CompuServe Messages

OK, now that we've resolved the answer to my question about gfx_mtl_name(), here's a deeper question. How do I tell 3DS that I've added faces that reference a given material number? When I "put faces", those face definitions include a material number. When I "put faces", does 3DS scan what I'm sending it, and register those materials as being part of the scene? In other words, how do I make materials appear in the "get from scene" list? I'll double-check this, but when I create geometry in the 3D Editor from my PXP, I do not believe that those materials appear in the "get from scene" list, and that explains the "no materials at all" behavior I saw with my gfx_mtl_name() test program. All this points to my larger plea, as expressed in several wish lists and bug reports… I want to create geometry with material definitions, and because of the 255 material limit, it would make most sense for me to attempt to match the existing materials. Right now, I can't even read the attributes of the materials in 3DS, much less create materials with attributes.