Scripted objects
Besides the standard object types such as annotations, meshes and parts objects, FreeCAD also offers the amazing possibility to build 100% python-scripted objects, called Python Features. Those objects will behave exactly as any other FreeCAD object, and are saved and restored automatically on file save/load.
One particularity must be understood, those objects are saved in FreeCAD FcStd files with python's json module. That module turns a python object as a string, allowing it to be added to the saved file. On load, the json module uses that string to recreate the original object, provided it has access to the source code that created the object. This means that if you save such a custom object and open it on a machine where the python code that generated the object is not present, the object won't be recreated. If you distribute such objects to others, you will need to distribute the python script that created it together.
Python Features follow the same rule as all FreeCAD features: they are separated into App and GUI parts. The app part, the Document Object, defines the geometry of our object, while its GUI part, the View Provider Object, defines how the object will be drawn on screen. The View Provider Object, as any other FreeCAD feature, is only available when you run FreeCAD in its own GUI. There are several properties and methods available to build your object. Properties must be of any of the predefined properties types that FreeCAD offers, and will appear in the property view window, so they can be edited by the user. This way, FeaturePython objects are truly and totally parametric. you can define properties for the Object and its ViewObject separately.
Hint: In former versions we used Python's cPickle module. However, this module executes arbitrary code and thus causes a security problem. Thus, we moved to Python's json module.
Basic example
The following sample can be found in the src/Mod/TemplatePyMod/FeaturePython.py file, together with several other examples:
'''Examples for a feature class and its view provider.'''
import FreeCAD, FreeCADGui
from pivy import coin
class Box:
def __init__(self, obj):
'''Add some custom properties to our box feature'''
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyLength","Length","Box","Length of the box").Length=1.0
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyLength","Width","Box","Width of the box").Width=1.0
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyLength","Height","Box", "Height of the box").Height=1.0
obj.Proxy = self
def onChanged(self, fp, prop):
'''Do something when a property has changed'''
FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Change property: " + str(prop) + "\n")
def execute(self, fp):
'''Do something when doing a recomputation, this method is mandatory'''
FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Recompute Python Box feature\n")
class ViewProviderBox:
def __init__(self, obj):
'''Set this object to the proxy object of the actual view provider'''
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyColor","Color","Box","Color of the box").Color=(1.0,0.0,0.0)
obj.Proxy = self
def attach(self, obj):
'''Setup the scene sub-graph of the view provider, this method is mandatory'''
self.shaded = coin.SoGroup()
self.wireframe = coin.SoGroup()
self.scale = coin.SoScale()
self.color = coin.SoBaseColor()
data=coin.SoCube()
self.shaded.addChild(self.scale)
self.shaded.addChild(self.color)
self.shaded.addChild(data)
obj.addDisplayMode(self.shaded,"Shaded");
style=coin.SoDrawStyle()
style.style = coin.SoDrawStyle.LINES
self.wireframe.addChild(style)
self.wireframe.addChild(self.scale)
self.wireframe.addChild(self.color)
self.wireframe.addChild(data)
obj.addDisplayMode(self.wireframe,"Wireframe");
self.onChanged(obj,"Color")
def updateData(self, fp, prop):
'''If a property of the handled feature has changed we have the chance to handle this here'''
# fp is the handled feature, prop is the name of the property that has changed
l = fp.getPropertyByName("Length")
w = fp.getPropertyByName("Width")
h = fp.getPropertyByName("Height")
self.scale.scaleFactor.setValue(float(l),float(w),float(h))
pass
def getDisplayModes(self,obj):
'''Return a list of display modes.'''
modes=[]
modes.append("Shaded")
modes.append("Wireframe")
return modes
def getDefaultDisplayMode(self):
'''Return the name of the default display mode. It must be defined in getDisplayModes.'''
return "Shaded"
def setDisplayMode(self,mode):
'''Map the display mode defined in attach with those defined in getDisplayModes.\
Since they have the same names nothing needs to be done. This method is optional'''
return mode
def onChanged(self, vp, prop):
'''Here we can do something when a single property got changed'''
FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Change property: " + str(prop) + "\n")
if prop == "Color":
c = vp.getPropertyByName("Color")
self.color.rgb.setValue(c[0],c[1],c[2])
def getIcon(self):
'''Return the icon in XPM format which will appear in the tree view. This method is\
optional and if not defined a default icon is shown.'''
