MText¶

class MText(GraphicEntity)¶

Introduced in DXF version R13 (AC1012), extended in DXF version R2007 (AC1021), dxftype is MTEXT.

Multiline text fits a specified width but can extend vertically to an indefinite length. You can format individual words or characters within the MText. Create MText in layouts and blocks by factory function add_mtext().

DXF Attributes for MText¶

Common DXF Attributes for DXF R13 or later

MText.dxf.insert¶: Insertion point (3D Point in OCS)

MText.dxf.char_height¶: Initial text height (float); default=1.0

MText.dxf.width¶: Reference rectangle width (float)

MText.dxf.attachment_point¶

Constants defined in ezdxf.const:

MText.dxf.attachment_point	Value
MTEXT_TOP_LEFT	1
MTEXT_TOP_CENTER	2
MTEXT_TOP_RIGHT	3
MTEXT_MIDDLE_LEFT	4
MTEXT_MIDDLE_CENTER	5
MTEXT_MIDDLE_RIGHT	6
MTEXT_BOTTOM_LEFT	7
MTEXT_BOTTOM_CENTER	8
MTEXT_BOTTOM_RIGHT	9

MText.dxf.flow_direction¶

Constants defined in ezdxf.const:

MText.dxf.flow_direction	Value	Description
MTEXT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT	1	left to right
MTEXT_TOP_TO_BOTTOM	3	top to bottom
MTEXT_BY_STYLE	5	by style (the flow direction is inherited from the associated text style)

MText.dxf.style¶: Text style (string); default=’STANDARD’

MText.dxf.text_direction¶: X-axis direction vector in WCS (3D Point); default=(1, 0, 0); if rotation and text_direction are present, text_direction wins

MText.dxf.rotation¶: Text rotation in degrees (float); default=0

MText.dxf.line_spacing_style¶: line spacing style (int), see table below

MText.dxf.line_spacing_factor¶

Percentage of default (3-on-5) line spacing to be applied. Valid values range from 0.25 to 4.00 (float)

Constants defined in ezdxf.const:

MText.dxf.line_spacing_style	Value	Description
MTEXT_AT_LEAST	1	taller characters will override
MTEXT_EXACT	2	taller characters will not override

MText.dxf.bg_fill¶

Defines the background fill type. (DXF R2007)

MText.dxf.bg_fill	Value	Description
MTEXT_BG_OFF	0	no background color
MTEXT_BG_COLOR	1	use specified color
MTEXT_BG_WINDOW_COLOR	2	use window color (?)
MTEXT_BG_CANVAS_COLOR	3	use canvas background color

MText.dxf.box_fill_scale¶

Determines how much border there is around the text. (DXF R2007)

Requires: bg_fill, bg_fill_color else AutoCAD complains

Better use MText.set_bg_color()

MText.dxf.bg_fill_color¶

Background fill color as ACI (1-255) (DXF R2007)

Better use MText.set_bg_color()

MText.dxf.bg_fill_true_color¶

Background fill color as true color value (DXF R2007), also bg_fill_color must be present, else AutoCAD complains.

Better use MText.set_bg_color()

MText.dxf.bg_fill_color_name¶

Background fill color as name string (?) (DXF R2007), also bg_fill_color must be present, else AutoCAD complains.

Better use MText.set_bg_color()

MText.dxf.transparency¶: Transparency of background fill color (DXF R2007), not supported by AutoCAD or BricsCAD.

MText Methods¶

MText.get_text()¶: Returns content of MText as string.

MText.set_text(text)¶: Set text as MText content.

MText.set_location(insert, rotation=None, attachment_point=None)¶: Set DXF attributes insert, rotation and attachment_point, None for rotation or attachment_point preserves the existing value.

MText.get_rotation()¶: Get text rotation in degrees, independent if it is defined by rotation or text_direction

MText.set_rotation(angle)¶: Set DXF attribute rotation to angle (in degrees) and deletes text_direction if present.

MText.set_bg_color(color, scale=1.5)¶

Set background color as ACI value (1-255) or as name string or as RGB tuple (r, g, b).

Use special color name canvas, to set background color to canvas background color.

Parameters:	color – color as ACI, string or RGB tuple scale (float) – determines how much border there is around the text

MText.edit_data()¶

Context manager for MText content:

with mtext.edit_data() as data:
    data += "append some text" + data.NEW_LINE

    # or replace whole text
    data.text = "Replacement for the existing text."

MText Inline Codes¶

Code	Description
\L	Start underline
\l	Stop underline
\O	Start overstrike
\o	Stop overstrike
\K	Start strike-through
\k	Stop strike-through
\P	New paragraph (new line)
\pxi	Control codes for bullets, numbered paragraphs and columns
\X	Paragraph wrap on the dimension line (only in dimensions)
\Q	Slanting (obliquing) text by angle - e.g. \Q30;
\H	Text height - e.g. \H3x;
\W	Text width - e.g. \W0.8x;
\F	Font selection e.g. \Fgdt;o - GDT-tolerance
\S	Stacking, fractions e.g. \SA^B or \SX/Y or \S1#4
\A	Alignment \A0; = bottom \A1; = center \A2; = top
\C	Color change \C1; = red \C2; = yellow \C3; = green \C4; = cyan \C5; = blue \C6; = magenta \C7; = white
\T	Tracking, char.spacing - e.g. \T2;
\~	Non-wrapping space, hard space
{}	Braces - define the text area influenced by the code, codes and braces can be nested up to 8 levels deep
\	Escape character - e.g. \{ = “{“

MTextData¶

class MTextData¶: Temporary object to manage the MText content. Create context object by MText.edit_data().

Convenient constants defined in MTextData:¶

Constant	Description
UNDERLINE_START	start underline text (`b += b.UNDERLINE_START`)
UNDERLINE_STOP	stop underline text (`b += b.UNDERLINE_STOP`)
UNDERLINE	underline text (`b += b.UNDERLINE % "Text"`)
OVERSTRIKE_START	start overstrike
OVERSTRIKE_STOP	stop overstrike
OVERSTRIKE	overstrike text
STRIKE_START	start strike trough
STRIKE_STOP	stop strike trough
STRIKE	strike trough text
GROUP_START	start of group
GROUP_END	end of group
GROUP	group text
NEW_LINE	start in new line (`b += "Text" + b.NEW_LINE`)
NBSP	none breaking space (`b += "Python" + b.NBSP + "3.4"`)