file that could get passed around, perhaps even to us.
That’s got to be a slipped pointer somewhere. It’s about two bytes short of the minimum value for a signed 64 bit integer, and I have a hard time believing that the rename code supports 64 bits worth of object names. The renamer just advanced a pointer into junk land and gave back whatever crap it found. Good bug to pass on to ADSK.
There would have to be a lot of duplicate objects for that to happen (how many exactly? :S), but I guess it isn’t impossible. I’d still like to have a look at what the .ma file says as the problem couldn’t hide from getting created which means it should be visible inside it.
ok so i narrow it down to as few nodes as I could that would still reproduce the error. I saved it as an .ma and the ma has the bad node name in it. However upon open it renames it. Below are transforms and child shape nodes:
Original Scene:
- mynode10
-- myn108981606965879142619Shape
- mynode_1698857476378167076
-- mynode_1698857476378167076_2791188118153996061Shape
- mynode-1698857476378167076
--mynode_16988574763781670768981606965879142619Shape
After opening the ma file:
- mynode10
-- myn108981606965879142619Shape
- mynode_1698857476378167076
-- mynode_1698857476378167076_2791188118153996061Shape
- mynode_1698857476378167077
- _UNKNOWN_REF_NODE_fosterParent1
-- mynode_16988574763781670768981606965879142619Shape
Looking through the MA file it tries to create the transform with the name, then parent the shape. So im sure the transform create bugs out and the parent call fails due to the name being missing.
so after the comments, I’m thinking i need to clean up object names as they just keep getting bigger until maya freaks out.
Good find. What can you tell me about that reference item? Any missing reference files or nested references etc?
nope, in the MA file it has explicit called to createNode with those names. So the createNode(‘transform’) one tries to give an invalid name which maya aptly renames accordingly. Then theres a call to createNode that create the shape and parents to the bad node name. I think maya flips out and creates a transform with the name, UNKOWN_REF_NODE, then parents the orphan under it.