return """
/* XPM */
static const char * ViewProviderBox_xpm[] = {
"16 16 6 1",
" c None",
". c #141010",
"+ c #615BD2",
"@ c #C39D55",
"# c #000000",
"$ c #57C355",
" ........",
" ......++..+..",
" .@@@@.++..++.",
" .@@@@.++..++.",
" .@@ .++++++.",
" ..@@ .++..++.",
"###@@@@ .++..++.",
"##$.@@$#.++++++.",
"#$#$.$$$........",
"#$$####### ",
"#$$#$$$$$# ",
"#$$#$$$$$# ",
"#$$#$$$$$# ",
" #$#$$$$$# ",
" ##$$$$$# ",
" ####### "};
"""
def __getstate__(self):
'''When saving the document this object gets stored using Python's json module.\
Since we have some un-serializable parts here -- the Coin stuff -- we must define this method\
to return a tuple of all serializable objects or None.'''
return None
def __setstate__(self,state):
'''When restoring the serialized object from document we have the chance to set some internals here.\
Since no data were serialized nothing needs to be done here.'''
return None
def makeBox():
FreeCAD.newDocument()
a=FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject("App::FeaturePython","Box")
Box(a)
ViewProviderBox(a.ViewObject)
makeBox()
Things to note
If your object relies on being recomputed as soon as it is created, you must do this manually in the Template:Include function as it is not called automatically. This example does not require it because the onChanged
method of the Box
class has the same effect as the Template:Include function, but the examples below rely on being recomputed before anything is displayed in the 3D view. In the examples, this is done manually with ActiveDocument.recompute()
but in more complex scenarios you need to decide where to recompute either the whole document or the FeaturePython object.
This example produces a number of exception stack traces in the report view window. This is because the onChanged
method of the Box
class is called each time a property is added in __init__
. When the first one is added, the Width and Height properties don't exist yet and so the attempt to access them fails.
An explanation of __getstate__
and __setstate__
is in the forum thread obj.Proxy.Type is a dict, not a string.
Available properties
Properties are the true building stones of FeaturePython objects. Through them, the user will be able to interact and modify your object. After creating a new FeaturePython object in your document ( obj=FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject("App::FeaturePython","Box") ), you can get a list of the available properties by issuing:
obj.supportedProperties()
You will get a list of available properties:
App::PropertyBool
App::PropertyBoolList
App::PropertyFloat
App::PropertyFloatList
App::PropertyFloatConstraint
App::PropertyQuantity
App::PropertyQuantityConstraint
App::PropertyAngle
App::PropertyDistance
App::PropertyLength
App::PropertySpeed
App::PropertyAcceleration
App::PropertyForce
App::PropertyPressure
App::PropertyInteger
App::PropertyIntegerConstraint
App::PropertyPercent
App::PropertyEnumeration
App::PropertyIntegerList
App::PropertyIntegerSet
App::PropertyMap
App::PropertyString
App::PropertyUUID
App::PropertyFont
App::PropertyStringList
App::PropertyLink
App::PropertyLinkSub
App::PropertyLinkList
App::PropertyLinkSubList
App::PropertyMatrix
App::PropertyVector
App::PropertyVectorList
App::PropertyPlacement
App::PropertyPlacementLink
App::PropertyPlacementList
App::PropertyColor
App::PropertyColorList
App::PropertyMaterial
App::PropertyPath
App::PropertyFile
App::PropertyFileIncluded
App::PropertyPythonObject
Part::PropertyPartShape
Part::PropertyGeometryList
Part::PropertyShapeHistory
Part::PropertyFilletEdges
Sketcher::PropertyConstraintList
When adding properties to your custom objects, take care of this:
- Do not use characters "<" or ">" in the properties descriptions (that would break the xml pieces in the .fcstd file)
- Properties are stored alphabetically in a .fcstd file. If you have a shape in your properties, any property whose name comes after "Shape" in alphabetic order, will be loaded AFTER the shape, which can cause strange behaviours.
A complete list of property attributes can be seen in the PropertyStandard C++ header file. For instance, if you want to allow the user to enter only a limited range of values (e.g. using PropertyIntegerConstraint), in Python you will assign a tuple containing not only the property value, but also the lower and upper limit as well as the stepsize, as below:
prop = (value, lower, upper, stepsize)
Property Type
By default the properties can be updated. It is possible to make the properties read-only, for instance in the case one wants to show the result of a method. It is also possible to hide the property. The property type can be set using
obj.setEditorMode("MyPropertyName", mode)
where mode is a short int that can be set to:
0 -- default mode, read and write 1 -- read-only 2 -- hidden
The EditorModes are not set at FreeCAD file reload. This could to be done by the __setstate__ function. See http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=13460&start=10#p108072. By using the setEditorMode the properties are only read only in PropertyEditor. They could still be changed from python. To really make them read only the setting has to be passed directly inside the addProperty function. See http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=13460&start=20#p109709 for an example.
