Macro Express Placement
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|
| Description |
|---|
| Display and quickly edit a selected object's placement coordinates directly or via expressions. Macro version: 1.0 Last modified: 2023-08-01 FreeCAD version: Created and tested in 0.21 Download: Express Placement Author: screeneroner |
| Author |
| screeneroner |
| Download |
| Express Placement |
| Links |
| Macros recipes How to install macros How to customize toolbars |
| Macro Version |
| 1.0 |
| Date last modified |
| 2023-08-01 |
| FreeCAD Version(s) |
| Created and tested in 0.21 |
| Default shortcut |
| None |
| See also |
| None |
Description
The macro Express Placement is a FreeCAD GUI addon. It allows quick editing of the X, Y, Z placement coordinates for the currently selected object.
Difference and benefits
One double click to edit object placement instead of four sequential clicks - you may work 4 times faster!
Standard FreeCAD Placement (in red)
The standard FreeCAD built-in editor requires many additional mouse clicks before you actually start parameter editing, especially when using parametric expressions to position your object:
- Click on the Base/Placement item in the Property view to unfold the Placement tree.
- Click on the Position branch to unfold the X, Y, Z coordinates fields.
- Click on the desired coordinate to make the expression editing icon visible.
- Click the expression editing icon, which is so small that it may be a challenge to hit it.
Alternatively, press the = key on the keyboard. This may take even longer than clicking the icon.
You must repeat these clicks when you select another object. Again and again...
Express Placement (in green)
The Express Placement macro creates a special panel for you. You may dock this panel to any suitable place. It shows three rows with X, Y, Z coordinates. These coordinates contain values and expression fields. They are available for editing with just one double click.
Installation
Addon Manager
Find Express Placement in FreeCAD Addon Manager and install it.
Direct Launch of Express Placement
You may download and use Express Placement addon immediately in your FreeCAD:
- Download the express-placement.FCMacro file and place it in the User Macros folder inside your FreeCAD installation folder.
- Execute it directly from the FreeCAD main menu Macro / Macros / User Macros.
Installing Express Placement Toolbar Button
To have an ability to quickly switch on the Express Placement table, you may place a button to quickly execute this macro and bring up the Express Placement table:
- Download the Express Placement.FCMacro file and place it in the User Macros folder inside your FreeCAD installation folder.
- Select the Express Placement macro in the User Macros panel, invoked from the FreeCAD main menu Macro / Macros / User Macros.
- Press the Toolbar button and follow the Walkthrough dialog to place the Express Placement button in the desired location in the FreeCAD toolbars.
Usage
Just run the Express Placement macro directly or via the toolbar button, and you will see a new docked property window in your FreeCAD UI. You may drag it to any allowed place in the UI and close any time you won't need it. Next time when it will be required again - run the macro or press the toolbar button again to bring up the Express Placement window.
When you decide to change the placement of the selected object, just double-click on the desired cell in the Express Placement window and type a new value or edit the existing one. The new value will be directly written to your model.
If you find this add-on useful and feel it's worth treating me to a couple-triple coffee cups in recognition of my work, at any time you may do it via ☕ Buy me a coffee
Script
Click here to show/hide the Addon source code.
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
__Name__ = "Express Placement"
__Comment__ = "FreeCAD GUI addon that allow quick editing X,Y,Z coordinates of the selected object"
__Author__ = "screeneroner"
__Version__ = "1.0"
__Date__ = "2023-08-01"
__License__ = "GPL-3.0"
__Web__ = "https://wiki.freecad.org/Macro_Express_Placement"
__Wiki__ = "https://wiki.freecad.org/Macro_Express_Placement"
__Icon__ = "https://wiki.freecad.org/images/8/8f/Std_AxisCross_example.svg"
__Help__ = "Display and quickly edit selected object placement coordinates directly or via expressions"
__Status__ = "Working"
__Requires__ = "FreeCAD >= 0.19"
__Communication__ = "https://forum.freecad.org/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=60629"
#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This macro is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
version 3 GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY without even
the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU General Public License for more details (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html)
WARNING TO USERS AND MODIFIERS
This script contains "Buy me a coffee" links to honor the author's hard work and dedication in creating
all the features present in this code. Removing or altering these links not only violates the GPL license
but also disregards the significant effort put into making this script valuable for the community.
