Property Editor

Property Editor defines values for checkboxes, number fields, text fields, and choices. A setting created here is called a PME Property. Use it to share menu state or calculate and display values from existing data.

One Property menu defines one property. Create separate Property menus for separate values. Enum items and Getter / Setter fields all configure that same property.

Goal	Feature
Define your own Boolean, number, string, or choices	Property Editor, on this page
Display an existing Blender setting in a menu	Property slot
Combine several settings or conditions in one switch	Property Stack
Change displayed or executed content by mode or other conditions	Context Router

This page describes PME 2.1. For configurations from 2.0 or earlier, also see Property ID and migration.

Configuration guide — define values and widgets (for AI)

Name: Property / PME Property / Type ID: PROPERTY. One menu defines one property of type Boolean / Int / Float / String / Enum.

• Stored values: set the type and Default Value, then range, display, and storage if needed. Simple value storage does not require Getter / Setter.

• Access to existing data: Getter / Setter can read and write existing values. Keep the type, returned value, and missing-target behavior consistent.

• Placement: reference the PME Property from another menu’s Menu tab, or use the path copied from Preview in a Property slot or script. Do not infer the path from the display name.

• Choosing a feature: use a Property slot to display an existing RNA path, or Property Stack to combine conditions and switch several settings together.

• Constraints: no standalone Hotkey. Distinguish Default Value from the current value, and the display name from Property ID. Lock the ID to preserve existing script references.

See property types, Property ID for references, and Getter / Setter for code.

Interface and editing workflow

1Name and basic controlsCheck the enabled state and name, and open advanced settings. 2Advanced settingsSet the storage location, Getter / Setter code, and Property Size. 3Types and valuesChoose the type, initial value, range, and display. This example uses Float. 4Preview / Property IDCheck the current value and copy the reference path for scripts.

pp_mean_edge_bevel_weight example in a Blender 5.2 / PME 2.1 development environment.

1. Name and basic controls

2. Advanced settings

3. Type and value settings

4. Preview / Property ID

Choose a type and initial value; configure storage or Getter / Setter if needed. Finally, check the actual value and reference path in Preview.

Name and basic controls

Name and basic controls in this example.

Shared controls include enabled state, menu selection, name, tags, and advanced settings. See selected menu settings. The display name is separate from Property ID.

Create and use a property

1. Add Property from ＋ in PME’s menu list.

2. Choose a display name and type, then set Default Value. Getter / Setter are unnecessary for simple value storage.

3. Edit the current value in Preview. Default Value is the initial value; Preview accesses the actual value.

4. Copy the reference path with Preview’s copy button. Lock the Property ID before using it in scripts to retain the same ID after renaming.

5. Use the copied path in another menu’s Property slot or similar destination.

For example, a Boolean named My Toggle with default storage may have the path props().my_toggle. Duplicates and other circumstances can change the actual ID, so use Preview’s path rather than guessing from the display name.

Advanced settings

Advanced settings in this example.

Configure storage, Restore Default Value, Getter / Setter / On Update / On Init, Property Size, and related settings. Available settings vary by type. See the detailed sections below for storage and execution behavior.

Property types

Type and value settings in this example.

Type	Example values	Main settings
Boolean	False / True	Default Value
Int	0, 12	Default Value, Min Value, Max Value, Step, Subtype
Float	0.0, 0.25	Int settings plus Precision and Unit
String	"", "render"	Default Value, Subtype
Enum	Identifiers of defined items	Items, Default Value, Multi-Select, Expand, Horizontal Layout

Numbers and vectors

For Boolean / Int / Float, set Property Size in advanced settings to 1–32. Size 1 is a scalar; larger sizes are vectors with that many components. A Float with Size 3, for example, has three components. String / Enum do not offer this setting.

• Min Value / Max Value define the lower and upper bounds.

• Step controls numeric input adjustment. For Float, it does not specify the number of decimal places displayed.

• Precision sets Float display precision from 0–6.

• Subtype / Unit select display and units appropriate to the value’s meaning. Choices vary by type.

