A library node is a node that is available to select from the Nodes panel that may contain predefined properties for reuse.
This topic describes how to create a new library node from scratch. You can also convert existing nodes to a library node, see Converting nodes to a library node.
- From the Create menu in the Directory, select Library Node.
- In the Create Library Node dialog, choose an existing library node to inherit from. Click the drop-down list to select a node from your current library paths, or click the folder icon to browse to any node that you have access to.
Your new library node will inherit all properties and contained nodes from the existing library node.
Depending on the node that you choose to inherit from, if it is a composite type node, you can add new nodes and make property changes, or if it is a leaf node you are limited to adding and modifying properties of the library node that you are inheriting. Some of the nodes that you can inherit from are not composed of contained nodes, but are just a single node themselves, composed only of properties. Such nodes are technically known as leaf nodes, based on a tree analogy, being a node at the end of all branches, which has no contained nodes.
- In the Summary section of the Configure panel, configure the following properties:
- Category - Type the name of an existing category or type a new category name to determine where the node will be displayed within the Nodes panel.
- Color - Select a color for the node.
- Icon - Select an icon for the node.
- Documentation - Type a description of the node. This text will be displayed as a tooltip when a user hovers over the node in the Nodes panel.
- Click the Define tab in the Properties panel. In the Input and output pin limits section, specify the minimum and maximum number of inputs and outputs for the node.
- Save your library node.
- Type a Name for the node and choose the Folder where you want to save it. Select Public Documents if you want to make the node available to all users. If you are not ready to share the library node with other users, you can move the library node from My Documents to Public Documents at any time.