OpenSCAD¶

Interface to the OpenSCAD application to apply boolean operations to MeshBuilder objects. For more information about boolean operations read the documentation of OpenSCAD. The OpenSCAD application is not bundled with ezdxf, you need to install the application yourself.

On Windows the path to the openscad.exe executable is stored in the config file (see ezdxf.options) in the “openscad-addon” section as key “win_exec_path”, the default entry is:

[openscad-addon]
win_exec_path = "C:\Program Files\OpenSCAD\openscad.exe"

On Linux and macOS the openscad command is located by the shutil.which() function.

Example:

import ezdxf
from ezdxf.render import forms
from ezdxf.addons import MengerSponge, openscad

doc = ezdxf.new()
msp = doc.modelspace()

# 1. create the meshes:
sponge = MengerSponge(level=3).mesh()
sponge.flip_normals()  # important for OpenSCAD
sphere = forms.sphere(
    count=32, stacks=16, radius=0.5, quads=True
).translate(0.25, 0.25, 1)
sphere.flip_normals()  # important for OpenSCAD

# 2. create the script:
script = openscad.boolean_operation(openscad.DIFFERENCE, sponge, sphere)

# 3. execute the script by OpenSCAD:
result = openscad.run(script)

# 4. render the MESH entity:
result.render_mesh(msp)

doc.set_modelspace_vport(6, center=(5, 0))
doc.saveas("OpenSCAD.dxf")

../_images/openscad_menger_minus_sphere.png

Functions¶

ezdxf.addons.openscad.run(script: str, exec_path: str | None = None) → MeshTransformer¶

Executes the given script by OpenSCAD and returns the result mesh as MeshTransformer.

Parameters:

script – the OpenSCAD script as string
exec_path – path to the executable as string or None to use the default installation path

ezdxf.addons.openscad.boolean_operation(op: Operation, mesh1: MeshBuilder, mesh2: MeshBuilder) → str¶

Returns an OpenSCAD script to apply the given boolean operation to the given meshes.

The supported operations are:

UNION

DIFFERENCE

INTERSECTION

ezdxf.addons.openscad.is_installed() → bool¶

Returns True if OpenSCAD is installed.

Searches on Windows the path stored in the options as “win_exec_path” in section “[openscad-addon]” which is “C:Program FilesOpenSCADopenscad.exe” by default.

Searches the “openscad” command on Linux and macOS.

Script Class¶

class ezdxf.addons.openscad.Script¶

Helper class to build OpenSCAD scripts. This is a very simple string building class and does no checks at all! If you need more advanced features to build OpenSCAD scripts look at the packages solidpython2 and openpyscad.

add(data: str) → None¶: Add a string.

add_mirror(v: UVec) → None¶

Add a mirror() operation.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Transformations#mirror

Parameters:: v – the normal vector of a plane intersecting the origin through which to mirror the object

add_multmatrix(m: Matrix44) → None¶

Add a transformation matrix of type Matrix44 as multmatrix() operation.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Transformations#multmatrix

add_polyhedron(mesh: MeshBuilder) → None¶

Add mesh as polyhedron() command.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Primitive_Solids#polyhedron

add_polygon(path: Iterable[UVec], holes: Sequence[Iterable[UVec]] | None = None) → None¶

Add a polygon() command. This is a 2D command, all z-axis values of the input vertices are ignored and all paths and holes are closed automatically.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Using_the_2D_Subsystem#polygon

Parameters:

path – exterior path
holes – a sequence of one or more holes as vertices, or None for no holes

add_resize(nx: float, ny: float, nz: float, auto: bool | tuple[bool, bool, bool] | None = None) → None¶

Add a resize() operation.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Transformations#resize

Parameters:

nx – new size in x-axis
ny – new size in y-axis
nz – new size in z-axis
auto – If the auto argument is set to True, the operation auto-scales any 0-dimensions to match. Set the auto argument as a 3-tuple of bool values to auto-scale individual axis.

add_rotate(ax: float, ay: float, az: float) → None¶

Add a rotation() operation.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Transformations#rotate

Parameters:

ax – rotation about the x-axis in degrees
ay – rotation about the y-axis in degrees
az – rotation about the z-axis in degrees

add_rotate_about_axis(a: float, v: UVec) → None¶

Add a rotation() operation about the given axis v.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Transformations#rotate

Parameters:

a – rotation angle about axis v in degrees
v – rotation axis as ezdxf.math.UVec object

add_scale(sx: float, sy: float, sz: float) → None¶

Add a scale() operation.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Transformations#scale

Parameters:

sx – scaling factor for the x-axis
sy – scaling factor for the y-axis
sz – scaling factor for the z-axis

add_translate(v: UVec) → None¶

Add a translate() operation.

OpenSCAD docs: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Transformations#translate

Parameters:: v – translation vector

get_string() → str¶: Returns the OpenSCAD build script.

Boolean Operation Constants¶

ezdxf.addons.openscad.UNION¶

ezdxf.addons.openscad.DIFFERENCE¶

ezdxf.addons.openscad.INTERSECTION¶

openpyscad¶

This add-on is not a complete wrapper around OpenSCAD, if you need such a tool look at the openpyscad or solidpython2 packages at PyPI.

Not sure if the openpyscad package is still maintained, the last commit at github is more than a year old and did not pass the CI process! (state June 2022)

This code snippet shows how to get the MeshTransformer object from the basic openpyscad example:

from ezdxf.addons import openscad
import openpyscad as ops

c1 = ops.Cube([10, 20, 10])
c2 = ops.Cube([20, 10, 10])

# dump OpenSCAD script as string:
script = (c1 + c2).dumps()

# execute script and load the result as MeshTransformer instance:
mesh = openscad.run(script)

Create an openpyscad Polyhedron object from an ezdxf MeshBuilder object:

from ezdxf.render import forms
import openpyscad as ops

# create an ezdxf MeshBuilder() object
sphere = forms.sphere()
sphere.flip_normals()  # required for OpenSCAD

# create an openpyscad Polyhedron() object
polyhedron = ops.Polyhedron(
    points=[list(p) for p in sphere.vertices],  # convert Vec3 objects to lists!
    faces=[list(f) for f in sphere.faces],  # convert face tuples to face lists!
)

# create the OpenSCAD script:
script = polyhedron.dumps()

The type conversion is needed to get valid OpenSCAD code from openpyscad!

solidpython2¶

The solidpython2 package seems to be better maintained than the openpyscad package, but this is just an opinion based on newer commits at github (link) for the solidpython2 package.

Same example for solidpython2:

from ezdxf.addons import openscad
from solid2 import cube, scad_render

c1 = cube([10, 20, 10])
c2 = cube([20, 10, 10])

# dump OpenSCAD script as string:
script = scad_render(c1 + c2)

# execute script and load the result as MeshTransformer instance:
mesh = openscad.run(script)

Create a solidpython2 polyhedron object from an ezdxf MeshBuilder object:

from ezdxf.render import forms
from solid2 import polyhedron, scad_render

# create an ezdxf MeshBuilder() object
sphere = forms.sphere()
sphere.flip_normals()  # required for OpenSCAD

# create a solidpython2 polyhedron() object
ph = polyhedron(
    points=[v.xyz for v in sphere.vertices],  # convert Vec3 objects to tuples!
    faces=sphere.faces,  # types are compatible
)

# create the OpenSCAD script:
script = scad_render(ph)