For colors or directions, combine Float component count with Subtype. Increasing the component count alone does not define the value’s meaning. After changing type or Property Size, also check Default Value and the shape of values used in scripts.

Enum identifiers and display labels

Add choices with Add Slot under Items. An item name can use identifier|display label.

Item name input	Value used in scripts	Display
LOW	"LOW"	LOW
HIGH|High Quality	"HIGH"	High Quality

Without |, the same string is used as identifier and label. Use short, unique identifiers without spaces, such as LOW / HIGH. Do not assign display labels as values in scripts.

With Multi-Select off, the value is one identifier; with it on, a set of identifiers. Selecting both items above gives {"LOW", "HIGH"}. Expand exposes the choices as individual controls; Horizontal Layout changes their arrangement.

Property ID and migration

Preview / Property ID in this example.

The display name is shown to users; Property ID is used by Python. PME 2.1 distinguishes these for both PME Property and Property Stack.

Valid IDs

Constraint	Details
Length	1–63 characters. Only ASCII is allowed, so character and byte counts are equal
First character	ASCII letter A–Z / a–z
Later characters	ASCII letters, digits, or underscore _
Reserved names	Python keywords such as class, plus keys / values / items / get
Invalid examples	1_toggle, _toggle, my-toggle, My Toggle, é_toggle
Valid examples	my_toggle, quality2, MyToggle

These are Property ID restrictions, separate from display-name or String-value rules. Display names can contain spaces and non-ASCII characters. An automatically generated ID is not necessarily a transliteration of that name.

Edit and Lock in Preview

Use Preview’s pencil button to open Edit Property ID and edit the ID and Lock state. Normally the ID follows display-name changes. Lock an ID before using it in scripts or copied paths to avoid later reference changes when renaming.

Blender 5.1.0 / PME 2.1.0-beta.6. Locking My Toggle’s ID before renaming it Shared Toggle keeps the reference path props().my_toggle. Preview is on while Default Value is off.

Lock prevents automatic ID changes; it does not prevent editing the value or display name. If you edit the ID itself, review copied paths and scripts. PME does not rewrite strings inside arbitrary Python code.

Configurations from 2.0 or earlier

During migration, an old name that is valid as an ID is automatically locked to preserve references. If spaces or other characters require a new ID, update scripts to the current path shown in Preview.

Older props("display name") examples may retain read compatibility in some cases, but cannot write by display name. New code should use the current Property ID for both reading and writing.

Value storage

Click Store in Addon Preferences in advanced settings to choose a storage type.

Storage	Value owner	Use
Store in Addon Preferences	Shared PME storage	Share a setting across menus
Store in Scene Instances	Each Scene	Keep separate values per Scene
Store in Object Instances	Each Object	Keep separate values per Object
Other types	Each data instance of the selected type	Choose an appropriate owner, such as Material or Mesh

Save Blender Preferences for Addon Preferences values, or the .blend containing Scene / Object data for values owned by that data. A JSON export of menu definitions is not a backup of every Scene / Object’s current values.

With Object or similar storage, Preview’s path may point to a specific data item. Using that path edits that item. To operate on the active Object, check its existence and design target selection accordingly. Changing storage does not necessarily transfer existing values to the new owner; check values afterward.

Restore Default Value

Available only for Addon Preferences storage. When enabled, PME initialization discards the saved value and starts from Default Value. When disabled, it uses the saved value. It does not reset the value every time you use Preview.

If Preview cannot show a value

Display	Check
Property is disabled	Enable the Property in the menu list
Property ID could not be registered	Check ID restrictions and duplicates, type, and callback settings
Registered - preview path unavailable	Check whether data for the selected storage exists. Registration can succeed without a suitable Preview target
Property ID is not registered	Check enabled state and whether the Property ID registered successfully

An ID shown in these states is not necessarily a usable reference path.

Use from menus or scripts

The examples below assume an existing Boolean with Addon Preferences storage and Property ID my_toggle.

