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EZDXF(1) ezdxf EZDXF(1)

NAME

ezdxf - ezdxf Documentation [image]

Welcome! This is the documentation for ezdxf release 0.14.2, last updated Nov 27, 2020.

  • ezdxf is a Python package to create new DXF files and read/modify/write existing DXF files
  • the intended audience are developers
  • requires at least Python 3.6
  • OS independent
  • additional required packages: pyparsing
  • MIT-License
  • read/write/new support for DXF versions: R12, R2000, R2004, R2007, R2010, R2013 and R2018
  • additional read support for DXF versions R13/R14 (upgraded to R2000)
  • additional read support for older DXF versions than R12 (upgraded to R12)
  • read/write support for ASCII DXF and Binary DXF
  • preserves third-party DXF content

INCLUDED EXTENSIONS

  • drawing add-on to visualise and convert DXF files to images which can be saved to various formats such as png, pdf and svg
  • r12writer add-on to write basic DXF entities direct and fast into a DXF R12 file or stream
  • iterdxf add-on to iterate over entities of the modelspace of really big (> 5GB) DXF files which do not fit into memory
  • importer add-on to import entities, blocks and table entries from another DXF document
  • dxf2code add-on to generate Python code for DXF structures loaded from DXF documents as starting point for parametric DXF entity creation
  • acadctb add-on to read/write plot_style_files
  • pycsg add-on for Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) modeling technique

WEBSITE

https://ezdxf.mozman.at/

DOCUMENTATION

Documentation of development version at https://ezdxf.mozman.at/docs

Documentation of latest release at http://ezdxf.readthedocs.io/

Source Code: http://github.com/mozman/ezdxf.git

Issue Tracker at GitHub: http://github.com/mozman/ezdxf/issues

QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK AT GOOGLE GROUPS

Please post questions at the forum or stack overflow to make answers available to other users as well.

INTRODUCTION

What is ezdxf

ezdxf is a Python interface to the DXF (drawing interchange file) format developed by Autodesk, it allows developers to read and modify existing DXF drawings or create new DXF drawings.

The main objective in the development of ezdxf was to hide complex DXF details from the programmer but still support most capabilities of the DXF format. Nevertheless, a basic understanding of the DXF format is required, also to understand which tasks and goals are possible to accomplish by using the the DXF format.

Not all DXF features are supported yet, but additional features will be added in the future gradually.

ezdxf is also a replacement for my dxfwrite and my dxfgrabber packages but with different APIs, for more information see also: faq001

What ezdxf can’t do

  • ezdxf is not a DXF converter: ezdxf can not convert between different DXF versions, if you are looking for an appropriate application, try the free ODAFileConverter from the Open Design Alliance, which converts between different DXF version and also between the DXF and the DWG file format.
  • ezdxf is not a CAD file format converter: ezdxf can not convert DXF files to other CAD formats such as DWG
  • ezdxf is not a CAD kernel and does not provide high level functionality for construction work, it is just an interface to the DXF file format. If you are looking for a CAD kernel with Python scripting support, look at FreeCAD.



Supported Python Versions

ezdxf requires at least Python 3.6 and will be tested with the latest stable CPython 3 version and the latest stable release of pypy3 during development.

ezdxf is written in pure Python and requires only pyparser as additional library beside the Python Standard Library. pytest is required to run the unit- and integration tests. Data to run the stress and audit test can not be provided, because I don’t have the rights for publishing this DXF files.

Supported Operating Systems

ezdxf is OS independent and runs on all platforms which provide an appropriate Python interpreter (>=3.6).

Supported DXF Versions

Version AutoCAD Release
AC1009 AutoCAD R12
AC1012 AutoCAD R13 -> R2000
AC1014 AutoCAD R14 -> R2000
AC1015 AutoCAD R2000
AC1018 AutoCAD R2004
AC1021 AutoCAD R2007
AC1024 AutoCAD R2010
AC1027 AutoCAD R2013
AC1032 AutoCAD R2018

ezdxf reads also older DXF versions but saves it as DXF R12.

Embedded DXF Information of 3rd Party Applications

The DXF format allows third-party applications to embed application-specific information. ezdxf manages DXF data in a structure-preserving form, but for the price of large memory requirement. Because of this, processing of DXF information of third-party applications is possible and will retained on rewriting.

License

ezdxf is licensed under the very liberal MIT-License.

USAGE FOR BEGINNERS

This section shows the intended usage of the ezdxf package. This is just a brief overview for new ezdxf users, follow the provided links for more detailed information.

First import the package:

import ezdxf


Loading DXF Files

ezdxf supports loading ASCII and binary DXF files from a file:

doc = ezdxf.readfile(filename)


or from a zip-file:

doc = ezdxf.readzip(zipfilename[, filename])


Which loads the DXF file filename from the zip-file zipfilename or the first DXF file in the zip-file if filename is absent.

It is also possible to read a DXF file from a stream by the ezdxf.read() function, but this is a more advanced feature, because this requires detection of the file encoding in advance.

This works well with DXF files from trusted sources like AutoCAD or BricsCAD, for loading DXF files with minor or major flaws look at the ezdxf.recover module.

SEE ALSO:

Documentation for ezdxf.readfile(), ezdxf.readzip() and ezdxf.read(), for more information about file management go to the dwgmanagement section. For loading DXF files with structural errors look at the ezdxf.recover module.


Saving DXF Files

Save the DXF document with a new name:

doc.saveas('new_name.dxf')


or with the same name as loaded:

doc.save()


SEE ALSO:

Documentation for ezdxf.document.Drawing.save() and ezdxf.document.Drawing.saveas(), for more information about file management go to the dwgmanagement section.


Create a New DXF File

Create new file for the latest supported DXF version:

doc = ezdxf.new()


Create a new DXF file for a specific DXF version, e.g for DXF R12:

doc = ezdxf.new('R12')


To setup some basic DXF resources use the setup argument:

doc = ezdxf.new(setup=True)


SEE ALSO:

Documentation for ezdxf.new(), for more information about file management go to the dwgmanagement section.


Layouts and Blocks

Layouts are containers for DXF entities like LINE or CIRCLE. The most important layout is the modelspace labeled as “Model” in CAD applications which represents the “world” work space. Paperspace layouts represents plottable sheets which contains often the framing and the tile block of a drawing and VIEWPORT entities as scaled and clipped “windows” into the modelspace.

The modelspace is always present and can not be deleted. The active paperspace is also always present in a new DXF document but can be deleted, in that case another paperspace layout gets the new active paperspace, but you can not delete the last paperspace layout.

Getting the modelspace of a DXF document:

msp = doc.modelspace()


Getting a paperspace layout by the name as shown in the tab of a CAD application:

psp = doc.layout('Layout1')


A block is just another kind of entity space, which can be inserted multiple times into other layouts and blocks by the INSERT entity also called block references, this is a very powerful and important concept of the DXF format.

Getting a block layout by the block name:

blk = doc.blocks.get('NAME')


All these layouts have factory functions to create graphical DXF entities for their entity space, for more information about creating entities see section: Create new DXF Entities

Create New Blocks

The block definitions of a DXF document are managed by the BlocksSection object:

my_block = doc.blocks.new('MyBlock')


SEE ALSO:

tut_blocks


Query DXF Entities

As said in the Layouts and Blocks section, all graphical DXF entities are stored in layouts, all these layouts can be iterated and support the index operator e.g. layout[-1] returns the last entity.

The main difference between iteration and index access is, that iteration filters destroyed entities, but the the index operator returns also destroyed entities until these entities are purged by layout.purge() more about this topic in section: Delete Entities.

There are two advanced query methods: query() and groupby().

Get all lines of layer 'MyLayer':

lines = msp.query('LINE[layer=="MyLayer"]')


This returns an EntityQuery container, which also provides the same query() and groupby() methods.

Get all lines categorized by a DXF attribute like color:

all_lines_by_color = msp.query('LINE').groupby('color')
lines_with_color_1 = all_lines_by_color.get(1, [])


The groupby() method returns a regular Python dict with colors as key and a regular Python list of entities as values (not an EntityQuery container).

SEE ALSO:

For more information go to the tut_getting_data


Examine DXF Entities

Each DXF entity has a dxf namespace attribute, which stores the named DXF attributes, some DXF attributes are only indirect available like the vertices in the LWPOLYLINE entity. More information about the DXF attributes of each entity can found in the documentation of the ezdxf.entities module.

Get some basic DXF attributes:

layer = entity.dxf.layer  # default is '0'
color = entity.dxf.color  # default is 256 = BYLAYER


Most DXF attributes have a default value, which will be returned if the DXF attribute is not present, for DXF attributes without a default value you can check in the attribute really exist:

entity.dxf.hasattr('true_color')


or use the get() method and a default value:

entity.dxf.get('true_color', 0)


SEE ALSO:

Common graphical DXF attributes


Create New DXF Entities

The factory functions for creating new graphical DXF entities are located in the BaseLayout class. This means this factory function are available for all entity containers:

  • Modelspace
  • Paperspace
  • BlockLayout



The usage is simple:

msp = doc.modelspace()
msp.add_line((0, 0), (1, 0), dxfattribs={'layer': 'MyLayer'})


A few important or required DXF attributes are explicit method arguments, most additional and optional DXF attributes are gives as a regular Python dict object. The supported DXF attributes can be found in the documentation of the ezdxf.entities module.

WARNING:

Do not instantiate DXF entities by yourself and add them to layouts, always use the provided factory function to create new graphical entities, this is the intended way to use ezdxf.


Create Block References

A block reference is just another DXF entity called INSERT, but the term “Block Reference” is a better choice and so the Insert entity is created by the factory function: add_blockref():

msp.add_blockref('MyBlock')


SEE ALSO:

See tut_blocks for more advanced features like using Attrib entities.


Create New Layers

A layer is not an entity container, a layer is just another DXF attribute stored in the entity and this entity can inherit some properties from this Layer object. Layer objects are stored in the layer table which is available as attribute doc.layers.

You can create your own layers:

my_layer = doc.layer.new('MyLayer')


The layer object also controls the visibility of entities which references this layer, the on/off state of the layer is unfortunately stored as positive or negative color value which make the raw DXF attribute of layers useless, to change the color of a layer use the property Layer.color

my_layer.color = 1


To change the state of a layer use the provided methods of the Layer object, like on(), off(), freeze() or thaw():

my_layer.off()


SEE ALSO:

layer_concept


Delete Entities

The safest way to delete entities is to delete the entity from the layout containing that entity:

line = msp.add_line((0, 0), (1, 0))
msp.delete_entity(line)


This removes the entity immediately from the layout and destroys the entity. The property is_alive returns False for a destroyed entity and all Python attributes are deleted, so line.dxf.color will raise an AttributeError exception, because line does not have a dxf attribute anymore.

The current version of ezdxf also supports also destruction of entities by calling method destroy() manually:

line.destroy()


Manually destroyed entities are not removed immediately from entities containers like Modelspace or EntityQuery, but iterating such a container will filter destroyed entities automatically, so a for e in msp: ... loop will never yield destroyed entities. The index operator and the len() function do not filter deleted entities, to avoid getting deleted entities call the purge() method of the container manually to remove deleted entities.

Further Information

  • reference documentation
  • Documentation of package internals: Developer Guides.

BASIC CONCEPTS

The Basic Concepts section teach the intended meaning of DXF attributes and structures without teaching the application of this information or the specific implementation by ezdxf, if you are looking for more information about the ezdxf internals look at the Reference section or if you want to learn how to use ezdxf go to the Tutorials section and for the solution of specific problems go to the Howto section.

AutoCAD Color Index (ACI)

The color attribute represents an ACI (AutoCAD Color Index). AutoCAD and many other CAD application provides a default color table, but pen table would be the more correct term. Each ACI entry defines the color value, the line weight and some other attributes to use for the pen. This pen table can be edited by the user or loaded from an CTB or STB file. ezdxf provides functions to create (new()) or modify (ezdxf.acadctb.load()) plot styles files.

DXF R12 and prior are not good in preserving the layout of a drawing, because of the lack of a standard color table defined by the DXF reference and missing DXF structures to define these color tables in the DXF file. So if a CAD user redefined an ACI and do not provide a CTB or STB file, you have no ability to determine which color or lineweight was used. This is better in later DXF versions by providing additional DXF attributes like lineweight and true_color.

SEE ALSO:

plot_style_files


Layer Concept

Every object has a layer as one of its properties. You may be familiar with layers - independent drawing spaces that stack on top of each other to create an overall image - from using drawing programs. Most CAD programs use layers as the primary organizing principle for all the objects that you draw. You use layers to organize objects into logical groups of things that belong together; for example, walls, furniture, and text notes usually belong on three separate layers, for a couple of reasons:

  • Layers give you a way to turn groups of objects on and off - both on the screen and on the plot.
  • Layers provide the most efficient way of controlling object color and linetype

Create a layer table entry Layer by Drawing.layers.new(), assign the layer properties such as color and linetype. Then assign those layers to other DXF entities by setting the DXF attribute layer to the layer name as string.

It is possible to use layers without a layer definition but not recommend, just use a layer name without a layer definition, the layer has the default linetype 'Continuous' and the default color is 7.

The advantage of assigning a linetype and a color to a layer is that entities on this layer can inherit this properties by using 'BYLAYER' as linetype string and 256 as color, both values are default values for new entities.

SEE ALSO:

tut_layers


Linetypes

The linetype defines the pattern of a line. The linetype of an entity can be specified by the DXF attribute linetype, this can be an explicit named linetype or the entity can inherit its line type from the assigned layer by setting linetype to 'BYLAYER', which is also the default value. CONTINUOUS is the default line type for layers with unspecified line type.

ezdxf creates several standard linetypes, if the argument setup is True at calling new(), this simple line types are supported by all DXF versions:

doc = ezdxf.new('R2007', setup=True)


[image]

In DXF R13 Autodesk introduced complex linetypes, containing TEXT or SHAPES in linetypes. ezdxf v0.8.4 and later supports complex linetypes.

SEE ALSO:

tut_linetypes


Linetype Scaling

Global linetype scaling can be changed by setting the header variable doc.header['$LTSCALE'] = 2, which stretches the line pattern by factor 2.

To change the linetype scaling for single entities set scaling factor by DXF attribute ltscale, which is supported since DXF version R2000.

Coordinate Systems

AutoLISP Reference to Coordinate Systems provided by Autodesk.

To brush up you knowledge about vectors, watch the YouTube tutorials of 3Blue1Brown about Linear Algebra.

WCS

World coordinate system - the reference coordinate system. All other coordinate systems are defined relative to the WCS, which never changes. Values measured relative to the WCS are stable across changes to other coordinate systems.

UCS

User coordinate system - the working coordinate system defined by the user to make drawing tasks easier. All points passed to AutoCAD commands, including those returned from AutoLISP routines and external functions, are points in the current UCS. As far as I know, all coordinates stored in DXF files are always WCS or OCS never UCS.

User defined coordinate systems are not just helpful for interactive CAD, therefore ezdxf provides a converter class UCS to translate coordinates from UCS into WCS and vice versa, but always remember: store only WCS or OCS coordinates in DXF files, because there is no method to determine which UCS was active or used to create UCS coordinates.

SEE ALSO:

  • Table entry UCS
  • ezdxf.math.UCS - converter between WCS and UCS



OCS

Object coordinate system - coordinates relative to the object itself. These points are usually converted into the WCS, current UCS, or current DCS, according to the intended use of the object. Conversely, points must be translated into an OCS before they are written to the database. This is also known as the entity coordinate system.

Because ezdxf is just an interface to DXF, it does not automatically convert OCS into WCS, this is the domain of the user/application. And further more, the main goal of OCS is to place 2D elements in 3D space, this maybe was useful in the early years of CAD, I think nowadays this is an not often used feature, but I am not an AutoCAD user.

OCS differ from WCS only if extrusion != (0, 0, 1), convert OCS into WCS:

# circle is an DXF entity with extrusion != (0, 0, 1)
ocs = circle.ocs()
wcs_center = ocs.to_wcs(circle.dxf.center)


SEE ALSO:

  • Object Coordinate System - deeper insights into OCS
  • ezdxf.math.OCS - converter between WCS and OCS



DCS

Display coordinate system - the coordinate system into which objects are transformed before they are displayed. The origin of the DCS is the point stored in the AutoCAD system variable TARGET, and its z-axis is the viewing direction. In other words, a viewport is always a plan view of its DCS. These coordinates can be used to determine where something will be displayed to the AutoCAD user.

Object Coordinate System (OCS)

DXF Reference for OCS provided by Autodesk.

The points associated with each entity are expressed in terms of the entity’s own object coordinate system (OCS). The OCS was referred to as ECS in previous releases of AutoCAD.

With OCS, the only additional information needed to describe the entity’s position in 3D space is the 3D vector describing the z-axis of the OCS, and the elevation value.

For a given z-axis (or extrusion) direction, there are an infinite number of coordinate systems, defined by translating the origin in 3D space and by rotating the x- and y-axis around the z-axis. However, for the same z-axis direction, there is only one OCS. It has the following properties:

  • Its origin coincides with the WCS origin.
  • The orientation of the x- and y-axis within the xy-plane are calculated in an arbitrary but consistent manner. AutoCAD performs this calculation using the arbitrary axis algorithm.

These entities do not lie in a particular plane. All points are expressed in world coordinates. Of these entities, only lines and points can be extruded. Their extrusion direction can differ from the world z-axis.

  • Line
  • Point
  • 3DFace
  • Polyline (3D)
  • Vertex (3D)
  • Polymesh
  • Polyface
  • Viewport

These entities are planar in nature. All points are expressed in object coordinates. All of these entities can be extruded. Their extrusion direction can differ from the world z-axis.

  • Circle
  • Arc
  • Solid
  • Trace
  • Text
  • Attrib
  • Attdef
  • Shape
  • Insert
  • Polyline (2D)
  • Vertex (2D)
  • LWPolyline
  • Hatch
  • Image

Some of a Dimension’s points are expressed in WCS and some in OCS.

Elevation

Elevation group code 38:

Exists only in output from versions prior to R11. Otherwise, Z coordinates are supplied as part of each of the entity’s defining points.

Arbitrary Axis Algorithm

DXF Reference for Arbitrary Axis Algorithm provided by Autodesk.

The arbitrary axis algorithm is used by AutoCAD internally to implement the arbitrary but consistent generation of object coordinate systems for all entities that use object coordinates.

Given a unit-length vector to be used as the z-axis of a coordinate system, the arbitrary axis algorithm generates a corresponding x-axis for the coordinate system. The y-axis follows by application of the right-hand rule.

We are looking for the arbitrary x- and y-axis to go with the normal Az (the arbitrary z-axis). They will be called Ax and Ay (using Vector):

Az = Vector(entity.dxf.extrusion).normalize()  # normal (extrusion) vector
# Extrusion vector normalization should not be necessary, but don't rely on any DXF content
if (abs(Az.x) < 1/64.) and (abs(Az.y) < 1/64.):

Ax = Vector(0, 1, 0).cross(Az).normalize() # the cross-product operator else:
Ax = Vector(0, 0, 1).cross(Az).normalize() # the cross-product operator Ay = Az.cross(Ax).normalize()


WCS to OCS

def wcs_to_ocs(point):

px, py, pz = Vector(point) # point in WCS
x = px * Ax.x + py * Ax.y + pz * Ax.z
y = px * Ay.x + py * Ay.y + pz * Ay.z
z = px * Az.x + py * Az.y + pz * Az.z
return Vector(x, y, z)


OCS to WCS

Wx = wcs_to_ocs((1, 0, 0))
Wy = wcs_to_ocs((0, 1, 0))
Wz = wcs_to_ocs((0, 0, 1))
def ocs_to_wcs(point):

px, py, pz = Vector(point) # point in OCS
x = px * Wx.x + py * Wx.y + pz * Wx.z
y = px * Wy.x + py * Wy.y + pz * Wy.z
z = px * Wz.x + py * Wz.y + pz * Wz.z
return Vector(x, y, z)


TUTORIALS

Tutorial for getting data from DXF files

In this tutorial I show you how to get data from an existing DXF drawing.

Loading the DXF file:

import sys
import ezdxf
try:

doc = ezdxf.readfile("your_dxf_file.dxf") except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file.')
sys.exit(2)


This works well with DXF files from trusted sources like AutoCAD or BricsCAD, for loading DXF files with minor or major flaws look at the ezdxf.recover module.

SEE ALSO:

dwgmanagement


Layouts

I use the term layout as synonym for an arbitrary entity space which can contain DXF entities like LINE, CIRCLE, TEXT and so on. Every DXF entity can only reside in exact one layout.

There are three different layout types:

  • Modelspace: this is the common construction space
  • Paperspace: used to to create print layouts
  • BlockLayout: reusable elements, every block has its own entity space

A DXF drawing consist of exact one modelspace and at least of one paperspace. DXF R12 has only one unnamed paperspace the later DXF versions support more than one paperspace and each paperspace has a name.

Iterate over DXF entities of a layout

Iterate over all DXF entities in modelspace. Although this is a possible way to retrieve DXF entities, I would like to point out that entity queries are the better way.

# iterate over all entities in modelspace
msp = doc.modelspace()
for e in msp:

if e.dxftype() == 'LINE':
print_entity(e) # entity query for all LINE entities in modelspace for e in msp.query('LINE'):
print_entity(e) def print_entity(e):
print("LINE on layer: %s\n" % e.dxf.layer)
print("start point: %s\n" % e.dxf.start)
print("end point: %s\n" % e.dxf.end)


All layout objects supports the standard Python iterator protocol and the in operator.

Access DXF attributes of an entity

Check the type of an DXF entity by e.dxftype(). The DXF type is always uppercase. All DXF attributes of an entity are grouped in the namespace attribute dxf:

e.dxf.layer  # layer of the entity as string
e.dxf.color  # color of the entity as integer


See Common graphical DXF attributes

If a DXF attribute is not set (a valid DXF attribute has no value), a DXFValueError will be raised. To avoid this use the get_dxf_attrib() method with a default value:

# If DXF attribute 'paperspace' does not exist, the entity defaults
# to modelspace:
p = e.get_dxf_attrib('paperspace', 0)


An unsupported DXF attribute raises an DXFAttributeError.

Getting a paperspace layout

paperspace = doc.layout('layout0')


Retrieves the paperspace named layout0, the usage of the Layout object is the same as of the modelspace object. DXF R12 provides only one paperspace, therefore the paperspace name in the method call doc.layout('layout0') is ignored or can be left off. For the later DXF versions you get a list of the names of the available layouts by layout_names().

Retrieve entities by query language

ezdxf provides a flexible query language for DXF entities. All layout types have a query() method to start an entity query or use the ezdxf.query.new() function.

The query string is the combination of two queries, first the required entity query and second the optional attribute query, enclosed in square brackets: 'EntityQuery[AttributeQuery]'

The entity query is a whitespace separated list of DXF entity names or the special name *. Where * means all DXF entities, all other DXF names have to be uppercase. The * search can exclude entity types by adding the entity name with a presceding ! (e.g. * !LINE, search all entities except lines).

The attribute query is used to select DXF entities by its DXF attributes. The attribute query is an addition to the entity query and matches only if the entity already match the entity query. The attribute query is a boolean expression, supported operators: and, or, !.

SEE ALSO:

entity query string


Get all LINE entities from the modelspace:

msp = doc.modelspace()
lines = msp.query('LINE')


The result container EntityQuery also provides the query() method, get all LINE entities at layer construction:

construction_lines = lines.query('*[layer=="construction"]')


The * is a wildcard for all DXF types, in this case you could also use LINE instead of *, * works here because lines just contains entities of DXF type LINE.

All together as one query:

lines = msp.query('LINE[layer=="construction"]')


The ENTITIES section also supports the query() method:

lines_and_circles = doc.entities.query('LINE CIRCLE[layer=="construction"]')


Get all modelspace entities at layer construction, but excluding entities with linetype DASHED:

not_dashed_entities = msp.query('*[layer=="construction" and linetype!="DASHED"]')


Retrieve entities by groupby() function

Search and group entities by a user defined criteria. As example let’s group all entities from modelspace by layer, the result will be a dict with layer names as dict-key and a list of all entities from modelspace matching this layer as dict-value. Usage as dedicated function call:

from ezdxf.groupby import groupby
group = groupby(entities=msp, dxfattrib='layer')


The entities argument can be any container or generator which yields DXFEntity or inherited objects. Shorter and simpler to use as method of BaseLayout (modelspace, paperspace layouts, blocks) and query results as EntityQuery objects:

group = msp.groupby(dxfattrib='layer')
for layer, entities in group.items():

print(f'Layer "{layer}" contains following entities:')
for entity in entities:
print(' {}'.format(str(entity)))
print('-'*40)


The previous example shows how to group entities by a single DXF attribute, but it is also possible to group entities by a custom key, to do so create a custom key function, which accepts a DXF entity as argument and returns a hashable value as dict-key or None to exclude the entity. The following example shows how to group entities by layer and color, so each result entry has a tuple (layer, color) as key and a list of entities with matching DXF attributes:

def layer_and_color_key(entity):

# return None to exclude entities from result container
if entity.dxf.layer == '0': # exclude entities from default layer '0'
return None
else:
return entity.dxf.layer, entity.dxf.color group = msp.groupby(key=layer_and_color_key) for key, entities in group.items():
print(f'Grouping criteria "{key}" matches following entities:')
for entity in entities:
print(' {}'.format(str(entity)))
print('-'*40)


To exclude entities from the result container the key function should return None. The groupby() function catches DXFAttributeError exceptions while processing entities and excludes this entities from the result container. So there is no need to worry about DXF entities which do not support certain attributes, they will be excluded automatically.

SEE ALSO:

groupby() documentation


Tutorial for creating simple DXF drawings

r12writer - create simple DXF R12 drawings with a restricted entities set: LINE, CIRCLE, ARC, TEXT, POINT, SOLID, 3DFACE and POLYLINE. Advantage of the r12writer is the speed and the low memory footprint, all entities are written direct to the file/stream without building a drawing data structure in memory.

SEE ALSO:

r12writer


Create a new DXF drawing with ezdxf.new() to use all available DXF entities:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('R2010')  # create a new DXF R2010 drawing, official DXF version name: 'AC1024'
msp = doc.modelspace()  # add new entities to the modelspace
msp.add_line((0, 0), (10, 0))  # add a LINE entity
doc.saveas('line.dxf')


New entities are always added to layouts, a layout can be the modelspace, a paperspace layout or a block layout.

SEE ALSO:

Look at factory methods of the BaseLayout class to see all the available DXF entities.


Tutorial for Layers

If you are not familiar with the concept of layers, please read this first: layer_concept

Create a Layer Definition

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new(setup=True)  # setup required line types
msp = doc.modelspace()
doc.layers.new(name='MyLines', dxfattribs={'linetype': 'DASHED', 'color': 7})


The advantage of assigning a linetype and a color to a layer is that entities on this layer can inherit this properties by using 'BYLAYER' as linetype string and 256 as color, both values are default values for new entities so you can left off this assignments:

msp.add_line((0, 0), (10, 0), dxfattribs={'layer': 'MyLines'})


The new created line will be drawn with color 7 and linetype 'DASHED'.

Changing Layer State

Get the layer definition object:

my_lines = doc.layers.get('MyLines')


Check the state of the layer:

my_lines.is_off()  # True if layer is off
my_lines.is_on()   # True if layer is on
my_lines.is_locked()  # True if layer is locked
layer_name = my_lines.dxf.name  # get the layer name


Change the state of the layer:

# switch layer off, entities at this layer will not shown in CAD applications/viewers
my_lines.off()
# lock layer, entities at this layer are not editable in CAD applications
my_lines.lock()


Get/set default color of a layer by property Layer.color, because the DXF attribute Layer.dxf.color is misused for switching the layer on and off, layer is off if the color value is negative.

Changing the default layer values:

my_lines.dxf.linetype = 'DOTTED'
my_lines.color = 13  # preserves on/off state of layer


SEE ALSO:

For all methods and attributes see class Layer.


Check Available Layers

The layers object supports some standard Python protocols:

# iteration
for layer in doc.layers:

if layer.dxf.name != '0':
layer.off() # switch all layers off except layer '0' # check for existing layer definition if 'MyLines' in doc.layers:
layer = doc.layers.get('MyLines') layer_count = len(doc.layers) # total count of layer definitions


Deleting a Layer

Delete a layer definition:

doc.layers.remove('MyLines')


This just deletes the layer definition, all DXF entities with the DXF attribute layer set to 'MyLines' are still there, but if they inherit color and/or linetype from the layer definition they will be drawn now with linetype 'Continuous' and color 1.

Tutorial for Blocks

What are Blocks?

Blocks are collections of DXF entities which can be placed multiply times as block references in different layouts and other block definitions. The block reference (Insert) can be rotated, scaled, placed in 3D by OCS and arranged in a grid like manner, each Insert entity can have individual attributes (Attrib) attached.

Create a Block

Blocks are managed as BlockLayout by a BlocksSection object, every drawing has only one blocks section stored in the attribute: Drawing.blocks.

import ezdxf
import random  # needed for random placing points
def get_random_point():

"""Returns random x, y coordinates."""
x = random.randint(-100, 100)
y = random.randint(-100, 100)
return x, y # Create a new drawing in the DXF format of AutoCAD 2010 doc = ezdxf.new('R2010') # Create a block with the name 'FLAG' flag = doc.blocks.new(name='FLAG') # Add DXF entities to the block 'FLAG'. # The default base point (= insertion point) of the block is (0, 0). flag.add_lwpolyline([(0, 0), (0, 5), (4, 3), (0, 3)]) # the flag symbol as 2D polyline flag.add_circle((0, 0), .4, dxfattribs={'color': 2}) # mark the base point with a circle


Block References (Insert)

A block reference is a DXF Insert entity and can be placed in any layout: Modelspace, any Paperspace or BlockLayout (which enables nested block references). Every block reference can be scaled and rotated individually.

Lets insert some random flags into the modelspace:

# Get the modelspace of the drawing.
msp = doc.modelspace()
# Get 50 random placing points.
placing_points = [get_random_point() for _ in range(50)]
for point in placing_points:

# Every flag has a different scaling and a rotation of -15 deg.
random_scale = 0.5 + random.random() * 2.0
# Add a block reference to the block named 'FLAG' at the coordinates 'point'.
msp.add_blockref('FLAG', point, dxfattribs={
'xscale': random_scale,
'yscale': random_scale,
'rotation': -15
}) # Save the drawing. doc.saveas("blockref_tutorial.dxf")


Query all block references of block FLAG:

for flag_ref in msp.query('INSERT[name=="FLAG"]'):

print(str(flag_ref))


What are Attributes?

An attribute (Attrib) is a text annotation attached to a block reference with an associated tag. Attributes are often used to add information to blocks which can be evaluated and exported by CAD programs. An attribute can be visible or hidden. The simple way to use attributes is just to add an attribute to a block reference by Insert.add_attrib(), but the attribute is geometrically not related to the block reference, so you have to calculate the insertion point, rotation and scaling of the attribute by yourself.

Using Attribute Definitions

The second way to use attributes in block references is a two step process, first step is to create an attribute definition (template) in the block definition, the second step is adding the block reference by Layout.add_blockref() and attach and fill attribute automatically by the add_auto_attribs() method to the block reference. The advantage of this method is that all attributes are placed relative to the block base point with the same rotation and scaling as the block, but has the disadvantage that non uniform scaling is not handled very well. The method Layout.add_auto_blockref() handles non uniform scaling better by wrapping the block reference and its attributes into an anonymous block and let the CAD application do the transformation work which will create correct graphical representations at least by AutoCAD and BricsCAD. This method has the disadvantage of a more complex evaluation of attached attributes

Using attribute definitions (Attdef):

# Define some attributes for the block 'FLAG', placed relative
# to the base point, (0, 0) in this case.
flag.add_attdef('NAME', (0.5, -0.5), dxfattribs={'height': 0.5, 'color': 3})
flag.add_attdef('XPOS', (0.5, -1.0), dxfattribs={'height': 0.25, 'color': 4})
flag.add_attdef('YPOS', (0.5, -1.5), dxfattribs={'height': 0.25, 'color': 4})
# Get another 50 random placing points.
placing_points = [get_random_point() for _ in range(50)]
for number, point in enumerate(placing_points):

# values is a dict with the attribute tag as item-key and
# the attribute text content as item-value.
values = {
'NAME': "P(%d)" % (number + 1),
'XPOS': "x = %.3f" % point[0],
'YPOS': "y = %.3f" % point[1]
}
# Every flag has a different scaling and a rotation of +15 deg.
random_scale = 0.5 + random.random() * 2.0
blockref = msp.add_blockref('FLAG', point, dxfattribs={
'rotation': 15
}).set_scale(random_scale)
blockref.add_auto_attribs(values) # Save the drawing. doc.saveas("auto_blockref_tutorial.dxf")


Get/Set Attributes of Existing Block References

See the howto: howto_get_attribs

Evaluate Wrapped Block References

As mentioned above evaluation of block references wrapped into anonymous blocks is complex:

# Collect all anonymous block references starting with '*U'
anonymous_block_refs = modelspace.query('INSERT[name ? "^\*U.+"]')
# Collect real references to 'FLAG'
flag_refs = []
for block_ref in anonymous_block_refs:

# Get the block layout of the anonymous block
block = doc.blocks.get(block_ref.dxf.name)
# Find all block references to 'FLAG' in the anonymous block
flag_refs.extend(block.query('INSERT[name=="FLAG"]')) # Evaluation example: collect all flag names. flag_numbers = [flag.get_attrib_text('NAME') for flag in flag_refs if flag.has_attrib('NAME')] print(flag_numbers)


Exploding Block References

New in version 0.12.

This is an advanced and still experimental feature and because ezdxf is still not a CAD application, the results may no be perfect. Non uniform scaling lead to incorrect results for text entities (TEXT, MTEXT, ATTRIB) and some other entities like HATCH with arc or ellipse path segments.

By default the “exploded” entities are added to the same layout as the block reference is located.

for flag_ref in msp.query('INSERT[name=="FLAG"]'):

flag_ref.explode()


Examine Entities of Block References

New in version 0.12.

If you just want to examine the entities of a block reference use the virtual_entities() method. This methods yields “virtual” entities with attributes identical to “exploded” entities but they are not stored in the entity database, have no handle and are not assigned to any layout.

for flag_ref in msp.query('INSERT[name=="FLAG"]'):

for entity in flag_ref.virtual_entities():
if entity.dxftype() == 'LWPOLYLINE':
print(f'Found {str(entity)}.')


Tutorial for LWPolyline

The LWPolyline is defined as a single graphic entity, which differs from the old-style Polyline entity, which is defined as a group of sub-entities. LWPolyline display faster (in AutoCAD) and consume less disk space, it is a planar element, therefore all points in OCS as (x, y) tuples (LWPolyline.dxf.elevation is the z-axis value).

Create a simple polyline:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('R2000')
msp = doc.modelspace()
points = [(0, 0), (3, 0), (6, 3), (6, 6)]
msp.add_lwpolyline(points)
doc.saveas("lwpolyline1.dxf")


Append multiple points to a polyline:

doc = ezdxf.readfile("lwpolyline1.dxf")
msp = doc.modelspace()
line = msp.query('LWPOLYLINE')[0]  # take first LWPolyline
line.append_points([(8, 7), (10, 7)])
doc.saveas("lwpolyline2.dxf")


Getting points always returns a 5-tuple (x, y, start_width, ent_width, bulge), start_width, end_width and bulge is 0 if not present:

first_point = line[0]
x, y, start_width, end_width, bulge = first_point


Use context manager to edit polyline points, this method was introduced because accessing single points was very slow, but since ezdxf v0.8.9, direct access by index operator [] is very fast and using the context manager is not required anymore. Advantage of the context manager is the ability to use a user defined point format:

doc = ezdxf.readfile("lwpolyline2.dxf")
msp = doc.modelspace()
line = msp.query('LWPOLYLINE').first # take first LWPolyline, 'first' was introduced with v0.10
with line.points('xyseb') as points:

# points is a standard python list
# existing points are 5-tuples, but new points can be
# set as (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple
# set start_width, end_width to 0 to be ignored (x, y, 0, 0, bulge).
del points[-2:] # delete last 2 points
points.extend([(4, 7), (0, 7)]) # adding 2 other points
# the same as one command
# points[-2:] = [(4, 7), (0, 7)] doc.saveas("lwpolyline3.dxf")


Each line segment can have a different start- and end-width, if omitted start- and end-width is 0:

doc = ezdxf.new('R2000')
msp = doc.modelspace()
# point format = (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]])
# set start_width, end_width to 0 to be ignored (x, y, 0, 0, bulge).
points = [(0, 0, .1, .15), (3, 0, .2, .25), (6, 3, .3, .35), (6, 6)]
msp.add_lwpolyline(points)
doc.saveas("lwpolyline4.dxf")


The first point carries the start- and end-width of the first segment, the second point of the second segment and so on, the start- and end-width value of the last point is used for the closing segment if polyline is closed else the values are ignored. Start- and end-width only works if the DXF attribute dxf.const_width is unset, to be sure delete it:

del line.dxf.const_width # no exception will be raised if const_width is already unset


LWPolyline can also have curved elements, they are defined by the bulge value:

doc = ezdxf.new('R2000')
msp = doc.modelspace()
# point format = (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]])
# set start_width, end_width to 0 to be ignored (x, y, 0, 0, bulge).
points = [(0, 0, 0, .05), (3, 0, .1, .2, -.5), (6, 0, .1, .05), (9, 0)]
msp.add_lwpolyline(points)
doc.saveas("lwpolyline5.dxf")


[image]

The curved segment is drawn from the point which defines the bulge value to the following point, the curved segment is always aa arc, The bulge value defines the ratio of the arc sagitta (segment height h) to half line segment length (point distance), a bulge value of 1 defines a semicircle. bulge > 0 the curve is on the right side of the vertex connection line, bulge < 0 the curve is on the left side.

ezdxf v0.8.9 supports a user defined points format, default is xyseb:

  • x = x coordinate
  • y = y coordinate
  • s = start width
  • e = end width
  • b = bulge value
  • v = (x, y) as tuple



msp.add_lwpolyline([(0, 0, 0), (10, 0, 1), (20, 0, 0)], format='xyb')
msp.add_lwpolyline([(0, 10, 0), (10, 10, .5), (20, 10, 0)], format='xyb')


[image]

Tutorial for Text

Add a simple one line text entity by factory function add_text().

import ezdxf
# TEXT is a basic entity and is supported by every DXF version.
# Argument setup=True for adding standard linetypes and text styles.
doc = ezdxf.new('R12', setup=True)
msp = doc.modelspace()
# use set_pos() for proper TEXT alignment:
# The relations between DXF attributes 'halign', 'valign',
# 'insert' and 'align_point' are tricky.
msp.add_text("A Simple Text").set_pos((2, 3), align='MIDDLE_RIGHT')
# Using a text style
msp.add_text("Text Style Example: Liberation Serif",

dxfattribs={
'style': 'LiberationSerif',
'height': 0.35}
).set_pos((2, 6), align='LEFT') doc.saveas("simple_text.dxf")


Valid text alignments for argument align in Text.set_pos():

Vert/Horiz Left Center Right
Top TOP_LEFT TOP_CENTER TOP_RIGHT
Middle MIDDLE_LEFT MIDDLE_CENTER MIDDLE_RIGHT
Bottom BOTTOM_LEFT BOTTOM_CENTER BOTTOM_RIGHT
Baseline LEFT CENTER RIGHT

Special alignments are ALIGNED and FIT, they require a second alignment point, the text is justified with the vertical alignment Baseline on the virtual line between these two points.

Alignment Description
ALIGNED Text is stretched or compressed to fit exactly between p1 and p2 and the text height is also adjusted to preserve height/width ratio.
FIT Text is stretched or compressed to fit exactly between p1 and p2 but only the text width is adjusted, the text height is fixed by the height attribute.
MIDDLE also a special adjustment, but the result is the same as for MIDDLE_CENTER.

Standard Text Styles

Setup some standard text styles and linetypes by argument setup=True:

doc = ezdxf.new('R12', setup=True)


Replaced all proprietary font declarations in setup_styles() (ARIAL, ARIAL_NARROW, ISOCPEUR and TIMES) by open source fonts, this is also the style name (e.g. {'style': 'OpenSans-Italic'}): [image]

New Text Style

Creating a new text style is simple:

doc.styles.new('myStandard', dxfattribs={'font' : 'OpenSans-Regular.ttf'})


But getting the correct font name is often not that simple, especially on Windows. This shows the required steps to get the font name for Open Sans:

  • open font folder c:\windows\fonts
  • select and open the font-family Open Sans
  • right-click on Open Sans Standard and select Properties
  • on top of the first tab you see the font name: 'OpenSans-Regular.ttf'



The style name has to be unique in the DXF document, else ezdxf will raise an DXFTableEntryError exception. To replace an existing entry, delete the existing entry by doc.styles.remove(name), and add the replacement entry.

3D Text

It is possible to place the 2D Text entity into 3D space by using the OCS, for further information see: tut_ocs.

Tutorial for MText

The MText entity is a multi line entity with extended formatting possibilities and requires at least DXF version R2000, to use all features (e.g. background fill) DXF R2007 is required.

Prolog code:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('R2007', setup=True)
msp = doc.modelspace()
lorem_ipsum = """
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna
aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation
ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit
esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint
occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia
deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
"""


Adding a MText entity

The MText entity can be added to any layout (modelspace, paperspace or block) by the add_mtext() function.

# store MText entity for additional manipulations
mtext = msp.add_mtext(lorem_ipsum, dxfattribs={'style': 'OpenSans'})


This adds a MText entity with text style 'OpenSans'. The MText content can be accessed by the text attribute, this attribute can be edited like any Python string:

mtext.text += 'Append additional text to the MText entity.'
# even shorter with __iadd__() support:
mtext += 'Append additional text to the MText entity.'


[image]

IMPORTANT:

Line endings \n will be replaced by the MTEXT line endings \P at DXF export, but not vice versa \P by \n at DXF file loading.


Text placement

The location of the MText entity is defined by the MText.dxf.insert and the MText.dxf.attachment_point attributes. The attachment_point defines the text alignment relative to the insert location, default value is 1.

Attachment point constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:

MText.dxf.attachment_point Value
MTEXT_TOP_LEFT 1
MTEXT_TOP_CENTER 2
MTEXT_TOP_RIGHT 3
MTEXT_MIDDLE_LEFT 4
MTEXT_MIDDLE_CENTER 5
MTEXT_MIDDLE_RIGHT 6
MTEXT_BOTTOM_LEFT 7
MTEXT_BOTTOM_CENTER 8
MTEXT_BOTTOM_RIGHT 9

The MText entity has a method for setting insert, attachment_point and rotation attributes by one call: set_location()

Character height

The character height is defined by the DXF attribute MText.dxf.char_height in drawing units, which has also consequences for the line spacing of the MText entity:

mtext.dxf.char_height = 0.5


The character height can be changed inline, see also MText formatting and mtext_inline_codes.

Text rotation (direction)

The MText.dxf.rotation attribute defines the text rotation as angle between the x-axis and the horizontal direction of the text in degrees. The MText.dxf.text_direction attribute defines the horizontal direction of MText as vector in WCS or OCS, if an OCS is defined. Both attributes can be present at the same entity, in this case the MText.dxf.text_direction attribute has the higher priority.

The MText entity has two methods to get/set rotation: get_rotation() returns the rotation angle in degrees independent from definition as angle or direction, and set_rotation() set the rotation attribute and removes the text_direction attribute if present.

Defining a wrapping border

The wrapping border limits the text width and forces a line break for text beyond this border. Without attribute dxf.width (or setting 0) the lines are wrapped only at the regular line endings \P or \n, setting the reference column width forces additional line wrappings at the given width. The text height can not be limited, the text always occupies as much space as needed.

mtext.dxf.width = 60


[image]

MText formatting

MText supports inline formatting by special codes: mtext_inline_codes

mtext.text = "{\\C1red text} - {\\C3green text} - {\\C5blue text}"


[image]

Stacked text

MText also supports stacked text:

# the space ' ' in front of 'Lower' anr the ';' behind 'Lower' are necessary
# combined with vertical center alignment
mtext.text = "\\A1\\SUpper^ Lower; - \\SUpper/ Lower;} - \\SUpper# Lower;"


[image]

Available helper function for text formatting:

  • set_color() - append text color change
  • set_font() - append text font change
  • add_stacked_text() - append stacked text



Background color (filling)

The MText entity can have a background filling:

  • ACI
  • true color value as (r, g, b) tuple
  • color name as string, use special name 'canvas' to use the canvas background color



Because of the complex dependencies ezdxf provides a method to set all required DXF attributes at once:

mtext.set_bg_color(2, scale=1.5)


The parameter scale determines how much border there is around the text, the value is based on the text height, and should be in the range of 1 - 5, where 1 fits exact the MText entity. [image]

Tutorial for Spline

Background information about B-spline at Wikipedia.

Splines from fit points

Splines can be defined by fit points only, this means the curve goes through all given fit points. AutoCAD and BricsCAD generates required control points and knot values by itself, if only fit points are present.

Create a simple spline:

doc = ezdxf.new('R2000')
fit_points = [(0, 0, 0), (750, 500, 0), (1750, 500, 0), (2250, 1250, 0)]
msp = doc.modelspace()
spline = msp.add_spline(fit_points)


[image]

Append a fit point to a spline:

# fit_points, control_points, knots and weights are list-like containers:
spline.fit_points.append((2250, 2500, 0))


[image]

You can set additional control points, but if they do not fit the auto-generated AutoCAD values, they will be ignored and don’t mess around with knot values.

Solve problems of incorrect values after editing a spline generated by AutoCAD:

doc = ezdxf.readfile("AutoCAD_generated.dxf")
msp = doc.modelspace()
spline = msp.query('SPLINE').first
# fit_points, control_points, knots and weights are list-like objects:
spline.fit_points.append((2250, 2500, 0))


As far as I have tested, this approach works without complaints from AutoCAD, but for the case of problems remove invalid data:

# current control points do not match spline defined by fit points
spline.control_points = []
# count of knots is not correct:
# count of knots = count of control points + degree + 1
spline.knots = []
# same for weights, count of weights == count of control points
spline.weights = []


Splines by control points

To create splines from fit points is the easiest way to create splines, but this method is also the least accurate, because a spline is defined by control points and knot values, which are generated for the case of a definition by fit points, and the worst fact is that for every given set of fit points exist an infinite number of possible splines as solution.

AutoCAD (and BricsCAD also) uses an proprietary algorithm to generate control points and knot values from fit points, which differs from the well documented Global Curve Interpolation. Therefore splines generated from fit points by ezdxf do not match splines generated by AutoCAD (BricsCAD).

To ensure the same spline geometry for all CAD applications, the spline has to be defined by control points. The method add_spline_control_frame() adds a spline trough fit points by calculating the control points by the Global Curve Interpolation algorithm. There is also a low level function ezdxf.math.global_bspline_interpolation() which calculates the control points from fit points.

msp.add_spline_control_frame(fit_points, method='uniform', dxfattribs={'color': 1})
msp.add_spline_control_frame(fit_points, method='chord', dxfattribs={'color': 3})
msp.add_spline_control_frame(fit_points, method='centripetal', dxfattribs={'color': 5})


  • black curve: AutoCAD/BricsCAD spline generated from fit points
  • red curve: spline curve interpolation, “uniform” method
  • green curve: spline curve interpolation, “chord” method
  • blue curve: spline curve interpolation, “centripetal” method

[image]

Open Spline

Add and open (clamped) spline defined by control points with the method add_open_spline(). If no knot values are given, an open uniform knot vector will be generated. A clamped B-spline starts at the first control point and ends at the last control point.

control_points = [(0, 0, 0), (1250, 1560, 0), (3130, 610, 0), (2250, 1250, 0)]
msp.add_open_spline(control_points)


[image]

Closed Spline

A closed spline is continuous closed curve.

msp.add_closed_spline(control_points)


[image]

Rational Spline

Rational B-splines have a weight for every control point, which can raise or lower the influence of the control point, default weight = 1, to lower the influence set a weight < 1 to raise the influence set a weight > 1. The count of weights has to be always equal to the count of control points.

Example to raise the influence of the first control point:

msp.add_closed_rational_spline(control_points, weights=[3, 1, 1, 1])


[image]

Spline properties

Check if spline is a closed curve or close/open spline, for a closed spline the last point is connected to the first point:

if spline.closed:

# this spline is closed
pass # close spline spline.closed = True # open spline spline.closed = False


Set start- and end tangent for splines defined by fit points:

spline.dxf.start_tangent = (0, 1, 0)  # in y-axis
spline.dxf.end_tangent = (1, 0, 0)  # in x-axis


Get data count as stored in DXF file:

count = spline.dxf.n_fit_points
count = spline.dxf.n_control_points
count = spline.dxf.n_knots


Get data count of real existing data:

count = spline.fit_point_count
count = spline.control_point_count
count = spline.knot_count


Tutorial for Polyface

coming soon …

Tutorial for Mesh

Create a cube mesh by direct access to base data structures:

import ezdxf
# 8 corner vertices
cube_vertices = [

(0, 0, 0),
(1, 0, 0),
(1, 1, 0),
(0, 1, 0),
(0, 0, 1),
(1, 0, 1),
(1, 1, 1),
(0, 1, 1), ] # 6 cube faces cube_faces = [
[0, 1, 2, 3],
[4, 5, 6, 7],
[0, 1, 5, 4],
[1, 2, 6, 5],
[3, 2, 6, 7],
[0, 3, 7, 4] ] doc = ezdxf.new('R2000') # MESH requires DXF R2000 or later msp = doc.modelspace() mesh = msp.add_mesh() mesh.dxf.subdivision_levels = 0 # do not subdivide cube, 0 is the default value with mesh.edit_data() as mesh_data:
mesh_data.vertices = cube_vertices
mesh_data.faces = cube_faces doc.saveas("cube_mesh_1.dxf")


Create a cube mesh by method calls:

import ezdxf
# 8 corner vertices
p = [

(0, 0, 0),
(1, 0, 0),
(1, 1, 0),
(0, 1, 0),
(0, 0, 1),
(1, 0, 1),
(1, 1, 1),
(0, 1, 1), ] doc = ezdxf.new('R2000') # MESH requires DXF R2000 or later msp = doc.modelspace() mesh = msp.add_mesh() with mesh.edit_data() as mesh_data:
mesh_data.add_face([p[0], p[1], p[2], p[3]])
mesh_data.add_face([p[4], p[5], p[6], p[7]])
mesh_data.add_face([p[0], p[1], p[5], p[4]])
mesh_data.add_face([p[1], p[2], p[6], p[5]])
mesh_data.add_face([p[3], p[2], p[6], p[7]])
mesh_data.add_face([p[0], p[3], p[7], p[4]])
mesh_data.optimize() # optional, minimizes vertex count doc.saveas("cube_mesh_2.dxf")


Tutorial for Hatch

Create hatches with one boundary path

The simplest form of the Hatch entity has one polyline path with only straight lines as boundary path:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('R2000')  # hatch requires the DXF R2000 (AC1015) format or later
msp = doc.modelspace()  # adding entities to the model space
hatch = msp.add_hatch(color=2)  # by default a solid fill hatch with fill color=7 (white/black)
# every boundary path is always a 2D element
# vertex format for the polyline path is: (x, y[, bulge])
# there are no bulge values in this example
hatch.paths.add_polyline_path([(0, 0), (10, 0), (10, 10), (0, 10)], is_closed=1)
doc.saveas("solid_hatch_polyline_path.dxf")


But like all polyline entities the polyline path can also have bulge values:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('R2000')  # hatch requires the DXF R2000 (AC1015) format or later
msp = doc.modelspace()  # adding entities to the model space
hatch = msp.add_hatch(color=2)  # by default a solid fill hatch with fill color=7 (white/black)
# every boundary path is always a 2D element
# vertex format for the polyline path is: (x, y[, bulge])
# bulge value 1 = an arc with diameter=10 (= distance to next vertex * bulge value)
# bulge value > 0 ... arc is right of line
# bulge value < 0 ... arc is left of line
hatch.paths.add_polyline_path([(0, 0, 1), (10, 0), (10, 10, -0.5), (0, 10)], is_closed=1)
doc.saveas("solid_hatch_polyline_path_with_bulge.dxf")


The most flexible way to define a boundary path is the edge path. An edge path consist of a number of edges and each edge can be one of the following elements:

  • line EdgePath.add_line()
  • arc EdgePath.add_arc()
  • ellipse EdgePath.add_ellipse()
  • spline EdgePath.add_spline()



Create a solid hatch with an edge path (ellipse) as boundary path:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('R2000')  # hatch requires the DXF R2000 (AC1015) format or later
msp = doc.modelspace()  # adding entities to the model space
# important: major axis >= minor axis (ratio <= 1.)
# minor axis length = major axis length * ratio
msp.add_ellipse((0, 0), major_axis=(0, 10), ratio=0.5)
# by default a solid fill hatch with fill color=7 (white/black)
hatch = msp.add_hatch(color=2)
# every boundary path is always a 2D element
edge_path = hatch.paths.add_edge_path()
# each edge path can contain line arc, ellipse and spline elements
# important: major axis >= minor axis (ratio <= 1.)
edge_path.add_ellipse((0, 0), major_axis=(0, 10), ratio=0.5)
doc.saveas("solid_hatch_ellipse.dxf")


Create hatches with multiple boundary paths (islands)

The DXF atribute hatch_style defines the island detection style:

0 nested - altering filled and unfilled areas
1 outer - area between external and outermost path is filled
2 ignore - external path is filled

hatch = msp.add_hatch(color=1, dxfattribs={

'hatch_style': 0,
# 0 = nested
# 1 = outer
# 2 = ignore }) # The first path has to set flag: 1 = external # flag const.BOUNDARY_PATH_POLYLINE is added (OR) automatically hatch.paths.add_polyline_path([(0, 0), (10, 0), (10, 10), (0, 10)], is_closed=1, flags=1)


This is also the result for all 4 paths and hatch_style set to 2 (ignore). [image]

# The second path has to set flag: 16 = outermost
hatch.paths.add_polyline_path([(1, 1), (9, 1), (9, 9), (1, 9)], is_closed=1, flags=16)


This is also the result for all 4 paths and hatch_style set to 1 (outer). [image]

# The third path has to set flag: 0 = default
hatch.paths.add_polyline_path([(2, 2), (8, 2), (8, 8), (2, 8)], is_closed=1, flags=0)


[image]

# The forth path has to set flag: 0 = default, and so on
hatch.paths.add_polyline_path([(3, 3), (7, 3), (7, 7), (3, 7)], is_closed=1, flags=0)


[image]

The expected result of combinations of various hatch_style values and paths flags, or the handling of overlapping paths is not documented by the DXF reference, so don’t ask me, ask Autodesk or just try it by yourself and post your experience in the forum.

Example for Edge Path Boundary

hatch = msp.add_hatch(color=1)
# 1. polyline path
hatch.paths.add_polyline_path([

(240, 210, 0),
(0, 210, 0),
(0, 0, 0.),
(240, 0, 0), ],
is_closed=1,
flags=1, ) # 2. edge path edge_path = hatch.paths.add_edge_path(flags=16) edge_path.add_spline(
control_points=[
(126.658105895725, 177.0823706957212),
(141.5497003747484, 187.8907860433995),
(205.8997365206943, 154.7946313459515),
(113.0168862297068, 117.8189380884978),
(202.9816918983783, 63.17222935389572),
(157.363511042264, 26.4621294342132),
(144.8204003260554, 28.4383294369643)
],
knot_values=[
0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 55.20174685732758, 98.33239645153571,
175.1126541251052, 213.2061566683142, 213.2061566683142,
213.2061566683142, 213.2061566683142
], ) edge_path.add_arc(
center=(152.6378550678883, 128.3209356351659),
radius=100.1880612627354,
start_angle=94.4752130054052,
end_angle=177.1345242028005, ) edge_path.add_line(
(52.57506282464041, 123.3124200796114),
(126.658105895725, 177.0823706957212) )


[image]

Associative Boundary Paths

A HATCH entity can be associative to a base geometry, which means if the base geometry is edited in a CAD application the HATCH get the same modification. Because ezdxf is not a CAD application, this association is not maintained nor verified by ezdxf, so if you modify the base geometry afterwards the geometry of the boundary path is not updated and no verification is done to check if the associated geometry matches the boundary path, this opens many possibilities to create invalid DXF files: USE WITH CARE.

This example associates a LWPOLYLINE entity to the hatch created from the LWPOLYLINE vertices:

# Create base geometry
lwpolyline = msp.add_lwpolyline(

[(0, 0, 0), (10, 0, .5), (10, 10, 0), (0, 10, 0)],
format='xyb',
dxfattribs={'closed': True}, ) hatch = msp.add_hatch(color=1) path = hatch.paths.add_polyline_path(
# get path vertices from associated LWPOLYLINE entity
lwpolyline.get_points(format='xyb'),
# get closed state also from associated LWPOLYLINE entity
is_closed=lwpolyline.closed, ) # Set association between boundary path and LWPOLYLINE hatch.associate(path, [lwpolyline])


An EdgePath needs associations to all geometry entities forming the boundary path.

Predefined Hatch Pattern

Use predefined hatch pattern by name:

hatch.set_pattern_fill('ANSI31', scale=0.5)


[image]

Create hatches with gradient fill

TODO

Tutorial for Hatch Pattern Definition

TODO

Tutorial for Image and ImageDef

Insert a raster image into a DXF drawing, the raster image is NOT embedded into the DXF file:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('AC1015')  # image requires the DXF R2000 format or later
my_image_def = doc.add_image_def(filename='mycat.jpg', size_in_pixel=(640, 360))
# The IMAGEDEF entity is like a block definition, it just defines the image
msp = doc.modelspace()
# add first image
msp.add_image(insert=(2, 1), size_in_units=(6.4, 3.6), image_def=my_image_def, rotation=0)
# The IMAGE entity is like the INSERT entity, it creates an image reference,
# and there can be multiple references to the same picture in a drawing.
msp.add_image(insert=(4, 5), size_in_units=(3.2, 1.8), image_def=my_image_def, rotation=30)
# get existing image definitions, Important: IMAGEDEFs resides in the objects section
image_defs = doc.objects.query('IMAGEDEF')  # get all image defs in drawing
doc.saveas("dxf_with_cat.dxf")


Tutorial for Underlay and UnderlayDefinition

Insert a PDF, DWF, DWFx or DGN file as drawing underlay, the underlay file is NOT embedded into the DXF file:

import ezdxf
doc = ezdxf.new('AC1015')  # underlay requires the DXF R2000 format or later
my_underlay_def = doc.add_underlay_def(filename='my_underlay.pdf', name='1')
# The (PDF)DEFINITION entity is like a block definition, it just defines the underlay
# 'name' is misleading, because it defines the page/sheet to be displayed
# PDF: name is the page number to display
# DGN: name='default' ???
# DWF: ????
msp = doc.modelspace()
# add first underlay
msp.add_underlay(my_underlay_def, insert=(2, 1, 0), scale=0.05)
# The (PDF)UNDERLAY entity is like the INSERT entity, it creates an underlay reference,
# and there can be multiple references to the same underlay in a drawing.
msp.add_underlay(my_underlay_def, insert=(4, 5, 0), scale=.5, rotation=30)
# get existing underlay definitions, Important: UNDERLAYDEFs resides in the objects section
pdf_defs = doc.objects.query('PDFDEFINITION')  # get all pdf underlay defs in drawing
doc.saveas("dxf_with_underlay.dxf")


Tutorial for Linetypes

Simple line type example: [image]

You can define your own line types. A DXF linetype definition consists of name, description and elements:

elements = [total_pattern_length, elem1, elem2, ...]


Sum of all linetype elements (absolute vaues)
if elem > 0 it is a line, if elem < 0 it is gap, if elem == 0.0 it is a dot

Create a new linetype definition:

import ezdxf
from ezdxf.tools.standards import linetypes  # some predefined line types
doc = ezdxf.new()
msp = modelspace()
my_line_types = [

("DOTTED", "Dotted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .", [0.2, 0.0, -0.2]),
("DOTTEDX2", "Dotted (2x) . . . . . . . . ", [0.4, 0.0, -0.4]),
("DOTTED2", "Dotted (.5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ", [0.1, 0.0, -0.1]), ] for name, desc, pattern in my_line_types:
if name not in doc.linetypes:
doc.linetypes.new(name=name, dxfattribs={'description': desc, 'pattern': pattern})


Setup some predefined linetypes:

for name, desc, pattern in linetypes():

if name not in doc.linetypes:
doc.linetypes.new(name=name, dxfattribs={'description': desc, 'pattern': pattern})


Check Available Linetypes

The linetypes object supports some standard Python protocols:

# iteration
print('available line types:')
for linetype in doc.linetypes:

print('{}: {}'.format(linetype.dxf.name, linetype.dxf.description)) # check for existing line type if 'DOTTED' in doc.linetypes:
pass count = len(doc.linetypes) # total count of linetypes


Removing Linetypes

WARNING:

Deleting of linetypes still in use generates invalid DXF files.


You can delete a linetype:

doc.layers.remove('DASHED')


This just deletes the linetype definition, all DXF entity with the DXF attribute linetype set to DASHED still refers to linetype DASHED and AutoCAD will not open DXF files with undefined line types.

Tutorial for Complex Linetypes

In DXF R13 Autodesk introduced complex line types, containing TEXT or SHAPES in line types. ezdxf v0.8.4 and later supports complex line types.

Complex line type example with text: [image]

Complex line type example with shapes: [image]

For simplicity the pattern string for complex line types is mostly the same string as the pattern definition strings in AutoCAD .lin files.

Example for complex line type TEXT:

doc = ezdxf.new('R2018')  # DXF R13 or later is required
doc.linetypes.new('GASLEITUNG2', dxfattribs={

'description': 'Gasleitung2 ----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS--',
'length': 1, # required for complex line types
# line type definition in acadlt.lin:
'pattern': 'A,.5,-.2,["GAS",STANDARD,S=.1,U=0.0,X=-0.1,Y=-.05],-.25', })


The pattern always starts with an A, the following float values have the same meaning as for simple line types, a value > 0 is a line, a value < 0 is a gap, and a 0 is a point, the [ starts the complex part of the line pattern. A following text in quotes defines a TEXT type, a following text without quotes defines a SHAPE type, in .lin files the shape type is a shape name, but ezdxf can not translate this name into the required shape file index, so YOU have to translate this name into the shape file index (e.g. saving the file with AutoCAD as DXF and searching for the line type definition, see also DXF Internals: ltype_table_internals).

The second parameter is the text style for a TEXT type and the shape file name for the SHAPE type, the shape file has to be in the same directory as the DXF file. The following parameters in the scheme of S=1.0 are:

  • S … scaling factor, always > 0, if S=0 the TEXT or SHAPE is not visible
  • R or U … rotation relative to the line direction
  • X … x direction offset (along the line)
  • Y … y direction offset (perpendicular to the line)



The parameters are case insensitive. ] ends the complex part of the line pattern.

The fine tuning of this parameters is still a try an error process for me, for TEXT the scaling factor (STANDARD text style) sets the text height (S=.1 the text is .1 units in height), by shifting in y direction by half of the scaling factor, the center of the text is on the line. For the x direction it seems to be a good practice to place a gap in front of the text and after the text, find x shifting value and gap sizes by try and error. The overall length is at least the sum of all line and gap definitions (absolute values).

Example for complex line type SHAPE:

doc.linetypes.new('GRENZE2', dxfattribs={

'description': 'Grenze eckig ----[]-----[]----[]-----[]----[]--',
'length': 1.45, # required for complex line types
# line type definition in acadlt.lin:
# A,.25,-.1,[BOX,ltypeshp.shx,x=-.1,s=.1],-.1,1
# replacing BOX by shape index 132 (got index from an AutoCAD file),
# ezdxf can't get shape index from ltypeshp.shx
'pattern': 'A,.25,-.1,[132,ltypeshp.shx,x=-.1,s=.1],-.1,1', })


Complex line types with shapes only work if the associated shape file (ltypeshp.shx) and the DXF file are in the same directory.

Tutorial for OCS/UCS Usage

For OCS/UCS usage is a basic understanding of vectors required, for a brush up, watch the YouTube tutorials of 3Blue1Brown about Linear Algebra.

Second read the Coordinate Systems introduction please.

For WCS there is not much to say as, it is what it is: the main world coordinate system, and a drawing unit can have any real world unit you want. Autodesk added some mechanism to define a scale for dimension and text entities, but because I am not an AutoCAD user, I am not familiar with it, and further more I think this is more an AutoCAD topic than a DXF topic.

Object Coordinate System (OCS)

The OCS is used to place planar 2D entities in 3D space. ALL points of a planar entity lay in the same plane, this is also true if the plane is located in 3D space by an OCS. There are three basic DXF attributes that gives a 2D entity its spatial form.

Extrusion

The extrusion vector defines the OCS, it is a normal vector to the base plane of a planar entity. This base plane is always located in the origin of the WCS. But there are some entities like Ellipse, which have an extrusion vector, but do not establish an OCS. For this entities the extrusion vector defines only the extrusion direction and thickness defines the extrusion distance, but all other points in WCS.

Elevation

The elevation value defines the z-axis value for all points of a planar entity, this is an OCS value, and defines the distance of the entity plane from the base plane.

This value exists only in output from DXF versions prior to R11 as separated DXF attribute (group code 38). In DXF R12 and later, the elevation value is supplied as z-axis value of each point. But as always in DXF, this simple rule does not apply to all entities: LWPolyline and Hatch have an DXF attribute elevation, where the z-axis of this point is the elevation height and the x-axis = y-axis = 0.

Thickness

Defines the extrusion distance for an entity.

NOTE:

There is a new edition of this tutorial using UCS based transformation, which are available in ezdxf v0.11 and later: tut_ucs_transform

This edition shows the hard way to accomplish the transformations by low level operations.



Placing 2D Circle in 3D Space

The colors for axis follow the AutoCAD standard:

  • red is x-axis
  • green is y-axis
  • blue is z-axis



import ezdxf
from ezdxf.math import OCS
doc = ezdxf.new('R2010')
msp = doc.modelspace()
# For this example the OCS is rotated around x-axis about 45 degree
# OCS z-axis: x=0, y=1, z=1
# extrusion vector must not normalized here
ocs = OCS((0, 1, 1))
msp.add_circle(

# You can place the 2D circle in 3D space
# but you have to convert WCS into OCS
center=ocs.from_wcs((0, 2, 2)),
# center in OCS: (0.0, 0.0, 2.82842712474619)
radius=1,
dxfattribs={
# here the extrusion vector should be normalized,
# which is granted by using the ocs.uz
'extrusion': ocs.uz,
'color': 1,
}) # mark center point of circle in WCS msp.add_point((0, 2, 2), dxfattribs={'color': 1})


The following image shows the 2D circle in 3D space in AutoCAD Left and Front view. The blue line shows the OCS z-axis (extrusion direction), elevation is the distance from the origin to the center of the circle in this case 2.828, and you see that the x- and y-axis of OCS and WCS are not aligned. [image: circle in ocs as side view] [image] [image: circle in ocs as front view] [image]

Placing LWPolyline in 3D Space

For simplicity of calculation I use the UCS class in this example to place a 2D pentagon in 3D space.