Using the direct setting in the addProperty function, you also have more possibilities. In particular, an interesting one is mark a property as an output property. This way FreeCAD won't mark the feature as touched when changing it (so no need to recompute).
Example of output property (see also https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?t=24928):
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyString","MyCustomProperty","","",8)
The property types that can be set at last parameter of the addProperty function are:
0 -- Prop_None, No special property type 1 -- Prop_ReadOnly, Property is read-only in the editor 2 -- Prop_Transient, Property won't be saved to file 4 -- Prop_Hidden, Property won't appear in the editor 8 -- Prop_Output, Modified property doesn't touch its parent container 16 -- Prop_NoRecompute, Modified property doesn't touch its container for recompute
You can find these different property types defined in the source code C++ header for PropertyContainer
Other more complex example
This example makes use of the Part Module to create an octahedron, then creates its coin representation with pivy.
First is the Document object itself:
import FreeCAD, FreeCADGui, Part
import pivy
from pivy import coin
class Octahedron:
def __init__(self, obj):
"Add some custom properties to our box feature"
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyLength","Length","Octahedron","Length of the octahedron").Length=1.0
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyLength","Width","Octahedron","Width of the octahedron").Width=1.0
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyLength","Height","Octahedron", "Height of the octahedron").Height=1.0
obj.addProperty("Part::PropertyPartShape","Shape","Octahedron", "Shape of the octahedron")
obj.Proxy = self
def execute(self, fp):
# Define six vetices for the shape
v1 = FreeCAD.Vector(0,0,0)
v2 = FreeCAD.Vector(fp.Length,0,0)
v3 = FreeCAD.Vector(0,fp.Width,0)
v4 = FreeCAD.Vector(fp.Length,fp.Width,0)
v5 = FreeCAD.Vector(fp.Length/2,fp.Width/2,fp.Height/2)
v6 = FreeCAD.Vector(fp.Length/2,fp.Width/2,-fp.Height/2)
# Make the wires/faces
f1 = self.make_face(v1,v2,v5)
f2 = self.make_face(v2,v4,v5)
f3 = self.make_face(v4,v3,v5)
f4 = self.make_face(v3,v1,v5)
f5 = self.make_face(v2,v1,v6)
f6 = self.make_face(v4,v2,v6)
f7 = self.make_face(v3,v4,v6)
f8 = self.make_face(v1,v3,v6)
shell=Part.makeShell([f1,f2,f3,f4,f5,f6,f7,f8])
solid=Part.makeSolid(shell)
fp.Shape = solid
# helper mehod to create the faces
def make_face(self,v1,v2,v3):
wire = Part.makePolygon([v1,v2,v3,v1])
face = Part.Face(wire)
return face
Then, we have the view provider object, responsible for showing the object in the 3D scene:
class ViewProviderOctahedron:
def __init__(self, obj):
"Set this object to the proxy object of the actual view provider"
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyColor","Color","Octahedron","Color of the octahedron").Color=(1.0,0.0,0.0)
obj.Proxy = self
def attach(self, obj):
"Setup the scene sub-graph of the view provider, this method is mandatory"
self.shaded = coin.SoGroup()
self.wireframe = coin.SoGroup()
self.scale = coin.SoScale()
self.color = coin.SoBaseColor()
self.data=coin.SoCoordinate3()
self.face=coin.SoIndexedLineSet()
self.shaded.addChild(self.scale)
self.shaded.addChild(self.color)
self.shaded.addChild(self.data)
self.shaded.addChild(self.face)
obj.addDisplayMode(self.shaded,"Shaded");
style=coin.SoDrawStyle()
style.style = coin.SoDrawStyle.LINES
self.wireframe.addChild(style)
self.wireframe.addChild(self.scale)
self.wireframe.addChild(self.color)
self.wireframe.addChild(self.data)
self.wireframe.addChild(self.face)
obj.addDisplayMode(self.wireframe,"Wireframe");
self.onChanged(obj,"Color")
def updateData(self, fp, prop):
"If a property of the handled feature has changed we have the chance to handle this here"
# fp is the handled feature, prop is the name of the property that has changed
if prop == "Shape":
s = fp.getPropertyByName("Shape")
self.data.point.setNum(6)
cnt=0
for i in s.Vertexes:
self.data.point.set1Value(cnt,i.X,i.Y,i.Z)
cnt=cnt+1
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(0,0)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(1,1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(2,2)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(3,-1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(4,1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(5,3)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(6,2)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(7,-1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(8,3)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(9,4)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(10,2)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(11,-1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(12,4)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(13,0)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(14,2)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(15,-1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(16,1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(17,0)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(18,5)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(19,-1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(20,3)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(21,1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(22,5)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(23,-1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(24,4)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(25,3)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(26,5)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(27,-1)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(28,0)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(29,4)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(30,5)
self.face.coordIndex.set1Value(31,-1)
def getDisplayModes(self,obj):
"Return a list of display modes."
