pw:: DatabaseEntity

pw::DatabaseEntity closestApproach ?-seed seedPt? -result1Var pt1? ?-result2Var pt2? entities1 entities2

This action returns the smallest distance or closest approach between the given database entities.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns the distance between the given pw::DatabaseEntity objects.  An error is returned if the distance could not be determined.

Information

The -seed parameter is optional, but may be used to help the algorithm find the desired nearest distance in the event there are local minimum/maximum that might make it difficult or impossible for the algorithm to locate the desired distance.

If either of the -result1Var or -result2Var flags are specified, they will contain point objects that indicate the locations on the given entities where they are nearest one another.

Example

This example shows how to get the distance between two pw::DatabaseEntity objects as well as the corresponding point entities.  It also demonstrates how to obtain the XYZ locations from the point objects.

Code

set sphere(1) [pw::Database getByName "sphere-1"]
set sphere(2) [pw::Database getByName "sphere-2"]
set distance \
    [pw::DatabaseEntity closestApproach -result1Var pt1 \
    -result2Var pt2 $sphere(1) $sphere(2)]
puts "Distance is $distance"
puts "result1Var XYZ: [pw::Database getXYZ $pt1]"
puts "result2Var XYZ: [pw::Database getXYZ $pt2]"

Output

Distance is 1.0
result1Var XYZ: -0.5 0.0 0.0
result2Var XYZ: 0.5 0.0 0.0

pw::DatabaseEntity getAdjacentEntities ?-tolerance tol? ?-maximumAngle angle? ?-all? ents

This action returns a list of db entities adjacent to the given entities.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of adjacent pw::DatabaseEntity objects.

Information

If the -all flag is specified, the process is repeated until no more adjacent entities are found.

The return list will not include any entities specified in the argument list.

Database entities are only considered adjacent for certain types;

• pw::Curve to pw::Curve
• pw::Surface to pw::Surface or pw::Model
• pw::Model to pw::Surface or pw::Model
• pw::Quilt to pw::Quilt
• pw::SurfaceTrim to pw::SurfaceTrim
• pw::Shell to pw::Shell

Example

This example shows how to get quilts adjacent to a given quilt in order to assemble them.  The -all option is used to continue finding adjacent quilts to the ones already added.  The original quilt must then be added to the list before assembly.

Code

set quilt(1) [pw::Database getByName "quilt-1"]
set adjQuilts \
    [pw::DatabaseEntity getAdjacentEntities -all $quilt(1)]
lappend adjQuilts $quilt(1)
foreach db $adjQuilts {
    puts [$db getName]
}
pw::Quilt assemble $adjQuilts

Output

quilt-2
quilt-3
quilt-4
quilt-1

See Also

pw::Quilt

pw::DatabaseEntity getByName ?-path path? name

This action gets a database entity using the name.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a pw::DatabaseEntity object.  -path path - This parameter and its argument specify the path to the framework in which the database entity resides.  The path argument must be a list of either pw::Framework objects or framework names.  The path must start at the root framework, start at the active framework, or start at a child of the active framework.  The active framework is used as the default if this parameter is not specified.

Example

This example shows how to get a database entity named model-1 in order to find out how many quilts are in that model.

Code

set mdl(1) [pw::DatabaseEntity getByName "model-1"]
puts "[$mdl(1) getName] has [$mdl(1) getQuiltCount] quilts."

Output

model-1 has 188 quilts.

See Also

pw::Model

pw::DatabaseEntity getBySequence number

This action gets a database entity using the sequence number.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a pw::DatabaseEntity object.

Notes

This function is extremely inefficient for querying the entire database system.  It is much more efficient to call pw::Database.getAll and simply index into the returned list.

Example

Code

set db [pw::DatabaseEntity getBySequence 11]
puts "[$db getName] is of the type [$db getType]."

Output

BSurf-425 is of the type pw::Surface.

$entity delete ?-force? ?-dependents?

This action deletes this entity.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

Example

This example shows how to delete $mdl(1), which is referencing an existing model.  The -dependents parameter causes all quilts and other hidden database entities that depend on the model to be deleted also.

Code

$mdl(1) delete -dependents

$entity transform matrix

This action transforms this entity by the given matrix.  The matrix is a list of 16 values, but in practice, the utility functions for transform matrices are generally used instead.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

Example

This example shows how to scale database entities using a transform utility command that sets an anchor point from the uv vector “0 0” on $crv(1) and a scaling vector of “5 5 0” to form the matrix.  $crv(1) is referencing an existing database curve.