If you find value in this script and would like to show appreciation to the author,
kindly consider visiting the site below and treating the author to a few cups of coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/screeneroner
Your honor and gratitude is greatly appreciated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ '''
import FreeCADGui as Gui
import FreeCAD as App
from PySide import QtGui, QtCore
# Define a function to create and display a table
def create_table():
# Function to update the table with the selected object's data
def update_table_with_selected_object():
# Clear the table first
clear_table()
# Get the selected objects
selection = Gui.Selection.getSelection()
# If there's exactly one selected object
if len(selection) == 1:
selected_obj = selection[0]
selected_object = selected_obj
# Ensure the object isn't a spreadsheet
if str(selected_obj.TypeId) != "Spreadsheet::Sheet":
# Populate the table with the object's placement data
populate_table_with_placement(selected_obj)
# Store the selected object on the table widget
table_widget.selected_object = selected_obj
# Function to populate the table with an object's placement data
def populate_table_with_placement(selected_obj):
# Clear the table first
clear_table()
# Get the object's placement
placement = selected_obj.Placement
# Update each row of the table with the object's placement data
for row in range(3): # Limit to 3 instead of row_count
value_widget = QtGui.QTableWidgetItem()
value_widget.setText(str(getattr(placement.Base, ["x", "y", "z"][row])))
table_widget.setItem(row, 0, value_widget)
# Get the object's properties
properties_list = selected_obj.ExpressionEngine
# If the object has properties
if properties_list is not None:
# For each property that involves placement
for prop in properties_list:
if prop[0] in [".Placement.Base.x", ".Placement.Base.y", ".Placement.Base.z"]:
# Get the attribute's name
attribute = prop[0].split(".")[-1]
# Set the corresponding cell's value
expression_label = QtGui.QTableWidgetItem()
expression_label.setText(prop[1])
table_widget.setItem(["x", "y", "z"].index(attribute), 1, expression_label)
# Add the new row with the support data
support_label_widget = QtGui.QLabel(" ")
support_link_widget = QtGui.QLabel( u'\u2615' + ' <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/screeneroner">Buy me a coffee</a> ')
support_link_widget.setAlignment(QtCore.Qt.AlignRight | QtCore.Qt.AlignVCenter)
support_link_widget.setTextFormat(QtCore.Qt.RichText)
support_link_widget.setTextInteractionFlags(QtCore.Qt.TextBrowserInteraction)
support_link_widget.setOpenExternalLinks(True)
table_widget.setCellWidget(3, 0, support_label_widget)
table_widget.setCellWidget(3, 1, support_link_widget)
# Adjust the height of each row
header = table_widget.horizontalHeader()
header.setFixedHeight(24)
for row in range(row_count):
table_widget.setRowHeight(row, 18)
# Function to clear the table
def clear_table():
for row in range(row_count):
for col in range(column_count):
table_widget.takeItem(row, col)
# Function to update the selected object's placement values based on edits to the table
def update_values(row):
item = table_widget.item(row, 0)
if item is not None:
# Get the edited text
edited_text = item.text()
# Get the label of the value that was edited
value_label = ["x", "y", "z"][row]
# Get the selected object
selected_obj = table_widget.selected_object
# Get the object's placement
placement = selected_obj.Placement
# If the edited text is not empty
if edited_text != "":
try:
# Try to convert the edited text to a float
edited_value = float(edited_text)
# Update the corresponding placement value
if value_label == "x":
placement.Base.x = edited_value
elif value_label == "y":
placement.Base.y = edited_value
elif value_label == "z":
placement.Base.z = edited_value
except ValueError:
# If the text can't be converted to a float, print an error message
print("Invalid value entered. The value must be a valid number.")
