TechDraw API

Other languages:

(November 2018) This information may be incomplete and outdated. For the latest API, see the autogenerated API documentation.

These functions are part of the TechDraw Workbench and can be used in macros and from the Python console once the TechDraw module has been imported.

Good examples of basic TechDraw scripting can be found in the unit test scripts.

See the TechDrawGui API for more functions.

Example:

import FreeCAD
import TechDraw

page = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject('TechDraw::DrawPage', 'Page')
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject('TechDraw::DrawSVGTemplate', 'Template')
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.Template.Template = templateFileSpec
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.Page.Template = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.Template
page.ViewObject.show()
view = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject('TechDraw::DrawViewPart', 'View')
rc = page.addView(view)

EdgeWalker(listOfEdges, [bool])

Description: Creates wires from edges in input by planar graph traversal. Optionally exclude the OuterWire by setting optional parameter to false.

Returns: List of wires sorted by size (descending)

findOuterWire(listOfEdges)

Description: Finds the OuterWire (largest) of a list of edges (that form a planar graph).

Returns: Outer wire

findShapeOutline(TopoShape, scale, direction)

Description: Project shape in direction and find outer wire of result.

Returns: Outline wire

viewPartAsDxf(DrawViewPart)

Description: Return the edges of a DrawViewPart in Dxf format.

Returns: String

Example:

fileSpecDxf = "fcOut.dxf"
v = App.ActiveDocument.View
s = TechDraw.viewPartAsDxf(v)
dxfEnd = "0\nEOF\n"
dxfFile = open(fileSpecDxf, "w")
dxfFile.write(s)
dxfFile.write(dxfEnd)
dxfFile.close()

viewPartAsSvg(DrawViewPart)

Description: Return the edges of a DrawViewPart in Svg format.

Returns: String

Example:

fileSpecSvg = "fcOut.svg"
v = App.ActiveDocument.View
s = TechDraw.viewPartAsSvg(v)
head = '<svg\n' + \
       '	xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" \n' + \
       '	xmlns:freecad="http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Svg_Namespace">\n'
tail = '\n</svg>'
svgFile = open(fileSpecSvg, "w")
svgFile.write(head)
svgFile.write(s)
svgFile.write(tail)
svgFile.close()

writeDXFView(DrawViewPart, FileName)

Description: Save the DrawViewPart in Dxf.

Returns: File

Example:

import TechDraw
TechDraw.writeDXFView(myPart,myFileName)

writeDXFPage(DrawPage, FileName)

Description: Save the DrawPage in Dxf.

Returns: File

Example:

import TechDraw
TechDraw.writeDXFPage(myPage,myFileName)

DrawViewPart Cosmetics

CosmeticVertex (CV) routines accessible from Python

dvp = App.ActiveDocument.View #CV's belong to views.

Add a CosmeticVertex at p1 (View coordinates). Returns unique tag.
tag = dvp.makeCosmeticVertex(vector p1)

Add a CosmeticVertex at p1 (3d model coordinates). Returns unique tag.
tag = dvp.makeCosmeticVertex3d(vector p1)

Returns CosmeticVertex with unique id.
cv = dvp.getCosmeticVertex(string id)

Returns CosmeticVertex with name (Vertex6). Used in selections.
cv = dvp.getCosmeticVertexBySelection(string name)

Removes CosmeticVertex from View. Returns None.
dvp.removeCosmeticVertex(object cv)

Removes all CosmeticVertices from the View. Returns None.
dvp.clearCosmeticVertices()

CosmeticView attributes
Tag: unique identifier. String.
Point: location within view. Vector.

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

# Py CosmeticVertex demo
import FreeCAD
import TechDraw

v = App.ActiveDocument.View
p = App.Vector(-3.0, -3.0, 0.0)

#make CV
tag = v.makeCosmeticVertex(p)
print("t: {}".format(tag))

#retrieve CV
cv = v.getCosmeticVertex(tag)
print("cv: {}".format(cv))
print("Tag: {}".format(cv.Tag))


cv2 = v.getCosmeticVertexBySelection("Vertex4")
print("New Point: {}".format(cv2.Point))

#make CV from 3d
p3d = App.Vector(2.0, 2.0, 2.0)
print("3d point in: {}".format(p3d))
tag3d = v.makeCosmeticVertex3d(p3d)
cv3 = v.getCosmeticVertex(tag3d)
print("3d point out: {}".format(cv3.Point))

CosmeticEdge (CE) routines accessible from Python

dvp = App.ActiveDocument.View #CE's belong to views.

Make a CosmeticEdge from p1 to p2(View coordinates). Returns unique tag.
tag = dvp.makeCosmeticLine(p1, p2)

Make a CosmeticEdge at center with radius radius(View coordinates). Returns unique tag.
tag = dvp.makeCosmeticCircle(center, radius)

Make a CosmeticEdge at center with radius radius(View coordinates) from start angle to end angle. Returns unique tag.
tag = dvp.makeCosmeticCircleArc(center, radius, start, end)

Returns CosmeticEdge with unique id.
ce = dvp.getCosmeticEdge(id)

Returns CosmeticEdge by name (Edge25). Used in selections.
ce = dvp.getCosmeticEdgeBySelection(name)

Removes CosmeticEdge ce from View. Returns None.
dvp.removeCosmeticEdge(ce)

Removes all CosmeticLines from the View. Returns None.
dvp.clearCosmeticEdges()

CosmeticEdge attributes
Tag: unique identifier. String.
Format: appearance attributes (style, color, weight, visible). Tuple.