Code

$crv(1) transform [pwu::Transform scaling -anchor \
    [pw::Application getXYZ [list 0 0 $crv(1)]] {5 5 0}]

See Also

pwu::Transform

$entity closestPoint ?-from fromVar? ?-distance distVar? point ?dir?

This action gets the closest point on this entity to the given point or ray.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a point, in the parameter space of this database entity, if there is no closest point this action will return the origin.

Example

This example finds the closest point in parameter space on $mdl(1) from the given point “0 0 10”.  The -distance parameter is used to find the distance between the points.  $mdl(1) is referencing an existing model.

Code

set pt [$mdl(1) closestPoint -distance dist [list 0 0 10]]
puts [pw::Application getDescription $pt]
puts "The UV point is $dist units from the given point."

Output

quilt-1 (0.00596421,0)
The UV point is 16.379883785930257 units from the given point.

$entity isDefined

This action checks if this entity is defined.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is defined.

Example

This example checks to see if $mdl(1) is defined.  $mdl(1) is referencing an existing model.

Code

puts [$mdl(1) isDefined]

Output

1

$entity isParametric

This action checks if this entity is parametric.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is parametric.

Example

This example checks to see if $mdl(1) is parametric.  $mdl(1) is referencing an existing model.

Code

puts [$mdl(1) isParametric]

Output

0

$entity isCurve

This action checks if this entity is curve-like.

Parameters

THis action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is a curve.

Example

This example checks to see if $crv(1) is curve-like.  $crv(1) is referencing an existing database curve.

Code

puts [$crv(1) isCurve]

Output

1

$entity isSurface

This action checks if this entity is surface-like.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is a surface.

Example

This example checks to see if $crv(1) is surface-like.  $crv(1) is referencing an existing database curve.

Code

puts [$crv(1) isSurface]

Output

0

$entity isBaseForProject

This action checks if this entity can be projected onto using a project command.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is a target for projection.

Example

This example checks to see if $mdl(1) can be projected onto.  $mdl(1) is referencing an existing model.

Code

puts [$mdl(1) isBaseForProject]

Output

0

See Also

pw::Entity.project pw::GridEntity.project pw::Curve.project pw::Connector.project <pw::Domain.project>

$entity isBaseForConnector

This action checks if connectors can be built on the entity using the pw::Connector.createOnDatabase command.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is a base for connectors.

Example

This example checks to see if $qlt(1) can have connectors built on it.  $qlt(1) is referencing an existing quilt.

Code

puts [$qlt(1) isBaseForConnector]

Output

1

$entity isBaseForDomainStructured

This action checks if domains can be built on the entity using the pw::DomainStructured.createOnDatabase command.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is a base for strcutured domains.

Example

This example checks to see if $qlt(1) can have structured domains built on it.  $qlt(1) is referencing an existing quilt.

Code

puts [$qlt(1) isBaseForDomainStructured]

Output

1

$entity isBaseForDomainUnstructured

This action checks if domains can be built on the entity using the pw::DomainUnstructured.createOnDatabase command.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a boolean, true if the entity is a base for unstrcutured domains.

Example

This example checks to see if $qlt(1) can have unstructured domains built on it.  $qlt(1) is referencing an existing quilt.

Code

puts [$qlt(1) isBaseForDomainUnstructured]

Output

1

$entity getDescription

This action gets the description of how this entity was defined.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a string description.

Information

All possible string returns: AkimaSpline, AveragePoint, BezierSpline, BSplineCurve, BSplineSurface, Boundary, BoundedSurface, CatmullRomSpline, Circle, CompositeCurve, CompositeSurface, ConeSurface, ConicCurve, CoonsSurface, Copious, CurveOnSurface, CylinderSurface, Edge, Face, FilletSurface, Group, IntersectionCurve, IntersectionPoint, Line, LinearSpline, LinearSweep, Loop, Model, Note, OffsetCurve, OffsetSurface, OpenModel, ParametricCurve, ParametricSurface, Plane, PlaneSurface, Point, ProjectedCurve, Quilt, RuledSurface, Shell, SolidModel, SphereSurface, SubfigureDefinition, SubfigureInstance, Revolution, TabulatedCylinder, ToroidalSurface, TrimmedCurve, TrimmedSurface, Unknown, Vertex.

Example

This example shows how to get the description for $crv(1).  $crv(1) is referencing an existing database curve.

