Delete unknown nodes in Python

[Anonymous]

Is there a way to delete unknown noeds from within Maya using Pyhton

#Something like...

for item in unknownNodes:
  if node.exists:
    delete node

print unknownNodes # []

[haggi_master]

import maya.cmds as cmds
cmds.delete(cmds.ls(type="unknown"))

[rajasekaransurjen · Accepted solution]

import maya.cmds as cmds
unknownNodes=cmds.ls(type = "unknown")
for item in unknownNodes:
    if cmds.objExists(item):
        print item
        cmds.delete(item)

[ijdallas]

Thanks, rajasekaransurjen, your code handles ALMOST all the unknown nodes.

It looks like there's another type, "unknownDag" that Maya also uses (eg for Mental Ray nodes if the plugin isn't loaded). I updated your code to include that type, and to unlock nodes before deleting them since Maya will refuse to delete any locked nodes:

import maya.cmds as cmds
unknownNodes=cmds.ls(type = "unknown")
unknownNodes+=cmds.ls(type = "unknownDag")
for item in unknownNodes:
    if cmds.objExists(item):
        print item
        cmds.lockNode(item, lock=False)
        cmds.delete(item)

A recent Autodesk post also discusses a few more ways to remove unknown nodes, for example by using the Optimize Scene Size command: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Unable-to...