# The center of the pentagon should be (0, 2, 2), and the shape is
# rotated around x-axis about 45 degree, to accomplish this I use an
# UCS with z-axis (0, 1, 1) and an x-axis parallel to WCS x-axis.
ucs = UCS(

origin=(0, 2, 2), # center of pentagon
ux=(1, 0, 0), # x-axis parallel to WCS x-axis
uz=(0, 1, 1), # z-axis ) # calculating corner points in local (UCS) coordinates points = [Vector.from_deg_angle((360 / 5) * n) for n in range(5)] # converting UCS into OCS coordinates ocs_points = list(ucs.points_to_ocs(points)) # LWPOLYLINE accepts only 2D points and has an separated DXF attribute elevation. # All points have the same z-axis (elevation) in OCS! elevation = ocs_points[0].z msp.add_lwpolyline(
points=ocs_points,
format='xy', # ignore z-axis
dxfattribs={
'elevation': elevation,
'extrusion': ucs.uz,
'closed': True,
'color': 1,
})


The following image shows the 2D pentagon in 3D space in AutoCAD Left, Front and Top view. The three lines from the center of the pentagon show the UCS, the three colored lines in the origin show the OCS the white lines in the origin show the WCS.

The z-axis of the UCS and the OCS show the same direction (extrusion direction), and the x-axis of the UCS and the WCS show the same direction. The elevation is the distance from the origin to the center of the pentagon and all points of the pentagon have the same elevation, and you see that the y- axis of UCS, OCS and WCS are not aligned. [image: pentagon in ucs as side view] [image] [image: pentagon in ucs as front view] [image]

Using UCS to Place 3D Polyline

It is much simpler to use a 3D Polyline to create the 3D pentagon. The UCS class is handy for this example and all kind of 3D operations.

# Using an UCS simplifies 3D operations, but UCS definition can happen later
# calculating corner points in local (UCS) coordinates without Vector class
angle = math.radians(360 / 5)
corners_ucs = [(math.cos(angle * n), math.sin(angle * n), 0) for n in range(5)]
# let's do some transformations
tmatrix = Matrix44.chain(  # creating a transformation matrix

Matrix44.z_rotate(math.radians(15)), # 1. rotation around z-axis
Matrix44.translate(0, .333, .333), # 2. translation ) transformed_corners_ucs = tmatrix.transform_vertices(corners_ucs) # transform UCS into WCS ucs = UCS(
origin=(0, 2, 2), # center of pentagon
ux=(1, 0, 0), # x-axis parallel to WCS x-axis
uz=(0, 1, 1), # z-axis ) corners_wcs = list(ucs.points_to_wcs(transformed_corners_ucs)) msp.add_polyline3d(
points=corners_wcs,
dxfattribs={
'closed': True,
'color': 1,
}) # add lines from center to corners center_wcs = ucs.to_wcs((0, .333, .333)) for corner in corners_wcs:
msp.add_line(center_wcs, corner, dxfattribs={'color': 1})


[image: 3d poyline with UCS] [image]

Placing 2D Text in 3D Space

The problem by placing text in 3D space is the text rotation, which is always counter clockwise around the OCS z-axis, and 0 degree is in direction of the positive OCS x-axis, and the OCS x-axis is calculated by the Arbitrary Axis Algorithm.

Calculate the OCS rotation angle by converting the TEXT rotation angle (in UCS or WCS) into a vector or begin with text direction as vector, transform this direction vector into OCS and convert the OCS vector back into an angle in the OCS xy-plane (see example), this procedure is available as UCS.to_ocs_angle_deg() or UCS.to_ocs_angle_rad().

AutoCAD supports thickness for the TEXT entity only for .shx fonts and not for true type fonts.

# Thickness for text works only with shx fonts not with true type fonts
doc.styles.new('TXT', dxfattribs={'font': 'romans.shx'})
ucs = UCS(origin=(0, 2, 2), ux=(1, 0, 0), uz=(0, 1, 1))
# calculation of text direction as angle in OCS:
# convert text rotation in degree into a vector in UCS
text_direction = Vector.from_deg_angle(-45)
# transform vector into OCS and get angle of vector in xy-plane
rotation = ucs.to_ocs(text_direction).angle_deg
text = msp.add_text(

text="TEXT",
dxfattribs={
# text rotation angle in degrees in OCS
'rotation': rotation,
'extrusion': ucs.uz,
'thickness': .333,
'color': 1,
'style': 'TXT',
}) # set text position in OCS text.set_pos(ucs.to_ocs((0, 0, 0)), align='MIDDLE_CENTER')


[image: text in ucs as top view] [image] [image: text in ucs as front view] [image]

HINT:

For calculating OCS angles from an UCS, be aware that 2D entities, like TEXT or ARC, are placed parallel to the xy-plane of the UCS.


Placing 2D Arc in 3D Space

Here we have the same problem as for placing text, you need the start and end angle of the arc in degrees in OCS, and this example also shows a shortcut for calculating the OCS angles.

ucs = UCS(origin=(0, 2, 2), ux=(1, 0, 0), uz=(0, 1, 1))
msp.add_arc(

center=ucs.to_ocs((0, 0)),
radius=1,
start_angle=ucs.to_ocs_angle_deg(45),
end_angle=ucs.to_ocs_angle_deg(270),
dxfattribs={
'extrusion': ucs.uz,
'color': 1,
}) center = ucs.to_wcs((0, 0)) msp.add_line(
start=center,
end=ucs.to_wcs(Vector.from_deg_angle(45)),
dxfattribs={'color': 1}, ) msp.add_line(
start=center,
end=ucs.to_wcs(Vector.from_deg_angle(270)),
dxfattribs={'color': 1}, )


[image: arc in ucs as top view] [image] [image: arc in ucs as front view] [image]

Placing Block References in 3D Space

Despite the fact that block references (Insert) can contain true 3D entities like Line or Mesh, the Insert entity uses the same placing principe as Text or Arc shown in the previous chapters.

Simple placing by OCS and rotation about the z-axis, can be achieved the same way as for generic 2D entity types. The DXF attribute Insert.dxf.rotation rotates a block reference around the block z-axis, which is located in the Block.dxf.base_point. To rotate the block reference around the WCS x-axis, a transformation of the block z-axis into the WCS x-axis is required by rotating the block z-axis 90 degree counter clockwise around y-axis by using an UCS:

This is just an excerpt of the important parts, see the whole code of insert.py at github.

# rotate UCS around an arbitrary axis:
def ucs_rotation(ucs: UCS, axis: Vector, angle: float):

# new in ezdxf v0.11: UCS.rotate(axis, angle)
t = Matrix44.axis_rotate(axis, math.radians(angle))
ux, uy, uz = t.transform_vertices([ucs.ux, ucs.uy, ucs.uz])
return UCS(origin=ucs.origin, ux=ux, uy=uy, uz=uz) doc = ezdxf.new('R2010', setup=True) blk = doc.blocks.new('CSYS') setup_csys(blk) msp = doc.modelspace() ucs = ucs_rotation(UCS(), axis=Y_AXIS, angle=90) # transform insert location to OCS insert = ucs.to_ocs((0, 0, 0)) # rotation angle about the z-axis (= WCS x-axis) rotation = ucs.to_ocs_angle_deg(15) msp.add_blockref('CSYS', insert, dxfattribs={
'extrusion': ucs.uz,
'rotation': rotation, })


[image] [image]

To rotate a block reference around another axis than the block z-axis, you have to find the rotated z-axis (extrusion vector) of the rotated block reference, following example rotates the block reference around the block x-axis by 15 degrees:

# t is a transformation matrix to rotate 15 degree around the x-axis
t = Matrix44.axis_rotate(axis=X_AXIS, angle=math.radians(15))
# transform block z-axis into new UCS z-axis (= extrusion vector)
uz = Vector(t.transform(Z_AXIS))
# create new UCS at the insertion point, because we are rotating around the x-axis,
# ux is the same as the WCS x-axis and uz is the rotated z-axis.
ucs = UCS(origin=(1, 2, 0), ux=X_AXIS, uz=uz)
# transform insert location to OCS, block base_point=(0, 0, 0)
insert = ucs.to_ocs((0, 0, 0))
# for this case a rotation around the z-axis is not required
rotation = 0
blockref = msp.add_blockref('CSYS', insert, dxfattribs={

'extrusion': ucs.uz,
'rotation': rotation, })


[image] [image]

The next example shows how to translate a block references with an already established OCS:

# translate a block references with an established OCS
translation = Vector(-3, -1, 1)
# get established OCS
ocs = blockref.ocs()
# get insert location in WCS
actual_wcs_location = ocs.to_wcs(blockref.dxf.insert)
# translate location
new_wcs_location = actual_wcs_location + translation
# convert WCS location to OCS location
blockref.dxf.insert = ocs.from_wcs(new_wcs_location)


Setting a new insert location is the same procedure without adding a translation vector, just transform the new insert location into the OCS. [image] [image]

The next operation is to rotate a block reference with an established OCS, rotation axis is the block y-axis, rotation angle is -90 degrees. First transform block y-axis (rotation axis) and block z-axis (extrusion vector) from OCS into WCS:

# rotate a block references with an established OCS around the block y-axis about 90 degree
ocs = blockref.ocs()
# convert block y-axis (= rotation axis) into WCS vector
rotation_axis = ocs.to_wcs((0, 1, 0))
# convert local z-axis (=extrusion vector) into WCS vector
local_z_axis = ocs.to_wcs((0, 0, 1))


Build transformation matrix and transform extrusion vector and build new UCS:

# build transformation matrix
t = Matrix44.axis_rotate(axis=rotation_axis, angle=math.radians(-90))
uz = t.transform(local_z_axis)
uy = rotation_axis
# the block reference origin stays at the same location, no rotation needed
wcs_insert = ocs.to_wcs(blockref.dxf.insert)
# build new UCS to convert WCS locations and angles into OCS
ucs = UCS(origin=wcs_insert, uy=uy, uz=uz)


Set new OCS attributes, we also have to set the rotation attribute even though we do not rotate the block reference around the local z-axis, the new block x-axis (0 deg) differs from OCS x-axis and has to be adjusted:

# set new OCS
blockref.dxf.extrusion = ucs.uz
# set new insert
blockref.dxf.insert = ucs.to_ocs((0, 0, 0))
# set new rotation: we do not rotate the block reference around the local z-axis,
# but the new block x-axis (0 deg) differs from OCS x-axis and has to be adjusted
blockref.dxf.rotation = ucs.to_ocs_angle_deg(0)


[image] [image]

And here is the point, where my math knowledge ends, for more advanced CAD operation you have to look elsewhere.

Tutorial for UCS Based Transformations

With ezdxf v0.11 a new feature for entity transformation was introduced, which makes working with OCS/UCS much easier, this is a new edition of the older tut_ocs. For the basic information read the old tutorial please. In ezdxf v0.13 the transform_to_wcs() interface was replaced by the general transformation interface: transform().

For this tutorial we don’t have to worry about the OCS and the extrusion vector, this is done automatically by the transform() method of each DXF entity.

Placing 2D Circle in 3D Space

To recreate the situation of the old tutorial instantiate a new UCS and rotate it around the local x-axis. Use UCS coordinates to place the 2D CIRCLE in 3D space, and transform the UCS coordinates to the WCS.

import math
import ezdxf
from ezdxf.math import UCS
doc = ezdxf.new('R2010')
msp = doc.modelspace()
ucs = UCS()  # New default UCS
# All rotation angles in radians, and rotation
# methods always return a new UCS.
ucs = ucs.rotate_local_x(math.radians(-45))
circle = msp.add_circle(

# Use UCS coordinates to place the 2d circle in 3d space
center=(0, 0, 2),
radius=1,
dxfattribs={'color': 1} ) circle.transform(ucs.matrix) # mark center point of circle in WCS msp.add_point((0, 0, 2), dxfattribs={'color': 1}).transform(ucs.matrix)


[image: circle in ucs as side view] [image] [image: circle in ucs as front view] [image]

Placing LWPolyline in 3D Space

Simplified LWPOLYLINE example:

# The center of the pentagon should be (0, 2, 2), and the shape is
# rotated around x-axis about -45 degree
ucs = UCS(origin=(0, 2, 2)).rotate_local_x(math.radians(-45))
msp.add_lwpolyline(

# calculating corner points in UCS coordinates
points=(Vector.from_deg_angle((360 / 5) * n) for n in range(5)),
format='xy', # ignore z-axis
dxfattribs={
'closed': True,
'color': 1,
} ).transform(ucs.matrix)


The 2D pentagon in 3D space in BricsCAD Left and Front view. [image: pentagon in ucs as side view] [image] [image: pentagon in ucs as front view] [image]

Using UCS to Place 3D Polyline

Simplified POLYLINE example: Using a first UCS to transform the POLYLINE and a second UCS to place the POLYLINE in 3D space.

# using an UCS simplifies 3D operations, but UCS definition can happen later
# calculating corner points in local (UCS) coordinates without Vector class
angle = math.radians(360 / 5)
corners_ucs = [(math.cos(angle * n), math.sin(angle * n), 0) for n in range(5)]
# let's do some transformations by UCS
transformation_ucs = UCS().rotate_local_z(math.radians(15))  # 1. rotation around z-axis
transformation_ucs.shift((0, .333, .333))  # 2. translation (inplace)
corners_ucs = list(transformation_ucs.points_to_wcs(corners_ucs))
location_ucs = UCS(origin=(0, 2, 2)).rotate_local_x(math.radians(-45))
msp.add_polyline3d(

points=corners_ucs,
dxfattribs={
'closed': True,
'color': 1,
} ).transform(location_ucs.matrix) # Add lines from the center of the POLYLINE to the corners center_ucs = transformation_ucs.to_wcs((0, 0, 0)) for corner in corners_ucs:
msp.add_line(
center_ucs, corner, dxfattribs={'color': 1}
).transform(location_ucs.matrix)


[image: 3d poyline with UCS] [image]

Placing 2D Text in 3D Space

The problem with the text rotation in the old tutorial disappears (or better it is hidden in transform()) with the new UCS based transformation method:

AutoCAD supports thickness for the TEXT entity only for .shx fonts and not for true type fonts.

# thickness for text works only with shx fonts not with true type fonts
doc.styles.new('TXT', dxfattribs={'font': 'romans.shx'})
ucs = UCS(origin=(0, 2, 2)).rotate_local_x(math.radians(-45))
text = msp.add_text(

text="TEXT",
dxfattribs={
# text rotation angle in degrees in UCS
'rotation': -45,
'thickness': .333,
'color': 1,
'style': 'TXT',
} ) # set text position in UCS text.set_pos((0, 0, 0), align='MIDDLE_CENTER') text.transform(ucs.matrix)


[image: text in ucs as top view] [image] [image: text in ucs as front view] [image]

Placing 2D Arc in 3D Space

Same as for the text example, OCS angle transformation can be ignored:

ucs = UCS(origin=(0, 2, 2)).rotate_local_x(math.radians(-45))
CENTER = (0, 0)
START_ANGLE = 45
END_ANGLE = 270
msp.add_arc(

center=CENTER,
radius=1,
start_angle=START_ANGLE,
end_angle=END_ANGLE,
dxfattribs={'color': 6}, ).transform(ucs.matrix) msp.add_line(
start=CENTER,
end=Vector.from_deg_angle(START_ANGLE),
dxfattribs={'color': 6}, ).transform(ucs.matrix) msp.add_line(
start=CENTER,
end=Vector.from_deg_angle(END_ANGLE),
dxfattribs={'color': 6}, ).transform(ucs.matrix)


[image: arc in ucs as top view] [image] [image: arc in ucs as front view] [image]

Placing Block References in 3D Space

Despite the fact that block references (INSERT) can contain true 3D entities like LINE or MESH, the INSERT entity uses the same placing principe as TEXT or ARC shown in the previous chapters.

To rotate the block reference 15 degrees around the WCS x-axis, we place the block reference in the origin of the UCS, and rotate the UCS 90 degrees around its local y-axis, to align the UCS z-axis with the WCS x-axis:

This is just an excerpt of the important parts, see the whole code of insert.py at github.

doc = ezdxf.new('R2010', setup=True)
blk = doc.blocks.new('CSYS')
setup_csys(blk)
msp = doc.modelspace()
ucs = UCS().rotate_local_y(angle=math.radians(90))
msp.add_blockref(

'CSYS',
insert=(0, 0),
# rotation around the block z-axis (= WCS x-axis)
dxfattribs={'rotation': 15}, ).transform(ucs.matrix)


[image] [image]

A more simple approach is to ignore the rotate attribute at all and just rotate the UCS. To rotate a block reference around any axis rather than the block z-axis, rotate the UCS into the desired position. Following example rotates the block reference around the block x-axis by 15 degrees:

ucs = UCS(origin=(1, 2, 0)).rotate_local_x(math.radians(15))
blockref = msp.add_blockref('CSYS', insert=(0, 0, 0))
blockref.transform(ucs.matrix)


[image] [image]

The next example shows how to translate a block references with an already established OCS:

# New UCS at the translated location, axis aligned to the WCS
ucs = UCS((-3, -1, 1))
# Transform an already placed block reference, including
# the transformation of the established OCS.
blockref.transform(ucs.matrix)


[image] [image]

The next operation is to rotate a block reference with an established OCS, rotation axis is the block y-axis, rotation angle is -90 degrees. The idea is to create an UCS in the origin of the already placed block reference, UCS axis aligned to the block axis and resetting the block reference parameters for a new WCS transformation.

# Get UCS at the block reference insert location, UCS axis aligned
# to the block axis.
ucs = blockref.ucs()
# Rotate UCS around the local y-axis.
ucs = ucs.rotate_local_y(math.radians(-90))


Reset block reference parameters, this places the block reference in the UCS origin and aligns the block axis to the UCS axis, now we do a new transformation from UCS to WCS:

# Reset block reference parameters to place block reference in
# UCS origin, without any rotation and OCS.
blockref.reset_transformation()
# Transform block reference from UCS to WCS
blockref.transform(ucs.matrix)


[image] [image]

Tutorial for Linear Dimensions

The Dimension entity is the generic entity for all dimension types, but unfortunately AutoCAD is not willing to show a dimension line defined only by this dimension entity, it also needs an anonymous block which contains the dimension line shape constructed by basic DXF entities like LINE and TEXT entities, this representation is called the dimension line rendering in this documentation, beside the fact this is not a real graphical rendering. BricsCAD is a much more friendly CAD application, which do show the dimension entity without the graphical rendering as block, which was very useful for testing, because there is no documentation how to apply all the dimension style variables (more than 80). This seems to be the reason why dimension lines are rendered so differently by many CAD application.

Don’t expect to get the same rendering results by ezdxf as you get from AutoCAD, ezdxf tries to be as close to the results rendered by BricsCAD, but it was not possible to implement all the various combinations of dimension style parameters.

Text rendering is another problem, because ezdxf has no real rendering engine. Some font properties, like the real text width, are not available to ezdxf and may also vary slightly for different CAD applications. The text properties in ezdxf are based on the default monospaced standard font, but for TrueType fonts the space around the text is much bigger than needed.

Not all DIMENSION and DIMSTYLE features are supported by all DXF versions, especially DXF R12 does not support many features, but in this case the required rendering of dimension lines is an advantage, because if the application just shows the rendered block, all features which can be used in DXF R12 are displayed like linetypes, but they disappear if the dimension line is edited in the application. ezdxf writes only the supported DIMVARS of the used DXF version to avoid invalid DXF files. So it is not that critical to know all the supported features of a DXF version, except for limits and tolerances, ezdxf uses the advanced features of MTEXT to create limits and tolerances and therefore they are not supported (displayed) in DXF R12 files.

SEE ALSO:

  • Graphical reference of many DIMVARS and some advanced information: dimstyle_table_internals
  • Source code file standards.py shows how to create your own DIMSTYLES.
  • dimension_linear.py for linear dimension examples.



Horizontal Dimension

import ezdxf
# Argument setup=True setups the default dimension styles
doc = ezdxf.new('R2010', setup=True)
# Add new dimension entities to the modelspace
msp = doc.modelspace()
# Add a LINE entity, not required
msp.add_line((0, 0), (3, 0))
# Add a horizontal dimension, default dimension style is 'EZDXF'
dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(0, 0), p2=(3, 0))
# Necessary second step, to create the BLOCK entity with the dimension geometry.
# Additional processing of the dimension line could happen between adding and
# rendering call.
dim.render()
doc.saveas('dim_linear_horiz.dxf')


[image]

The example above creates a horizontal Dimension entity, the default dimension style 'EZDXF' and is defined as 1 drawing unit is 1m in reality, the drawing scale 1:100 and the length factor is 100, which creates a measurement text in cm.

The base point defines the location of the dimension line, ezdxf accepts any point on the dimension line, the point p1 defines the start point of the first extension line, which also defines the first measurement point and the point p2 defines the start point of the second extension line, which also defines the second measurement point.

The return value dim is not a dimension entity, instead a DimStyleOverride object is returned, the dimension entity is stored as dim.dimension.

Vertical and Rotated Dimension

Argument angle defines the angle of the dimension line in relation to the x-axis of the WCS or UCS, measurement is the distance between first and second measurement point in direction of angle.

# assignment to dim is not necessary, if no additional processing happens
msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(0, 0), p2=(3, 0), angle=-30).render()
doc.saveas('dim_linear_rotated.dxf')


[image]

For a vertical dimension set argument angle to 90 degree, but in this example the vertical distance would be 0.

Aligned Dimension

An aligned dimension line is parallel to the line defined by the definition points p1 and p2. The placement of the dimension line is defined by the argument distance, which is the distance between the definition line and the dimension line. The distance of the dimension line is orthogonal to the base line in counter clockwise orientation.

msp.add_line((0, 2), (3, 0))
dim = msp.add_aligned_dim(p1=(0, 2), p2=(3, 0), distance=1)
doc.saveas('dim_linear_aligned.dxf')


[image]

Dimension Style Override

Many dimension styling options are defined by the associated DimStyle entity. But often you wanna change just a few settings without creating a new dimension style, therefore the DXF format has a protocol to store this changed settings in the dimension entity itself. This protocol is supported by ezdxf and every factory function which creates dimension entities supports the override argument. This override argument is a simple Python dictionary (e.g. override = {'dimtad': 4}, place measurement text below dimension line).

The overriding protocol is managed by the DimStyleOverride object, which is returned by the most dimension factory functions.

Placing Measurement Text

The “default” location of the measurement text depends on various DimStyle parameters and is applied if no user defined text location is defined.

Default Text Locations

“Horizontal direction” means in direction of the dimension line and “vertical direction” means perpendicular to the dimension line direction.

The “horizontal” location of the measurement text is defined by dimjust:

0 Center of dimension line
1 Left side of the dimension line, near first extension line
2 Right side of the dimension line, near second extension line
3 Over first extension line
4 Over second extension line

msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(0, 0), p2=(3, 0), override={'dimjust': 1}).render()


[image]

The “vertical” location of the measurement text relative to the dimension line is defined by dimtad:

0 Center, it is possible to adjust the vertical location by dimtvp
1 Above
2 Outside, handled like Above by ezdxf
3 JIS, handled like Above by ezdxf
4 Below

msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(0, 0), p2=(3, 0), override={'dimtad': 4}).render()


[image]

The distance between text and dimension line is defined by dimgap.

The DimStyleOverride object has a method set_text_align() to set the default text location in an easy way, this is also the reason for the 2 step creation process of dimension entities:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(0, 0), p2=(3, 0))
dim.set_text_align(halign='left', valign='center')
dim.render()


halign 'left', 'right', 'center', 'above1', 'above2'
valign 'above', 'center', 'below'

Run function example_for_all_text_placings_R2007() in the example script dimension_linear.py to create a DXF file with all text placings supported by ezdxf.

User Defined Text Locations

Beside the default location, it is possible to locate the measurement text freely.

Location Relative to Origin

The user defined text location can be set by the argument location in most dimension factory functions and always references the midpoint of the measurement text:

msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0), location=(4, 4)).render()


[image]

The location is relative to origin of the active coordinate system or WCS if no UCS is defined in the render() method, the user defined location can also be set by user_location_override().

Location Relative to Center of Dimension Line

The method set_location() has additional features for linear dimensions. Argument leader = True adds a simple leader from the measurement text to the center of the dimension line and argument relative = True places the measurement text relative to the center of the dimension line.

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.set_location(location=(-1, 1), leader=True, relative=True)
dim.render()


[image]

Location Relative to Default Location

The method shift_text() shifts the measurement text away from the default text location. Shifting directions are aligned to the text direction, which is the direction of the dimension line in most cases, dh (for delta horizontal) shifts the text parallel to the text direction, dv (for delta vertical) shifts the text perpendicular to the text direction. This method does not support leaders.

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.shift_text(dh=1, dv=1)
dim.render()


[image]

Measurement Text Formatting and Styling

Text Properties

DIMVAR Description
dimtxsty Specifies the text style of the dimension as Textstyle name.
dimtxt Text height in drawing units.
dimclrt Measurement text color as ACI.

msp.add_linear_dim(

base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0),
override={
'dimtxsty': 'Standard',
'dimtxt': 0.35,
'dimclrt': 1,
}).render()


[image]

Background Filling

Background fillings are supported since DXF R2007, and ezdxf uses the MTEXT entity to implement this feature, so setting background filling in DXF R12 has no effect.

Set dimtfill to 1 to use the canvas color as background filling or set dimtfill to 2 to use dimtfillclr as background filling, color value as ACI. Set dimtfill to 0 to disable background filling.

DIMVAR Description
dimtfill Enables background filling if bigger than 0
dimtfillclr Fill color as ACI, if dimtfill is 2
dimtfill Description
0 disabled
1 canvas color
2 color defined by dimtfillclr

msp.add_linear_dim(

base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0),
override={
'dimtfill': 2,
'dimtfillclr': 1,
}).render()


[image]

Text Formatting

  • Set decimal places: dimdec defines the number of decimal places displayed for the primary units of a dimension. (DXF R2000)
  • Set decimal point character: dimdsep defines the decimal point as ASCII code, use ord('.')
  • Set rounding: dimrnd, rounds all dimensioning distances to the specified value, for instance, if dimrnd is set to 0.25, all distances round to the nearest 0.25 unit. If dimrnd is set to 1.0, all distances round to the nearest integer. For more information look at the documentation of the ezdxf.math.xround() function.
  • Set zero trimming: dimzin, ezdxf supports only: 4 suppress leading zeros and 8: suppress trailing zeros and both as 12.
  • Set measurement factor: scale measurement by factor dimlfac, e.g. to get the dimensioning text in cm for a DXF file where 1 drawing unit represents 1m, set dimlfac to 100.
  • Text template for measurement text is defined by dimpost, '<>' represents the measurement text, e.g. '~<>cm' produces '~300cm' for measurement in previous example.

To set this values the ezdxf.entities.DimStyle.set_text_format() and ezdxf.entities.DimStyleOverride.set_text_format() methods are very recommended.

Overriding Measurement Text

Measurement text overriding is stored in the Dimension entity, the content of to DXF attribute text represents the override value as string. Special values are one space ' ' to just suppress the measurement text, an empty string '' or '<>' to get the regular measurement.

All factory functions have an explicit text argument, which always replaces the text value in the dxfattribs dict.

msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0), text='>1m').render()


[image]

Dimension Line Properties

The dimension line color is defined by the DIMVAR dimclrd as ACI, dimclrd also defines the color of the arrows. The linetype is defined by dimltype but requires DXF R2007 for full support by CAD Applications and the line weight is defined by dimlwd (DXF R2000), see also the lineweight reference for valid values. The dimdle is the extension of the dimension line beyond the extension lines, this dimension line extension is not supported for all arrows.

DIMVAR Description
dimclrd dimension line and arrows color as ACI
dimltype linetype of dimension line
dimlwd line weight of dimension line
dimdle extension of dimension line in drawing units

msp.add_linear_dim(

base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0),
override={
'dimclrd': 1, # red
'dimdle': 0.25,
'dimltype': 'DASHED2',
'dimlwd': 35, # 0.35mm line weight
}).render()


[image]

DimStyleOverride() method:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.set_dimline_format(color=1, linetype='DASHED2', lineweight=35, extension=0.25)
dim.render()


Extension Line Properties

The extension line color is defined by the DIMVAR dimclre as ACI. The linetype for first and second extension line is defined by dimltex1 and dimltex2 but requires DXF R2007 for full support by CAD Applications and the line weight is defined by dimlwe (DXF R2000), see also the lineweight reference for valid values.

The dimexe is the extension of the extension line beyond the dimension line, and dimexo defines the offset of the extension line from the measurement point.

DIMVAR Description
dimclre extension line color as ACI
dimltex1 linetype of first extension line
dimltex2 linetype of second extension line
dimlwe line weight of extension line
dimexe extension beyond dimension line in drawing units
dimexo offset of extension line from measurement point
dimfxlon set to 1 to enable fixed length extension line
dimfxl length of fixed length extension line in drawing units
dimse1 suppress first extension line if 1
dimse2 suppress second extension line if 1

msp.add_linear_dim(

base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0),
override={
'dimclre': 1, # red
'dimltex1': 'DASHED2',
'dimltex2': 'CENTER2',
'dimlwe': 35, # 0.35mm line weight
'dimexe': 0.3, # length above dimension line
'dimexo': 0.1, # offset from measurement point
}).render()


[image]

DimStyleOverride() methods:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.set_extline_format(color=1, lineweight=35, extension=0.3, offset=0.1)
dim.set_extline1(linetype='DASHED2')
dim.set_extline2(linetype='CENTER2')
dim.render()


Fixed length extension lines are supported in DXF R2007+, set dimfxlon to 1 and dimfxl defines the length of the extension line starting at the dimension line.

msp.add_linear_dim(

base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0),
override={
'dimfxlon': 1, # fixed length extension lines
'dimexe': 0.2, # length above dimension line
'dimfxl': 0.4, # length below dimension line
}).render()


[image]

DimStyleOverride() method:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.set_extline_format(extension=0.2, fixed_length=0.4)
dim.render()


To suppress extension lines set dimse1 = 1 to suppress the first extension line and dimse2 = 1 to suppress the second extension line.

msp.add_linear_dim(

base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0),
override={
'dimse1': 1, # suppress first extension line
'dimse2': 1, # suppress second extension line
'dimblk': ezdxf.ARROWS.closed_filled, # arrows just looks better
}).render()


[image]

DimStyleOverride() methods:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.set_arrows(blk=ezdxf.ARROWS.closed_filled)
dim.set_extline1(disable=True)
dim.set_extline2(disable=True)
dim.render()


Arrows

“Arrows” mark then beginning and the end of a dimension line, and most of them do not look like arrows.

DXF distinguish between the simple tick and arrows as blocks.

Using the simple tick by setting tick size dimtsz != 0 also disables arrow blocks as side effect:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.set_tick(size=0.25)
dim.render()


ezdxf uses the "ARCHTICK" block at double size to render the tick (AutoCAD and BricsCad just draw a simple line), so there is no advantage of using the tick instead of an arrow.

Using arrows:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0))
dim.set_arrow(blk="OPEN_30", size=0.25)
dim.render()


DIMVAR Description
dimtsz tick size in drawing units, set to 0 to use arrows
dimblk set both arrow block names at once
dimblk1 first arrow block name
dimblk2 second arrow block name
dimasz arrow size in drawing units

msp.add_linear_dim(

base=(3, 2), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6, 0),
override={
'dimtsz': 0, # set tick size to 0 to enable arrow usage
'dimasz': 0.25, # arrow size in drawing units
'dimblk': "OPEN_30", # arrow block name
}).render()


Dimension line extension (dimdle) works only for a few arrow blocks and the simple tick:

  • "ARCHTICK"
  • "OBLIQUE"
  • "NONE"
  • "SMALL"
  • "DOTSMALL"
  • "INTEGRAL"

Arrow Shapes

[image]

Arrow Names

The arrow names are stored as attributes in the ezdxf.ARROWS object.

closed_filled "" (empty string)
dot "DOT"
dot_small "DOTSMALL"
dot_blank "DOTBLANK"
origin_indicator "ORIGIN"
origin_indicator_2 "ORIGIN2"
open "OPEN"
right_angle "OPEN90"
open_30 "OPEN30"
closed "CLOSED"
dot_smallblank "SMALL"
none "NONE"
oblique "OBLIQUE"
box_filled "BOXFILLED"
box "BOXBLANK"
closed_blank "CLOSEDBLANK"
datum_triangle_filled "DATUMFILLED"
datum_triangle "DATUMBLANK"
integral "INTEGRAL"
architectural_tick "ARCHTICK"
ez_arrow "EZ_ARROW"
ez_arrow_blank "EZ_ARROW_BLANK"
ez_arrow_filled "EZ_ARROW_FILLED"

Tolerances and Limits

The tolerances ans limits features are implemented by using the MText entity, therefore DXF R2000+ is required to use these features. It is not possible to use both tolerances and limits at the same time.

Tolerances

Geometrical tolerances are shown as additional text appended to the measurement text. It is recommend to use set_tolerance() method in DimStyleOverride or DimStyle.

The attribute dimtp defines the upper tolerance value, dimtm defines the lower tolerance value if present, else the lower tolerance value is the same as the upper tolerance value. Tolerance values are shown as given!

Same upper and lower tolerance value:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(0, 3), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6.5, 0))
dim.set_tolerance(.1, hfactor=.4, align="top", dec=2)
dim.render()


[image]

Different upper and lower tolerance values:

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(0, 3), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6.5, 0))
dim.set_tolerance(upper=.1, lower=.15, hfactor=.4, align="middle", dec=2)
dim.render()


[image]

The attribute dimtfac specifies a scale factor for the text height of limits and tolerance values relative to the dimension text height, as set by dimtxt. For example, if dimtfac is set to 1.0, the text height of fractions and tolerances is the same height as the dimension text. If dimtxt is set to 0.75, the text height of limits and tolerances is three-quarters the size of dimension text.

Vertical justification for tolerances is specified by dimtolj:

dimtolj Description
0 Align with bottom line of dimension text
1 Align vertical centered to dimension text
2 Align with top line of dimension text
DIMVAR Description
dimtol set to 1 to enable tolerances
dimtp set the maximum (or upper) tolerance limit for dimension text
dimtm set the minimum (or lower) tolerance limit for dimension text
dimtfac specifies a scale factor for the text height of limits and tolerance values relative to the dimension text height, as set by dimtxt.
dimtzin 4 to suppress leading zeros, 8 to suppress trailing zeros or 12 to suppress both, like dimzin for dimension text, see also Text Formatting
dimtolj set the vertical justification for tolerance values relative to the nominal dimension text.
dimtdec set the number of decimal places to display in tolerance values

Limits

The geometrical limits are shown as upper and lower measurement limit and replaces the usual measurement text. It is recommend to use set_limits() method in DimStyleOverride or DimStyle.

For limits the tolerance values are drawing units scaled by measurement factor dimlfac, the upper limit is scaled measurement value + dimtp and the lower limit is scaled measurement value - dimtm.

The attributes dimtfac, dimtzin and dimtdec have the same meaning for limits as for tolerances.

dim = msp.add_linear_dim(base=(0, 3), p1=(3, 0), p2=(6.5, 0))
dim.set_limits(upper=.1, lower=.15, hfactor=.4, dec=2)
dim.render()


[image]
DIMVAR Description
dimlim set to 1 to enable limits

Alternative Units

Alternative units are not supported.

Tutorial for Radius Dimensions

Please read the tut_linear_dimension before, if you haven’t.

import ezdxf
# DXF R2010 drawing, official DXF version name: 'AC1024',
# setup=True setups the default dimension styles
doc = ezdxf.new('R2010', setup=True)
msp = doc.modelspace()  # add new dimension entities to the modelspace
msp.add_circle((0, 0), radius=3)  # add a CIRCLE entity, not required
# add default radius dimension, measurement text is located outside
dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=3, angle=45, dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS')
# necessary second step, to create the BLOCK entity with the dimension geometry.
dim.render()
doc.saveas('radius_dimension.dxf')


The example above creates a 45 degrees slanted radius Dimension entity, the default dimension style 'EZ_RADIUS' is defined as 1 drawing unit is 1m in reality, drawing scale 1:100 and the length factor is 100, which creates a measurement text in cm, the default location for the measurement text is outside of the circle.

The center point defines the the center of the circle but there doesn’t have to exist a circle entity, radius defines the circle radius, which is also the measurement, and angle defines the slope of the dimension line, it is also possible to define the circle by a measurement point mpoint on the circle.

The return value dim is not a dimension entity, instead a DimStyleOverride object is returned, the dimension entity is stored as dim.dimension.

Placing Measurement Text

There are different predefined DIMSTYLES to achieve various text placing locations.

DIMSTYLE 'EZ_RADIUS' settings are: 1 drawing unit is 1m, scale 1:100, length_factor is 100 which creates measurement text in cm, and a closed filled arrow with size 0.25 is used.

NOTE:

Not all possibles features of DIMSTYLE are supported and especially for radial dimension there are less features supported as for linear dimension because of the lack of good documentation.


SEE ALSO:

  • Graphical reference of many DIMVARS and some advanced information: dimstyle_table_internals
  • Source code file standards.py shows how to create your own DIMSTYLES.
  • dimension_radius.py for radius dimension examples.



Default Text Locations Outside

'EZ_RADIUS' default settings for to place text outside:

tmove 1 to keep dim line with text, this is the best setting for text outside to preserve appearance of the DIMENSION entity, if editing afterwards in BricsCAD or AutoCAD.
dimtad 1 to place text vertical above the dimension line

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS'
) dim.render() # required, but not shown in the following examples


[image]

To force text outside horizontal set dimtoh to 1:

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS',
override={'dimtoh': 1}
)


[image]

Default Text Locations Inside

DIMSTYLE 'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE' can be used to place the dimension text inside the circle at a default location. Default DIMSTYLE settings are: 1 drawing unit is 1m, scale 1:100, length_factor is 100 which creates measurement text in cm, and a closed filled arrow with size 0.25 is used.

'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE' default settings:

tmove 0 to keep dim line with text, this is the best setting for text inside to preserve appearance of the DIMENSION entity, if editing afterwards in BricsCAD or AutoCAD.
dimtix 1 to force text inside
dimatfit 0 to force text inside, required by BricsCAD and AutoCAD
dimtad 0 to center text vertical, BricsCAD and AutoCAD always create vertical centered text, ezdxf let you choose the vertical placement (above, below, center), but editing the DIMENSION in BricsCAD or AutoCAD will reset text to center placement.

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE'
)


[image] [image]

To force text inside horizontal set dimtih to 1:

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE',
override={'dimtih': 1}
)


[image]

User Defined Text Locations

Beside the default location it is always possible to override the text location by a user defined location. This location also determines the angle of the dimension line and overrides the argument angle. For user defined locations it is not necessary to force text inside (dimtix=1), because the location of the text is explicit given, therefore the DIMSTYLE 'EZ_RADIUS' can be used for all this examples.

User defined location outside of the circle:

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(4, 4),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS'
)


[image]

User defined location outside of the circle and forced horizontal text:

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(4, 4),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS',
override={'dimtoh': 1}
)


[image]

User defined location inside of the circle:

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(1, 1),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS'
)


[image] [image]

User defined location inside of the circle and forced horizontal text:

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(1, 1),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS',
override={'dimtih': 1},
)


[image]

Center Mark/Lines

Center mark/lines are controlled by dimcen, default value is 0 for predefined dimstyles 'EZ_RADIUS' and 'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE' :

0 Center mark is off
>0 Create center mark of given size
<0 Create center lines

dim = msp.add_radius_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS',
override={'dimcen': 0.25},
)


[image]

Overriding Measurement Text

See Linear Dimension Tutorial: tut_overriding_measurement_text

Measurement Text Formatting and Styling

See Linear Dimension Tutorial: tut_measurement_text_formatting_and_styling

Tutorial for Diameter Dimensions

Please read the tut_radius_dimension before, if you haven’t.

This is a repetition of the radius tutorial, just with diameter dimensions.

import ezdxf
# setup=True setups the default dimension styles
doc = ezdxf.new('R2010', setup=True)
msp = doc.modelspace()  # add new dimension entities to the modelspace
msp.add_circle((0, 0), radius=3)  # add a CIRCLE entity, not required
# add default diameter dimension, measurement text is located outside
dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=3, angle=45, dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS')
dim.render()
doc.saveas('diameter_dimension.dxf')


The example above creates a 45 degrees slanted diameter Dimension entity, the default dimension style 'EZ_RADIUS' (same as for radius dimensions) is defined as 1 drawing unit is 1m in reality, drawing scale 1:100 and the length factor is 100, which creates a measurement text in cm, the default location for the measurement text is outside of the circle.

The center point defines the the center of the circle but there doesn’t have to exist a circle entity, radius defines the circle radius and angle defines the slope of the dimension line, it is also possible to define the circle by a measurement point mpoint on the circle.

The return value dim is not a dimension entity, instead a DimStyleOverride object is returned, the dimension entity is stored as dim.dimension.

Placing Measurement Text

There are different predefined DIMSTYLES to achieve various text placing locations.

DIMSTYLE 'EZ_RADIUS' settings are: 1 drawing unit is 1m, scale 1:100, length_factor is 100 which creates measurement text in cm, and a closed filled arrow with size 0.25 is used.

NOTE:

Not all possibles features of DIMSTYLE are supported and especially for diameter dimension there are less features supported as for linear dimension because of the lack of good documentation.


SEE ALSO:

  • Graphical reference of many DIMVARS and some advanced information: dimstyle_table_internals
  • Source code file standards.py shows how to create your own DIMSTYLES.
  • dimension_diameter.py for diameter dimension examples.



Default Text Locations Outside

'EZ_RADIUS' default settings for to place text outside:

tmove 1 to keep dim line with text, this is the best setting for text outside to preserve appearance of the DIMENSION entity, if editing afterwards in BricsCAD or AutoCAD.
dimtad 1 to place text vertical above the dimension line

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS') dim.render() # required, but not shown in the following examples


[image]

To force text outside horizontal set dimtoh to 1:

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS',
override={'dimtoh': 1}
)


[image]

Default Text Locations Inside

DIMSTYLE 'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE' can be used to place the dimension text inside the circle at a default location. Default DIMSTYLE settings are: 1 drawing unit is 1m, scale 1:100, length_factor is 100 which creates measurement text in cm, and a closed filled arrow with size 0.25 is used.

'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE' default settings:

tmove 0 to keep dim line with text, this is the best setting for text inside to preserve appearance of the DIMENSION entity, if editing afterwards in BricsCAD or AutoCAD.
dimtix 1 to force text inside
dimatfit 0 to force text inside, required by BricsCAD and AutoCAD
dimtad 0 to center text vertical, BricsCAD and AutoCAD always create vertical centered text, ezdxf let you choose the vertical placement (above, below, center), but editing the DIMENSION in BricsCAD or AutoCAD will reset text to center placement.

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE'
)


[image]

To force text inside horizontal set dimtih to 1:

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, angle=45,

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE',
override={'dimtih': 1}
)


[image]

User Defined Text Locations

Beside the default location it is always possible to override the text location by a user defined location. This location also determines the angle of the dimension line and overrides the argument angle. For user defined locations it is not necessary to force text inside (dimtix=1), because the location of the text is explicit given, therefore the DIMSTYLE 'EZ_RADIUS' can be used for all this examples.

User defined location outside of the circle:

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(4, 4),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS'
)


[image]

User defined location outside of the circle and forced horizontal text:

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(4, 4),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS',
override={'dimtoh': 1}
)


[image]

User defined location inside of the circle:

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(1, 1),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS'
)


[image]

User defined location inside of the circle and forced horizontal text:

dim = msp.add_diameter_dim(center=(0, 0), radius=2.5, location=(1, 1),

dimstyle='EZ_RADIUS',
override={'dimtih': 1},
)


[image]

Center Mark/Lines

See Radius Dimension Tutorial: tut_center_mark

Overriding Measurement Text

See Linear Dimension Tutorial: tut_overriding_measurement_text

Measurement Text Formatting and Styling

See Linear Dimension Tutorial: tut_measurement_text_formatting_and_styling

REFERENCE

The DXF Reference is online available at Autodesk.

Quoted from the original DXF 12 Reference which is not available on the web:

Since the AutoCAD drawing database (.dwg file) is written in a compact format that changes significantly as new features are added to AutoCAD, we do not document its format and do not recommend that you attempt to write programs to read it directly. To assist in interchanging drawings between AutoCAD and other programs, a Drawing Interchange file format (DXF) has been defined. All implementations of AutoCAD accept this format and are able to convert it to and from their internal drawing file representation.


DXF Document

Document Management

Create New Drawings

Create a new Drawing from scratch, dxfversion can be either “AC1009” the official DXF version name or “R12” the AutoCAD release name.

new() can create drawings for following DXF versions:

Version AutoCAD Release
AC1009 AutoCAD R12
AC1015 AutoCAD R2000
AC1018 AutoCAD R2004
AC1021 AutoCAD R2007
AC1024 AutoCAD R2010
AC1027 AutoCAD R2013
AC1032 AutoCAD R2018
  • dxfversion – DXF version specifier as string, default is “AC1027” respectively “R2013”
  • setup

    setup default styles, False for no setup, True to setup everything or a list of topics as strings, e.g. [“linetypes”, “styles”] to setup only some topics:

    Topic Description
    linetypes setup line types
    styles setup text styles
    dimstyles setup default ezdxf dimension styles
    visualstyles setup 25 standard visual styles




Open Drawings

Open DXF drawings from file system or text stream, byte stream usage is not supported.

DXF files prior to R2007 requires file encoding defined by header variable $DWGCODEPAGE, DXF R2007 and later requires an UTF-8 encoding.

ezdxf supports reading of files for following DXF versions:

Version Release Encoding Remarks
< AC1009 $DWGCODEPAGE pre AutoCAD R12 upgraded to AC1009
AC1009 R12 $DWGCODEPAGE AutoCAD R12
AC1012 R13 $DWGCODEPAGE AutoCAD R13 upgraded to AC1015
AC1014 R14 $DWGCODEPAGE AutoCAD R14 upgraded to AC1015
AC1015 R2000 $DWGCODEPAGE AutoCAD R2000
AC1018 R2004 $DWGCODEPAGE AutoCAD R2004
AC1021 R2007 UTF-8 AutoCAD R2007
AC1024 R2010 UTF-8 AutoCAD R2010
AC1027 R2013 UTF-8 AutoCAD R2013
AC1032 R2018 UTF-8 AutoCAD R2018
Read the DXF document filename from the file-system.

This is the preferred method to load existing ASCII or Binary DXF files, the required text encoding will be detected automatically and decoding errors will be ignored.

Override encoding detection by setting argument encoding to the estimated encoding. (use Python encoding names like in the open() function).

If this function struggles to load the DXF document and raises a DXFStructureError exception, try the ezdxf.recover.readfile() function to load this corrupt DXF document.

  • filename – filename of the ASCII- or Binary DXF document
  • encoding – use None for auto detect (default), or set a specific encoding like “utf-8”, argument is ignored for Binary DXF files
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • IOError – not a DXF file or file does not exist
  • DXFStructureError – for invalid or corrupted DXF structures
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs


Deprecated since version v0.14: argument legacy_mode, use module ezdxf.recover to load DXF documents with structural flaws.


Read a DXF document from a text-stream. Open stream in text mode (mode='rt') and set correct text encoding, the stream requires at least a readline() method.

Since DXF version R2007 (AC1021) file encoding is always “utf-8”, use the helper function dxf_stream_info() to detect the required text encoding for prior DXF versions. To preserve possible binary data in use errors='surrogateescape' as error handler for the import stream.

If this function struggles to load the DXF document and raises a DXFStructureError exception, try the ezdxf.recover.read() function to load this corrupt DXF document.

stream – input text stream opened with correct encoding
DXFStructureError – for invalid or corrupted DXF structures

Deprecated since version v0.14: argument legacy_mode, use module ezdxf.recover to load DXF documents with structural flaws.


Load a DXF document specified by filename from a zip archive, or if filename is None the first DXF document in the zip archive.
  • zipfile – name of the zip archive
  • filename – filename of DXF file, or None to load the first DXF document from the zip archive.
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • IOError – not a DXF file or file does not exist or
    if filename is None - no DXF file found
  • DXFStructureError – for invalid or corrupted DXF structures
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs



Load a DXF document from base64 encoded binary data, like uploaded data to web applications.
  • data – DXF document base64 encoded binary data
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • DXFStructureError – for invalid or corrupted DXF structures
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs



HINT:

This works well with DXF files from trusted sources like AutoCAD or BricsCAD, for loading DXF files with minor or major flaws look at the ezdxf.recover module.


Save Drawings

Save the DXF document to the file system by Drawing methods save() or saveas(). Write the DXF document to a text stream with write(), the text stream requires at least a write() method. Get required output encoding for text streams by property Drawing.output_encoding

Drawing Settings

The HeaderSection stores meta data like modelspace extensions, user name or saving time and current application settings, like actual layer, text style or dimension style settings. These settings are not necessary to process DXF data and therefore many of this settings are not maintained by ezdxf automatically.

Header variables set at new

$ACADVER DXF version
$TDCREATE date/time at creating the drawing
$FINGERPRINTGUID every drawing gets a GUID

Header variables updated at saving

$TDUPDATE actual date/time at saving
$HANDSEED next available handle as hex string
$DWGCODEPAGE encoding setting
$VERSIONGUID every saved version gets a new GUID

SEE ALSO:

  • Howto: set/get header variables
  • Howto: set drawing units



Drawing Object

The Drawing class manages all entities and tables related to a DXF drawing.
Actual DXF version like 'AC1009', set by ezdxf.new() or ezdxf.readfile().

For supported DXF versions see dwgmanagement


The AutoCAD release name like 'R12' or 'R2000' for actual dxfversion.

Text encoding of Drawing, the default encoding for new drawings is 'cp1252'. Starting with DXF R2007 (AC1021), DXF files are written as UTF-8 encoded text files, regardless of the attribute encoding. Text encoding can be changed to encodings listed below.

see also: dxf file encoding

supported encodings
'cp874' Thai
'cp932' Japanese
'gbk' UnifiedChinese
'cp949' Korean
'cp950' TradChinese
'cp1250' CentralEurope
'cp1251' Cyrillic
'cp1252' WesternEurope
'cp1253' Greek
'cp1254' Turkish
'cp1255' Hebrew
'cp1256' Arabic
'cp1257' Baltic
'cp1258' Vietnam

Returns required output encoding for saving to filesystem or encoding to binary data.

New in version 0.11.


Drawing filename, if loaded by ezdxf.readfile() else None.

Reference to the root dictionary of the OBJECTS section.

Reference to the HeaderSection, get/set drawing settings as header variables.

Reference to the EntitySection of the drawing, where all graphical entities are stored, but only from modelspace and the active paperspace layout. Just for your information: Entities of other paperspace layouts are stored as BlockLayout in the BlocksSection.

Reference to the objects section, see also ObjectsSection.

Reference to the blocks section, see also BlocksSection.

Reference to the tables section, see also TablesSection.

Reference to the classes section, see also ClassesSection.

Reference to the layout manager, see also Layouts.

Collection of all groups, see also GroupCollection.

requires DXF R13 or later


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.layers

Reference to the layers table, where you can create, get and remove layers, see also Table and Layer


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.styles

Reference to the styles table, see also Style.


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.dimstyles

Reference to the dimstyles table, see also DimStyle.


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.linetypes

Reference to the linetypes table, see also Linetype.


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.views

Reference to the views table, see also View.


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.viewports

Reference to the viewports table, see also Viewport.


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.ucs

Reference to the ucs table, see also UCS.


Shortcut for Drawing.tables.appids

Reference to the appids table, see also AppID.


MaterialCollection of all Material objects.

MLineStyleCollection of all MLineStyle objects.

MLeaderStyleCollection of all MLeaderStyle objects.

Write drawing to file-system by using the filename attribute as filename. Override file encoding by argument encoding, handle with care, but this option allows you to create DXF files for applications that handles file encoding different than AutoCAD.
  • encoding – override default encoding as Python encoding string like 'utf-8'
  • fmt'asc' for ASCII DXF (default) or 'bin' for Binary DXF



Set Drawing attribute filename to filename and write drawing to the file system. Override file encoding by argument encoding, handle with care, but this option allows you to create DXF files for applications that handles file encoding different than AutoCAD.
  • filename – file name as string
  • encoding – override default encoding as Python encoding string like 'utf-8'
  • fmt'asc' for ASCII DXF (default) or 'bin' for Binary DXF



Write drawing as ASCII DXF to a text stream or as Binary DXF to a binary stream. For DXF R2004 (AC1018) and prior open stream with drawing encoding and mode='wt'. For DXF R2007 (AC1021) and later use encoding='utf-8', or better use the later added Drawing property output_encoding which returns the correct encoding automatically. The correct and required error handler is errors='dxfreplace'!

If writing to a StringIO stream, use Drawing.encode() to encode the result string from StringIO.get_value():

binary = doc.encode(stream.get_value())


  • stream – output text stream or binary stream
  • fmt'asc' for ASCII DXF (default) or 'bin' for binary DXF



Returns DXF document as base64 encoded binary data.

Encode string s with correct encoding and error handler.

Entity query over all layouts and blocks, excluding the OBJECTS section.
query – query string

SEE ALSO:

entity query string and entity queries



Groups DXF entities of all layouts and blocks (excluding the OBJECTS section) by a DXF attribute or a key function.
  • dxfattrib – grouping DXF attribute like 'layer'
  • key – key function, which accepts a DXFEntity as argument and returns a hashable grouping key or None to ignore this entity.


SEE ALSO:

groupby() documentation



Returns the modelspace layout, displayed as 'Model' tab in CAD applications, defined by block record named '*Model_Space'.

Returns paperspace layout name or returns first layout in tab order if name is None.

Returns the active paperspace layout, defined by block record name '*Paper_Space'.

Returns all layout names (modelspace 'Model' included) in arbitrary order.

Returns all layout names (modelspace included, always first name) in tab order.

Create a new paperspace layout name. Returns a Layout object. DXF R12 (AC1009) supports only one paperspace layout, only the active paperspace layout is saved, other layouts are dismissed.
  • name – unique layout name
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for the DXFLayout entity

DXFValueErrorLayout name already exist


Delete paper space layout name and all entities owned by this layout. Available only for DXF R2000 or later, DXF R12 supports only one paperspace and it can’t be deleted.

Add an image definition to the objects section.

Add an ImageDef entity to the drawing (objects section). filename is the image file name as relative or absolute path and size_in_pixel is the image size in pixel as (x, y) tuple. To avoid dependencies to external packages, ezdxf can not determine the image size by itself. Returns a ImageDef entity which is needed to create an image reference. name is the internal image name, if set to None, name is auto-generated.

Absolute image paths works best for AutoCAD but not really good, you have to update external references manually in AutoCAD, which is not possible in TrueView. If the drawing units differ from 1 meter, you also have to use: set_raster_variables().

  • filename – image file name (absolute path works best for AutoCAD)
  • size_in_pixel – image size in pixel as (x, y) tuple
  • name – image name for internal use, None for using filename as name (best for AutoCAD)


SEE ALSO:

tut_image



Set raster variables.
  • frame0 = do not show image frame; 1 = show image frame
  • quality0 = draft; 1 = high
  • units

    units for inserting images. This defines the real world unit for one drawing unit for the purpose of inserting and scaling images with an associated resolution.

    mm Millimeter
    cm Centimeter
    m Meter (ezdxf default)
    km Kilometer
    in Inch
    ft Foot
    yd Yard
    mi Mile




Set wipeout variables.
frame0 = do not show image frame; 1 = show image frame


Add an UnderlayDef entity to the drawing (OBJECTS section). filename is the underlay file name as relative or absolute path and format as string (pdf, dwf, dgn). The underlay definition is required to create an underlay reference.
  • filename – underlay file name
  • format – file format as string 'pdf'|'dwf'|'dgn' or 'ext' for getting file format from filename extension
  • name – pdf format = page number to display; dgn format = 'default'; dwf: ????


SEE ALSO:

tut_underlay



Add an external reference (xref) definition to the blocks section.
  • filename – external reference filename
  • name – name of the xref block
  • flags – block flags



Iterate over all layouts (modelspace and paperspace) and all block definitions.

Chain entity spaces of all layouts and blocks. Yields an iterator for all entities in all layouts and blocks.

Reset fingerprint GUID.

Reset version GUID.

Set initial view/zoom location for the modelspace, this replaces the current “*Active” viewport configuration.
  • height – modelspace area to view
  • center – modelspace location to view in the center of the CAD application window.



Checks document integrity and fixes all fixable problems, not fixable problems are stored in Auditor.errors.

If you are messing around with internal structures, call this method before saving to be sure to export valid DXF documents, but be aware this is a long running task.


Simple way to run an audit process. Fixes all fixable problems, return False if not fixable errors occurs, to get more information about not fixable errors use audit() method instead.
print_report – print report to stdout

Returns: True if no errors occurred



Recover

New in version v0.14.

This module provides functions to “recover” ASCII DXF documents with structural flaws, which prevents the regular ezdxf.read() and ezdxf.readfile() functions to load the document.

The read() and readfile() functions will repair as much flaws as possible and run the required audit process automatically afterwards and return the result of this audit process:

import sys
import ezdxf
from ezdxf import recover
try:

doc, auditor = recover.readfile("messy.dxf") except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file.')
sys.exit(2) # DXF file can still have unrecoverable errors, but this is maybe just # a problem when saving the recovered DXF file. if auditor.has_errors:
auditor.print_error_report()


This efforts cost some time, loading the DXF document with ezdxf.read() or ezdxf.readfile() will be faster.

WARNING:

This module will load DXF files which have decoding errors, most likely binary data stored in XRECORD entities, these errors are logged as unrecoverable AuditError.DECODE_ERRORS in the Auditor.errors attribute, but no DXFStructureError exception will be raised, because for many use cases this errors can be ignored.

Writing such files back with ezdxf may create invalid DXF files, or at least some information will be lost - handle with care!

To avoid this problem use recover.readfile(filename, errors='strict') which raises an UnicodeDecodeError exception for such binary data. Catch the exception and handle this DXF files as unrecoverable.



Loading Scenarios

1. It will work

Mostly DXF files from AutoCAD or BricsCAD (e.g. for In-house solutions):

try:

doc = ezdxf.readfile(name) except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(2)


2. DXF file with minor flaws

DXF files have only minor flaws, like undefined resources:

try:

doc = ezdxf.readfile(name) except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(2) auditor = doc.audit() if auditor.has_errors:
auditor.print_error_report()


3. Try Hard

From trusted and untrusted sources but with good hopes, the worst case works like a cache miss, you pay for the first try and pay the extra fee for the recover mode:

try:  # Fast path:

doc = ezdxf.readfile(name) except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) # Catch all DXF errors: except ezdxf.DXFError:
try: # Slow path including fixing low level structures:
doc, auditor = recover.readfile(name)
except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(2) # DXF file can still have unrecoverable errors, but this is maybe # just a problem when saving the recovered DXF file. if auditor.has_errors:
print(f'Found unrecoverable errors in DXF file: {name}.')
auditor.print_error_report()


4. Just use the slow recover module

Untrusted sources and expecting many invalid or corrupted DXF files, you always pay an extra fee for the recover mode:

try:  # Slow path including fixing low level structures:

doc, auditor = recover.readfile(name) except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(2) # DXF file can still have unrecoverable errors, but this is maybe # just a problem when saving the recovered DXF file. if auditor.has_errors:
print(f'Found unrecoverable errors in DXF file: {name}.')
auditor.print_error_report()


5. Unrecoverable Decoding Errors

If files contain binary data which can not be decoded by the document encoding, it is maybe the best to ignore this files, this works in normal and recover mode:

try:

doc, auditor = recover.readfile(name, errors='strict') except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(2) except UnicodeDecodeError:
print(f'Decoding error in DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(3)


6. Ignore/Locate Decoding Errors

Sometimes ignoring decoding errors can recover DXF files or at least you can detect where the decoding errors occur:

try:

doc, auditor = recover.readfile(name, errors='ignore') except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(2) if auditor.has_errors:
auditor.print_report()


The error messages with code AuditError.DECODING_ERROR shows the approximate line number of the decoding error: “Fixed unicode decoding error near line: xxx.”

HINT:

This functions can handle only ASCII DXF files!


Read a DXF document from file system similar to ezdxf.readfile(), but this function will repair as much flaws as possible, runs the required audit process automatically the DXF document and the Auditor.
  • filename – file-system name of the DXF document to load
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • DXFStructureError – for invalid or corrupted DXF structures
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs



Read a DXF document from a binary-stream similar to ezdxf.read(), but this function will detect the text encoding automatically and repair as much flaws as possible, runs the required audit process afterwards and returns the DXF document and the Auditor.
  • stream – data stream to load in binary read mode
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • DXFStructureError – for invalid or corrupted DXF structures
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs



DXF Structures

Sections

Header Section

The drawing settings are stored in the HEADER section, which is accessible by the header attribute of the Drawing object. See the online documentation from Autodesk for available header variables.

SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: header_section_internals


Stores the custom drawing properties in a CustomVars object.

__len__() -> int
Returns count of header variables.

__contains__(key) -> bool
Returns True if header variable key exist.

Returns an iterable of all header variable names.

Returns value of header variable key if exist, else the default value.

__getitem__(key: str) -> Any
Get header variable key by index operator like: drawing.header['$ACADVER']

__setitem__(key: str, value: Any) -> None
Set header variable key to value by index operator like: drawing.header['$ANGDIR'] = 1

__delitem__(key: str) -> None
Delete header variable key by index operator like: del drawing.header['$ANGDIR']


Stores custom properties in the DXF header as $CUSTOMPROPERTYTAG and $CUSTOMPROPERTY values. Custom properties are just supported by DXF R2004 (AC1018) or later. ezdxf can create custom properties at older DXF versions, but AutoCAD will not show this properties.
List of custom drawing properties, stored as string tuples (tag, value). Multiple occurrence of the same custom tag is allowed, but not well supported by the interface. This is a standard python list and it is save to change this list as long you store just tuples of strings in the format (tag, value).

__len__() -> int
Count of custom properties.

__iter__() -> Iterable[Tuple[str, str]]
Iterate over all custom properties as (tag, value) tuples.

clear() -> None
Remove all custom properties.

Returns the value of the first custom property tag.

Returns True if custom property tag exist.

Add custom property as (tag, value) tuple.

Replaces the value of the first custom property tag by a new value. Raises DXFValueError if tag does not exist.

Removes the first occurrence of custom property tag, removes all occurrences if all is True. Raises :class:`DXFValueError if tag does not exist.


Classes Section

The CLASSES section in DXF files holds the information for application-defined classes whose instances appear in Layout objects. As usual package user there is no need to bother about CLASSES.

SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: classes_section_internals


Storage of all DXFClass objects, they are not stored in the entities database, because CLASS has no handle attribute.


Register a known class by name.

Returns the first class matching name.

Storage key is the (name, cpp_class_name) tuple, because there are some classes with the same name but different cpp_class_names.


Add all required CLASS definitions for dxfversion.

Update CLASS instance counter for all registered classes, requires DXF R2004+.


Information about application-defined classes.
Class DXF record name.

C++ class name. Used to bind with software that defines object class behavior.

Application name. Posted in Alert box when a class definition listed in this section is not currently loaded.

Proxy capabilities flag
0 No operations allowed (0)
1 Erase allowed (0x1)
2 Transform allowed (0x2)
4 Color change allowed (0x4)
8 Layer change allowed (0x8)
16 Linetype change allowed (0x10)
32 Linetype scale change allowed (0x20)
64 Visibility change allowed (0x40)
128 Cloning allowed (0x80)
256 Lineweight change allowed (0x100)
512 Plot Style Name change allowed (0x200)
895 All operations except cloning allowed (0x37F)
1023 All operations allowed (0x3FF)
1024 Disables proxy warning dialog (0x400)
32768 R13 format proxy (0x8000)

Instance count for a custom class.

Set to 1 if class was not loaded when this DXF file was created, and 0 otherwise.

Set to 1 if class was derived from the DXFGraphic class and can reside in layouts. If 0, instances may appear only in the OBJECTS section.

Unique name as (name, cpp_class_name) tuple.


Tables Section

The TABLES section is the home of all TABLE objects of a DXF document.

SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: tables_section_internals


LayerTable object for Layer objects

Generic Table object for Linetype objects

StyleTable object for Textstyle objects

Generic Table object for DimStyle objects

Generic Table object for AppID objects

Generic Table object for UCSTable objects

Generic Table object for View objects

ViewportTable object for VPort objects

Generic Table object for BlockRecord objects


Blocks Section

The BLOCKS section is the home all block definitions (BlockLayout) of a DXF document.

SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: blocks_section_internals and Block Management Structures


__iter__() -> Iterable[BlockLayout]
Iterable of all BlockLayout objects.

__contains__(name: str) -> bool
Returns True if BlockLayout name exist.

__getitem__(name: str) -> BlockLayout
Returns BlockLayout name, raises DXFKeyError if name not exist.

__delitem__(name: str) -> None
Deletes BlockLayout name and all of its content, raises DXFKeyError if name not exist.

Returns BlockLayout name, returns default if name not exist.

Create and add a new BlockLayout, name is the BLOCK name, base_point is the insertion point of the BLOCK.

Create and add a new anonymous BlockLayout, type_char is the BLOCK type, base_point is the insertion point of the BLOCK.
type_char Anonymous Block Type
'U' '*U###' anonymous BLOCK
'E' '*E###' anonymous non-uniformly scaled BLOCK
'X' '*X###' anonymous HATCH graphic
'D' '*D###' anonymous DIMENSION graphic
'A' '*A###' anonymous GROUP
'T' '*T###' anonymous block for ACAD_TABLE content



Rename BlockLayout old_name to new_name

Delete block. If save is True, check if block is still referenced.
  • name – block name (case insensitive)
  • safe – check if block is still referenced or special block without explicit references

  • DXFKeyError – if block not exists
  • DXFBlockInUseError – if block is still referenced, and save is True



Delete all blocks without references except modelspace- or paperspace layout blocks, special arrow- and anonymous blocks (DIMENSION, ACAD_TABLE).

WARNING:

There could exist undiscovered references to blocks which are not documented in the DXF reference, hidden in extended data sections or application defined data, which could produce invalid DXF documents if such referenced blocks will be deleted.


Changed in version 0.14: removed unsafe mode


Delete all unused blocks like delete_all_blocks(), but also removes unused anonymous blocks.

WARNING:

There could exist undiscovered references to blocks which are not documented in the DXF reference, hidden in extended data sections or application defined data, which could produce invalid DXF documents if such referenced blocks will be deleted.




Entities Section

The ENTITIES section is the home of all Modelspace and active Paperspace layout entities. This is a real section in the DXF file, for ezdxf the EntitySection is just a proxy for modelspace and the active paperspace linked together.

SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: entities_section_internals


__iter__() -> Iterable[DXFEntity]
Iterable for all entities of modelspace and active paperspace.

__len__() -> int
Returns count of all entities of modelspace and active paperspace.


Objects Section

The OBJECTS section is the home of all none graphical objects of a DXF document. The OBJECTS section is accessible by Drawing.objects.

Convenience methods of the Drawing object to create required structures in the OBJECTS section:

  • IMAGEDEF: add_image_def()
  • UNDERLAYDEF: add_underlay_def()
  • RASTERVARIABLES: set_raster_variables()
  • WIPEOUTVARIABLES: set_wipeout_variables()



SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: objects_section_internals


Root dictionary.

__len__() -> int
Returns count of DXF objects.

__iter__() -> Iterable[DXFObject]
Returns iterable of all DXF objects in the OBJECTS section.

__getitem__(index) -> DXFObject
Get entity at index.

The underlying data structure for storing DXF objects is organized like a standard Python list, therefore index can be any valid list indexing or slicing term, like a single index objects[-1] to get the last entity, or an index slice objects[:10] to get the first 10 or less objects as List[DXFObject].


__contains__(entity: Union[DXFObject, str]) -> bool
Returns True if entity stored in OBJECTS section.
entityDXFObject or handle as hex string


Get all DXF objects matching the entity query string.

Add new Dictionary object.
  • owner – handle to owner as hex string.
  • hard_ownedTrue to treat entries as hard owned.



Add new DictionaryWithDefault object.
  • owner – handle to owner as hex string.
  • default – handle to default entry.
  • hard_ownedTrue to treat entries as hard owned.



Add a new DictionaryVar object.
  • owner – handle to owner as hex string.
  • value – value as string



Creates a new GeoData entity and replaces existing ones. The GEODATA entity resides in the OBJECTS section and NOT in the layout entity space and it is linked to the layout by an extension dictionary located in BLOCK_RECORD of the layout.

The GEODATA entity requires DXF version R2010+. The DXF Reference does not document if other layouts than model space supports geo referencing, so getting/setting geo data may only make sense for the model space layout, but it is also available in paper space layouts.

  • owner – handle to owner as hex string
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for GeoData entity



Add an image definition to the objects section.

Add an ImageDef entity to the drawing (objects section). filename is the image file name as relative or absolute path and size_in_pixel is the image size in pixel as (x, y) tuple. To avoid dependencies to external packages, ezdxf can not determine the image size by itself. Returns a ImageDef entity which is needed to create an image reference. name is the internal image name, if set to None, name is auto-generated.

Absolute image paths works best for AutoCAD but not really good, you have to update external references manually in AutoCAD, which is not possible in TrueView. If the drawing units differ from 1 meter, you also have to use: set_raster_variables().

  • filename – image file name (absolute path works best for AutoCAD)
  • size_in_pixel – image size in pixel as (x, y) tuple
  • name – image name for internal use, None for using filename as name (best for AutoCAD)



Add a new Placeholder object.
owner – handle to owner as hex string.


Add an UnderlayDef entity to the drawing (OBJECTS section). filename is the underlay file name as relative or absolute path and format as string (pdf, dwf, dgn). The underlay definition is required to create an underlay reference.
  • filename – underlay file name
  • format – file format as string 'pdf'|'dwf'|'dgn' or 'ext' for getting file format from filename extension
  • name – pdf format = page number to display; dgn format = 'default'; dwf: ????



Add a new XRecord object.
owner – handle to owner as hex string.


Set raster variables.
  • frame0 = do not show image frame; 1 = show image frame
  • quality0 = draft; 1 = high
  • units

    units for inserting images. This defines the real world unit for one drawing unit for the purpose of inserting and scaling images with an associated resolution.

    mm Millimeter
    cm Centimeter
    m Meter (ezdxf default)
    km Kilometer
    in Inch
    ft Foot
    yd Yard
    mi Mile



(internal API), public interface set_raster_variables()


Set wipeout variables.
frame0 = do not show image frame; 1 = show image frame

(internal API), public interface set_wipeout_variables()



Tables

Table Classes

Generic Table Class

Generic collection of table entries. Table entry names are case insensitive: 'Test' == 'TEST'.

Returns True if an table entry name exist.

__contains__(name: Union[str, DXFEntity]) -> bool
Returns True if an table entry name exist.

__len__() -> int
Count of table entries.

__iter__() -> Iterable[DXFEntity]
Iterable of all table entries.

Create a new table entry name.
  • name – name of table entry, case insensitive
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for table entry



Get table entry name (case insensitive). Raises DXFValueError if table entry does not exist.

Removes table entry name. Raises DXFValueError if table-entry does not exist.

Returns a new table entry new_name as copy of name, replaces entry new_name if already exist.
DXFValueErrorname does not exist



Layer Table

Subclass of Table.

Collection of Layer objects.


Linetype Table

Generic table class of Table.

Collection of Linetype objects.

Style Table

Subclass of Table.

Collection of Textstyle objects.

Get existing shx entry, or create a new entry.
shxname – shape file name like ‘ltypeshp.lin’


Find .shx shape file table entry, by a case insensitive search.

A .shx shape file table entry has no name, so you have to search by the font attribute.

shxname – .shx shape file name



DimStyle Table

Generic table class of Table.

Collection of DimStyle objects.

AppID Table

Generic table class of Table.

Collection of AppID objects.

UCS Table

Generic table class of Table.

Collection of UCSTable objects.

View Table

Generic table class of Table.

Collection of View objects.

Viewport Table

The viewport table stores the modelspace viewport configurations. A viewport configuration is a tiled view of multiple viewports or just one viewport. In contrast to other tables the viewport table can have multiple entries with the same name, because all viewport entries of a multi-viewport configuration are having the same name - the viewport configuration name.

The name of the actual displayed viewport configuration is '*ACTIVE'.

Duplication of table entries is not supported: duplicate_entry() raises NotImplementedError

Returns a list of Viewport objects, for the multi-viewport configuration name.

Delete all Viewport objects of the multi-viewport configuration name.


Block Record Table

Generic table class of Table.

Collection of BlockRecord objects.

Layer

LAYER (DXF Reference) definition, defines attribute values for entities on this layer for their attributes set to BYLAYER.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'LAYER'
Factory function Drawing.layers.new()

SEE ALSO:

layer_concept and tut_layers


DXF handle (feature for experts)

Handle to owner (LayerTable).

Layer name, case insensitive and can not contain any of this characters: <>/\":;?*|=` (str)

Layer flags (bit-coded values, feature for experts)
1 Layer is frozen; otherwise layer is thawed; use is_frozen(), freeze() and thaw()
2 Layer is frozen by default in new viewports
4 Layer is locked; use is_locked(), lock(), unlock()
16 If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully resolved
64 If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the drawing was edited. (This flag is for the benefit of AutoCAD commands. It can be ignored by most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

Layer color, but use property Layer.color to get/set color value, because color is negative for layer status off (int)

Layer true color value as int, use property Layer.rgb to set/get true color value as (r, g, b) tuple.

(requires DXF R2004)


Name of line type (str)

Plot flag (int). Whether entities belonging to this layer should be drawn when the document is exported (plotted) to pdf. Does not affect visibility inside the CAD application itself.
1 plot layer (default value)
0 don’t plot layer

Line weight in mm times 100 (e.g. 0.13mm = 13). Smallest line weight is 13 and biggest line weight is 200, values outside this range prevents AutoCAD from loading the file.

ezdxf.lldxf.const.LINEWEIGHT_DEFAULT for using global default line weight.

(requires DXF R13)


Handle to plot style name?

(requires DXF R13)


Handle to default Material.

(requires DXF R13)


Get/set DXF attribute dxf.true_color as (r, g, b) tuple, returns None if attribute dxf.true_color is not set.

layer.rgb = (30, 40, 50)
r, g, b = layer.rgb


This is the recommend method to get/set RGB values, when ever possible do not use the DXF low level attribute dxf.true_color.

New in version 0.10.


Get/set layer color, preferred method for getting the layer color, because dxf.color is negative for layer status off.

New in version 0.10.


Get/set layer description as string

New in version 0.10.


Get/set layer transparency as float value in the range from 0 to 1. 0 for no transparency (opaque) and 1 for 100% transparency.

New in version 0.10.


Returns True if layer is frozen.

Freeze layer.

Thaw layer.

Returns True if layer is locked.

Lock layer, entities on this layer are not editable - just important in CAD applications.

Unlock layer, entities on this layer are editable - just important in CAD applications.

Returns True if layer is off.

Returns True if layer is on.

Switch layer on (visible).

Switch layer off (invisible).

Use property Layer.color instead.

Use property Layer.color instead.

Rename layer and all known (documented) references to this layer.

WARNING:

Renaming layers may damage the DXF file in some circumstances!


name – new layer name
  • ValueErrorname contains invalid characters: <>/":;?*|=`
  • ValueError – layer name already exist
  • ValueError – renaming of layers '0' and 'DEFPOINTS' not
    possible




Style

Defines a text style (DXF Reference), can be used by entities: Text, Attrib and Attdef.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'STYLE'
Factory function Drawing.styles.new()

SEE ALSO:

tut_text and DXF internals for dimstyle_table_internals.


DXF handle (feature for experts).

Handle to owner (StyleTable).

Style name (str)

Style flags (feature for experts).
1 If set, this entry describes a shape
4 Vertical text
16 If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully resolved
64 If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the drawing was edited. (This flag is only for the benefit of AutoCAD)commands. It can be ignored by most programs that read DXF files and need not be set by programs that write DXF files)

Fixed height in drawing units, 0 for not fixed (float).

Width factor (float), default is 1.

Oblique angle in degrees, 0 is vertical (float).

Text generations flags (int)
2 text is backward (mirrored in X)
4 text is upside down (mirrored in Y)

Last height used in drawing units (float).

Primary font file name (str).

Big font name, blank if none (str)


Linetype

Defines a linetype (DXF Reference).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'LTYPE'
Factory function Drawing.linetypes.new()

SEE ALSO:

tut_linetypes

DXF Internals: ltype_table_internals



Linetype name (str).

Handle to owner (Table).

Linetype description (str).

Total pattern length in drawing units (float).

Number of linetype elements (int).


DimStyle

[image] [image]

DIMSTYLE (DXF Reference) defines the appearance of Dimension entities. Each of this dimension variables starting with dim... can be overridden for any Dimension entity individually.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'DIMSTYLE'
Factory function Drawing.dimstyles.new()
Handle to owner (Table).

Dimension style name.

Standard flag values (bit-coded values):
16 If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully resolved
64 If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the drawing was edited. (This flag is only for the benefit of AutoCAD)

Prefix/suffix for primary units dimension values.

Prefix/suffix for alternate units dimensions.

Block type to use for both arrowheads as name string.

Block type to use for first arrowhead as name string.

Block type to use for second arrowhead as name string.

Global dimension feature scale factor. (default=1)

Dimension line and arrowhead size. (default=0.25)

Distance from origin points to extension lines. (default imperial=0.0625, default metric=0.625)

Incremental spacing between baseline dimensions. (default imperial=0.38, default metric=3.75)

Extension line distance beyond dimension line. (default imperial=0.28, default metric=2.25)

Rounding value for decimal dimensions. (default=0)

Rounds all dimensioning distances to the specified value, for instance, if DIMRND is set to 0.25, all distances round to the nearest 0.25 unit. If you set DIMRND to 1.0, all distances round to the nearest integer.


Dimension line extension beyond extension lines. (default=0)

Upper tolerance value for tolerance dimensions. (default=0)

Lower tolerance value for tolerance dimensions. (default=0)

Size of dimension text. (default imperial=0.28, default metric=2.5)

Controls placement of center marks or centerlines. (default imperial=0.09, default metric=2.5)

Controls size of dimension line tick marks drawn instead of arrowheads. (default=0)

Alternate units dimension scale factor. (default=25.4)

Scale factor for linear dimension values. (default=1)

Vertical position of text above or below dimension line if dimtad is 0. (default=0)

Scale factor for fractional or tolerance text size. (default=1)

Gap size between dimension line and dimension text. (default imperial=0.09, default metric=0.625)

Rounding value for alternate dimension units. (default=0)

Toggles creation of appended tolerance dimensions. (default imperial=1, default metric=0)

Toggles creation of limits-style dimension text. (default=0)

Orientation of text inside extension lines. (default imperial=1, default metric=0)

Orientation of text outside extension lines. (default imperial=1, default metric=0)

Toggles suppression of first extension line. (default=0)

Toggles suppression of second extension line. (default=0)

Sets vertical text placement relative to dimension line. (default imperial=0, default metric=1)
0 center
1 above
2 outside, handled like above by ezdxf
3 JIS, handled like above by ezdxf
4 below

Zero suppression for primary units dimensions. (default imperial=0, default metric=8)

Values 0-3 affect feet-and-inch dimensions only.

0 Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches
1 Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches
2 Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches
3 Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet
4 Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000)
8 Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5)
12 Suppresses both leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5)

Controls zero suppression for angular dimensions. (default=0)
0 Displays all leading and trailing zeros
1 Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000)
2 Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5)
3 Suppresses leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5)

Enables or disables alternate units dimensioning. (default=0)

Controls decimal places for alternate units dimensions. (default imperial=2, default metric=3)

Toggles forced dimension line creation. (default imperial=0, default metric=1)

Toggles appearance of arrowhead blocks. (default=0)

Toggles forced placement of text between extension lines. (default=0)

Suppresses dimension lines outside extension lines. (default=0)

Dimension line, arrowhead, and leader line color. (default=0)

Dimension extension line color. (default=0)

Dimension text color. (default=0)

Controls the number of decimal places for angular dimensions.

Obsolete, now use DIMLUNIT AND DIMFRAC

Decimal places for dimension values. (default imperial=4, default metric=2)

Decimal places for primary units tolerance values. (default imperial=4, default metric=2)

Units format for alternate units dimensions. (default=2)

Decimal places for alternate units tolerance values. (default imperial=4, default metric=2)

Unit format for angular dimension values. (default=0)

Controls the fraction format used for architectural and fractional dimensions. (default=0)

Specifies units for all nonangular dimensions. (default=2)

Specifies a single character to use as a decimal separator. (default imperial = '.', default metric = ',') This is an integer value, use ord('.') to write value.

Controls the format of dimension text when it is moved. (default=0)
0 Moves the dimension line with dimension text
1 Adds a leader when dimension text is moved
2 Allows text to be moved freely without a leader

Horizontal justification of dimension text. (default=0)
0 Center of dimension line
1 Left side of the dimension line, near first extension line
2 Right side of the dimension line, near second extension line
3 Over first extension line
4 Over second extension line

Toggles suppression of first dimension line. (default=0)

Toggles suppression of second dimension line. (default=0)

Vertical justification for dimension tolerance text. (default=1)
0 Align with bottom line of dimension text
1 Align vertical centered to dimension text
2 Align with top line of dimension text

Zero suppression for tolerances values, see DimStyle.dxf.dimzin

Zero suppression for alternate units dimension values. (default=0)

Zero suppression for alternate units tolerance values. (default=0)

Obsolete, now use DIMATFIT and DIMTMOVE

Controls user placement of dimension line and text. (default=0)

Controls placement of text and arrowheads when there is insufficient space between the extension lines. (default=3)

Text style used for dimension text by name.

Text style used for dimension text by handle of STYLE entry. (use DimStyle.dxf.dimtxsty to get/set text style by name)

Specify arrowhead used for leaders by name.

Specify arrowhead used for leaders by handle of referenced block. (use DimStyle.dxf.dimldrblk to get/set arrowhead by name)

Block type to use for both arrowheads, handle of referenced block. (use DimStyle.dxf.dimblk to get/set arrowheads by name)

Block type to use for first arrowhead, handle of referenced block. (use DimStyle.dxf.dimblk1 to get/set arrowhead by name)

Block type to use for second arrowhead, handle of referenced block. (use DimStyle.dxf.dimblk2 to get/set arrowhead by name)

Lineweight value for dimension lines. (default=-2, BYBLOCK)

Lineweight value for extension lines. (default=-2, BYBLOCK)

Specifies the linetype used for the dimension line as linetype name, requires DXF R2007+

Specifies the linetype used for the dimension line as handle to LTYPE entry, requires DXF R2007+ (use DimStyle.dxf.dimltype to get/set linetype by name)

Specifies the linetype used for the extension line 1 as linetype name, requires DXF R2007+

Specifies the linetype used for the extension line 1 as handle to LTYPE entry, requires DXF R2007+ (use DimStyle.dxf.dimltex1 to get/set linetype by name)

Specifies the linetype used for the extension line 2 as linetype name, requires DXF R2007+

Specifies the linetype used for the extension line 2 as handle to LTYPE entry, requires DXF R2007+ (use DimStyle.dxf.dimltex2 to get/set linetype by name)

Extension line has fixed length if set to 1, requires DXF R2007+

Length of extension line below dimension line if fixed (DimStyle.dxf.dimtfxlon == 1), DimStyle.dxf.dimexen defines the the length above the dimension line, requires DXF R2007+

Text fill 0=off; 1=background color; 2=custom color (see DimStyle.dxf.dimtfillclr), requires DXF R2007+

Text fill custom color as color index (1-255), requires DXF R2007+

Copy all dimension style variables to HEADER section of doc.

Set arrows by block names or AutoCAD standard arrow names, set DIMTSZ to 0 which disables tick.
  • blk – block/arrow name for both arrows, if DIMSAH is 0
  • blk1 – block/arrow name for first arrow, if DIMSAH is 1
  • blk2 – block/arrow name for second arrow, if DIMSAH is 1
  • ldrblk – block/arrow name for leader



Set tick size, which also disables arrows, a tick is just an oblique stroke as marker.
size – arrow size in drawing units


Set measurement text alignment, halign defines the horizontal alignment (requires DXF R2000+), valign defines the vertical alignment, above1 and above2 means above extension line 1 or 2 and aligned with extension line.
  • halign – “left”, “right”, “center”, “above1”, “above2”, requires DXF R2000+
  • valign – “above”, “center”, “below”
  • vshift – vertical text shift, if valign is “center”; >0 shift upward, <0 shift downwards



Set dimension text format, like prefix and postfix string, rounding rule and number of decimal places.
  • prefix – Dimension text prefix text as string
  • postfix – Dimension text postfix text as string
  • rnd – Rounds all dimensioning distances to the specified value, for instance, if DIMRND is set to 0.25, all distances round to the nearest 0.25 unit. If you set DIMRND to 1.0, all distances round to the nearest integer.
  • dec – Sets the number of decimal places displayed for the primary units of a dimension, requires DXF R2000+
  • sep – “.” or “,” as decimal separator, requires DXF R2000+
  • leading_zeros – Suppress leading zeros for decimal dimensions if False
  • trailing_zeros – Suppress trailing zeros for decimal dimensions if False



Set dimension line properties
  • color – color index
  • linetype – linetype as string, requires DXF R2007+
  • lineweight – line weight as int, 13 = 0.13mm, 200 = 2.00mm, requires DXF R2000+
  • extension – extension length
  • disable1True to suppress first part of dimension line, requires DXF R2000+
  • disable2True to suppress second part of dimension line, requires DXF R2000+



Set common extension line attributes.
  • color – color index
  • lineweight – line weight as int, 13 = 0.13mm, 200 = 2.00mm
  • extension – extension length above dimension line
  • offset – offset from measurement point
  • fixed_length – set fixed length extension line, length below the dimension line



Set extension line 1 attributes.
  • linetype – linetype for extension line 1, requires DXF R2007+
  • disable – disable extension line 1 if True



Set extension line 2 attributes.
  • linetype – linetype for extension line 2, requires DXF R2007+
  • disable – disable extension line 2 if True



Set tolerance text format, upper and lower value, text height factor, number of decimal places or leading and trailing zero suppression.
  • upper – upper tolerance value
  • lower – lower tolerance value, if None same as upper
  • hfactor – tolerance text height factor in relation to the dimension text height
  • align – tolerance text alignment “TOP”, “MIDDLE”, “BOTTOM”, requires DXF R2000+
  • dec – Sets the number of decimal places displayed, requires DXF R2000+
  • leading_zeros – suppress leading zeros for decimal dimensions if False, requires DXF R2000+
  • trailing_zeros – suppress trailing zeros for decimal dimensions if False, requires DXF R2000+



Set limits text format, upper and lower limit values, text height factor, number of decimal places or leading and trailing zero suppression.
  • upper – upper limit value added to measurement value
  • lower – lower lower value subtracted from measurement value
  • hfactor – limit text height factor in relation to the dimension text height
  • dec – Sets the number of decimal places displayed, requires DXF R2000+
  • leading_zeros – suppress leading zeros for decimal dimensions if False, requires DXF R2000+
  • trailing_zeros – suppress trailing zeros for decimal dimensions if False, requires DXF R2000+




VPort

The viewport table (DXF Reference) stores the modelspace viewport configurations. So this entries just modelspace viewports, not paperspace viewports, for paperspace viewports see the Viewport entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'VPORT'
Factory function Drawing.viewports.new()

SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: vport_table_internals


Subclass of DXFEntity

Defines a viewport configurations for the modelspace.

Handle to owner (ViewportTable).

Viewport name

Standard flag values (bit-coded values):
16 If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully resolved
64 If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the drawing was edited. (This flag is only for the benefit of AutoCAD)

Lower-left corner of viewport

Upper-right corner of viewport

View center point (in DCS)

Snap base point (in DCS)

Snap spacing X and Y

Grid spacing X and Y

View direction from target point (in WCS)

View target point (in WCS)

View height


Lens focal length in mm

Front clipping plane (offset from target point)

Back clipping plane (offset from target point)

Snap rotation angle in degrees

View twist angle in degrees











View

The View table (DXF Reference) stores named views of the model or paperspace layouts. This stored views makes parts of the drawing or some view points of the model in a CAD applications more accessible. This views have no influence to the drawing content or to the generated output by exporting PDFs or plotting on paper sheets, they are just for the convenience of CAD application users.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'VIEW'
Factory function Drawing.views.new()

SEE ALSO:

DXF Internals: view_table_internals


Handle to owner (Table).

Name of view.

Standard flag values (bit-coded values):
1 If set, this is a paper space view
16 If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully resolved
64 If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the drawing was edited. (This flag is only for the benefit of AutoCAD)

View height (in DCS)

View width (in DCS)

View center point (in DCS)

View direction from target (in WCS)

Target point (in WCS)

Lens length

Front clipping plane (offset from target point)

Back clipping plane (offset from target point)

Twist angle in degrees.

View mode (see VIEWMODE system variable)

0 2D Optimized (classic 2D)
1 Wireframe
2 Hidden line
3 Flat shaded
4 Gouraud shaded
5 Flat shaded with wireframe
6 Gouraud shaded with wireframe

1 if there is a UCS associated to this view; 0 otherwise

UCS origin as (x, y, z) tuple (appears only if ucs is set to 1)

UCS x-axis as (x, y, z) tuple (appears only if ucs is set to 1)

UCS y-axis as (x, y, z) tuple (appears only if ucs is set to 1)

Orthographic type of UCS (appears only if ucs is set to 1)
0 UCS is not orthographic
1 Top
2 Bottom
3 Front
4 Back
5 Left
6 Right

UCS elevation

Handle of UCSTable if UCS is a named UCS. If not present, then UCS is unnamed (appears only if ucs is set to 1)

Handle of UCSTable of base UCS if UCS is orthographic. If not present and ucs_ortho_type is non-zero, then base UCS is taken to be WORLD (appears only if ucs is set to 1)

1 if the camera is plottable

Handle to background object (optional)

Handle to live section object (optional)

Handle to visual style object (optional)

Sun hard ownership handle.


AppID

Defines an APPID (DXF Reference). These table entries maintain a set of names for all registered applications.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'APPID'
Factory function Drawing.appids.new()
Handle to owner (Table).

User-supplied (or application-supplied) application name (for extended data).

Standard flag values (bit-coded values):
16 If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully resolved
64 If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the drawing was edited. (This flag is only for the benefit of AutoCAD)


UCS

Defines an named or unnamed user coordinate system (DXF Reference) for usage in CAD applications. This UCS table entry does not interact with ezdxf in any way, to do coordinate transformations by ezdxf use the ezdxf.math.UCS class.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'UCS'
Factory function Drawing.ucs.new()

SEE ALSO:

ucs and ocs


Handle to owner (Table).

UCS name (str).

Standard flags (bit-coded values):
16 If set, table entry is externally dependent on an xref
32 If both this bit and bit 16 are set, the externally dependent xref has been successfully resolved
64 If set, the table entry was referenced by at least one entity in the drawing the last time the drawing was edited. (This flag is only for the benefit of AutoCAD)

Origin as (x, y, z) tuple

X-axis direction as (x, y, z) tuple

Y-axis direction as (x, y, z) tuple

Returns an ezdxf.math.UCS object for this UCS table entry.


BlockRecord

BLOCK_RECORD (DXF Reference) is the core management structure for BlockLayout and Layout. This is an internal DXF structure managed by ezdxf, package users don’t have to care about it.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'BLOCK_RECORD'
Factory function Drawing.block_records.new()
Handle to owner (Table).

Name of associated BLOCK.

Handle to associated DXFLayout, if paperspace layout or modelspace else 0

1 for BLOCK references can be exploded else 0

1 for BLOCK references can be scaled else 0

BLOCK insert units
0 Unitless
1 Inches
2 Feet
3 Miles
4 Millimeters
5 Centimeters
6 Meters
7 Kilometers
8 Microinches
9 Mils
10 Yards
11 Angstroms
12 Nanometers
13 Microns
14 Decimeters
15 Decameters
16 Hectometers
17 Gigameters
18 Astronomical units
19 Light years
20 Parsecs
21 US Survey Feet
22 US Survey Inch
23 US Survey Yard
24 US Survey Mile

True if is “active” paperspace layout.

True if is any kind of paperspace layout.

True if is any kind of modelspace or paperspace layout.

True if not any kind of modelspace or paperspace layout, just a regular block definition.

True if is the modelspace layout.


Internal Structure

Do not change this structures, this is just an information for experienced developers!

The BLOCK_RECORD is the owner of all the entities in a layout and stores them in an EntitySpace object (BlockRecord.entity_space). For each layout exist a BLOCK definition in the BLOCKS section, a reference to the Block entity is stored in BlockRecord.block.

Modelspace and Paperspace layouts require an additional DXFLayout object in the OBJECTS section.

SEE ALSO:

More information about Block Management Structures and Layout Management Structures.


Blocks

A block definition (BlockLayout) is a collection of DXF entities, which can be placed multiply times at different layouts or other blocks as references to the block definition.

SEE ALSO:

tut_blocks and DXF Internals: Block Management Structures


Block

BLOCK (DXF Reference) entity is embedded into the BlockLayout object. The BLOCK entity is accessible by the BlockLayout.block attribute.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'BLOCK'
Factory function Drawing.blocks.new() (returns a BlockLayout)

SEE ALSO:

tut_blocks and DXF Internals: Block Management Structures


BLOCK handle as plain hex string. (feature for experts)

Handle to owner as plain hex string. (feature for experts)

Layer name as string; default value is '0'

BLOCK name as string. (case insensitive)

BLOCK base point as (x, y, z) tuple, default value is (0, 0, 0)

Insertion location referenced by the Insert entity to place the block reference and also the center of rotation and scaling.


BLOCK flags (bit-coded)
1 Anonymous block generated by hatching, associative dimensioning, other internal operations, or an application
2 Block has non-constant attribute definitions (this bit is not set if the block has any attribute definitions that are constant, or has no attribute definitions at all)
4 Block is an external reference (xref)
8 Block is an xref overlay
16 Block is externally dependent
32 This is a resolved external reference, or dependent of an external reference (ignored on input)
64 This definition is a referenced external reference (ignored on input)

File system path as string, if this block defines an external reference (XREF).

Returns True if this is a Modelspace or Paperspace block definition.

Returns True if this is an anonymous block generated by hatching, associative dimensioning, other internal operations, or an application.

Returns True if bock is an external referenced file.

Returns True if bock is an external referenced overlay file.


EndBlk

ENDBLK entity is embedded into the BlockLayout object. The ENDBLK entity is accessible by the BlockLayout.endblk attribute.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity
DXF type 'ENDBLK'
BLOCK handle as plain hex string. (feature for experts)

Handle to owner as plain hex string. (feature for experts)

Layer name as string; should always be the same as Block.dxf.layer


Insert

Block reference (DXF Reference) with maybe attached attributes (Attrib).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'INSERT'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_blockref()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

SEE ALSO:

tut_blocks


WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


TODO: influence of layer, linetype, color DXF attributes to block entities

BLOCK name (str)

Insertion location of the BLOCK base point as (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Scale factor for x direction (float)

Scale factor for y direction (float)

Not all CAD applications support non-uniform scaling (e.g. LibreCAD).


Scale factor for z direction (float)

Not all CAD applications support non-uniform scaling (e.g. LibreCAD).


Rotation angle in degrees (float)

Count of repeated insertions in row direction, MINSERT entity if > 1 (int)

Distance between two insert points (MINSERT) in row direction (float)

Count of repeated insertions in column direction, MINSERT entity if > 1 (int)

Distance between two insert points (MINSERT) in column direction (float)

A list of all attached Attrib entities.

Returns True if any axis scaling is applied.

New in version 0.12.


Returns True if scaling is uniform in x-, y- and z-axis ignoring reflections e.g. (1, 1, -1) is uniform scaling.

Returns the multi-insert count, MINSERT (multi-insert) processing is required if mcount > 1.

New in version 0.14.


Set uniform scaling.

Returns associated BlockLayout.

Set block reference placing location insert, scaling and rotation attributes. Parameters which are None will not be altered.
  • insert – insert location as (x, y [,z]) tuple
  • scale(x-scale, y-scale, z-scale) tuple
  • rotation – rotation angle in degrees



Place block reference in a grid layout, grid size defines the row- and column count, spacing defines the distance between two block references.
  • size – grid size as (row_count, column_count) tuple
  • spacing – distance between placing as (row_spacing, column_spacing) tuple



Returns True if ATTRIB tag exist, for search_const doc see get_attrib().
  • tag – tag name as string
  • search_const – search also const ATTDEF entities



Get attached Attrib entity with dxf.tag == tag, returns None if not found. Some applications may not attach constant ATTRIB entities, set search_const to True, to get at least the associated AttDef entity.
  • tag – tag name
  • search_const – search also const ATTDEF entities



Get content text of attached Attrib entity with dxf.tag == tag, returns default if not found. Some applications may not attach constant ATTRIB entities, set search_const to True, to get content text of the associated AttDef entity.
  • tag – tag name
  • default – default value if ATTRIB tag is absent
  • search_const – search also const ATTDEF entities



Attach an Attrib entity to the block reference.

Example for appending an attribute to an INSERT entity with none standard alignment:

e.add_attrib('EXAMPLETAG', 'example text').set_pos(

(3, 7), align='MIDDLE_CENTER' )


  • tag – tag name as string
  • text – content text as string
  • insert – insert location as tuple (x, y[, z]) in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for the ATTRIB entity



Attach for each Attdef entity, defined in the block definition, automatically an Attrib entity to the block reference and set tag/value DXF attributes of the ATTRIB entities by the key/value pairs (both as strings) of the values dict. The ATTRIB entities are placed relative to the insert location of the block reference, which is identical to the block base point.

This method avoids the wrapper block of the add_auto_blockref() method, but the visual results may not match the results of CAD applications, especially for non uniform scaling. If the visual result is very important to you, use the add_auto_blockref() method.

valuesAttrib tag values as tag/value pairs


Delete an attached Attrib entity from INSERT. If ignore is False, an DXFKeyError exception is raised, if ATTRIB tag does not exist.
  • tag – ATTRIB name
  • ignoreFalse for raising DXFKeyError if ATTRIB tag does not exist.

DXFKeyError – if ATTRIB tag does not exist.


Delete all Attrib entities attached to the INSERT entity.

Reset block reference parameters location, rotation and extrusion vector.

Transform INSERT entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

Unlike the transformation matrix m, the INSERT entity can not represent a non orthogonal target coordinate system, for this case an InsertTransformationError will be raised.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized INSERT translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis.

New in version 0.13.


Yields “virtual” entities of a block reference. This method is meant to examine the block reference entities at the “exploded” location without really “exploding” the block reference. The`skipped_entity_callback()` will be called for all entities which are not processed, signature: skipped_entity_callback(entity: DXFEntity, reason: str), entity is the original (untransformed) DXF entity of the block definition, the reason string is an explanation why the entity was skipped.

This entities are not stored in the entity database, have no handle and are not assigned to any layout. It is possible to convert this entities into regular drawing entities by adding the entities to the entities database and a layout of the same DXF document as the block reference:

doc.entitydb.add(entity)
msp = doc.modelspace()
msp.add_entity(entity)


This method does not resolve the MINSERT attributes, only the sub-entities of the base INSERT will be returned. To resolve MINSERT entities check if multi insert processing is required, that’s the case if property Insert.mcount > 1, use the Insert.multi_insert() method to resolve the MINSERT entity into single INSERT entities.

WARNING:

Non uniform scaling may return incorrect results for text entities (TEXT, MTEXT, ATTRIB) and maybe some other entities.


skipped_entity_callback – called whenever the transformation of an entity is not supported and so was skipped

Changed in version 0.13: deprecated non_uniform_scaling argument


Yields a virtual INSERT entity for each grid element of a MINSERT entity (multi-insert).

New in version 0.14.


Explode block reference entities into target layout, if target layout is None, the target layout is the layout of the block reference. This method destroys the source block reference entity.

Transforms the block entities into the required WCS location by applying the block reference attributes insert, extrusion, rotation and the scaling values xscale, yscale and zscale.

Attached ATTRIB entities are converted to TEXT entities, this is the behavior of the BURST command of the AutoCAD Express Tools.

Returns an EntityQuery container with all “exploded” DXF entities.

WARNING:

Non uniform scaling may lead to incorrect results for text entities (TEXT, MTEXT, ATTRIB) and maybe some other entities.


  • target_layout – target layout for exploded entities, None for
  • layout as source entity. (same) –


Changed in version 0.13: deprecated non_uniform_scaling argument


Returns the block reference coordinate system as ezdxf.math.UCS object.


Attrib

The ATTRIB (DXF Reference) entity represents a text value associated with a tag. In most cases an ATTRIB is appended to an Insert entity, but it can also appear as standalone entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Text
DXF type 'ATTRIB'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_attrib() (stand alone entity)
Factory function Insert.add_attrib() (attached to Insert)
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

SEE ALSO:

tut_blocks


WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


ATTRIB supports all DXF attributes and methods of parent class Text.
Tag to identify the attribute (str)

Attribute content as text (str)

Attribute is invisible (does not appear).

This is a constant attribute.

Verification is required on input of this attribute. (CAD application feature)

No prompt during insertion. (CAD application feature)


AttDef

The ATTDEF (DXF Reference) entity is a template in a BlockLayout, which will be used to create an attached Attrib entity for an Insert entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Text
DXF type 'ATTDEF'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_attdef()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

SEE ALSO:

tut_blocks


WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


ATTDEF supports all DXF attributes and methods of parent class Text.
Tag to identify the attribute (str)

Attribute content as text (str)

Attribute prompt string. (CAD application feature)

Just relevant to CAD programs for validating user input

Attribute is invisible (does not appear).

This is a constant attribute.

Verification is required on input of this attribute. (CAD application feature)

No prompt during insertion. (CAD application feature)


Layouts

Layout Manager

The layout manager is unique to each DXF drawing, access the layout manager as layouts attribute of the Drawing object.

The Layouts class manages Paperspace layouts and the Modelspace.
__len__() -> int
Returns count of existing layouts, including the modelspace layout.

__contains__(name: str) -> bool
Returns True if layout name exist.

__iter__() -> Iterable[Layout]
Returns iterable of all layouts as Layout objects, including the modelspace layout.

Returns a list of all layout names, all names in original case sensitive form.

Returns all layout names in tab order as shown in CAD applications.

Returns the Modelspace layout.

Returns Layout by name, case insensitive “Model” == “MODEL”.
name – layout name as shown in tab, e.g. 'Model' for modelspace


Returns a new Paperspace layout.
  • name – layout name as shown in tabs in CAD applications
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for the DXFLayout entity

  • DXFValueError – Invalid characters in layout name.
  • DXFValueError – Layout name already exist.



Rename a layout from old_name to new_name. Can not rename layout 'Model' and the new name of a layout must not exist.
  • old_name – actual layout name, case insensitive
  • new_name – new layout name, case insensitive

  • DXFValueError – try to rename 'Model'
  • DXFValueError – Layout new_name already exist.



Delete layout name and destroy all entities in that layout.
name (str) – layout name as shown in tabs
  • DXFKeyError – if layout name do not exists
  • DXFValueError – deleting modelspace layout is not possible
  • DXFValueError – deleting last paperspace layout is not possible



Returns the active paperspace layout.

Set layout name as active paperspace layout.

Returns the owner layout for a DXF entity.


Layout Types

A Layout represents and manages DXF entities, there are three different layout objects:

  • Modelspace is the common working space, containing basic drawing entities.
  • Paperspace is arrangement of objects for printing and plotting, this layout contains basic drawing entities and viewports to the Modelspace.
  • BlockLayout works on an associated Block, Blocks are collections of drawing entities for reusing by block references.

WARNING:

Do not instantiate layout classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Entity Ownership

A layout owns all entities residing in their entity space, this means the dxf.owner attribute of any DXFGraphic in this layout is the dxf.handle of the layout, and deleting an entity from a layout is the end of life of this entity, because it is also deleted from the EntityDB. But it is possible to just unlink an entity from a layout, so it can be assigned to another layout, use the move_to_layout() method to move entities between layouts.

BaseLayout

BaseLayout is the common base class for Layout and BlockLayout.
False if layout is deleted.

True if is active layout.

True if is any kind of paperspace layout.

True if is modelspace layout.

True if is any kind of modelspace or paperspace layout.

True if not any kind of modelspace or paperspace layout, just a regular block definition.

set drawing units.
Get/Set layout/block drawing units as enum, see also
ref


__len__() -> int
Returns count of entities owned by the layout.

__iter__() -> Iterable[DXFGraphic]
Returns iterable of all drawing entities in this layout.

__getitem__(index)
Get entity at index.

The underlying data structure for storing entities is organized like a standard Python list, therefore index can be any valid list indexing or slicing term, like a single index layout[-1] to get the last entity, or an index slice layout[:10] to get the first 10 or less entities as List[DXFGraphic].


Returns the associated extension dictionary, creates a new one if necessary.

Delete entity from layout entity space and the entity database, this destroys the entity.

Delete all entities from this layout and from entity database, this destroys all entities in this layout.

Unlink entity from layout but does not delete entity from the entity database, this removes entity just from the layout entity space.

Get all DXF entities matching the entity query string.

Returns a dict of entity lists, where entities are grouped by a dxfattrib or a key function.
  • dxfattrib – grouping by DXF attribute like 'layer'
  • key – key function, which accepts a DXFGraphic entity as argument and returns the grouping key of an entity or None to ignore the entity. Reason for ignoring: a queried DXF attribute is not supported by entity.



Move entity to another layout.
  • entity – DXF entity to move
  • layout – any layout (modelspace, paperspace, block) from same drawing



Add an existing DXFGraphic entity to a layout, but be sure to unlink (unlink_entity()) entity from the previous owner layout. Adding entities from a different DXF drawing is not supported.

Add a foreign DXF entity to a layout, this foreign entity could be from another DXF document or an entity without an assigned DXF document. The intention of this method is to add simple entities from another DXF document or from a DXF iterator, for more complex operations use the importer add-on. Especially objects with BLOCK section (INSERT, DIMENSION, MLEADER) or OBJECTS section dependencies (IMAGE, UNDERLAY) can not be supported by this simple method.

Not all DXF types are supported and every dependency or resource reference from another DXF document will be removed except attribute layer will be preserved but only with default attributes like color 7 and linetype CONTINUOUS because the layer attribute doesn’t need a layer table entry.

If the entity is part of another DXF document, it will be unlinked from this document and its entity database if argument copy is False, else the entity will be copied. Unassigned entities like from DXF iterators will just be added.

Supported DXF types:

  • POINT
  • LINE
  • CIRCLE
  • ARC
  • ELLIPSE
  • LWPOLYLINE
  • SPLINE
  • POLYLINE
  • 3DFACE
  • SOLID
  • TRACE
  • SHAPE
  • MESH
  • ATTRIB
  • ATTDEF
  • TEXT
  • MTEXT
  • HATCH



  • entity – DXF entity to copy or move
  • copy – if True copy entity from other document else unlink from other document



Add a Point entity at location.
  • location – 2D/3D point in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Line entity from start to end.
  • start – 2D/3D point in WCS
  • end – 2D/3D point in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Circle entity. This is an 2D element, which can be placed in space by using OCS.
  • center – 2D/3D point in WCS
  • radius – circle radius
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add an Ellipse entity, ratio is the ratio of minor axis to major axis, start_param and end_param defines start and end point of the ellipse, a full ellipse goes from 0 to 2*pi. The ellipse goes from start to end param in counter clockwise direction.
  • center – center of ellipse as 2D/3D point in WCS
  • major_axis – major axis as vector (x, y, z)
  • ratio – ratio of minor axis to major axis in range +/-[1e-6, 1.0]
  • start_param – start of ellipse curve
  • end_param – end param of ellipse curve
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add an Arc entity. The arc goes from start_angle to end_angle in counter clockwise direction by default, set parameter is_counter_clockwise to False for clockwise orientation.
  • center – center of arc as 2D/3D point in WCS
  • radius – arc radius
  • start_angle – start angle in degrees
  • end_angle – end angle in degrees
  • is_counter_clockwise – False for clockwise orientation
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Solid entity, points is an iterable of 3 or 4 points.
  • points – iterable of 3 or 4 2D/3D points in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Solid entity



Add a Trace entity, points is an iterable of 3 or 4 points.
  • points – iterable of 3 or 4 2D/3D points in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Trace entity



Add a 3DFace entity, points is an iterable 3 or 4 2D/3D points.
  • points – iterable of 3 or 4 2D/3D points in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for 3DFace entity



Add a Text entity, see also Style.
  • text – content string
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Text entity



Add an Insert entity.
  • name – block name as str
  • insert – insert location as 2D/3D point in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Insert entity



Add an Insert entity. This method adds for each Attdef entity, defined in the block definition, automatically an Attrib entity to the block reference and set tag/value DXF attributes of the ATTRIB entities by the key/value pairs (both as strings) of the values dict.

The Attrib entities are placed relative to the insert point, which is equal to the block base point.

This method wraps the INSERT and all the ATTRIB entities into an anonymous block, which produces the best visual results, especially for non uniform scaled block references, because the transformation and scaling is done by the CAD application. But this makes evaluation of block references with attributes more complicated, if you prefer INSERT and ATTRIB entities without a wrapper block use the add_blockref_with_attribs() method.

  • name – block name
  • insert – insert location as 2D/3D point in WCS
  • valuesAttrib tag values as tag/value pairs
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Insert entity



Add an Attrib as stand alone DXF entity.
  • tag – tag name as string
  • text – tag value as string
  • insert – insert location as 2D/3D point in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Attrib entity



Add an AttDef as stand alone DXF entity.

Set position and alignment by the idiom:

layout.add_attdef('NAME').set_pos((2, 3), align='MIDDLE_CENTER')


  • tag – tag name as string
  • insert – insert location as 2D/3D point in WCS
  • text – tag value as string
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a 2D Polyline entity.
  • points – iterable of 2D points in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes
  • format – user defined point format like add_lwpolyline(), default is None


New in version 0.11: user defined point format


Add a 3D Polyline entity.
  • points – iterable of 3D points in WCS
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Polymesh entity, which is a wrapper class for the POLYLINE entity. A polymesh is a grid of mcount x ncount vertices and every vertex has its own (x, y, z)-coordinates.
  • size – 2-tuple (mcount, ncount)
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Polyline entity



Add a Polyface entity, which is a wrapper class for the POLYLINE entity.
dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Polyline entity


Add a Shape reference to a external stored shape.
  • name – shape name as string
  • insert – insert location as 2D/3D point in WCS
  • size – size factor
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a 2D polyline as LWPolyline entity. A points are defined as (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuples, but order can be redefined by the format argument. Set start_width, end_width to 0 to be ignored like (x, y, 0, 0, bulge).

The LWPolyline is defined as a single DXF entity and needs less disk space than a Polyline entity. (requires DXF R2000)

Format codes:

  • x = x-coordinate
  • y = y-coordinate
  • s = start width
  • e = end width
  • b = bulge value
  • v = (x, y [,z]) tuple (z-axis is ignored)



  • points – iterable of (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuples
  • format – user defined point format, default is "xyseb"
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a multiline text entity with automatic text wrapping at boundaries as MText entity. (requires DXF R2000)
  • text – content string
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Ray that begins at start point and continues to infinity (construction line). (requires DXF R2000)
  • start – location 3D point in WCS
  • unit_vector – 3D vector (x, y, z)
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add an infinity XLine (construction line). (requires DXF R2000)
  • start – location 3D point in WCS
  • unit_vector – 3D vector (x, y, z)
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a B-spline (Spline entity) defined by fit points - the control points and knot values are created by the CAD application, therefore it is not predictable how the rendered spline will look like, because for every set of fit points exists an infinite set of B-splines. If fit_points is None, an ‘empty’ spline will be created, all data has to be set by the user. (requires DXF R2000)

AutoCAD creates a spline through fit points by a proprietary algorithm. ezdxf can not reproduce the control point calculation. See also: tut_spline.

  • fit_points – iterable of fit points as (x, y[, z]) in WCS, create ‘empty’ Spline if None
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Spline entity passing through given fit points by global B-spline interpolation, the new SPLINE entity is defined by a control frame and not by the fit points.
  • “uniform”: creates a uniform t vector, from 0 to 1 evenly spaced, see uniform method
  • “distance”, “chord”: creates a t vector with values proportional to the fit point distances, see chord length method
  • “centripetal”, “sqrt_chord”: creates a t vector with values proportional to the fit point sqrt(distances), see centripetal method
  • “arc”: creates a t vector with values proportional to the arc length between fit points.

  • fit_points – iterable of fit points as (x, y[, z]) in WCS
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • method – calculation method for parameter vector t
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add an open uniform Spline defined by control_points. (requires DXF R2000)

Open uniform B-splines start and end at your first and last control point.

  • control_points – iterable of 3D points in WCS
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • knots – knot values as iterable of floats
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a closed uniform Spline defined by control_points. (requires DXF R2000)

Closed uniform B-splines is a closed curve start and end at the first control point.

  • control_points – iterable of 3D points in WCS
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • knots – knot values as iterable of floats
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add an open rational uniform Spline defined by control_points. (requires DXF R2000)

weights has to be an iterable of floats, which defines the influence of the associated control point to the shape of the B-spline, therefore for each control point is one weight value required.

Open rational uniform B-splines start and end at the first and last control point.

  • control_points – iterable of 3D points in WCS
  • weights – weight values as iterable of floats
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • knots – knot values as iterable of floats
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a closed rational uniform Spline defined by control_points. (requires DXF R2000)

weights has to be an iterable of floats, which defines the influence of the associated control point to the shape of the B-spline, therefore for each control point is one weight value required.

Closed rational uniform B-splines start and end at the first control point.

  • control_points – iterable of 3D points in WCS
  • weights – weight values as iterable of floats
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • knots – knot values as iterable of floats
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Hatch entity. (requires DXF R2007)
  • color – ACI (AutoCAD Color Index), default is 7 (black/white).
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Mesh entity. (requires DXF R2007)
dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes


Add an Image entity, requires a ImageDef entity, see tut_image. (requires DXF R2000)
  • image_def – required image definition as ImageDef
  • insert – insertion point as 3D point in WCS
  • size_in_units – size as (x, y) tuple in drawing units
  • rotation – rotation angle around the extrusion axis, default is the z-axis, in degrees
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a ezdxf.entities.Wipeout entity, the masking area is defined by WCS vertices.

This method creates only a 2D entity in the xy-plane of the layout, the z-axis of the input vertices are ignored.


Add an Underlay entity, requires a UnderlayDef entity, see tut_underlay. (requires DXF R2000)
  • underlay_def – required underlay definition as UnderlayDef
  • insert – insertion point as 3D point in WCS
  • scale – underlay scaling factor as (x, y, z) tuple or as single value for uniform scaling for x, y and z
  • rotation – rotation angle around the extrusion axis, default is the z-axis, in degrees
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add horizontal, vertical and rotated Dimension line. If an UCS is used for dimension line rendering, all point definitions in UCS coordinates, translation into WCS and OCS is done by the rendering function. Extrusion vector is defined by UCS or (0, 0, 1) by default. See also: tut_linear_dimension

This method returns a DimStyleOverride object - to create the necessary dimension geometry, you have to call render() manually, this two step process allows additional processing steps on the Dimension entity between creation and rendering.

NOTE:

ezdxf ignores some DIMSTYLE variables, so render results may differ from BricsCAD or AutoCAD.


  • base – location of dimension line, any point on the dimension line or its extension will do (in UCS)
  • p1 – measurement point 1 and start point of extension line 1 (in UCS)
  • p2 – measurement point 2 and start point of extension line 2 (in UCS)
  • location – user defined location for text mid point (in UCS)
  • textNone or "<>" the measurement is drawn as text, " " (one space) suppresses the dimension text, everything else text is drawn as dimension text
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZDXF'
  • angle – angle from ucs/wcs x-axis to dimension line in degrees
  • text_rotation – rotation angle of the dimension text as absolute angle (x-axis=0, y-axis=90) in degrees
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Dimension entity


Returns: DimStyleOverride


Add multiple linear dimensions for iterable points. If an UCS is used for dimension line rendering, all point definitions in UCS coordinates, translation into WCS and OCS is done by the rendering function. Extrusion vector is defined by UCS or (0, 0, 1) by default. See also: tut_linear_dimension

This method sets many design decisions by itself, the necessary geometry will be generated automatically, no required nor possible render() call. This method is easy to use but you get what you get.

NOTE:

ezdxf ignores some DIMSTYLE variables, so render results may differ from BricsCAD or AutoCAD.


  • base – location of dimension line, any point on the dimension line or its extension will do (in UCS)
  • points – iterable of measurement points (in UCS)
  • angle – angle from ucs/wcs x-axis to dimension line in degrees (0 = horizontal, 90 = vertical)
  • ucs – user defined coordinate system
  • avoid_double_rendering – suppresses the first extension line and the first arrow if possible for continued dimension entities
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZDXF'
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Dimension entity
  • discard – discard rendering result for friendly CAD applications like BricsCAD to get a native and likely better rendering result. (does not work with AutoCAD)



Add linear dimension aligned with measurement points p1 and p2. If an UCS is used for dimension line rendering, all point definitions in UCS coordinates, translation into WCS and OCS is done by the rendering function. Extrusion vector is defined by UCS or (0, 0, 1) by default. See also: tut_linear_dimension

This method returns a DimStyleOverride object, to create the necessary dimension geometry, you have to call DimStyleOverride.render() manually, this two step process allows additional processing steps on the Dimension entity between creation and rendering.

NOTE:

ezdxf ignores some DIMSTYLE variables, so render results may differ from BricsCAD or AutoCAD.


  • p1 – measurement point 1 and start point of extension line 1 (in UCS)
  • p2 – measurement point 2 and start point of extension line 2 (in UCS)
  • distance – distance of dimension line from measurement points
  • text – None or “<>” the measurement is drawn as text, ” ” (one space) suppresses the dimension text, everything else text is drawn as dimension text
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZDXF'
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Dimension entity


Returns: DimStyleOverride


Add a radius Dimension line. The radius dimension line requires a center point and a point mpoint on the circle or as an alternative a radius and a dimension line angle in degrees. See also: tut_radius_dimension

If an UCS is used for dimension line rendering, all point definitions in UCS coordinates, translation into WCS and OCS is done by the rendering function. Extrusion vector is defined by UCS or (0, 0, 1) by default.

This method returns a DimStyleOverride object - to create the necessary dimension geometry, you have to call render() manually, this two step process allows additional processing steps on the Dimension entity between creation and rendering.

Following render types are supported:

  • Default text location outside: text aligned with dimension line; dimension style: 'EZ_RADIUS'
  • Default text location outside horizontal: 'EZ_RADIUS' + dimtoh=1
  • Default text location inside: text aligned with dimension line; dimension style: 'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE'
  • Default text location inside horizontal:'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE' + dimtih=1
  • User defined text location: argument location != None, text aligned with dimension line; dimension style: 'EZ_RADIUS'
  • User defined text location horizontal: argument location != None, 'EZ_RADIUS' + dimtoh=1 for text outside horizontal, 'EZ_RADIUS' + dimtih=1 for text inside horizontal

Placing the dimension text at a user defined location, overrides the mpoint and the angle argument, but requires a given radius argument. The location argument does not define the exact text location, instead it defines the dimension line starting at center and the measurement text midpoint projected on this dimension line going through location, if text is aligned to the dimension line. If text is horizontal, location is the kink point of the dimension line from radial to horizontal direction.

NOTE:

ezdxf ignores some DIMSTYLE variables, so render results may differ from BricsCAD or AutoCAD.


  • center – center point of the circle (in UCS)
  • mpoint – measurement point on the circle, overrides angle and radius (in UCS)
  • radius – radius in drawing units, requires argument angle
  • angle – specify angle of dimension line in degrees, requires argument radius
  • location – user defined dimension text location, overrides mpoint and angle, but requires radius (in UCS)
  • textNone or "<>" the measurement is drawn as text, " " (one space) suppresses the dimension text, everything else text is drawn as dimension text
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZ_RADIUS'
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Dimension entity


Returns: DimStyleOverride


Shortcut method to create a radius dimension by center point, measurement point on the circle and the measurement text at the default location defined by the associated dimstyle, for further information see general method add_radius_dim().
  • dimstyle 'EZ_RADIUS': places the dimension text outside
  • dimstyle 'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE': places the dimension text inside

  • center – center point of the circle (in UCS)
  • mpoint – measurement point on the circle (in UCS)
  • textNone or "<>" the measurement is drawn as text, " " (one space) suppresses the dimension text, everything else text is drawn as dimension text
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZ_RADIUS'
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Dimension entity


Returns: DimStyleOverride


Shortcut method to create a radius dimension by (c)enter point, (r)adius and (a)ngle, the measurement text is placed at the default location defined by the associated dimstyle, for further information see general method add_radius_dim().
  • dimstyle 'EZ_RADIUS': places the dimension text outside
  • dimstyle 'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE': places the dimension text inside

  • center – center point of the circle (in UCS)
  • radius – radius in drawing units
  • angle – angle of dimension line in degrees
  • textNone or "<>" the measurement is drawn as text, " " (one space) suppresses the dimension text, everything else text is drawn as dimension text
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZ_RADIUS'
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Dimension entity


Returns: DimStyleOverride


Add a diameter Dimension line. The diameter dimension line requires a center point and a point mpoint on the circle or as an alternative a radius and a dimension line angle in degrees.

If an UCS is used for dimension line rendering, all point definitions in UCS coordinates, translation into WCS and OCS is done by the rendering function. Extrusion vector is defined by UCS or (0, 0, 1) by default.

This method returns a DimStyleOverride object - to create the necessary dimension geometry, you have to call render() manually, this two step process allows additional processing steps on the Dimension entity between creation and rendering.

NOTE:

ezdxf ignores some DIMSTYLE variables, so render results may differ from BricsCAD or AutoCAD.


  • center – specifies the center of the circle (in UCS)
  • mpoint – specifies the measurement point on the circle (in UCS)
  • radius – specify radius, requires argument angle, overrides p1 argument
  • angle – specify angle of dimension line in degrees, requires argument radius, overrides p1 argument
  • location – user defined location for text mid point (in UCS)
  • textNone or "<>" the measurement is drawn as text, " " (one space) suppresses the dimension text, everything else text is drawn as dimension text
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZ_RADIUS'
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Dimension entity


Returns: DimStyleOverride

(not implemented yet!)


Shortcut method to create a diameter dimension by two points on the circle and the measurement text at the default location defined by the associated dimstyle, for further information see general method add_diameter_dim(). Center point of the virtual circle is the mid point between p1 and p2.
  • dimstyle 'EZ_RADIUS': places the dimension text outside
  • dimstyle 'EZ_RADIUS_INSIDE': places the dimension text inside

  • p1 – first point of the circle (in UCS)
  • p2 – second point on the opposite side of the center point of the circle (in UCS)
  • textNone or "<>" the measurement is drawn as text, " " (one space) suppresses the dimension text, everything else text is drawn as dimension text
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZ_RADIUS'
  • overrideDimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Dimension entity


Returns: DimStyleOverride


The Leader entity represents an arrow, made up of one or more vertices (or spline fit points) and an arrowhead. The label or other content to which the Leader is attached is stored as a separate entity, and is not part of the Leader itself. (requires DXF R2000)

Leader shares its styling infrastructure with Dimension.

By default a Leader without any annotation is created. For creating more fancy leaders and annotations see documentation provided by Autodesk or Demystifying DXF: LEADER and MULTILEADER implementation notes .

  • vertices – leader vertices (in WCS)
  • dimstyle – dimension style name (DimStyle table entry), default is 'EZDXF'
  • override – override DimStyleOverride attributes
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for Leader entity



Add a Body entity. (requires DXF R2000)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Region entity. (requires DXF R2000)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a 3DSOLID entity (Solid3d). (requires DXF R2000)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a Surface entity. (requires DXF R2007)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a ExtrudedSurface entity. (requires DXF R2007)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a LoftedSurface entity. (requires DXF R2007)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a RevolvedSurface entity. (requires DXF R2007)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes



Add a SweptSurface entity. (requires DXF R2007)
  • acis_data – ACIS data as iterable of text lines as strings, no interpretation by ezdxf possible
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes




Layout

Layout is a subclass of BaseLayout and common base class of Modelspace and Paperspace.
Layout name as shown in tabs of CAD applications.

Returns the DXF name space attribute of the associated DXFLayout object.

This enables direct access to the underlying LAYOUT entity, e.g. Layout.dxf.layout_flags


__contains__(entity: Union[DXFGraphic, str]) -> bool
Returns True if entity is stored in this layout.
entityDXFGraphic object or handle as hex string


Reset extends.

0 last screen display
1 drawing extents
2 drawing limits
3 view specific (defined by Layout.dxf.plot_view_name)
4 window specific (defined by Layout.set_plot_window_limits())
5 layout information (default)
value – plot type
DXFValueError – for value out of range


Set plot style file of type .ctb.
  • name – plot style filename
  • show – show plot style effect in preview? (AutoCAD specific attribute)



Set plot window size in (scaled) paper space units.
  • lower_left – lower left corner as 2D point
  • upper_right – upper right corner as 2D point



If the header variable $SORTENTS Regen flag (bit-code value 16) is set, AutoCAD regenerates entities in ascending handles order.

To change redraw order associate a different sort handle to entities, this redefines the order in which the entities are regenerated. handles can be a dict of entity_handle and sort_handle as (k, v) pairs, or an iterable of (entity_handle, sort_handle) tuples.

The sort_handle doesn’t have to be unique, some or all entities can share the same sort handle and a sort handle can be an existing handle.

The “0” handle can be used, but this sort_handle will be drawn as latest (on top of all other entities) and not as first as expected.

handles – iterable or dict of handle associations; an iterable of 2-tuples (entity_handle, sort_handle) or a dict (k, v) association as (entity_handle, sort_handle)


Returns iterable for all existing table entries as (entity_handle, sort_handle) pairs, see also set_redraw_order().

















Modelspace

Modelspace is a subclass of Layout.

The modelspace contains the “real” world representation of the drawing subjects in real world units.

Name of modelspace is fixed as “Model”.

Creates a new GeoData entity and replaces existing ones. The GEODATA entity resides in the OBJECTS section and not in the modelspace, it is linked to the modelspace by an ExtensionDict located in BLOCK_RECORD of the modelspace.

The GEODATA entity requires DXF R2010. The DXF reference does not document if other layouts than the modelspace supports geo referencing, so I assume getting/setting geo data may only make sense for the modelspace.

dxfattribs – DXF attributes for GeoData entity


Returns the GeoData entity associated to the modelspace or None.


Paperspace

Paperspace is a subclass of Layout.

Paperspace layouts are used to create different drawing sheets of the modelspace subjects for printing or PDF export.

Layout name as shown in tabs of CAD applications.

Setup plot settings and paper size and reset viewports. All parameters in given units (mm or inch).

Reset paper limits, extends and viewports.

  • size – paper size as (width, height) tuple
  • margins – (top, right, bottom, left) hint: clockwise
  • units – “mm” or “inch”
  • offset – plot origin offset is 2D point
  • rotation – see table Rotation
  • scale – integer in range [0, 32] defines a standard scale type or as tuple(numerator, denominator) e.g. (1, 50) for scale 1:50
  • name – paper name prefix “{name}_({width}_x_{height}_{unit})”
  • device – device .pc3 configuration file or system printer name


int Rotation
0 no rotation
1 90 degrees counter-clockwise
2 upside-down
3 90 degrees clockwise

Rename layout to name, changes the name displayed in tabs by CAD applications, not the internal BLOCK name.

Get all VIEWPORT entities defined in the paperspace layout. Returns a list of Viewport objects, sorted by id, the first entity is always the paperspace view with an id of 1.


Delete all existing viewports, and add a new main viewport.

Set paper limits to default values, all values in paperspace units but without plot scale (?).

Returns paper limits in plot paper units, relative to the plot origin.

plot origin = lower left corner of printable area + plot origin offset

tuple ((x1, y1), (x2, y2)), lower left corner is (x1, y1), upper right corner is (x2, y2).



BlockLayout

BlockLayout is a subclass of BaseLayout.

Block layouts are reusable sets of graphical entities, which can be referenced by multiple Insert entities. Each reference can be placed, scaled and rotated individually and can have it’s own set of DXF Attrib entities attached.

name of the associated BLOCK and BLOCK_RECORD entities.

the associated Block entity.

the associated EndBlk entity.

DXF name space of associated BlockRecord table entry.

Set property to True to allow exploding block references of this block.

Set property to True to allow block references of this block only scale uniformly.

__contains__(entity: Union[DXFGraphic, str]) -> bool
Returns True if block contains entity.
entityDXFGraphic object or handle as hex string


Returns iterable of all Attdef entities.

Returns True if an Attdef for tag exist.

Returns attached Attdef entity by tag name.

Returns text content for Attdef tag as string or returns default if no Attdef for tag exist.
  • tag – name of tag
  • default – default value if tag not exist




Groups

A group is just a bunch of DXF entities tied together. All entities of a group has to be on the same layout (modelspace or any paper layout but not block). Groups can be named or unnamed, but in reality an unnamed groups has just a special name like “*Annnn”. The name of a group has to be unique in the drawing. Groups are organized in the main group table, which is stored as attribute groups in the Drawing object.

Group entities have to be in modelspace or any paperspace layout but not in a block definition!

DXFGroup

The group name is not stored in the GROUP entity, it is stored in the GroupCollection object.
group description (string)

1 for unnamed, 0 for named group (int)

1 for selectable, 0 for not selectable group (int)

__iter__() -> Iterable[ezdxf.entities.dxfentity.DXFEntity]
Iterate over all DXF entities in DXFGroup as instances of DXFGraphic or inherited (LINE, CIRCLE, …).

__len__() -> int
Returns the count of DXF entities in DXFGroup.

__getitem__(item)
Returns entities by standard Python indexing and slicing.

__contains__(item: Union[str, ezdxf.entities.dxfentity.DXFEntity]) -> bool
Returns True if item is in DXFGroup. item has to be a handle string or an object of type DXFEntity or inherited.

Iterable of handles of all DXF entities in DXFGroup.

Context manager which yields all the group entities as standard Python list:

with group.edit_data() as data:

# add new entities to a group
data.append(modelspace.add_line((0, 0), (3, 0)))
# remove last entity from a group
data.pop()



Set entities as new group content, entities should be an iterable DXFGraphic or inherited (LINE, CIRCLE, …). Raises DXFValueError if not all entities be on the same layout (modelspace or any paperspace layout but not block)


clear() -> None
Remove all entities from DXFGroup, does not delete any drawing entities referenced by this group.

Remove invalid handles from DXFGroup.

Invalid handles are: deleted entities, not all entities in the same layout or entities in a block layout.



GroupCollection

Each Drawing has one group table, which is accessible by the attribute groups.

Manages all DXFGroup objects of a Drawing.
__len__() -> int
Returns the count of DXF groups.

__iter__()
Iterate over all existing groups as (name, group) tuples. name is the name of the group as string and group is an DXFGroup object.

__contains__(name: str) -> bool
Returns True if a group name exist.

Returns the group name. Raises DXFKeyError if group name does not exist.

Iterable of all existing groups.

Creates a new group. If name is None an unnamed group is created, which has an automatically generated name like “*Annnn”.
  • name – group name as string
  • description – group description as string
  • selectable – group is selectable if True



Delete group, group can be an object of type DXFGroup or a group name as string.

Delete all groups.

Removes empty groups and invalid handles from all groups.


DXF Entities

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


DXF Entity Base Class

Common base class for all DXF entities and objects.

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


The DXF attributes namespace:

# set attribute value
entity.dxf.layer = 'MyLayer'
# get attribute value
linetype = entity.dxf.linetype
# delete attribute
del entity.dxf.linetype



DXF handle is a unique identifier as plain hex string like F000. (feature for experts)

Handle to owner as plain hex string like F000. (feature for experts)

Get the associated Drawing instance.

Returns False if entity has been deleted.

Returns True if entity is a virtual entity.

Returns True if entity is bound to DXF document.

Get DXF type as string, like LINE for the line entity.

__str__() -> str
Returns a simple string representation.

__repr__() -> str
Returns a simple string representation including the class.

Returns True if DXF attribute key really exist.

Raises DXFAttributeError if key is not an supported DXF attribute.


Returns True if DXF attrib key is supported by this entity. Does not grant that attribute key really exist.

Get DXF attribute key, returns default if key doesn’t exist, or raise DXFValueError if default is DXFValueError and no DXF default value is defined:

layer = entity.get_dxf_attrib("layer")
# same as
layer = entity.dxf.layer


Raises DXFAttributeError if key is not an supported DXF attribute.


Set new value for DXF attribute key:

entity.set_dxf_attrib("layer", "MyLayer")
# same as
entity.dxf.layer = "MyLayer"


Raises DXFAttributeError if key is not an supported DXF attribute.


Delete DXF attribute key, does not raise an error if attribute is supported but not present.

Raises DXFAttributeError if key is not an supported DXF attribute.


Returns a dict with all existing DXF attributes and their values and exclude all DXF attributes listed in set drop.

Changed in version 0.12: added drop argument


Set DXF attributes by a dict like {'layer': 'test', 'color': 4}.

Set binary coded flag of DXF attribute name to 1 (on) if state is True, set flag to 0 (off) if state is False.

Returns True if any flag of DXF attribute is 1 (on), else False. Always check only one flag state at the time.

Returns True if entity has an attached ExtensionDict.

