AutoCAD, Python and Pandas

 

Pandas “pandas is a fast, powerful, flexible and easy to use open source data analysis and manipulation tool, built on top of the Python programming language.”

 You can also use pandas in AutoCAD as a data extraction tool. I’m just learning pandas myself, thankfully there’s good documentation

In this example, I want to search for all block references that begin with ‘SPK’,  to create a takeoff of what sprinkler systems are in this drawing. Then, I’ll use pandas to combine rows and format the output. I’m just printing the output to the command line, but it’s simple enough to create a table or export the data to Excel

 here's the code

import PyRx as Rx

import PyGe as Ge

import PyGi as Gi

import PyDb as Db

import PyAp as Ap

import PyEd as Ed

import traceback

import pandas as pd

#get the attribues and return them as a list

def getAttValues(ref: Db.BlockReference)->list[str]:

    v = [ref.getBlockName()]

    for attrefid in ref.attributeIds():

        attref = Db.AttributeReference(attrefid)

        match attref.tag():

            case 'PART#':

                v.append(attref.textString())

            case 'DESCRIPTION':

                v.append(attref.textString())

            case _:

                pass

    return v

def PyRxCmd_doit():

    try:

        spkIds = []

        db = Db.curDb()

        #define our columns

        data = {'Name': [],

                'PART#': [],

                'DESCRIPTION': [],

                'QTY': []}

        #search for blocks that start with 'SPK'

        bt = Db.BlockTable(db.blockTableId())

        for name, id in bt.toDict().items():

            if name.startswith('SPK'):

                spkIds.append(id)

        for id in spkIds:

            btr = Db.BlockTableRecord(id)

            for refid in btr.getBlockReferenceIds():

                ref = Db.BlockReference(refid)

                values = getAttValues(ref)

               

                #pandas wants equal length lists

                if len(values) != 3:

                    continue

               

                data['Name'].append(values[0].rstrip('.dwg'))

                data['PART#'].append(values[1])

                data['DESCRIPTION'].append(values[2])

                data['QTY'].append(1) #we know we have one

        #create the dataframe, then group by

        df = pd.DataFrame(data)

        dfgr = df.groupby(['Name', 'PART#', 'DESCRIPTION'],

                         sort=False, as_index=False).agg({'QTY': 'sum'})

       

        print(dfgr.to_string())

    except Exception as err:

        traceback.print_exception(err)

 

 

Python + AutoCAD, Extract to Excel

 

Here’s a sample extracting attributes from multiple drawings. I use ObjectDBX to open each drawing and collect the attributes from a block named ‘elev’, a block that holds room numbers etc., Openpyxl makes it incredibly easy to write to and excel file. I think the question, “How do I write to excel” is one of the most frequently ask in the CAD forums. In python it’s a breeze  

import PyRx as Rx

import PyGe as Ge

import PyGi as Gi

import PyDb as Db

import PyAp as Ap

import PyEd as Ed

import traceback

import AxApp24 as Ax

import AxAppUtils24 as AxUt

import openpyxl as Ex  # using openpyxl

def PyRxCmd_dbxextract():

    try:

        paths = ["e:\\06457Submittal.dwg",

                 "e:\\06457Submittal2.dwg",

                 "e:\\06457Submittal3.dwg"]

        wb = Ex.Workbook()

        ws = wb.active

       

        nrow = 1

        axDoc = Ax.getDbx()

        for dwg in paths:

            axDoc.Open(dwg, None)

            for ent in axDoc.ModelSpace:

                if ent.EntityName != 'AcDbBlockReference':

                    continue

                #cast

                ref = Ax.IAcadBlockReference(ent)

                if ref.Name != 'elev':

                    continue

                nrow += 1

                for ncol, att in enumerate(ref.GetAttributes()):

                    ws.cell(row=nrow, column=ncol+1, value=att.TextString)

        wb.save('e://ItsAlive2.xlsx')

    except Exception as err:

        traceback.print_exception(err)

 

Python + AutoCAD, create Table and Hittest

 

In this example, I’ll be importing AxApp24, ActiveX wrappers that are a part of PyRx

Using ActiveX is the easy way to create Tables. Table’s in ARX and .NET have gone through some function changes over the years that can sometimes make it a hassle, at least from a scripting language point of view. Also in this example, I show one method of getting access to a Table’s cell without having to manually select the table first. 

 

import PyRx as Rx

import PyGe as Ge

import PyGi as Gi

import PyDb as Db

import PyAp as Ap

import PyEd as Ed

import traceback

import AxApp24 as Ax

import AxAppUtils24 as AxUt

def PyRxCmd_makeTable():

    try:

        axApp = Ax.getApp()

        axDoc = axApp.ActiveDocument

        # pick a point for the table location

        tablePnt = axDoc.Utility.GetPoint("\nTable location: ")

        # point, rows, columns, row Height, row width

        axTable = axDoc.ModelSpace.AddTable(tablePnt, 5, 5, 10, 30)

       

        #:)

        axTable.SetTextString(0, 0, 1, "My Py Table")

    except Exception as err:

        traceback.print_exception(err)

def PyRxCmd_hitTest():

    try:

        axApp = Ax.getApp()

        axDoc = axApp.ActiveDocument

        # view vec, just use a Z vector

        hitVec = (0, 0, 1)

        hitPnt = axDoc.Utility.GetPoint("\nSelect cell: ")

        # combine the hitPnt with vsmax to make a fence

        fence = hitPnt + axDoc.GetVariable("VSMAX")

        axSs = axDoc.SelectionSets.Add("AXTBLSS")

        axSs.SelectByPolygon(Ax.constants.acSelectionSetFence,

                             fence, [0], ["ACAD_TABLE"])

        #do the hit test

        for axEnt in axSs:

            axTable = Ax.IAcadTable(axEnt)

            hit = axTable.HitTest(hitPnt, hitVec)

            if hit[0]:

                cellstr = "Cell={},{}".format(hit[1], hit[2])

                axTable.SetTextString(hit[1], hit[2], 1, cellstr)

                return

    except Exception as err:

        traceback.print_exception(err)

    finally:

        axSs.Delete()