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https://github.com/gbroques/fcxref

Manages FreeCAD external references.
https://github.com/gbroques/fcxref

cross-document external-link external-links find-links find-references freecad freecad-addons freecad-document freecad-macro

Last synced: about 2 months ago
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Manages FreeCAD external references.

Host: GitHub
URL: https://github.com/gbroques/fcxref
Owner: gbroques
License: lgpl-2.1
Created: 2021-07-26T02:37:33.000Z (over 3 years ago)
Default Branch: master
Last Pushed: 2022-05-17T01:34:37.000Z (over 2 years ago)
Last Synced: 2024-11-05T21:39:01.571Z (about 2 months ago)
Topics: cross-document, external-link, external-links, find-links, find-references, freecad, freecad-addons, freecad-document, freecad-macro
Language: Python
Homepage:
Size: 79.1 KB
Stars: 6
Watchers: 3
Forks: 0
Open Issues: 2
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.rst
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.rst
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.rst
- License: LICENSE

Awesome Lists containing this project

README

fcxref
======

.. image:: https://badge.fury.io/py/fcxref.svg
:alt: PyPI version
:target: https://badge.fury.io/py/fcxref

----

* `Introduction`_
* `Motivation`_
* `Approach`_
* `Installation`_
* `Usage`_
* `Python API`_
* `Command Line`_
* `Supported FreeCAD Versions`_
* `Changelog`_
* `Contributing`_

Introduction
------------

Manages **F**\ ree\ **C**\ AD e\ **x**\ ternal **ref**\ erences.

"External references" are also known as external links or cross-document references.

The following operations are supported:

1. *Finding* external references
2. *Renaming* external references
3. and *Removing* external references (i.e. ``XLinks``)

Motivation
----------

On `Expressions: Known issues / remaining tasks `_, it's mentioned:

There is no expression manager implemented where all expressions in a document are listed, and can be created, deleted, queried, etc.

Large complex FreeCAD projects typically rely on extensive use of cross-document referencing to properties such as aliases in spreadsheets.

When you have dozens of references to the same property, it becomes very difficult to find all the places where references exist or rename the property.

``fcxref`` aims to fill this gap until similiar functionality can be added to FreeCAD core.

See the following related FreeCAD forum discussions for additional motivation:

* `Expression engine - Automatic renaming `_
* `Rename a file containing external links `_

Approach
--------
``fcxref`` relies on parsing the ``Document.xml`` in compressed ``.FCStd`` files.

Installation
------------

Available on the `Python Package Index (PyPI) `_.

.. code-block::

pip install fcxref

Usage
-----
There are two ways to use ``fcxref``:

1. via the Python API
2. vai the Command Line

The following 2 sections cover these 2 usage methods with documents in the ``example/`` directory.

Consider you have a ``MainDocument.FCStd`` containing a spreadsheet that drives your model,
and ``ExampleDocument.FCStd`` that references aliases in that spreadsheet.

Python API
----------

find
^^^^

.. code-block:: python

from fcxref import find, Query

base_path = './example'
references = find(base_path, Query('MainDocument', 'Spreadsheet', 'Value'))
print('\n'.join(map(str, references)))

.. code-block::

ExampleDocument Spreadsheet.B1 content
ExampleDocument Spreadsheet.A1 content
ExampleDocument Spreadsheet.B1 alias
ExampleDocument Box.Length expression

rename
^^^^^^

The ``rename`` function takes:

1. the base path to look for FreeCAD documents in
2. the name or label of the document
3. the name or label of the object
4. and a 2-element tuple containing the property before and after renaming.

It returns a dictionary where keys are filepaths to updated ``.FCStd`` files,
and values are XML `Element`_ objects representing updated ``Document.xml`` files.