Returns the existing ExtensionDict.
AttributeError – extension dict does not exist



Returns True if application defined data for appid exist.

Returns application defined data for appid.
appid – application name as defined in the APPID table.
DXFValueError – no data for appid found


Set application defined data for appid as iterable of tags.
  • appid – application name as defined in the APPID table.
  • tags – iterable of (code, value) tuples or DXFTag



Discard application defined data for appid. Does not raise an exception if no data for appid exist.

Returns True if extended data for appid exist.

Returns extended data for appid.
appid – application name as defined in the APPID table.
DXFValueError – no extended data for appid found


Set extended data for appid as iterable of tags.
  • appid – application name as defined in the APPID table.
  • tags – iterable of (code, value) tuples or DXFTag



Discard extended data for appid. Does not raise an exception if no extended data for appid exist.

Returns True if a tag list name for extended data appid exist.

Returns tag list name for extended data appid.
  • appid – application name as defined in the APPID table.
  • name – extended data list name

DXFValueError – no extended data for appid found or no data list name not found


Set tag list name for extended data appid as iterable of tags.
  • appid – application name as defined in the APPID table.
  • name – extended data list name
  • tags – iterable of (code, value) tuples or DXFTag



Discard tag list name for extended data appid. Does not raise an exception if no extended data for appid or no tag list name exist.

Replaces tag list name for existing extended data appid by tags. Appends new list if tag list name do not exist, but raises DXFValueError if extended data appid do not exist.
  • appid – application name as defined in the APPID table.
  • name – extended data list name
  • tags – iterable of (code, value) tuples or DXFTag

DXFValueError – no extended data for appid found


Returns True if entity has reactors.

Returns associated reactors as list of handles.

Set reactors as list of handles.

Append handle to reactors.

Discard handle from reactors. Does not raise an exception if handle does not exist.


DXF Graphic Entity Base Class

Common base class for all graphical DXF entities.

This entities resides in entity spaces like Modelspace, any Paperspace or BlockLayout.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Get/set DXF attribute dxf.true_color as (r, g, b) tuple, returns None if attribute dxf.true_color is not set.

entity.rgb = (30, 40, 50)
r, g, b = entity.rgb


This is the recommend method to get/set RGB values, when ever possible do not use the DXF low level attribute dxf.true_color.


Get/set transparency value as float. Value range 0 to 1, where 0 means entity is opaque and 1 means entity is 100% transparent (invisible). This is the recommend method to get/set transparency values, when ever possible do not use the DXF low level attribute DXFGraphic.dxf.transparency

This attribute requires DXF R2004 or later, returns 0 for prior DXF versions and raises DXFAttributeError for setting transparency in older DXF versions.


Returns object coordinate system (ocs) for 2D entities like Text or Circle, returns None for entities without OCS support.

Returns the owner layout or returns None if entity is not assigned to any layout.

Unlink entity from associated layout. Does nothing if entity is already unlinked.

It is more efficient to call the unlink_entity() method of the associated layout, especially if you have to unlink more than one entity.

New in version 0.13.


Copy entity to another layout, returns new created entity as DXFEntity object. Copying between different DXF drawings is not supported.
layout – any layout (model space, paper space, block)
DXFStructureError – for copying between different DXF drawings


Move entity from model space or a paper space layout to another layout. For block layout as source, the block layout has to be specified. Moving between different DXF drawings is not supported.
  • layout – any layout (model space, paper space, block)
  • source – provide source layout, faster for DXF R12, if entity is in a block layout

DXFStructureError – for moving between different DXF drawings


Returns the important common properties layer, color, linetype, lineweight, ltscale, true_color and color_name as dxfattribs dict.

New in version 0.12.


Returns True if entity has an attached hyperlink.

New in version 0.12.


Returns hyperlink, description and location.

New in version 0.12.


Set hyperlink of an entity.

New in version 0.12.


Inplace transformation interface, returns self (floating interface).
m – 4x4 transformation matrix (ezdxf.math.Matrix44)

New in version 0.13.


Translate entity inplace about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

Basic implementation uses the transform() interface, subclasses may have faster implementations.

New in version 0.13.


Scale entity inplace about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

New in version 0.13.


Scale entity inplace uniform about s in x-axis, y-axis and z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

New in version 0.13.


Rotate entity inplace about x-axis, returns self (floating interface).
angle – rotation angle in radians

New in version 0.13.


Rotate entity inplace about y-axis, returns self (floating interface).
angle – rotation angle in radians

New in version 0.13.


Rotate entity inplace about z-axis, returns self (floating interface).
angle – rotation angle in radians

New in version 0.13.


Rotate entity inplace about vector axis, returns self (floating interface).
  • axis – rotation axis as tuple or Vector
  • angle – rotation angle in radians


New in version 0.13.



Common graphical DXF attributes

Layer name as string; default = '0'

Linetype as string, special names 'BYLAYER', 'BYBLOCK'; default value is 'BYLAYER'

aci, default = 256

Constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const

0 BYBLOCK
256 BYLAYER
257 BYOBJECT

Line weight in mm times 100 (e.g. 0.13mm = 13). There are fixed valid lineweights which are accepted by AutoCAD, other values prevents AutoCAD from loading the DXF document, BricsCAD isn’t that picky. (requires DXF R2000)

Constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const

-1 LINEWEIGHT_BYLAYER
-2 LINEWEIGHT_BYBLOCK
-3 LINEWEIGHT_DEFAULT

Valid DXF lineweights stored in VALID_DXF_LINEWEIGHTS: 0, 5, 9, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 53, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 106, 120, 140, 158, 200, 211


Line type scale as float; default = 1.0 (requires DXF R2000)

1 for invisible, 0 for visible; default = 0 (requires DXF R2000)

0 for entity resides in modelspace or a block, 1 for paperspace, this attribute is set automatically by adding an entity to a layout (feature for experts); default = 0

Extrusion direction as 3D vector; default = (0, 0, 1)

Entity thickness as float; default = 0.0 (requires DXF R2000)

True color value as int 0x00RRGGBB, use DXFGraphic.rgb to get/set true color values as (r, g, b) tuples. (requires DXF R2004)

Color name as string. (requires DXF R2004)

Transparency value as int, 0x020000TT 0x00 = 100% transparent / 0xFF = opaque, use DXFGraphic.transparency to get/set transparency as float value.

(requires DXF R2004)


0 casts and receives shadows
1 casts shadows
2 receives shadows
3 ignores shadows

(requires DXF R2007)




Face3d

A 3DFACE (DXF Reference) is real 3D solid filled triangle or quadrilateral. Access vertices by name (entity.dxf.vtx0 = (1.7, 2.3)) or by index (entity[0] = (1.7, 2.3)).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type '3DFACE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_3dface()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Face3d because 3dface is not a valid Python class name.
Location of 1. vertex (3D Point in WCS)

Location of 2. vertex (3D Point in WCS)

Location of 3. vertex (3D Point in WCS)

Location of 4. vertex (3D Point in WCS)

invisible edge flag (int, default=0)
1 first edge is invisible
2 second edge is invisible
4 third edge is invisible
8 fourth edge is invisible

Combine values by adding them, e.g. 1+4 = first and third edge is invisible.


Transform 3DFACE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.



Solid3d

3DSOLID (DXF Reference) created by an ACIS based geometry kernel provided by the Spatial Corp.

ezdxf will never interpret ACIS source code, don’t ask me for this feature.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Body
DXF type '3DSOLID'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_3dsolid()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Same attributes and methods as parent class Body.
Handle to history object.


Arc

ARC (DXF Reference) center at location dxf.center and radius of dxf.radius from dxf.start_angle to dxf.end_angle. ARC goes always from dxf.start_angle to dxf.end_angle in counter clockwise orientation around the dxf.extrusion vector, which is (0, 0, 1) by default and the usual case for 2D arcs.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Circle
DXF type 'ARC'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_arc()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Center point of arc (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Radius of arc (float)

Start angle in degrees (float)

End angle in degrees (float)

Returns the start point of the arc in WCS, takes OCS into account.

New in version 0.11.


Returns the end point of the arc in WCS, takes OCS into account.

New in version 0.11.


Returns num angles from start- to end angle in degrees in counter clockwise order.

All angles are normalized in the range from [0, 360).


Transform ARC entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

Raises NonUniformScalingError() for non uniform scaling.

New in version 0.13.


Convert CIRCLE/ARC to an Ellipse entity.

Adds the new ELLIPSE entity to the entity database and to the same layout as the source entity.

replace – replace (delete) source entity by ELLIPSE entity if True

New in version 0.13.


Convert CIRCLE/ARC to a Spline entity.

Adds the new SPLINE entity to the entity database and to the same layout as the source entity.

replace – replace (delete) source entity by SPLINE entity if True

New in version 0.13.


Returns 2D construction tool ezdxf.math.ConstructionArc, ignoring the extrusion vector.

New in version 0.14.


Set ARC data from construction tool ezdxf.math.ConstructionArc, will not change the extrusion vector.

New in version 0.14.



Body

BODY (DXF Reference) created by an ACIS based geometry kernel provided by the Spatial Corp.

ezdxf will never interpret ACIS source code, don’t ask me for this feature.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'BODY'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_body()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Modeler format version number, default value is 1

Require DXF R2013.

Require DXF R2013.

Get/Set ACIS text data as list of strings for DXF R2000 to R2010 and binary encoded ACIS data for DXF R2013 and later as list of bytes.

Returns True if ACIS data is of type List[bytes], False if data is of type List[str].

Returns ACIS data as one string for DXF R2000 to R2010.

Returns ACIS data as joined bytes for DXF R2013 and later.

Set ACIS data from one string.


Circle

CIRCLE (DXF Reference) center at location dxf.center and radius of dxf.radius.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'CIRCLE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_circle()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Center point of circle (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Radius of circle (float)

Yields vertices of the circle for iterable angles in WCS. This method takes into account a local OCS.
angles – iterable of angles in OCS as degrees, angle goes counter clockwise around the extrusion vector, ocs x-axis = 0 deg.

New in version 0.11.


Transform CIRCLE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

Raises NonUniformScalingError() for non uniform scaling.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized CIRCLE/ARC translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

New in version 0.13.


Convert CIRCLE/ARC to an Ellipse entity.

Adds the new ELLIPSE entity to the entity database and to the same layout as the source entity.

replace – replace (delete) source entity by ELLIPSE entity if True

New in version 0.13.


Convert CIRCLE/ARC to a Spline entity.

Adds the new SPLINE entity to the entity database and to the same layout as the source entity.

replace – replace (delete) source entity by SPLINE entity if True

New in version 0.13.



Dimension

The DIMENSION entity (DXF Reference) represents several types of dimensions in many orientations and alignments. The basic types of dimensioning are linear, radial, angular, ordinate, and arc length.

For more information about dimensions see the online help from AutoDesk: About the Types of Dimensions

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'DIMENSION'
factory function see table below
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

Factory Functions

Linear and Rotated Dimension (DXF) add_linear_dim()
Aligned Dimension (DXF) add_aligned_dim()
Angular Dimension (DXF) add_angular_dim() (not implemented)
Angular 3P Dimension (DXF) add_angular_3p_dim() (not implemented)
Diameter Dimension (DXF) add_diameter_dim()
Radius Dimension (DXF) add_radius_dim()
Ordinate Dimension (DXF) add_ordinate_dim() (not implemented)

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


There is only one Dimension class to represent all different dimension types.
Version number: 0 = R2010. (int, DXF R2010)

Name of the BLOCK that contains the entities that make up the dimension picture.

For AutoCAD this graphical representation is mandatory, else AutoCAD will not open the DXF drawing. BricsCAD will render the DIMENSION entity by itself, if the graphical representation is not present, but uses the BLOCK instead of rendering, if it is present.


Dimension style (DimStyle) name as string.

Values 0-6 are integer values that represent the dimension type. Values 32, 64, and 128 are bit values, which are added to the integer values.
0 Linear and Rotated Dimension (DXF)
1 Aligned Dimension (DXF)
2 Angular Dimension (DXF)
3 Diameter Dimension (DXF)
4 Radius Dimension (DXF)
5 Angular 3P Dimension (DXF)
6 Ordinate Dimension (DXF)
8 subclass ezdxf.entities.ArcDimension introduced in DXF R2004
32 Indicates that graphical representation geometry is referenced by this dimension only. (always set in DXF R13 and later)
64 Ordinate type. This is a bit value (bit 7) used only with integer value 6. If set, ordinate is X-type; if not set, ordinate is Y-type
128 This is a bit value (bit 8) added to the other dimtype values if the dimension text has been positioned at a user-defined location rather than at the default location

Definition point for all dimension types. (3D Point in WCS)

Linear and rotated dimension: dxf.defpoint specifies the dimension line location.

Arc and angular dimension: dxf.defpoint and dxfdefpoint4 specify the endpoints of the line used to determine the second extension line.


Definition point for linear and angular dimensions. (3D Point in WCS)

Linear and rotated dimension: The dxf.defpoint2 specifies the start point of the first extension line.

Arc and angular dimension: The dxf.defpoint2 and dxf.defpoint3 specify the endpoints of the line used to determine the first extension line.


Definition point for linear and angular dimensions. (3D Point in WCS)

Linear and rotated dimension: The dxf.defpoint3 specifies the start point of the second extension line.

Arc and angular dimension: The dxf.defpoint2 and dxf.defpoint3 specify the endpoints of the line used to determine the first extension line.


Definition point for diameter, radius, and angular dimensions. (3D Point in WCS)

Arc and angular dimension: dxf.defpoint and dxf.defpoint4 specify the endpoints of the line used to determine the second extension line.


Point defining dimension arc for angular dimensions, specifies the location of the dimension line arc. (3D Point in OCS)

Angle of linear and rotated dimensions in degrees. (float)

Leader length for radius and diameter dimensions. (float)

Middle point of dimension text. (3D Point in OCS)

Insertion point for clones of a linear dimensions—Baseline and Continue. (3D Point in OCS)

This value is used by CAD application (Baseline and Continue) and ignored by ezdxf.


Text attachment point (int, DXF R2000), default value is 5.
1 Top left
2 Top center
3 Top right
4 Middle left
5 Middle center
6 Middle right
7 Bottom left
8 Bottom center
9 Bottom right

Dimension text line-spacing style (int, DXF R2000), default value is 1.
1 At least (taller characters will override)
2 Exact (taller characters will not override)

Dimension text-line spacing factor. (float, DXF R2000)

Percentage of default (3-on-5) line spacing to be applied. Valid values range from 0.25 to 4.00.


Actual measurement (float, DXF R2000), this is an optional attribute and often not present. (read-only value)

Dimension text explicitly entered by the user (str), default value is an empty string.

If empty string or '<>', the dimension measurement is drawn as the text, if ' ' (one blank space), the text is suppressed. Anything else is drawn as the text.


Linear dimension types with an oblique angle have an optional dxf.oblique_angle.

When added to the rotation dxf.angle of the linear dimension, it gives the angle of the extension lines.


Defines is the rotation angle of the dimension text away from its default orientation (the direction of the dimension line). (float)

Indicates the horizontal direction for the dimension entity (float).

This attribute determines the orientation of dimension text and lines for horizontal, vertical, and rotated linear dimensions. This value is the negative of the angle in the OCS xy-plane between the dimension line and the OCS x-axis.


dxf.dimtype without binary flags (32, 62, 128).

Returns the associated DimStyle entity.

Returns BlockLayout of associated anonymous dimension block, which contains the entities that make up the dimension picture. Returns None if block name is not set or the BLOCK itself does not exist

Returns the actual dimension measurement in WCS units, no scaling applied for linear dimensions. Returns angle in degrees for angular dimension from 2 lines and angular dimension from 3 points. Returns vector from origin to feature location for ordinate dimensions.

Returns the DimStyleOverride object.

Render graphical representation as anonymous block.

Transform DIMENSION entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

Raises NonUniformScalingError() for non uniform scaling.

New in version 0.13.


Yields ‘virtual’ parts of DIMENSION as basic DXF entities like LINE, ARC or TEXT.

This entities are located at the original positions, but are not stored in the entity database, have no handle and are not assigned to any layout.


Explode parts of DIMENSION as basic DXF entities like LINE, ARC or TEXT into target layout, if target layout is None, the target layout is the layout of the DIMENSION.

Returns an EntityQuery container with all DXF primitives.

target_layout – target layout for DXF parts, None for same layout as source entity.



DimStyleOverride

All of the DimStyle attributes can be overridden for each Dimension entity individually.

The DimStyleOverride class manages all the complex dependencies between DimStyle and Dimension, the different features of all DXF versions and the rendering process to create the Dimension picture as BLOCK, which is required for AutoCAD.

Base Dimension entity.

By dimension referenced DimStyle entity.

Contains all overridden attributes of dimension, as a dict with DimStyle attribute names as keys.

__getitem__(key: str) -> Any
Returns DIMSTYLE attribute key, see also get().

__setitem__(key: str, value: Any) -> None
Set DIMSTYLE attribute key in dimstyle_attribs.

__delitem__(key: str) -> None
Deletes DIMSTYLE attribute key from dimstyle_attribs, ignores KeyErrors silently.

Returns DIMSTYLE attribute from override dict dimstyle_attribs or base DimStyle.

Returns default value for attributes not supported by DXF R12. This is a hack to use the same algorithm to render DXF R2000 and DXF R12 DIMENSION entities. But the DXF R2000 attributes are not stored in the DXF R12 file! Does not catch invalid attributes names! Look into debug log for ignored DIMSTYLE attributes.


Returns DIMSTYLE attribute from override dict dimstyle_attribs and removes this attribute from override dict.

Update override dict dimstyle_attribs.
attribsdict of DIMSTYLE attributes


Writes overridden DIMSTYLE attributes into ACAD:DSTYLE section of XDATA of the DIMENSION entity.

Get arrow names as strings like ‘ARCHTICK’.
tuple of [dimblk1, dimblk2]
Tuple[str, str]


Set arrows or user defined blocks and disable oblique stroke as tick.
  • blk – defines both arrows at once as name str or user defined block
  • blk1 – defines left arrow as name str or as user defined block
  • blk2 – defines right arrow as name str or as user defined block
  • ldrblk – defines leader arrow as name str or as user defined block
  • size – arrow size in drawing units



Use oblique stroke as tick, disables arrows.
size – arrow size in daring units


Set measurement text alignment, halign defines the horizontal alignment, valign defines the vertical alignment, above1 and above2 means above extension line 1 or 2 and aligned with extension line.
  • halignleft, right, center, above1, above2, requires DXF R2000+
  • valignabove, center, below
  • vshift – vertical text shift, if valign is center; >0 shift upward, <0 shift downwards



Set tolerance text format, upper and lower value, text height factor, number of decimal places or leading and trailing zero suppression.
  • upper – upper tolerance value
  • lower – lower tolerance value, if None same as upper
  • hfactor – tolerance text height factor in relation to the dimension text height
  • align – tolerance text alignment “TOP”, “MIDDLE”, “BOTTOM”
  • dec – Sets the number of decimal places displayed
  • leading_zeros – suppress leading zeros for decimal dimensions if False
  • trailing_zeros – suppress trailing zeros for decimal dimensions if False



Set limits text format, upper and lower limit values, text height factor, number of decimal places or leading and trailing zero suppression.
  • upper – upper limit value added to measurement value
  • lower – lower lower value subtracted from measurement value
  • hfactor – limit text height factor in relation to the dimension text height
  • dec – Sets the number of decimal places displayed, required DXF R2000+
  • leading_zeros – suppress leading zeros for decimal dimensions if False, required DXF R2000+
  • trailing_zeros – suppress trailing zeros for decimal dimensions if False, required DXF R2000+



Set dimension text format, like prefix and postfix string, rounding rule and number of decimal places.
  • prefix – dimension text prefix text as string
  • postfix – dimension text postfix text as string
  • rnd – Rounds all dimensioning distances to the specified value, for instance, if DIMRND is set to 0.25, all distances round to the nearest 0.25 unit. If you set DIMRND to 1.0, all distances round to the nearest integer.
  • dec – Sets the number of decimal places displayed for the primary units of a dimension. requires DXF R2000+
  • sep – “.” or “,” as decimal separator
  • leading_zeros – suppress leading zeros for decimal dimensions if False
  • trailing_zeros – suppress trailing zeros for decimal dimensions if False



Set dimension line properties
  • color – color index
  • linetype – linetype as string
  • lineweight – line weight as int, 13 = 0.13mm, 200 = 2.00mm
  • extension – extension length
  • disable1 – True to suppress first part of dimension line
  • disable2 – True to suppress second part of dimension line



Set common extension line attributes.
  • color – color index
  • lineweight – line weight as int, 13 = 0.13mm, 200 = 2.00mm
  • extension – extension length above dimension line
  • offset – offset from measurement point
  • fixed_length – set fixed length extension line, length below the dimension line



Set extension line 1 attributes.
  • linetype – linetype for extension line 1
  • disable – disable extension line 1 if True



Set extension line 2 attributes.
  • linetype – linetype for extension line 2
  • disable – disable extension line 2 if True



Set dimension text.
  • text = ” ” to suppress dimension text
  • text = “” or “<>” to use measured distance as dimension text
  • else use “text” literally




Set relative text movement, implemented as user location override without leader.
  • dh – shift text in text direction
  • dv – shift text perpendicular to text direction



Set text location by user, special version for linear dimensions, behaves for other dimension types like user_location_override().
  • location – user defined text location (Vertex)
  • leader – create leader from text to dimension line
  • relativelocation is relative to default location.



Set text location by user, location is relative to the origin of the UCS defined in the render() method or WCS if the ucs argument is None.

Initiate dimension line rendering process and also writes overridden dimension style attributes into the DSTYLE XDATA section.

For a friendly CAD applications like BricsCAD you can discard the dimension line rendering, because it is done automatically by BricsCAD, if no dimension rendering BLOCK is available and it is likely to get better results as by ezdxf.

AutoCAD does not render DIMENSION entities automatically, so I rate AutoCAD as an unfriendly CAD application.

  • ucs – user coordinate system
  • discard – discard rendering done by ezdxf (works with BricsCAD, but not tolerated by AutoCAD)

Rendering object used to render the DIMENSION entity for analytics
BaseDimensionRenderer



ArcDimension

The ARC_DIMENSION entity was introduced in DXF R2004 and is not documented in the DXF reference.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Dimension
DXF type 'ARC_DIMENSION'
factory function add_arc_dim() (not implemented)
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2004 ('AC1018')

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!



Ellipse

ELLIPSE (DXF Reference) with center point at location dxf.center and a major axis dxf.major_axis as vector. dxf.ratio is the ratio of minor axis to major axis. dxf.start_param and dxf.end_param defines the starting- and the end point of the ellipse, a full ellipse goes from 0 to 2*pi. The ellipse goes from starting- to end param in counter clockwise direction.

dxf.extrusion is supported, but does not establish an OCS, but creates an 3D entity by extruding the base ellipse in direction of the dxf.extrusion vector.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'ELLIPSE'
factory function add_ellipse()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')
Center point of circle (2D/3D Point in WCS)

Endpoint of major axis, relative to the dxf.center (Vector), default value is (1, 0, 0).

Ratio of minor axis to major axis (float), has to be in range from 0.000001 to 1, default value is 1.

Start parameter (float), default value is 0.

End parameter (float), default value is 2*pi.

Returns the start point of the ellipse in WCS.

New in version 0.11.


Returns the end point of the ellipse in WCS.

New in version 0.11.


Returns the minor axis of the ellipse as Vector in WCS.

New in version 0.12.


Returns construction tool ezdxf.math.ConstructionEllipse.

New in version 0.13.


Set ELLIPSE data from construction tool ezdxf.math.ConstructionEllipse.

New in version 0.13.


Yields vertices on ellipse for iterable params in WCS.
params – param values in the range from 0 to 2*pi in radians, param goes counter clockwise around the extrusion vector, major_axis = local x-axis = 0 rad.


Returns num params from start- to end param in counter clockwise order.

All params are normalized in the range from [0, 2pi).


Transform ELLIPSE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized ELLIPSE translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

New in version 0.13.


Convert ELLIPSE to a Spline entity.

Adds the new SPLINE entity to the entity database and to the same layout as the source entity.

  • layout – modelspace- , paperspace- or block layout
  • replace – replace (delete) source entity by SPLINE entity if True


New in version 0.13.


Create a new ELLIPSE entity from ARC or CIRCLE entity.

The new SPLINE entity has no owner, no handle, is not stored in the entity database nor assigned to any layout!

New in version 0.13.



Hatch

The HATCH entity (DXF Reference) fills an enclosed area defined by one or more boundary paths with a hatch pattern, solid fill, or gradient fill.

All points in OCS as (x, y) tuples (Hatch.dxf.elevation is the z-axis value).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'HATCH'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_hatch()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

SEE ALSO:

tut_hatch


Boundary paths helper classes

Path manager: BoundaryPaths

  • PolylinePath
  • LineEdge
  • ArcEdge
  • EllipseEdge
  • SplineEdge



Pattern and gradient helper classes

  • Pattern
  • PatternLine
  • Gradien

Pattern name as string

1 solid fill, better use: Hatch.set_solid_fill()
0 pattern fill, better use: Hatch.set_pattern_fill()

1 associative hatch
0 not associative hatch

Associations not handled by ezdxf, you have to set the handles to the associated DXF entities by yourself.


0 normal
1 outer
2 ignore

(search AutoCAD help for more information)


0 user
1 predefined
2 custom

Actual pattern angle in degrees (float). Changing this value does not rotate the pattern, use set_pattern_angle() for this task.

Actual pattern scaling factor (float). Changing this value does not scale the pattern use set_pattern_scale() for this task.

1 = double pattern size else 0. (int)

Count of seed points (better user: get_seed_points())

Z value represents the elevation height of the OCS. (float)

BoundaryPaths object.

Pattern object.

Gradient object.

List of (x, y) tuples.

True if hatch has a solid fill. (read only)

True if hatch has a pattern fill. (read only)

True if hatch has a gradient fill. A hatch with gradient fill has also a solid fill. (read only)

Property background color as (r, g, b) tuple, rgb values in the range [0, 255] (read/write/del)

usage:

color = hatch.bgcolor  # get background color as (r, g, b) tuple
hatch.bgcolor = (10, 20, 30)  # set background color
del hatch.bgcolor  # delete background color



Setup hatch patten definition by a list of definition lines and a definition line is a 4-tuple [angle, base_point, offset, dash_length_items], the pattern definition should be designed for scaling factor``1`` and angle 0.
  • angle: line angle in degrees
  • base-point: 2-tuple (x, y)
  • offset: 2-tuple (dx, dy)
  • dash_length_items: list of dash items (item > 0 is a line, item < 0 is a gap and item == 0.0 is a point)



  • lines – list of definition lines
  • factor – pattern scaling factor
  • angle – rotation angle in degrees


Changed in version 0.13: added angle argument


Set scaling of pattern definition to scale.

Starts always from the original base scaling, set_pattern_scale(1) reset the pattern scaling to the original appearance as defined by the pattern designer, but only if the the pattern attribute dxf.pattern_scale represents the actual scaling, it is not possible to recreate the original pattern scaling from the pattern definition itself.

scale – pattern scaling factor

New in version 0.13.


Set rotation of pattern definition to angle in degrees.

Starts always from the original base rotation 0, set_pattern_angle(0) reset the pattern rotation to the original appearance as defined by the pattern designer, but only if the the pattern attribute dxf.pattern_angle represents the actual rotation, it is not possible to recreate the original rotation from the pattern definition itself.

angle – rotation angle in degrees

New in version 0.13.


Set Hatch to solid fill mode and removes all gradient and pattern fill related data.
  • color – ACI, (0 = BYBLOCK; 256 = BYLAYER)
  • style – hatch style (0 = normal; 1 = outer; 2 = ignore)
  • rgb – true color value as (r, g, b) tuple - has higher priority than color`. True color support requires DXF R2000.



Set Hatch to pattern fill mode. Removes all gradient related data. The pattern definition should be designed for scaling factor 1.
  • name – pattern name as string
  • color – pattern color as ACI
  • angle – angle of pattern fill in degrees
  • scale – pattern scaling as float
  • double – double size flag
  • style – hatch style (0 = normal; 1 = outer; 2 = ignore)
  • pattern_type – pattern type (0 = user-defined; 1 = predefined; 2 = custom)
  • definition – list of definition lines and a definition line is a 4-tuple [angle, base_point, offset, dash_length_items], see set_pattern_definition()



Set Hatch to gradient fill mode and removes all pattern fill related data. Gradient support requires DXF DXF R2004. A gradient filled hatch is also a solid filled hatch.

Valid gradient type names are:

  • 'LINEAR'
  • 'CYLINDER'
  • 'INVCYLINDER'
  • 'SPHERICAL'
  • 'INVSPHERICAL'
  • 'HEMISPHERICAL'
  • 'INVHEMISPHERICAL'
  • 'CURVED'
  • 'INVCURVED'



  • color1(r, g, b) tuple for first color, rgb values as int in the range [0, 255]
  • color2(r, g, b) tuple for second color, rgb values as int in the range [0, 255]
  • rotation – rotation angle in degrees
  • centered – determines whether the gradient is centered or not
  • one_color1 for gradient from color1 to tinted color1`
  • tint – determines the tinted target color1 for a one color gradient. (valid range 0.0 to 1.0)
  • name – name of gradient type, default 'LINEAR'



Set seed points, points is an iterable of (x, y) tuples. I don’t know why there can be more than one seed point. All points in OCS (Hatch.dxf.elevation is the Z value)

Transform HATCH entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Set association from hatch boundary path to DXF geometry entities.

A HATCH entity can be associative to a base geometry, this association is not maintained nor verified by ezdxf, so if you modify the base geometry the geometry of the boundary path is not updated and no verification is done to check if the associated geometry matches the boundary path, this opens many possibilities to create invalid DXF files: USE WITH CARE!


Remove associated path elements.

New in version 0.13.



Hatch Boundary Helper Classes

Defines the borders of the hatch, a hatch can consist of more than one path.
List of all boundary paths. Contains PolylinePath and EdgePath objects. (read/write)

Create and add a new PolylinePath object.
  • path_vertices – list of polyline vertices as (x, y) or (x, y, bulge) tuples.
  • is_closed1 for a closed polyline else 0
  • flags – external(1) or outermost(16) or default (0)



Create and add a new EdgePath object.
flags – external(1) or outermost(16) or default (0)


Convert polyline paths including bulge values to line- and arc edges.
just_with_bulge – convert only polyline paths including bulge values if True


Convert all arc edges to ellipse edges.

Convert all ellipse edges to spline edges (approximation).
num – count of control points for a full ellipse, partial ellipses have proportional fewer control points but at least 3.


Convert all spline edges to line edges (approximation).
factor – count of approximation segments = count of control points x factor


Convert all bulge, arc and ellipse edges to spline edges (approximation).
num – count of control points for a full circle/ellipse, partial circles/ellipses have proportional fewer control points but at least 3.


Convert all bulge, arc and ellipse edges to spline edges and approximate this splines by line edges.
  • num – count of control points for a full circle/ellipse, partial circles/ellipses have proportional fewer control points but at least 3.
  • spline_factor – count of spline approximation segments = count of control points x spline_factor



clear() -> None
Remove all boundary paths.


A polyline as hatch boundary path.
(bit coded flags)
0 default
1 external
2 polyline, will be set by ezdxf
16 outermost

My interpretation of the path_type_flags, see also tut_hatch:

  • external - path is part of the hatch outer border
  • outermost - path is completely inside of one or more external paths
  • default - path is completely inside of one or more outermost paths



If there are troubles with AutoCAD, maybe the hatch entity has the Hatch.dxf.pixel_size attribute set - delete it del hatch.dxf.pixel_size and maybe the problem is solved. ezdxf does not use the Hatch.dxf.pixel_size attribute, but it can occur in DXF files created by other applications.


True if polyline path is closed.

List of path vertices as (x, y, bulge) tuples. (read/write)

List of handles of the associated DXF entities for associative hatches. There is no support for associative hatches by ezdxf, you have to do it all by yourself. (read/write)

Set new vertices as new polyline path, a vertex has to be a (x, y) or a (x, y, bulge) tuple.

clear() -> None
Removes all vertices and all handles to associated DXF objects (source_boundary_objects).


Boundary path build by edges. There are four different edge types: LineEdge, ArcEdge, EllipseEdge of SplineEdge. Make sure there are no gaps between edges. AutoCAD in this regard is very picky. ezdxf performs no checks on gaps between the edges.
(bit coded flags)
0 default
1 external
16 outermost

see PolylinePath.path_type_flags


List of boundary edges of type LineEdge, ArcEdge, EllipseEdge of SplineEdge

Required for associative hatches, list of handles to the associated DXF entities.

clear() -> None
Delete all edges.

Add a LineEdge from start to end.
  • start – start point of line, (x, y) tuple
  • end – end point of line, (x, y) tuple



Add an ArcEdge.
  • center – center point of arc, (x, y) tuple
  • radius – radius of circle
  • start_angle – start angle of arc in degrees
  • end_angle – end angle of arc in degrees
  • ccwTrue for counter clockwise False for clockwise orientation



Add an EllipseEdge.
  • center – center point of ellipse, (x, y) tuple
  • major_axis – vector of major axis as (x, y) tuple
  • ratio – ratio of minor axis to major axis as float
  • start_angle – start angle of arc in degrees
  • end_angle – end angle of arc in degrees
  • ccwTrue for counter clockwise False for clockwise orientation



Add a SplineEdge.
  • fit_points – points through which the spline must go, at least 3 fit points are required. list of (x, y) tuples
  • control_points – affects the shape of the spline, mandatory and AutoCAD crashes on invalid data. list of (x, y) tuples
  • knot_values – (knot vector) mandatory and AutoCAD crashes on invalid data. list of floats; ezdxf provides two tool functions to calculate valid knot values: ezdxf.math.uniform_knot_vector(), ezdxf.math.open_uniform_knot_vector() (default if None)
  • weights – weight of control point, not mandatory, list of floats.
  • degree – degree of spline (int)
  • periodic1 for periodic spline, 0 for none periodic spline
  • start_tangent – start_tangent as 2d vector, optional
  • end_tangent – end_tangent as 2d vector, optional


WARNING:

Unlike for the spline entity AutoCAD does not calculate the necessary knot_values for the spline edge itself. On the contrary, if the knot_values in the spline edge are missing or invalid AutoCAD crashes.




Straight boundary edge.
Start point as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)

End point as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)


Arc as boundary edge.
Center point of arc as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)

Arc radius as float. (read/write)

Arc start angle in degrees. (read/write)

Arc end angle in degrees. (read/write)

True for counter clockwise arc else False. (read/write)


Elliptic arc as boundary edge.
Ellipse major axis vector as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)

Ellipse minor axis length as float. (read/write)

Ellipse radius as float. (read/write)

Ellipse start angle in degrees. (read/write)

Ellipse end angle in degrees. (read/write)

True for counter clockwise ellipse else False. (read/write)


Spline as boundary edge.
Spline degree as int. (read/write)

1 for rational spline else 0. (read/write)

1 for periodic spline else 0. (read/write)

List of knot values as floats. (read/write)

List of control points as (x, y) tuples. (read/write)

List of fit points as (x, y) tuples. (read/write)

List of weights (of control points) as floats. (read/write)

Spline start tangent (vector) as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)

Spline end tangent (vector) as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)


Hatch Pattern Definition Helper Classes

List of pattern definition lines (read/write). see PatternLine

Create a new pattern definition line and add the line to the Pattern.lines attribute.

clear() -> None
Delete all pattern definition lines.

Scale and rotate pattern.

Be careful, this changes the base pattern definition, maybe better use Hatch.set_pattern_scale() or Hatch.set_pattern_angle().

  • factor – scaling factor
  • angle – rotation angle in degrees


New in version 0.13.



Represents a pattern definition line, use factory function Pattern.add_line() to create new pattern definition lines.
Line angle in degrees. (read/write)

Base point as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)

Offset as (x, y) tuple. (read/write)

List of dash length items (item > 0 is line, < 0 is gap, 0.0 = dot). (read/write)


Hatch Gradient Fill Helper Classes

First rgb color as (r, g, b) tuple, rgb values in range 0 to 255. (read/write)

Second rgb color as (r, g, b) tuple, rgb values in range 0 to 255. (read/write)

If one_color is 1 - the hatch is filled with a smooth transition between color1 and a specified tint of color1. (read/write)

Gradient rotation in degrees. (read/write)

Specifies a symmetrical gradient configuration. If this option is not selected, the gradient fill is shifted up and to the left, creating the illusion of a light source to the left of the object. (read/write)

Specifies the tint (color1 mixed with white) of a color to be used for a gradient fill of one color. (read/write)


SEE ALSO:

tut_hatch_pattern


Image

Add a raster IMAGE (DXF Reference) to the DXF file, the file itself is not embedded into the DXF file, it is always a separated file. The IMAGE entity is like a block reference, you can use it multiple times to add the image on different locations with different scales and rotations. But therefore you need a also a IMAGEDEF entity, see ImageDef. ezdxf creates only images in the xy-plan, you can place images in the 3D space too, but then you have to set the Image.dxf.u_pixel and the Image.dxf.v_pixel vectors by yourself.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'IMAGE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_image()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Insertion point, lower left corner of the image (3D Point in WCS).

U-vector of a single pixel (points along the visual bottom of the image, starting at the insertion point) as (x, y, z) tuple

V-vector of a single pixel (points along the visual left side of the image, starting at the insertion point) as (x, y, z) tuple

Image size in pixels as (x, y) tuple

Handle to the image definition entity, see ImageDef

Image.dxf.flags Value Description
Image.SHOW_IMAGE 1 Show image
Image.SHOW_WHEN_NOT_ALIGNED 2 Show image when not aligned with screen
Image.USE_CLIPPING_BOUNDARY 4 Use clipping boundary
Image.USE_TRANSPARENCY 8 Transparency is on

Clipping state:
0 clipping off
1 clipping on

Brightness value (0-100; default = 50)

Contrast value (0-100; default = 50)

Fade value (0-100; default = 0)

Clipping boundary type:
1 Rectangular
2 Polygonal

Number of clip boundary vertices, maintained by ezdxf.

Clip mode (DXF R2010):
0 Outside
1 Inside

A list of vertices as pixel coordinates, Two vertices describe a rectangle, lower left corner is (-0.5, -0.5) and upper right corner is (ImageSizeX-0.5, ImageSizeY-0.5), more than two vertices is a polygon as clipping path. All vertices as pixel coordinates. (read/write)

Returns the associated IMAGEDEF entity, see ImageDef.

reset_boundary_path() -> None
Reset boundary path to the default rectangle [(-0.5, -0.5), (ImageSizeX-0.5, ImageSizeY-0.5)].

Set boundary path to vertices. Two vertices describe a rectangle (lower left and upper right corner), more than two vertices is a polygon as clipping path.

Returns the boundary/clipping path in WCS coordinates.

New in version 0.14.


Transform IMAGE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.



Leader

The LEADER entity (DXF Reference) represents an arrow, made up of one or more vertices (or spline fit points) and an arrowhead. The label or other content to which the Leader is attached is stored as a separate entity, and is not part of the Leader itself.

Leader shares its styling infrastructure with Dimension.

By default a Leader without any annotation is created. For creating more fancy leaders and annotations see documentation provided by Autodesk or Demystifying DXF: LEADER and MULTILEADER implementation notes .

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'LEADER'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_leader()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')
Name of Dimstyle as string.

0 Disabled
1 Enabled

Leader path type:
0 Straight line segments
1 Spline

0 Created with text annotation
1 Created with tolerance annotation
2 Created with block reference annotation
3 Created without any annotation (default)

Hook line direction flag:
0 Hookline (or end of tangent for a splined leader) is the opposite direction from the horizontal vector
1 Hookline (or end of tangent for a splined leader) is the same direction as horizontal vector (see has_hook_line)

0 No hookline
1 Has a hookline

Text annotation height in drawing units.

Text annotation width.

Color to use if leader’s DIMCLRD = BYBLOCK

Hard reference (handle) to associated annotation (MText, Tolerance, or Insert entity)

Extrusion vector? default = (0, 0, 1).

.dxf.horizontal_direction
Horizontal direction for leader, default = (1, 0, 0).

Offset of last leader vertex from block reference insertion point, default = (0, 0, 0).

Offset of last leader vertex from annotation placement point, default = (0, 0, 0).

List of Vector objects, representing the vertices of the leader (3D Point in WCS).

Set vertices of the leader, vertices is an iterable of (x, y [,z]) tuples or Vector.

Transform LEADER entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Yields ‘virtual’ parts of LEADER as DXF primitives.

This entities are located at the original positions, but are not stored in the entity database, have no handle and are not assigned to any layout.

New in version 0.14.


Explode parts of LEADER as DXF primitives into target layout, if target layout is None, the target layout is the layout of the LEADER.

Returns an EntityQuery container with all DXF parts.

target_layout – target layout for DXF parts, None for same layout as source entity.

New in version 0.14.



Line

LINE (DXF Reference) entity is a 3D line from Line.dxf.start to Line.dxf.end.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'LINE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_line()
Inherited DXF Attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


start point of line (2D/3D Point in WCS)

end point of line (2D/3D Point in WCS)

Line thickness in 3D space in direction extrusion, default value is 0. This value should not be confused with the lineweight value.

extrusion vector, default value is (0, 0, 1)

Transform LINE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized LINE translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis.

New in version 0.13.



LWPolyline

The LWPOLYLINE entity (DXF Reference) is defined as a single graphic entity, which differs from the old-style Polyline entity, which is defined as a group of sub-entities. LWPolyline display faster (in AutoCAD) and consume less disk space, it is a planar element, therefore all points in OCS as (x, y) tuples (LWPolyline.dxf.elevation is the z-axis value).

Changed in version 0.8.9: LWPolyline stores point data as packed data (array.array).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'LWPOLYLINE'
factory function add_lwpolyline()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

Bulge value

The bulge value is used to create arc shaped line segments for Polyline and LWPolyline entities. The bulge value defines the ratio of the arc sagitta (versine) to half line segment length, a bulge value of 1 defines a semicircle.

The sign of the bulge value defines the side of the bulge:

  • positive value (> 0): bulge is right of line (counter clockwise)
  • negative value (< 0): bulge is left of line (clockwise)
  • 0 = no bulge



[image]

Start- and end width

The start width and end width values defines the width in drawing units for the following line segment. To use the default width value for a line segment set value to 0.

Width and bulge values at last point

The width and bulge values of the last point has only a meaning if the polyline is closed, and they apply to the last line segment from the last to the first point.

SEE ALSO:

tut_lwpolyline and bulge_related_functions


User Defined Point Format Codes

Code Point Component
x x-coordinate
y y-coordinate
s start width
e end width
b bulge value
v (x, y [, z]) as tuple


OCS z-axis value for all polyline points, default=0

Constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:
dxf.flags Value Description
LWPOLYLINE_CLOSED 1 polyline is closed
LWPOLYLINE_PLINEGEN 128 ???

Constant line width (float), default value is 0.

Count of polyline points (read only), same as len(polyline)

True if polyline is closed. A closed polyline has a connection from the last vertex to the first vertex. (read/write)

Returns True if LWPOLYLINE has an arc segment.

Returns True if LWPOLYLINE has any segment with width attributes or DXF attribute const_width != 0.

New in version 0.14.


__len__() -> int
Returns count of polyline points.

__getitem__(index: int) -> Tuple[float, float, float, float, float]
Returns point at position index as (x, y, start_width, end_width, bulge) tuple. start_width, end_width and bulge is 0 if not present, supports extended slicing. Point format is fixed as 'xyseb'.

All coordinates in OCS.


__setitem__(index: int, value: Sequence[float]) -> None
Set point at position index as (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple. If start_width or end_width is 0 or left off the default value is used. If the bulge value is left off, bulge is 0 by default (straight line). Does NOT support extend slicing. Point format is fixed as 'xyseb'.

All coordinates in OCS.

  • index – point index
  • value – point value as (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple



__delitem__(index: int) -> None
Delete point at position index, supports extended slicing.

__iter__() -> Iterable[Tuple[float, float, float, float, float]]
Returns iterable of tuples (x, y, start_width, end_width, bulge).

Compatibility interface to Polyline.

Returns iterable of all polyline points as (x, y) tuples in OCS (dxf.elevation is the z-axis value).

Returns iterable of all polyline points as Vector(x, y, z) in WCS.

Append point to polyline, format` specifies a user defined point format.

All coordinates in OCS.

  • point – (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple
  • format – format string, default is 'xyseb', see: format codes



Append new points to polyline, format specifies a user defined point format.

All coordinates in OCS.

  • points – iterable of point, point is (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple
  • format – format string, default is 'xyseb', see: format codes



Insert new point in front of positions pos, format specifies a user defined point format.

All coordinates in OCS.

  • pos – insert position
  • point – point data
  • format – format string, default is ‘xyseb’, see: format codes



clear() -> None
Remove all points.

Returns all points as list of tuples, format specifies a user defined point format.

All points in OCS as (x, y) tuples (dxf.elevation is the z-axis value).

format – format string, default is 'xyseb', see format codes


Remove all points and append new points.

All coordinates in OCS.

  • points – iterable of point, point is (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple
  • format – format string, default is 'xyseb', see format codes



Context manager for polyline points. Returns a standard Python list of points, according to the format string.

All coordinates in OCS.

format – format string, see format codes


Transform LWPOLYLINE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Yields ‘virtual’ parts of LWPOLYLINE as LINE or ARC entities.

This entities are located at the original positions, but are not stored in the entity database, have no handle and are not assigned to any layout.


Explode parts of LWPOLYLINE as LINE or ARC entities into target layout, if target layout is None, the target layout is the layout of the LWPOLYLINE.

Returns an EntityQuery container with all DXF parts.

  • target_layout – target layout for DXF parts, None for same layout
  • source entity. (as) –




Mesh

The MESH entity (DXF Reference) is a 3D mesh similar to the Polyface entity.

All vertices in WCS as (x, y, z) tuples

Changed in version 0.8.9: Mesh stores vertices, edges, faces and creases as packed data.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'MESH'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_mesh()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

SEE ALSO:

tut_mesh and helper classes: MeshBuilder, MeshVertexMerger



0 = off, 1 = on

0 for no smoothing else integer greater than 0.

Vertices as list like VertexArray. (read/write)

Edges as list like TagArray. (read/write)

Faces as list like TagList. (read/write)

Creases as array.array. (read/write)

Context manager various mesh data, returns MeshData.

Despite that vertices, edge and faces since ezdxf v0.8.9 are accessible as packed data types, the usage of MeshData by context manager edit_data() is still recommended.


Transform MESH entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.



MeshData

A standard Python list with (x, y, z) tuples (read/write)

A standard Python list with (v1, v2, v3,…) tuples (read/write)

Each face consist of a list of vertex indices (= index in vertices).


A standard Python list with (v1, v2) tuples (read/write)

Each edge consist of exact two vertex indices (= index in vertices).


A standard Python list of float values, one value for each edge. (read/write)

Add a face by coordinates, vertices is a list of (x, y, z) tuples.

Add an edge by coordinates, vertices is a list of two (x, y, z) tuples.

Try to reduce vertex count by merging near vertices. precision defines the decimal places for coordinate be equal to merge two vertices.


MText

The MTEXT entity (DXF Reference) fits a multiline text in a specified width but can extend vertically to an indefinite length. You can format individual words or characters within the MText.

SEE ALSO:

tut_mtext


Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'MTEXT'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_mtext()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')
Insertion point (3D Point in OCS)

Initial text height (float); default=1.0

Reference text width (float), forces text wrapping at given width.

Constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:
MText.dxf.attachment_point Value
MTEXT_TOP_LEFT 1
MTEXT_TOP_CENTER 2
MTEXT_TOP_RIGHT 3
MTEXT_MIDDLE_LEFT 4
MTEXT_MIDDLE_CENTER 5
MTEXT_MIDDLE_RIGHT 6
MTEXT_BOTTOM_LEFT 7
MTEXT_BOTTOM_CENTER 8
MTEXT_BOTTOM_RIGHT 9

Constants defined in ezdxf.const:
MText.dxf.flow_direction Value Description
MTEXT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT 1 left to right
MTEXT_TOP_TO_BOTTOM 3 top to bottom
MTEXT_BY_STYLE 5 by style (the flow direction is inherited from the associated text style)

Text style (string); default = 'STANDARD'

X-axis direction vector in WCS (3D Point); default value is (1, 0, 0); if dxf.rotation and dxf.text_direction are present, dxf.text_direction wins.

Text rotation in degrees (float); default = 0

Line spacing style (int), see table below

Percentage of default (3-on-5) line spacing to be applied. Valid values range from 0.25 to 4.00 (float).

Constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:

MText.dxf.line_spacing_style Value Description
MTEXT_AT_LEAST 1 taller characters will override
MTEXT_EXACT 2 taller characters will not override

Defines the background fill type. (DXF R2007)
MText.dxf.bg_fill Value Description
MTEXT_BG_OFF 0 no background color
MTEXT_BG_COLOR 1 use specified color
MTEXT_BG_WINDOW_COLOR 2 use window color (?)
MTEXT_BG_CANVAS_COLOR 3 use canvas background color

Determines how much border there is around the text. (DXF R2007)

Requires: bg_fill, bg_fill_color else AutoCAD complains

Better use set_bg_color()


Background fill color as ACI (DXF R2007)

Better use set_bg_color()


Background fill color as true color value (DXF R2007), also dxf.bg_fill_color must be present, else AutoCAD complains.

Better use set_bg_color()


Background fill color as name string (?) (DXF R2007), also dxf.bg_fill_color must be present, else AutoCAD complains.

Better use set_bg_color()


Transparency of background fill color (DXF R2007), not supported by AutoCAD or BricsCAD.

MTEXT content as string (read/write).

Line endings \n will be replaced by the MTEXT line endings \P at DXF export, but not vice versa \P by \n at DXF file loading.


Set attributes dxf.insert, dxf.rotation and dxf.attachment_point, None for dxf.rotation or dxf.attachment_point preserves the existing value.

Get text rotation in degrees, independent if it is defined by dxf.rotation or dxf.text_direction.

Set attribute rotation to angle (in degrees) and deletes dxf.text_direction if present.

Set background color as ACI value or as name string or as RGB tuple (r, g, b).

Use special color name canvas, to set background color to canvas background color.

  • color – color as ACI, string or RGB tuple
  • scale – determines how much border there is around the text, the value is based on the text height, and should be in the range of [1, 5], where 1 fits exact the MText entity.



__iadd__(text: str) -> MText
Append text to existing content (text attribute).

Append text to existing content (text attribute).

Append font change (e.g. '\Fkroeger|b0|i0|c238|p10' ) to existing content (text attribute).
  • name – font name
  • bold – flag
  • italic – flag
  • codepage – character codepage
  • pitch – font size



Append text color change to existing content, color_name as red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta or white.

Add stacked text upr over lwr, t defines the kind of stacking:

"^": vertical stacked without divider line, e.g. \SA^B:

A
B "/": vertical stacked with divider line, e.g. \SX/Y:
X
-
Y "#": diagonal stacked, with slanting divider line, e.g. \S1#4:
1/4



Returns text content without formatting codes.
split – returns list of strings splitted at line breaks if True else returns a single string.

New in version 0.11.1.


Transform MTEXT entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.



MText Inline Codes

Code Description
\L Start underline
\l Stop underline
\O Start overstrike
\o Stop overstrike
\K Start strike-through
\k Stop strike-through
\P New paragraph (new line)
\pxi Control codes for bullets, numbered paragraphs and columns
\X Paragraph wrap on the dimension line (only in dimensions)
\Q Slanting (obliquing) text by angle - e.g. \Q30;
\H Text height - e.g. \H3x;
\W Text width - e.g. \W0.8x;
\F Font selection e.g. \Fgdt;o - GDT-tolerance
\S Stacking, fractions e.g. \SA^B or \SX/Y or \S1#4
\A Alignment 0.0 • 2 \A0; = bottom • 2 \A1; = center • 2 \A2; = top 168u
\C Color change 0.0 • 2 \C1; = red • 2 \C2; = yellow • 2 \C3; = green • 2 \C4; = cyan • 2 \C5; = blue • 2 \C6; = magenta • 2 \C7; = white 168u
\T Tracking, char.spacing - e.g. \T2;
\~ Non-wrapping space, hard space
{} Braces - define the text area influenced by the code, codes and braces can be nested up to 8 levels deep
\ Escape character - e.g. \{ = “{“

Convenient constants defined in MText:

Constant Description
UNDERLINE_START start underline text (b += b.UNDERLINE_START)
UNDERLINE_STOP stop underline text (b += b.UNDERLINE_STOP)
UNDERLINE underline text (b += b.UNDERLINE % "Text")
OVERSTRIKE_START start overstrike
OVERSTRIKE_STOP stop overstrike
OVERSTRIKE overstrike text
STRIKE_START start strike trough
STRIKE_STOP stop strike trough
STRIKE strike trough text
GROUP_START start of group
GROUP_END end of group
GROUP group text
NEW_LINE start in new line (b += "Text" + b.NEW_LINE)
NBSP none breaking space (b += "Python" + b.NBSP + "3.4")

Point

POINT (DXF Reference) at location dxf.point.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'POINT'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_point()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Location of the point (2D/3D Point in WCS)

Angle in degrees of the x-axis for the UCS in effect when POINT was drawn (float); used when PDMODE is nonzero.

Transform POINT entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized POINT translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis.

New in version 0.13.



Polyline

The POLYLINE entity (POLYLINE DXF Reference) is very complex, it’s used to build 2D/3D polylines, 3D meshes and 3D polyfaces. For every type exists a different wrapper class but they all have the same dxftype of 'POLYLINE'. Detect POLYLINE type by Polyline.get_mode().

POLYLINE types returned by Polyline.get_mode():

  • 'AcDb2dPolyline' for 2D Polyline
  • 'AcDb3dPolyline' for 3D Polyline
  • 'AcDbPolygonMesh' for Polymesh
  • 'AcDbPolyFaceMesh' for Polyface



For 2D entities all vertices in OCS.

For 3D entities all vertices in WCS.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'POLYLINE'
2D factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_polyline2d()
3D factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_polyline3d()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Vertex entities are stored in a standard Python list Polyline.vertices. Vertices can be retrieved and deleted by direct access to Polyline.vertices attribute:

# delete first and second vertex
del polyline.vertices[:2]


Elevation point, the X and Y values are always 0, and the Z value is the polyline’s elevation (3D Point in OCS when 2D, WCS when 3D).

Constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:
Polyline.dxf.flags Value Description
POLYLINE_CLOSED 1 This is a closed Polyline (or a polygon mesh closed in the M direction)
POLYLINE_MESH_CLOSED_M_DIRECTION 1 equals POLYLINE_CLOSED
POLYLINE_CURVE_FIT_VERTICES_ADDED 2 Curve-fit vertices have been added
POLYLINE_SPLINE_FIT_VERTICES_ADDED 4 Spline-fit vertices have been added
POLYLINE_3D_POLYLINE 8 This is a 3D Polyline
POLYLINE_3D_POLYMESH 16 This is a 3D polygon mesh
POLYLINE_MESH_CLOSED_N_DIRECTION 32 The polygon mesh is closed in the N direction
POLYLINE_POLYFACE_MESH 64 This Polyline is a polyface mesh
POLYLINE_GENERATE_LINETYPE_PATTERN 128 The linetype pattern is generated continuously around the vertices of this Polyline

Default line start width (float); default = 0

Default line end width (float); default = 0

Polymesh M vertex count (int); default = 1

Polymesh N vertex count (int); default = 1

Smooth surface M density (int); default = 0

Smooth surface N density (int); default = 0

Curves and smooth surface type (int); default=0, see table below

Constants for smooth_type defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:

Polyline.dxf.smooth_type Value Description
POLYMESH_NO_SMOOTH 0 no smooth surface fitted
POLYMESH_QUADRATIC_BSPLINE 5 quadratic B-spline surface
POLYMESH_CUBIC_BSPLINE 6 cubic B-spline surface
POLYMESH_BEZIER_SURFACE 8 Bezier surface

List of Vertex entities.

True if POLYLINE is a 2D polyline.

True if POLYLINE is a 3D polyline.

True if POLYLINE is a polygon mesh, see Polymesh

True if POLYLINE is a poly face mesh, see Polyface

True if POLYLINE is closed.

True if POLYLINE (as Polymesh) is closed in m direction.

True if POLYLINE (as Polymesh) is closed in n direction.

Returns True if 2D POLYLINE has an arc segment.

Returns True if 2D POLYLINE has default width values or any segment with width attributes.

New in version 0.14.


Returns POLYLINE type as string:
  • ‘AcDb2dPolyline’
  • ‘AcDb3dPolyline’
  • ‘AcDbPolygonMesh’
  • ‘AcDbPolyFaceMesh’


Close POLYMESH in m direction if status is True (also closes POLYLINE), clears closed state if status is False.

Close POLYMESH in n direction if status is True, clears closed state if status is False.

Set closed state of POLYMESH and POLYLINE in m direction and n direction. True set closed flag, False clears closed flag.

__len__() -> int
Returns count of Vertex entities.

__getitem__(pos) -> ezdxf.entities.polyline.DXFVertex
Get Vertex entity at position pos, supports list slicing.

Returns iterable of all polyline vertices as (x, y, z) tuples, not as Vertex objects.

Append a single Vertex entity at location point.
  • point – as (x, y[, z]) tuple
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes for Vertex class



Append multiple Vertex entities at location points.
  • points – iterable of (x, y[, z]) tuples
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes for Vertex class



Append multiple Vertex entities at location points.
  • points – iterable of (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple
  • format – format string, default is 'xy', see: format codes
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes for Vertex class



Insert vertices points into Polyline.vertices list at insertion location pos .
  • pos – insertion position of list Polyline.vertices
  • points – list of (x, y[, z]) tuples
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes for Vertex class



Transform POLYLINE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Yields ‘virtual’ parts of POLYLINE as LINE, ARC or 3DFACE primitives.

This entities are located at the original positions, but are not stored in the entity database, have no handle and are not assigned to any layout.

New in version 0.12.


Explode POLYLINE as DXF LINE, ARC or 3DFACE primitives into target layout, if the target layout is None, the target layout is the layout of the POLYLINE entity . Returns an EntityQuery container including all DXF primitives.
  • target_layout – target layout for DXF primitives, None for same
  • as source entity. (layout) –


New in version 0.12.



Vertex

A VERTEX (VERTEX DXF Reference) represents a polyline/mesh vertex.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'VERTEX'
Factory function Polyline.append_vertex()
Factory function Polyline.extend()
Factory function Polyline.insert_vertices()
Inherited DXF Attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Vertex location (2D/3D Point OCS when 2D, WCS when 3D)

Line segment start width (float); default = 0

Line segment end width (float); default = 0

bulge value (float); default = 0.

The bulge value is used to create arc shaped line segments.


Constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:
Vertex.dxf.flags Value Description
VTX_EXTRA_VERTEX_CREATED 1 Extra vertex created by curve-fitting
VTX_CURVE_FIT_TANGENT 2 curve-fit tangent defined for this vertex. A curve-fit tangent direction of 0 may be omitted from the DXF output, but is significant if this bit is set.
VTX_SPLINE_VERTEX_CREATED 8 spline vertex created by spline-fitting
VTX_SPLINE_FRAME_CONTROL_POINT 16 spline frame control point
VTX_3D_POLYLINE_VERTEX 32 3D polyline vertex
VTX_3D_POLYGON_MESH_VERTEX 64 3D polygon mesh
VTX_3D_POLYFACE_MESH_VERTEX 128 polyface mesh vertex

Curve fit tangent direction (float), used for 2D spline in DXF R12.

Index of 1st vertex, if used as face (feature for experts)

Index of 2nd vertex, if used as face (feature for experts)

Index of 3rd vertex, if used as face (feature for experts)

Index of 4th vertex, if used as face (feature for experts)






Return formatted vertex components as tuple.

Format codes:

  • “x” = x-coordinate
  • “y” = y-coordinate
  • “z” = z-coordinate
  • “s” = start width
  • “e” = end width
  • “b” = bulge value
  • “v” = (x, y, z) as tuple



format: format string, default is “xyz”

New in version 0.14.



Polymesh

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Polyline
DXF type 'POLYLINE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_polymesh()
Inherited DXF Attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
A polymesh is a grid of m_count x n_count vertices, every vertex has its own (x, y, z) location. The Polymesh is an subclass of Polyline, DXF type is also 'POLYLINE' but get_mode() returns 'AcDbPolygonMesh'.
Get location of a single mesh vertex.
pos – 0-based (row, col) tuple, position of mesh vertex


Set location and DXF attributes of a single mesh vertex.
  • pos – 0-based (row, col)-tuple, position of mesh vertex
  • point – (x, y, z)-tuple, new 3D coordinates of the mesh vertex
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes



Get a MeshVertexCache object for this POLYMESH. The caching object provides fast access to the location attribute of mesh vertices.


MeshVertexCache

Cache mesh vertices in a dict, keys are 0-based (row, col) tuples.

Set vertex location: cache[row, col] = (x, y, z)

Get vertex location: x, y, z = cache[row, col]

Dict of mesh vertices, keys are 0-based (row, col) tuples.

__getitem__(pos: Tuple[int, int]) -> Vertex
Get mesh vertex location as (x, y, z)-tuple.
pos – 0-based (row, col)-tuple.


__setitem__(pos: Tuple[int, int], location: Vertex) -> None
Get mesh vertex location as (x, y, z)-tuple.
  • pos – 0-based (row, col)-tuple.
  • location – (x, y, z)-tuple




Polyface

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Polyline
DXF type 'POLYLINE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_polyface()
Inherited DXF Attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

SEE ALSO:

tut_polyface


A polyface consist of multiple location independent 3D areas called faces. The Polyface is a subclass of Polyline, DXF type is also 'POLYLINE' but get_mode() returns 'AcDbPolyFaceMesh'.
Append a single face. A face is a list of (x, y, z) tuples.
  • face – List[(x, y, z) tuples]
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes for Vertex entity



Append multiple faces. faces is a list of single faces and a single face is a list of (x, y, z) tuples.
  • faces – list of List[(x, y, z) tuples]
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes for Vertex entity



Iterable of all faces, a face is a tuple of vertices.
[vertex, vertex, vertex, [vertex,] face_record]
list


Rebuilds Polyface including vertex optimization by merging vertices with nearly same vertex locations.
precision – floating point precision for determining identical vertex locations



Ray

RAY entity (DXF Reference) starts at Ray.dxf.point and continues to infinity (construction line).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.XLine
DXF type 'RAY'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_ray()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

Start point as (3D Point in WCS)


Unit direction vector as (3D Point in WCS)

Transform XLINE/RAY entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized XLINE/RAY translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

New in version 0.13.



Region

REGION (DXF Reference) created by an ACIS based geometry kernel provided by the Spatial Corp.

ezdxf will never interpret ACIS source code, don’t ask me for this feature.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Body
DXF type 'REGION'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_region()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Same attributes and methods as parent class Body.

Shape

SHAPES (DXF Reference) are objects that are used like block references, each SHAPE reference can be scaled and rotated individually. The SHAPE definitions are stored in external shape files (*.SHX), and ezdxf can not create this shape files.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'SHAPE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_shape()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Insertion location as (2D/3D Point in WCS)

Shape name (str)

Shape size (float)

Rotation angle in degrees; default value is 0

Relative X scale factor (float); default value is 1

Oblique angle in degrees (float); default value is 0

Transform SHAPE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.



Solid

SOLID (DXF Reference) is a filled triangle or quadrilateral. Access vertices by name (entity.dxf.vtx0 = (1.7, 2.3)) or by index (entity[0] = (1.7, 2.3)).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'SOLID'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_solid()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Location of 1. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Location of 2. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Location of 3. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Location of 4. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Transform SOLID/TRACE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.



Spline

SPLINE curve (DXF Reference), all coordinates have to be 3D coordinates even the spline is only a 2D planar curve.

The spline curve is defined by control points, knot values and weights. The control points establish the spline, the various types of knot vector determines the shape of the curve and the weights of rational splines define how strong a control point influences the shape.

To create a Spline curve you just need a bunch of fit points - knot values and weights are optional (tested with AutoCAD 2010). If you add additional data, be sure that you know what you do.

SEE ALSO:

  • Wikipedia article about B_splines
  • Department of Computer Science and Technology at the Cambridge University
  • tut_spline



Since ezdxf v0.8.9 Spline stores fit- and control points, knots and weights as packed data (array.array).

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'SPLINE'
Factory function see table below
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

Factory Functions

Basic spline entity add_spline()
Spline control frame from fit points add_spline_control_frame()
Open uniform spline add_open_spline()
Closed uniform spline add_closed_spline()
Open rational uniform spline add_rational_spline()
Closed rational uniform spline add_closed_rational_spline()
All points in WCS as (x, y, z) tuples
Degree of the spline curve (int).

Bit coded option flags, constants defined in ezdxf.lldxf.const:
dxf.flags Value Description
CLOSED_SPLINE 1 Spline is closed
PERIODIC_SPLINE 2
RATIONAL_SPLINE 4
PLANAR_SPLINE 8
LINEAR_SPLINE 16 planar bit is also set

Count of knot values (int), automatically set by ezdxf (read only)

Count of fit points (int), automatically set by ezdxf (read only)

Count of control points (int), automatically set by ezdxf (read only)

Knot tolerance (float); default = 1e-10

Fit tolerance (float); default = 1e-10

Control point tolerance (float); default = 1e-10

Start tangent vector as (3D vector in WCS)

End tangent vector as (3D vector in WCS)

True if spline is closed. A closed spline has a connection from the last control point to the first control point. (read/write)

VertexArray of control points in WCS.

VertexArray of fit points in WCS.

Knot values as array.array('d').

Control point weights as array.array('d').

Count of control points.

Count of fit points.

Count of knot values.

Returns construction tool ezdxf.math.BSpline.

New in version 0.13.


Set SPLINE data from construction tool ezdxf.math.BSpline or from a geomdl.BSpline.Curve object.

New in version 0.13.


Open B-spline with uniform knot vector, start and end at your first and last control points.

B-spline with uniform knot vector, does NOT start and end at your first and last control points.

Closed B-spline with uniform knot vector, start and end at your first control point.

Open rational B-spline with uniform knot vector, start and end at your first and last control points, and has additional control possibilities by weighting each control point.

Rational B-spline with uniform knot vector, deos NOT start and end at your first and last control points, and has additional control possibilities by weighting each control point.

Closed rational B-spline with uniform knot vector, start and end at your first control point, and has additional control possibilities by weighting each control point.

Transform SPLINE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Create a new SPLINE entity from CIRCLE, ARC or ELLIPSE entity.

The new SPLINE entity has no owner, no handle, is not stored in the entity database nor assigned to any layout!

New in version 0.13.



Surface

SURFACE (DXF Reference) created by an ACIS based geometry kernel provided by the Spatial Corp.

ezdxf will never interpret ACIS source code, don’t ask me for this feature.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Body
DXF type 'SURFACE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_surface()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Same attributes and methods as parent class Body.
Number of U isolines.