# Update the object's placement
selected_obj.Placement = placement
# Recompute the document to reflect the changes
App.ActiveDocument.recompute()
# print(f"Updated value: {edited_value} in row {row}, column 0")
# Reselect the object to refresh the table data
reselect_object(selected_obj)
# Function to update the selected object's expression values based on edits to the table
def update_expression(row):
item = table_widget.item(row, 1)
if item is not None:
# Get the edited text
edited_text = item.text()
# Get the label of the expression that was edited
expression_label = ["x", "y", "z"][row]
# Get the selected object
selected_obj = table_widget.selected_object
# Get the attribute's name
attribute = f".Placement.Base.{expression_label}"
# Update the attribute's expression
selected_obj.setExpression(attribute, edited_text if edited_text != "" else None)
# Recompute the document to reflect the changes
App.ActiveDocument.recompute()
# print(f"Updated expression: {edited_text} in row {row}, column 1")
# Reselect the object to refresh the table data
reselect_object(selected_obj)
# Function to reselect an object
def reselect_object(selected_obj):
# Clear the current selection
Gui.Selection.clearSelection()
# Add the selected object to the selection
Gui.Selection.addSelection(selected_obj)
# Define the table's dimensions
row_count = 4
column_count = 2
# Create the table widget
table_widget = QtGui.QTableWidget(row_count, column_count)
table_widget.setHorizontalHeaderLabels(["Value", "Expression"])
table_widget.setVerticalHeaderLabels(["x", "y", "z", " "])
# Left align the headers
header = table_widget.horizontalHeader()
header.setDefaultAlignment(QtCore.Qt.AlignLeft)
# Adjust columns to contents
table_widget.setSizeAdjustPolicy(QtGui.QAbstractScrollArea.AdjustToContents)
table_widget.resizeColumnsToContents()
table_widget.resizeRowsToContents()
table_widget.setShowGrid(False)
# Assign a delegate to handle cell edits
delegate = QtGui.QItemDelegate()
table_widget.setItemDelegate(delegate)
# Connect signals to handle cell edits
delegate.commitData.connect(lambda: update_values(table_widget.currentRow()) if table_widget.currentColumn() == 0 else None)
delegate.closeEditor.connect(
lambda: update_expression(table_widget.currentRow()) if table_widget.currentColumn() == 1 else None
)
# Define a class to observe selection changes
class SelectionObserver:
# When an object is selected, update the table
def addSelection(self, doc, obj, sub, pnt):
update_table_with_selected_object()
# When an object is deselected, update the table
def removeSelection(self, doc, obj, sub):
update_table_with_selected_object()
# Create an instance of the observer class
selection_observer = SelectionObserver()
# Add the observer to the selection
Gui.Selection.addObserver(selection_observer)
# Update the table with the currently selected object's data
update_table_with_selected_object()
# Make the last column stretch to fill the remaining space
table_widget.horizontalHeader().setStretchLastSection(True)
# Get the main window
mainWindow = Gui.getMainWindow()
# Check if the dock widget already exists
dock_widget = mainWindow.findChild(QtGui.QDockWidget, "ExpressPlacementWidget")
# If the dock widget does not exist, create it
if dock_widget is None:
dock_widget = QtGui.QDockWidget("Express Placement")
dock_widget.setObjectName("ExpressPlacementWidget") # Assign an object name to the dock widget
mainWindow.addDockWidget(QtCore.Qt.LeftDockWidgetArea, dock_widget)
# Set the dock widget's widget to the table
dock_widget.setWidget(table_widget)
# Make sure the dock widget is visible
dock_widget.setVisible(True)
# Create and display the table
create_table()