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See also how to cook the network.
TOP nodes ¶
Work item dots ¶
The distinguishing feature of TOPs nodes is the grid of dots representing the work items in each node. If a node hasn’t generated work items yet, it won’t show any dots. You can pre-generate the “static” work items (those items known ahead of time) using Tasks ▸ Generate Static Work Items. Dynamic work items appears as the network runs (see cooking the network).
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Show information about an individual work item |
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Hide the dots on one node |
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Hide the dots on all nodes |
In the menus at the top of the Network Editor, turn off Tasks ▸ Show Task Graph. This may be necessary if networks have huge numbers of visible work items. See also the controls in the display options for limiting the number of dots shown on each node. |
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Limit the number of dots shown on nodes |
See the display options. |
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Show a table of all work item data |
Click the table icon in the bottom-right corner of a TOP node to open the task graph table. |
The color of the dots normally indicates the individual work item’s status (you can switch to show relative speed as color instead, see visualizing performance).
Dot |
Color |
Status |
Description |
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Bright green |
In progress (cooking) |
The work item is currently running. |
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Medium green |
Done (cooked) |
The work item finished without any warning or error. |
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Dark blue-grey |
Waiting |
The work item has started but is waiting (to be scheduled or for upstream work to finish). |
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Grey |
Uncooked/Not cooking |
The work item has been generated but hasn’t run yet. |
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Orange |
Warning |
The work item generated a warning. |
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Red |
Failed |
The work item encountered an error (or the executable returned a non-zero status code). |
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Brown |
Canceled |
The user canceled the cook while the task item was running. |
Work item pages and batches ¶
When a TOP node’s work item count exceeds 200, work item pages will appear on the node. Each work item page contains 200 or less work items and each node can contain a maximum of 50 work item pages.
Work item pages provide a quick and easy way to access your numerous work items directly on their nodes. However, when a node has work items numbering in the thousands, it may be easier for you to access and manage your large number of work items through the Task Graph Table.
Tip
When navigating work items on a node with the [ and ] keys, you will automatically switch between work item pages.
When batch processing is enabled for a TOP node, you can display its work item dots as batch rings by setting Task Collapse Mode to By Batch in the Task Graph Display Options.
Status icon and counts ¶
To the left of each TOP node, Houdini shows an icon indicating the overall status of the work items in the node, and a table of the number of work items with each status. When the node is cooking, a ring around the icon shows the progress of the work items. (If you hide work items with certain statuses using the display options, those items are not included in the progress.)
Icon |
Status |
Description |
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Not started |
This node is not running. |
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Waiting |
This node has started, but is waiting for its items to be scheduled or for upstream dynamic items to finish. |
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Cooking |
This node is running, the work items inside are being scheduled on the machine/render farm. |
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Done |
All work items in this node have finished running with no warnings/errors. |
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Warning |
At least one work item in this node raised a warning as it ran. |
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Error |
At least one work item in this node raised an error as it ran. |
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Blocked |
The cook for at least one work item in this scheduler node is blocked. This node is waiting for its failed work items to be resolved. 
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Work item info window ¶
The work item info window contains information about individual jobs including their attribute values.
To open the work item info window for a single job, do the following:
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-click + hold on a work item dot to open a temporary work item info pop-up window. -
⌃ Ctrl +
-click a work item dot or 
-click a work item dot and choose Work Item Info from the context-sensitive menu that appears to open a persistent work item info window.
Button |
Name |
Description |
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Keep Open |
When on, the current work item info window remains open even when you select different work items, TOP nodes, or switch contexts. |
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Show delocalized path |
When on, all directory and network paths are displayed as non-local or delocalized paths. For example, paths would begin with |
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Show No Copy attributes |
When on, displays all the hidden or no copy attributes for the current work item. |
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Show attribute filter |
When on, displays the attribute filter. You can use the attribute filter to specify which attributes appear in the work item info window. Only the attributes whose names match the text in the Filter field will appear in the window. You can also access the attribute filter with the ⌃ Ctrl + f hotkey. Pattern |
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Reload attributes |
When on, reloads the current work item’s attributes. For example, this is useful when something has changed upstream and you want to see the latest information for the current work item. |
Tasks bar ¶
The tasks bar is the PDG toolbar that appears at the top of the Network Editor when viewing a TOP network.
The tasks bar lets you quickly access task-related menu items and managers, and it also displays important work item cook information like how many work items are scheduled, what their states are, how many nodes have cooked, and the cook progress bar.