Number of V2 isolines.


ExtrudedSurface

(DXF Reference)

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Surface
DXF type 'EXTRUDEDSURFACE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_extruded_surface()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2007 ('AC1021')

LoftedSurface

(DXF Reference)

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Surface
DXF type 'LOFTEDSURFACE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_lofted_surface()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2007 ('AC1021')

RevolvedSurface

(DXF Reference)

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Surface
DXF type 'REVOLVEDSURFACE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_revolved_surface()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2007 ('AC1021')

SweptSurface

(DXF Reference)

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Surface
DXF type 'SWEPTSURFACE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_swept_surface()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2007 ('AC1021')

Text

One line TEXT entity (DXF Reference). Text.dxf.height in drawing units and defaults to 1, but it also depends on the font rendering of the CAD application. Text.dxf.width is a scaling factor, but the DXF reference does not define the base value to scale, in practice the Text.dxf.height is the base value, the effective text width depends on the font defined by Text.dxf.style and the font rendering of the CAD application, especially for proportional fonts, text width calculation is nearly impossible without knowlegde of the used CAD application and their font rendering behavior. This is one reason why the DXF and also DWG file format are not reliable for exchanging exact text layout, they are just reliable for exchanging exact geometry.

SEE ALSO:

tut_text


Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'TEXT'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_text()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Text content. (str)

First alignment point of text (2D/3D Point in OCS), relevant for the adjustments 'LEFT', 'ALIGN' and 'FIT'.


second alignment point of text (2D/3D Point in OCS), if the justification is anything other than 'LEFT', the second alignment point specify also the first alignment point: (or just the second alignment point for 'ALIGN' and 'FIT')

Text height in drawing units (float); default value is 1

Text rotation in degrees (float); default value is 0

Text oblique angle in degrees (float); default value is 0 (straight vertical text)

Textstyle name (str); default value is 'Standard'

Width scale factor (float); default value is 1

Horizontal alignment flag (int), use set_pos() and get_align(); default value is 0
0 Left
2 Right
3 Aligned (if vertical alignment = 0)
4 Middle (if vertical alignment = 0)
5 Fit (if vertical alignment = 0)

Vertical alignment flag (int), use set_pos() and get_align(); default value is 0
0 Baseline
1 Bottom
2 Middle
3 Top

Text generation flags (int)
2 text is backward (mirrored in X)
4 text is upside down (mirrored in Y)

Set text alignment, valid alignments are:
Vertical Left Center Right
Top TOP_LEFT TOP_CENTER TOP_RIGHT
Middle MIDDLE_LEFT MIDDLE_CENTER MIDDLE_RIGHT
Bottom BOTTOM_LEFT BOTTOM_CENTER BOTTOM_RIGHT
Baseline LEFT CENTER RIGHT

Alignments 'ALIGNED' and 'FIT' are special, they require a second alignment point, text is aligned on the virtual line between these two points and has vertical alignment Baseline.

  • 'ALIGNED': Text is stretched or compressed to fit exactly between p1 and p2 and the text height is also adjusted to preserve height/width ratio.
  • 'FIT': Text is stretched or compressed to fit exactly between p1 and p2 but only the text width is adjusted, the text height is fixed by the dxf.height attribute.
  • 'MIDDLE': also a special adjustment, but the result is the same as for 'MIDDLE_CENTER'.

  • p1 – first alignment point as (x, y[, z]) tuple
  • p2 – second alignment point as (x, y[, z]) tuple, required for 'ALIGNED' and 'FIT' else ignored
  • align – new alignment, None for preserve existing alignment.



Returns a tuple (align, p1, p2), align is the alignment method, p1 is the alignment point, p2 is only relevant if align is 'ALIGNED' or 'FIT', otherwise it is None.

Returns the actual text alignment as string, see also set_pos().

Just for experts: Sets the text alignment without setting the alignment points, set adjustment points attr:dxf.insert and dxf.align_point manually.
align – test alignment, see also set_pos()


Transform TEXT entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized TEXT/ATTRIB/ATTDEF translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

New in version 0.13.


Returns text content without formatting codes.

New in version 0.13.



Trace

TRACE entity (DXF Reference) is solid filled triangle or quadrilateral. Access vertices by name (entity.dxf.vtx0 = (1.7, 2.3)) or by index (entity[0] = (1.7, 2.3)). I don’t know the difference between SOLID and TRACE.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'TRACE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_trace()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Location of 1. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Location of 2. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Location of 3. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Location of 4. vertex (2D/3D Point in OCS)

Transform SOLID/TRACE entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.



Underlay

UNDERLAY entity (DXF Reference) links an underlay file to the DXF file, the file itself is not embedded into the DXF file, it is always a separated file. The (PDF)UNDERLAY entity is like a block reference, you can use it multiple times to add the underlay on different locations with different scales and rotations. But therefore you need a also a (PDF)DEFINITION entity, see UnderlayDefinition.

The DXF standard supports three different file formats: PDF, DWF (DWFx) and DGN. An Underlay can be clipped by a rectangle or a polygon path. The clipping coordinates are 2D OCS coordinates in drawing units but without scaling.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type internal base class
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_underlay()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')
Base class of PdfUnderlay, DwfUnderlay and DgnUnderlay
Insertion point, lower left corner of the image in OCS.

Scaling factor in x-direction (float)

Scaling factor in y-direction (float)

Scaling factor in z-direction (float)

ccw rotation in degrees around the extrusion vector (float)

extrusion vector, default = (0, 0, 1)

Handle to the underlay definition entity, see UnderlayDefinition

dxf.flags Value Description
UNDERLAY_CLIPPING 1 clipping is on/off
UNDERLAY_ON 2 underlay is on/off
UNDERLAY_MONOCHROME 4 Monochrome
UNDERLAY_ADJUST_FOR_BACKGROUND 8 Adjust for background

Contrast value (20 - 100; default = 100)

Fade value (0 - 80; default = 0)

True or False (read/write)

True or False (read/write)

True or False (read/write)

True or False (read/write)

Scaling (x, y, z) tuple (read/write)

Boundary path as list of vertices (read/write).

Two vertices describe a rectangle (lower left and upper right corner), more than two vertices is a polygon as clipping path.


Returns the associated DEFINITION entity. see UnderlayDefinition.

Set the associated DEFINITION entity. see UnderlayDefinition.

Removes the clipping path.


PdfUnderlay

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Underlay
DXF type 'PDFUNDERLAY'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_underlay()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

DwfUnderlay

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Underlay
DXF type 'DWFUNDERLAY'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_underlay()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

DgnUnderlay

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Underlay
DXF type 'DGNUNDERLAY'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_underlay()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

Viewport

The VIEWPORT (DXF Reference) entity is a window from a paperspace layout to the modelspace.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'VIEWPORT'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.Paperspace.add_viewport()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Center point of the viewport in modelspace (3D point in WCS).

Viewport width in paperspace units (float)

Viewport height in paperspace units (float)

Viewport status field (int)
-1 On, but is fully off screen, or is one of the viewports that is not active because the $MAXACTVP count is currently being exceeded.
0 Off
>0 On and active. The value indicates the order of stacking for the viewports, where 1 is the active viewport, 2 is the next, and so forth

Viewport id (int)

View center point in DCS.





View direction (3D vector in WCS).

View target point (3D point in WCS).

Lens focal length in mm as 35mm film equivalent.



View height in WCS.



Viewport status bit-coded flags:
1 (0x1) Enables perspective mode
2 (0x2) Enables front clipping
4 (0x4) Enables back clipping
8 (0x8) Enables UCS follow
16 (0x10) Enables front clip not at eye
32 (0x20) Enables UCS icon visibility
64 (0x40) Enables UCS icon at origin
128 (0x80) Enables fast zoom
256 (0x100) Enables snap mode
512 (0x200) Enables grid mode
1024 (0x400) Enables isometric snap style
2048 (0x800) Enables hide plot mode
4096 (0x1000) kIsoPairTop. If set and kIsoPairRight is not set, then isopair top is enabled. If both kIsoPairTop and kIsoPairRight are set, then isopair left is enabled
8192 (0x2000) kIsoPairRight. If set and kIsoPairTop is not set, then isopair right is enabled
16384 (0x4000) Enables viewport zoom locking
32768 (0x8000) Currently always enabled
65536 (0x10000) Enables non-rectangular clipping
131072 (0x20000) Turns the viewport off
262144 (0x40000) Enables the display of the grid beyond the drawing limits
524288 (0x80000) Enable adaptive grid display
1048576 (0x100000) Enables subdivision of the grid below the set grid spacing when the grid display is adaptive
2097152 (0x200000) Enables grid follows workplane switching



0 2D Optimized (classic 2D)
1 Wireframe
2 Hidden line
3 Flat shaded
4 Gouraud shaded
5 Flat shaded with wireframe
6 Gouraud shaded with wireframe



UCS origin as 3D point.

UCS x-axis as 3D vector.

UCS y-axis as 3D vector.

Handle of UCSTable if UCS is a named UCS. If not present, then UCS is unnamed.

0 not orthographic
1 Top
2 Bottom
3 Front
4 Back
5 Left
6 Right

Handle of UCSTable of base UCS if UCS is orthographic (Viewport.dxf.ucs_ortho_type is non-zero). If not present and Viewport.dxf.ucs_ortho_type is non-zero, then base UCS is taken to be WORLD.


(DXF R2004)
0 As Displayed
1 Wireframe
2 Hidden
3 Rendered

Frequency of major grid lines compared to minor grid lines. (DXF R2007)





0 One distant light
1 Two distant lights




as true color value

as true color value






Set/get frozen layers as list of layer names.


Wipeout

THE WIPEOUT (DXF Reference) entity is a polygonal area that masks underlying objects with the current background color. The WIPEOUT entity is based on the IMAGE entity, but usage does not require any knowledge about the IMAGE entity.

The handles to the support entities ImageDef and ImageDefReactor are always “0”, both are not needed by the WIPEOUT entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Image
DXF type 'WIPEOUT'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_wipeout()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

WARNING:

Do not instantiate entity classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Set a new masking area, the area is placed in the layout xy-plane.


XLine

XLINE entity (DXF Reference) is a construction line that extents to infinity in both directions.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFGraphic
DXF type 'XLINE'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.BaseLayout.add_xline()
Inherited DXF attributes Common graphical DXF attributes
Required DXF version DXF R2000 ('AC1015')

Location point of line as (3D Point in WCS)


Unit direction vector as (3D Point in WCS)

Transform XLINE/RAY entity by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Optimized XLINE/RAY translation about dx in x-axis, dy in y-axis and dz in z-axis, returns self (floating interface).

New in version 0.13.



DXF Objects

DXFObject

Common base class for all non-graphical DXF objects.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFEntity

Dictionary

The DICTIONARY is a general storage entity.

AutoCAD maintains items such as MLINE_STYLES and GROUP definitions as objects in dictionaries. Other applications are free to create and use their own dictionaries as they see fit. The prefix 'ACAD_' is reserved for use by AutoCAD applications.

Dictionary entries are (key, DXFEntity) pairs. At loading time the value could be a str, because at this time not all objects are already stored in the EntityDB, and have to be acquired later.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'DICTIONARY'
Factory function ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_dictionary()

WARNING:

Do not instantiate object classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


If set to 1, indicates that elements of the dictionary are to be treated as hard-owned.

dxf cloning
Duplicate record cloning flag (determines how to merge duplicate entries, ignored by ezdxf):
0 not applicable
1 keep existing
2 use clone
3 <xref>$0$<name>
4 $0$<name>
5 Unmangle name

Returns True if Dictionary is hard owner of entities. Hard owned entities will be destroyed by deleting the dictionary.

__len__() -> int
Returns count of items.

__contains__(key: str) -> bool
Returns True if key exist.

__getitem__(key: str) -> DXFEntity
Return the value for key, raises a DXFKeyError if key does not exist.

__setitem__(key: str, value: DXFEntity) -> None
Add item as (key, value) pair to dictionary.

__delitem__(key: str) -> None
Delete entry key from the dictionary, raises DXFKeyError if key does not exist.

Returns KeysView of all dictionary keys.

Returns ItemsView for all dictionary entries as (key, DXFEntity) pairs.

Returns count of items.

Returns DXFEntity for key, if key exist, else default or raises a DXFKeyError for default = DXFKeyError.

Add entry (key, value).

Delete entry key. Raises DXFKeyError, if key does not exist. Deletes also hard owned DXF objects from OBJECTS section.

Delete entry key if exists. Does NOT raise an exception if key not exist and does not delete hard owned DXF objects.

clear() -> None
Delete all entries from Dictionary, deletes hard owned DXF objects from OBJECTS section.

Create a new sub Dictionary.
  • key – name of the sub dictionary
  • hard_owned – entries of the new dictionary are hard owned



Get entry key or create a new Dictionary, if Key not exist.

Add new DictionaryVar.
  • key – entry name as string
  • value – entry value as string




DictionaryWithDefault

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.Dictionary
DXF type 'ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT'
Factory function ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_dictionary_with_default()
Handle to default entry as hex string like FF00.

Returns DXFEntity for key or the predefined dictionary wide dxf.default entity if key does not exist or None if default value also not exist.

Set dictionary wide default entry.
default – default entry as DXFEntity



DictionaryVar

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'DICTIONARYVAR'
Factory function ezdxf.entities.Dictionary.add_dict_var()
Object schema number (currently set to 0)

Value as string.

GeoData

The GEODATA entity is associated to the Modelspace object.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'GEODATA'
Factory function ezdxf.layouts.Modelspace.new_geodata()
Required DXF version R2010 ('AC1024')

SEE ALSO:

using_geodata.py


WARNING:

Do not instantiate object classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


1 R2009
2 R2010

0 unknown
1 local grid
2 projected grid
3 geographic (latitude/longitude)

Handle of host BLOCK_RECORD table entry, in general the Modelspace.

Changed in version 0.10: renamed from dxf.block_record


Reference point in WCS coordinates.

Reference point in geo coordinates, valid only when coordinate type is local grid. The difference between dxf.design_point and dxf.reference_point defines the translation from WCS coordinates to geo-coordinates.

North direction as 2D vector. Defines the rotation (about the dxf.design_point) to transform from WCS coordinates to geo-coordinates

Horizontal unit scale, factor which converts horizontal design coordinates to meters by multiplication.

Vertical unit scale, factor which converts vertical design coordinates to meters by multiplication.

Horizontal units (see BlockRecord). Will be 0 (Unitless) if units specified by horizontal unit scale is not supported by AutoCAD enumeration.

Vertical units (see BlockRecord). Will be 0 (Unitless) if units specified by vertical unit scale is not supported by AutoCAD enumeration.

Up direction as 3D vector.

1 none
2 user specified scale factor
3 grid scale at reference point
4 prismoidal

Bool flag specifying whether to do sea level correction.








2D source vertices in the CRS of the GeoData as VertexArray. Used together with target_vertices to define the transformation from the CRS of the GeoData to WGS84.

2D target vertices in WGS84 (EPSG:4326) as VertexArray. Used together with source_vertices to define the transformation from the CRS of the geoData to WGS84.

List of face definition tuples, each face entry is a 3-tuple of vertex indices (0-based).

The coordinate system definition string. Stored as XML. Defines the CRS used by the GeoData. The EPSG number and other details like the axis-ordering of the CRS is stored.


ImageDef

IMAGEDEF entity defines an image file, which can be placed by the Image entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'IMAGEDEF'
Factory function (1) ezdxf.document.Drawing.add_image_def()
Factory function (2) ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_image_def()

WARNING:

Do not instantiate object classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Current version is 0.

Relative (to the DXF file) or absolute path to the image file as string.

Image size in pixel as (x, y) tuple.

Default size of one pixel in drawing units as (x, y) tuple.

0 = unloaded; 1 = loaded, default = 1

0 No units
2 Centimeters
5 Inch

Default = 0



ImageDefReactor


DXFLayout

LAYOUT entity is part of a modelspace or paperspace layout definitions.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.PlotSettings
DXF type 'LAYOUT'
Factory function internal data structure, use Layouts to manage layout objects.
Layout name as shown in tabs by CAD applications


TODO

Placeholder

The ACDBPLACEHOLDER object for internal usage.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'ACDBPLACEHOLDER'
Factory function ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_placeholder()

WARNING:

Do not instantiate object classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!



PlotSettings

All PLOTSETTINGS attributes are part of the DXFLayout entity, I don’t know if this entity also appears as standalone entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'PLOTSETTINGS'
Factory function internal data structure

TODO

Sun

SUN entity defines properties of the sun.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'SUN'
Factory function creating a new SUN entity is not supported
Current version is 1.

on = 1 or off = 0

ACI value of the sun.

true color value of the sun.

Intensity value in the range of 0 to 1. (float)

use calendardate() to convert dxf.julian_day to datetime.datetime object.

Day time in seconds past midnight. (int)


0 Sun do not cast shadows
1 Sun do cast shadows





UnderlayDefinition

UnderlayDefinition (DXF Reference) defines an underlay file, which can be placed by the Underlay entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type internal base class
Factory function (1) ezdxf.document.Drawing.add_underlay_def()
Factory function (2) ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_underlay_def()
Base class of PdfDefinition, DwfDefinition and DgnDefinition
Relative (to the DXF file) or absolute path to the underlay file as string.

Defines which part of the underlay file to display.
'pdf' PDF page number
'dgn' always 'default'
'dwf' ?




WARNING:

Do not instantiate object classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


PdfDefinition

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.UnderlayDefinition
DXF type 'PDFDEFINITION'
Factory function (1) ezdxf.document.Drawing.add_underlay_def()
Factory function (2) ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_underlay_def()

DwfDefinition

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.UnderlayDefinition
DXF type 'DWFDEFINITION'
Factory function (1) ezdxf.document.Drawing.add_underlay_def()
Factory function (2) ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_underlay_def()

DgnDefinition

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.UnderlayDefinition
DXF type 'DGNDEFINITION'
Factory function (1) ezdxf.document.Drawing.add_underlay_def()
Factory function (2) ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_underlay_def()

XRecord

Important class for storing application defined data in DXF files.

XRECORD objects are used to store and manage arbitrary data. They are composed of DXF group codes ranging from 1 through 369. This object is similar in concept to XDATA but is not limited by size or order.

To reference a XRECORD by an DXF entity, store the handle of the XRECORD in the XDATA section, application defined data or the ExtensionDict of the DXF entity.

Subclass of ezdxf.entities.DXFObject
DXF type 'XRECORD'
Factory function ezdxf.sections.objects.ObjectsSection.add_xrecord()

WARNING:

Do not instantiate object classes by yourself - always use the provided factory functions!


Duplicate record cloning flag (determines how to merge duplicate entries, ignored by ezdxf):
0 not applicable
1 keep existing
2 use clone
3 <xref>$0$<name>
4 $0$<name>
5 Unmangle name

Raw DXF tag container Tags. Be careful ezdxf does not validate the content of XRECORDS.


Data Query

SEE ALSO:

For usage of the query features see the tutorial: tut_getting_data


Entity Query String

QueryString := EntityQuery ("[" AttribQuery "]" "i"?)*


The query string is the combination of two queries, first the required entity query and second the optional attribute query, enclosed in square brackets, append 'i' after the closing square bracket to ignore case for strings.

Entity Query

The entity query is a whitespace separated list of DXF entity names or the special name '*'. Where '*' means all DXF entities, exclude some entity types by appending their names with a preceding ! (e.g. all entities except LINE = '* !LINE'). All DXF names have to be uppercase.

Attribute Query

The optional attribute query is a boolean expression, supported operators are:

  • not (!): !term is true, if term is false
  • and (&): term & term is true, if both terms are true
  • or (|): term | term is true, if one term is true
  • and arbitrary nested round brackets
  • append (i) after the closing square bracket to ignore case for strings



Attribute selection is a term: “name comparator value”, where name is a DXF entity attribute in lowercase, value is a integer, float or double quoted string, valid comparators are:

  • "==" equal “value”
  • "!=" not equal “value”
  • "<" lower than “value”
  • "<=" lower or equal than “value”
  • ">" greater than “value”
  • ">=" greater or equal than “value”
  • "?" match regular expression “value”
  • "!?" does not match regular expression “value”



Query Result

The EntityQuery class is the return type of all query() methods. EntityQuery contains all DXF entities of the source collection, which matches one name of the entity query AND the whole attribute query. If a DXF entity does not have or support a required attribute, the corresponding attribute search term is False.

examples:

  • LINE[text ? ".*"]: always empty, because the LINE entity has no text attribute.
  • LINE CIRCLE[layer=="construction"]: all LINE and CIRCLE entities with layer == "construction"
  • *[!(layer=="construction" & color<7)]: all entities except those with layer == "construction" and color < 7
  • *[layer=="construction"]i, (ignore case) all entities with layer == "construction" | "Construction" | "ConStruction"



EntityQuery Class

The EntityQuery class is a result container, which is filled with dxf entities matching the query string. It is possible to add entities to the container (extend), remove entities from the container and to filter the container. Supports the standard Python Sequence methods and protocols.
First entity or None.

Last entity or None.

__len__() -> int
Returns count of DXF entities.

__getitem__(item: int) -> DXFEntity
Returns DXFEntity at index item, supports negative indices and slicing.

__iter__() -> Iterable[DXFEntity]
Returns iterable of DXFEntity objects.

Extent the EntityQuery container by entities matching an additional query.

Remove all entities from EntityQuery container matching this additional query.

Returns a new EntityQuery container with all entities matching this additional query.

raises: ParseException (pyparsing.py)


Returns a dict of entity lists, where entities are grouped by a DXF attribute or a key function.
  • dxfattrib – grouping DXF attribute as string like 'layer'
  • key – key function, which accepts a DXFEntity as argument, returns grouping key of this entity or None for ignore this object. Reason for ignoring: a queried DXF attribute is not supported by this entity




The new() Function

Start a new query based on sequence entities. The entities argument has to be an iterable of DXFEntity or inherited objects and returns an EntityQuery object.

SEE ALSO:

For usage of the groupby features see the tutorial: using_groupby


Groupby Function

Groups a sequence of DXF entities by a DXF attribute like 'layer', returns a dict with dxfattrib values as key and a list of entities matching this dxfattrib. A key function can be used to combine some DXF attributes (e.g. layer and color) and should return a hashable data type like a tuple of strings, integers or floats, key function example:

def group_key(entity: DXFEntity):

return entity.dxf.layer, entity.dxf.color


For not suitable DXF entities return None to exclude this entity, in this case it’s not required, because groupby() catches DXFAttributeError exceptions to exclude entities, which do not provide layer and/or color attributes, automatically.

Result dict for dxfattrib = 'layer' may look like this:

{

'0': [ ... list of entities ],
'ExampleLayer1': [ ... ],
'ExampleLayer2': [ ... ],
... }


Result dict for key = group_key, which returns a (layer, color) tuple, may look like this:

{

('0', 1): [ ... list of entities ],
('0', 3): [ ... ],
('0', 7): [ ... ],
('ExampleLayer1', 1): [ ... ],
('ExampleLayer1', 2): [ ... ],
('ExampleLayer1', 5): [ ... ],
('ExampleLayer2', 7): [ ... ],
... }


All entity containers (modelspace, paperspace layouts and blocks) and the EntityQuery object have a dedicated groupby() method.

  • entities – sequence of DXF entities to group by a DXF attribute or a key function
  • dxfattrib – grouping DXF attribute like 'layer'
  • key – key function, which accepts a DXFEntity as argument and returns a hashable grouping key or None to ignore this entity.



Math Utilities

Utility functions and classes located in module ezdxf.math.

Functions

Returns True if p1 is very close to p2.
  • p1 – first vertex as Vector compatible object
  • p2 – second vertex as Vector compatible object
  • abs_tol – absolute tolerance

TypeError – for incompatible vertices


Returns closest point to base.
  • base – base point as Vector compatible object
  • points – iterable of points as Vector compatible object



Returns an uniform knot vector for a B-spline of order and count control points.

order = degree + 1

  • count – count of control points
  • order – spline order
  • normalize – normalize values in range [0, 1] if True



Returns an open (clamped) uniform knot vector for a B-spline of order and count control points.

order = degree + 1

  • count – count of control points
  • order – spline order
  • normalize – normalize values in range [0, 1] if True



Returns the count of required knot values for a B-spline of order and count control points.
  • count – count of control points, in text-books referred as “n + 1”
  • order – order of B-Spline, in text-books referred as “k”


Relationship:

“p” is the degree of the B-spline, text-book notation.

  • k = p + 1
  • 2 ≤ k ≤ n + 1


Extended rounding function, argument rounding defines the rounding limit:
0 remove fraction
0.1 round next to x.1, x.2, … x.0
0.25 round next to x.25, x.50, x.75 or x.00
0.5 round next to x.5 or x.0
1.0 round to a multiple of 1: remove fraction
2.0 round to a multiple of 2: xxx2, xxx4, xxx6 …
5.0 round to a multiple of 5: xxx5 or xxx0
10.0 round to a multiple of 10: xx10, xx20, …
  • value – float value to round
  • rounding – rounding limit



Return evenly spaced numbers over a specified interval, like numpy.linspace().

Returns num evenly spaced samples, calculated over the interval [start, stop]. The endpoint of the interval can optionally be excluded.

New in version 0.12.3.


SEE ALSO:

Description of the bulge value.


Returns center of arc described by the given bulge parameters.

Based on Bulge Center by Lee Mac.

  • start_point – start point as Vec2 compatible object
  • end_point – end point as Vec2 compatible object
  • bulge – bulge value as float



Returns radius of arc defined by the given bulge parameters.

Based on Bulge Radius by Lee Mac

  • start_point – start point as Vec2 compatible object
  • end_point – end point as Vec2 compatible object
  • bulge – bulge value



Returns bulge parameters from arc parameters.
  • center – circle center point as Vec2 compatible object
  • start_angle – start angle in radians
  • end_angle – end angle in radians
  • radius – circle radius

(start_point, end_point, bulge)
tuple


Returns arc parameters from bulge parameters.

Based on Bulge to Arc by Lee Mac.

  • start_point – start vertex as Vec2 compatible object
  • end_point – end vertex as Vec2 compatible object
  • bulge – bulge value

(center, start_angle, end_angle, radius)
Tuple


Returns bulge value defined by three points.

Based on 3-Points to Bulge by Lee Mac.

  • start_point – start point as Vec2 compatible object
  • end_point – end point as Vec2 compatible object
  • point – arbitrary point as Vec2 compatible object



2D Functions

Returns the count of required segments for the approximation of an arc for a given maximum sagitta.
  • radius – arc radius
  • angle – angle span of the arc in radians
  • sagitta – max. distance from the center of the arc to the center of its base


New in version 0.14.


Returns the chord length for an arc defined by radius and the sagitta.
  • radius – arc radius
  • sagitta – distance from the center of the arc to the center of its base


New in version 0.14.


Returns distance from point to line defined by start- and end point.
  • point – 2D point to test as Vec2 or tuple of float
  • start – line definition point as Vec2 or tuple of float
  • end – line definition point as Vec2 or tuple of float



Returns -1 if point is left line, +1 if point is right of line and 0 if point is on the line. The line is defined by two vertices given as arguments start and end.
  • point – 2D point to test as Vec2
  • start – line definition point as Vec2
  • end – line definition point as Vec2
  • abs_tol – tolerance for minimum distance to line



Returns True if point is on line.
  • point – 2D point to test as Vec2
  • start – line definition point as Vec2
  • end – line definition point as Vec2
  • ray – if True point has to be on the infinite ray, if False point has to be on the line segment
  • abs_tol – tolerance for on line test



Returns True if point is “left of line” defined by start- and end point, a colinear point is also “left of line” if argument colinear is True.
  • point – 2D point to test as Vec2
  • start – line definition point as Vec2
  • end – line definition point as Vec2
  • colinear – a colinear point is also “left of line” if True



Test if point is inside polygon.
  • point – 2D point to test as Vec2
  • polygon – iterable of 2D points as Vec2
  • abs_tol – tolerance for distance check

+1 for inside, 0 for on boundary line, -1 for outside

New in version 0.11.


Returns 2D convex hull for points.
points – iterable of points as Vector compatible objects, z-axis is ignored


Compute the intersection of two lines in the xy-plane.
  • line1 – start- and end point of first line to test e.g. ((x1, y1), (x2, y2)).
  • line2 – start- and end point of second line to test e.g. ((x3, y3), (x4, y4)).
  • virtualTrue returns any intersection point, False returns only real intersection points.
  • abs_tol – tolerance for intersection test.

None if there is no intersection point (parallel lines) or intersection point as Vec2


The Rytz’s axis construction is a basic method of descriptive Geometry to find the axes, the semi-major axis and semi-minor axis, starting from two conjugated half-diameters.

Source: Wikipedia

Given conjugated diameter d1 is the vector from center C to point P and the given conjugated diameter d2 is the vector from center C to point Q. Center of ellipse is always (0, 0, 0). This algorithm works for 2D/3D vectors.

  • d1 – conjugated semi-major axis as Vector
  • d2 – conjugated semi-minor axis as Vector

Tuple of (major axis, minor axis, ratio)


Yields vertices of the offset line to the shape defined by vertices. The source shape consist of straight segments and is located in the xy-plane, the z-axis of input vertices is ignored. Takes closed shapes into account if argument closed is True, which yields intersection of first and last offset segment as first vertex for a closed shape. For closed shapes the first and last vertex can be equal, else an implicit closing segment from last to first vertex is added. A shape with equal first and last vertex is not handled automatically as closed shape.

WARNING:

Adjacent collinear segments in opposite directions, same as a turn by 180 degree (U-turn), leads to unexpected results.


New in version 0.11.

  • vertices – source shape defined by vertices
  • offset – line offset perpendicular to direction of shape segments defined by vertices order, offset > 0 is ‘left’ of line segment, offset < 0 is ‘right’ of line segment
  • closedTrue to handle as closed shape



source = [(0, 0), (3, 0), (3, 3), (0, 3)]
result = list(offset_vertices_2d(source, offset=0.5, closed=True))


[image]

Example for a closed collinear shape, which creates 2 additional vertices and the first one has an unexpected location:

source = [(0, 0), (0, 1), (0, 2), (0, 3)]
result = list(offset_vertices_2d(source, offset=0.5, closed=True))


[image]

3D Functions

Returns normal vector for 3 points, which is the normalized cross product for: a->b x a->c.

New in version 0.11.


Returns True if sequence of vectors is a planar face.
  • face – sequence of Vector objects
  • abs_tol – tolerance for normals check


New in version 0.11.


Yields new subdivided faces. Creates new faces from subdivided edges and the face midpoint by linear interpolation.
  • face – a sequence of vertices, Vec2 and Vector objects supported.
  • quads – create quad faces if True else create triangles


New in version 0.11.


Yields only triangles or quad faces, subdivides ngons into triangles.
faces – iterable of faces as sequence of Vec2 and Vector objects

New in version 0.12.


Calculate intersection of two rays, returns a 0-tuple for parallel rays, a 1-tuple for intersecting rays and a 2-tuple for not intersecting and not parallel rays with points of closest approach on each ray.
  • ray1 – first ray as tuple of two points on the ray as Vector objects
  • ray2 – second ray as tuple of two points on the ray as Vector objects
  • abs_tol – absolute tolerance for comparisons


New in version 0.11.


Estimate tangents for curve defined by given fit points. Calculated tangents are normalized (unit-vectors).

Available tangent estimation methods:

  • “3-points”: 3 point interpolation
  • “5-points”: 5 point interpolation
  • “bezier”: tangents from an interpolated cubic bezier curve
  • “diff”: finite difference



  • points – start-, end- and passing points of curve
  • method – tangent estimation method
  • normalize – normalize tangents if True

tangents as list of Vector objects


Estimate tangent magnitude of start- and end tangents.

Available estimation methods:

  • “chord”: total chord length, curve approximation by straight segments
  • “arc”: total arc length, curve approximation by arcs
  • “bezier-n”: total length from cubic bezier curve approximation, n segments per section



  • points – start-, end- and passing points of curve
  • method – tangent magnitude estimation method



Returns the control vertices and knot vector configuration for DXF SPLINE entities defined only by fit points as close as possible to common CAD applications like BricsCAD.

There exist infinite numerical correct solution for this setup, but some facts are known:

  • Global curve interpolation with start- and end derivatives, e.g. 6 fit points creates 8 control vertices in BricsCAD
  • Degree of B-spline is limited to 2 or 3, a stored degree of >3 is ignored, this limit exist only for B-splines defined by fit points
  • Knot parametrization method is “chord”
  • Knot distribution is “natural”

The last missing parameter is the start- and end tangents estimation method used by BricsCAD, if these tangents are stored in the DXF file provide them as argument tangents as 2-tuple (start, end) and the interpolated control vertices will match the BricsCAD calculation, except for floating point imprecision.

  • fit_points – points the spline is passing through
  • degree – degree of spline, only 2 or 3 is supported by BricsCAD, default = 3
  • method – knot parametrization method, default = ‘chord’
  • tangents – start- and end tangent, default is autodetect

BSpline

New in version 0.13.


B-spline interpolation by Global Curve Interpolation. Given are the fit points and the degree of the B-spline. The function provides 3 methods for generating the parameter vector t:
  • “uniform”: creates a uniform t vector, from 0 to 1 evenly spaced, see uniform method
  • “chord”, “distance”: creates a t vector with values proportional to the fit point distances, see chord length method
  • “centripetal”, “sqrt_chord”: creates a t vector with values proportional to the fit point sqrt(distances), see centripetal method
  • “arc”: creates a t vector with values proportional to the arc length between fit points.

It is possible to constraint the curve by tangents, by start- and end tangent if only two tangents are given or by one tangent for each fit point.

If tangents are given, they represent 1st derivatives and and should be scaled if they are unit vectors, if only start- and end tangents given the function estimate_end_tangent_magnitude() helps with an educated guess, if all tangents are given, scaling by chord length is a reasonable choice (Piegl & Tiller).

  • fit_points – fit points of B-spline, as list of Vector compatible objects
  • tangents – if only two vectors are given, take the first and the last vector as start- and end tangent constraints or if for all fit points a tangent is given use all tangents as interpolation constraints (optional)
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • method – calculation method for parameter vector t

BSpline


B-spline interpolation by ‘Local Cubic Curve Interpolation’, which creates B-spline from fit points and estimated tangent direction at start-, end- and passing points.

Source: Piegl & Tiller: “The NURBS Book” - chapter 9.3.4

Available tangent estimation methods:

  • “3-points”: 3 point interpolation
  • “5-points”: 5 point interpolation
  • “bezier”: cubic bezier curve interpolation
  • “diff”: finite difference

or pass pre-calculated tangents, which overrides tangent estimation.

  • fit_points – all B-spline fit points as Vector compatible objects
  • method – tangent estimation method
  • tangents – tangents as Vector compatible objects (optional)

BSpline


Returns a rational B-splines for a circular 2D arc.
  • center – circle center as Vector compatible object
  • radius – circle radius
  • start_angle – start angle in degrees
  • end_angle – end angle in degrees
  • segments – count of spline segments, at least one segment for each quarter (90 deg), 1 for as few as needed.


New in version 0.13.


Returns a rational B-splines for an elliptic arc.
  • ellipse – ellipse parameters as ConstructionEllipse object
  • segments – count of spline segments, at least one segment for each quarter (pi/2), 1 for as few as needed.


New in version 0.13.


Returns an approximation for a circular 2D arc by multiple cubic Bézier-curves.
  • center – circle center as Vector compatible object
  • radius – circle radius
  • start_angle – start angle in degrees
  • end_angle – end angle in degrees
  • segments – count of Bèzier-curve segments, at least one segment for each quarter (90 deg), 1 for as few as possible.


New in version 0.13.


Returns an approximation for an elliptic arc by multiple cubic Bézier-curves.
  • ellipse – ellipse parameters as ConstructionEllipse object
  • segments – count of Bèzier-curve segments, at least one segment for each quarter (pi/2),
  • for as few as possible. (1) –


New in version 0.13.


Returns an interpolation curve for given data points as multiple cubic Bézier-curves. Returns n-1 cubic Bézier-curves for n given data points, curve i goes from point[i] to point[i+1].
points – data points

New in version 0.13.


Transformation Classes

OCS Class

Establish an OCS for a given extrusion vector.
extrusion – extrusion vector.

x-axis unit vector

y-axis unit vector

z-axis unit vector

Returns OCS vector for WCS point.

Returns iterable of OCS vectors from WCS points.

Returns WCS vector for OCS point.

Returns iterable of WCS vectors for OCS points.



UCS Class

Establish an user coordinate system (UCS). The UCS is defined by the origin and two unit vectors for the x-, y- or z-axis, all axis in WCS. The missing axis is the cross product of the given axis.

If x- and y-axis are None: ux = (1, 0, 0), uy = (0, 1, 0), uz = (0, 0, 1).

Unit vectors don’t have to be normalized, normalization is done at initialization, this is also the reason why scaling gets lost by copying or rotating.

  • origin – defines the UCS origin in world coordinates
  • ux – defines the UCS x-axis as vector in WCS
  • uy – defines the UCS y-axis as vector in WCS
  • uz – defines the UCS z-axis as vector in WCS


x-axis unit vector

y-axis unit vector

z-axis unit vector

Returns True if cartesian coordinate system.

copy() -> UCS
Returns a copy of this UCS.

New in version 0.11.


Returns WCS point for UCS point.

Returns iterable of WCS vectors for UCS points.

Returns WCS direction for UCS vector without origin adjustment.

Returns UCS point for WCS point.

Returns iterable of UCS vectors from WCS points.

Returns UCS vector for WCS vector without origin adjustment.

Returns OCS vector for UCS point.

The OCS is defined by the z-axis of the UCS.


Returns iterable of OCS vectors for UCS points.

The OCS is defined by the z-axis of the UCS.

points – iterable of UCS vertices


Transforms angle from current UCS to the parent coordinate system (most likely the WCS) including the transformation to the OCS established by the extrusion vector UCS.uz.
angle – in UCS in degrees


General inplace transformation interface, returns self (floating interface).
m – 4x4 transformation matrix (ezdxf.math.Matrix44)

New in version 0.14.


Returns a new rotated UCS, with the same origin as the source UCS. The rotation vector is located in the origin and has WCS coordinates e.g. (0, 0, 1) is the WCS z-axis as rotation vector.

New in version 0.11.

  • axis – arbitrary rotation axis as vector in WCS
  • angle – rotation angle in radians



Returns a new rotated UCS, rotation axis is the local x-axis.

New in version 0.11.

angle – rotation angle in radians


Returns a new rotated UCS, rotation axis is the local y-axis.

New in version 0.11.

angle – rotation angle in radians


Returns a new rotated UCS, rotation axis is the local z-axis.

New in version 0.11.

angle – rotation angle in radians


Shifts current UCS by delta vector and returns self.

New in version 0.11.

delta – shifting vector


Place current UCS at new origin location and returns self.

New in version 0.11.

location – new origin in WCS


Returns an new UCS defined by the origin, the x-axis vector and an arbitrary point in the xy-plane.
  • origin – UCS origin as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • axis – x-axis vector as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • point – arbitrary point unlike the origin in the xy-plane as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS



Returns an new UCS defined by the origin, the x-axis vector and an arbitrary point in the xz-plane.
  • origin – UCS origin as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • axis – x-axis vector as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • point – arbitrary point unlike the origin in the xz-plane as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS



Returns an new UCS defined by the origin, the y-axis vector and an arbitrary point in the xy-plane.
  • origin – UCS origin as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • axis – y-axis vector as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • point – arbitrary point unlike the origin in the xy-plane as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS



Returns an new UCS defined by the origin, the y-axis vector and an arbitrary point in the yz-plane.
  • origin – UCS origin as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • axis – y-axis vector as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • point – arbitrary point unlike the origin in the yz-plane as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS



Returns an new UCS defined by the origin, the z-axis vector and an arbitrary point in the xz-plane.
  • origin – UCS origin as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • axis – z-axis vector as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • point – arbitrary point unlike the origin in the xz-plane as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS



Returns an new UCS defined by the origin, the z-axis vector and an arbitrary point in the yz-plane.
  • origin – UCS origin as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • axis – z-axis vector as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS
  • point – arbitrary point unlike the origin in the yz-plane as (x, y, z) tuple in WCS





Matrix44

This is a pure Python implementation for 4x4 transformation matrices, to avoid dependency to big numerical packages like numpy, before binary wheels, installation of these packages wasn’t always easy on Windows.

The utility functions for constructing transformations and transforming vectors and points assumes that vectors are stored as row vectors, meaning when multiplied, transformations are applied left to right (e.g. vAB transforms v by A then by B).

Matrix44 initialization:

  • Matrix44() returns the identity matrix.
  • Matrix44(values) values is an iterable with the 16 components of the matrix.
  • Matrix44(row1, row2, row3, row4) four rows, each row with four values.



__repr__() -> str
Returns the representation string of the matrix: Matrix44((col0, col1, col2, col3), (...), (...), (...))

Set matrix values.
  • set() creates the identity matrix.
  • set(values) values is an iterable with the 16 components of the matrix.
  • set(row1, row2, row3, row4) four rows, each row with four values.




Get row as list of of four float values.
row – row index [0 .. 3]


Sets the values in a row.
  • row – row index [0 .. 3]
  • values – iterable of four row values



Returns a column as a tuple of four floats.
col – column index [0 .. 3]


Sets the values in a column.
  • col – column index [0 .. 3]
  • values – iterable of four column values



copy() -> Matrix44
Returns a copy of same type.

__copy__() -> Matrix44
Returns a copy of same type.

Returns a scaling transformation matrix. If sy is None, sy = sx, and if sz is None sz = sx.

Returns a translation matrix for translation vector (dx, dy, dz).

Returns a rotation matrix about the x-axis.
angle – rotation angle in radians


Returns a rotation matrix about the y-axis.
angle – rotation angle in radians


Returns a rotation matrix about the z-axis.
angle – rotation angle in radians


Returns a rotation matrix about an arbitrary axis.
  • axis – rotation axis as (x, y, z) tuple or Vector object
  • angle – rotation angle in radians



Returns a rotation matrix for rotation about each axis.
  • angle_x – rotation angle about x-axis in radians
  • angle_y – rotation angle about y-axis in radians
  • angle_z – rotation angle about z-axis in radians



Returns a matrix for a 2D projection.
  • left – Coordinate of left of screen
  • right – Coordinate of right of screen
  • top – Coordinate of the top of the screen
  • bottom – Coordinate of the bottom of the screen
  • near – Coordinate of the near clipping plane
  • far – Coordinate of the far clipping plane



Returns a matrix for a 2D projection.
  • fov – The field of view (in radians)
  • aspect – The aspect ratio of the screen (width / height)
  • near – Coordinate of the near clipping plane
  • far – Coordinate of the far clipping plane



Compose a transformation matrix from one or more matrices.

Returns a matrix for coordinate transformation from WCS to UCS. For transformation from UCS to WCS, transpose the returned matrix.
  • ux – x-axis for UCS as unit vector
  • uy – y-axis for UCS as unit vector
  • uz – z-axis for UCS as unit vector
  • origin – UCS origin as location vector



__hash__() -> int
Returns hash value of matrix.

__getitem__(index: Tuple[int, int])
Get (row, column) element.

__setitem__(index: Tuple[int, int], value: float)
Set (row, column) element.

__iter__() -> Iterable[float]
Iterates over all matrix values.

Iterate over rows as 4-tuples.

Iterate over columns as 4-tuples.

__mul__(other: Matrix44) -> Matrix44
Returns a new matrix as result of the matrix multiplication with another matrix.

__imul__(other: Matrix44) -> Matrix44
Inplace multiplication with another matrix.

Multiplies this matrix with other matrix.

Assumes that both matrices have a right column of (0, 0, 0, 1). This is True for matrices composed of rotations, translations and scales. fast_mul is approximately 25% quicker than the *= operator.



Returns a transformed direction vector without translation.


Returns an iterable of transformed direction vectors without translation.

Swaps the rows for columns inplace.

Returns determinant.

Calculates the inverse of the matrix.
ZeroDivisionError – if matrix has no inverse.



Construction Tools

Vector

This is an immutable universal 3D vector object. This class is optimized for universality not for speed. Immutable means you can’t change (x, y, z) components after initialization:

v1 = Vector(1, 2, 3)
v2 = v1
v2.z = 7  # this is not possible, raises AttributeError
v2 = Vector(v2.x, v2.y, 7)  # this creates a new Vector() object
assert v1.z == 3  # and v1 remains unchanged


Vector initialization:

  • Vector(), returns Vector(0, 0, 0)
  • Vector((x, y)), returns Vector(x, y, 0)
  • Vector((x, y, z)), returns Vector(x, y, z)
  • Vector(x, y), returns Vector(x, y, 0)
  • Vector(x, y, z), returns Vector(x, y, z)



Addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication and scalar division left and right handed are supported:

v = Vector(1, 2, 3)
v + (1, 2, 3) == Vector(2, 4, 6)
(1, 2, 3) + v == Vector(2, 4, 6)
v - (1, 2, 3) == Vector(0, 0, 0)
(1, 2, 3) - v == Vector(0, 0, 0)
v * 3 == Vector(3, 6, 9)
3 * v == Vector(3, 6, 9)
Vector(3, 6, 9) / 3 == Vector(1, 2, 3)
-Vector(1, 2, 3) == (-1, -2, -3)


Comparison between vectors and vectors or tuples is supported:

Vector(1, 2, 3) < Vector (2, 2, 2)
(1, 2, 3) < tuple(Vector(2, 2, 2))  # conversion necessary
Vector(1, 2, 3) == (1, 2, 3)
bool(Vector(1, 2, 3)) is True
bool(Vector(0, 0, 0)) is False


x-axis value

y-axis value

z-axis value

Vector as (x, y, 0), projected on the xy-plane.

Vector as (x, y, z) tuple.

Real 2D vector as Vec2 object.

Length of vector.

Length of vector in the xy-plane.

Square length of vector.

True for Vector(0, 0, 0).

Angle between vector and x-axis in the xy-plane in radians.

Returns angle of vector and x-axis in the xy-plane in degrees.

Spatial angle between vector and x-axis in radians.

Spatial angle between vector and x-axis in degrees.

__str__() -> str
Return '(x, y, z)' as string.

__repr__() -> str
Return 'Vector(x, y, z)' as string.

__len__() -> int
Returns always 3.

__hash__() -> int
Returns hash value of vector, enables the usage of vector as key in set and dict.

copy() -> Vector
Returns a copy of vector as Vector object.

__copy__() -> Vector
Returns a copy of vector as Vector object.

__deepcopy__(memodict: dict) -> Vector
copy.deepcopy() support.

__getitem__(index: int) -> float
Support for indexing:
  • v[0] is v.x
  • v[1] is v.y
  • v[2] is v.z




__iter__() -> Iterable[float]
Returns iterable of x-, y- and z-axis.

__abs__() -> float
Returns length (magnitude) of vector.

Returns a copy of vector with replaced x-, y- and/or z-axis.




Returns a Vector object from angle in radians in the xy-plane, z-axis = 0.

Returns a Vector object from angle in degrees in the xy-plane, z-axis = 0.

Returns orthogonal 2D vector, z-axis is unchanged.
ccw – counter clockwise if True else clockwise


Returns linear interpolation between self and other.
  • other – end point as Vector compatible object
  • factor – interpolation factor (0 = self, 1 = other, 0.5 = mid point)



Returns True if self and other are parallel to vectors.

Returns projected vector of other onto self.

Returns normalized vector, optional scaled by length.

Returns negated vector (-self).

Returns True if self is close to other. Uses math.isclose() to compare all axis.

__neg__() -> Vector
Returns negated vector (-self).

__bool__() -> bool
Returns True if vector is not (0, 0, 0).

__eq__(other: Any) -> bool
Equal operator.
otherVector compatible object


__lt__(other: Any) -> bool
Lower than operator.
otherVector compatible object


__add__(other: Any) -> Vector
Add operator: self + other
otherVector compatible object


__radd__(other: Any) -> Vector
RAdd operator: other + self
otherVector compatible object


__sub__(other: Any) -> Vector
Sub operator: self - other
otherVector compatible object


__rsub__(other: Any) -> Vector
RSub operator: other - self
otherVector compatible object


__mul__(other: float) -> Vector
Mul operator: self * other
other – scale factor


__rmul__(other: float) -> Vector
RMul operator: other * self
other – scale factor


__truediv__(other: float) -> Vector
Div operator: self / other
other – scale factor


__div__(other: float) -> Vector
Div operator: self / other
other – scale factor


__rtruediv__(other: float) -> Vector
RDiv operator: other / self
other – scale factor


__rdiv__(other: float) -> Vector
RDiv operator: other / self
other – scale factor


Dot operator: self . other
otherVector compatible object


Dot operator: self x other
otherVector compatible object


Returns distance between self and other vector.

Returns counter clockwise angle in radians about self from base to target when projected onto the plane defined by self as the normal vector.
  • base – base vector, defines angle 0
  • target – target vector



Returns angle between self and other in radians. +angle is counter clockwise orientation.
otherVector compatible object


Returns vector rotated about angle around the z-axis.
angle – angle in radians


Returns vector rotated about angle around the z-axis.
angle – angle in degrees



Vector(1, 0, 0)

Vector(0, 1, 0)

Vector(0, 0, 1)

Vector(0, 0, 0)

Vec2

Vec2 represents a special 2D vector (x, y). The Vec2 class is optimized for speed and not immutable, iadd(), isub(), imul() and idiv() modifies the vector itself, the Vector class returns a new object.

Vec2 initialization accepts float-tuples (x, y[, z]), two floats or any object providing x and y attributes like Vec2 and Vector objects.

  • v – vector object with x and y attributes/properties or a sequence of float [x, y, ...] or x-axis as float if argument y is not None
  • y – second float for Vec2(x, y)


Vec2 implements a subset of Vector.


Plane

Represents a plane in 3D space as normal vector and the perpendicular distance from origin.

New in version 0.11.

Normal vector of the plane.

The (perpendicular) distance of the plane from origin (0, 0, 0).

Returns the location vector.

Returns a new plane from 3 points in space.

Returns a new plane from a location vector.

copy() -> Plane
Returns a copy of the plane.

Returns signed distance of vertex v to plane, if distance is > 0, v is in ‘front’ of plane, in direction of the normal vector, if distance is < 0, v is at the ‘back’ of the plane, in the opposite direction of the normal vector.

Returns absolute (unsigned) distance of vertex v to plane.

Returns True if vertex v is coplanar, distance from plane to vertex v is 0.

Returns True if plane p is coplanar, normal vectors in same or opposite direction.


BoundingBox

3D bounding box.
vertices – iterable of (x, y, z) tuples or Vector objects

“lower left” corner of bounding box

“upper right” corner of bounding box

Returns center of bounding box.

Extend bounds by vertices.
vertices – iterable of (x, y, z) tuples or Vector objects


Returns True if data is available

Returns True if vertex is inside bounding box.

Returns size of bounding box.


BoundingBox2d

Optimized 2D bounding box.
vertices – iterable of (x, y[, z]) tuples or Vector objects

“lower left” corner of bounding box

“upper right” corner of bounding box

Returns center of bounding box.

Extend bounds by vertices.
vertices – iterable of (x, y[, z]) tuples or Vector objects


Returns True if data is available

Returns True if vertex is inside bounding box.

Returns size of bounding box.


ConstructionRay

Infinite 2D construction ray as immutable object.
  • p1 – definition point 1
  • p2 – ray direction as 2nd point or None
  • angle – ray direction as angle in radians or None


Location vector as Vec2.

Direction vector as Vec2.

Slope of ray or None if vertical.

Angle between x-axis and ray in radians.

Angle between x-axis and ray in degrees.

True if ray is vertical (parallel to y-axis).

True if ray is horizontal (parallel to x-axis).

__str__()
Return str(self).

Returns True if rays are parallel.

Returns the intersection point as (x, y) tuple of self and other.
ParallelRaysError – if rays are parallel


Returns orthogonal ray at location.

Bisectrix between self and other.

Returns y-value of ray for x location.
ArithmeticError – for vertical rays


Returns x-value of ray for y location.
ArithmeticError – for horizontal rays



ConstructionLine

2D ConstructionLine is similar to ConstructionRay, but has a start- and endpoint. The direction of line goes from start- to endpoint, “left of line” is always in relation to this line direction.
  • start – start point of line as Vec2 compatible object
  • end – end point of line as Vec2 compatible object


start point as Vec2

end point as Vec2

bounding box of line as BoundingBox2d object.

collinear ConstructionRay.

True if line is vertical.

__str__()
Return str(self).

Move line about dx in x-axis and about dy in y-axis.
  • dx – translation in x-axis
  • dy – translation in y-axis



Returns length of line.

Returns mid point of line.

Returns True if point is inside of line bounding box.

Returns the intersection point of to lines or None if they have no intersection point.
  • other – other ConstructionLine
  • abs_tol – tolerance for distance check



Returns True if has intersection with other line.

Returns True if point is left of construction line in relation to the line direction from start to end.

If colinear is True, a colinear point is also left of the line.



ConstructionCircle

Circle construction tool.
  • center – center point as Vec2 compatible object
  • radius – circle radius > 0


center point as Vec2

radius as float

2D bounding box of circle as BoundingBox2d object.

Creates a circle from three points, all points have to be compatible to Vec2 class.

__str__() -> str
Returns string representation of circle “ConstructionCircle(center, radius)”.

Move circle about dx in x-axis and about dy in y-axis.
  • dx – translation in x-axis
  • dy – translation in y-axis



Returns point on circle at angle as Vec2 object.
angle – angle in radians


Returns True if point is inside circle.

Returns tangent to circle at angle as ConstructionRay object.
angle – angle in radians


Returns intersection points of circle and ray as sequence of Vec2 objects.
  • ray – intersection ray
  • abs_tol – absolute tolerance for tests (e.g. test for tangents)

tuple of Vec2 objects
tuple size Description
0 no intersection
1 ray is a tangent to circle
2 ray intersects with the circle



Returns intersection points of two circles as sequence of Vec2 objects.
  • other – intersection circle
  • abs_tol – absolute tolerance for tests

tuple of Vec2 objects
tuple size Description
0 no intersection
1 circle touches the other circle at one point
2 circle intersects with the other circle




ConstructionArc

This is a helper class to create parameters for the DXF Arc class.

ConstructionArc represents a 2D arc in the xy-plane, use an UCS to place arc in 3D space, see method add_to_layout().

Implements the 2D transformation tools: translate(), scale_uniform() and rotate_z()

  • center – center point as Vec2 compatible object
  • radius – radius
  • start_angle – start angle in degrees
  • end_angle – end angle in degrees
  • is_counter_clockwise – swaps start- and end angle if False


center point as Vec2

radius as float

start angle in degrees

end angle in degrees

Returns angle span of arc from start- to end param.

Returns the start angle in radians.

Returns the end angle in radians.

start point of arc as Vec2.

end point of arc as Vec2.

bounding box of arc as BoundingBox2d.

Returns num angles from start- to end angle in degrees in counter clockwise order.

All angles are normalized in the range from [0, 360).


Yields vertices on arc for angles in iterable a in WCS as location vectors.
a – angles in the range from 0 to 360 in degrees, arc goes counter clockwise around the z-axis, WCS x-axis = 0 deg.


Yields tangents on arc for angles in iterable a in WCS as direction vectors.
a – angles in the range from 0 to 360 in degrees, arc goes counter clockwise around the z-axis, WCS x-axis = 0 deg.


Move arc about dx in x-axis and about dy in y-axis, returns self (floating interface).
  • dx – translation in x-axis
  • dy – translation in y-axis



Scale arc inplace uniform about s in x- and y-axis, returns self (floating interface).

Rotate arc inplace about z-axis, returns self (floating interface).
angle – rotation angle in degrees


Create arc from two points and enclosing angle. Additional precondition: arc goes by default in counter clockwise orientation from start_point to end_point, can be changed by ccw = False.
  • start_point – start point as Vec2 compatible object
  • end_point – end point as Vec2 compatible object
  • angle – enclosing angle in degrees
  • ccw – counter clockwise direction if True



Create arc from two points and arc radius. Additional precondition: arc goes by default in counter clockwise orientation from start_point to end_point can be changed by ccw = False.

The parameter center_is_left defines if the center of the arc is left or right of the line from start_point to end_point. Parameter ccw = False swaps start- and end point, which also inverts the meaning of center_is_left.

  • start_point – start point as Vec2 compatible object
  • end_point – end point as Vec2 compatible object
  • radius – arc radius
  • ccw – counter clockwise direction if True
  • center_is_left – center point of arc is left of line from start- to end point if True



Create arc from three points. Additional precondition: arc goes in counter clockwise orientation from start_point to end_point.
  • start_point – start point as Vec2 compatible object
  • end_point – end point as Vec2 compatible object
  • def_point – additional definition point as Vec2 compatible object
  • ccw – counter clockwise direction if True



Add arc as DXF Arc entity to a layout.

Supports 3D arcs by using an UCS. An ConstructionArc is always defined in the xy-plane, but by using an arbitrary UCS, the arc can be placed in 3D space, automatically OCS transformation included.

  • layout – destination layout as BaseLayout object
  • ucs – place arc in 3D space by UCS object
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for the DXF Arc entity




ConstructionEllipse

This is a helper class to create parameters for 3D ellipses.
  • center – 3D center point
  • major_axis – major axis as 3D vector
  • extrusion – normal vector of ellipse plane
  • ratio – ratio of minor axis to major axis
  • start_param – start param in radians
  • end_param – end param in radians
  • ccw – is counter clockwise flag - swaps start- and end param if False


center point as Vector

major axis as Vector

minor axis as Vector, automatically calculated from major_axis and extrusion.

extrusion vector (normal of ellipse plane) as Vector

ratio of minor axis to major axis (float)

start param in radians (float)

end param in radians (float)

Returns start point of ellipse as Vector.

Returns end point of ellipse as Vector.

Returns ellipse parameters as OCS representation.

OCS elevation is stored in center.z.


Returns num params from start- to end param in counter clockwise order.

All params are normalized in the range from [0, 2pi).


Yields vertices on ellipse for iterable params in WCS.
params – param values in the range from 0 to 2*pi in radians, param goes counter clockwise around the extrusion vector, major_axis = local x-axis = 0 rad.


Yields ellipse params for all given vertices.

The vertex don’t has to be exact on the ellipse curve or in the range from start- to end param or even in the ellipse plane. Param is calculated from the intersection point of the ray projected on the ellipse plane from the center of the ellipse through the vertex.

WARNING:

An input for start- and end vertex at param 0 and 2*pi return unpredictable results because of floating point inaccuracy, sometimes 0 and sometimes 2*pi.



Returns required DXF attributes to build an ELLIPSE entity.

Entity ELLIPSE has always a ratio in range from 1e-6 to 1.


Yields main axis points of ellipse in the range from start- to end param.

Returns ConstructionEllipse from arc or circle.

Arc and Circle parameters defined in OCS.

  • center – center in OCS
  • radius – arc or circle radius
  • extrusion – OCS extrusion vector
  • start_angle – start angle in degrees
  • end_angle – end angle in degrees
  • ccw – arc curve goes counter clockwise from start to end if True



Transform ellipse in place by transformation matrix m.

Swap axis and adjust start- and end parameter.

Add ellipse as DXF Ellipse entity to a layout.
  • layout – destination layout as BaseLayout object
  • dxfattribs – additional DXF attributes for DXF Ellipse entity




ConstructionBox

Helper class to create rectangles.
  • center – center of rectangle
  • width – width of rectangle
  • height – height of rectangle
  • angle – angle of rectangle in degrees


box center

box width

box height

rotation angle in degrees

box corners as sequence of Vec2 objects.

BoundingBox2d

incircle radius

circum circle radius

__iter__() -> Iterable[Vec2]
Iterable of box corners as Vec2 objects.

__getitem__(corner) -> Vec2
Get corner by index corner, list like slicing is supported.

__repr__() -> str
Returns string representation of box as ConstructionBox(center, width, height, angle)

Creates a box from two opposite corners, box sides are parallel to x- and y-axis.
  • p1 – first corner as Vec2 compatible object
  • p2 – second corner as Vec2 compatible object



Move box about dx in x-axis and about dy in y-axis.
  • dx – translation in x-axis
  • dy – translation in y-axis



Expand box: dw expand width, dh expand height.

Scale box: sw scales width, sh scales height.

Rotate box by angle in degrees.

Returns True if point is inside of box.

Returns True if any corner of other box is inside this box.

Returns True if this box and other box do overlap.

Returns border lines of box as sequence of ConstructionLine.

Returns 0, 1 or 2 intersection points between line and box border lines.
line – line to intersect with border lines
list of intersection points
list size Description
0 no intersection
1 line touches box at one corner
2 line intersects with box




Shape2d

2D geometry object as list of Vec2 objects, vertices can be moved, rotated and scaled.
vertices – iterable of Vec2 compatible objects.

List of Vec2 objects

BoundingBox2d

__len__() -> int
Returns count of vertices.

__getitem__(item) -> Vec2
Get vertex by index item, supports list like slicing.

Append single vertex.
vertex – vertex as Vec2 compatible object


Append multiple vertices.
vertices – iterable of vertices as Vec2 compatible objects


Translate shape about vector.

Scale shape about sx in x-axis and sy in y-axis.

Scale shape uniform about scale in x- and y-axis.

Rotate shape around rotation center about angle in degrees.

Rotate shape around rotation center about angle in radians.

Returns a new offset shape, for more information see also ezdxf.math.offset_vertices_2d() function.

New in version 0.11.

  • offset – line offset perpendicular to direction of shape segments defined by vertices order, offset > 0 is ‘left’ of line segment, offset < 0 is ‘right’ of line segment
  • closedTrue to handle as closed shape



Returns convex hull as new shape.


Curves

BSpline

Representation of a B-spline curve, using an uniform open knot vector (“clamped”).
  • control_points – iterable of control points as Vector compatible objects
  • order – spline order (degree + 1)
  • knots – iterable of knot values
  • weights – iterable of weight values


Control points as list of Vector

Count of control points, (n + 1 in text book notation).

Degree (p) of B-spline = order - 1

Order of B-spline = degree + 1

Biggest knot value.

Returns True if curve is a rational B-spline. (has weights)

Returns a list of knot values as floats, the knot vector always has order + count values (n + p + 2 in text book notation).

Normalize knot vector into range [0, 1].

Returns a list of weights values as floats, one for each control point or an empty list.

Yield evenly spaced parameters from 0 to max_t for given segment count.

Returns a new BSpline with reversed control point order.

Transform B-spline by transformation matrix m inplace.

New in version 0.13.


Approximates curve by vertices as Vector objects, vertices count = segments + 1.

Returns point for parameter t.
t – parameter in range [0, max_t]


Yields points for parameter vector t.
t – parameters in range [0, max_t]


Return point and derivatives up to n <= degree for parameter t.

e.g. n=1 returns point and 1st derivative.

  • t – parameter in range [0, max_t]
  • n – compute all derivatives up to n <= degree

n+1 values as Vector objects


Yields points and derivatives up to n <= degree for parameter vector t.

e.g. n=1 returns point and 1st derivative.

  • t – parameters in range [0, max_t]
  • n – compute all derivatives up to n <= degree

List of n+1 values as Vector objects


Insert additional knot, without altering the curve shape.
t – position of new knot 0 < t < max_t


Returns the ellipse as BSpline of 2nd degree with as few control points as possible.

Returns the arc as BSpline of 2nd degree with as few control points as possible.


Returns an arc approximation as BSpline with num control points.

Returns an ellipse approximation as BSpline with num control points.

Decompose a non-rational B-spline into multiple Bézier curves.

This is the preferred method to represent the most common non-rational B-splines of 3rd degree by cubic Bézier curves, which are often supported by render backends.

Yields control points of Bézier curves, each Bézier segment has degree+1 control points e.g. B-spline of 3rd degree yields cubic Bézier curves of 4 control points.


Approximate arbitrary B-splines (degree != 3 and/or rational) by multiple segments of cubic Bézier curves. The choice of cubic Bézier curves is based on the widely support of this curves by many render backends. For cubic non-rational B-splines, which is maybe the most common used B-spline, is bezier_decomposition() the better choice.

1. approximation by level: an educated guess, the first level of approximation segments is based on the count of control points and their distribution along the B-spline, every additional level is a subdivision of the previous level. E.g. a B-Spline of 8 control points has 7 segments at the first level, 14 at the 2nd level and 28 at the 3rd level, a level >= 3 is recommended.

2.
approximation by a given count of evenly distributed approximation segments.

  • level – subdivision level of approximation segments (ignored if argument segments != None)
  • segments – absolute count of approximation segments

Yields control points of cubic Bézier curves as Bezier4P objects



BSplineU


BSplineClosed


Bezier

A Bézier curve is a parametric curve used in computer graphics and related fields. Bézier curves are used to model smooth curves that can be scaled indefinitely. “Paths”, as they are commonly referred to in image manipulation programs, are combinations of linked Bézier curves. Paths are not bound by the limits of rasterized images and are intuitive to modify. (Source: Wikipedia)

This is a general implementation which works with any count of definition points greater than 2, but it is a simple and slow implementation. For more performance look at the specialized Bezier4P class.

Objects are immutable.

defpoints – iterable of definition points as Vector compatible objects.

Control points as tuple of Vector objects.

Yield evenly spaced parameters from 0 to 1 for given segment count.

Returns a new Bèzier-curve with reversed control point order.

General transformation interface, returns a new Bezier curve.
m – 4x4 transformation matrix (ezdxf.math.Matrix44)

New in version 0.14.


Approximates curve by vertices as Vector objects, vertices count = segments + 1.

Returns a point for parameter t in range [0, 1] as Vector object.

Yields multiple points for parameters in vector t as Vector objects. Parameters have to be in range [0, 1].

Returns (point, 1st derivative, 2nd derivative) tuple for parameter t in range [0, 1] as Vector objects.

Returns multiple (point, 1st derivative, 2nd derivative) tuples for parameter vector t as Vector objects. Parameters in range [0, 1]


Bezier4P

Implements an optimized cubic Bézier curve for exact 4 control points. A Bézier curve is a parametric curve, parameter t goes from 0 to 1, where 0 is the first control point and 1 is the fourth control point.

Special behavior:

  • 2D control points in, returns 2D results as Vec2 objects
  • 3D control points in, returns 3D results as Vector objects
  • Object is immutable.



defpoints – iterable of definition points as Vec2 or Vector compatible objects.

Control points as tuple of Vector or Vec2 objects.

Returns a new Bèzier-curve with reversed control point order.

General transformation interface, returns a new Bezier4p curve and it is always a 3D curve.
m – 4x4 transformation matrix (ezdxf.math.Matrix44)

New in version 0.14.


Approximate Bézier curve by vertices, yields segments + 1 vertices as (x, y[, z]) tuples.
segments – count of segments for approximation


Returns estimated length of Bèzier-curve as approximation by line segments.

