Utilities (bpy.utils)

This module contains utility functions specific to blender but not associated with blenders internal data.

Submodules

bpy.utils.blend_paths(absolute=False, packed=False, local=False)

Returns a list of paths to external files referenced by the loaded .blend file.

Parameters:

  • absolute (bool) – When true the paths returned are made absolute.

  • packed (bool) – When true skip file paths for packed data.

  • local (bool) – When true skip linked library paths.

Returns:

path list.

Return type:

list[str]

bpy.utils.escape_identifier(string)

Simple string escaping function used for animation paths.

Parameters:

string (str) – text

Returns:

The escaped string.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.flip_name(name, strip_digits=False)

Flip a name between left/right sides, useful for mirroring bone names.

Parameters:

  • name (str) – Bone name to flip.

  • strip_digits (bool) – Whether to remove .### suffix.

Returns:

The flipped name.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.unescape_identifier(string)

Simple string un-escape function used for animation paths. This performs the reverse of escape_identifier().

Parameters:

string (str) – text

Returns:

The un-escaped string.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.register_class(cls)

Register a subclass of a Blender type class.

Parameters:

cls (type) – Blender type class in: bpy.types.Panel, bpy.types.UIList, bpy.types.Menu, bpy.types.Header, bpy.types.Operator, bpy.types.KeyingSetInfo, bpy.types.RenderEngine, bpy.types.AssetShelf, bpy.types.FileHandler

Raises:

ValueError – if the class is not a subclass of a registerable blender class.

Note

If the class has a register class method it will be called before registration.

bpy.utils.register_cli_command(id, execute)

Register a command, accessible via the (-c / --command) command-line argument.

Parameters:

  • id (str) –

    The command identifier (must pass an str.isidentifier check).

    If the id is already registered, a warning is printed and the command is inaccessible to prevent accidents invoking the wrong command.

  • execute (callable) – Callback, taking a single list of strings and returns an int. The arguments are built from all command-line arguments following the command id. The return value should be 0 for success, 1 on failure (specific error codes from the os module can also be used).

Returns:

The command handle which can be passed to unregister_cli_command().

Return type:

capsule

Custom Commands

Registering commands makes it possible to conveniently expose command line functionality via commands passed to (-c / --command).

import os

import bpy


def sysinfo_print():
    """
    Report basic system information.
    """

    import pprint
    import platform
    import textwrap

    width = 80
    indent = 2

    print("Blender {:s}".format(bpy.app.version_string))
    print("Running on: {:s}-{:s}".format(platform.platform(), platform.machine()))
    print("Processors: {!r}".format(os.cpu_count()))
    print()

    # Dump `bpy.app`.
    for attr in dir(bpy.app):
        if attr.startswith("_"):
            continue
        # Overly verbose.
        if attr in {"handlers", "build_cflags", "build_cxxflags"}:
            continue

        value = getattr(bpy.app, attr)
        if attr.startswith("build_"):
            pass
        elif isinstance(value, tuple):
            pass
        else:
            # Otherwise ignore.
            continue

        if isinstance(value, bytes):
            value = value.decode("utf-8", errors="ignore")

        if isinstance(value, str):
            pass
        elif isinstance(value, tuple) and hasattr(value, "__dir__"):
            value = {
                attr_sub: value_sub
                for attr_sub in dir(value)
                # Exclude built-ins.
                if not attr_sub.startswith(("_", "n_"))
                # Exclude methods.
                if not callable(value_sub := getattr(value, attr_sub))
            }
            value = pprint.pformat(value, indent=0, width=width)
        else:
            value = pprint.pformat(value, indent=0, width=width)

        print("{:s}:\n{:s}\n".format(attr, textwrap.indent(value, " " * indent)))


def sysinfo_command(argv):
    if argv and argv[0] == "--help":
        print("Print system information & exit!")
        return 0

    sysinfo_print()
    return 0


cli_commands = []


def register():
    cli_commands.append(bpy.utils.register_cli_command("sysinfo", sysinfo_command))


def unregister():
    for cmd in cli_commands:
        bpy.utils.unregister_cli_command(cmd)
    cli_commands.clear()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()

Using Python Argument Parsing

This example shows how the Python argparse module can be used with a custom command.