Reference path for a Property slot:

props().my_toggle

Turn the value on in a Command slot:

props().my_toggle = True

Display a checkbox in a Custom slot:

L.prop(props(), "my_toggle", text="Shared Toggle")

props() is a helper in PME’s script environment. Pasting it into Blender’s Python Console does not ensure that the same name is available.

Syntax	Meaning
props()	Gets the Addon Preferences value storage
props().my_toggle	Reads the value with ID my_toggle
props().my_toggle = True	Writes the value with ID my_toggle
props("my_toggle")	Reads by ID string; returns None if not found
props("my_toggle", True)	Writes by ID string; returns True when accepted, or False for cases such as an unregistered target

props() does not automatically locate Object / Scene values, nor does passing an unknown ID define a new property.

When the second argument, value, is None, the operation reads rather than writes. Assignments of the wrong type can raise exceptions. A True write result alone does not prove that a custom Setter saved the intended value. Check the resulting value at its actual storage location.

Getter / Setter / On Update / On Init

Add callbacks in advanced settings only when reading or writing needs custom behavior. Callbacks also change how the value is stored.

Configuration	Use
No Getter / Setter	PME stores an ordinary value. Start here for a simple custom setting
Getter only	Computes a value from other data; the property is read-only
Getter and Setter	Defines custom read and write behavior
Setter only	Not allowed; add a Getter first

Getter cannot be removed while Setter exists. Remove Setter first to return to standard storage behavior.

Calls and variables

Callback	Called when	Specific variables / return
Getter	Reading the value, including UI redraw	self is the value owner; use return to return the value
Setter	Writing the value	self is the owner; value is the incoming value. No return value is needed
On Update	Additional processing after a value update	self is the owner. Read needed values from it rather than assuming Setter’s value is available
On Init	Property initialization	No self / value. Runs after successful registration when the property is enabled

In these callbacks, menu is the Property ID and pm_name is the current display name. Do not treat menu as the display name.

Example: store a Boolean yourself

This minimal example reads and writes a Boolean using data on the same owner, without changing storage. For ordinary Boolean storage, leaving callbacks unset is simpler.

Getter:

return self.get(menu, False)

Setter:

self[menu] = value

self is PME storage for Addon Preferences, or the relevant Object for Object storage. The pair above reads and writes the same key on the same owner.

With Addon Preferences storage, reading props(menu) inside Getter or calling props(menu, value) inside Setter invokes the same property again. Operate on stored data or another explicit target instead of recursively accessing the property itself. With Object / Scene storage, props() does not read or write that owner’s value either.

Return values and execution requirements

Getter must return a value matching the configured type and component count.

Type	Getter return value
Boolean / Int / Float / String	A value compatible with bool / int / float / str
Vector	A sequence of Property Size components, each matching the type
Enum	A defined identifier or its corresponding integer value
Multi-Select Enum	A set of defined identifiers or the corresponding bit value

None and unknown Enum identifiers are invalid. Getter exceptions, invalid results, or recursive reads may cause PME to return a fallback such as the default value. A displayed value alone does not prove Getter succeeded.

Getter runs repeatedly on redraw. Keep it read-only rather than creating objects, switching modes, or writing files. If it requires an Object selection or specific editor, define a fallback result. On Init does not run as a menu interaction, so do not assume an originating area exists.

Callback fields are single-line inputs. Keep logic short rather than forcing long branches or large scripts onto one line. Distinguish the return required by Getter from ordinary Command code.

Verify behavior

• Standard storage: change Preview and check that referencing menus show the same value.

• Stable ID: after Lock, rename the property and check that the copied path still reads the same value.

• Per-owner values: create two Objects or Scenes and check that changing one does not unintentionally affect the other.

• Custom callbacks: test normal operation, missing targets, and different modes. Verify Setter results at the storage location.

• Save and restart: save Preferences or the .blend, then check that values after restart agree with Restore Default Value.

When asking AI to help, specify the type, storage, Property ID, code destination, and behavior outside the intended context.

Related pages

• Common Editor Elements

• Property slot

• Reference Index

Reference videos (original author’s channel)

From roaoao’s videos. These show an older interface and workflow.

Property Editor for Blender

Property Editor for Blender — Open on YouTube