refresh the textScrollList in maya with Python

Question

I have an array with lights , everytime I create a light it stores is my array. I have a textScrollList that displays all lights in my Array.

When I add lights , it doesn't refersh the textScrollList.

Can someone tell me how I can do this , so everytime I make a light it display it in the textScrollList. Or with a refresh button.

Thanks !

Code I have now :

import maya.cmds as cmds
lights=[]

myWindow = cmds.window(title='My Lights', wh=(200,400),sizeable =False )
cmds.columnLayout()
cmds.showWindow(myWindow)

 LightsButton = cmds.button(label='Make Lights', command = "makeLights()", width =200,height = 25,align='center')


def makeLights():
    lights.append(cmds.shadingNode('aiAreaLight', asLight=True))




LightSelector = cmds.textScrollList( numberOfRows=8, allowMultiSelection=True,append=(lights), showIndexedItem=4, selectCommand = 'selectInTextList()' )

Answer 1

You can add a function that will refresh the list with the lights. This can be called after you create a new light so it adds to the list. You can also add a refresh button to call this same function in case you add/delete lights in the scene, and it will update properly.

You don't need to add the lights to a list and keep track of it. Instead you can use cmds.ls() to collect all the lights in the scene. Unless you really do need the list for some reason, it's easy to edit the example below to use it:

import maya.cmds as cmds


# Clear the listview and display the current lights in the scene.
def refreshList():
    # Clear all items in list.
    cmds.textScrollList(lightSelector, e=True, removeAll=True)

    # Collect all lights in the scene.
    allLights = cmds.ls(type='aiAreaLight')

    # Add lights to the listview.
    for obj in allLights:
        cmds.textScrollList(lightSelector, e=True, append=obj)


# Create a new light and add it to the listview.
def makeLights():
    lights.append(cmds.shadingNode('aiAreaLight', asLight=True))

    refreshList()


def selectInTextList():
    # Collect a list of selected items.
    # 'or []' converts it to a list when nothing is selected to prevent errors.
    selectedItems = cmds.textScrollList(lightSelector, q=True, selectItem=True) or []

    # Use a list comprehension to remove all lights that no longer exist in the scene.
    newSelection = [obj for obj in selectedItems if cmds.objExists(obj)]

    cmds.select(newSelection)


# Create window.
myWindow = cmds.window(title='My Lights', wh=(200,400), sizeable=False)
cmds.columnLayout()
cmds.showWindow(myWindow)

# Create interface items.
addButton = cmds.button(label='Make Lights', command='makeLights()', width=200, height=25, align='center')
lightSelector = cmds.textScrollList(numberOfRows=8, allowMultiSelection=True, append=cmds.ls(type='aiAreaLight'), showIndexedItem=4, selectCommand='selectInTextList()')
refreshButton = cmds.button(label='Refresh list', command='refreshList()', width=200, height=25, align='center')

Hope that helps.