Sorry this post is going to be a bit confusing, if nobody understands what I'm saying then I can make a video with description - just let me know.
The problem?
I was looking for a way to alleviate the tedium of wiring the output of a node to multiple nodes' inputs, and found it's possible using the action menu.
The solution
My understanding is that you need to first select the single node, then shift-select multiple other nodes. Then Ctrl-Shift-P to invoke action menu then search for "wire" and select "wire node to multiple".
Makes absolute sense.
My issue then becomes...
But then to do it in reverse (e.g. I want to wire the outputs of 30 nodes to a single debug node), I tried a few different things:
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If I single-click the single node that I want to wire TO, then shift + drag box around the multiple nodes (exactly the same, except I want to wire outputs to a single input), then select "wire multiple to node", it doesn't work. Instead it wires everything to the last item from the first selection. Is that a bug? This is the behaviour I would reasonably expect to work. Maintain the order of what you select, but use the menu item that does the opposite.
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If I switch around the order of selection, it doesn't work: to be clear, I select multiple nodes first by dragging a box around them, then hold shift and click the single node I want to wire to. This just removes the first selection. (I'm glad, because selecting in the opposite order, then using the menu item that does the opposite, would seem like a double negative!)
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Finally I realised that you have to select the first set (drag a box around, without holding shift) then CTRL-click the single node that you want wires to go TO. Then Ctrl-Shift-P then "wire multiple to node"
For me this seems really clunky - as it's not an operation you do all the time, it needs to be really obvious in order to remember how to do it (and not waste time trying different things the next time!)
Am I doing it wrong?
Maybe you can tell me there's a better way?
Feature request?
Alternatively, can I make a feature request? Instead of having TWO items in the action menu:
- wire multiple to node
- wire node to multiple
maybe there could just be one:
- wire multiple to node
and the direction could be inferred by the order of selection. So if you select a SINGLE item -> then select multiple items, it will infer that you want to connect a single item to multiple items.
Secondly, maybe it would be better if shift-selecting a single item (when you have already selected multiple items) didn't remove the original selection? Maybe there's something I don't know, but I don't understand the purpose of that. This means you don't need to remember to use CTRL in one scenario but SHIFT in another.
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