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

# Py CosmeticEdge demo
import FreeCAD
import TechDraw

#points
org = App.Vector(0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
midTop = FreeCAD.Vector (1.0, 5.0, 0.0)   # middle, top
midBot = FreeCAD.Vector(2.0, -5.0, 0.0)      # middle, bottom
stdZ = FreeCAD.Vector(0.0, 0.0, 1.0)
center = FreeCAD.Vector(0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
arcCenter = FreeCAD.Vector(3.0, 3.0, 0.0)
vPt = FreeCAD.Vector(-3.0, 3.0, 0.0)
topRight = FreeCAD.Vector(5.0, 5.0, 0.0)
bottomLeft = FreeCAD.Vector(-5.0, -5.0, 0.0)

#angles
arcStart = -45
arcEnd = 45

#styles
solid = 1 
dashed = 2
dotted = 3
#weights
weight15 = 0.15
weight75 = 0.75
#colors
pyRed = (1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
pyBlue = (0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
pyGreen = (0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0)
pyBlack = (0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
shadow = (0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.0)

radius = 5.0
style = dashed
weight = weight75

dvp = App.ActiveDocument.View

print(dvp)

print("making line")
tag = dvp.makeCosmeticLine(midTop,midBot,style, weight, pyBlue)
ce = dvp.getCosmeticEdge(tag)
print("line tag: {}".format(tag))

print("making diagonal")
dvp.makeCosmeticLine(bottomLeft,topRight,solid, weight, pyGreen)

print("making circle")
tag2 = dvp.makeCosmeticCircle(center, radius, style, weight, pyRed)
ce2 = dvp.getCosmeticEdge(tag2)

print("making circleArc")
dvp.makeCosmeticCircleArc(arcCenter, radius, arcStart, arcEnd, style, weight, shadow)

#replace
print("making new format")
oldFormat = ce.Format
newFormat = (dotted,oldFormat[1], pyRed, True)
ce.Format = newFormat

print("removing CE with tag: {}".format(tag2))
dvp.removeCosmeticEdge(tag2)

print("finished")

CenterLine (CL) routines accessible from Python

Makes a new CenterLine
tag = dvp.makeCenterLine(subObjs, mode)

Retrieves CenterLine with unique tag.
cl = dvp.getCenterLine(tag)

Retrieves CenterLine by subobject name. Used in selection.
cl = dvp.getCenterLine("Edge5")

Removes CenterLine cl from View. Returns None.
dvp.removeCenterLine(cl)

CenterLine Attributes
Tag: unique identifier. String. ReadOnly.
Type: 0 - face, 1 - 2 line, 2 - 2 point. Integer. ReadOnly.
Mode: 0 - vert, 1 - horiz, 2 - aligned. Integer.
Format: appearance attributes (style, color, weight, visible). Tuple.
HorizShift: left/right offset. Float.
VertShift: up/down offset. Float.
Rotation: rotation in degrees. Float.
Extension: additional length to be added. Float.
Flip: reverse the order of points for 2 point CenterLine. Boolean.
Edges: names of source edges. List of string.
Faces: names of source faces. List of string.
Points: names of source points (Vertices). List of string.

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

# Py CenterLine demo
import FreeCAD
import Part
import TechDraw

start = FreeCAD.Vector (1.0, 5.0, 0.0)   # middle, top
end = FreeCAD.Vector(1.0, -5.0, 0.0)      # middle, bottom
faceNames = ["Face0"]
edgeNames = ["Edge2", "Edge3"]
vertNames = ["Vertex1", "Vertex2"]
vMode = 0   #vertical
hMode = 1   #horizontal
aMode = 2   #aligned
#styles
solid = 1 
dashed = 2
dotted = 3
#weights
weight15 = 0.15
weight75 = 0.75
#colors
pyRed = (1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
pyBlue = (0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
pyBlack = (0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
#adjustments
hShift = 1.0
vShift = 1.0
extend = 4.0
rotate = 30.0
flip = False;

dvp = App.ActiveDocument.View

print("making face CenterLine")
tag = dvp.makeCenterLine(faceNames,vMode)
cline = dvp.getCenterLine(tag)
print("cline tag: {}".format(tag))

#replace
print("making new format")
oldFormat = cline.Format
newFormat = (dotted,oldFormat[1], pyRed, True)
cline.Format = newFormat
cline.Extension = 10.0

print("making edgeCenterLine")
cline2 = dvp.makeCenterLine(edgeNames,hMode)

print("making vertexCenterLine")
cline3 = dvp.makeCenterLine(vertNames,aMode)

print("finished")