Returns point for location t` at the Bèzier-curve.
t – curve position in the range [0, 1]


Returns direction vector of tangent for location t at the Bèzier-curve.
t – curve position in the range [0, 1]



BezierSurface

BezierSurface defines a mesh of m x n control points. This is a parametric surface, which means the m-dimension goes from 0 to 1 as parameter u and the n-dimension goes from 0 to 1 as parameter v.
defpoints – matrix (list of lists) of m rows and n columns: [ [m1n1, m1n2, … ], [m2n1, m2n2, …] … ] each element is a 3D location as (x, y, z) tuple.

count of rows (m-dimension)

count of columns (n-dimension)

Returns a point for location (u, v) at the Bézier surface as (x, y, z) tuple, parameters u and v in the range of [0, 1].

Approximate surface as grid of (x, y, z) tuples.
  • usegs – count of segments in u-direction (m-dimension)
  • vsegs – count of segments in v-direction (n-dimension)

list of usegs + 1 rows, each row is a list of vsegs + 1 vertices as (x, y, z) tuples.



EulerSpiral

This class represents an euler spiral (clothoid) for curvature (Radius of curvature).

This is a parametric curve, which always starts at the origin = (0, 0).

curvature – radius of curvature

Get radius of circle at distance t.

Get tangent at distance t as :class.`Vector` object.

Get distance L from origin for radius.

Get point at distance t as :class.`Vector`.

Get circle center at distance t.

Changed in version 0.10: renamed from circle_midpoint


Approximate curve of length with line segments.

Generates segments+1 vertices as Vector objects.


Approximate euler spiral as B-spline.
  • length – length of euler spiral
  • segments – count of fit points for B-spline calculation
  • degree – degree of BSpline
  • method – calculation method for parameter vector t

BSpline



Linear Algebra

Functions

Solves the linear equation system given by a nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as nxm Matrix B by the Gauss-Jordan algorithm, which is the slowest of all, but it is very reliable. Returns a copy of the modified input matrix A and the result matrix x.

Internally used for matrix inverse calculation.

  • A – matrix [[a11, a12, …, a1n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], … [an1, an2, …, ann]]
  • B – matrix [[b11, b12, …, b1m], [b21, b22, …, b2m], … [bn1, bn2, …, bnm]]

2-tuple of Matrix objects
ZeroDivisionError – singular matrix

New in version 0.13.


Returns the inverse of matrix A as Matrix object.

HINT:

For small matrices (n<10) is this function faster than LUDecomposition(m).inverse() and as fast even if the decomposition is already done.


ZeroDivisionError – singular matrix

New in version 0.13.


Solves the linear equation system given by a nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as vector B with n elements by the Gauss-Elimination algorithm, which is faster than the Gauss-Jordan algorithm. The speed improvement is more significant for solving multiple right-hand side quantities as matrix at once.

Reference implementation for error checking.

  • A – matrix [[a11, a12, …, a1n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], … [an1, an2, …, ann]]
  • B – vector [b1, b2, …, bn]

vector as list of floats
ZeroDivisionError – singular matrix

New in version 0.13.


Solves the linear equation system given by a nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as nxm Matrix B by the Gauss-Elimination algorithm, which is faster than the Gauss-Jordan algorithm.

Reference implementation for error checking.

  • A – matrix [[a11, a12, …, a1n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], … [an1, an2, …, ann]]
  • B – matrix [[b11, b12, …, b1m], [b21, b22, …, b2m], … [bn1, bn2, …, bnm]]

matrix as Matrix object
ZeroDivisionError – singular matrix

New in version 0.13.


Solves the linear equation system given by a tri-diagonal nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as vector B. Matrix A is diagonal matrix defined by 3 diagonals [-1 (a), 0 (b), +1 (c)].

Note: a0 is not used but has to be present, cn-1 is also not used and must not be present.

If an ZeroDivisionError exception occurs, the equation system can possibly be solved by BandedMatrixLU(A, 1, 1).solve_vector(B)

A

diagonal matrix [[a0..an-1], [b0..bn-1], [c0..cn-1]]

[[b0, c0, 0, 0, ...],
[a1, b1, c1, 0, ...],
[0, a2, b2, c2, ...],
... ]


B – iterable of floats [[b1, b1, …, bn]

list of floats
ZeroDivisionError – singular matrix

New in version 0.13.


Solves the linear equation system given by a tri-diagonal nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as nxm Matrix B. Matrix A is diagonal matrix defined by 3 diagonals [-1 (a), 0 (b), +1 (c)].

Note: a0 is not used but has to be present, cn-1 is also not used and must not be present.

If an ZeroDivisionError exception occurs, the equation system can possibly be solved by BandedMatrixLU(A, 1, 1).solve_vector(B)

A

diagonal matrix [[a0..an-1], [b0..bn-1], [c0..cn-1]]

[[b0, c0, 0, 0, ...],
[a1, b1, c1, 0, ...],
[0, a2, b2, c2, ...],
... ]


B – matrix [[b11, b12, …, b1m], [b21, b22, …, b2m], … [bn1, bn2, …, bnm]]

matrix as Matrix object
ZeroDivisionError – singular matrix

New in version 0.13.


Transform matrix A into a compact banded matrix representation. Returns compact representation as Matrix object and lower- and upper band count m1 and m2.
  • A – input Matrix
  • check_all – check all diagonals if True or abort testing after first all zero diagonal if False.



Returns lower- and upper band count m1 and m2.
  • A – input Matrix
  • check_all – check all diagonals if True or abort testing after first all zero diagonal if False.



Returns compact banded matrix representation as Matrix object.
  • A – matrix to transform
  • m1 – lower band count, excluding main matrix diagonal
  • m2 – upper band count, excluding main matrix diagonal



Returns a frozen matrix, all data is stored in immutable tuples.

Matrix Class

Basic matrix implementation without any optimization for speed of memory usage. Matrix data is stored in row major order, this means in a list of rows, where each row is a list of floats. Direct access to the data is accessible by the attribute Matrix.matrix.

The matrix can be frozen by function freeze_matrix() or method Matrix.freeze(), than the data is stored in immutable tuples.

Initialization:

  • Matrix(shape=(rows, cols)) … new matrix filled with zeros
  • Matrix(matrix[, shape=(rows, cols)]) … from copy of matrix and optional reshape
  • Matrix([[row_0], [row_1], …, [row_n]]) … from Iterable[Iterable[float]]
  • Matrix([a1, a2, …, an], shape=(rows, cols)) … from Iterable[float] and shape



New in version 0.13.

Count of matrix rows.

Count of matrix columns.

Shape of matrix as (n, m) tuple for n rows and m columns.

Returns a new matrix for iterable items in the configuration of shape.

Returns the identity matrix for configuration shape.

Returns row index as list of floats.

Yield values of row index.

Return column index as list of floats.

Yield values of column index.

Returns diagonal index as list of floats.

An index of 0 specifies the main diagonal, negative values specifies diagonals below the main diagonal and positive values specifies diagonals above the main diagonal.

e.g. given a 4x4 matrix: index 0 is [00, 11, 22, 33], index -1 is [10, 21, 32] and index +1 is [01, 12, 23]


Yield values of diagonal index, see also diag().

Return a list of all rows.

Return a list of all columns.

Set row values to a fixed value or from an iterable of floats.

Set column values to a fixed value or from an iterable of floats.

Set diagonal values to a fixed value or from an iterable of floats.

An index of 0 specifies the main diagonal, negative values specifies diagonals below the main diagonal and positive values specifies diagonals above the main diagonal.

e.g. given a 4x4 matrix: index 0 is [00, 11, 22, 33], index -1 is [10, 21, 32] and index +1 is [01, 12, 23]


Append a row to the matrix.

Append a column to the matrix.

Swap rows a and b inplace.

Swap columns a and b inplace.

Returns a new transposed matrix.

Returns inverse of matrix as new object.

Returns determinant of matrix, raises ZeroDivisionError if matrix is singular.

Returns a frozen matrix, all data is stored in immutable tuples.

Returns the LU decomposition as LUDecomposition object, a faster linear equation solver.

__getitem__(item: Tuple[int, int]) -> float
Get value by (row, col) index tuple, fancy slicing as known from numpy is not supported.

__setitem__(item: Tuple[int, int], value: float)
Set value by (row, col) index tuple, fancy slicing as known from numpy is not supported.

__eq__(other: Matrix) -> bool
Returns True if matrices are equal, tolerance value for comparision is adjustable by the attribute Matrix.abs_tol.

__add__(other: Union[Matrix, float]) -> Matrix
Matrix addition by another matrix or a float, returns a new matrix.

__sub__(other: Union[Matrix, float]) -> Matrix
Matrix subtraction by another matrix or a float, returns a new matrix.

__mul__(other: Union[Matrix, float]) -> Matrix
Matrix multiplication by another matrix or a float, returns a new matrix.


LUDecomposition Class

Represents a LU decomposition matrix of A, raise ZeroDivisionError for a singular matrix.

This algorithm is a little bit faster than the Gauss-Elimination algorithm using CPython and much faster when using pypy.

The LUDecomposition.matrix attribute gives access to the matrix data as list of rows like in the Matrix class, and the LUDecomposition.index attribute gives access to the swapped row indices.

A – matrix [[a11, a12, …, a1n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], [a21, a22, …, a2n], … [an1, an2, …, ann]]
ZeroDivisionError – singular matrix

New in version 0.13.

Count of matrix rows (and cols).

Solves the linear equation system given by the nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as vector B with n elements.
B – vector [b1, b2, …, bn]
vector as list of floats


Solves the linear equation system given by the nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as nxm Matrix B.
B – matrix [[b11, b12, …, b1m], [b21, b22, …, b2m], … [bn1, bn2, …, bnm]]
matrix as Matrix object


Returns the inverse of matrix as Matrix object, raise ZeroDivisionError for a singular matrix.

Returns the determinant of matrix, raises ZeroDivisionError if matrix is singular.


BandedMatrixLU Class

Represents a LU decomposition of a compact banded matrix.
Upper triangle

Lower triangle

Lower band count, excluding main matrix diagonal

Upper band count, excluding main matrix diagonal

Swapped indices

Count of matrix rows.

Solves the linear equation system given by the banded nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as vector B with n elements.
B – vector [b1, b2, …, bn]
vector as list of floats


Solves the linear equation system given by the banded nxn Matrix A . x = B, right-hand side quantities as nxm Matrix B.
B – matrix [[b11, b12, …, b1m], [b21, b22, …, b2m], … [bn1, bn2, …, bnm]]
matrix as Matrix object


Returns the determinant of matrix.


Miscellaneous

Global Options

Global options stored in ezdxf.options

Default text styles, default value is OpenSans.

Default text style for Dimensions, default value is OpenSansCondensed-Light.

Check for invalid XDATA group codes, default value is False

Log unprocessed DXF tags for debugging, default value is True

Load proxy graphics if True, default is False.

Export proxy graphics if True, default is False.

Enable this option to always create same meta data for testing scenarios, e.g. to use a diff like tool to compare DXF documents.

Enable proxy graphic load/store support.

Load DXF Comments

Yields comment tags from text stream as DXFTag objects.
  • stream – input text stream
  • codes – set of group codes to yield additional DXF tags e.g. {5, 0} to also yield handle and structure tags



Yields comment tags from file filename as DXFTag objects.
  • filename – filename as string
  • codes – yields also additional tags with specified group codes e.g. {5, 0} to also yield handle and structure tags



Tools

DXF Unicode Decoder

The DXF format uses a special form of unicode encoding: “\U+xxxx”.

To avoid a speed penalty such encoded characters are not decoded automatically by the regular loading function:func:ezdxf.readfile, only the recover module does the decoding automatically, because this loading mode is already slow.

This kind of encoding is most likely used only in older DXF versions, because since DXF R2007 the whole DXF file is encoded in utf8 and a special unicode encoding is not necessary.

The ezdxf.has_dxf_unicode() and ezdxf.decode_dxf_unicode() are new support functions to decode unicode characters “\U+xxxx” manually.

New in version 0.14.

Detect if string s contains encoded DXF unicode characters “\U+xxxx”.

Decode DXF unicode characters “\U+xxxx” in string s.

Tools

Some handy tool functions used internally by ezdxf.

Split RGB integer value into (r, g, b) tuple.

Combined integer value from (r, g, b) tuple.

Returns DXF transparency value as integer in the range from 0 to 255, where 0 is 100% transparent and 255 is opaque.
value – transparency value as float in the range from 0 to 1, where 0 is opaque and 1 is 100% transparency.


Returns transparency value as float from 0 to 1, 0 for no transparency (opaque) and 1 for 100% transparency.
value – DXF integer transparency value, 0 for 100% transparency and 255 for opaque




Set/clear binary flag in data flags.
  • flags – data value
  • flag – flag to set/clear
  • stateTrue for setting, False for clearing



Returns a general unique ID, based on uuid.uuid1().

Returns data bytes as plain hex string.

Suppress trailing and/or leading 0 of string s.
  • s – data string
  • leading – suppress leading 0
  • trailing – suppress trailing 0



Convert ACI into (r, g, b) tuple, based on default AutoCAD colors.

Normalizes text angle to the range from 0 to 360 degrees and fixes upside down text angles.
  • angle – text angle in degrees
  • fix_upside_down – rotate upside down text angle about 180 degree



SAT Format “Encryption”

Encode the Standard ACIS Text (SAT) format by AutoCAD “encryption” algorithm.

Decode the Standard ACIS Text (SAT) format “encrypted” by AutoCAD.

Reorder

Tools to reorder DXF entities by handle or a special sort handle mapping.

Such reorder mappings are stored only in layouts as Modelspace, Paperspace or BlockLayout, and can be retrieved by the method get_redraw_order().

Each entry in the handle mapping replaces the actual entity handle, where the “0” handle has a special meaning, this handle always shows up at last in ascending ordering.

Yields entities in ascending handle order.

The sort handle doesn’t have to be the entity handle, every entity handle in mapping will be replaced by the given sort handle, mapping is an iterable of 2-tuples (entity_handle, sort_handle) or a dict (entity_handle, sort_handle). Entities with equal sort handles show up in source entities order.

  • entities – iterable of DXFGraphic objects
  • mapping – iterable of 2-tuples (entity_handle, sort_handle) or a handle mapping as dict.



Yields entities in descending handle order.

The sort handle doesn’t have to be the entity handle, every entity handle in mapping will be replaced by the given sort handle, mapping is an iterable of 2-tuples (entity_handle, sort_handle) or a dict (entity_handle, sort_handle). Entities with equal sort handles show up in reversed source entities order.

  • entities – iterable of DXFGraphic objects
  • mapping – iterable of 2-tuples (entity_handle, sort_handle) or a handle mapping as dict.



HOWTO

The Howto section show how to accomplish specific tasks with ezdxf in a straight forward way without teaching basics or internals, if you are looking for more information about the ezdxf internals look at the Reference section or if you want to learn how to use ezdxf go to the Tutorials section or to the Basic Concepts section.

General Document

General preconditions:

import sys
import ezdxf
try:

doc = ezdxf.readfile("your_dxf_file.dxf") except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file.')
sys.exit(2) msp = doc.modelspace()


This works well with DXF files from trusted sources like AutoCAD or BricsCAD, for loading DXF files with minor or major flaws look at the ezdxf.recover module.

Load DXF Files with Structure Errors

If you know the files you will process have most likely minor or major flaws, use the ezdxf.recover module:

import sys
from ezdxf import recover
try:  # low level structure repair:

doc, auditor = recover.readfile(name) except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file: {name}.')
sys.exit(2) # DXF file can still have unrecoverable errors, but this is maybe # just a problem when saving the recovered DXF file. if auditor.has_errors:
print(f'Found unrecoverable errors in DXF file: {name}.')
auditor.print_error_report()


For more loading scenarios follow the link: ezdxf.recover

Set/Get Header Variables

ezdxf has an interface to get and set HEADER variables:

doc.header['VarName'] = value
value = doc.header['VarName']


SEE ALSO:

HeaderSection and online documentation from Autodesk for available header variables.


Set DXF Drawing Units

Use this HEADER variables to setup the default units for CAD applications opening the DXF file. This settings are not relevant for ezdxf API calls, which are unitless for length values and coordinates and decimal degrees for angles (in most cases).

Sets drawing units:

$MEASUREMENT controls whether the current drawing uses imperial or metric hatch pattern and linetype files:

doc.header['$MEASUREMENT'] = 1


0 English
1 Metric

$LUNITS sets the linear units format for creating objects:

doc.header['$LUNITS'] = 2


1 Scientific
2 Decimal (default)
3 Engineering
4 Architectural
5 Fractional

$AUNITS set units format for angles:

doc.header['$AUNITS'] = 0


0 Decimal degrees
1 Degrees/minutes/seconds
2 Grad
3 Radians

$INSUNITS set default drawing units for AutoCAD DesignCenter blocks:

doc.header['$INSUNITS'] = 6


0 Unitless
1 Inches
2 Feet
3 Miles
4 Millimeters
5 Centimeters
6 Meters
7 Kilometers
8 Microinches
9 Mils
10 Yards
11 Angstroms
12 Nanometers
13 Microns
14 Decimeters
15 Decameters
16 Hectometers
17 Gigameters
18 Astronomical units
19 Light years
20 Parsecs
21 US Survey Feet
22 US Survey Inch
23 US Survey Yard
24 US Survey Mile

Create More Readable DXF Files (DXF Pretty Printer)

DXF files are plain text files, you can open this files with every text editor which handles bigger files. But it is not really easy to get quick the information you want.

Create a more readable HTML file (DXF Pretty Printer):

# on Windows
py -3 -m ezdxf.pp your_dxf_file.dxf
# on Linux/Mac
python3 -m ezdxf.pp your_dxf_file.dxf


This produces a HTML file your_dxf_file.html with a nicer layout than a plain DXF file and DXF handles as links between DXF entities, this simplifies the navigation between the DXF entities.

Changed in version 0.8.3: Since ezdxf v0.8.3, a script called dxfpp will be added to your Python script path:

usage: dxfpp [-h] [-o] [-r] [-x] [-l] FILE [FILE ...]
positional arguments:

FILE DXF files pretty print optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-o, --open open generated HTML file with the default web browser
-r, --raw raw mode - just print tags, no DXF structure interpretation
-x, --nocompile don't compile points coordinates into single tags (only in
raw mode)
-l, --legacy legacy mode - reorders DXF point coordinates


IMPORTANT:

This does not render the graphical content of the DXF file to a HTML canvas element.


Set Initial View/Zoom for the Modelspace

To show an arbitrary location of the modelspace centered in the CAD application window, set the '*Active' VPORT to this location. The DXF attribute dxf.center defines the location in the modelspace, and the dxf.height specifies the area of the modelspace to view. Shortcut function:

doc.set_modelspace_vport(height=10, center=(10, 10))


New in version 0.11.

DXF Viewer

A360 Viewer Problems

AutoDesk web service A360 seems to be more picky than the AutoCAD desktop applications, may be it helps to use the latest DXF version supported by ezdxf, which is DXF R2018 (AC1032) in the year of writing this lines (2018).

DXF Entities Are Not Displayed in the Viewer

ezdxf does not automatically locate the main viewport of the modelspace at the entities, you have to perform the “Zoom to Extends” command, here in TrueView 2020: [image]

And here in the Autodesk Online Viewer: [image]

Add this line to your code to relocate the main viewport, adjust the center (in modelspace coordinates) and the height (in drawing units) arguments to your needs:

doc.set_modelspace_vport(height=10, center=(0, 0))


Show IMAGES/XREFS on Loading in AutoCAD

If you are adding XREFS and IMAGES with relative paths to existing drawings and they do not show up in AutoCAD immediately, change the HEADER variable $PROJECTNAME='' to (not really) solve this problem. The ezdxf templates for DXF R2004 and later have $PROJECTNAME='' as default value.

Thanks to David Booth:

If the filename in the IMAGEDEF contains the full path (absolute in AutoCAD) then it shows on loading, otherwise it won’t display (reports as unreadable) until you manually reload using XREF manager.

A workaround (to show IMAGES on loading) appears to be to save the full file path in the DXF or save it as a DWG.



So far - no solution for showing IMAGES with relative paths on loading.

Set Initial View/Zoom for the Modelspace

To show an arbitrary location of the modelspace centered in the CAD application window, set the '*Active' VPORT to this location. The DXF attribute dxf.center defines the location in the modelspace, and the dxf.height specifies the area of the modelspace to view. Shortcut function:

doc.set_modelspace_vport(height=10, center=(10, 10))


New in version 0.11.

DXF Content

General preconditions:

import sys
import ezdxf
try:

doc = ezdxf.readfile("your_dxf_file.dxf") except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file.')
sys.exit(2) msp = doc.modelspace()


Get/Set Entity Color

The entity color is stored as ACI (AutoCAD Color Index):

aci = entity.dxf.color


Default value is 256 which means BYLAYER:

layer = doc.layers.get(entity.dxf.layer)
aci = layer.get_color()


The special get_color() method is required, because the color attribute Layer.dxf.color is misused as layer on/off flag, a negative color value means the layer is off.

ACI value 0 means BYBLOCK, which means the color from the block reference (INSERT entity).

Set color as ACI value as int in range [0, 256]:

entity.dxf.color = 1


The RGB values of the AutoCAD default colors are not officially documented, but an accurate translation table is included in ezdxf:

from ezdxf.tools.rgb import DXF_DEFAULT_COLORS, int2rgb
# 24 bit value RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGBBBBBBBB
rgb24 = DXF_DEFAULT_COLORS[aci]
print(f'RGB Hex Value: #{rgb24:06X}')
r, g, b = int2rgb(rgb24)
print(f'RGB Channel Values: R={r:02X} G={g:02X} b={b:02X}')


The ACI value 7 has a special meaning, it is white on dark backgrounds and white on light backgrounds.

Get/Set Entity RGB Color

RGB true color values are supported since DXF R13 (AC1012), the 24-bit RGB value is stored as integer in the DXF attribute true_color:

# set true color value to red
entity.dxf.true_color = 0xFF0000


The rgb property of the DXFGraphic entity add support to get/set RGB value as (r, g, b)-tuple:

# set true color value to red
entity.rgb = (255, 0, 0)


If color and true_color values are set, BricsCAD and AutoCAD use the true_color value as display color for the entity.

Get/Set Block Reference Attributes

Block references (Insert) can have attached attributes (Attrib), these are simple text annotations with an associated tag appended to the block reference.

Iterate over all appended attributes:

# get all INSERT entities with entity.dxf.name == "Part12"
blockrefs = msp.query('INSERT[name=="Part12"]')
if len(blockrefs):

entity = blockrefs[0] # process first entity found
for attrib in entity.attribs:
if attrib.dxf.tag == "diameter": # identify attribute by tag
attrib.dxf.text = "17mm" # change attribute content


Get attribute by tag:

diameter = entity.get_attrib('diameter')
if diameter is not None:

diameter.dxf.text = "17mm"


Adding XDATA to Entities

Adding XDATA as list of tuples (group code, value) by set_xdata(), overwrites data if already present:

doc.appids.new('YOUR_APPID')  # IMPORTANT: create an APP ID entry
circle = msp.add_circle((10, 10), 100)
circle.set_xdata(

'YOUR_APPID',
[
(1000, 'your_web_link.org'),
(1002, '{'),
(1000, 'some text'),
(1002, '{'),
(1071, 1),
(1002, '}'),
(1002, '}')
])


For group code meaning see DXF reference section DXF Group Codes in Numerical Order Reference, valid group codes are in the range 1000 - 1071.

Method get_xdata() returns the extended data for an entity as Tags object.

Get Overridden DIMSTYLE Values from DIMENSION

In general the Dimension styling and config attributes are stored in the Dimstyle entity, but every attribute can be overridden for each DIMENSION entity individually, get overwritten values by the DimstyleOverride object as shown in the following example:

for dimension in msp.query('DIMENSION'):

dimstyle_override = dimension.override() # requires v0.12
dimtol = dimstyle_override['dimtol']
if dimtol:
print(f'{str(dimension)} has tolerance values:')
dimtp = dimstyle_override['dimtp']
dimtm = dimstyle_override['dimtm']
print(f'Upper tolerance: {dimtp}')
print(f'Lower tolerance: {dimtm}')


The DimstyleOverride object returns the value of the underlying DIMSTYLE objects if the value in DIMENSION was not overwritten, or None if the value was neither defined in DIMSTYLE nor in DIMENSION.

Override DIMSTYLE Values for DIMENSION

Same as above, the DimstyleOverride object supports also overriding DIMSTYLE values. But just overriding this values have no effect on the graphical representation of the DIMENSION entity, because CAD applications just show the associated anonymous block which contains the graphical representation on the DIMENSION entity as simple DXF entities. Call the render method of the DimstyleOverride object to recreate this graphical representation by ezdxf, but ezdxf does not support all DIMENSION types and DIMVARS yet, and results will differ from AutoCAD or BricsCAD renderings.

dimstyle_override = dimension.override()
dimstyle_override.set_tolerance(0.1)
# delete associated geometry block
del doc.blocks[dimension.dxf.geometry]
# recreate geometry block
dimstyle_override.render()


FAQ

What is the Relationship between ezdxf, dxfwrite and dxfgrabber?

In 2010 I started my first Python package for creating DXF documents called dxfwrite, this package can’t read DXF files and writes only the DXF R12 (AC1009) version. While dxfwrite works fine, I wanted a more versatile package, that can read and write DXF files and maybe also supports newer DXF formats than DXF R12.

This was the start of the ezdxf package in 2011, but the progress was so slow, that I created a spin off in 2012 called dxfgrabber, which implements only the reading part of ezdxf, which I needed for my work and I wasn’t sure if ezdxf will ever be usable. Luckily in 2014 the first usable version of ezdxf could be released. The ezdxf package has all the features of dxfwrite and dxfgrabber and much more, but with a different API. So ezdxf is not a drop-in replacement for dxfgrabber or dxfwrite.

Since ezdxf can do all the things that dxfwrite and dxfgrabber can do, I focused on the development of ezdxf, dxfwrite and dxfgrabber are in maintenance mode only and will not get any new features, just bugfixes.

There are no advantages of dxfwrite over ezdxf, dxfwrite has the smaller memory footprint, but the r12writer add-on does the same job as dxfwrite without any in memory structures by writing direct to a stream or file and there is also no advantage of dxfgrabber over ezdxf for normal DXF files the smaller memory footprint of dxfgrabber is not noticeable and for really big files the iterdxf add-on does a better job.

RENDERING

The ezdxf.render subpackage provides helpful utilities to create complex forms.

  • create complex meshes as Mesh entity.
  • render complex curves like bezier curves, euler spirals or splines as Polyline entity
  • vertex generators for simple and complex forms like circle, ellipse or euler spiral



Content

Spline

Render a B-spline as 2D/3D Polyline, can be used with DXF R12. The advantage over R12Spline is the real 3D support which means the B-spline curve vertices has not to be in a plane and no hassle with UCS for 3D placing.

__init__(points: Iterable[Vertex] = None, segments: int = 100)
  • points – spline definition points as Vector or (x, y, z) tuple
  • segments – count of line segments for approximation, vertex count is segments + 1



Calculate overall segment count, where segments is the sub-segment count, segments = 4, means 4 line segments between two definition points e.g. 4 definition points and 4 segments = 12 overall segments, useful for fit point rendering.
segments – sub-segments count between two definition points


Render a B-spline as 2D/3D Polyline, where the definition points are fit points.
  • 2D spline vertices uses: add_polyline2d()
  • 3D spline vertices uses: add_polyline3d()



  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • degree – degree of B-spline (order = degree + 1)
  • method – “uniform”, “distance”/”chord”, “centripetal”/”sqrt_chord” or “arc” calculation method for parameter t
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline



Render an open uniform BSpline as 3D Polyline. Definition points are control points.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • degree – degree of B-spline (order = degree + 1)
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline



Render a uniform BSpline as 3D Polyline. Definition points are control points.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • degree – degree of B-spline (order = degree + 1)
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline



Render a closed uniform BSpline as 3D Polyline. Definition points are control points.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • degree – degree of B-spline (order = degree + 1)
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline



Render a rational open uniform BSpline as 3D Polyline. Definition points are control points.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • weights – list of weights, requires a weight value (float) for each definition point.
  • degree – degree of B-spline (order = degree + 1)
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline



Render a rational uniform BSpline as 3D Polyline. Definition points are control points.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • weights – list of weights, requires a weight value (float) for each definition point.
  • degree – degree of B-spline (order = degree + 1)
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline



Render a rational BSpline as 3D Polyline. Definition points are control points.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • weights – list of weights, requires a weight value (float) for each definition point.
  • degree – degree of B-spline (order = degree + 1)
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline




R12Spline

DXF R12 supports 2D B-splines, but Autodesk do not document the usage in the DXF Reference. The base entity for splines in DXF R12 is the POLYLINE entity. The spline itself is always in a plane, but as any 2D entity, the spline can be transformed into the 3D object by elevation and extrusion (OCS, UCS).

The result is not better than Spline, it is also just a POLYLINE entity, but as with all tools, you never know if someone needs it some day.

__init__(control_points: Iterable[Vertex], degree: int = 2, closed: bool = True)
  • control_points – B-spline control frame vertices as (x, y) tuples or Vector objects
  • degree – degree of B-spline, 2 or 3 are valid values
  • closedTrue for closed curve



Renders the B-spline into layout as 2D Polyline entity. Use an UCS to place the 2D spline in 3D space, see approximate() for more information.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • segments – count of line segments for approximation, vertex count is segments + 1
  • ucsUCS definition, control points in ucs coordinates.
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline



Approximate B-spline by a polyline with segments line segments. If ucs is not None, ucs defines an UCS, to transformed the curve into OCS. The control points are placed xy-plane of the UCS, don’t use z-axis coordinates, if so make sure all control points are in a plane parallel to the OCS base plane (UCS xy-plane), else the result is unpredictable and depends on the CAD application used to open the DXF file, it maybe crash.
  • segments – count of line segments for approximation, vertex count is segments + 1
  • ucsUCS definition, control points in ucs coordinates.

list of vertices in OCS as Vector objects



Bezier

Render a bezier curve as 2D/3D Polyline.

The Bezier class is implemented with multiple segments, each segment is an optimized 4 point bezier curve, the 4 control points of the curve are: the start point (1) and the end point (4), point (2) is start point + start vector and point (3) is end point + end vector. Each segment has its own approximation count.

Set start point and start tangent.
  • point – start point as Vector or (x, y, z) tuple
  • tangent – start tangent as vector, example: (5, 0, 0) means a horizontal tangent with a length of 5 drawing units



Append a control point with two control tangents.
  • point – control point as Vector or (x, y, z) tuple
  • tangent1 – first control tangent as vector “left” of control point
  • tangent2 – second control tangent as vector “right” of control point, if omitted tangent2 = -tangent1
  • segments – count of line segments for polyline approximation, count of line segments from previous control point to appended control point.



Render bezier curve as 2D/3D Polyline.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • force3d – force 3D polyline rendering
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline




EulerSpiral

Render an euler spiral as 3D Polyline or Spline.

This is a parametric curve, which always starts at the origin (0, 0).

__init__(curvature: float = 1)
curvature – Radius of curvature


Render curve as Polyline.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • length – length measured along the spiral curve from its initial position
  • segments – count of line segments to use, vertex count is segments + 1
  • matrix – transformation matrix as Matrix44
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Polyline

Polyline


Render curve as Spline.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • length – length measured along the spiral curve from its initial position
  • fit_points – count of spline fit points to use
  • degree – degree of B-spline
  • matrix – transformation matrix as Matrix44
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for Spline

Spline



Random Paths

Random path generators for testing purpose.

Returns a random 2D path as iterable of Vec2 objects.
  • steps – count of vertices to generate
  • max_step_size – max step size
  • max_heading – limit heading angle change per step to ± max_heading/2 in radians
  • retarget – specifies steps before changing global walking target



Returns a random 3D path as iterable of Vector objects.
  • steps – count of vertices to generate
  • max_step_size – max step size
  • max_heading – limit heading angle change per step to ± max_heading/2, rotation about the z-axis in radians
  • max_pitch – limit pitch angle change per step to ± max_pitch/2, rotation about the x-axis in radians
  • retarget – specifies steps before changing global walking target



Forms

This module provides functions to create 2D and 3D forms as vertices or mesh objects.

2D Forms

  • circle()
  • square()
  • box()
  • ellipse()
  • euler_spiral()
  • ngon()
  • star()
  • gear()

3D Forms

  • cube()
  • cylinder()
  • cylinder_2p()
  • cone()
  • cone_2p()
  • sphere()

3D Form Builder

  • extrude()
  • from_profiles_linear()
  • from_profiles_spline()
  • rotation_form()



2D Forms

Basic 2D shapes as iterable of Vector.


Create polygon vertices for a circle with radius and count corners, elevation is the z-axis for all vertices.
  • count – count of polygon vertices
  • radius – circle radius
  • elevation – z-axis for all vertices
  • close – yields first vertex also as last vertex if True.

vertices in counter clockwise orientation as Vector objects


Returns 4 vertices for a square with a side length of size, lower left corner is (0, 0), upper right corner is (size, size).

Returns 4 vertices for a box sx by sy, lower left corner is (0, 0), upper right corner is (sx, sy).

Create polygon vertices for an ellipse with rx as x-axis radius and ry for y-axis radius with count vertices, elevation is the z-axis for all vertices. The ellipse goes from start_param to end_param in counter clockwise orientation.
  • count – count of polygon vertices
  • rx – ellipse x-axis radius
  • ry – ellipse y-axis radius
  • start_param – start of ellipse in range 0 .. 2*pi
  • end_param – end of ellipse in range 0 .. 2*pi
  • elevation – z-axis for all vertices

vertices in counter clockwise orientation as Vector objects


Create polygon vertices for an euler spiral of a given length and radius of curvature. This is a parametric curve, which always starts at the origin (0, 0).
  • count – count of polygon vertices
  • length – length of curve in drawing units
  • curvature – radius of curvature
  • elevation – z-axis for all vertices

vertices as Vector objects


Returns the corner vertices of a regular polygon. The polygon size is determined by the edge length or the circum radius argument. If both are given length has higher priority.
  • count – count of polygon corners >= 3
  • length – length of polygon side
  • radius – circum radius
  • rotation – rotation angle in radians
  • elevation – z-axis for all vertices
  • close – yields first vertex also as last vertex if True.

vertices as Vector objects


Returns corner vertices for star shapes.

Argument count defines the count of star spikes, r1 defines the radius of the “outer” vertices and r2 defines the radius of the “inner” vertices, but this does not mean that r1 has to be greater than r2.

  • count – spike count >= 3
  • r1 – radius 1
  • r2 – radius 2
  • rotation – rotation angle in radians
  • elevation – z-axis for all vertices
  • close – yields first vertex also as last vertex if True.

vertices as Vector objects


Returns gear (cogwheel) corner vertices.

WARNING:

This function does not create correct gears for mechanical engineering!


  • count – teeth count >= 3
  • top_width – teeth width at outside radius
  • bottom_width – teeth width at base radius
  • height – teeth height; base radius = outside radius - height
  • outside_radius – outside radius
  • elevation – z-axis for all vertices
  • close – yields first vertex also as last vertex if True.

vertices in counter clockwise orientation as Vector objects


3D Forms

Create 3D forms as MeshTransformer objects.

Create a cube as MeshTransformer object.
center – ‘mass’ center of cube, (0, 0, 0) if True, else first corner at (0, 0, 0)

Returns: MeshTransformer


Create a cylinder as MeshTransformer object, the base center is fixed in the origin (0, 0, 0).
  • count – profiles edge count
  • radius – radius for bottom profile
  • top_radius – radius for top profile, if None top_radius == radius
  • top_center – location vector for the center of the top profile
  • caps – close hull with bottom cap and top cap (as N-gons)
  • ngons – use ngons for caps if True else subdivide caps into triangles


Returns: MeshTransformer


Create a cylinder as MeshTransformer object from two points, base_center is the center of the base circle and, top_center the center of the top circle.
  • count – profiles edge count
  • radius – radius for bottom profile
  • base_center – center of base circle
  • top_center – center of top circle


Returns: MeshTransformer

New in version 0.11.


Create a cone as MeshTransformer object, the base center is fixed in the origin (0, 0, 0).
  • count – edge count of basis_vector
  • radius – radius of basis_vector
  • apex – tip of the cone
  • caps – add a bottom face if True
  • ngons – use ngons for caps if True else subdivide caps into triangles


Returns: MeshTransformer


Create a cone as MeshTransformer object from two points, base_center is the center of the base circle and apex as the tip of the cone.
  • count – edge count of basis_vector
  • radius – radius of basis_vector
  • base_center – center point of base circle
  • apex – tip of the cone


Returns: MeshTransformer

New in version 0.11.


Create a sphere as MeshTransformer object, center is fixed at origin (0, 0, 0).
  • count – longitudinal slices
  • stacks – latitude slices
  • radius – radius of sphere
  • quads – use quads for body faces if True else triangles


Returns: MeshTransformer

New in version 0.11.


3D Form Builder

Extrude a profile polygon along a path polyline, vertices of profile should be in counter clockwise order.
  • profile – sweeping profile as list of (x, y, z) tuples in counter clock wise order
  • path – extrusion path as list of (x, y, z) tuples
  • close – close profile polygon if True


Returns: MeshTransformer


Create MESH entity by linear connected profiles.
  • profiles – list of profiles
  • close – close profile polygon if True
  • caps – close hull with bottom cap and top cap
  • ngons – use ngons for caps if True else subdivide caps into triangles


Returns: MeshTransformer


Create MESH entity by spline interpolation between given profiles. Requires at least 4 profiles. A subdivide value of 4, means, create 4 face loops between two profiles, without interpolation two profiles create one face loop.
  • profiles – list of profiles
  • subdivide – count of face loops
  • close – close profile polygon if True
  • caps – close hull with bottom cap and top cap
  • ngons – use ngons for caps if True else subdivide caps into triangles


Returns: MeshTransformer


Create MESH entity by rotating a profile around an axis.
  • count – count of rotated profiles
  • profile – profile to rotate as list of vertices
  • angle – rotation angle in radians
  • axis – rotation axis


Returns: MeshTransformer


MeshBuilder

The MeshBuilder is a helper class to create Mesh entities. Stores a list of vertices, a list of edges where an edge is a list of indices into the vertices list, and a faces list where each face is a list of indices into the vertices list.

The MeshBuilder.render() method, renders the mesh into a Mesh entity. The Mesh entity supports ngons in AutoCAD, ngons are polygons with more than 4 vertices.

The basic MeshBuilder class does not support transformations.

List of vertices as Vector or (x, y, z) tuple

List of edges as 2-tuple of vertex indices, where a vertex index is the index of the vertex in the vertices list.

List of faces as list of vertex indices, where a vertex index is the index of the vertex in the vertices list. A face requires at least three vertices, Mesh supports ngons, so the count of vertices is not limited.

Returns a copy of mesh.

Iterate over all mesh faces as list of vertices.

Iterate over all mesh edges as tuple of two vertices.

Add new vertices to the mesh, each vertex is a (x, y, z) tuple or a Vector object, returns the indices of the vertices added to the vertices list.

e.g. adding 4 vertices to an empty mesh, returns the indices (0, 1, 2, 3), adding additional 4 vertices returns the indices (4, 5, 6, 7).

vertices – list of vertices, vertex as (x, y, z) tuple or Vector objects
indices of the vertices added to the vertices list
tuple


An edge consist of two vertices [v1, v2], each vertex is a (x, y, z) tuple or a Vector object. The new vertex indices are stored as edge in the edges list.
vertices – list of 2 vertices : [(x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2)]


Add a face as vertices list to the mesh. A face requires at least 3 vertices, each vertex is a (x, y, z) tuple or Vector object. The new vertex indices are stored as face in the faces list.
vertices – list of at least 3 vertices [(x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2), (x3, y3, y3), ...]


Add another mesh to this mesh.

A mesh can be a MeshBuilder, MeshVertexMerger or Mesh object or requires the attributes vertices, edges and faces.

  • vertices – list of vertices, a vertex is a (x, y, z) tuple or Vector object
  • faces – list of faces, a face is a list of vertex indices
  • edges – list of edges, an edge is a list of vertex indices
  • mesh – another mesh entity



Returns True if any face is none planar.

Render mesh as Mesh entity into layout.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes e.g. {'layer': 'mesh', 'color': 7}
  • matrix – transformation matrix of type Matrix44
  • ucs – transform vertices by UCS to WCS



Render mesh as Polyface entity into layout.

New in version 0.11.1.

  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes e.g. {'layer': 'mesh', 'color': 7}
  • matrix – transformation matrix of type Matrix44
  • ucs – transform vertices by UCS to WCS



Render mesh as Face3d entities into layout.

New in version 0.12.

  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes e.g. {'layer': 'mesh', 'color': 7}
  • matrix – transformation matrix of type Matrix44
  • ucs – transform vertices by UCS to WCS



Render face normals as Line entities into layout, useful to check orientation of mesh faces.
  • layoutBaseLayout object
  • length – visual length of normal, use length < 0 to point normals in opposite direction
  • relative – scale length relative to face size if True
  • dxfattribs – dict of DXF attributes e.g. {'layer': 'normals', 'color': 6}



Create new mesh from other mesh as class method.
othermesh of type MeshBuilder and inherited or DXF Mesh entity or any object providing attributes vertices, edges and faces.


Create new mesh from a Polyface or Polymesh object.

New in version 0.11.1.


Create new mesh from other mesh builder, faster than from_mesh() but supports only MeshBuilder and inherited classes.


MeshTransformer

Same functionality as MeshBuilder but supports inplace transformation.

Subclass of MeshBuilder
Returns a new MeshTransformer object with subdivided faces and edges.
  • level – subdivide levels from 1 to max of 5
  • quads – create quad faces if True else create triangles
  • edges – also subdivide edges if True



Transform mesh inplace by applying the transformation matrix.
matrix – 4x4 transformation matrix as Matrix44 object


Translate mesh inplace.
  • dx – translation in x-axis
  • dy – translation in y-axis
  • dz – translation in z-axis



Scale mesh inplace.
  • sx – scale factor for x-axis
  • sy – scale factor for y-axis
  • sz – scale factor for z-axis



Scale mesh uniform inplace.
s – scale factor for x-, y- and z-axis


Rotate mesh around x-axis about angle inplace.
angle – rotation angle in radians


Rotate mesh around y-axis about angle inplace.
angle – rotation angle in radians


Rotate mesh around z-axis about angle inplace.
angle – rotation angle in radians


Rotate mesh around an arbitrary axis located in the origin (0, 0, 0) about angle.
  • axis – rotation axis as Vector
  • angle – rotation angle in radians




MeshVertexMerger

Same functionality as MeshBuilder, but created meshes with unique vertices and no doublets, but MeshVertexMerger needs extra memory for bookkeeping and also does not support transformations. Location of merged vertices is the location of the first vertex with the same key.

This class is intended as intermediate object to create a compact meshes and convert them to MeshTransformer objects to apply transformations to the mesh:

mesh = MeshVertexMerger()
# create your mesh
mesh.add_face(...)
# convert mesh to MeshTransformer object
return MeshTransformer.from_builder(mesh)


Subclass of MeshBuilder

Mesh with unique vertices and no doublets, but needs extra memory for bookkeeping.

MeshVertexMerger creates a key for every vertex by rounding its components by the Python round() function and a given precision value. Each vertex with the same key gets the same vertex index, which is the index of first vertex with this key, so all vertices with the same key will be located at the location of this first vertex. If you want an average location of and for all vertices with the same key look at the MeshAverageVertexMerger class.

precision – floating point precision for vertex rounding


MeshAverageVertexMerger

This is an extended version of MeshVertexMerger. Location of merged vertices is the average location of all vertices with the same key, this needs extra memory and runtime in comparision to MeshVertexMerger and this class also does not support transformations.

Subclass of MeshBuilder

Mesh with unique vertices and no doublets, but needs extra memory for bookkeeping and runtime for calculation of average vertex location.

MeshAverageVertexMerger creates a key for every vertex by rounding its components by the Python round() function and a given precision value. Each vertex with the same key gets the same vertex index, which is the index of first vertex with this key, the difference to the MeshVertexMerger class is the calculation of the average location for all vertices with the same key, this needs extra memory to keep track of the count of vertices for each key and extra runtime for updating the vertex location each time a vertex with an existing key is added.

precision – floating point precision for vertex rounding


Trace

This module provides tools to create banded lines like LWPOLYLINE with width information. Path rendering as quadrilaterals: Trace, Solid or Face3d.

Sequence of 2D banded lines like polylines with start- and end width or curves with start- and end width.

Accepts 3D input, but z-axis is ignored.

Absolute tolerance for floating point comparisons


Close multi traces by merging first and last trace, if linear traces.

Yields all faces as 4-tuples of Vec2 objects.

Yields faces as SOLID, TRACE or 3DFACE entities with DXF attributes given in dxfattribs.

If a document is given, the doc attribute of the new entities will be set and the new entities will be automatically added to the entity database of that document.

  • dxftype – DXF type as string, “SOLID”, “TRACE” or “3DFACE”
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for SOLID, TRACE or 3DFACE entities
  • doc – associated document



Create a complete trace from a LWPOLYLINE or a 2D POLYLINE entity, the trace consist of multiple sub-traces if bulge values are present.
  • polylineLWPolyline or 2D Polyline
  • segments – count of segments for bulge approximation, given count is for a full circle, partial arcs have proportional less segments, but at least 3



__len__()

__getitem__(item)


Linear 2D banded lines like polylines with start- and end width.

Accepts 3D input, but z-axis is ignored.

Absolute tolerance for floating point comparisons

True if at least one station exist.

Add a trace station (like a vertex) at location point, start_width is the width of the next segment starting at this station, end_width is the end width of the next segment.

Adding the last location again, replaces the actual last location e.g. adding lines (a, b), (b, c), creates only 3 stations (a, b, c), this is very important to connect to/from splines.

  • point – 2D location (vertex), z-axis of 3D vertices is ignored.
  • start_width – start width of next segment
  • end_width – end width of next segment



Yields all faces as 4-tuples of Vec2 objects.

First and last miter is 90 degrees if the path is not closed, otherwise the intersection of first and last segment is taken into account, a closed path has to have explicit the same last and first vertex.


Yields faces as SOLID, TRACE or 3DFACE entities with DXF attributes given in dxfattribs.

If a document is given, the doc attribute of the new entities will be set and the new entities will be automatically added to the entity database of that document.

  • dxftype – DXF type as string, “SOLID”, “TRACE” or “3DFACE”
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for SOLID, TRACE or 3DFACE entities
  • doc – associated document




2D banded curves like arcs or splines with start- and end width.

Represents always only one curved entity and all miter of curve segments are perpendicular to curve tangents.

Accepts 3D input, but z-axis is ignored.

Yields all faces as 4-tuples of Vec2 objects.

Yields faces as SOLID, TRACE or 3DFACE entities with DXF attributes given in dxfattribs.

If a document is given, the doc attribute of the new entities will be set and the new entities will be automatically added to the entity database of that document.

  • dxftype – DXF type as string, “SOLID”, “TRACE” or “3DFACE”
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for SOLID, TRACE or 3DFACE entities
  • doc – associated document



Create curved trace from an arc.
  • arcConstructionArc object
  • start_width – start width
  • end_width – end width
  • segments – count of segments for full circle (360 degree) approximation, partial arcs have proportional less segments, but at least 3

ValueError – if arc.radius <= 0


Create curved trace from a B-spline.
  • splineBSpline object
  • start_width – start width
  • end_width – end width
  • segments – count of segments for approximation




Path

This module implements a geometrical Path supported by several render backends, with the goal to create such paths from LWPOLYLINE, POLYLINE and HATCH boundary paths and send them to the render backend, see ezdxf.addons.drawing.

Minimum common interface:

  • matplotlib.path.Path() codes:
  • MOVETO
  • LINETO
  • CURVE4 - cubic Bèzier-curve


  • moveTo()
  • lineTo()
  • cubicTo() - cubic Bèzier-curve


  • move_to()
  • line_to()
  • curve_to() - cubic Bèzier-curve


  • “M” - absolute move to
  • “L” - absolute line to
  • “C” - absolute cubic Bèzier-curve



ARC and ELLIPSE entities are approximated by multiple cubic Bézier-curves, which are close enough for display rendering. Non-rational SPLINES of 3rd degree can be represented exact as multiple cubic Bézier-curves, other B-splines will be approximated.

Path start point, resetting the start point of an empty path is possible.

Path end point.

Returns True if the start point is close to the end point.

Returns a Path from a LWPolyline entity, all vertices transformed to WCS.

Returns a Path from a Polyline entity, all vertices transformed to WCS.







Yields all path control vertices in consecutive order.

Returns True if 2D path has clockwise orientation, ignores z-axis of all control vertices.

Add a line from actual path end point to location.

Add a cubic Bèzier-curve from actual path end point to location, ctrl1 and ctrl2 are the control points for the cubic Bèzier-curve.

close() -> None
Close path by adding a line segment from the end point to the start point.

Returns a new copy of Path with shared immutable data.

Returns a new Path with reversed segments and control vertices.

Returns new Path in clockwise orientation.

Returns new Path in counter-clockwise orientation.

Add multiple cubic Bèzier-curves to the path.

Auto-detect if the path end point is connected to the start- or end point of the curves, if none of them is close to the path end point a line from the path end point to the curves start point will be added.


Add an elliptical arc as multiple cubic Bèzier-curves, use from_arc() constructor of class ConstructionEllipse to add circular arcs.

Auto-detect connection point, if none is close a line from the path end point to the ellipse start point will be added (see add_curves()).

By default the start of an empty path is set to the start point of the ellipse, setting argument reset to False prevents this behavior.

  • ellipse – ellipse parameters as ConstructionEllipse object
  • segments – count of Bèzier-curve segments, at least one segment for each quarter (pi/2), 1 for as few as possible.
  • reset – set start point to start of ellipse if path is empty



Add a B-spline as multiple cubic Bèzier-curves.

Non-rational B-splines of 3rd degree gets a perfect conversion to cubic bezier curves with a minimal count of curve segments, all other B-spline require much more curve segments for approximation.

Auto-detect connection point, if none is close a line from the path end point to the spline start point will be added (see add_curves()).

By default the start of an empty path is set to the start point of the spline, setting argument reset to False prevents this behavior.

  • spline – B-spline parameters as BSpline object
  • level – subdivision level of approximation segments
  • reset – set start point to start of spline if path is empty



Returns a new transformed path.
m – transformation matrix of type Matrix44


Approximate path by vertices, segments is the count of approximation segments for each cubic bezier curve.


ADD-ONS

r12writer

The fast file/stream writer creates simple DXF R12 drawings with just an ENTITIES section. The HEADER, TABLES and BLOCKS sections are not present except FIXED-TABLES are written. Only LINE, CIRCLE, ARC, TEXT, POINT, SOLID, 3DFACE and POLYLINE entities are supported. FIXED-TABLES is a predefined TABLES section, which will be written, if the init argument fixed_tables of R12FastStreamWriter is True.

The R12FastStreamWriter writes the DXF entities as strings direct to the stream without creating an in-memory drawing and therefore the processing is very fast.

Because of the lack of a BLOCKS section, BLOCK/INSERT can not be used. Layers can be used, but this layers have a default setting color = 7 (black/white) and linetype = 'Continuous'. If writing the FIXED-TABLES, some predefined text styles and line types are available, else text style is always 'STANDARD' and line type is always 'ByLayer'.

If using FIXED-TABLES, following predefined line types are available:

  • CONTINUOUS
  • CENTER ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____
  • CENTERX2 ________ __ ________ __ ________
  • CENTER2 ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____
  • DASHED __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _
  • DASHEDX2 ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
  • DASHED2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
  • PHANTOM ______ __ __ ______ __ __ ______
  • PHANTOMX2 ____________ ____ ____ ____________
  • PHANTOM2 ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
  • DASHDOT __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __
  • DASHDOTX2 ____ . ____ . ____ . ____
  • DASHDOT2 _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _
  • DOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • DOTX2 . . . . . . . .
  • DOT2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • DIVIDE __ . . __ . . __ . . __ . . __ . . __
  • DIVIDEX2 ____ . . ____ . . ____ . . ____
  • DIVIDE2 _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _

If using FIXED-TABLES, following predefined text styles are available:

  • OpenSans
  • OpenSansCondensed-Light

New in version 0.12: Write Binary DXF files.

Tutorial

A simple example with different DXF entities:

from random import random
from ezdxf.addons import r12writer
with r12writer("quick_and_dirty_dxf_r12.dxf") as dxf:

dxf.add_line((0, 0), (17, 23))
dxf.add_circle((0, 0), radius=2)
dxf.add_arc((0, 0), radius=3, start=0, end=175)
dxf.add_solid([(0, 0), (1, 0), (0, 1), (1, 1)])
dxf.add_point((1.5, 1.5))
# 2d polyline, new in v0.12
dxf.add_polyline_2d([(5, 5), (7, 3), (7, 6)])
# 2d polyline with bulge value, new in v0.12
dxf.add_polyline_2d([(5, 5), (7, 3, 0.5), (7, 6)], format='xyb')
# 3d polyline only, changed in v0.12
dxf.add_polyline([(4, 3, 2), (8, 5, 0), (2, 4, 9)])
dxf.add_text("test the text entity", align="MIDDLE_CENTER")


A simple example of writing really many entities in a short time:

from random import random
from ezdxf.addons import r12writer
MAX_X_COORD = 1000.0
MAX_Y_COORD = 1000.0
CIRCLE_COUNT = 1000000
with r12writer("many_circles.dxf") as dxf:

for i in range(CIRCLE_COUNT):
dxf.add_circle((MAX_X_COORD*random(), MAX_Y_COORD*random()), radius=2)


Show all available line types:

import ezdxf
LINETYPES = [

'CONTINUOUS', 'CENTER', 'CENTERX2', 'CENTER2',
'DASHED', 'DASHEDX2', 'DASHED2', 'PHANTOM', 'PHANTOMX2',
'PHANTOM2', 'DASHDOT', 'DASHDOTX2', 'DASHDOT2', 'DOT',
'DOTX2', 'DOT2', 'DIVIDE', 'DIVIDEX2', 'DIVIDE2', ] with r12writer('r12_linetypes.dxf', fixed_tables=True) as dxf:
for n, ltype in enumerate(LINETYPES):
dxf.add_line((0, n), (10, n), linetype=ltype)
dxf.add_text(ltype, (0, n+0.1), height=0.25, style='OpenSansCondensed-Light')


Reference

Context manager for writing DXF entities to a stream/file. stream can be any file like object with a write() method or just a string for writing DXF entities to the file system. If fixed_tables is True, a standard TABLES section is written in front of the ENTITIES section and some predefined text styles and line types can be used.

New in version 0.12: Set argument fmt to 'asc' to write ASCII DXF file (default) or 'bin' to write Binary DXF files. ASCII DXF require a TextIO stream and Binary DXF require a BinaryIO stream.


Fast stream writer to create simple DXF R12 drawings.
  • stream – a file like object with a write() method.
  • fixed_tables – if fixed_tables is True, a standard TABLES section is written in front of the ENTITIES section and some predefined text styles and line types can be used.


close() -> None
Writes the DXF tail. Call is not necessary when using the context manager r12writer().

Add a LINE entity from start to end.
  • start – start vertex as (x, y[, z]) tuple
  • end – end vertex as as (x, y[, z]) tuple
  • layer – layer name as string, without a layer definition the assigned color = 7 (black/white) and line type is 'Continuous'.
  • color – color as ACI in the range from 0 to 256, 0 is ByBlock and 256 is ByLayer, default is ByLayer which is always color = 7 (black/white) without a layer definition.
  • linetype – line type as string, if FIXED-TABLES are written some predefined line types are available, else line type is always ByLayer, which is always 'Continuous' without a LAYERS table.



Add a CIRCLE entity.
  • center – circle center point as (x, y) tuple
  • radius – circle radius as float
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add an ARC entity. The arc goes counter clockwise from start angle to end angle.
  • center – arc center point as (x, y) tuple
  • radius – arc radius as float
  • start – arc start angle in degrees as float
  • end – arc end angle in degrees as float
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add a POINT entity.
  • location – point location as (x, y [,z]) tuple
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add a 3DFACE entity. 3DFACE is a spatial area with 3 or 4 vertices, all vertices have to be in the same plane.
  • vertices – iterable of 3 or 4 (x, y, z) vertices.
  • invisible

    bit coded flag to define the invisible edges,

1.
edge = 1
2.
edge = 2
3.
edge = 4
4.
edge = 8

Add edge values to set multiple edges invisible, 1. edge + 3. edge = 1 + 4 = 5, all edges = 15

  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add a SOLID entity. SOLID is a solid filled area with 3 or 4 edges and SOLID is a 2D entity.
  • vertices – iterable of 3 or 4 (x, y[, z]) tuples, z-axis will be ignored.
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add a 2D POLYLINE entity with start width, end width and bulge value support.

Format codes:

x x-coordinate
y y-coordinate
s start width
e end width
b bulge value
v (x, y) tuple (z-axis is ignored)
  • points – iterable of (x, y, [start_width, [end_width, [bulge]]]) tuple, value order according to the format string, unset values default to 0
  • format – format: format string, default is 'xy'
  • closedTrue creates a closed polyline
  • start_width – default start width, default is 0
  • end_width – default end width, default is 0
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add a 3D POLYLINE entity.
  • vertices – iterable of (x, y[, z]) tuples, z-axis is 0 by default
  • closedTrue creates a closed polyline
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()


Changed in version 0.12: Write only 3D POLYLINE entity, added closed argument.


Add a POLYFACE entity. The POLYFACE entity supports only faces of maximum 4 vertices, more indices will be ignored. A simple square would be:

v0 = (0, 0, 0)
v1 = (1, 0, 0)
v2 = (1, 1, 0)
v3 = (0, 1, 0)
dxf.add_polyface(vertices=[v0, v1, v2, v3], faces=[(0, 1, 2, 3)])


All 3D form functions of the ezdxf.render.forms module return MeshBuilder objects, which provide the required vertex and face lists.

See sphere example: https://github.com/mozman/ezdxf/blob/master/examples/r12writer.py

  • vertices – iterable of (x, y, z) tuples
  • faces – iterable of 3 or 4 vertex indices, indices have to be 0-based
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add a POLYMESH entity. A POLYMESH is a mesh of m rows and n columns, each mesh vertex has its own x-, y- and z coordinates. The mesh can be closed in m- and/or n-direction. The vertices have to be in column order: (m0, n0), (m0, n1), (m0, n2), (m1, n0), (m1, n1), (m1, n2), …

See example: https://github.com/mozman/ezdxf/blob/master/examples/r12writer.py

  • vertices – iterable of (x, y, z) tuples, in column order
  • size – mesh dimension as (m, n)-tuple, requirement: len(vertices) == m*n
  • closed – (m_closed, n_closed) tuple, for closed mesh in m and/or n direction
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()
  • linetype – line type as string see add_line()



Add a one line TEXT entity.
  • text – the text as string
  • insert – insert location as (x, y) tuple
  • height – text height in drawing units
  • width – text width as factor
  • align – text alignment, see table below
  • rotation – text rotation in degrees as float
  • oblique – oblique in degrees as float, vertical = 0 (default)
  • style – text style name as string, if FIXED-TABLES are written some predefined text styles are available, else text style is always 'STANDARD'.
  • layer – layer name as string see add_line()
  • color – color as ACI see add_line()


Vert/Horiz Left Center Right
Top TOP_LEFT TOP_CENTER TOP_RIGHT
Middle MIDDLE_LEFT MIDDLE_CENTER MIDDLE_RIGHT
Bottom BOTTOM_LEFT BOTTOM_CENTER BOTTOM_RIGHT
Baseline LEFT CENTER RIGHT

The special alignments ALIGNED and FIT are not available.



iterdxf

This add-on allows iterating over entities of the modelspace of really big (> 5GB) DXF files which do not fit into memory by only loading one entity at the time. Only ASCII DXF files are supported.

The entities are regular DXFGraphic objects with access to all supported DXF attributes, this entities can be written to new DXF files created by the IterDXF.export() method. The new add_foreign_entity() method allows also to add this entities to new regular ezdxf drawings (except for the INSERT entity), but resources like linetype and style are removed, only layer will be preserved but only with default attributes like color 7 and linetype CONTINUOUS.

The following example shows how to split a big DXF files into several separated DXF files which contains only LINE, TEXT or POLYLINE entities.

from ezdxf.addons import iterdxf
doc = iterdxf.opendxf('big.dxf')
line_exporter = doc.export('line.dxf')
text_exporter = doc.export('text.dxf')
polyline_exporter = doc.export('polyline.dxf')
try:

for entity in doc.modelspace():
if entity.dxftype() == 'LINE':
line_exporter.write(entity)
elif entity.dxftype() == 'TEXT':
text_exporter.write(entity)
elif entity.dxftype() == 'POLYLINE':
polyline_exporter.write(entity) finally:
line_exporter.close()
text_exporter.close()
polyline_exporter.close()
doc.close()


Supported DXF types:

3DFACE, ARC, ATTDEF, ATTRIB, CIRCLE, DIMENSION, ELLIPSE, HATCH, HELIX, IMAGE, INSERT, LEADER, LINE, LWPOLYLINE, MESH, MLEADER, MLINE, MTEXT, POINT, POLYLINE, RAY, SHAPE, SOLID, SPLINE, TEXT, TRACE, VERTEX, WIPEOUT, XLINE

Transfer simple entities to another DXF document, this works for some supported entities, except for entities with strong dependencies to the original document like INSERT look at add_foreign_entity() for all supported types:

newdoc = ezdxf.new()
msp = newdoc.modelspace()
# line is an entity from a big source file
msp.add_foreign_entity(line)
# and so on ...
msp.add_foreign_entity(lwpolyline)
msp.add_foreign_entity(mesh)
msp.add_foreign_entity(polyface)


Transfer MESH and POLYFACE (dxftype for POLYFACE and POLYMESH is POLYLINE!) entities into a new DXF document by the MeshTransformer class:

from ezdxf.render import MeshTransformer
# mesh is MESH from a big source file
t = MeshTransformer.from_mesh(mesh)
# create a new MESH entity from MeshTransformer
t.render(msp)
# polyface is POLYFACE from a big source file
t = MeshTransformer.from_polyface(polyface)
# create a new POLYMESH entity from MeshTransformer
t.render_polyface(msp)


Another way to import entities from a big source file into new DXF documents is to split the big file into smaller parts and use the Importer add-on for a more safe entity import.

Open DXF file for iterating, be sure to open valid DXF files, no DXF structure checks will be applied.

Use this function to split up big DXF files as shown in the example above.

  • filename – DXF filename of a seekable DXF file.
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • DXFStructureError – invalid or incomplete DXF file
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs



Iterate over all modelspace entities as DXFGraphic objects of a seekable file.

Use this function to iterate “quick” over modelspace entities of a DXF file, filtering DXF types may speed up things if many entity types will be skipped.

  • filename – filename of a seekable DXF file
  • types – DXF types like ['LINE', '3DFACE'] which should be returned, None returns all supported types.
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • DXFStructureError – invalid or incomplete DXF file
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs



Iterate over all modelspace entities as DXFGraphic objects in one single pass.

Use this function to ‘quick’ iterate over modelspace entities of a not seekable binary DXF stream, filtering DXF types may speed up things if many entity types will be skipped.

  • stream – (not seekable) binary DXF stream
  • types – DXF types like ['LINE', '3DFACE'] which should be returned, None returns all supported types.
  • errors

    specify decoding error handler

  • ”surrogateescape” to preserve possible binary data (default)
  • ”ignore” to use the replacement char U+FFFD “�” for invalid data
  • ”strict” to raise an UnicodeDecodeError exception for invalid data


  • DXFStructureError – Invalid or incomplete DXF file
  • UnicodeDecodeError – if errors is “strict” and a decoding error occurs



Returns a companion object to export parts from the source DXF file into another DXF file, the new file will have the same HEADER, CLASSES, TABLES, BLOCKS and OBJECTS sections, which guarantees all necessary dependencies are present in the new file.
name – filename, no special requirements


Returns an iterator for all supported DXF entities in the modelspace. These entities are regular DXFGraphic objects but without a valid document assigned. It is not possible to add these entities to other ezdxf documents.

It is only possible to recreate the objects by factory functions base on attributes of the source entity. For MESH, POLYMESH and POLYFACE it is possible to use the MeshTransformer class to render (recreate) this objects as new entities in another document.

types – DXF types like ['LINE', '3DFACE'] which should be returned, None returns all supported types.


Safe closing source DXF file.


Write a DXF entity from the source DXF file to the export file.

Don’t write entities from different documents than the source DXF file, dependencies and resources will not match, maybe it will work once, but not in a reliable way for different DXF documents.


Safe closing of exported DXF file. Copying of OBJECTS section happens only at closing the file, without closing the new DXF file is invalid.


Importer

This add-on is meant to import graphical entities from another DXF drawing and their required table entries like LAYER, LTYPE or STYLE.

Because of complex extensibility of the DXF format and the lack of sufficient documentation, I decided to remove most of the possible source drawing dependencies from imported entities, therefore imported entities may not look the same as the original entities in the source drawing, but at least the geometry should be the same and the DXF file does not break.

Removed data which could contain source drawing dependencies: Extension Dictionaries, AppData and XDATA.

WARNING:

DON’T EXPECT PERFECT RESULTS!


The Importer supports following data import:

  • entities which are really safe to import: LINE, POINT, CIRCLE, ARC, TEXT, SOLID, TRACE, 3DFACE, SHAPE, POLYLINE, ATTRIB, ATTDEF, INSERT, ELLIPSE, MTEXT, LWPOLYLINE, SPLINE, HATCH, MESH, XLINE, RAY, DIMENSION, LEADER, VIEWPORT
  • table and table entry import is restricted to LAYER, LTYPE, STYLE, DIMSTYLE
  • import of BLOCK definitions is supported
  • import of paper space layouts is supported



Import of DXF objects from the OBJECTS section is not supported.

DIMSTYLE override for entities DIMENSION and LEADER is not supported.

Example:

import ezdxf
from ezdxf.addons import Importer
sdoc = ezdxf.readfile('original.dxf')
tdoc = ezdxf.new()
importer = Importer(sdoc, tdoc)
# import all entities from source modelspace into modelspace of the target drawing
importer.import_modelspace()
# import all paperspace layouts from source drawing
importer.import_paperspace_layouts()
# import all CIRCLE and LINE entities from source modelspace into an arbitrary target layout.
# create target layout
tblock = tdoc.blocks.new('SOURCE_ENTS')
# query source entities
ents = sdoc.modelspace().query('CIRCLE LINE')
# import source entities into target block
importer.import_entities(ents, tblock)
# This is ALWAYS the last & required step, without finalizing the target drawing is maybe invalid!
# This step imports all additional required table entries and block definitions.
importer.finalize()
tdoc.saveas('imported.dxf')


The Importer class is central element for importing data from other DXF drawings.
  • source – source Drawing
  • target – target Drawing

  • source – source drawing
  • target – target drawing
  • used_layer – Set of used layer names as string, AutoCAD accepts layer names without a LAYER table entry.
  • used_linetypes – Set of used linetype names as string, these linetypes require a TABLE entry or AutoCAD will crash.
  • used_styles – Set of used text style names, these text styles require a TABLE entry or AutoCAD will crash.
  • used_dimstyles – Set of used dimension style names, these dimension styles require a TABLE entry or AutoCAD will crash.