.. _Element: https://docs.python.org/3/library/xml.etree.elementtree.html#xml.etree.ElementTree.Element

.. code-block:: python

from fcxref import rename

base_path = './example'
root_by_document_path = rename(base_path, 'MainDocument', 'Spreadsheet', ('Value', 'RenamedValue'))
print(root_by_document_path)

.. code-block::

{'ExampleDocument.FCStd': , 'MainDocument.FCStd': }

remove
^^^^^^

The ``remove`` function takes:

1. the base path to look for FreeCAD documents in
2. the name of the document (**label is not supported**)

It returns a dictionary where keys are filepaths to updated ``.FCStd`` files,
and values are XML `Element`_ objects representing updated ``Document.xml`` files.

.. code-block:: python

from fcxref import remove

base_path = './example'
root_by_document_path = remove(base_path, 'MainDocument')
print(root_by_document_path)

.. code-block::

{'ExampleDocument.FCStd': }

Command Line
------------
Upon `installing <#installation>`_ ``fcxref``, the ``fcxref`` command will become globally accessible.

For usage information, pass ``--help`` to each command.

Each command scans for ``*.FCStd`` files recursively from the current working directory.

Thus, you should navigate to a directory where you store your FreeCAD documents before executing ``fcxref`` commands.

.. code-block::

$ fcxref --help ↵
usage: fcxref [-h] [--version] {find,rename,remove} ...

Manage cross-document references to properties.

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--version show program's version number and exit

Commands:
{find,rename,remove}
find Find cross-document references to an object or property
rename Rename cross-document references to a property
remove Remove XLinks to specified document

find
^^^^

.. code-block::

$ fcxref find --help ↵
usage: fcxlink find [property]

Surround arguments containing special characters in quotes (e.g. "<>").

positional arguments:
document Document name or label.
object Object name or label.
property Property.

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit

Simple Queries
""""""""""""""

.. code-block::

$ fcxref find MainDocument Spreadsheet Value ↵
ExampleDocument Spreadsheet.B1 content direct
ExampleDocument Spreadsheet.A1 content indirect
ExampleDocument Spreadsheet.B1 alias indirect
ExampleDocument Box.Length expression indirect

💡 **TIP:** When using special characters on the command line such as ``<`` and ``>`` for label names, surround the argument in double-quotes.

rename
^^^^^^

.. code-block::

$ fcxref rename --help ↵
usage: fcxlink rename

Surround arguments containing special characters in quotes (e.g. "<>").

positional arguments:
document Document name or label of reference to rename.
object Object name or label of reference to rename.
from_property Property of reference before renaming.
to_property Property of reference after renaming.

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit

Simple Renames
""""""""""""""

The ``rename`` command will prompt users for confirmation before modifying any files,
and defaults to "No" if an explicit "Yes" is not provided.

.. code-block::

$ fcxref rename MainDocument Spreadsheet Value RenamedValue ↵
The following 2 document(s) reference MainDocument#Spreadsheet.Value:
ExampleDocument.FCStd
MainDocument.FCStd

Do you wish to rename references to MainDocument#Spreadsheet.RenamedValue? [y/N]
y ↵
2 document(s) updated.

remove
^^^^^^

.. code-block::

$ fcxref remove --help ↵
usage: fcxlink remove

Surround arguments containing special characters in quotes (e.g. "<>").

positional arguments:
document Document name of XLinks to remove.

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit

Simple Removals
"""""""""""""""

The ``remove`` command will prompt users for confirmation before modifying any files,
and defaults to "No" if an explicit "Yes" is not provided.

.. code-block::

$ fcxref remove MainDocument ↵
The following 1 document(s) contain XLinks to MainDocument:
example/ExampleDocument.FCStd

Do you wish to remove XLinks to MainDocument? (this will break document linking) [y/N]
y ↵
1 document(s) updated.

Supported FreeCAD Versions
--------------------------
Currently only FreeCAD 19 and greater is supported.

If changes are minimal, then supporting older versions may be considered.

Changelog
---------
See `Changelog <./CHANGELOG.rst>`__.

Contributing
------------
See `Contributing Guidelines <./CONTRIBUTING.rst>`_.