Using argparse is generally recommended as it has many useful utilities and generates a --help message for your command.

import os
import sys

import bpy


def argparse_create():
    import argparse

    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
        prog=os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]) + " --command keyconfig_export",
        description="Write key-configuration to a file.",
    )

    parser.add_argument(
        "-o", "--output",
        dest="output",
        metavar='OUTPUT',
        type=str,
        help="The path to write the keymap to.",
        required=True,
    )

    parser.add_argument(
        "-a", "--all",
        dest="all",
        action="store_true",
        help="Write all key-maps (not only customized key-maps).",
        required=False,
    )

    return parser


def keyconfig_export(argv):
    parser = argparse_create()
    args = parser.parse_args(argv)

    # Ensure the key configuration is loaded in background mode.
    bpy.utils.keyconfig_init()

    bpy.ops.preferences.keyconfig_export(
        filepath=args.output,
        all=args.all,
    )

    return 0


cli_commands = []


def register():
    cli_commands.append(bpy.utils.register_cli_command("keyconfig_export", keyconfig_export))


def unregister():
    for cmd in cli_commands:
        bpy.utils.unregister_cli_command(cmd)
    cli_commands.clear()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    register()
bpy.utils.unregister_cli_command(handle)

Unregister a CLI command.

Parameters:

handle (capsule) – The return value of register_cli_command().

bpy.utils.resource_path(type, major=bpy.app.version[0], minor=bpy.app.version[1])

Return the base path for storing system files.

Parameters:

  • type (str) – string in [‘USER’, ‘LOCAL’, ‘SYSTEM’].

  • major (int) – major version, defaults to current.

  • minor (str) – minor version, defaults to current.

Returns:

the resource path (not necessarily existing).

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.unregister_class(cls)

Unload the Python class from blender.

Parameters:

cls (type) – Blender type class, see bpy.utils.register_class for classes which can be registered.

Note

If the class has an unregister class method it will be called before unregistering.

bpy.utils.keyconfig_init()
bpy.utils.keyconfig_set(filepath, *, report=None)
bpy.utils.load_scripts(*, reload_scripts=False, refresh_scripts=False, extensions=True)

Load scripts and run each modules register function.

Parameters:

  • reload_scripts (bool) – Causes all scripts to have their unregister method called before loading.

  • refresh_scripts (bool) – only load scripts which are not already loaded as modules.

  • extensions (bool) – Loads additional scripts (add-ons & app-templates).

bpy.utils.modules_from_path(path, loaded_modules)

Load all modules in a path and return them as a list.

Parameters:

  • path (str) – this path is scanned for scripts and packages.

  • loaded_modules (set[ModuleType]) – already loaded module names, files matching these names will be ignored.

Returns:

all loaded modules.

Return type:

list[ModuleType]

bpy.utils.preset_find(name, preset_path, *, display_name=False, ext='.py')
bpy.utils.preset_paths(subdir)

Returns a list of paths for a specific preset.

Parameters:

subdir (str) – preset subdirectory (must not be an absolute path).

Returns:

Script paths.

Return type:

list[str]

bpy.utils.refresh_script_paths()

Run this after creating new script paths to update sys.path

bpy.utils.app_template_paths(*, path=None)

Returns valid application template paths.

Parameters:

path (str) – Optional subdir.

Returns:

App template paths.

Return type:

Iterator[str]

bpy.utils.register_manual_map(manual_hook)
bpy.utils.unregister_manual_map(manual_hook)
bpy.utils.register_preset_path(path)

Register a preset search path.

Parameters:

path (str) –

preset directory (must be an absolute path).

This path must contain a “presets” subdirectory which will typically contain presets for add-ons.

You may call bpy.utils.register_preset_path(os.path.dirname(__file__)) from an add-ons __init__.py file. When the __init__.py is in the same location as a presets directory. For example an operators preset would be located under: presets/operator/{operator.id}/ where operator.id is the bl_idname of the operator.

Returns:

success

Return type:

bool

bpy.utils.unregister_preset_path(path)

Unregister a preset search path.

Parameters:

path (str) –

preset directory (must be an absolute path).

This must match the registered path exactly.

