App GeoFeature
Introduction
An App GeoFeature object, or formally an App::GeoFeature
, is the base class of most objects that will display geometrical elements in the 3D view because it includes the DataPlacement property.
Simplified diagram of the relationships between the core objects in the program. The App::GeoFeature
class is the base class of essentially all objects in the software that will display geometry in the 3D view.
How to use
The App GeoFeature is an internal object, so it cannot be created from the graphical interface. It is generally not meant to be used directly, rather it can be sub-classed to get a bare-bones object that only has a basic DataPlacement property to define its position in the 3D view.
Some of the most important derived objects are the following:
- The Part Feature class, the parent of most objects with 2D and 3D topological shapes.
- The Mesh Feature class, the parent of most objects made from meshes, not solids.
- The Fem FemMeshObject class, the parent of finite element meshes created with the FEM Workbench.
- The Path Feature class, the parent of paths created with the Path Workbench for use in CNC machining.
- The App Part class, which defines Std Parts that can be used as containers of bodies to perform assemblies.
When creating this object in Python, instead of sub-classing App::GeoFeature
, you should sub-class App::GeometryPython
because the latter includes a default view provider, and Proxy
attributes for the object itself, and its view provider. See Scripting.
Properties
An App GeoFeature (App::GeoFeature
class) is derived from the basic App DocumentObject (App::DocumentObject
class), therefore it shares all the latter's properties.
In addition to the properties described in App DocumentObject, the GeoFeature has the DataPlacement property, which controls its position in the 3D view.
See Property for all property types that scripted objects can have.
These are the properties available in the property editor. Hidden properties can be shown by using the Show all command in the context menu of the property editor.
Data
Base
- DataPlacement (
Placement
): the position of the object in the 3D view. The placement is defined by aBase
point (vector), and aRotation
(axis and angle). See Placement.- DataAngle: the angle of rotation around the DataAxis. By default, it is
0°
(zero degrees). - DataAxis: the unit vector that defines the axis of rotation for the placement. Each component is a floating point value between
0
and1
. If any value is above1
, the vector is normalized so that the magnitude of the vector is1
. By default, it is the positive Z axis,(0, 0, 1)
. - DataPosition: a vector with the 3D coordinates of the base point. By default, it is the origin
(0, 0, 0)
.
- DataAngle: the angle of rotation around the DataAxis. By default, it is
- DataLabel (
String
): the user editable name of this object, it is an arbitrary UTF8 string.
Hidden properties Data
- DataExpression Engine (
ExpressionEngine
): a list of expressions. By default, it is empty[]
. - DataLabel2 (
String
): a longer, user editable description of this object, it is an arbitrary UTF8 string. By default, it is an empty string""
. - DataProxy (
PythonObject
): a custom class associated with this object. - DataVisibility (
Bool
): whether to display the object or not.
View
Base
- ViewBounding Box (
Bool
): if it istrue
, the object will show the bounding box in the 3D view. - ViewDisplay Mode (
Enumeration
): it is empty by default. - ViewOn Top When Selected (
Enumeration
):Disabled
(default),Enabled
,Object
,Element
. - ViewSelectable (
Bool
): if it istrue
, the object can be picked with the pointer in the 3D view. Otherwise, the object cannot be selected until this option is set totrue
. - ViewSelection Style (
Enumeration
):Shape
(default),BoundBox
. If the option isShape
, the entire shape (vertices, edges, and faces) will be highlighted in the 3D view; if it isBoundBox
only the bounding box will be highlighted. - ViewShape Color (
Color
): a tuple of three floating point RGB values(r,g,b)
to define the color of the faces in the 3D view; by default it is(0.8, 0.8, 0.8)
, which is displayed as[204,204,204]
on base 255, a light gray . - ViewShow In Tree (
Bool
): if it istrue
, the object appears in the tree view. Otherwise, it is set as invisible. - ViewTransparency (
Percent
): an integer from0
to100
that determines the level of transparency of the faces in the 3D view. A value of100
indicates completely invisible faces; the faces are invisible but they can still be picked as long as ViewSelectable istrue
. - ViewVisibility (
Bool
): if it istrue
, the object appears in the 3D view; otherwise it is invisible. By default this property can be toggled on and off by pressing the Space bar in the keyboard.
Hidden properties View
- ViewProxy (
PythonObject
): a custom view provider class associated with this object. By default it is empty. - ViewShape Material (
Material
): an App Material associated with this object. By default it is empty.
Scripting
See also: FreeCAD Scripting Basics, and scripted objects.
See Part Feature for the general information on adding objects to the program
A GeoFeature is created with the addObject()
method of the document. If you would like to create an object with a 2D or 3D topological shape, it may be better to create one of the sub-classes specialized for that, for example, Part Feature or Part Part2DObject.
import FreeCAD as App
doc = App.newDocument()
obj = App.ActiveDocument.addObject("App::GeoFeature", "Name")
obj.Label = "Custom label"
This basic App::GeoFeature
doesn't have a default view provider, so no icon will be displayed on the tree view, and no View properties will be available.
Therefore, for Python scripting, the recommendation is to create the App::GeometryPython
object.
import FreeCAD as App
doc = App.newDocument()
obj = App.ActiveDocument.addObject("App::GeometryPython", "Name")
obj.Label = "Custom label"
For example, the Arch BuildingPart element of the Arch Workbench is an App::GeometryPython
object with a custom icon.
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