modes=[]
modes.append("Shaded")
modes.append("Wireframe")
return modes
def getDefaultDisplayMode(self):
"Return the name of the default display mode. It must be defined in getDisplayModes."
return "Shaded"
def setDisplayMode(self,mode):
return mode
def onChanged(self, vp, prop):
"Here we can do something when a single property got changed"
FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Change property: " + str(prop) + "\n")
if prop == "Color":
c = vp.getPropertyByName("Color")
self.color.rgb.setValue(c[0],c[1],c[2])
def getIcon(self):
return """
/* XPM */
static const char * ViewProviderBox_xpm[] = {
"16 16 6 1",
" c None",
". c #141010",
"+ c #615BD2",
"@ c #C39D55",
"# c #000000",
"$ c #57C355",
" ........",
" ......++..+..",
" .@@@@.++..++.",
" .@@@@.++..++.",
" .@@ .++++++.",
" ..@@ .++..++.",
"###@@@@ .++..++.",
"##$.@@$#.++++++.",
"#$#$.$$$........",
"#$$####### ",
"#$$#$$$$$# ",
"#$$#$$$$$# ",
"#$$#$$$$$# ",
" #$#$$$$$# ",
" ##$$$$$# ",
" ####### "};
"""
def __getstate__(self):
return None
def __setstate__(self,state):
return None
Finally, once our object and its viewobject are defined, we just need to call them (The Octahedron class and viewprovider class code could be copied in the FreeCAD python console directly):
FreeCAD.newDocument()
a=FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject("App::FeaturePython","Octahedron")
Octahedron(a)
ViewProviderOctahedron(a.ViewObject)
Making objects selectable
If you want to make your object selectable, or at least part of it, by clicking on it in the viewport, you must include its coin geometry inside a SoFCSelection node. If your object has complex representation, with widgets, annotations, etc, you might want to include only a part of it in a SoFCSelection. Everything that is a SoFCSelection is constantly scanned by FreeCAD to detect selection/preselection, so it makes sense try not to overload it with unneeded scanning.
Once the parts of the scenegraph that are to be selectable are inside SoFCSelection nodes, you then need to provide two methods to handle the selection path. The selection path can take the form of a string giving the names of each element in the path, or of an array of scenegraph objects. The two methods you provide are getDetailPath
, which converts from a string path to an array of scenegraph objects, and getElementPicked
, which takes an element which has been clicked on in the scenegraph and returns its string name (note, not its string path).
Here is the molecule example above, adapted to make the elements of the molecule selectable:
class Molecule:
def __init__(self, obj):
''' Add two point properties '''
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyVector","p1","Line","Start point")
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyVector","p2","Line","End point").p2=FreeCAD.Vector(5,0,0)
obj.Proxy = self
def onChanged(self, fp, prop):
if prop == "p1" or prop == "p2":
''' Print the name of the property that has changed '''
fp.Shape = Part.makeLine(fp.p1,fp.p2)
def execute(self, fp):
''' Print a short message when doing a recomputation, this method is mandatory '''
fp.Shape = Part.makeLine(fp.p1,fp.p2)
class ViewProviderMolecule:
def __init__(self, obj):
''' Set this object to the proxy object of the actual view provider '''
obj.Proxy = self
self.ViewObject = obj
sep1=coin.SoSeparator()
sel1 = coin.SoType.fromName('SoFCSelection').createInstance()
# sel1.policy.setValue(coin.SoSelection.SHIFT)
sel1.ref()
sep1.addChild(sel1)
self.trl1=coin.SoTranslation()
sel1.addChild(self.trl1)
sel1.addChild(coin.SoSphere())
sep2=coin.SoSeparator()
sel2 = coin.SoType.fromName('SoFCSelection').createInstance()
sel2.ref()
sep2.addChild(sel2)
self.trl2=coin.SoTranslation()
sel2.addChild(self.trl2)
sel2.addChild(coin.SoSphere())
obj.RootNode.addChild(sep1)
obj.RootNode.addChild(sep2)
self.updateData(obj.Object, 'p2')
self.sel1 = sel1
self.sel2 = sel2
def getDetailPath(self, subname, path, append):
vobj = self.ViewObject
if append:
path.append(vobj.RootNode)
path.append(vobj.SwitchNode)
mode = vobj.SwitchNode.whichChild.getValue()
if mode >= 0:
mode = vobj.SwitchNode.getChild(mode)
path.append(mode)
sub = Part.splitSubname(subname)[-1]
if sub == 'Atom1':
path.append(self.sel1)
elif sub == 'Atom2':
path.append(self.sel2)
else:
path.append(mode.getChild(0))