Returns:

success

Return type:

bool

bpy.utils.register_classes_factory(classes)

Utility function to create register and unregister functions which simply registers and unregisters a sequence of classes.

bpy.utils.register_submodule_factory(module_name, submodule_names)

Utility function to create register and unregister functions which simply load submodules, calling their register & unregister functions.

Note

Modules are registered in the order given, unregistered in reverse order.

Parameters:

  • module_name (str) – The module name, typically __name__.

  • submodule_names (list[str]) – List of submodule names to load and unload.

Returns:

register and unregister functions.

Return type:

tuple[Callable[[], None], Callable[[], None]]

bpy.utils.register_tool(tool_cls, *, after=None, separator=False, group=False)

Register a tool in the toolbar.

Parameters:

  • tool_cls (bpy.types.WorkSpaceTool) – A tool subclass.

  • after (Sequence[str] | None) – Optional identifiers this tool will be added after.

  • separator (bool) – When true, add a separator before this tool.

  • group (bool) – When true, add a new nested group of tools.

bpy.utils.make_rna_paths(struct_name, prop_name, enum_name)

Create RNA “paths” from given names.

Parameters:

  • struct_name (str) – Name of a RNA struct (like e.g. “Scene”).

  • prop_name (str) – Name of a RNA struct’s property.

  • enum_name (str) – Name of a RNA enum identifier.

Returns:

A triple of three “RNA paths” (most_complete_path, “struct.prop”, “struct.prop:’enum’”). If no enum_name is given, the third element will always be void.

Return type:

tuple[str, str, str]

bpy.utils.manual_map()
bpy.utils.manual_language_code(default='en')
Returns:

The language code used for user manual URL component based on the current language user-preference, falling back to the default when unavailable.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.script_path_user()

returns the env var and falls back to home dir or None

bpy.utils.extension_path_user(package, *, path='', create=False)

Return a user writable directory associated with an extension.

Note

This allows each extension to have it’s own user directory to store files.

The location of the extension it self is not a suitable place to store files because it is cleared each upgrade and the users may not have write permissions to the repository (typically “System” repositories).

Parameters:

  • package (str) – The __package__ of the extension.

  • path (str) – Optional subdirectory.

  • create (bool) – Treat the path as a directory and create it if its not existing.

Returns:

a path.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.script_paths(*, subdir=None, user_pref=True, check_all=False, use_user=True, use_system_environment=True)

Returns a list of valid script paths.

Parameters:

  • subdir (str) – Optional subdir.

  • user_pref (bool) – Include the user preference script paths.

  • check_all (bool) – Include local, user and system paths rather just the paths Blender uses.

  • use_user (bool) – Include user paths

  • use_system_environment (bool) – Include BLENDER_SYSTEM_SCRIPTS variable path

Returns:

script paths.

Return type:

list[str]

bpy.utils.smpte_from_frame(frame, *, fps=None, fps_base=None)

Returns an SMPTE formatted string from the frame: HH:MM:SS:FF.

If fps and fps_base are not given the current scene is used.

Parameters:

frame (int | float) – frame number.

Returns:

the frame string.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.smpte_from_seconds(time, *, fps=None, fps_base=None)

Returns an SMPTE formatted string from the time: HH:MM:SS:FF.

If fps and fps_base are not given the current scene is used.

Parameters:

time (int | float | datetime.timedelta) – time in seconds.

Returns:

the frame string.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.unregister_tool(tool_cls)
bpy.utils.user_resource(resource_type, *, path='', create=False)

Return a user resource path (normally from the users home directory).

Parameters:

  • resource_type (str) – Resource type in [‘DATAFILES’, ‘CONFIG’, ‘SCRIPTS’, ‘EXTENSIONS’].

  • path (str) – Optional subdirectory.

  • create (bool) – Treat the path as a directory and create it if its not existing.

Returns:

a path.

Return type:

str

bpy.utils.execfile(filepath, *, mod=None)

Execute a file path as a Python script.

Parameters:

  • filepath (str) – Path of the script to execute.

  • mod (ModuleType | None) – Optional cached module, the result of a previous execution.

Returns:

The module which can be passed back in as mod.

Return type:

ModuleType