JOB 2016-07-06, The following package provides a Catia/COM interface based on TWAPI.
The current implementation supports to open / close a CAD model from within a Tcl program. There is also a function available, which allows to export native data to a different file format (STEP and PDF respectively). In fact, the CAD Program can be driven via the COM interface in a similar manner than any other office application (like Excel or Word, etc. ...).
Once the COM object is initialized via twapi, one might use the -print option to investigate the available sub-functions any further.
# catcom.tcl
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# (c) 2016, Johann Oberdorfer - Engineering Support | CAD | Software
# johann.oberdorfer [at] gmail.com
# www.johann-oberdorfer.eu
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# This source file is distributed under the BSD license.
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
# See the BSD License for more details.
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Purpose:
# Package to establish Catia/COM interface based on twapi.
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Revision history:
# 07.06.16: J.Oberdorfer, initial release
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
package require twapi
package provide catcom 0.1
namespace eval catcom {
namespace export getCatiaApp
namespace export catia.Documents.Open
namespace export catia.ActiveDocument.Close
namespace export catia.ActiveDocument.SaveAs
# attempt to get connection to a running Catia session via tcom
proc getCatiaApp {catapp} {
upvar $catapp app
return [catch {[set app [twapi::comobj "Catia.Application" -active]]} errmsg]
}
# CATIA.Documents.Open(<file_name>)
# nativename is mandatory here to ensure COM object get's a valid filename
proc catia.Documents.Open {catapp cad_model} {
set cat [$catapp Application]
set docs [$cat Documents]
# make sure to supress nasty warning dialogs
# may be this can be set system wide in the startup configuration setting as well?!
$cat -set DisplayFileAlerts 0
$cat -set RefreshDisplay 1
$docs Open [file nativename $cad_model]
}
proc catia.ActiveDocument.Close {catapp} {
set active_doc [$catapp ActiveDocument]
$active_doc Close
}
# valid fformat arguments: "stp", "pdf"
# (name must match Catia's ExportData requirements!)
#
proc catia.ActiveDocument.SaveAs {catapp export_dir cad_model {fformat ""}} {
global env
# convert to lower case (maybe not really required...)
set fformat [string tolower $fformat]
switch -- $fformat {
"stp" { set ext ".stp" }
"pdf" { set ext ".pdf" }
default {
tk_messageBox \
-title "Programmer's error" \
-icon "error" \
-message "Wrong argument given to function: CATIA.ActiveDocument.SaveAs" \
-type ok
exit 0
}
}
# a.) change file extension:
set file_name [file tail [file rootname $cad_model]]
append file_name $ext
set export_file_name \
[file nativename [file join $env(TEMP) $file_name]]
set new_file_name \
[file nativename [file join $export_dir $file_name]]
# b.) delete all models previously created (if any)...
file delete -force $export_file_name
file delete -force $new_file_name
set active_doc [$catapp ActiveDocument]
# c.) export to local TEMP directory 1st -> hint: export runs
# magnitudes faster (maybe due to virus protection check
# on the remote file server ?)
$catapp -set StatusBar "Executing ExportData: $export_file_name $fformat"
$active_doc ExportData $export_file_name $fformat
# d.) and finally - move the file back to the data server:
file copy -force $export_file_name $new_file_name
file delete -force $export_file_name
}
}
Package might be used e.g. such as:
# catcom_test.tcl
# where to find twapi
lappend auto_path [file join [file dirname [info script]]]
lappend auto_path [file join [file dirname [info script]] "../lib"]
package require Tk
package require twapi
package require catcom 0.1
namespace import catcom::*
# some test models...
set cad_model "C:/yourProject/Test.CATPart"
set cad_model1 "C:/yourProjekte/Test.CATDrawing"
set export_dir "C:/yourExportDir"
# here we go ...
catch {console show}
if { ![getCatiaApp catapp] } {
wm withdraw .
set msg "Communication to Catia not possible!\n"
append msg "Start Catia and try again!"
tk_messageBox \
-title "Catia COM Interface Error" \
-icon "error" \
-message $msg \
-type ok
exit 0
}
$catapp -set Visible 1
$catapp -set StatusBar "Hello World."
# usefull to print all available commands of the available COM interface
# $catapp -print
# STEP Export
$catapp -set StatusBar "Exporting current CATPart to STEP file..."
catia.Documents.Open $catapp $cad_model
catia.ActiveDocument.SaveAs $catapp $export_dir $cad_model "stp"
catia.ActiveDocument.Close $catapp
# PDF Export
$catapp -set StatusBar "Exporting current CATDrawing to PDF file..."
catia.Documents.Open $catapp $cad_model1
catia.ActiveDocument.SaveAs $catapp $export_dir $cad_model1 "PDF"
catia.ActiveDocument.Close $catapp
APN TWAPI's COM does not do garbage collection so I suspect the above code would leak memory / objects. For example, cat and docs in the Open proc need to be destroyed by calling their destroy or -destroy methods.