What is "Path" supposed to be in the "Perspective" view?

[darkvertex]

I instinctively thought that "Path" in the Perspective view represented the path to the relevant plugin, but actually it just points to the plugin.py from the pyblish_base code, for all of my plugins:

Is that right or is it a little bug?

[tokejepsen]

The path is supposed to point to the originating python file.

How are you registering your plugins?

[darkvertex]

I have this method as part of a larger class where I can define class variables PYBLISH_MODULES (importable Python modules with Plugins within) and PYBLISH_PLUGIN_CLASSES (list of class objects in the same file):

    def registerPlugins(self):
        """Register given Pyblish plugins."""
        pyblish.api.deregister_all_plugins()
        pyblish.api.deregister_all_paths()

        def isPyblishPlugin(obj):
            return inspect.isclass(obj) and issubclass(obj, pyblish.api.Plugin)

        for klass in self.PYBLISH_PLUGIN_CLASSES:
            if issubclass(klass, pyblish.api.Plugin):
                pyblish.api.register_plugin(klass)

        for module in self.PYBLISH_PLUGIN_MODULES:
            for _, klass in inspect.getmembers(module, isPyblishPlugin):
                pyblish.api.register_plugin(klass)

The reason I don't register paths instead of dealing with individual plugins is I couldn't find an easy way to reload() them. It made developing plugins painful if I had to restart Maya every time, but since I use register_plugin() when I source an external one, all I have to do is reload() my modules and refresh the UI and it's fine.

Perhaps there is a bug in how plugins registered with register_plugin() "discover" where they come from?

[tokejepsen]

Have you tried using PYBLISHPLUGINPATH environment variable?

Pyblish will reload all plugins from the paths registered in thath environment variable.

[darkvertex]

Pyblish will reload all plugins from the paths registered in thath environment variable.

When does the reload happen exactly? Each time the UI opens?

[tokejepsen]

When does the reload happen exactly?

It reinitialized the plugins when you hit "Reset". It does this before collection.

[darkvertex]

Cool! It definitely wasn't doing it for me last I tried registering plugins via register_plugin_path(), but I will try to see if the env var behaves differently.

[mottosso]

Two issues here.

1. It looks like "Path" doesn't work when a plug-in has been registered, as opposed to discovered from a path. This is a bug.
2. Plug-ins discovered from a path are always reloaded whenever they are used. In fact, every time you hit Publish in the GUI (this applies to all GUIs and standalone) the plug-in is re-read anew. See here and you can see how the text is written as-is, bypassing Python's native module caching.

What you've experienced with it not reloading sounds like it could be a bug, would you be able to provide a small reproducible? How did you notice they weren't reloading? The pain you describe of having to restart Maya is exactly the reason for having them automatically reload each time.