Antoine Boxho
6bd09ea468
A short guide for people porting add-ons: what runs today (LISP routines and startup files, .scr scripts, .pgp alias files, the JSON control channel, MCP, cadcraft-cli), what doesn't yet (Visual LISP ActiveX, DCL, reactors, compiled plug-ins), and where each is documented. The README's automation section links to it.
2.9 KiB
Customizing and automating CADCraft
What you can use today to automate CADCraft or bring over add-ons written for other CAD programs, and what is not there yet.
| You have | In CADCraft | More |
|---|---|---|
LISP routines (.lsp) |
Run with APPLOAD or (load "name"). The core language, command, entity lists, selection sets, get… input and c: commands work. |
autolisp.md |
Startup LISP (acad.lsp, acaddoc.lsp) |
Loaded from the support folder at startup and for each drawing. | autolisp.md |
Scripts (.scr) |
SCRIPT (Tools > Run Script...), cadcraft-cli run --script-file, and script text over MCP and the control channel. |
below |
Command aliases (.pgp) |
ALIASEDIT {file} loads an alias file for the session; REINIT reads it again. |
below |
| Compiled plug-ins (C++, .NET) | Not supported. A plug-in API is planned, for plug-ins written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly. | gaps.md (E4) |
| Programs that drive the CAD program from outside | The JSON control channel, the MCP server and cadcraft-cli. Any language that can open a TCP socket or start a process can use them. |
below |
LISP routines
Most routines that only draw, edit and query objects run as they are. Not yet supported: Visual
LISP ActiveX functions (vlax-…, vla-…), DCL dialogs and reactors (gaps.md E1). A
routine that uses them needs those parts rewritten, for example with command calls and get…
prompts instead of a dialog.
Put routines you want in every session in the support folder (support in the settings folder;
paths in autolisp.md) and load them from acad.lsp or acaddoc.lsp, or
with (autoload "file" '("CMD")) so they load the first time their command is typed.
Scripts
A .scr file is what you would type at the command line, one line at a time. Run it with SCRIPT
in the app, or headless:
cadcraft-cli run drawing.dxf --script-file setup.scr --save out.dxf
Command aliases
ALIASEDIT reads a .pgp alias file (ALIAS, *COMMAND lines) and adds its aliases for the rest of
the session. Lines that would start external programs are skipped. From a script or the control
channel: aliasedit {"file": "/path/to/aliases.pgp"}.
Driving CADCraft from another program
Every command has a JSON form that runs without dialogs. cadcraft-cli commands [FILTER] prints
the catalog: each command's id and its parameters.
-
Headless batch jobs:
cadcraft-cli run FILE --cmd 'id {json}' --save OUT --export OUT.png. -
The running app: start it with
--control PORTand send JSON lines to127.0.0.1:PORT. See control-protocol.md.printf '%s\n' '{"id":1,"method":"cmdline.input","params":{"text":"circle 0,0 5"}}' | nc -w 2 127.0.0.1 7979 -
AI agents:
cadcraft-cli mcp, headless or connected to the app. See mcp.md.