UI Element |
Name |
Description |
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Tasks menu button |
Expands the Tasks menu. |
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Cancel all cooks button |
Cancels all work item cooks in the current TOP network. |
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Cook output button |
Cooks the work items for the node flagged as the Output node in the network. |
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Cook selected button |
Cooks the work items for the node that is currently selected. |
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Error count |
Displays the number of work items whose cooks failed and issued errors. |
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Warning count |
Displays the number of work items that successfully cooked but issued warnings. |
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Cooked count |
Displays the number of work items that successfully cooked with no errors or warnings. |
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Cooking count |
Displays the number of work items that are currently cooking. |
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Waiting count |
Displays the number of scheduled work items that are waiting to cook. |
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Node cook total |
Displays the total number of nodes that have cooked so far. |
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Task Graph Table button |
Opens the Task Graph Table window for the currently selected TOP node. |
Status bar ¶
When you select a work item and then navigate away from the /topnet context, the status bar replaces the tasks bar. The status bar allows you to view work item information from outside of TOPs.
UI Element |
Name |
Description |
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Active Work Item toggle |
When on, you can access the work item drop-down list. When off, you cannot change your current selection in the work item drop-down list. The list is disabled. |
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Work item drop-down list |
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Information |
Displays the work item info window for the task selected in the work item drop-down list. |
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Task Graph Table button |
Opens the Task Graph Table window for the currently selected work item dot’s TOP node. |
Tasks menu ¶
This menu appears on the TOP tasks bar.
Generate Static Work Items
Makes every node in the network generate any static work items it knows will be needed ahead of time, based on parameter values and/or incoming static items.
Generate Selected Nodes
Generates the work items for the selected TOP nodes.
Cook Output Node
Starts cooking the network to produce the final output.
Cook Selected Nodes
Cooks all the selected TOP nodes.
Dirty All
Marks all nodes in the network as needing to recook. This means the next time the network cooks, all work items will run.
Delete All Results From Disk
Deletes all result files tracked by work items in the graph.
Dirty Selected Nodes
Marks the selected nodes as needing to recook. The next time the network cooks, all work items in the node will run.
Dirty and Cook Selected Nodes
Forces all work items in the network to recook down to the selected node. This can be useful to test different parts of the network.
Dirty and Cook Output Node
Forces all work items in the network to recook down to the final output.
Delete Selected Node Results From Disk
Deletes all result files tracked by work items in the selected node.
Cancel Current Cook
Stops cooking the network and may cancel in-flight processes.
Pause Current Cook
Pauses cooking the network. Any in-flight processes will continue to run.
Terminate Remote Session
Terminate the connected remote session. This is used when viewing a 
Remote Graph.
Show Task Graph
Whether to show dots representing work items inside the nodes.
Task Graph Table
Opens the Task Graph Table window. See the Task Graph Table section below.
Task Graph Display Options
Opens a window with TOP-specific display options
Show Task Graph Performance
When on, the Network Editor colors dots according to relative speed or output size, rather than by status. See visualizing performance for more information.
Performance Stat
When Show task graph performance is on, this controls whether to color work items by relative cook time or output size.
PDG Services
Opens the PDG Services window.
PDG Path Map
Opens the PDG Path Map.
Task Graph Table ¶
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To show the Task Graph Table, click the table icon in the bottom-right corner of a TOP node or select Task Graph Table from the Tasks menu in the Network Editor.
The Task Graph Table shows the metadata of all work items in the graph, or all work items in a particular node.
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Use the Task Graph Table - Nodes options window and pin toggle to choose which work items appear in the Task Graph Table.
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Use the Task Graph Table - Columns options window to choose which attribute or property columns appear in the Task Graph Table.
Task Graph Table - Nodes ¶
Opens the Task Graph Table - Nodes options window.
The Task Graph Table - Nodes options window lets you specify which nodes' work items currently appears in the Task Graph Table.
Show selected nodes
When on, the Task Graph Table is context-aware and only displays the work items of the nodes currently selected in the Network Editor.
Show custom list of nodes
When on, the Task Graph Table only displays the work items of the nodes currently selected in the Custom node list. The nodes that appears in the Custom node list change from topnet to topnet.
List nodes containing
Filters the list of TOP nodes that appears in the Task Graph Table - Nodes options window by path. This is useful when you only want to list nodes from a certain path, an individual subnet, or nodes with specific words in their names.
This filter field only accepts text string inputs. It does not accept operators or wildcards as inputs.
Select All
Selects all the nodes listed in the Custom node list.
