Underscore in file name required

vikramj · December 4, 2023, 6:59am

ksnip_20231204-115712

As see in image, shotgrid app prevents me from adding underscore to file name.
I did search and find threads on shotgrid forum on this topic. It is not clear what specifically to do.to allow underscore in file names ( generally extending it for any dcc )

Can I add any random text to filename seperated by underscore. If this requires modification to
tk-core ( as seen in some thread ), then I am afraid I do not see tk-core app in the config installation folder.

I did try to dissuade the team from not using underscore as it may break the pipeline somewhere. However I cannot push it on them so on a flip side after implementing if it breaks
that will be most established way for us avoid using an underscore in file names

Patrick · December 4, 2023, 6:28pm

Underscores are used by SG to infer different fields from a filename.The “name” field here, isn’t the full filename, but the “name” field of the filename defined in the templates.yml of your pipeline configuration.
Can you explain more about the reason you need underscores in the name? What information are you trying to include in the name that needs separated with underscores?

vikramj · December 5, 2023, 6:21am

Thank you for your response @Patrick . Usually the information can be for example

project_seq001_sh0010_dept_version.ma.
project_prop_walkingChair_model_v001

no random text at all.

Patrick · December 5, 2023, 9:31am

Ok, are you using a custom pipeline config?
If you take a look at templates.yml you can find the templates, in your case look for the maya ones, where the filenames are defined.

github.com

shotgunsoftware/tk-config-default2/blob/master/core/templates.yml

# Copyright (c) 2015 Shotgun Software Inc.
#
# CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY
#
# This work is provided "AS IS" and subject to the Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit
# Source Code License included in this distribution package. See LICENSE.
# By accessing, using, copying or modifying this work you indicate your
# agreement to the Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit Source Code License. All rights
# not expressly granted therein are reserved by Shotgun Software Inc.

#
# This file is one of the central points in the Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit configuration and
# a counterpart to the folder configuration structure.
#
# The folder structure underneath the project folder is used to create folders on disk -
# templates.yml (this file) refers to those folders. Therefore, the two files need to be
# in sync. This file contains an overview of all locations that are used by Sgtk.
#
# Whenever an app or an engine refers to a location on disk, it is using an entry defined in
# this file. For more information, see the Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit Documentation.

This file has been truncated. show original

You can see that the filenames are built from individual fields.

eg your examples would need templates configured as follows. You may need to customise the app or hooks logic to support some of these fields.

github.com

shotgunsoftware/tk-config-default2/blob/dd9fc5f08cc60823ade356142f440e0c33fe1494/core/templates.yml#L301


      
          #
          
          # define the location of a work area
          shot_work_area_maya:
              definition: '@shot_root/work/maya'
          # define the location of a publish area
          shot_publish_area_maya:
              definition: '@shot_root/publish/maya'
          # The location of WIP files
          maya_shot_work:
              definition: '@shot_root/work/maya/{name}.v{version}.{maya_extension}'
          # The location of backups of WIP files
          maya_shot_snapshot:
              definition: '@shot_root/work/maya/snapshots/{name}.v{version}.{timestamp}.{maya_extension}'
          # The location of published maya files
          maya_shot_publish:
              definition: '@shot_root/publish/maya/{name}.v{version}.{maya_extension}'
          
          
          #
          # Houdini

project_seq001_sh0010_dept_version.ma.
@shot_root/work/maya/{name}.v{version}.{maya_extension} would need updated to something like :-
@shot_root/work/maya/{project}_{sequence}_{shot}_{department}_{version}.ma

github.com

shotgunsoftware/tk-config-default2/blob/dd9fc5f08cc60823ade356142f440e0c33fe1494/core/templates.yml#L512


      
          #
          
          # define the location of a work area
          asset_work_area_maya:
              definition: '@asset_root/work/maya'
          # define the location of a publish area
          asset_publish_area_maya:
              definition: '@asset_root/publish/maya'
          # The location of WIP files
          maya_asset_work:
              definition: '@asset_root/work/maya/{name}.v{version}.{maya_extension}'
          # The location of backups of WIP files
          maya_asset_snapshot:
              definition: '@asset_root/work/maya/snapshots/{name}.v{version}.{timestamp}.{maya_extension}'
          # The location of published maya files
          maya_asset_publish:
              definition: '@asset_root/publish/maya/{name}.v{version}.{maya_extension}'
          
          
          #
          # Houdini

project_prop_walkingChair_model_v001
@asset_root/work/maya/{name}.v{version}.{maya_extension} would need updated to something like :-
@asset_root/work/maya/{project}_{asset_type}_{asset}_{name}_v{version}

It’s worth noting that including all the fields you want here may result in you exceeding the max character limit in winows filesystems, so normally workfiles do not include the project-code. The Shot code should include the sequence code, so you wouldn’t want to explicitly include both the sequence and shot code. Another reason for including the sequence code in the shot code is so the drop-downs in the web ui give you the full context of the shots listed; eg if you have 3 sequences each with shots 010, 020, 030. If you type 010, 3 010’s would appear and you wouldn’t know which sequences shot you want.

