Tutorial

Command Line

Create a package

First, the current directory needs to be initialized as a PartCAD package.

# Initialize the new PartCAD package in the current folder
pc init

If there is no -p flag passed to pc init then the dependency on the public PartCAD repository is added automatically.

Alternatively, manually create partcad.yaml with the following content:

# partcad.yaml
import:
  # Public PartCAD repository (reference it explicitly if required)
  pub:
    type: git
    url: https://github.com/openvmp/partcad-index.git

Now launch pc list to see the list of packages currently available in the public PartCAD repository.

# Recursively iterate over all dependencies of the current package
pc list

Manage dependencies

PartCAD has to be provided with a configuration file which may declare parts and assemblies, but also declares all repositories that PartCAD is allowed to query.

PartCAD has no implicit dependencies built-in, so a dependency on the public PartCAD repository needs to be added if PartCAD is supposed to query it.

In the newly created package, comment out the “pub” dependency (prepend #) and see how the output of pc list changes.

Add a part

Let’s add a part defined using an OpenSCAD script.

First, create the OpenSCAD script which defines a cube of size 10mm.

# Create "test.scad"
echo "translate (v= [0,0,0])  cube (size = 10);" > test.scad

Now let’s add a declaration of this part to partcad.yaml.

pc add-part scad test.scad

Inspect the part

Once a part is created, it can be inspected in OCP CAD Viewer.

pc inspect :test

Export the part

Now the part can be exported:

pc render -t stl :test

VS Code Extension

Start new workspace

Open Visual Studio Code and create a new empty workspace.

Activate Python

If necessary, install the Python extension. Activate a Python environment (3.10 or above).

Install the extension

Install the PartCAD extension from the VS Code marketplace.

Install PartCAD

Switch to the PartCAD workbench (look for the PartCAD logo at the left edge of the screen). There is the PartCAD Explorer view on the left. Click Install PartCAD in the Explorer view if this button is shown to install PartCAD in the activated Python environment.

Create a package

Once PartCAD is initialized, it won’t detect any PartCAD package in the empty workspace. Click Initialize Package to create partcad.yaml.

Browse

Browse the imported packages in the Explorer view. Click on the parts and assemblies to see them in the OCP CAD Viewer view that will appear on the right.

For example, navigate to /pub/std/metric/cqwarehouse and click on some part (e.g. fastener/hexhead-din931). The PartCAD Inspector view displays the part parameters. The parameter values can be changed and the part gets redrawn on Update.

Create a part

Click Add a CAD script in the Explorer view toolbar. Select build123d from the dropdown list. Then select Example 3: Bead as the template to use. An editor view with the newly created script will be shown.

Inspect the part

When you edit Python or OpenSCAD files that are used in the current PartCAD package, saving the file makes it displayed automatically. Press Save (Ctrl-S or Cmd-S) to save the script and trigger an automatic inspection of the part. The OCP CAD Viewer view will appear on the right.

Import parts part

In case you want to use existing PartCAD parts in the design of your part, then follow the following steps.

First, select the part you want to use in the PartCAD Explorer view. Then, add the following to the build123d script created during the previous steps of this tutorial:

import partcad as pc

other_part = pc.get_

Please, note, that after “pc.get_" a code completion suggestion appears. Use the suggested code completion option to insert the code that adds the selected part to this build123d script.

Here is an example of how to use the newly added solid:

...
# After "with BuildPart"
art = Compound([art, other_part])
# Before "show_object"
...

Create an assembly

This is what PartCAD (or, at least, its VS Code Extension) is actually for.

Click Add an assembly file to the current package in the PartCAD Explorer view. After that select an existing assembly file (*.assy) or enter a filename for the new file to be created.

ASSY (Assembly YAML) files use the YAML syntax. The list of parts has to be added as children under the links node. Here is how an empty assembly file looks like:

links:

Add a part to the assembly

Select the desired part or assembly in PartCAD Explorer. After that navigate to the next line under “links:” and type “- pa” (which is what you do when you want to add a child item with the name “part”) and, then, select the code completion suggestion from PartCAD.

This will add the selected part or assembly to the assembly file.

Inspect the assembly

When you edit ASSY files in the current PartCAD package, the assembly is displayed automatically on save. Press Save (Ctrl-S or Cmd-S) to save the assembly file and trigger an automatic inspection of the assembly. The OCP CAD Viewer view will appear on the right if it’s not open yet.