Select None
Deselects all the nodes listed in the Custom node list.
Task Graph Table - Columns ¶
Opens the Task Graph Table - Columns options window.
The Task Graph Table - Columns options window lets you specify what work item information currently appears as columns in the Task Graph Table.
Show attributes containing
Filters the list of column options by attribute or property name. This is useful when you only want to list column options that contain specific text.
This filter field only accepts text string inputs. It does not accept operators or wildcards as inputs.
List all attributes
When on, all work item attributes and properties are listed as column options in the Filter Attribute List.
Show only work item properties
When on, only work item properties are listed as column options in the Filter Attribute List.
Show only work item attributes
When on, only work item attributes are listed as column options in the Filter Attribute List.
Select All
Selects all the attributes and/or properties listed in the Filter Attribute List.
Select None
Deselects all the attributes and/or properties listed in the Filter Attribute List.
Remote ¶
Opens the Remote PDG Instance Options window.
The Remote PDG Instance Options window lets you connect the Task Graph Table to a remote instance of PDG.
Pin ¶
You can pin and unpin the current contents of the Task Graph Table by clicking the pin icon at the top of the Task Graph Table window.
When the Task Graph Table pin is active, only the work items for the TOP nodes that were selected when you activated the pin are displayed in the Task Graph Table. If you navigate away from those nodes, like by selecting other nodes in the Network Editor or by switching contexts (for example, switching from task-level to object-level), the Task Graph Table will continue to display only the work items that belong to the pinned TOP nodes.
Also, if the pinned TOP nodes change in any way, then all the information for their work items is automatically updated in the Task Graph Table.
Task Graph Display Options ¶
You can open the Task Graph Display Options window through the Tasks menu in the Network Editor or the Network View Display Options window (hotkey: D key).
Show Tasks
Turns off the display of dynamic work items with certain states.
Note
These controls do not affect static work items.
Cooked
Show cooked work items in the nodes.
Cooking
Show work items that are cooking.
Dirty
Show work items that have changed since their last cook.
Canceled
Show work items that have been canceled.
Failed
Show work items that have failed to cook.
Sort By
Automatic
If the network is visualizing performance, sort by performance, otherwise sort by index. This is the default.
State
Sort by the work item state, for example “cooking”, “cooked”, “failed”, and so on.
ID
Sort by each work item’s unique ID.
Index
Sort by the index attribute. This tends to keep child items in line with their parents.
None
Work items appear in no particular order.
Reverse Sort Direction
Reverses the sort direction, when sorting by one of the sort criteria specified using the Sort By menu.
Task Collapse Mode
Off
Do not auto-collapse nodes. This is the default and the recommended setting.
By Batch
If batching is enabled on a node, then all the work items on that node appear as batch rings instead of work item dots.
By Attribute
Work items possessing the attribute specified by Work Item Attribute to Collapse By groups by the value of that attribute and the groups appear as batch rings.
Work Item Attribute to Collapse By
Specifies which attribute to collapse work items by when Task Collapse Mode is set to By Attribute.
Isolate Highlight Tasks
When you select a work item, this hides all work items that aren’t ancestors or descendants of the selected item.
Max Dependency Depth
The maximum dependency depth that should be displayed when selecting a work item. The default value of 0 indicates that dependencies should be drawn from the selected work item all the way to the top and bottom of the node graph. Positive values will limit the number of lines displayed. For example, a value of 1 will result in no dependencies appearing in the TOP network, aside from the active selection. A value of 2 will draw one level of dependency lines and work item highlights beyond the current selection in both directions.
Max Number of Rows
The maximum number of rows of dots to show inside nodes. When extra rows are hidden, the visible rows will end with a “fade out” effect to show that more work items exist but are not shown.
Tasks Per Row
How many dots to show on each row inside nodes. The default is 10. Decreasing this number makes the dots bigger, increasing it makes the dots smaller.
Use Work Item Color Attribute
When on, you can use an attribute as your work item dot color instead of the work items' current states. This allows you customize the color of the work item dots on your nodes.
For example, if you have custom states for your work items, then you could write some custom python code to map the color attribute you specify with those states. You could also use an 
Attribute Create TOP node to create a custom color attribute and then map the color attribute to certain work items by placing the node in a specific location in your TOP network.
To specify which attribute to use, type the name of the attribute in the Work Item Color Attribute field.
Work Item Color Attribute
Specifies which attribute to use for your custom work item dot color.
This field only accepts a single attribute name as input.