I would recommend starting by learning how this system works before making large changes to your templates. They are hard to debug for beginners if you break the config.

vikramj · December 5, 2023, 1:11pm

If anything breaks, I know you will help to bring the system back to running . As for the requirement, I need to go with what the management requires. I have highlighted to them the restrains but they need it this way. I will go ahead step by step.

vikramj · December 8, 2023, 8:16am

@Patrick , Thank you for your replies. While I have a need to add underscore to filename, I need to also remove {name} from the definition. How to remove {name} without getting error

“missing keys required for the publish template: [‘name’]”

Patrick · December 8, 2023, 8:30am

Can you share the template you are trying to implement?

vikramj · December 8, 2023, 8:56am

Copy pasting code here make the “" disappear. I will attach the templates.yml here. you will need to search for "maya_asset” and “maya_shot_”

templates.zip (4.5 KB)

Patrick · December 8, 2023, 9:17am

The error is being raised either here :

github.com

shotgunsoftware/tk-maya/blob/dfe0f4cea6c14c6dcde0dea210e4f24b7829e128/hooks/tk-multi-publish2/basic/publish_session_geometry.py#L213


      
          publish_template = item.properties.get("publish_template")
          
          # get the current scene path and extract fields from it using the work
          # template:
          work_fields = work_template.get_fields(path)
          
          # ensure the fields work for the publish template
          missing_keys = publish_template.missing_keys(work_fields)
          if missing_keys:
              error_msg = (
                  "Work file '%s' missing keys required for the "
                  "publish template: %s" % (path, missing_keys)
              )
              self.logger.error(error_msg)
              raise Exception(error_msg)
          
          # create the publish path by applying the fields. store it in the item's
          # properties. This is the path we'll create and then publish in the base
          # publish plugin. Also set the publish_path to be explicit.
          item.properties["path"] = publish_template.apply_fields(work_fields)
          item.properties["publish_path"] = item.properties["path"]

or here:

github.com

shotgunsoftware/tk-multi-publish2/blob/f85dd39ba52f969c85024d9d35d557a0de20f00f/hooks/publish_file.py#L831


      
                  "Publishing in place." % (work_file, work_template)
              )
              return
          
          work_fields = work_template.get_fields(work_file)
          
          missing_keys = publish_template.missing_keys(work_fields)
          
          if missing_keys:
              self.logger.warning(
                  "Work file '%s' missing keys required for the publish "
                  "template: %s" % (work_file, missing_keys)
              )
              return
          
          publish_file = publish_template.apply_fields(work_fields)
          
          # copy the file
          try:
              publish_folder = os.path.dirname(publish_file)
              ensure_folder_exists(publish_folder)

You’ll need to add some debug logging here to see what fields you have at this point. Also which template is being queried. Can you confirm the name of the work and publish templates being queried at this point in the code?

Also, verify the publish template you have defined in your tk-multi-publish2 settings is maya_asset_publish.

SG is expecting to find a “name” field as it’s specified in a template being used for the publish. The odd thing is your maya_asset_publish template doesn’t have a name field, so I’m wondering if you’re not in an Asset task or the publisher has a different publish template defined?

What’s the filepath of the maya file you’re attempting to publish from?

vikramj · December 8, 2023, 12:07pm

@Patrick , I had close and open shotgun desktop to the changes to be reflected. Solved.
Thank you for your efforts. Last question in this thread is how to add project to filename ?

Patrick · December 8, 2023, 12:43pm

Just add the project field to the template. It should pass through from the work template. If not, then you’ll need to customise the publish hook to get the project tankname from your context.

vikramj · December 8, 2023, 1:50pm

Thank you for your quick response.
Including {project} in template is giving an error so I presume it is not passing through work template. How to customise the publish hook to get the project tankname from the context.

Where does this publish hook reside ?.
Do you mean tk-multi-publish2 app. Where specifically ?

Patrick · December 8, 2023, 2:02pm

I’d start off with this video to get a better understanding of how the publisher works.

Patrick · December 8, 2023, 2:04pm

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Underscore in file name required

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