Command line variable on startup

[Brian]

Hi, is there or can there be another command line option that is put into a tcl variable for us to play with, Something like --projectfile?

So usage would be python .\FlatCAM.py --shellfile=./path/to/script.tcl --projectfile=./path/to/project.GTL

This option would then be (for the want of better knowledge/words) set projectfile --projectfile

Then something like this would work

set Path_To_Gerber [file dirname $projectfile]
set Project_Name [file tail $projectfile]

Thanks

[Marius Stanciu]

Hi Brian,

What are you trying to do? Are you trying to find out the path of a project?

Right now, if you launch FlatCAM with a parameter that is just the path to a:

• FlatCAM project = file with extension .FlatPrj
• FlatCAM config file = file with extension .FlatConfig
• FlatCAM script = file with extension .FlatScript
• a Gerber file with the known extension = .GBR, .GBL, .GTL etc
• a Excellon file with a known extension = .DRL, .TXT etc
• a GCode file with known extension = .NC, .TAP etc

it will start the app and then load that file.

E.g:

python Flatcam.py D:\\Temp\\project.FlatPrj

will run FlatCAM and try to load the project file: project.FlatPrj

Or:

python Flatcam.py C:\\TempFiles\\script_to_run.FlatScript

will run FlatCAM and try to run the script named script_to_run.FlatScript

The --shellfile parameter is just a legacy parameter, still useful if you try to run a script file having the file extension not .FlatScript

[Brian]

If there was a --projectfile command line option then we can use the variable within a script, making the script and whole process easier to use with no need to edit the script every time to run a different board

python .\FlatCAM.py --shellfile=C:/Temp/Scripts/FlatCAM_09.tcl --projectfile=C:/Temp/TestBoard_v2/TestBoard_v2.GTL

python .\FlatCAM.py --shellfile=C:/Temp/Scripts/FlatCAM_09.tcl --projectfile=C:/Temp/WiggleBoard/Project1938.GTL

with this --projectfile in a tcl variable, say $projectfile, we can then process it like this

if {![info exists projectfile]} { ;# Variable projectfile Exists From Command Line?
    set projectfile C:/Temp/TestBoard_v2/TestBoard_v2.GTL ;# Use This Path If None Set In Command Line
}
set Path_To_Gerber [file dirname $projectfile] ;# Path To Project Directory
set Project_Name [file rootname [file tail $projectfile]] ;# Name Of Project

Thanks

[Marius Stanciu]

I don’t know enough of the TCL but …

I would think that what can be done (looking here: https://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1544204) is the following:

FlatCAM can be set to have a arg parameter like --shellvars which can load a text file that may look like this:

‌

a=''this path”
b_var = “another path”
c = 3.14

Then FlatCAM will parse this file at start-up and create for each a

‌

set variable variable_content

But in any case, that’s for another time.

[Marius Stanciu]

Actually it was easier than expected. Feature added in latest commit.

The new command line parameter is --shellvars and the usage is:

‌

python FlatCAM.py --shellvars list_of_commands.txt

and the text file format should be like this:

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a=54
b = 15
c= 'Brian wants a new parameter for FlatCAM.'

The lack or presence of spaces is intentional, to show that it does not matter, all it matter is the ‘=' sign and what’s to the left and to the right.

LE: although I don’t quite see the reason for this, all could be in the script. It’s just a matter of Copy-Paste from one script to another. I got the feeling that this will go away quite fast. :)

‌

[Marius Stanciu]

Ok, I’ve changed the behavior.

The user can now pass a list of values separated with comma but without spaces like this:

python FlatCAM.py --shellvar 1,"George",3,"C:\Path_to_file"

Notice that now it is --shellvar and not --shellvars

The passed variables can be accessed in Tcl with the following special names:

$shellvar_x

where x is the index in the passed list.

E.g:

$shellvar_0
$shellvar_1
$shellvar_2
etc

I think that cover your request.

[Marius Stanciu]

fixed in commit 5a224dd

[Brian]

Thanks, that looks good, but does not work with both --shellfile and --shellvar in the same command line

command line = python .\FlatCAM.py --shellfile=C:/Temp/TestBoard_v2/FlatCAM_test_02.tcl --shellvar="C:/Temp/TestBoard_v2/TestBoard_v4.GTL"

FlatCAM_test_02.tcl file contains

if {[info exists shellvar_0]} {
    set test $shellvar_0
} else {
    set test "Boo"
}
puts $test

‌

[Marius Stanciu]

Fixed that one, too in commit e81c43f.

[Brian]

Hi Marius,

Thanks for working on this

if --shellvar does not have a space it then it works great, but if there is a space in the string then it gives an error

Works --shellvar="C:\Temp\TestBoard_v2\TestBoard_v2.GTL"

Error --shellvar="C:\Temp\TestBoard v4\TestBoard_v4.GTL"

Error from the command window

[ERROR][MainThread] Exec command Exception: wrong # args: should be "set varName ?newValue?"
    while executing
"set shellvar_0 C:/Temp/TestBoard v4/TestBoard_v4.GTL"

‌

[Marius Stanciu]

Hi,

Try the latest commit 9218f79.

[Brian]

If I run this --shellvar="C:\Temp\TestBoard v4\TestBoard_v4.GTL"

it now removes the space from the path!

Error [ERROR_NOTCL] Failed to open file: C:/Temp/TestBoardv4/TestBoard_v4.GTL

‌

Many thanks

Brian.

[Marius Stanciu]

I think it is fixed but I will not update the repo right now as I am in the middle of a big change which might not work after all. And I don’t want to risk conflicts.
In any case it should be available in the next build. For now, avoid the spaces in the path. It should be doable.

[Marius Stanciu]

Hi Brian,

I’ve updated the repo with the latest changes including also 2 new Tcl commands: set_origin and bounds.

set_origin will do what it says, it will set the zero for all the loaded objects to the left corner of the common bounding box

bounds will return a list of bounds values in the form [[xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax], [x01, y01, x11, y11], …] from a supplied list of valid object names. A valid object name is the name of a loaded object in FlatCAM. The returned bounds can be used in a Tcl Script:

set a [bounds a_obj.GTL,b_obj.GKO]

and a set of bounds can be accessed like this:

set bounds_obj1 [lindex %a 1]

‌