return True
def getElementPicked(self, pp):
path = pp.getPath()
if path.findNode(self.sel1) >= 0:
return 'Atom1'
if path.findNode(self.sel2) >= 0:
return 'Atom2'
raise NotImplementedError
def updateData(self, fp, prop):
"If a property of the handled feature has changed we have the chance to handle this here"
# fp is the handled feature, prop is the name of the property that has changed
if prop == "p1":
p = fp.getPropertyByName("p1")
self.trl1.translation=(p.x,p.y,p.z)
elif prop == "p2":
p = fp.getPropertyByName("p2")
self.trl2.translation=(p.x,p.y,p.z)
def __getstate__(self):
return None
def __setstate__(self,state):
return None
def makeMolecule():
FreeCAD.newDocument()
a=FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject("Part::FeaturePython","Molecule")
Molecule(a)
ViewProviderMolecule(a.ViewObject)
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.recompute()
Working with simple shapes
If your parametric object simply outputs a shape, you don't need to use a view provider object. The shape will be displayed using FreeCAD's standard shape representation:
import FreeCAD as App
import FreeCADGui
import FreeCAD
import Part
class Line:
def __init__(self, obj):
'''"App two point properties" '''
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyVector","p1","Line","Start point")
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyVector","p2","Line","End point").p2=FreeCAD.Vector(1,0,0)
obj.Proxy = self
def execute(self, fp):
'''"Print a short message when doing a recomputation, this method is mandatory" '''
fp.Shape = Part.makeLine(fp.p1,fp.p2)
a=FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject("Part::FeaturePython","Line")
Line(a)
a.ViewObject.Proxy=0 # just set it to something different from None (this assignment is needed to run an internal notification)
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.recompute()
Same code with use ViewProviderLine
import FreeCAD as App
import FreeCADGui
import FreeCAD
import Part
class Line:
def __init__(self, obj):
'''"App two point properties" '''
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyVector","p1","Line","Start point")
obj.addProperty("App::PropertyVector","p2","Line","End point").p2=FreeCAD.Vector(100,0,0)
obj.Proxy = self
def execute(self, fp):
'''"Print a short message when doing a recomputation, this method is mandatory" '''
fp.Shape = Part.makeLine(fp.p1,fp.p2)
class ViewProviderLine:
def __init__(self, obj):
''' Set this object to the proxy object of the actual view provider '''
obj.Proxy = self
def getDefaultDisplayMode(self):
''' Return the name of the default display mode. It must be defined in getDisplayModes. '''
return "Flat Lines"
a=FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject("Part::FeaturePython","Line")
Line(a)
ViewProviderLine(a.ViewObject)
App.ActiveDocument.recompute()
Further information
Additional pages:
- Scripted objects saving attributes
- Scripted objects migration
- Scripted objects with attachment
- Viewproviders
Interesting forum threads about scripted objects:
- Python object attributes lost at load
- New FeaturePython is grey
- Explanation on __getstate__ and __setstate__, official documentation
- Eigenmode frequency always 0?
- how to implement python feature's setEdit properly?
In addition to the examples presented here have a look at FreeCAD source code src/Mod/TemplatePyMod/FeaturePython.py for more examples.
- FreeCAD scripting: Python, Introduction to Python, Python scripting tutorial, FreeCAD Scripting Basics
- Modules: Builtin modules, Units, Quantity
- Workbenches: Workbench creation, Gui Commands, Commands, Installing more workbenches
- Meshes and Parts: Mesh Scripting, Topological data scripting, Mesh to Part, PythonOCC
- Parametric objects: Scripted objects, Viewproviders (Custom icon in tree view)
- Scenegraph: Coin (Inventor) scenegraph, Pivy
- Graphical interface: Interface creation, Interface creation completely in Python (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), PySide, PySide examples beginner, intermediate, advanced
- Macros: Macros, How to install macros
- Embedding: Embedding FreeCAD, Embedding FreeCADGui
- Other: Expressions, Code snippets, Line drawing function, FreeCAD vector math library (deprecated)
- Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub