Is there any way to change the order in which props appear in the dropdown menu list we must use to select them?  Y'know, so that the props I use the most often are closer to the top of the list and I don't have to constantly, endlessly scroll to select them?

Is there some simple solution to this annoyance that I'm missing?

Can the pz3 file be edited to do this?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I don't think it can be done in that list, but if you use the hierarchy menu, you can change the order by dragging them around.

You can use the favorites list.
Just add the item you like to use often to the list.

Hope that helps.

If you don't mind doing a little manual editing of the PZ3 file you can do this it a text editor.

NOTE --- Always do this on a copy of the file. (Just in case you make a mistake.)

Open file with text editor of you choice. (It needs to have a search feature. I use textedit on my mac.)

Search for, - addActor - It will find the list (of all items in that PZ3 file) that Poser uses for the drop down menus.

Cut and paste the relevant items in this part of the file into the order that you want. Save file and test, then rename back to the original and overwrite old file.

(Caveat - In this file the 'name' used is the 'internal' poser name, not the 'display' name. But for props this is usually the same.)

Editing like this always carries a risk. Just make sure you always do it on a copy of the file, so that you can always revert back to the original.

 

blackbonner posted at 7:38 AM Fri, 31 December 2021 - #4432637

You can use the favorites list.
Just add the item you like to use often to the list.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the suggestion, but unless I've completely misunderstood its function, the Favorites list is for finding and adding props or figures from your Library.  I want to (more easily) select a prop that has already been loaded into the scene.  There's no way to use Favorites to do that... is there?  I sure can't find any way to do that.

cedub53 posted at 12:54 PM Fri, 31 December 2021 - #4432654

If you don't mind doing a little manual editing of the PZ3 file you can do this it a text editor.

NOTE --- Always do this on a copy of the file. (Just in case you make a mistake.)

Open file with text editor of you choice. (It needs to have a search feature. I use textedit on my mac.)

Search for, - addActor - It will find the list (of all items in that PZ3 file) that Poser uses for the drop down menus.

Cut and paste the relevant items in this part of the file into the order that you want. Save file and test, then rename back to the original and overwrite old file.

(Caveat - In this file the 'name' used is the 'internal' poser name, not the 'display' name. But for props this is usually the same.)

Editing like this always carries a risk. Just make sure you always do it on a copy of the file, so that you can always revert back to the original.

 

This is a great tip that I will most certainly use in the future.  Thank you!  Unfortunately, it doesn't help me in this particular case because the prop I want to move up on the list is a magnet, and that "addActor" list doesn't include magnets (or, apparently, props that are parented to Figures).  *sigh*  Thanks, though.

Sure, I had to read more carefully.

How much props are you have in one scene?

blackbonner posted at 3:58 PM Sat, 1 January 2022 - #4432732

Sure, I had to read more carefully.

How much props are you have in one scene?

Too many, I guess. 😁  If I'm working on a scene that takes place in a fully realized room, with furniture, decor, etc., I can easily have 150-200 props.  Scrolling down that list to select prop #174 (which, of course, stubbornly refuses to be selected in the preview window), or an invisible prop (like a magnet), gets old fast.  For 20+ years, number one on my wish list for Poser improvements has been a "normal" explorer/finder system, with multiple columns and slider bars, like every other app in the world.  Ah well.  I'll just keep hopin' and scrollin'.  Thanks for trying to help.

Personally, I don't have a ton of props that are in motion. But if you load a complex scene and want to replace every single item's firefly shaders with superfly shaders, it can be pretty annoying to work through that list.

The better solution here is probably using the hierarchy editor instead of the pull-down lists.

Depending on the hierarchy of items of your scene, even searching in the Hierarchy window can be a nightmare.
If that helps you, here a little script I've written. It always starts the search by the Universe. Give it the name you're looking for, not case sensitive. 
Tested on P11 and P12

---

import poser

def find_obj(obj_src, obj_name):
    if not obj_src:
        return None
    if obj_name.lower() in obj_src.Name().lower():
        return obj_src
    for child in obj_src.Children() or []:
        if obj_name.lower() in child.Name().lower():
            return child
    for child in obj_src.Children() or []:
        check = find_obj(child, obj_name)
        if check:
            return check

    return None

scene = poser.Scene()
try: universe = scene.Actors()[0]
except: universe = None
if universe:
    dlg = poser.DialogTextEntry(False, "Find what?")
    if dlg.Show():
        what = dlg.Text()
       
        res = find_obj(universe, what)
        if not res:
            poser.DialogSimple.MessageBox("'%s' not found" % what)
        else:
            scene.SelectActor(res)

---