Expression Console

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
September 28, 2022
16 replies
642 views

Is there any way we can get a Chrome-like console for expressions? After a certain point, with a complex expression it becomes really hard to test for bugs as you have to basically run the same code on a text layer or some other property and rewrite the code just to get some sort of output for variables. Being able to have a console would be excellent (especially to inspect objects), but a great stopgap would be the ability to post a value to the info palette, like we can with scripting.

Expressions were already important, and with Master Properties they've become even more important. The whole system could use an overhaul—speed, global variables/functions, everything. Thanks!

UI and UX

T

tinkthank av berlin

Inspiring

Hey AE Community,

i have been recently coming back to using expressions in AE, i have never been a programmer but i used a fair amount of Actionscript back in the Flash days, Javascript in web development etc.

I must say i pretty surprised by the level of implementation of Expressions in After Effects. Although it has been present for several years, its missing essential debugging tools:

there is no proper error console
there is no property inspector like web browsers have for JS, for example to find reference paths to objects
you cannot select error messages to search for them
there is no way to undock the code editor

is there some overhaul of the scripting system coming up?

to be honest, its pretty horrible how it is now.

llealloo

Known Participant

A simple console to print to would be soooooo nice.

Seems like the easiest kind of panel to implement, too.

No need to make it run expressions, just have it kick out print command results and errors AHH that would be so nice!

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

@2571961, throw is definitely helpful, but with longer datasets it doesn't work well. For example, testing data in a path property. It'd be nice to have a console like Chrome/Webkit where you can actually see all the data hierarchically. Thanks for taking a look! I also have some issues with auto-complete completing words it shouldn't and adding too many parentheses. Not sure how to deal with that. I've turned those off. Atom is a great example of one of the few autocompletes that I find works well.

TimKurkoski

Community Manager

> Didn't they just release this in the latest version? I'm surprised this feature hasn't been flagged as "We actually did this one!"

The April 2019 release of After Effects (version 16.1) does include the new customizable expressions editor. We closed a different request for that functionality:
https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911311-after-effects/suggestions/33837631-improve-the-expressions-panel-with-basic-scripting

We consider this request to be different. The functionality that was added in After Effects 16.1 allows customizing the editor interface. This request, as I understand it, is for a console UI in which you can run expression code and evaluate it to test the output.

That said: part of the new expression editor includes in-line error messages, which can be especially helpful when combined with the JavaScript throw statement. Using throw will always produce an error, so you can force a check on a given value (ex., throw thisLayer.name will show an error containing the layer's name).

@1545203 Clay, is the above helpful towards your request? Would you change your request above based on this new functionality, or do you still want a separate console for expressions?

D

defaultpc0bb2tyxaz8

Participant

Didn't they just release this in the latest version? I'm surprised this feature hasn't been flagged as "We actually did this one!"

C

Chris Jeffries

Participating Frequently

+1 for this! Also, another vote for (the very good but interim solution) Expressionist!

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

I use Expressionist. It doesn't have the ability to check the values of variables while expressions run. There's no scripting access for that so third-party scripts can't do that.

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

For now the script expressionist help me with your problem. It really help me to manage complex expressions.

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

No, I'm not talking about scripting. I'm only talking about expressions. The AE team said they were working on a new engine. Currently expressions are based on ECMAscript, and a really old engine. I'm hoping they're updating to Javascript, JS engine, and a new console.

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

Alright thank you.
For the new engine you are talking about UXP ? https://medium.com/adobetech/wrap-up-creative-developers-summit-2018-739da7d2b974