Finalize import by importing required table entries and block definition, without finalization the target drawing is maybe invalid fore AutoCAD. Call finalize() as last step of the import process.

Import one block definition. If block already exist the block will be renamed if argument rename is True, else the existing target block will be used instead of the source block. Required name resolving for imported block references (INSERT), will be done in Importer.finalize().

To replace an existing block in the target drawing, just delete it before importing: target.blocks.delete_block(block_name, safe=False)

  • block_name – name of block to import
  • rename – rename block if exists in target drawing


Returns: block name (renamed)

ValueError – source block not found


Import all block definitions. If block already exist the block will be renamed if argument rename is True, else the existing target block will be used instead of the source block. Required name resolving for imported block references (INSERT), will be done in Importer.finalize().
  • block_names – names of blocks to import
  • rename – rename block if exists in target drawing

ValueError – source block not found


Import all entities into target_layout or the modelspace of the target drawing, if target_layout is None.
  • entities – Iterable of DXF entities
  • target_layout – any layout (modelspace, paperspace or block) from the target drawing

DXFStructureErrortarget_layout is not a layout of target drawing


Imports a single DXF entity into target_layout or the modelspace of the target drawing, if target_layout is None.
  • entity – DXF entity to import
  • target_layout – any layout (modelspace, paperspace or block) from the target drawing

DXFStructureErrortarget_layout is not a layout of target drawing


Import all entities from source modelspace into target_layout or the modelspace of the target drawing, if target_layout is None.
target_layout – any layout (modelspace, paperspace or block) from the target drawing
DXFStructureErrortarget_layout is not a layout of target drawing


Import paperspace layout name into target drawing. Recreates the source paperspace layout in the target drawing, renames the target paperspace if already a paperspace with same name exist and imports all entities from source paperspace into target paperspace.
name – source paper space name as string

Returns: new created target paperspace Layout

  • KeyError – source paperspace does not exist
  • DXFTypeError – invalid modelspace import



Import all paperspace layouts and their content into target drawing. Target layouts will be renamed if already a layout with same name exist. Layouts will be imported in original tab order.

Import specific table entries from source drawing into target drawing.
  • name – valid table names are layers, linetypes and styles
  • entries – Iterable of table names as strings, or a single table name or * for all table entries
  • replace – True to replace already existing table entry else ignore existing entry

TypeError – unsupported table type


Import DXF tables from source drawing into target drawing.
  • table_names – iterable of tables names as strings, or a single table name as string or * for all supported tables
  • replace – True to replace already existing table entries else ignore existing entries

TypeError – unsupported table type


Recreate source paperspace layout name in the target drawing. The layout will be renamed if name already exist in the target drawing. Returns target modelspace for layout name “Model”.
name – layout name as string
KeyError – if source layout name not exist



Drawing / Export Addon

This add-on provides the functionality to render a DXF document to produce a rasterized or vector-graphic image which can be saved to a file or viewed interactively depending on the backend being used.

The module provides two example scripts in the folder examples/addons/drawing which can be run to save rendered images to files or view an interactive visualisation

$ ./draw_cad.py --supported_formats
# will list the file formats supported by the matplotlib backend.
# Many formats are supported including vector graphics formats
# such as pdf and svg
$ ./draw_cad.py <my_file.dxf> --out image.png
# draw a layout other than the model space
$ ./draw_cad.py <my_file.dxf> --layout Layout1 --out image.png
# opens a GUI application to view CAD files
$ ./cad_viewer.py


Example for the usage of the matplotlib backend:

import sys
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from ezdxf import recover
from ezdxf.addons.drawing import RenderContext, Frontend
from ezdxf.addons.drawing.matplotlib import MatplotlibBackend
# Safe loading procedure (requires ezdxf v0.14):
try:

doc, auditor = recover.readfile('your.dxf') except IOError:
print(f'Not a DXF file or a generic I/O error.')
sys.exit(1) except ezdxf.DXFStructureError:
print(f'Invalid or corrupted DXF file.')
sys.exit(2) # The auditor.errors attribute stores severe errors, # which may raise exceptions when rendering. if not auditor.has_errors:
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1, 1])
ctx = RenderContext(doc)
out = MatplotlibBackend(ax)
Frontend(ctx, out).draw_layout(doc.modelspace(), finalize=True)
fig.savefig('your.png', dpi=300)


Simplified render workflow but with less control:

from ezdxf import recover
from ezdxf.addons.drawing import matplotlib
# Exception handling left out for compactness:
doc, auditor = recover.readfile('your.dxf')
if not auditor.has_errors:

matplotlib.qsave(doc.modelspace(), 'your.png')


Details

The rendering is performed in two stages. The front-end traverses the DXF document structure, converting each encountered entity into primitive drawing commands. These commands are fed to a back-end which implements the interface: Backend. Currently a PyQt5 (QGraphicsScene based) and Matplotlib backend are implemented.

Although the resulting images will not be pixel-perfect with AutoCAD (which was taken as the ground truth when developing this add-on) great care has been taken to achieve similar behavior in some areas:

  • The algorithm for determining color should match AutoCAD. However, the color palette is not stored in the dxf file, so the chosen colors may be different to what is expected. The RenderContext class supports passing a plot style table (CTB-file) as custom color palette but uses the same palette as AutoCAD by default.
  • Text rendering is quite accurate, text positioning, alignment and word wrapping are very faithful. Differences may occur if a different font from what was used by the CAD application but even in that case, for supported backends, measurements are taken of the font being used to match text as closely as possible.
  • Visibility determination (based on which layers are visible) should match AutoCAD

see examples/addons/drawing/cad_viewer.py for an advanced use of the module. See examples/addons/drawing/draw_cad.py for a simple use of the module.

see drawing.md in the ezdxf repository for additional behaviours documented during the development of this add-on.

Limitations

  • Line types and hatch patterns/gradients are ignored
  • rich text formatting is ignored (drawn as plain text)
  • If the backend does not match the font then the exact text placement and wrapping may appear slightly different
  • No support for MULTILEADER
  • The style which POINT entities are drawn in are not stored in the dxf file and so cannot be replicated exactly
  • only basic support for:
  • infinite lines (rendered as lines with a finite length)
  • hatches with holes (holes are rendered filled)
  • viewports (rendered as rectangles)
  • 3D (some entities may not display correctly in 3D (see possible improvements below)) however many things should already work in 3D.
  • vertical text (will render as horizontal text)
  • multiple columns of text (placement of additional columns may be incorrect)


Future Possible Improvements

  • pass the font to backend if available
  • deal with nested polygons/hatches by triangulating them: Triangulation
  • both the matplotlib and pyqt backends have built-in support for rendering hatched patterns (see MatplotlibHatch and QtBrushHatch) so the interface could pass that information through or query the backend to determine whether it automatically supports complex drawing commands such as hatching, or whether the frontend should break the shape into simpler commands (i.e. calculate and draw each line of a hatch)
  • text formatting commands could be interpreted and broken into text chunks which can be drawn with a single font weight or modification such as italics

dxf2code

Translate DXF entities and structures into Python source code.

Short example:

import ezdxf
from ezdxf.addons.dxf2code import entities_to_code, block_to_code
doc = ezdxf.readfile('original.dxf')
msp = doc.modelspace()
source = entities_to_code(msp)
# create source code for a block definition
block_source = block_to_code(doc.blocks['MyBlock'])
# merge source code objects
source.merge(block_source)
with open('source.py', mode='wt') as f:

f.write(source.import_str())
f.write('\n\n')
f.write(source.code_str())
f.write('\n')


Translates DXF entities into Python source code to recreate this entities by ezdxf.
  • entities – iterable of DXFEntity
  • layout – variable name of the layout (model space or block) as string
  • ignore – iterable of entities types to ignore as strings like ['IMAGE', 'DIMENSION']

Code


Translates a BLOCK into Python source code to recreate the BLOCK by ezdxf.
  • block – block definition layout
  • drawing – variable name of the drawing as string
  • ignore – iterable of entities types to ignore as strings like [‘IMAGE’, ‘DIMENSION’]

Code



Source code container.
Source code line storage, store lines without line ending \\n

source code line storage for global imports, store lines without line ending \\n

Layers used by the generated source code, AutoCAD accepts layer names without a LAYER table entry.

Linetypes used by the generated source code, these linetypes require a TABLE entry or AutoCAD will crash.

Text styles used by the generated source code, these text styles require a TABLE entry or AutoCAD will crash.

Dimension styles used by the generated source code, these dimension styles require a TABLE entry or AutoCAD will crash.

Blocks used by the generated source code, these blocks require a BLOCK definition in the BLOCKS section or AutoCAD will crash.

Returns the source code as a single string.
indent – source code indentation count by spaces


Returns required imports as a single string.
indent – source code indentation count by spaces



Add import statement, identical import statements are merged together.

Add a single source code line without line ending \n.

Add multiple source code lines without line ending \n.


Plot Style Files (CTB/STB)

CTB and STB files store plot styles used by AutoCAD and BricsCAD for printing and plotting.

If the plot style table is attached to a Paperspace or the Modelspace, a change of a plot style affects any object that uses that plot style. CTB files contain color dependent plot style tables, STB files contain named plot style tables.

SEE ALSO:

  • Using plot style tables in AutoCAD
  • AutoCAD Plot Style Table Editor
  • BricsCAD Plot Style Table Editor
  • AUTODESK KNOWLEDGE NETWORK: How to install CTB files in AutoCAD




Create a new CTB file.

Changed in version 0.10: renamed from new()


Create a new STB file.

New in version 0.10.


ColorDependentPlotStyles

Color dependent plot style table (CTB file), table entries are PlotStyle objects.

Custom description of plot style file.

Specifies the factor by which to scale non-ISO linetypes and fill patterns.

Specifies whether or not you want to apply the scale_factor.

Set 1 for showing lineweight in inch in AutoCAD CTB editor window, but lineweights are always defined in millimeters.

Lineweights table as array.array

__getitem__(aci: int) -> PlotStyle
Returns PlotStyle for ACI aci.

__iter__() -> Iterable[PlotStyle]
Iterable of all plot styles.

Set aci to new attributes defined by data dict.
  • aci – ACI
  • datadict of PlotStyle attributes: description, color, physical_pen_number, virtual_pen_number, screen, linepattern_size, linetype, adaptive_linetype, lineweight, end_style, join_style, fill_style



Returns the assigned lineweight for PlotStyle aci in millimeter.

Get index of lineweight in the lineweight table or append lineweight to lineweight table.

Returns lineweight in millimeters of lineweight table entry index.
index – lineweight table index = PlotStyle.lineweight
lineweight in mm or 0.0 for use entity lineweight


Argument index is the lineweight table index, not the ACI.
  • index – lineweight table index = PlotStyle.lineweight
  • lineweight – in millimeters



Save CTB file as filename to the file system.

Compress and write CTB file to binary stream.


NamedPlotStyles

Named plot style table (STB file), table entries are PlotStyle objects.

Custom description of plot style file.

Specifies the factor by which to scale non-ISO linetypes and fill patterns.

Specifies whether or not you want to apply the scale_factor.

Set 1 for showing lineweight in inch in AutoCAD CTB editor window, but lineweights are always defined in millimeters.

Lineweights table as array.array

__getitem__(name: str) -> PlotStyle
Returns PlotStyle by name.

__delitem__(name: str)
Delete plot style name. Plot style 'Normal' is not deletable.

__iter__() -> Iterable[str]
Iterable of all plot style names.

Create new class:PlotStyle name by attribute dict data, replaces existing class:PlotStyle objects.
  • name – plot style name
  • localized_name – name shown in plot style editor, uses name if None
  • datadict of PlotStyle attributes: description, color, physical_pen_number, virtual_pen_number, screen, linepattern_size, linetype, adaptive_linetype, lineweight, end_style, join_style, fill_style



Returns the assigned lineweight for PlotStyle name in millimeter.

Get index of lineweight in the lineweight table or append lineweight to lineweight table.

Returns lineweight in millimeters of lineweight table entry index.
index – lineweight table index = PlotStyle.lineweight
lineweight in mm or 0.0 for use entity lineweight


Argument index is the lineweight table index, not the ACI.
  • index – lineweight table index = PlotStyle.lineweight
  • lineweight – in millimeters



Save STB file as filename to the file system.

Compress and write STB file to binary stream.


PlotStyle

Table index (0-based). (int)

ACI in range from 1 to 255. Has no meaning for named plot styles. (int)

Custom description of plot style. (str)

Specifies physical plotter pen, valid range from 1 to 32 or AUTOMATIC. (int)

Only used by non-pen plotters and only if they are configured for virtual pens. valid range from 1 to 255 or AUTOMATIC. (int)

Specifies the color intensity of the plot on the paper, valid range is from 0 to 100. (int)

If you select 100 the drawing will plotted with its full color intensity. In order for screening to work, the dithering option must be active.


Overrides the entity linetype, default value is OBJECT_LINETYPE. (bool)

True if a complete linetype pattern is more important than a correct linetype scaling, default is True. (bool)

Line pattern size, default = 0.5. (float)

Overrides the entity lineWEIGHT, default value is OBJECT_LINEWEIGHT. This is an index into the UserStyles.lineweights table. (int)

Line end cap style, see table below, default is END_STYLE_OBJECT (int)

Line join style, see table below, default is JOIN_STYLE_OBJECT (int)

Line fill style, see table below, default is FILL_STYLE_OBJECT (int)

Depending on the capabilities of your plotter, dithering approximates the colors with dot patterns. When this option is False, the colors are mapped to the nearest color, resulting in a smaller range of colors when plotting.

Dithering is available only whether you select the object’s color or assign a plot style color.


Plot colors in grayscale. (bool)


Default Line Weights

# [mm]
0 0.00
1 0.05
2 0.09
3 0.10
4 0.13
5 0.15
6 0.18
7 0.20
8 0.25
9 0.30
10 0.35
11 0.40
12 0.45
13 0.50
14 0.53
15 0.60
16 0.65
17 0.70
18 0.80
19 0.90
20 1.00
21 1.06
22 1.20
23 1.40
24 1.58
25 2.00
26 2.11

Predefined Values






Line End Style

[image]

END_STYLE_BUTT 0
END_STYLE_SQUARE 1
END_STYLE_ROUND 2
END_STYLE_DIAMOND 3
END_STYLE_OBJECT 4

Line Join Style

[image]

JOIN_STYLE_MITER 0
JOIN_STYLE_BEVEL 1
JOIN_STYLE_ROUND 2
JOIN_STYLE_DIAMOND 3
JOIN_STYLE_OBJECT 5

Fill Style

[image]

FILL_STYLE_SOLID 64
FILL_STYLE_CHECKERBOARD 65
FILL_STYLE_CROSSHATCH 66
FILL_STYLE_DIAMONDS 67
FILL_STYLE_HORIZONTAL_BARS 68
FILL_STYLE_SLANT_LEFT 69
FILL_STYLE_SLANT_RIGHT 70
FILL_STYLE_SQUARE_DOTS 71
FILL_STYLE_VERICAL_BARS 72
FILL_STYLE_OBJECT 73

Linetypes

[image] [image]

Linetype name Value
Solid 0
Dashed 1
Dotted 2
Dash Dot 3
Short Dash 4
Medium Dash 5
Long Dash 6
Short Dash x2 7
Medium Dash x2 8
Long Dash x2 9
Medium Lang Dash 10
Medium Dash Short Dash Short Dash 11
Long Dash Short Dash 12
Long Dash Dot Dot 13
Long Dash Dot 14
Medium Dash Dot Short Dash Dot 15
Sparse Dot 16
ISO Dash 17
ISO Dash Space 18
ISO Long Dash Dot 19
ISO Long Dash Double Dot 20
ISO Long Dash Triple Dot 21
ISO Dot 22
ISO Long Dash Short Dash 23
ISO Long Dash Double Short Dash 24
ISO Dash Dot 25
ISO Double Dash Dot 26
ISO Dash Double Dot 27
ISO Double Dash Double Dot 28
ISO Dash Triple Dot 29
ISO Double Dash Triple Dot 30
Use entity linetype 31

PyCSG

Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) is a modeling technique that uses Boolean operations like union and intersection to combine 3D solids. This library implements CSG operations on meshes elegantly and concisely using BSP trees, and is meant to serve as an easily understandable implementation of the algorithm. All edge cases involving overlapping coplanar polygons in both solids are correctly handled.

New in version 0.11.

Example for usage:

import ezdxf
from ezdxf.render.forms import cube, cylinder_2p
from ezdxf.addons.pycsg import CSG
# create new DXF document
doc = ezdxf.new()
msp = doc.modelspace()
# create same geometric primitives as MeshTransformer() objects
cube1 = cube()
cylinder1 = cylinder_2p(count=32, base_center=(0, -1, 0), top_center=(0, 1, 0), radius=.25)
# build solid union
union = CSG(cube1) + CSG(cylinder1)
# convert to mesh and render mesh to modelspace
union.mesh().render(msp, dxfattribs={'color': 1})
# build solid difference
difference = CSG(cube1) - CSG(cylinder1)
# convert to mesh, translate mesh and render mesh to modelspace
difference.mesh().translate(1.5).render(msp, dxfattribs={'color': 3})
# build solid intersection
intersection = CSG(cube1) * CSG(cylinder1)
# convert to mesh, translate mesh and render mesh to modelspace
intersection.mesh().translate(2.75).render(msp, dxfattribs={'color': 5})
doc.saveas('csg.dxf')


[image: Cube vs Cylinder] [image]

This CSG kernel supports only meshes as MeshBuilder objects, which can be created from and converted to DXF Mesh entities.

This CSG kernel is not compatible with ACIS objects like Solid3d, Body, Surface or Region.

NOTE:

This is a pure Python implementation, don’t expect great performance and the implementation is based on an unbalanced BSP tree, so in the case of RecursionError, increase the recursion limit:

import sys
actual_limit = sys.getrecursionlimit()
# default is 1000, increasing too much may cause a seg fault
sys.setrecursionlimit(10000)
...  # do the CSG stuff
sys.setrecursionlimit(actual_limit)




CSG works also with spheres, but with really bad runtime behavior and most likely RecursionError exceptions, and use quadrilaterals as body faces to reduce face count by setting argument quads to True.

import ezdxf
from ezdxf.render.forms import sphere, cube
from ezdxf.addons.pycsg import CSG
doc = ezdxf.new()
doc.set_modelspace_vport(6, center=(5, 0))
msp = doc.modelspace()
cube1 = cube().translate(-.5, -.5, -.5)
sphere1 = sphere(count=32, stacks=16, radius=.5, quads=True)
union = (CSG(cube1) + CSG(sphere1)).mesh()
union.render(msp, dxfattribs={'color': 1})
subtract = (CSG(cube1) - CSG(sphere1)).mesh().translate(2.5)
subtract.render(msp, dxfattribs={'color': 3})
intersection = (CSG(cube1) * CSG(sphere1)).mesh().translate(4)
intersection.render(msp, dxfattribs={'color': 5})


[image: Cube vs Sphere] [image]

Hard Core CSG - Menger Sponge Level 3 vs Sphere

Required runtime on an old Xeon E5-1620 Workstation @ 3.60GHz, with default recursion limit of 1000 on Windows 10:

  • CPython 3.8.1 64bit: ~60 seconds,
  • pypy3 [PyPy 7.2.0] 32bit: ~6 seconds, and using __slots__ reduced runtime below 5 seconds, yes - pypy is worth a look for long running scripts!



from ezdxf.render.forms import sphere
from ezdxf.addons import MengerSponge
from ezdxf.addons.pycsg import CSG
doc = ezdxf.new()
doc.layers.new('sponge', dxfattribs={'color': 5})
doc.layers.new('sphere', dxfattribs={'color': 6})
doc.set_modelspace_vport(6, center=(5, 0))
msp = doc.modelspace()
sponge1 = MengerSponge(level=3).mesh()
sphere1 = sphere(count=32, stacks=16, radius=.5, quads=True).translate(.25, .25, 1)
subtract = (CSG(sponge1, meshid=1) - CSG(sphere1, meshid=2))
# get mesh result by id
subtract.mesh(1).render(msp, dxfattribs={'layer': 'sponge'})
subtract.mesh(2).render(msp, dxfattribs={'layer': 'sphere'})


[image: Menger Sponge vs Sphere] [image]

CSG Class

Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) is a modeling technique that uses Boolean operations like union and intersection to combine 3D solids. This class implements CSG operations on meshes.

New 3D solids are created from MeshBuilder objects and results can be exported as MeshTransformer objects to ezdxf by method mesh().

  • meshezdxf.render.MeshBuilder or inherited object
  • meshid – individual mesh ID to separate result meshes, 0 is default


Returns a ezdxf.render.MeshTransformer object.
meshid – individual mesh ID, 0 is default


Return a new CSG solid representing space in either this solid or in the solid other. Neither this solid nor the solid other are modified:

A.union(B)
+-------+            +-------+
|       |            |       |
|   A   |            |       |
|    +--+----+   =   |       +----+
+----+--+    |       +----+       |

| B | | |
| | | |
+-------+ +-------+



__add__(other: CSG) -> CSG

union = A + B



Return a new CSG solid representing space in this solid but not in the solid other. Neither this solid nor the solid other are modified:

A.subtract(B)
+-------+            +-------+
|       |            |       |
|   A   |            |       |
|    +--+----+   =   |    +--+
+----+--+    |       +----+

| B |
| |
+-------+



__sub__(other: CSG) -> CSG

difference = A - B



Return a new CSG solid representing space both this solid and in the solid other. Neither this solid nor the solid other are modified:

A.intersect(B)
+-------+
|       |
|   A   |
|    +--+----+   =   +--+
+----+--+    |       +--+

| B |
| |
+-------+



__mul__(other: CSG) -> CSG

intersection = A * B



Return a new CSG solid with solid and empty space switched. This solid is not modified.


License

  • Original implementation csg.js, Copyright (c) 2011 Evan Wallace (http://madebyevan.com/), under the MIT license.
  • Python port pycsg, Copyright (c) 2012 Tim Knip (http://www.floorplanner.com), under the MIT license.
  • Additions by Alex Pletzer (Pennsylvania State University)
  • Integration as ezdxf add-on, Copyright (c) 2020, Manfred Moitzi, MIT License.

Showcase Forms

MengerSponge

Build a 3D Menger sponge.

  • location – location of lower left corner as (x, y, z) tuple
  • length – side length
  • level – subdivide level
  • kind – type of menger sponge


0 Original Menger Sponge
1 Variant XOX
2 Variant OXO
3 Jerusalem Cube
Renders the menger sponge into layout, set merge to True for rendering the whole menger sponge into one MESH entity, set merge to False for rendering the individual cubes of the menger sponge as MESH entities.
  • layout – DXF target layout
  • mergeTrue for one MESH entity, False for individual MESH entities per cube
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for the MESH entities
  • matrix – apply transformation matrix at rendering
  • ucs – apply UCS transformation at rendering



Yields all cubes of the menger sponge as individual MeshTransformer objects.

Returns geometry as one MeshTransformer object.


Menger Sponge kind=0: [image]

Menger Sponge kind=1: [image]

Menger Sponge kind=2: [image]

Jerusalem Cube kind=3: [image]

SierpinskyPyramid

Build a 3D Sierpinsky Pyramid.

  • location – location of base center as (x, y, z) tuple
  • length – side length
  • level – subdivide level
  • sides – sides of base geometry


Renders the sierpinsky pyramid into layout, set merge to True for rendering the whole sierpinsky pyramid into one MESH entity, set merge to False for individual pyramids as MESH entities.
  • layout – DXF target layout
  • mergeTrue for one MESH entity, False for individual MESH entities per pyramid
  • dxfattribs – DXF attributes for the MESH entities
  • matrix – apply transformation matrix at rendering
  • ucs – apply UCS at rendering



Yields all pyramids of the sierpinsky pyramid as individual MeshTransformer objects.

Returns geometry as one MeshTransformer object.


Sierpinsky Pyramid with triangle base: [image]

Sierpinsky Pyramid with square base: [image]

ODA File Converter Support

Use an installed ODA File Converter for converting between different versions of .dwg, .dxb and .dxf.

WARNING:

Execution of an external application is a big security issue! Especially when the path to the executable can be altered.

To avoid this problem delete the ezdxf.addons.odafc.py module.



The ODA File Converter has to be installed by the user, the application is available for Windows XP, Windows 7 or later, Mac OS X, and Linux in 32/64-bit RPM and DEB format.

At least at Windows the GUI of the ODA File Converter pops up on every call.

ODA File Converter version strings, you can use any of this strings to specify a version, 'R..' and 'AC....' strings will be automatically mapped to 'ACAD....' strings:

ODAFC ezdxf Version
ACAD9 not supported AC1004
ACAD10 not supported AC1006
ACAD12 R12 AC1009
ACAD13 R13 AC1012
ACAD14 R14 AC1014
ACAD2000 R2000 AC1015
ACAD2004 R2004 AC1018
ACAD2007 R2007 AC1021
ACAD2010 R2010 AC1024
ACAD2013 R2013 AC1027
ACAD2018 R2018 AC1032

Usage:

from ezdxf.addons import odafc
# Load a DWG file
doc = odafc.readfile('my.dwg')
# Use loaded document like any other ezdxf document
print(f'Document loaded as DXF version: {doc.dxfversion}.')
msp = doc.modelspace()
...
# Export document as DWG file for AutoCAD R2018
odafc.export_dwg(doc, 'my_R2018.dwg', version='R2018')


Path to installed ODA File Converter executable, default is "C:\Program Files\ODA\ODAFileConverter\ODAFileConverter.exe".

Path to a temporary folder by default the system temp folder defined by environment variable TMP or TEMP.

Use an installed ODA File Converter to convert a DWG/DXB/DXF file into a temporary DXF file and load this file by ezdxf.
  • filename – file to load by ODA File Converter
  • version – load file as specific DXF version, by default the same version as the source file or if not detectable the latest by ezdxf supported version.
  • audit – audit source file before loading



Use an installed ODA File Converter to export a DXF document doc as a DWG file.

Saves a temporary DXF file and convert this DXF file into a DWG file by the ODA File Converter. If version is not specified the DXF version of the source document is used.

  • docezdxf DXF document as Drawing object
  • filename – export filename of DWG file, extension will be changed to '.dwg'
  • version – export file as specific version, by default the same version as the source document.
  • audit – audit source file by ODA File Converter at exporting



DXF INTERNALS

  • DXF Reference provided by Autodesk.
  • DXF Developer Documentation provided by Autodesk.

Basic DXF Structures

DXF File Encoding

DXF R2004 and prior

Drawing files of DXF R2004 (AC1018) and prior are saved as ASCII files with the encoding set by the header variable $DWGCODEPAGE, which is ANSI_1252 by default if $DWGCODEPAGE is not set.

Characters used in the drawing which do not exist in the chosen ASCII encoding are encoded as unicode characters with the schema \U+nnnn. see Unicode table

Known $DWGCODEPAGE encodings

DXF Python Name
ANSI_874 cp874 Thai
ANSI_932 cp932 Japanese
ANSI_936 gbk UnifiedChinese
ANSI_949 cp949 Korean
ANSI_950 cp950 TradChinese
ANSI_1250 cp1250 CentralEurope
ANSI_1251 cp1251 Cyrillic
ANSI_1252 cp1252 WesternEurope
ANSI_1253 cp1253 Greek
ANSI_1254 cp1254 Turkish
ANSI_1255 cp1255 Hebrew
ANSI_1256 cp1256 Arabic
ANSI_1257 cp1257 Baltic
ANSI_1258 cp1258 Vietnam

DXF R2007 and later

Starting with DXF R2007 (AC1021) the drawing file is UTF-8 encoded, the header variable $DWGCODEPAGE is still in use, but I don’t know, if the setting still has any meaning.

Encoding characters in the unicode schema \U+nnnn is still functional.

SEE ALSO:

String Value Encoding


DXF Tags

A Drawing Interchange File is simply an ASCII text file with a file type of .dxf and special formatted text. The basic file structure are DXF tags, a DXF tag consist of a DXF group code as an integer value on its own line and a the DXF value on the following line. In the ezdxf documentation DXF tags will be written as (group code, value).

Group codes are indicating the value type:

Group Code Value Type
0-9 String (with the introduction of extended symbol names in DXF R2000, the 255-character limit has been increased to 2049 single-byte characters not including the newline at the end of the line)
10-39 Double precision 3D point value
40-59 Double-precision floating-point value
40-59 Double-precision floating-point value
60-79 16-bit integer value
90-99 32-bit integer value
100 String (255-character maximum, less for Unicode strings)
102 String (255-character maximum, less for Unicode strings)
105 String representing hexadecimal (hex) handle value
110-119 Double precision floating-point value
120-129 Double precision floating-point value
130-139 Double precision floating-point value
140-149 Double precision scalar floating-point value
160-169 64-bit integer value
170-179 16-bit integer value
210-239 Double-precision floating-point value
270-279 16-bit integer value
280-289 16-bit integer value
290-299 Boolean flag value
300-309 Arbitrary text string
310-319 String representing hex value of binary chunk
320-329 String representing hex handle value
330-369 String representing hex object IDs
370-379 16-bit integer value
380-389 16-bit integer value
390-399 String representing hex handle value
400-409 16-bit integer value
410-419 String
420-429 32-bit integer value
430-439 String
440-449 32-bit integer value
450-459 Long
460-469 Double-precision floating-point value
470-479 String
480-481 String representing hex handle value
999 Comment (string)
1000-1009 String (same limits as indicated with 0-9 code range)
1010-1059 Double-precision floating-point value
1060-1070 16-bit integer value
1071 32-bit integer value

Explanation for some important group codes:

Group Code Meaning
0 DXF structure tag, entity start/end or table entries
1 The primary text value for an entity
2 A name: Attribute tag, Block name, and so on. Also used to identify a DXF section or table name.
3-4 Other textual or name values
5 Entity handle as hex string (fixed)
6 Line type name (fixed)
7 Text style name (fixed)
8 Layer name (fixed)
9 Variable name identifier (used only in HEADER section of the DXF file)
10 Primary X coordinate (start point of a Line or Text entity, center of a Circle, etc.)
11-18 Other X coordinates
20 Primary Y coordinate. 2n values always correspond to 1n values and immediately follow them in the file (expected by ezdxf!)
21-28 Other Y coordinates
30 Primary Z coordinate. 3n values always correspond to 1n and 2n values and immediately follow them in the file (expected by ezdxf!)
31-38 Other Z coordinates
39 This entity’s thickness if nonzero (fixed)
40-48 Float values (text height, scale factors, etc.)
49 Repeated value - multiple 49 groups may appear in one entity for variable length tables (such as the dash lengths in the LTYPE table). A 7x group always appears before the first 49 group to specify the table length
50-58 Angles in degree
62 Color number (fixed)
66 “Entities follow” flag (fixed), only in INSERT and POLYLINE entities
67 Identifies whether entity is in modelspace (0) or paperspace (1)
68 Identifies whether viewport is on but fully off screen, is not active, or is off
69 Viewport identification number
70-78 Integer values such as repeat counts, flag bits, or modes
210, 220, 230 X, Y, and Z components of extrusion direction (fixed)
310 Proxy entity graphics as binary encoded data
330 Owner handle as hex string
347 MATERIAL handle as hex string
348 VISUALSTYLE handle as hex string
370 Lineweight in mm times 100 (e.g. 0.13mm = 13).
390 PLOTSTYLE handle as hex string
420 True color value as 0x00RRGGBB 24-bit value
430 Color name as string
440 Transparency value 0x020000TT 0 = fully transparent / 255 = opaque
999 Comments

For explanation of all group codes see: DXF Group Codes in Numerical Order Reference provided by Autodesk

Extended Data

Extended data (XDATA) is created by AutoLISP or ObjectARX applications but any other application like ezdxf can also define XDATA. If an entity contains extended data, it follows the entity’s normal definition data but ends before Embedded Objects.

But extended group codes (>=1000) can appear before the XDATA section, an example is the BLOCKBASEPOINTPARAMETER entity in AutoCAD Civil 3D or AutoCAD Map 3D.

Group Code Description
1000 Strings in extended data can be up to 255 bytes long (with the 256th byte reserved for the null character)
1001 (fixed) Registered application name (ASCII string up to 31 bytes long) for XDATA
1002 (fixed) An extended data control string can be either '{' or '}'. These braces enable applications to organize their data by subdividing the data into lists. Lists can be nested.
1003 Name of the layer associated with the extended data
1004 Binary data is organized into variable-length chunks. The maximum length of each chunk is 127 bytes. In ASCII DXF files, binary data is represented as a string of hexadecimal digits, two per binary byte
1005 Database Handle of entities in the drawing database, see also: About 1005 Group Codes
1010, 1020, 1030 Three real values, in the order X, Y, Z. They can be used as a point or vector record.
1011, 1021, 1031 Unlike a simple 3D point, the world space coordinates are moved, scaled, rotated, mirrored, and stretched along with the parent entity to which the extended data belongs.
1012, 1012, 1022 Also a 3D point that is scaled, rotated, and mirrored along with the parent (but is not moved or stretched)
1013, 1023, 1033 Also a 3D point that is scaled, rotated, and mirrored along with the parent (but is not moved or stretched)
1040 A real value
1041 Distance, a real value that is scaled along with the parent entity
1042 Scale Factor, also a real value that is scaled along with the parent. The difference between a distance and a scale factor is application-defined
1070 A 16-bit integer (signed or unsigned)
1071 A 32-bit signed (long) integer

The (1001, ...) tag indicates the beginning of extended data. In contrast to normal entity data, with extended data the same group code can appear multiple times, and order is important.

Extended data is grouped by registered application name. Each registered application group begins with a (1001, APPID) tag, with the application name as APPID string value. Registered application names correspond to APPID symbol table entries.

An application can use as many APPID names as needed. APPID names are permanent, although they can be purged if they aren’t currently used in the drawing. Each APPID name can have no more than one data group attached to each entity. Within an application group, the sequence of extended data groups and their meaning is defined by the application.

String value encoding

String values stored in a DXF file is plain ASCII or UTF-8, AutoCAD also supports CIF (Common Interchange Format) and MIF (Maker Interchange Format) encoding. The UTF-8 format is only supported in DXF R2007 and later.

ezdxf on import converts all strings into Python unicode strings without encoding or decoding CIF/MIF.

String values containing Unicode characters are represented with control character sequences \U+nnnn. (e.g. r'TEST\U+7F3A\U+4E4F\U+89E3\U+91CA\U+6B63THIS\U+56FE')

To support the DXF unicode encoding ezdxf registers an encoding codec dxf_backslash_replace, defined in ezdxf.lldxf.encoding().

String values can be stored with these dxf group codes:

  • 0 - 9
  • 100 - 101
  • 300 - 309
  • 410 - 419
  • 430 - 439
  • 470 - 479
  • 999 - 1003

Multi tag text (MTEXT)

If the text string is less than 250 characters, all characters appear in tag (1, ...). If the text string is longer than 250 characters, the string is divided into 250-character chunks, which appear in one or more (3, ...) tags. If (3, ...) tags are used, the last group is a (1, ...) tag and has fewer than 250 characters:

3
... TwoHundredAndFifty Characters ....
3
... TwoHundredAndFifty Characters ....
1
less than TwoHundredAndFifty Characters


As far I know this is only supported by the MTEXT entity.

SEE ALSO:

DXF File Encoding


DXF R13 and later tag structure

With the introduction of DXF R13 Autodesk added additional group codes and DXF tag structures to the DXF Standard.

Subclass Markers

Subclass markers (100, Subclass Name) divides DXF objects into several sections. Group codes can be reused in different sections. A subclass ends with the following subclass marker or at the beginning of xdata or the end of the object. See Subclass Marker Example in the DXF Reference.

Quote about group codes from the DXF reference

Some group codes that define an entity always appear; others are optional and appear only if their values differ from the defaults.

Do not write programs that rely on the order given here. The end of an entity is indicated by the next 0 group, which begins the next entity or indicates the end of the section.

Note: Accommodating DXF files from future releases of AutoCAD will be easier if you write your DXF processing program in a table-driven way, ignore undefined group codes, and make no assumptions about the order of group codes in an entity. With each new AutoCAD release, new group codes will be added to entities to accommodate additional features.



Usage of group codes in subclasses twice

Some later entities entities contains the same group code twice for different purposes, so order in the sense of which one comes first is important. (e.g. ATTDEF group code 280)

Tag order is sometimes important especially for AutoCAD

In LWPOLYLINE the order of tags is important, if the count tag is not the first tag in the AcDbPolyline subclass, AutoCAD will not close the polyline when the close flag is set, by the way other applications like BricsCAD ignores the tag order and renders the polyline always correct.

Extension Dictionary

The extension dictionary is an optional sequence that stores the handle of a DICTIONARY object that belongs to the current object, which in turn may contain entries. This facility allows attachment of arbitrary database objects to any database object. Any object or entity may have this section.

The extension dictionary tag sequence:

102
{ACAD_XDICTIONARY
360
Hard-owner ID/handle to owner dictionary
102
}


Persistent Reactors

Persistent reactors are an optional sequence that stores object handles of objects registering themselves as reactors on the current object. Any object or entity may have this section.

The persistent reactors tag sequence:

102
{ACAD_REACTORS
330
first Soft-pointer ID/handle to owner dictionary
330
second Soft-pointer ID/handle to owner dictionary
...
102
}


Application-Defined Codes

Starting at DXF R13, DXF objects can contain application-defined codes outside of XDATA. This application-defined codes can contain any tag except (0, ...) and (102, '{...'). “{YOURAPPID” means the APPID string with an preceding “{“. The application defined data tag sequence:

102
{YOURAPPID
...
102
}


(102, 'YOURAPPID}') is also a valid closing tag:

102
{YOURAPPID
...
102
YOURAPPID}


All groups defined with a beginning (102, ...) appear in the DXF reference before the first subclass marker, I don’t know if these groups can appear after the first or any subclass marker. ezdxf accepts them at any position, and by default ezdxf adds new app data in front of the first subclass marker to the first tag section of an DXF object.

Exception XRECORD: Tags with group code 102 and a value string without a preceding “{” or the scheme “YOURAPPID}”, should be treated as usual group codes.

Embedded Objects

The concept of embedded objects was introduced with AutoCAD 2018 (DXF version AC1032) and this is the only information I found about it at the Autodesk knowledge base: Embedded and Encapsulated Objects

Quote from Embedded and Encapsulated Objects:

For DXF filing, the embedded object must be filed out and in after all the data of the encapsulating object has been filed out and in.

A separator is needed between the encapsulating object’s data and the subsequent embedded object’s data. The separator must be similar in function to the group 0 or 100 in that it must cause the filer to stop reading data. The normal DXF group code 0 cannot be used because DXF proxies use it to determine when to stop reading data. The group code 100 could have been used, but it might have caused confusion when manually reading a DXF file, and there was a need to distinguish when an embedded object is about to be written out in order to do some internal bookkeeping. Therefore, the DXF group code 101 was introduced.



Hard facts:

  • Embedded object start with (101, "Embedded Object") tag
  • Embedded object is appended to the encapsulated object
  • (101, "Embedded Object") tag is the end of the encapsulating object, also of its Extended Data
  • Embedded object tags can contain any group code except the DXF structure tag (0, ...)

Unconfirmed assumptions:

  • The encapsulating object can contain more than one embedded object.
  • Embedded objects separated by (101, "Embedded Object") tags
  • every entity can contain embedded objects
  • XDATA sections replaced by embedded objects, at least for the MTEXT entity

Real world example from an AutoCAD 2018 file:

100       <<< start of encapsulating object
AcDbMText
10
2762.148
20
2327.073
30
0.0
40
2.5
41
18.852
46
0.0
71
1
72
5
1
{\fArial|b0|i0|c162|p34;CHANGE;\P\P\PTEXT}
73
1
44
1.0
101       <<< start of embedded object
Embedded Object
70
1
10
1.0
20
0.0
30
0.0
11
2762.148
21
2327.073
31
0.0
40
18.852
41
0.0
42
15.428
43
15.043
71
2
72
1
44
18.852
45
12.5
73
0
74
0
46
0.0


Handles

A handle is an arbitrary but in your DXF file unique hex value as string like ‘10FF’. It is common to to use uppercase letters for hex numbers. Handle can have up to 16 hexadecimal digits (8 bytes).

For DXF R10 until R12 the usage of handles was optional. The header variable $HANDLING set to 1 indicate the usage of handles, else $HANDLING is 0 or missing.

For DXF R13 and later the usage of handles is mandatory and the header variable $HANDLING was removed.

The $HANDSEED variable in the header section should be greater than the biggest handle used in the DXF file, so a CAD application can assign handle values starting with the $HANDSEED value. But as always, don’t rely on the header variable it could be wrong, AutoCAD ignores this value.

Handle Definition

Entity handle definition is always the (5, ...), except for entities of the DIMSTYLE table (105, ...), because the DIMSTYLE entity has also a group code 5 tag for DIMBLK.

Handle Pointer

A pointer is a reference to a DXF object in the same DXF file. There are four types of pointers:

  • Soft-pointer handle
  • Hard-pointer handle
  • Soft-owner handle
  • Hard-owner handle

Also, a group code range for “arbitrary” handles is defined to allow convenient storage of handle values that are unchanged at any operation (AutoCAD).

Pointer and Ownership

A pointer is a reference that indicates usage, but not possession or responsibility, for another object. A pointer reference means that the object uses the other object in some way, and shares access to it. An ownership reference means that an owner object is responsible for the objects for which it has an owner handle. An object can have any number of pointer references associated with it, but it can have only one owner.

Hard and Soft References

Hard references, whether they are pointer or owner, protect an object from being purged. Soft references do not.

In AutoCAD, block definitions and complex entities are hard owners of their elements. A symbol table and dictionaries are soft owners of their elements. Polyline entities are hard owners of their vertex and seqend entities. Insert entities are hard owners of their attrib and seqend entities.

When establishing a reference to another object, it is recommended that you think about whether the reference should protect an object from the PURGE command.

Arbitrary Handles

Arbitrary handles are distinct in that they are not translated to session-persistent identifiers internally, or to entity names in AutoLISP, and so on. They are stored as handles. When handle values are translated in drawing-merge operations, arbitrary handles are ignored.

In all environments, arbitrary handles can be exchanged for entity names of the current drawing by means of the handent functions. A common usage of arbitrary handles is to refer to objects in external DXF and DWG files.

About 1005 Group Codes

(1005, ...) xdata have the same behavior and semantics as soft pointers, which means that they are translated whenever the host object is merged into a different drawing. However, 1005 items are not translated to session-persistent identifiers or internal entity names in AutoLISP and ObjectARX. They are stored as handles.

DXF File Structure

A DXF File is simply an ASCII text file with a file type of .dxf and special formatted text. The basic file structure are DXF tags, a DXF tag consist of a DXF group code as an integer value on its own line and a the DXF value on the following line. In the ezdxf documentation DXF tags will be written as (group code, value). There exist a binary DXF format, but it seems that it is not often used and for reducing file size, zipping is much more efficient. ezdxf does support reading binary encoded DXF files.

SEE ALSO:

For more information about DXF tags see: dxf_tags_internals


A usual DXF file is organized in sections, starting with the DXF tag (0, ‘SECTION’) and ending with the DXF tag (0, ‘ENDSEC’). The (0, ‘EOF’) tag signals the end of file.

1.
HEADER: General information about the drawing is found in this section of the DXF file. Each parameter has a variable name starting with ‘$’ and an associated value. Has to be the first section.
2.
CLASSES: Holds the information for application defined classes. (DXF R13 and later)
3.
TABLES:: Contains several tables for style and property definitions.
  • Linetype table (LTYPE)
  • Layer table (LAYER)
  • Text Style table (STYLE)
  • View table (VIEW): (IMHO) layout of the CAD working space, only interesting for interactive CAD applications
  • Viewport configuration table (VPORT): The VPORT table is unique in that it may contain several entries with the same name (indicating a multiple-viewport configuration). The entries corresponding to the active viewport configuration all have the name *ACTIVE. The first such entry describes the current viewport.
  • Dimension Style table (DIMSTYLE)
  • User Coordinate System table (UCS) (IMHO) only interesting for interactive CAD applications
  • Application Identification table (APPID): Table of names for all applications registered with a drawing.
  • Block Record table (BLOCK_RECORD) (DXF R13 and Later)

4.
BLOCKS: Contains all block definitions. The block name *Model_Space or *MODEL_SPACE is reserved for the drawing modelspace and the block name *Paper_Space or *PAPER_SPACE is reserved for the active paperspace layout. Both block definitions are empty, the content of the modelspace and the active paperspace is stored in the ENTITIES section. The entities of other layouts are stored in special block definitions called *Paper_Spacennn, nnn is an arbitrary but unique number.
5.
ENTITIES: Contains all graphical entities of the modelspace and the active paperspace layout. Entities of other layouts are stored in the BLOCKS sections.
6.
OBJECTS: Contains all non-graphical objects of the drawing (DXF R13 and later)
7.
THUMBNAILIMAGE: Contains a preview image of the DXF file, it is optional and can usually be ignored. (DXF R13 and later)
8.
ACDSDATA: (DXF R2013 and later) No information in the DXF reference about this section
9.
END OF FILE

For further information read the original DXF Reference.

Structure of a usual DXF R12 file:

0           <<< Begin HEADER section, has to be the first section
SECTION
2
HEADER

<<< Header variable items go here 0 <<< End HEADER section ENDSEC 0 <<< Begin TABLES section SECTION 2 TABLES 0 TABLE 2 VPORT 70 <<< viewport table maximum item count
<<< viewport table items go here 0 ENDTAB 0 TABLE 2 APPID, DIMSTYLE, LTYPE, LAYER, STYLE, UCS, VIEW, or VPORT 70 <<< Table maximum item count, a not reliable value and ignored by AutoCAD
<<< Table items go here 0 ENDTAB 0 <<< End TABLES section ENDSEC 0 <<< Begin BLOCKS section SECTION 2 BLOCKS
<<< Block definition entities go here 0 <<< End BLOCKS section ENDSEC 0 <<< Begin ENTITIES section SECTION 2 ENTITIES
<<< Drawing entities go here 0 <<< End ENTITIES section ENDSEC 0 <<< End of file marker (required) EOF


Minimal DXF Content

DXF R12

Contrary to the previous chapter, the DXF R12 format (AC1009) and prior requires just the ENTITIES section:

0
SECTION
2
ENTITIES
0
ENDSEC
0
EOF


DXF R13/R14 and later

DXF version R13/14 and later needs much more DXF content than DXF R12.

Required sections: HEADER, CLASSES, TABLES, ENTITIES, OBJECTS

The HEADER section requires two entries:

  • $ACADVER
  • $HANDSEED

The CLASSES section can be empty, but some DXF entities requires class definitions to work in AutoCAD.

The TABLES section requires following tables:

  • VPORT entry *ACTIVE is not required! Empty table is ok for AutoCAD.
  • LTYPE with at least the following line types defined:
  • BYBLOCK
  • BYLAYER
  • CONTINUOUS

  • LAYER with at least an entry for layer ‘0’
  • STYLE with at least an entry for style STANDARD
  • VIEW can be empty
  • UCS can be empty
  • APPID with at least an entry for ACAD
  • DIMSTYLE with at least an entry for style STANDARD
  • BLOCK_RECORDS with two entries:
  • *MODEL_SPACE
  • *PAPER_SPACE


The BLOCKS section requires two BLOCKS:

  • *MODEL_SPACE
  • *PAPER_SPACE

The ENTITIES section can be empty.

The OBJECTS section requires following entities:

  • DICTIONARY - the root dict - one entry named ACAD_GROUP
  • DICTONARY ACAD_GROUP can be empty

Minimal DXF to download: https://bitbucket.org/mozman/ezdxf/downloads/Minimal_DXF_AC1021.dxf

Data Model

Database Objects

(from the DXF Reference)

AutoCAD drawings consist largely of structured containers for database objects. Database objects each have the following features:

  • A handle whose value is unique to the drawing/DXF file, and is constant for the lifetime of the drawing. This format has existed since AutoCAD Release 10, and as of AutoCAD Release 13, handles are always enabled.
  • An optional XDATA table, as entities have had since AutoCAD Release 11.
  • An optional persistent reactor table.
  • An optional ownership pointer to an extension dictionary which, in turn, owns subobjects placed in it by an application.



Symbol tables and symbol table records are database objects and, thus, have a handle. They can also have xdata and persistent reactors in their DXF records.

DXF R12 Data Model

The DXF R12 data model is identical to the file structure:

  • HEADER section: common settings for the DXF drawing
  • TABLES section: definitions for LAYERS, LINETYPE, STYLES ….
  • BLOCKS section: block definitions and its content
  • ENTITIES section: modelspace and paperspace content



References are realized by simple names. The INSERT entity references the BLOCK definition by the BLOCK name, a TEXT entity defines the associated STYLE and LAYER by its name and so on, handles are not needed. Layout association of graphical entities in the ENTITIES section by the paper_space tag (67, 0 or 1), 0 or missing tag means model space, 1 means paperspace. The content of BLOCK definitions is enclosed by the BLOCK and the ENDBLK entity, no additional references are needed.

A clean and simple file structure and data model, which seems to be the reason why the DXF R12 Reference (released 1992) is still a widely used file format and Autodesk/AutoCAD supports the format by reading and writing DXF R12 files until today (DXF R13/R14 has no writing support by AutoCAD!).

TODO: list of available entities

SEE ALSO:

More information about the DXF File Structure


DXF R13+ Data Model

With the DXF R13 file format, handles are mandatory and they are really used for organizing the new data structures introduced with DXF R13.

The HEADER section is still the same with just more available settings.

The new CLASSES section contains AutoCAD specific data, has to be written like AutoCAD it does, but must not be understood.

The TABLES section got a new BLOCK_RECORD table - see Block Management Structures for more information.

The BLOCKS sections is mostly the same, but with handles, owner tags and new ENTITY types. Not active paperspace layouts store their content also in the BLOCKS section - see Layout Management Structures for more information.

The ENTITIES section is also mostly same, but with handles, owner tags and new ENTITY types.

TODO: list of new available entities

And the new OBJECTS section - now its getting complicated!

Most information about the OBJECTS section is just guessed or gathered by trail and error, because the documentation of the OBJECTS section and its objects in the DXF reference provided by Autodesk is very shallow. This is also the reason why I started the DXF Internals section, may be it helps other developers to start one or two steps above level zero.

The OBJECTS sections stores all the non-graphical entities of the DXF drawing. Non-graphical entities from now on just called ‘DXF objects’ to differentiate them from graphical entities, just called ‘entities’. The OBJECTS section follows commonly the ENTITIES section, but this is not mandatory.

DXF R13 introduces several new DXF objects, which resides exclusive in the OBJECTS section, taken from the DXF R14 reference, because I have no access to the DXF R13 reference, the DXF R13 reference is a compiled .hlp file which can’t be read on Windows 10, a drastic real world example why it is better to avoid closed (proprietary) data formats ;):

  • DICTIONARY: a general structural entity as a <name: handle> container
  • ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT: a DICTIONARY with a default value
  • DICTIONARYVAR: used by AutoCAD to store named values in the database
  • ACAD_PROXY_OBJECT: proxy object for entities created by other applications than AutoCAD
  • GROUP: groups graphical entities without the need of a BLOCK definition
  • IDBUFFER: just a list of references to objects
  • IMAGEDEF: IMAGE definition structure, required by the IMAGE entity
  • IMAGEDEF_REACTOR: also required by the IMAGE entity
  • LAYER_INDEX: container for LAYER names
  • MLINESTYLE
  • OBJECT_PTR
  • RASTERVARIABLES
  • SPATIAL_INDEX: is always written out empty to a DXF file. This object can be ignored.
  • SPATIAL_FILTER
  • SORTENTSTABLE: control for regeneration/redraw order of entities
  • XRECORD: used to store and manage arbitrary data. This object is similar in concept to XDATA but is not limited by size or order. Not supported by R13c0 through R13c3.



Still missing the LAYOUT object, which is mandatory in DXF R2000 to manage multiple paperspace layouts. I don’t know how DXF R13/R14 manages multiple layouts or if they even support this feature, but I don’t care much about DXF R13/R14, because AutoCAD has no write support for this two formats anymore. ezdxf tries to upgrade this two DXF versions to DXF R2000 with the advantage of only two different data models to support: DXF R12 and DXF R2000+

New objects introduced by DXF R2000:

  • LAYOUT: management object for modelspace and multiple paperspace layouts
  • ACDBPLACEHOLDER: surprise - just a place holder



New objects in DXF R2004:

  • DIMASSOC
  • LAYER_FILTER
  • MATERIAL
  • PLOTSETTINGS
  • VBA_PROJECT



New objects in DXF R2007:

  • DATATABLE
  • FIELD
  • LIGHTLIST
  • RENDER
  • RENDERENVIRONMENT
  • MENTALRAYRENDERSETTINGS
  • RENDERGLOBAL
  • SECTION
  • SUNSTUDY
  • TABLESTYLE
  • UNDERLAYDEFINITION
  • VISUALSTYLE
  • WIPEOUTVARIABLES



New objects in DXF R2013:

GEODATA



New objects in DXF R2018:

ACDBNAVISWORKSMODELDEF



Undocumented objects:

  • SCALE
  • ACDBSECTIONVIEWSTYLE
  • FIELDLIST



Objects Organisation

Many objects in the OBJECTS section are organized in a tree-like structure of DICTIONARY objects. Starting point for this data structure is the ‘root’ DICTIONARY with several entries to other DICTIONARY objects. The root DICTIONARY has to be the first object in the OBJECTS section. The management dicts for GROUP and LAYOUT objects are really important, but IMHO most of the other management tables are optional and for the most use cases not necessary. The ezdxf template for DXF R2018 contains only these entries in the root dict and most of them pointing to an empty DICTIONARY:

  • ACAD_COLOR: points to an empty DICTIONARY
  • ACAD_GROUP: supported by ezdxf
  • ACAD_LAYOUT: supported by ezdxf
  • ACAD_MATERIAL: points to an empty DICTIONARY
  • ACAD_MLEADERSTYLE: points to an empty DICTIONARY
  • ACAD_MLINESTYLE: points to an empty DICTIONARY
  • ACAD_PLOTSETTINGS: points to an empty DICTIONARY
  • ACAD_PLOTSTYLENAME: points to ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT with one entry: ‘Normal’
  • ACAD_SCALELIST: points to an empty DICTIONARY
  • ACAD_TABLESTYLE: points to an empty DICTIONARY
  • ACAD_VISUALSTYLE: points to an empty DICTIONARY



Root DICTIONARY content for DXF R2018

0
SECTION
2       <<< start of the OBJECTS section
OBJECTS
0       <<< root DICTIONARY has to be the first object in the OBJECTS section
DICTIONARY
5       <<< handle
C
330     <<< owner tag
0       <<< always #0, has no owner
100
AcDbDictionary
281     <<< hard owner flag
1
3       <<< first entry
ACAD_CIP_PREVIOUS_PRODUCT_INFO
350     <<< handle to target (pointer)
78B     <<< points to a XRECORD with product info about the creator application
3       <<< entry with unknown meaning, if I shoul guess: something with about colors ...
ACAD_COLOR
350
4FB     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< entry with unknown meaning
ACAD_DETAILVIEWSTYLE
350
7ED     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< GROUP management, mandatory in all DXF versions
ACAD_GROUP
350
4FC     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< LAYOUT management, mandatory if more than the *active* paperspace is used
ACAD_LAYOUT
350
4FD     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< MATERIAL management
ACAD_MATERIAL
350
4FE     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< MLEADERSTYLE management
ACAD_MLEADERSTYLE
350
4FF     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< MLINESTYLE management
ACAD_MLINESTYLE
350
500     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< PLOTSETTINGS management
ACAD_PLOTSETTINGS
350
501     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< plot style name management
ACAD_PLOTSTYLENAME
350
503     <<< points to a ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT
3       <<< SCALE management
ACAD_SCALELIST
350
504     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< entry with unknown meaning
ACAD_SECTIONVIEWSTYLE
350
7EB     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< TABLESTYLE management
ACAD_TABLESTYLE
350
505     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< VISUALSTYLE management
ACAD_VISUALSTYLE
350
506     <<< points to a DICTIONARY
3       <<< entry with unknown meaning
ACDB_RECOMPOSE_DATA
350
7F3
3       <<< entry with unknown meaning
AcDbVariableDictionary
350
7AE     <<< points to a DICTIONARY with handles to DICTIONARYVAR objects
0
DICTIONARY
...
...
0
ENDSEC


DXF Structures

DXF Sections

HEADER Section

In DXF R12 and prior the HEADER section was optional, but since DXF R13 the HEADER section is mandatory. The overall structure is:

0           <<< Begin HEADER section
SECTION
2
HEADER
9
$ACADVER    <<< Header variable items go here
1
AC1009
...
0
ENDSEC      <<< End HEADER section


A header variable has a name defined by a (9, Name) tag and following value tags.

SEE ALSO:

Documentation of ezdxf HeaderSection class.

DXF Reference: Header Variables



CLASSES Section

The CLASSES section contains CLASS definitions which are only important for Autodesk products, some DXF entities require a class definition or AutoCAD will not open the DXF file.

The CLASSES sections was introduced with DXF AC1015 (AutoCAD Release R13).

SEE ALSO:

DXF Reference: About the DXF CLASSES Section

Documentation of ezdxf ClassesSection class.



The CLASSES section in DXF files holds the information for application-defined classes whose instances appear in the BLOCKS, ENTITIES, and OBJECTS sections of the database. It is assumed that a class definition is permanently fixed in the class hierarchy. All fields are required.

Update 2019-03-03:

Class names are not unique, Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 uses the same name, but with different CPP class names in the CLASS section, so storing classes in a dictionary by name as key caused loss of class entries in ezdxf, using a tuple of (name, cpp_class_name) as storage key solved the problem.

CLASS Entities

SEE ALSO:

DXF Reference: Group Codes for the CLASS entity


CLASS entities have no handle and therefore ezdxf does not store the CLASS entity in the drawing entities database!

0
SECTION
2           <<< begin CLASSES section
CLASSES
0           <<< first CLASS entity
CLASS
1           <<< class DXF entity name; THIS ENTRY IS MAYBE NOT UNIQUE
ACDBDICTIONARYWDFLT
2           <<< C++ class name; always unique
AcDbDictionaryWithDefault
3           <<< application name
ObjectDBX Classes
90          <<< proxy capabilities flags
0
91          <<< instance counter for custom class, since DXF version AC1018 (R2004)
0           <<< no problem if the counter is wrong, AutoCAD doesn't care about
280         <<< was-a-proxy flag. Set to 1 if class was not loaded when this DXF file was created, and 0 otherwise
0
281         <<< is-an-entity flag. Set to 1 if class reside in the BLOCKS or ENTITIES section. If 0, instances may appear only in the OBJECTS section
0
0           <<< second CLASS entity
CLASS
...
...
0           <<< end of CLASSES section
ENDSEC


TABLES Section

TODO

BLOCKS Section

The BLOCKS section contains all BLOCK definitions, beside the normal reusable BLOCKS used by the INSERT entity, all layouts, as there are the modelspace and all paperspace layouts, have at least a corresponding BLOCK definition in the BLOCKS section. The name of the modelspace BLOCK is “*Model_Space” (DXF R12: “$MODEL_SPACE”) and the name of the active paperspace BLOCK is “*Paper_Space” (DXF R12: “$PAPER_SPACE”), the entities of these two layouts are stored in the ENTITIES section, the inactive paperspace layouts are named by the scheme “*Paper_Spacennnn”, and the content of the inactive paperspace layouts are stored in their BLOCK definition in the BLOCKS section.

The content entities of blocks are stored between the BLOCK and the ENDBLK entity.

BLOCKS section structure:

0           <<< start of a SECTION
SECTION
2           <<< start of BLOCKS section
BLOCKS
0           <<< start of 1. BLOCK definition
BLOCK
...         <<< Block content
...
0           <<< end of 1. Block definition
ENDBLK
0           <<< start of 2. BLOCK definition
BLOCK
...         <<< Block content
...
0           <<< end of 2. Block definition
ENDBLK
0           <<< end of BLOCKS section
ENDSEC


SEE ALSO:

Block Management Structures Layout Management Structures


ENTITIES Section

TODO

OBJECTS Section

Objects in the OBJECTS section are organized in a hierarchical tree order, starting with the named objects dictionary as the first entity in the OBJECTS section (Drawing.rootdict).

Not all entities in the OBJECTS section are included in this tree, extension_dict_internals and XRECORD data of graphical entities are also stored in the OBJECTS section.

DXF Tables

VIEW Table

The VIEW entry stores a named view of the model or a paperspace layout. This stored views makes parts of the drawing or some view points of the model in a CAD applications more accessible. This views have no influence to the drawing content or to the generated output by exporting PDFs or plotting on paper sheets, they are just for the convenience of CAD application users.

Using ezdxf you have access to the views table by the attribute Drawing.views. The views table itself is not stored in the entity database, but the table entries are stored in entity database, and can be accessed by its handle.

DXF R12

0
VIEW
2       <<< name of view
VIEWNAME
70      <<< flags bit-coded: 1st bit -> (0/1 = modelspace/paperspace)
0       <<< modelspace
40      <<< view width in Display Coordinate System (DCS)
20.01
10      <<< view center point in DCS
40.36   <<<     x value
20      <<<     group code for y value
15.86   <<<     y value
41      <<< view height in DCS
17.91
11      <<< view direction from target point, 3D vector
0.0     <<<     x value
21      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
31      <<<     group code for z value
1.0     <<<     z value
12      <<< target point in WCS
0.0     <<<     x value
22      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
32      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
42      <<< lens (focal) length
50.0    <<< 50mm
43      <<< front clipping plane, offset from target
0.0
44      <<< back clipping plane, offset from target
0.0
50      <<< twist angle
0.0
71      <<< view mode
0


SEE ALSO:

Coordinate Systems


DXF R2000+

Mostly the same structure as DXF R12, but with handle, owner tag and subclass markers.

0       <<< adding the VIEW table head, just for information
TABLE
2       <<< table name
VIEW
5       <<< handle of table, see owner tag of VIEW table entry
37C
330     <<< owner tag of table, always #0
0
100     <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTable
70      <<< VIEW table (max.) count, not reliable (ignore)
9
0       <<< first VIEW table entry
VIEW
5       <<< handle
3EA
330     <<< owner, the VIEW table is the owner of the VIEW entry
37C     <<< handle of the VIEW table
100     <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100     <<< subclass marker
AcDbViewTableRecord
2       <<< view name, from here all the same as DXF R12
VIEWNAME
70
0
40
20.01
10
40.36
20
15.86
41
17.91
11
0.0
21
0.0
31
1.0
12
0.0
22
0.0
32
0.0
42
50.0
43
0.0
44
0.0
50
0.0
71
0
281     <<< render mode 0-6 (... too much options)
0       <<< 0= 2D optimized (classic 2D)
72      <<< UCS associated (0/1 = no/yes)
0       <<< 0 = no


DXF R2000+ supports additional features in the VIEW entry, see the VIEW table reference provided by Autodesk.

VPORT Configuration Table

The VPORT table stores the modelspace viewport configurations. A viewport configuration is a tiled view of multiple viewports or just one viewport. [image]

In contrast to other tables the VPORT table can have multiple entries with the same name, because all VPORT entries of a multi-viewport configuration are having the same name - the viewport configuration name. The name of the actual displayed viewport configuration is '*ACTIVE', as always table entry names are case insensitive ('*ACTIVE' == '*Active').

The available display area in AutoCAD has normalized coordinates, the lower-left corner is (0, 0) and the upper-right corner is (1, 1) regardless of the true aspect ratio and available display area in pixels. A single viewport configuration has one VPORT entry '*ACTIVE' with the lower-left corner (0, 0) and the upper-right corner (1, 1).

The following statements refer to a 2D plan view: the view-target-point defines the origin of the DCS (Display Coordinate system), the view-direction vector defines the z-axis of the DCS, the view-center-point (in DCS) defines the point in modelspace translated to the center point of the viewport, the view height and the aspect-ratio defines how much of the modelspace is displayed. AutoCAD tries to fit the modelspace area into the available viewport space e.g. view height is 15 units and aspect-ratio is 2.0 the modelspace to display is 30 units wide and 15 units high, if the viewport has an aspect ratio of 1.0, AutoCAD displays 30x30 units of the modelspace in the viewport. If the modelspace aspect-ratio is 1.0 the modelspace to display is 15x15 units and fits properly into the viewport area.

But tests show that the translation of the view-center-point to the middle of the viewport not always work as I expected. (still digging…)

NOTE:

All floating point values are rounded to 2 decimal places for better readability.


DXF R12

Multi-viewport configuration with three viewports.

0       <<< table start
TABLE
2       <<< table type
VPORT
70      <<< VPORT table (max.) count, not reliable (ignore)
3
0       <<< first VPORT entry
VPORT
2       <<< VPORT (configuration) name
*ACTIVE
70      <<< standard flags, bit-coded
0
10      <<< lower-left corner of viewport
0.45    <<<     x value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
20      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
11      <<< upper-right corner of viewport
1.0     <<<     x value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
21      <<<     group code for y value
1.0     <<<     y value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
12      <<< view center point (in DCS), ???
13.71   <<<     x value
22      <<<     group code for y value
0.02    <<<     y value
13      <<< snap base point (in DCS)
0.0     <<<     x value
23      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
14      <<< snap spacing X and Y
1.0     <<<     x value
24      <<<     group code for y value
1.0     <<<     y value
15      <<< grid spacing X and Y
0.0     <<<     x value
25      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
16      <<< view direction from target point (in WCS), defines the z-axis of the DCS
1.0     <<<     x value
26      <<<     group code for y value
-1.0    <<<     y value
36      <<<     group code for z value
1.0     <<<     z value
17      <<< view target point (in WCS), defines the origin of the DCS
0.0     <<<     x value
27      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
37      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
40      <<< view height
35.22
41      <<< viewport aspect ratio
0.99
42      <<< lens (focal) length
50.0    <<< 50mm
43      <<< front clipping planes, offsets from target point
0.0
44      <<< back clipping planes, offsets from target point
0.0
50      <<< snap rotation angle
0.0
51      <<< view twist angle
0.0
71      <<< view mode
0
72      <<< circle zoom percent
1000
73      <<< fast zoom setting
1
74      <<< UCSICON setting
3
75      <<< snap on/off
0
76      <<< grid on/off
0
77      <<< snap style
0
78      <<< snap isopair
0
0       <<< next VPORT entry
VPORT
2       <<< VPORT (configuration) name
*ACTIVE <<< same as first VPORT entry
70
0
10
0.0
20
0.5
11
0.45
21
1.0
12
8.21
22
9.41
...
...
0       <<< next VPORT entry
VPORT
2       <<< VPORT (configuration) name
*ACTIVE <<< same as first VPORT entry
70
0
10
0.0
20
0.0
11
0.45
21
0.5
12
2.01
22
-9.33
...
...
0
ENDTAB


DXF R2000+

Mostly the same structure as DXF R12, but with handle, owner tag and subclass markers.

0       <<< table start
TABLE
2       <<< table type
VPORT
5       <<< table handle
151F
330     <<< owner, table has no owner - always #0
0
100     <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTable
70      <<< VPORT table (max.) count, not reliable (ignore)
3
0       <<< first VPORT entry
VPORT
5       <<< entry handle
158B
330     <<< owner, VPORT table is owner of VPORT entry
151F
100     <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100     <<< subclass marker
AcDbViewportTableRecord
2       <<< VPORT (configuration) name
*ACTIVE
70      <<< standard flags, bit-coded
0
10      <<< lower-left corner of viewport
0.45    <<<     x value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
20      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
11      <<< upper-right corner of viewport
1.0     <<<     x value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
21      <<<     group code for y value
1.0     <<<     y value, virtual coordinates in range [0 - 1]
12      <<< view center point (in DCS)
13.71   <<<     x value
22      <<<     group code for y value
0.38    <<<     y value
13      <<< snap base point (in DCS)
0.0     <<<     x value
23      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
14      <<< snap spacing X and Y
1.0     <<<     x value
24      <<<     group code for y value
1.0     <<<     y value
15      <<< grid spacing X and Y
0.0     <<<     x value
25      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
16      <<< view direction from target point (in WCS)
1.0     <<<     x value
26      <<<     group code for y value
-1.0    <<<     y value
36      <<<     group code for z value
1.0     <<<     z value
17      <<< view target point (in WCS)
0.0     <<<     x value
27      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
37      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
40      <<< view height
35.22
41      <<< viewport aspect ratio
0.99
42      <<< lens (focal) length
50.0    <<< 50mm
43      <<< front clipping planes, offsets from target point
0.0
44      <<< back clipping planes, offsets from target point
0.0
50      <<< snap rotation angle
0.0
51      <<< view twist angle
0.0
71      <<< view mode
0
72      <<< circle zoom percent
1000
73      <<< fast zoom setting
1
74      <<< UCSICON setting
3
75      <<< snap on/off
0
76      <<< grid on/off
0
77      <<< snap style
0
78      <<< snap isopair
0
281     <<< render mode 1-6 (... too many options)
0       <<< 0 = 2D optimized (classic 2D)
65      <<< Value of UCSVP for this viewport. (0 = UCS will not change when this viewport is activated)
1       <<< 1 = then viewport stores its own UCS which will become the current UCS whenever the viewport is activated.
110     <<< UCS origin (3D point)
0.0     <<<     x value
120     <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
130     <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
111     <<< UCS X-axis (3D vector)
1.0     <<<     x value
121     <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
131     <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
112     <<< UCS Y-axis (3D vector)
0.0     <<<     x value
122     <<<     group code for y value
1.0     <<<     y value
132     <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
79      <<< Orthographic type of UCS 0-6 (... too many options)
0       <<< 0 = UCS is not orthographic
146     <<< elevation
0.0
1001    <<< extended data - undocumented
ACAD_NAV_VCDISPLAY
1070
3
0       <<< next VPORT entry
VPORT
5
158C
330
151F
100
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100
AcDbViewportTableRecord
2       <<< VPORT (configuration) name
*ACTIVE <<< same as first VPORT entry
70
0
10
0.0
20
0.5
11
0.45
21
1.0
12
8.21
22
9.72
...
...
0       <<< next VPORT entry
VPORT
5
158D
330
151F
100
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100
AcDbViewportTableRecord
2       <<< VPORT (configuration) name
*ACTIVE <<< same as first VPORT entry
70
0
10
0.0
20
0.0
11
0.45
21
0.5
12
2.01
22
-8.97
...
...
0
ENDTAB


LTYPE Table

The LTYPE table stores all line type definitions of a DXF drawing. Every line type used in the drawing has to have a table entry, or the DXF drawing is invalid for AutoCAD.

DXF R12 supports just simple line types, DXF R2000+ supports also complex line types with text or shapes included.

You have access to the line types table by the attribute Drawing.linetypes. The line type table itself is not stored in the entity database, but the table entries are stored in entity database, and can be accessed by its handle.

SEE ALSO:

  • DXF Reference: TABLES Section
  • DXF Reference: LTYPE Table



Table Structure DXF R12

0           <<< start of table
TABLE
2           <<< set table type
LTYPE
70          <<< count of line types defined in this table, AutoCAD ignores this value
9
0           <<< 1. LTYPE table entry
LTYPE

<<< LTYPE data tags 0 <<< 2. LTYPE table entry LTYPE
<<< LTYPE data tags and so on 0 <<< end of LTYPE table ENDTAB


Table Structure DXF R2000+

0           <<< start of table
TABLE
2           <<< set table type
LTYPE
5           <<< LTYPE table handle
5F
330         <<< owner tag, tables has no owner
0
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTable
70          <<< count of line types defined in this table, AutoCAD ignores this value
9
0           <<< 1. LTYPE table entry
LTYPE

<<< LTYPE data tags 0 <<< 2. LTYPE table entry LTYPE
<<< LTYPE data tags and so on 0 <<< end of LTYPE table ENDTAB


Simple Line Type

ezdxf setup for line type ‘CENTER’:

dwg.linetypes.new("CENTER", dxfattribs={

description = "Center ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____",
pattern=[2.0, 1.25, -0.25, 0.25, -0.25],
})


Simple Line Type Tag Structure DXF R2000+

0           <<< line type table entry
LTYPE
5           <<< handle of line type
1B1
330         <<< owner handle, handle of LTYPE table
5F
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbLinetypeTableRecord
2           <<< line type name
CENTER
70          <<< flags
0
3
Center ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____
72
65
73
4
40
2.0
49
1.25
74
0
49
-0.25
74
0
49
0.25
74
0
49
-0.25
74
0


Complex Line Type TEXT

ezdxf setup for line type ‘GASLEITUNG’:

dwg.linetypes.new('GASLEITUNG', dxfattribs={

'description': 'Gasleitung2 ----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS--',
'length': 1,
'pattern': 'A,.5,-.2,["GAS",STANDARD,S=.1,U=0.0,X=-0.1,Y=-.05],-.25', })


TEXT Tag Structure

0
LTYPE
5
614
330
5F
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbLinetypeTableRecord
2
GASLEITUNG
70
0
3
Gasleitung2 ----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS--
72
65
73
3
40
1
49
0.5
74
0
49
-0.2
74
2
75
0
340
11
46
0.1
50
0.0
44
-0.1
45
-0.05
9
GAS
49
-0.25
74
0


Complex Line Type SHAPE

ezdxf setup for line type ‘GRENZE2’:

dwg.linetypes.new('GRENZE2', dxfattribs={

'description': 'Grenze eckig ----[]-----[]----[]-----[]----[]--',
'length': 1.45,
'pattern': 'A,.25,-.1,[132,ltypeshp.shx,x=-.1,s=.1],-.1,1', })


SHAPE Tag Structure

0
LTYPE
5
615
330
5F
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbLinetypeTableRecord
2
GRENZE2
70
0
3
Grenze eckig ----[]-----[]----[]-----[]----[]--
72
65
73
4
40
1.45
49
0.25
74
0
49
-0.1
74
4
75
132
340
616
46
0.1
50
0.0
44
-0.1
45
0.0
49
-0.1
74
0
49
1.0
74
0


DIMSTYLE Table

The DIMSTYLE table stores all dimension style definitions of a DXF drawing.

You have access to the dimension styles table by the attribute Drawing.dimstyles.

SEE ALSO:

  • DXF Reference: TABLES Section
  • DXF Reference: DIMSTYLE Table



Table Structure DXF R12

0           <<< start of table
TABLE
2           <<< set table type
DIMSTYLE
70          <<< count of line types defined in this table, AutoCAD ignores this value
9
0           <<< 1. DIMSTYLE table entry
DIMSTYLE

<<< DIMSTYLE data tags 0 <<< 2. DIMSTYLE table entry DIMSTYLE
<<< DIMSTYLE data tags and so on 0 <<< end of DIMSTYLE table ENDTAB


DIMSTYLE Entry DXF R12

DIMSTYLE Variables DXF R12

Source: CADDManger Blog [image] [image]

DIMVAR Code Description
DIMALT 170 Controls the display of alternate units in dimensions.
DIMALTD 171 Controls the number of decimal places in alternate units. If DIMALT is turned on, DIMALTD sets the number of digits displayed to the right of the decimal point in the alternate measurement.
DIMALTF 143 Controls the multiplier for alternate units. If DIMALT is turned on, DIMALTF multiplies linear dimensions by a factor to produce a value in an alternate system of measurement. The initial value represents the number of millimeters in an inch.
DIMAPOST 4 Specifies a text prefix or suffix (or both) to the alternate dimension measurement for all types of dimensions except angular. For instance, if the current units are Architectural, DIMALT is on, DIMALTF is 25.4 (the number of millimeters per inch), DIMALTD is 2, and DIMPOST is set to “mm”, a distance of 10 units would be displayed as 10”[254.00mm].
DIMASZ 41 Controls the size of dimension line and leader line arrowheads. Also controls the size of hook lines. Multiples of the arrowhead size determine whether dimension lines and text should fit between the extension lines. DIMASZ is also used to scale arrowhead blocks if set by DIMBLK. DIMASZ has no effect when DIMTSZ is other than zero.
DIMBLK 5 Sets the arrowhead block displayed at the ends of dimension lines.
DIMBLK1 6 Sets the arrowhead for the first end of the dimension line when DIMSAH is 1.
DIMBLK2 7 Sets the arrowhead for the second end of the dimension line when DIMSAH is 1.
DIMCEN 141 Controls drawing of circle or arc center marks and centerlines by the DIMCENTER, DIMDIAMETER, and DIMRADIUS commands. For DIMDIAMETER and DIMRADIUS, the center mark is drawn only if you place the dimension line outside the circle or arc. 0.0 • 2 0 = No center marks or lines are drawn • 2 <0 = Centerlines are drawn • 2 >0 = Center marks are drawn 168u
DIMCLRD 176 Assigns colors to dimension lines, arrowheads, and dimension leader lines. 0.0 • 2 0 = BYBLOCK • 2 1-255 = ACI AutoCAD Color Index • 2 256 = BYLAYER 168u
DIMCLRE 177 Assigns colors to dimension extension lines, values like DIMCLRD
DIMCLRT 178 Assigns colors to dimension text, values like DIMCLRD
DIMDLE 46 Sets the distance the dimension line extends beyond the extension line when oblique strokes are drawn instead of arrowheads.
DIMDLI 43 Controls the spacing of the dimension lines in baseline dimensions. Each dimension line is offset from the previous one by this amount, if necessary, to avoid drawing over it. Changes made with DIMDLI are not applied to existing dimensions.
DIMEXE 44 Specifies how far to extend the extension line beyond the dimension line.
DIMEXO 42 Specifies how far extension lines are offset from origin points. With fixed-length extension lines, this value determines the minimum offset.
DIMGAP 147 Sets the distance around the dimension text when the dimension line breaks to accommodate dimension text. Also sets the gap between annotation and a hook line created with the LEADER command. If you enter a negative value, DIMGAP places a box around the dimension text. DIMGAP is also used as the minimum length for pieces of the dimension line. When the default position for the dimension text is calculated, text is positioned inside the extension lines only if doing so breaks the dimension lines into two segments at least as long as DIMGAP. Text placed above or below the dimension line is moved inside only if there is room for the arrowheads, dimension text, and a margin between them at least as large as DIMGAP: 2 * (DIMASZ + DIMGAP).
DIMLFAC 144 Sets a scale factor for linear dimension measurements. All linear dimension distances, including radii, diameters, and coordinates, are multiplied by DIMLFAC before being converted to dimension text. Positive values of DIMLFAC are applied to dimensions in both modelspace and paperspace; negative values are applied to paperspace only. DIMLFAC applies primarily to nonassociative dimensions (DIMASSOC set 0 or 1). For nonassociative dimensions in paperspace, DIMLFAC must be set individually for each layout viewport to accommodate viewport scaling. DIMLFAC has no effect on angular dimensions, and is not applied to the values held in DIMRND, DIMTM, or DIMTP.
DIMLIM 72 Generates dimension limits as the default text. Setting DIMLIM to On turns DIMTOL off. 0.0 • 2 0 = Dimension limits are not generated as default text • 2 1 = Dimension limits are generated as default text 168u
DIMPOST 3 Specifies a text prefix or suffix (or both) to the dimension measurement. For example, to establish a suffix for millimeters, set DIMPOST to mm; a distance of 19.2 units would be displayed as 19.2 mm. If tolerances are turned on, the suffix is applied to the tolerances as well as to the main dimension. Use “<>” to indicate placement of the text in relation to the dimension value. For example, enter “<>mm” to display a 5.0 millimeter radial dimension as “5.0mm”. If you entered mm “<>”, the dimension would be displayed as “mm 5.0”.
DIMRND 45 Rounds all dimensioning distances to the specified value. For instance, if DIMRND is set to 0.25, all distances round to the nearest 0.25 unit. If you set DIMRND to 1.0, all distances round to the nearest integer. Note that the number of digits edited after the decimal point depends on the precision set by DIMDEC. DIMRND does not apply to angular dimensions.
DIMSAH 173 Controls the display of dimension line arrowhead blocks. 0.0 • 2 0 = Use arrowhead blocks set by DIMBLK • 2 1 = Use arrowhead blocks set by DIMBLK1 and DIMBLK2 168u
DIMSCALE 40 Sets the overall scale factor applied to dimensioning variables that specify sizes, distances, or offsets. Also affects the leader objects with the LEADER command. Use MLEADERSCALE to scale multileader objects created with the MLEADER command. 0.0 • 2 0.0 = A reasonable default value is computed based on the scaling between the current model space viewport and paperspace. If you are in paperspace or modelspace and not using the paperspace feature, the scale factor is 1.0. • 2 >0 = A scale factor is computed that leads text sizes, arrowhead sizes, and other scaled distances to plot at their face values. 168u DIMSCALE does not affect measured lengths, coordinates, or angles. Use DIMSCALE to control the overall scale of dimensions. However, if the current dimension style is annotative, DIMSCALE is automatically set to zero and the dimension scale is controlled by the CANNOSCALE system variable. DIMSCALE cannot be set to a non-zero value when using annotative dimensions.
DIMSE1 75 Suppresses display of the first extension line. 0.0 • 2 0 = Extension line is not suppressed • 2 1 = Extension line is suppressed 168u
DIMSE2 76 Suppresses display of the second extension line. 0.0 • 2 0 = Extension line is not suppressed • 2 1 = Extension line is suppressed 168u
DIMSOXD 175 Suppresses arrowheads if not enough space is available inside the extension lines. 0.0 • 2 0 = Arrowheads are not suppressed • 2 1 = Arrowheads are suppressed 168u If not enough space is available inside the extension lines and DIMTIX is on, setting DIMSOXD to On suppresses the arrowheads. If DIMTIX is off, DIMSOXD has no effect.
DIMTAD 77 Controls the vertical position of text in relation to the dimension line. 0.0 • 2 0 = Centers the dimension text between the extension lines. • 2 1 = Places the dimension text above the dimension line except when the dimension line is not horizontal and text inside the extension lines is forced horizontal (DIMTIH = 1). The distance from the dimension line to the baseline of the lowest line of text is the current DIMGAP value. • 2 2 = Places the dimension text on the side of the dimension line farthest away from the defining points. • 2 3 = Places the dimension text to conform to Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). • 2 4 = Places the dimension text below the dimension line. 168u
DIMTFAC 146 Specifies a scale factor for the text height of fractions and tolerance values relative to the dimension text height, as set by DIMTXT. For example, if DIMTFAC is set to 1.0, the text height of fractions and tolerances is the same height as the dimension text. If DIMTFAC is set to 0.7500, the text height of fractions and tolerances is three-quarters the size of dimension text.
DIMTIH 73 Controls the position of dimension text inside the extension lines for all dimension types except Ordinate. 0.0 • 2 0 = Aligns text with the dimension line • 2 1 = Draws text horizontally 168u
DIMTIX 174 Draws text between extension lines. 0.0 • 2 0 = Varies with the type of dimension. For linear and angular dimensions, text is placed inside the extension lines if there is sufficient room. For radius and diameter dimensions hat don’t fit inside the circle or arc, DIMTIX has no effect and always forces the text outside the circle or arc. • 2 1 = Draws dimension text between the extension lines even if it would ordinarily be placed outside those lines 168u
DIMTM 48 Sets the minimum (or lower) tolerance limit for dimension text when DIMTOL or DIMLIM is on. DIMTM accepts signed values. If DIMTOL is on and DIMTP and DIMTM are set to the same value, a tolerance value is drawn. If DIMTM and DIMTP values differ, the upper tolerance is drawn above the lower, and a plus sign is added to the DIMTP value if it is positive. For DIMTM, the program uses the negative of the value you enter (adding a minus sign if you specify a positive number and a plus sign if you specify a negative number).
DIMTOFL 172 Controls whether a dimension line is drawn between the extension lines even when the text is placed outside. For radius and diameter dimensions (when DIMTIX is off), draws a dimension line inside the circle or arc and places the text, arrowheads, and leader outside. 0.0 • 2 0 = Does not draw dimension lines between the measured points when arrowheads are placed outside the measured points • 2 1 = Draws dimension lines between the measured points even when arrowheads are placed outside the measured points 168u
DIMTOH 74 Controls the position of dimension text outside the extension lines. 0.0 • 2 0 = Aligns text with the dimension line • 2 1 = Draws text horizontally 168u
DIMTOL 71 Appends tolerances to dimension text. Setting DIMTOL to on turns DIMLIM off.
DIMTP 47 Sets the maximum (or upper) tolerance limit for dimension text when DIMTOL or DIMLIM is on. DIMTP accepts signed values. If DIMTOL is on and DIMTP and DIMTM are set to the same value, a tolerance value is drawn. If DIMTM and DIMTP values differ, the upper tolerance is drawn above the lower and a plus sign is added to the DIMTP value if it is positive.
DIMTSZ 142 Specifies the size of oblique strokes drawn instead of arrowheads for linear, radius, and diameter dimensioning. 0.0 • 2 0 = Draws arrowheads. • 2 >0 = Draws oblique strokes instead of arrowheads. The size of the oblique strokes is determined by this value multiplied by the DIMSCALE value 168u
DIMTVP 145 Controls the vertical position of dimension text above or below the dimension line. The DIMTVP value is used when DIMTAD = 0. The magnitude of the vertical offset of text is the product of the text height and DIMTVP. Setting DIMTVP to 1.0 is equivalent to setting DIMTAD = 1. The dimension line splits to accommodate the text only if the absolute value of DIMTVP is less than 0.7.
DIMTXT 140 Specifies the height of dimension text, unless the current text style has a fixed height.
DIMZIN 78 Controls the suppression of zeros in the primary unit value. Values 0-3 affect feet-and-inch dimensions only: 0.0 • 2 0 = Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches • 2 1 = Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches • 2 2 = Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches • 2 3 = Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet • 2 4 (Bit 3) = Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000) • 2 8 (Bit 4) = Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5) • 2 12 (Bit 3+4) = Suppresses both leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5) 168u

Table Structure DXF R2000+

0           <<< start of table
TABLE
2           <<< set table type
DIMSTYLE
5           <<< DIMSTYLE table handle
5F
330         <<< owner tag, tables has no owner
0
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTable
70          <<< count of dimension styles defined in this table, AutoCAD ignores this value
9
0           <<< 1. DIMSTYLE table entry
DIMSTYLE

<<< DIMSTYLE data tags 0 <<< 2. DIMSTYLE table entry DIMSTYLE
<<< DIMSTYLE data tags and so on 0 <<< end of DIMSTYLE table ENDTAB


Additional DIMSTYLE Variables DXF R13/14

Source: CADDManger Blog

DIMVAR code Description
DIMADEC 179 Controls the number of precision places displayed in angular dimensions.
DIMALTTD 274 Sets the number of decimal places for the tolerance values in the alternate units of a dimension.
DIMALTTZ 286 Controls suppression of zeros in tolerance values.
DIMALTU 273 Sets the units format for alternate units of all dimension substyles except Angular.
DIMALTZ 285 Controls the suppression of zeros for alternate unit dimension values. DIMALTZ values 0-3 affect feet-and-inch dimensions only.
DIMAUNIT 275 Sets the units format for angular dimensions. 0.0 • 2 0 = Decimal degrees • 2 1 = Degrees/minutes/seconds • 2 2 = Grad • 2 3 = Radians 168u
DIMBLK_HANDLE 342 defines DIMBLK as handle to the BLOCK RECORD entry
DIMBLK1_HANDLE 343 defines DIMBLK1 as handle to the BLOCK RECORD entry
DIMBLK2_HANDLE 344 defines DIMBLK2 as handle to the BLOCK RECORD entry
DIMDEC 271 Sets the number of decimal places displayed for the primary units of a dimension. The precision is based on the units or angle format you have selected.
DIMDSEP 278 Specifies a single-character decimal separator to use when creating dimensions whose unit format is decimal. When prompted, enter a single character at the Command prompt. If dimension units is set to Decimal, the DIMDSEP character is used instead of the default decimal point. If DIMDSEP is set to NULL (default value, reset by entering a period), the decimal point is used as the dimension separator.
DIMJUST 280 Controls the horizontal positioning of dimension text. 0.0 • 2 0 = Positions the text above the dimension line and center-justifies it between the extension lines • 2 1 = Positions the text next to the first extension line • 2 2 = Positions the text next to the second extension line • 2 3 = Positions the text above and aligned with the first extension line • 2 4 = =Positions the text above and aligned with the second extension line 168u
DIMSD1 281 Controls suppression of the first dimension line and arrowhead. When turned on, suppresses the display of the dimension line and arrowhead between the first extension line and the text. 0.0 • 2 0 = First dimension line is not suppressed • 2 1 = First dimension line is suppressed 168u
DIMSD2 282 Controls suppression of the second dimension line and arrowhead. When turned on, suppresses the display of the dimension line and arrowhead between the second extension line and the text. 0.0 • 2 0 = Second dimension line is not suppressed • 2 1 = Second dimension line is suppressed 168u
DIMTDEC 272 Sets the number of decimal places to display in tolerance values for the primary units in a dimension. This system variable has no effect unless DIMTOL is set to On. The default for DIMTOL is Off.
DIMTOLJ 283 Sets the vertical justification for tolerance values relative to the nominal dimension text. This system variable has no effect unless DIMTOL is set to On. The default for DIMTOL is Off. 0.0 • 2 0 = Bottom • 2 1 = Middle • 2 2 = Top 168u
DIMTXSTY_HANDLE 340 Specifies the text style of the dimension as handle to STYLE table entry
DIMTZIN 284 Controls the suppression of zeros in tolerance values. Values 0-3 affect feet-and-inch dimensions only. 0.0 • 2 0 = Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches • 2 1 = Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches • 2 2 = Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches • 2 3 = Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet • 2 4 = Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000) • 2 8 = Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5) • 2 12 = Suppresses both leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5) 168u
DIMUPT 288 Controls options for user-positioned text. 0.0 • 2 0 = Cursor controls only the dimension line location • 2 1 = Cursor controls both the text position and the dimension line location 168u

Additional DIMSTYLE Variables DXF R2000

Source: CADDManger Blog

DIMVAR Code Description
DIMALTRND 148 Rounds off the alternate dimension units.
DIMATFIT 289 Determines how dimension text and arrows are arranged when space is not sufficient to place both within the extension lines. 0.0 • 2 0 = Places both text and arrows outside extension lines • 2 1 = Moves arrows first, then text • 2 2 = Moves text first, then arrows • 2 3 = Moves either text or arrows, whichever fits best 168u A leader is added to moved dimension text when DIMTMOVE is set to 1.
DIMAZIN 79 Suppresses zeros for angular dimensions. 0.0 • 2 0 = Displays all leading and trailing zeros • 2 1 = Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000) • 2 2 = Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5) • 2 3 = Suppresses leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5) 168u
DIMFRAC 276 Sets the fraction format when DIMLUNIT is set to 4 (Architectural) or 5 (Fractional). 0.0 • 2 0 = Horizontal stacking • 2 1 = Diagonal stacking • 2 2 = Not stacked (for example, 1/2) 168u
DIMLDRBLK_HANDLE 341 Specifies the arrow type for leaders. Handle to BLOCK RECORD
DIMLUNIT 277 Sets units for all dimension types except Angular. 0.0 • 2 1 = Scientific • 2 2 = Decimal • 2 3 = Engineering • 2 4 = Architectural (always displayed stacked) • 2 5 = Fractional (always displayed stacked) • 2 6 = Microsoft Windows Desktop (decimal format using Control Panel settings for decimal separator and number grouping symbols) 168u
DIMLWD 371 Assigns lineweight to dimension lines. 0.0 • 2 -3 = Default (the LWDEFAULT value) • 2 -2 = BYBLOCK • 2 -1 = BYLAYER 168u
DIMLWE 372 Assigns lineweight to extension lines. 0.0 • 2 -3 = Default (the LWDEFAULT value) • 2 -2 = BYBLOCK • 2 -1 = BYLAYER 168u
DIMTMOVE 279 Sets dimension text movement rules. 0.0 • 2 0 = Moves the dimension line with dimension text • 2 1 = Adds a leader when dimension text is moved • 2 2 = Allows text to be moved freely without a leader 168u

Text Location

This image shows the default text locations created by BricsCAD for dimension variables dimtad and dimjust: [image]

Unofficial DIMSTYLE Variables for DXF R2007 and later

The following DIMVARS are not documented in the DXF Reference by Autodesk.

DIMVAR Code Description
DIMTFILL 69 Text fill 0=off; 1=background color; 2=custom color (see DIMTFILLCLR)
DIMTFILLCLR 70 Text fill custom color as color index
DIMFXLON 290 Extension line has fixed length if set to 1
DIMFXL 49 Length of extension line below dimension line if fixed (DIMFXLON is 1), DIMEXE defines the the length above the dimension line
DIMJOGANG 50 Angle of oblique dimension line segment in jogged radius dimension
DIMLTYPE_HANDLE 345 Specifies the LINETYPE of the dimension line. Handle to LTYPE table entry
DIMLTEX1_HANDLE 346 Specifies the LINETYPE of the extension line 1. Handle to LTYPE table entry
DIMLTEX2_HANDLE 347 Specifies the LINETYPE of the extension line 2. Handle to LTYPE table entry

Extended Settings as Special XDATA Groups

Prior to DXF R2007, some extended settings for the dimension and the extension lines are stored in the XDATA section by following entries, this is not documented by Autodesk:

1001
ACAD_DSTYLE_DIM_LINETYPE        <<< linetype for dimension line
1070
380                             <<< group code, which differs from R2007 DIMDLTYPE
1005
FFFF                            <<< handle to LTYPE entry
1001
ACAD_DSTYLE_DIM_EXT1_LINETYPE   <<< linetype for extension line 1
1070
381                             <<< group code, which differs from R2007 DIMLTEX1
1005
FFFF                            <<< handle to LTYPE entry
1001
ACAD_DSTYLE_DIM_EXT2_LINETYPE   <<< linetype for extension line 1
1070
382                             <<< group code, which differs from R2007 DIMLTEX2
1005
FFFF                            <<< handle to LTYPE entry
1001
ACAD_DSTYLE_DIMEXT_ENABLED      <<< extension line fixed
1070
383                             <<< group code, which differs from R2007 DIMEXFIX
1070
1                               <<< fixed if 1 else 0
1001
ACAD_DSTYLE_DIMEXT_LENGTH       <<< extension line fixed length
1070
378                             <<< group code, which differs from R2007 DIMEXLEN
1040
1.33                            <<< length of extension line below dimension line


This XDATA groups requires also an appropriate APPID entry in the APPID table. This feature is not supported by ezdxf.

BLOCK_RECORD Table

Block records are essential elements for the entities management, each layout (modelspace and paperspace) and every block definition has a block record entry. This block record is the hard owner of the entities of layouts, each entity has an owner handle which points to a block record of the layout.

DXF Entities

DIMENSION Entity

SEE ALSO:

  • DXF Reference: DIMENSION
  • DXFInternals: dimstyle_table_internals



[image]

DXF Objects

TODO

Management Structures

Block Management Structures

A BLOCK is a layout like the modelspace or a paperspace layout, with the similarity that all these layouts are containers for graphical DXF entities. This block definition can be referenced in other layouts by the INSERT entity. By using block references, the same set of graphical entities can be located multiple times at different layouts, this block references can be stretched and rotated without modifying the original entities. A block is referenced only by its name defined by the DXF tag (2, name), there is a second DXF tag (3, name2) for the block name, which is not further documented by Autodesk, just ignore it.

The (10, base_point) tag (in BLOCK defines a insertion point of the block, by ‘inserting’ a block by the INSERT entity, this point of the block is placed at the location defined by the (10, insert) tag in the INSERT entity, and it is also the base point for stretching and rotation.

A block definition can contain INSERT entities, and it is possible to create cyclic block definitions (a BLOCK contains a INSERT of itself), but this should be avoided, CAD applications will not load the DXF file at all or maybe just crash. This is also the case for all other kinds of cyclic definitions like: BLOCK “A” -> INSERT BLOCK “B” and BLOCK “B” -> INSERT BLOCK “A”.

SEE ALSO:

  • ezdxf DXF Internals: blocks_section_internals
  • DXF Reference: BLOCKS Section
  • DXF Reference: BLOCK Entity
  • DXF Reference: ENDBLK Entity
  • DXF Reference: INSERT Entity



Block Names

Block names has to be unique and they are case insensitive (“Test” == “TEST”). If there are two or more block definitions with the same name, AutoCAD merges these blocks into a single block with unpredictable properties of all these blocks. In my test with two blocks, the final block has the name of the first block and the base-point of the second block, and contains all entities of both blocks.

Block Definitions in DXF R12

In DXF R12 the definition of a block is located in the BLOCKS section, no additional structures are needed. The definition starts with a BLOCK entity and ends with a ENDBLK entity. All entities between this two entities are the content of the block, the block is the owner of this entities like any layout.

As shown in the DXF file below (created by AutoCAD LT 2018), the BLOCK entity has no handle, but ezdxf writes also handles for the BLOCK entity and AutoCAD doesn’t complain.

DXF R12 BLOCKS structure:

0           <<< start of a SECTION
SECTION
2           <<< start of BLOCKS section
BLOCKS
...         <<< modelspace and paperspace block definitions not shown,
...         <<< see layout management
...
0           <<< start of a BLOCK definition
BLOCK
8           <<< layer
0
2           <<< block name
ArchTick
70          <<< flags
1
10          <<< base point, x
0.0
20          <<< base point, y
0.0
30          <<< base point, z
0.0
3           <<< second BLOCK name, same as (2, name)
ArchTick
1           <<< xref name, if block is an external reference

<<< empty string! 0 <<< start of the first entity of the BLOCK LINE 5 28E 8 0 62 0 10 500.0 20 500.0 30 0.0 11 500.0 21 511.0 31 0.0 0 <<< start of the second entity of the BLOCK LINE ... 0.0 0 <<< ENDBLK entity, marks the end of the BLOCK definition ENDBLK 5 <<< ENDBLK gets a handle by AutoCAD, but BLOCK didn't 2F2 8 <<< as every entity, also ENDBLK requires a layer (same as BLOCK entity!) 0 0 <<< start of next BLOCK entity BLOCK ... 0 <<< end BLOCK entity ENDBLK 0 <<< end of BLOCKS section ENDSEC


Block Definitions in DXF R2000+

The overall organization in the BLOCKS sections remains the same, but additional tags in the BLOCK entity, have to be maintained.

Especially the concept of ownership is important. Since DXF R13 every graphic entity is associated to a specific layout and a BLOCK definition is also a layout. So all entities in the BLOCK definition, including the BLOCK and the ENDBLK entities, have an owner tag (330, ...), which points to a BLOCK_RECORD entry in the BLOCK_RECORD table. This BLOCK_RECORD is the main management structure for all layouts and is the real owner of the layout entities.

As you can see in the chapter about Layout Management Structures, this concept is also valid for modelspace and paperspace layouts, because these layouts are also BLOCKS, with the special difference, that the entities of the modelspace and the active paperspace layout are stored in the ENTITIES section. [image]

SEE ALSO:

  • Tag Structure DXF R13 and later
  • ezdxf DXF Internals: tables_section_internals
  • DXF Reference: TABLES Section
  • DXF Reference: BLOCK_RECORD Entity



DXF R13 BLOCKS structure:

0           <<< start of a SECTION
SECTION
2           <<< start of BLOCKS section
BLOCKS
...         <<< modelspace and paperspace block definitions not shown,
...         <<< see layout management
0           <<< start of BLOCK definition
BLOCK
5           <<< even BLOCK gets a handle now ;)
23A
330         <<< owner tag, the owner of a BLOCK is a BLOCK_RECORD in the
...         BLOCK_RECORD table
238
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbEntity
8           <<< layer of the BLOCK definition
0
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbBlockBegin
2           <<< BLOCK name
ArchTick
70          <<< flags
0
10          <<< base point, x
0.0
20          <<< base point, y
0.0
30          <<< base point, z
0.0
3           <<< second BLOCK name, same as (2, name)
ArchTick
1           <<< xref name, if block is an external reference

<<< empty string! 0 <<< start of the first entity of the BLOCK LWPOLYLINE 5 239 330 <<< owner tag of LWPOLYLINE 238 <<< handle of the BLOCK_RECORD! 100 AcDbEntity 8 0 6 ByBlock 62 0 100 AcDbPolyline 90 2 70 0 43 0.15 10 -0.5 20 -0.5 10 0.5 20 0.5 0 <<< ENDBLK entity, marks the end of the BLOCK definition ENDBLK 5 <<< handle 23B 330 <<< owner tag, same BLOCK_RECORD as for the BLOCK entity 238 100 <<< subclass marker AcDbEntity 8 <<< ENDBLK requires the same layer as the BLOCK entity! 0 100 <<< subclass marker AcDbBlockEnd 0 <<< start of the next BLOCK BLOCK ... 0 ENDBLK ... 0 <<< end of the BLOCKS section ENDSEC


DXF R13 BLOCK_RECORD structure:

0           <<< start of a SECTION
SECTION
2           <<< start of TABLES section
TABLES
0           <<< start of a TABLE
TABLE
2           <<< start of the BLOCK_RECORD table
BLOCK_RECORD
5           <<< handle of the table
1
330         <<< owner tag of the table
0           <<< is always #0
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTable
70          <<< count of table entries, not reliable
4
0           <<< start of first BLOCK_RECORD entry
BLOCK_RECORD
5           <<< handle of BLOCK_RECORD, in ezdxf often referred to as "layout key"
1F
330         <<< owner of the BLOCK_RECORD is the BLOCK_RECORD table
1
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbBlockTableRecord
2           <<< name of the BLOCK or LAYOUT
*Model_Space
340         <<< pointer to the associated LAYOUT object
4AF
70          <<< AC1021 (R2007) block insertion units
0
280         <<< AC1021 (R2007) block explodability
1
281         <<< AC1021 (R2007) block scalability
0
...         <<< paperspace not shown
...
0           <<< next BLOCK_RECORD
BLOCK_RECORD
5           <<< handle of BLOCK_RECORD, in ezdxf often referred to as "layout key"
238
330         <<< owner of the BLOCK_RECORD is the BLOCK_RECORD table
1
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbSymbolTableRecord
100         <<< subclass marker
AcDbBlockTableRecord
2           <<< name of the BLOCK
ArchTick
340         <<< pointer to the associated LAYOUT object
0           <<< #0, because BLOCK doesn't have an associated LAYOUT object
70          <<< AC1021 (R2007) block insertion units
0
280         <<< AC1021 (R2007) block explodability
1
281         <<< AC1021 (R2007) block scalability
0
0           <<< end of BLOCK_RECORD table
ENDTAB
0           <<< next TABLE
TABLE
...
0
ENDTAB
0           <<< end of TABLES section
ENDESC


Layout Management Structures

Layouts are separated entity spaces, there are three different Layout types:

1.
modelspace contains the ‘real’ world representation of the drawing subjects in real world units.
2.
paperspace layouts are used to create different drawing sheets of the modelspace subjects for printing or PDF export
3.
Blocks are reusable sets of graphical entities, inserted/referenced by the INSERT entity.



All layouts have at least a BLOCK definition in the BLOCKS section and since DXF R13 exist the BLOCK_RECORD table with an entry for every BLOCK in the BLOCKS section.

SEE ALSO:

Information about Block Management Structures


The name of the modelspace BLOCK is “*Model_Space” (DXF R12: “$MODEL_SPACE”) and the name of the active paperspace BLOCK is “*Paper_Space” (DXF R12: “$PAPER_SPACE”), the entities of these two layouts are stored in the ENTITIES section, DXF R12 supports just one paperspace layout.

DXF R13+ supports multiple paperspace layouts, the active layout is still called “*Paper_Space”, the additional inactive paperspace layouts are named by the scheme “*Paper_Spacennnn”, where the first inactive paper space is called “*Paper_Space0”, the second “*Paper_Space1” and so on. A none consecutive numbering is tolerated by AutoCAD. The content of the inactive paperspace layouts are stored as BLOCK content in the BLOCKS section. These names are just the DXF internal layout names, each layout has an additional layout name which is displayed to the user by the CAD application.

A BLOCK definition and a BLOCK_RECORD is not enough for a proper layout setup, an LAYOUT entity in the OBJECTS section is also required. All LAYOUT entities are managed by a DICTIONARY entity, which is referenced as “ACAD_LAYOUT” entity in the root DICTIONARY of the DXF file.

NOTE:

All floating point values are rounded to 2 decimal places for better readability.


LAYOUT Entity

Since DXF R2000 modelspace and paperspace layouts require the DXF LAYOUT entity.

0
LAYOUT
5       <<< handle
59
102     <<< extension dictionary (ignore)
{ACAD_XDICTIONARY
360
1C3
102
}
102     <<< reactor (required?)
{ACAD_REACTORS
330
1A      <<< pointer to "ACAD_LAYOUT" DICTIONARY (layout management table)
102
}
330     <<< owner handle
1A      <<< pointer to "ACAD_LAYOUT" DICTIONARY (same as reactor pointer)
100     <<< PLOTSETTINGS
AcDbPlotSettings
1       <<< page setup name
2       <<< name of system printer or plot configuration file
none_device
4       <<< paper size, part in braces should follow the schema
...     (width_x_height_unit) unit is 'Inches' or 'MM'
...     Letter\_(8.50_x_11.00_Inches)  the part in front of the braces is
...     ignored by AutoCAD
6       <<< plot view name
40      <<< size of unprintable margin on left side of paper in millimeters,
...     defines also the plot origin-x
6.35
41      <<< size of unprintable margin on bottom of paper in millimeters,
...     defines also the plot origin-y
6.35
42      <<< size of unprintable margin on right side of paper in millimeters
6.35
43      <<< size of unprintable margin on top of paper in millimeters
6.35
44      <<< plot paper size: physical paper width in millimeters
215.90
45      <<< plot paper size: physical paper height in millimeters
279.40
46      <<< X value of plot origin offset in millimeters, moves the plot origin-x
0.0
47      <<< Y value of plot origin offset in millimeters, moves the plot origin-y
0.0
48      <<< plot window area: X value of lower-left window corner
0.0
49      <<< plot window area: Y value of lower-left window corner
0.0
140     <<< plot window area: X value of upper-right window corner
0.0
141     <<< plot window area: Y value of upper-right window corner
0.0
142     <<< numerator of custom print scale: real world (paper) units, 1.0
...     for scale 1:50
1.0
143     <<< denominator of custom print scale: drawing units, 50.0
...     for scale 1:50
1.0
70      <<< plot layout flags, bit-coded (... too many options)
688     <<< b1010110000 = UseStandardScale(16)/PlotPlotStyle(32)
...     PrintLineweights(128)/DrawViewportsFirst(512)
72      <<< plot paper units (0/1/2 for inches/millimeters/pixels), are
...     pixels really supported?
0
73      <<< plot rotation (0/1/2/3 for 0deg/90deg counter-cw/upside-down/90deg cw)
1       <<< 90deg clockwise
74      <<< plot type 0-5 (... too many options)
5       <<< 5 = layout information
7       <<< current plot style name, e.g. 'acad.ctb' or 'acadlt.ctb'
75      <<< standard scale type 0-31 (... too many options)
16      <<< 16 = 1:1, also 16 if user scale type is used
147     <<< unit conversion factor
1.0     <<< for plot paper units in mm, else  0.03937... (1/25.4) for inches
...     as plot paper units
76      <<< shade plot mode (0/1/2/3 for as displayed/wireframe/hidden/rendered)
0       <<< as displayed
77      <<< shade plot resolution level 1-5 (... too many options)
2       <<< normal
78      <<< shade plot custom DPI: 100-32767, Only applied when shade plot
...     resolution level is set to 5 (Custom)
300
148     <<< paper image origin: X value
0.0
149     <<< paper image origin: Y value
0.0
100     <<< LAYOUT settings
AcDbLayout
1       <<< layout name
Layout1
70      <<< flags bit-coded
1       <<< 1 = Indicates the PSLTSCALE value for this layout when this
...     layout is current
71      <<< Tab order ("Model" tab always appears as the first tab
...     regardless of its tab order)
1
10      <<< minimum limits for this layout (defined by LIMMIN while this
...     layout is current)
-0.25   <<<     x value, distance of the left paper margin from the plot
...     origin-x, in plot paper units and by scale (e.g. x50 for 1:50)
20      <<<     group code for y value
-0.25   <<<     y value, distance of the bottom paper margin from the plot
...     origin-y, in plot paper units and by scale (e.g. x50 for 1:50)
11      <<< maximum limits for this layout (defined by LIMMAX while this
...     layout is current)
10.75   <<<     x value, distance of the right paper margin from the plot
...     origin-x, in plot paper units and by scale (e.g. x50 for 1:50)
21      <<<     group code for y value
8.25    <<<     y value, distance of the top paper margin from the plot
...     origin-y, in plot paper units and by scale (e.g. x50 for 1:50)
12      <<< insertion base point for this layout (defined by INSBASE while
...     this layout is current)
0.0     <<<     x value
22      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
32      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
14      <<< minimum extents for this layout (defined by EXTMIN while this
...     layout is current), AutoCAD default is (1e20, 1e20, 1e20)
1.05    <<<     x value
24      <<<     group code for y value
0.80    <<<     y value
34      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
15      <<< maximum extents for this layout (defined by EXTMAX while this
...     layout is current), AutoCAD default is (-1e20, -1e20, -1e20)
9.45    <<<     x value
25      <<<     group code for y value
7.20    <<<     y value
35      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
146     <<< elevation ???
0.0
13      <<< UCS origin (3D Point)
0.0     <<<     x value
23      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
33      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
16      <<< UCS X-axis (3D vector)
1.0     <<<     x value
26      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
36      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
17      <<< UCS Y-axis (3D vector)
0.0     <<<     x value
27      <<<     group code for y value
1.0     <<<     y value
37      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
76      <<< orthographic type of UCS 0-6 (... too many options)
0       <<< 0 = UCS is not orthographic ???
330     <<< ID/handle of required block table record
58
331     <<< ID/handle to the viewport that was last active in this layout
...     when the layout was current
1B9
1001    <<< extended data (ignore)
...


And as it seems this is also not enough for a well defined LAYOUT, at least a “main” VIEWPORT entity with ID=1 is required for paperspace layouts, located in the entity space of the layout.

The modelspace layout requires (?) a VPORT entity in the VPORT table (group code 331 in the AcDbLayout subclass).

Main VIEWPORT Entity for LAYOUT

The “main” viewport for layout “Layout1” shown above. This viewport is located in the associated BLOCK definition called “*Paper_Space0”. Group code 330 in subclass AcDbLayout points to the BLOCK_RECORD of “*Paper_Space0”.

Remember: the entities of the active paperspace layout are located in the ENTITIES section, therefore “Layout1” is not the active paperspace layout.

The “main” VIEWPORT describes, how the application shows the paperspace layout on the screen, and I guess only AutoCAD needs this values. [image]

0
VIEWPORT
5       <<< handle
1B4
102     <<< extension dictionary (ignore)
{ACAD_XDICTIONARY
360
1B5
102
}
330     <<< owner handle
58      <<< points to BLOCK_RECORD (same as group code 330 in AcDbLayout of
...     "Layout1")
100
AcDbEntity
67      <<< paperspace flag
1       <<< 0 = modelspace; 1 = paperspace
8       <<< layer,
0
100
AcDbViewport
10      <<< Center point (in WCS)
5.25    <<<     x value
20      <<<     group code for y value
4.00    <<<     y value
30      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
40      <<< width in paperspace units
23.55   <<< VIEW size in AutoCAD, depends on the workstation configuration
41      <<< height in paperspace units
9.00    <<< VIEW size in AutoCAD, depends on the workstation configuration
68      <<< viewport status field -1/0/n
2       <<< >0  On and active. The value indicates the order of stacking for
...     the viewports, where 1 is the active viewport, 2 is the next, and so forth
69      <<< viewport ID
1       <<< "main" viewport has always ID=1
12      <<< view center point in Drawing Coordinate System (DCS), defines
...     the center point of the VIEW in relation to the LAYOUT origin
5.25    <<<     x value
22      <<<     group code for y value
4.00    <<<     y value
13      <<< snap base point in modelspace
0.0     <<<     x value
23      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
14      <<< snap spacing in modelspace units
0.5     <<<     x value
24      <<<     group code for y value
0.5     <<<     y value
15      <<< grid spacing in modelspace units
0.5     <<<     x value
25      <<<     group code for y value
0.5     <<<     y value
16      <<< view direction vector from target (in WCS)
0.0     <<<     x value
26      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
36      <<<     group code for z value
1.0     <<<     z value
17      <<< view target point
0.0     <<<     x value
27      <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
37      <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
42      <<<     perspective lens length, focal length?
50.0    <<<     50mm
43      <<<     front clip plane z value
0.0     <<<     z value
44      <<<     back clip plane z value
0.0     <<<     z value
45      <<<     view height (in modelspace units)
9.00
50      <<< snap angle
0.0
51      <<< view twist angle
0.0
72      <<< circle zoom percent
1000
90      <<< Viewport status bit-coded flags (... too many options)
819232  <<< b11001000000000100000
1       <<< plot style sheet name assigned to this viewport
281     <<< render mode (... too many options)
0       <<< 0 = 2D optimized (classic 2D)
71      <<< UCS per viewport flag
1       <<< 1 = This viewport stores its own UCS which will become the
...     current UCS whenever the viewport is activated
74      <<< Display UCS icon at UCS origin flag
0       <<< this field is currently being ignored and the icon always
...     represents the viewport UCS
110     <<< UCS origin (3D point)
0.0     <<<     x value
120     <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
130     <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
111     <<< UCS X-axis (3D vector)
1.0     <<<     x value
121     <<<     group code for y value
0.0     <<<     y value
131     <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
112     <<< UCS Y-axis (3D vector)
0.0     <<<     x value
122     <<<     group code for y value
1.0     <<<     y value
132     <<<     group code for z value
0.0     <<<     z value
79      <<< Orthographic type of UCS (... too many options)
0       <<< 0 = UCS is not orthographic
146     <<< elevation
0.0
170     <<< shade plot mode (0/1/2/3 for as displayed/wireframe/hidden/rendered)
0       <<< as displayed
61      <<< frequency of major grid lines compared to minor grid lines
5       <<< major grid subdivided by 5
348     <<< visual style ID/handle (optional)
9F
292     <<< default lighting flag, on when no user lights are specified.
1
282     <<< Default lighting type (0/1 = one distant light/two distant lights)
1       <<< one distant light
141     <<< view brightness
0.0
142     <<< view contrast
0.0
63      <<< ambient light color (ACI), write only if not black color
250
421     <<< ambient light color (RGB), write only if not black color
3355443


DEVELOPER GUIDES

Information about ezdxf internals.

Design

The pkg-design section shows the structure of the ezdxf package for developers with more experience, which want to have more insight into the package an maybe want to develop add-ons or want contribute to the ezdxf package. !!! UNDER CONSTRUCTION !!!

Package Design for Developers

A DXF document is divided into several sections, this sections are managed by the Drawing object. For each section exist a corresponding attribute in the Drawing object:

Section Attribute
HEADER Drawing.header
CLASSES Drawing.classes
TABLES Drawing.tables
BLOCKS Drawing.blocks
ENTITIES Drawing.entities
OBJECTS Drawing.objects

Resource entities (LAYER, STYLE, LTYPE, …) are stored in tables in the TABLES section. A table owns the table entries, the owner handle of table entry is the handle of the table. Each table has a shortcut in the Drawing object:

Table Attribute
APPID Drawing.appids
BLOCK_RECORD Drawing.block_records
DIMSTYLE Drawing.dimstyles
LAYER Drawing.layers
LTYPE Drawing.linetypes
STYLE Drawing.styles
UCS Drawing.ucs
VIEW Drawing.views
VPORT Drawing.viewports

Graphical entities are stored in layouts: Modelspace, Paperspace layouts and BlockLayout. The core management object of this layouts is the BLOCK_RECORD entity (BlockRecord), the BLOCK_RECORD is the real owner of the entities, the owner handle of the entities is the handle of the BLOCK_RECORD and the BLOCK_RECORD also owns and manages the entity space of the layout which contains all entities of the layout.

For more information about layouts see also: Layout Management Structures

For more information about blocks see also: Block Management Structures

Non-graphical entities (objects) are stored in the OBJECTS section. Every object has a parent object in the OBJECTS section, most likely a DICTIONARY object, and is stored in the entity space of the OBJECTS section.

For more information about the OBJECTS section see also: objects_section_internals

All table entries, DXF entities and DXF objects are stored in the entities database accessible as Drawing.entitydb. The entity database is a simple key, value storage, key is the entity handle, value is the DXF object.

For more information about the DXF data model see also: Data Model

Terminology

States

DXF entities and objects can have different states:

Entity is not stored in the Drawing entity database and DXF attribute handle is None and attribute doc can be None
Entity is stored in the Drawing entity database, attribute doc has a reference to Drawing and DXF attribute handle is not None
Entity is not linked to a layout/owner, DXF attribute owner is None
Entity is linked to a layout/owner, DXF attribute owner is not None
State: UNBOUND & UNLINKED
State: BOUND & UNLINKED
State: BOUND & LINKED

Actions

Create a new DXF document
Load a DXF document from an external source
Create DXF structures from NEW or LOAD data
Delete DXF structures
Bind an entity to a Drawing, set entity state to BOUND & UNLINKED and check or create required resources
unbind …
Link an entity to an owner/layout. This makes an entity to a real DXF entity, which will be exported at the saving process. Any DXF entity can only be linked to one parent entity like DICTIONARY or BLOCK_RECORD.
unlink …

Loading a DXF Document

Loading a DXF document from an external source, creates a new Drawing object. This loading process has two stages:

First Loading Stage

  • LOAD content from external source as SectionDict: loader.load_dxf_structure()
  • LOAD tag structures as DXFEntity objects: loader.load_dxf_entities()
  • BIND entities: loader.load_and_bind_dxf_content(); Special handling of the BIND process, because the Drawing is not full initialized, a complete validation is not possible at this stage.

Second Loading Stage

Parse SectionDict:

  • CREATE sections: HEADER, CLASSES, TABLES, BLOCKS and OBJECTS
  • CREATE layouts: Blocks, Layouts
  • LINK entities to a owner/layout

The ENTITIES section is a relict from older DXF versions and has to be exported including the modelspace and active paperspace entities, but all entities reside in a BLOCK definition, even modelspace and paperspace layouts are only BLOCK definitions and ezdxf has no explicit ENTITIES section.

Source Code: as developer start your journey at ezdxf.document.Drawing.read(), which has no public documentation, because package-user should use ezdxf.read() and ezdxf.readfile().

New DXF Document

Creating New DXF Entities

The default constructor of each entity type creates a new virtual entity:

  • DXF attribute owner is None
  • DXF attribute handle is None
  • Attribute doc is None

The DXFEntity.new() constructor creates entities with given owner, handle and doc attributes, if doc is not None and entity is not already bound to a document, the new() constructor automatically bind the entity to the given document doc.

There exist only two scenarios:

1.
UNBOUND: doc is None and handle is None
2.
BOUND: doc is not None and handle is not None

Factory functions

  • new(), create a new virtual DXF object/entity
  • load(), load (create) virtual DXF object/entity from DXF tags
  • bind(), bind an entity to a document, create required resources if necessary (e.g. ImageDefReactor, SEQEND) and raise exceptions for non-existing resources.
  • Bind entity loaded from an external source to a document, all referenced resources must exist, but try to repair as many flaws as possible because errors were created by another application and are not the responsibility of the package-user.
  • Bind an entity from another DXF document, all invalid resources will be removed silently or created (e.g. SEQEND). This is a simple import from another document without resource import, for a more advanced import including resources exist the importer add-on.
  • Bootstrap problem for binding loaded table entries and objects in the OBJECTS section! Can’t use Auditor to repair this objects, because the DXF document is not fully initialized.

  • is_bound() returns True if entity is bound to document doc
  • unbind() function to remove an entity from a document and set state to a virtual entity, which should also UNLINK the entity from layout, because an layout can not store a virtual entity.
  • cls(), returns the class
  • register_entity(), registration decorator
  • replace_entity(), registration decorator

Class Interfaces

DXF Entities

  • NEW constructor to create an entity from scratch
  • LOAD constructor to create an entity loaded from an external source
  • DESTROY interface to kill an entity, set entity state to dead, which means entity.is_alive returns False. All entity iterators like EntitySpace, EntityQuery, and EntityDB must filter (ignore) dead entities. Calling DXFEntity.destroy() is a regular way to delete entities.
  • LINK an entity to a layout by BlockRecord.link(), which set the owner handle to BLOCK_RECORD handle (= layout key) and add the entity to the entity space of the BLOCK_RECORD and set/clear the paperspace flag.

DXF Objects

  • NEW, LOAD, DESTROY see DXF entities
  • LINK: Linking an DXF object means adding the entity to a parent object in the OBJECTS section, most likely a DICTIONARY object, and adding the object to the entity space of the OBJECTS section, the root-dict is the only entity in the OBJECTS section which has an invalid owner handle “0”. Any other object with an invalid or destroyed owner is an orphaned entity. The audit process destroys and removes orphaned objects.
  • Extension dictionaries (ACAD_XDICTIONARY) are DICTIONARY objects located in the OBJECTS sections and can reference/own other entities of the OBJECTS section.
  • The root-dictionary is the only entity in the OBJECTS section which has an invalid owner handle “0”. Any other object with an invalid or destroyed owner is an orphaned entity.

Layouts

  • LINK interface to link an entity to a layout
  • UNLINK interface to remove an entity from a layout

Database

  • BIND interface to add an entity to the database of a document
  • delete_entity() interface, same as UNBIND and DESTROY an entity

Internal Data Structures

Entity Database

The EntityDB is a simple key/value database to store DXFEntity objects by it’s handle, every Drawing has its own EntityDB, stored in the Drawing attribute entitydb.

Every DXF entity/object, except tables and sections, are represented as DXFEntity or inherited types, this entities are stored in the EntityDB, database-key is the dxf.handle as plain hex string.

All iterators like keys(), values(), items() and __iter__() do not yield destroyed entities.

WARNING:

The get() method and the index operator [], return destroyed entities and entities from the trashcan.


__getitem__(handle: str) -> DXFEntity
Get entity by handle, does not filter destroyed entities nor entities in the trashcan.

__setitem__(handle: str, entity: DXFEntity) -> None
Set entity for handle.

__delitem__(handle: str) -> None
Delete entity by handle. Removes entity only from database, does not destroy the entity.

__contains__(item: Union[str, DXFEntity]) -> bool
True if database contains handle.

__len__() -> int
Count of database items.

__iter__() -> Iterable[str]
Iterable of all handles, does filter destroyed entities but not entities in the trashcan.

Returns entity for handle or None if no entry exist, does not filter destroyed entities.

Returns next unique handle.

Iterable of all handles, does filter destroyed entities.

Iterable of all entities, does filter destroyed entities.

Iterable of all (handle, entities) pairs, does filter destroyed entities.

Add entity to database, assigns a new handle to the entity if entity.dxf.handle is None. Adding the same entity multiple times is possible and creates only a single database entry.

Returns a new trashcan, empty trashcan manually by: : func:Trashcan.clear().

Returns a new trashcan in context manager mode, trashcan will be emptied when leaving context.

purge() -> None
Remove all destroyed entities from database, but does not empty the trashcan.


Entity Space

An EntitySpace is a collection of DXFEntity objects, that stores only references to DXFEntity objects.

The Modelspace, any Paperspace layout and BlockLayout objects have an EntitySpace container to store their entities.

__iter__() -> Iterable[DXFEntity]
Iterable of all entities, filters destroyed entities.

__getitem__(index) -> DXFEntity
Get entity at index item

EntitySpace has a standard Python list like interface, therefore index can be any valid list indexing or slicing term, like a single index layout[-1] to get the last entity, or an index slice layout[:10] to get the first 10 or less entities as List[DXFEntity]. Does not filter destroyed entities.


__len__() -> int
Count of entities inluding destroyed entities.

True if handle is present, does filter destroyed entities.

Remove all destroyed entities from entity space.




clear() -> None
Remove all entities.


DXF Types

Required DXF tag interface:

  • property code: group code as int
  • property value: tag value of unspecific type
  • dxfstr(): returns the DXF string
  • clone(): returns a deep copy of tag



DXFTag Factory Functions

DXF tag factory function.
  • code – group code
  • value – tag value


Returns: DXFTag or inherited


Returns an iterable if :class: DXFTag or inherited, accepts an iterable of (code, value) tuples as input.

DXFTag

Immutable DXFTag class - immutable by design, not by implementation.
  • code – group code as int
  • value – tag value, type depends on group code

  • code – group code as int (do not change)
  • value – tag value (read-only property)


__eq__(other) -> bool
True if other and self has same content for code and value.

__getitem__(index: int)
Returns code for index 0 and value for index 1, emulates a tuple.

__hash__()
Hash support, DXFTag can be used in sets and as dict key.

__iter__() -> Iterable
Returns (code, value) tuples.

__repr__() -> str
Returns representation string 'DXFTag(code, value)'.

__str__() -> str
Returns content string '(code, value)'.

Returns a clone of itself, this method is necessary for the more complex (and not immutable) DXF tag types.

Returns the DXF string e.g. ' 0\nLINE\n'


DXFBinaryTag

Immutable BinaryTags class - immutable by design, not by implementation.
Returns the DXF string for all vertex components.

Returns binary value as single hex-string.


DXFVertex

Represents a 2D or 3D vertex, stores only the group code of the x-component of the vertex, because the y-group-code is x-group-code + 10 and z-group-code id x-group-code+20, this is a rule that ALWAYS applies. This tag is immutable by design, not by implementation.
  • code – group code of x-component
  • value – sequence of x, y and optional z values


Returns the DXF string for all vertex components.

Returns all vertex components as single DXFTag objects.


NONE_TAG

Special tag representing a none existing tag.

Tags

A list of DXFTag, inherits from Python standard list. Unlike the statement in the DXF Reference “Do not write programs that rely on the order given here”, tag order is sometimes essential and some group codes may appear multiples times in one entity. At the worst case (Material: normal map shares group codes with diffuse map) using same group codes with different meanings.

Subclass of list.

Collection of DXFTag as flat list. Low level tag container, only required for advanced stuff.

Constructor from DXF string.

Returns DXF type of entity, e.g. 'LINE'.

Get DXF handle. Raises DXFValueError if handle not exist.
handle as plain hex string like 'FF00'
DXFValueError – no handle found


Replace existing handle.
new_handle – new handle as plain hex string e.g. 'FF00'


Returns True if a DXFTag with given group code is present.
code – group code as int



Returns first DXFTag with given group code or default, if default != DXFValueError, else raises DXFValueError.
  • code – group code as int
  • default – return value for default case or raises DXFValueError



Returns value of first DXFTag with given group code or default if default != DXFValueError, else raises DXFValueError.
  • code – group code as int
  • default – return value for default case or raises DXFValueError



Returns a list of DXFTag with given group code.
code – group code as int


Iterate and filter tags by group codes.
codes – group codes to filter


Collect all consecutive tags with group code in codes, start and end delimits the search range. A tag code not in codes ends the process.
  • codes – iterable of group codes
  • start – start index as int
  • end – end index as int, None for end index = len(self)

collected tags as Tags


Return index of first DXFTag with given group code.
  • code – group code as int
  • start – start index as int
  • end – end index as int, None for end index = len(self)



Update first existing tag with same group code as tag, raises DXFValueError if tag not exist.

Update first existing tag with group code tag.code or append tag.

Remove all tags inplace with group codes specified in codes.
codes – iterable of group codes as int


Remove all tags inplace except those with group codes specified in codes.
codes – iterable of group codes


Pop tags with group codes specified in codes.
codes – iterable of group codes


Constructor from tags, strips all tags with group codes in codes from tags.
  • tags – iterable of DXFTag
  • codes – iterable of group codes as int




Group of tags starts with a SplitTag and ends before the next SplitTag. A SplitTag is a tag with code == splitcode, like (0, ‘SECTION’) for splitcode == 0.
  • tags – iterable of DXFTag
  • int (splitcode) – group code of split tag



Represents the extended DXF tag structure introduced with DXF R13.
tags: iterable of DXFTag legacy: flag for DXF R12 tags

Application defined data as list of Tags

Subclasses as list of Tags

XDATA as list of Tags

embedded objects as list of Tags

Short cut to access first subclass.

Returns handle as hex string.

Returns DXF type as string like “LINE”.

Replace the existing entity handle by a new value.

Legacy (DXF R12) tags handling and repair.

Shallow copy.

Flatten subclasses in legacy mode (DXF R12).

There exists DXF R12 with subclass markers, technical incorrect but works if the reader ignore subclass marker tags, unfortunately ezdxf tries to use this subclass markers and therefore R12 parsing by ezdxf does not work without removing these subclass markers.

This method removes all subclass markers and flattens all subclasses into ExtendedTags.noclass.


Get subclass name.
  • name – subclass name as string like “AcDbEntity”
  • pos – start searching at subclass pos.



True if has XDATA for appid.

Returns XDATA for appid as Tags.


Append a new XDATA block.

Assumes that no XDATA block with the same appid already exist:

try:

xdata = tags.get_xdata('EZDXF') except ValueError:
xdata = tags.new_xdata('EZDXF')



True if has application defined data for appid.

Returns application defined data for appid as Tags including marker tags.

Returns application defined data for appid as Tags without first and last marker tag.

Set application defined data for appid for already exiting data.

Append a new application defined data to subclass subclass_name.

Assumes that no app data block with the same appid already exist:

try:

app_data = tags.get_app_data('{ACAD_REACTORS', tags) except ValueError:
app_data = tags.new_app_data('{ACAD_REACTORS', tags)





Packed DXF Tags

Store DXF tags in compact data structures as list or array.array to reduce memory usage.

Store data in a standard Python list.
data: iterable of DXF tag values.

Data storage as list.

Returns a deep copy.

Setup list from iterable tags.
  • tags – tag collection as Tags
  • code – group code to collect



clear() -> None
Delete all data values.


TagArray is a subclass of TagList, which store data in an array.array. Array type is defined by class variable DTYPE.
data: iterable of DXF tag values.

array.array type as string

Data storage as array.array

Replace data by values.


Store vertices in an array.array('d'). Vertex size is defined by class variable VERTEX_SIZE.
data: iterable of vertex values as linear list e.g. [x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3, ...].

Size of vertex (2 or 3 axis).

__len__() -> int
Count of vertices.

__getitem__(index: int)
Get vertex at index, extended slicing supported.

__setitem__(index: int, point: Sequence[float]) -> None
Set vertex point at index, extended slicing not supported.

__delitem__(index: int) -> None
Delete vertex at index, extended slicing supported.

__iter__() -> Iterable[Sequence[float]]
Returns iterable of vertices.

__str__() -> str
String representation.

Insert point in front of vertex at index pos.
  • pos – insert position
  • point – point as tuple





Replace all vertices by points.

clear() -> None
Delete all vertices.

Returns a deep copy.

Setup point array from iterable tags.
  • tags – iterable of DXFVertex
  • code – group code to collect





Documentation Guide

Formatting Guide

This section is only for me, because of the long pauses between develop iterations, I often forget to be consistent in documentation formatting.

Documentation is written with Sphinx and reSturcturedText.

Started integration of documentation into source code and using autodoc features of Sphinx wherever useful.

Sphinx theme provided by Read the Docs :

pip install sphinx-rtd-theme


guide — Example module

Parameters a and b are positional arguments, argument test defaults to None and flag to True. Set a to 70 and b to “x” as an example. Inline code examples example_func(70, 'x') or simple example_func(70, "x")
  • arguments: a, b, test and flags
  • literal number values: 1, 2 … 999
  • literal string values: “a String”
  • literal tags: (5, “F000”)
  • inline code: call a example_func(x)
  • Python keywords: None, True, False, tuple, list, dict, str, int, float
  • Exception classes: DXFAttributeError




The ExampleCls constructor accepts a number of optional keyword arguments. Each keyword argument corresponds to an instance attribute, so for example

e = ExampleCls(flag=True)


This is the attribute flag.

New in version 0.9: New feature flag

Changed in version 0.10: The new meaning of flag is …

Deprecated since version 0.11: flag is obsolete


axis as (x, y, z) tuple
axis: (x, y, z) tuple


Method example_method() of class ExampleCls


Text Formatting

DXF version
DXF R12 (AC1009), DXF R2004 (AC1018)
DXF Types
DXF types are always written in uppercase letters but without further formatting: DXF, LINE, CIRCLE
(internal API)
Marks methods as internal API, gets no public documentation.
(internal class)
Marks classes only for internal usage, gets not public documentation.
2D and 3D with an uppercase letter D
x-axis, y-axis and z-axis
xy-plane, xz-plane, yz-plane
modelspace, paperspace [layout], block [layout]
AppData, XDATA, embedded object, APPID

GLOSSARY

ACI
The 3D ACIS Modeler (ACIS) is a geometric modeling kernel developed by Spatial Corp. ® (formerly Spatial Technology), part of Dassault Systems.
The bulge value is used to create arc shaped line segments in Polyline and LWPolyline entities.
Computer-Assisted Drafting or Computer-Aided Design
Color dependent plot style table (ColorDependentPlotStyles)
Proprietary file format of AutoCAD ®. Documentation for this format is available from the Open Design Alliance (ODA) at their Downloads section. This documentation is created by reverse engineering therefore not perfect nor complete.
Drawing eXchange Format is a file format used by AutoCAD ® to interchange data with other CAD applications. DXF is a trademark of Autodesk ®.
Named plot style table (NamedPlotStyles)
RGB color representation, a combination red, green and blue values to define a color.

INDICES AND TABLES

  • genindex
  • search

AUTHOR

Manfred Moitzi

COPYRIGHT

2011-2020, Manfred Moitzi

November 27, 2020 0.14.2