Code

puts [$crv(1) getDescription]

Output

LinearSpline

$entity getPartCount part_type

This action gets the number of parts of the entity of a given type.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns the integer number of parts of the entity

Information

Some database entities are constructed from several internal parts which may need to be addressed by different actions, but the parts themselves are not considered entities.  This action is used in combination with getPart to build a string that can be used to reference these internal parts.

$entity getPart part_type < index | point | boundary >

This action gets a string representing a part of the entity that can be used to reference the part in other actions.

Parameters

Information

Some database entities are constructed from several internal parts which may need to be addressed by different actions, but the parts themselves are not considered entities.  This action is used in combination with getPartCount to build a string that can be used to reference these internal parts.

Returns

This action returns a string representing the part for use by other acitions.

$entity getParts ?-filter filter? part_type

This action gets a list of strings representing parts of the entity that can be used to reference the part in other actions.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of strings representing the parts for use by other acitions.

Information

Valid filters and what they do: Corners - Only return the Vertices that are at the ends of strings

$entity getPartOwner part_name

This action gets the DatabaseEntity object that owns the given part of this entity and the part name within that entity.  This is only meaningful in the context of Model, Quilt and SurfaceTrim entities that share parts.  In all other cases, this action will return itself and the given part name.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of the DatabaseEntity object representing the entity that owns the given part of this entity, and the part name of the part with respect to the owning entity.

$entity getPartOwners part_names

This action gets a list of the DatabaseEntity object that owns the given parts of this entity and the part name within that entity.  This is only meaningful in the context of Model, Quilt and SurfaceTrim entities that share parts.  In all other cases, this action will return itself and the given part name.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of lists, where each entry is a list of the DatabaseEntity object representing the entity that owns the given part of this entity, and the part name of the part with respect to the owning entity.

$entity getPartXYZ part_name

This action gets the xyz vector for the given part of this entity.  This is only valid for Vertex parts.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns the 3D position of the part as an xyz vector.

$entity getPartXYZs part_names

This action gets a list of xyz vectors for the given parts of this entity.  This is only valid for Vertex parts.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns the 3D positions of the parts as a list of xyz vectors.

$entity getPartBoundary part_name

This action gets the entity boundary for the given part of this entity.  This is only valid for String, Costring, Edge, and Coedge parts with entities that have boundaries.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a boundary.

$entity getAttributeDictionaryNames ?-part part? ?-children? ?-attached? ?-class cls?

This action gets a list of string names for the available attribute dictionaries set on this entity.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of strings.

$entity getAttributeDictionary ?-part part? ?-children? ?-attached? ?-class cls? ?-modified? ?-traversed? dict_name ?attr_keys?

This action gets a dictionary of key-value pairs of attributes that have been set on this entity with the given dictionary name.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of strings that can be converted into a tcl dictionary (list of alternating keys and values).  If the -modified flag was used, an additional list is returned with the modified state of the key value pairs.  If the -traversed flag was used, an additional list is returned with the objects where the key value pairs were found.  The entries of the traversed list will be an AttributeDictionary object, a DatabaseEntity object or a list of DatabaseEntity object string part name.

Information

When using the -children or -attached flags, the dictionary will be a combination of values from multiple dictionaries from different entities, but only the first value found while traversing the children is retained.  The entity or attached dictionary where the value was retained will be returned in the traversedVar variable if given.

$entity setAttributeDictionary ?-part part? dict_name ?dict?

This action sets a dictionary of key-value pairs on this entity with the given dictionary name.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

$entity updateAttributeDictionary ?-part part? ?-force? dict_name key ?value?

This action updates the attribute dictionary that has been set on this entity with the given name for the given key-value pair.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

$entity renameAttributeDictionary ?-part part? dict_name new_dict_name

This action renames an attribute dictionary that has been set on this entity.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

$entity renameAttributeDictionaryKey ?-part part? dict_name key new_key

This action renames an attribute dictionary key that has been set on this entity.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

$entity getAttachedAttributeDictionaries ?-part part?

This action returns a list of pw::AttributeDictionary objects that are attached to this entity.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of pw::AttributeDictionary objects.

$entity getAttachedAttributeParts attr_dict

This action returns a list of string part names that are attached to the given <pw::AttributeDicitionary> object.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns a list of string part names.

$entity attachAttributeDictionary ?-part part? ?-exclusiveClass? attr_dict

This action attaches a pw::AttributeDictionary object to this entity.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

$entity detachAttributeDictionary ?-part part? attr_dict

This action detaches a pw::AttributeDictionary object from this entity.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns nothing.

$entity getImportedAttribute attribute_name

This action gets the type and value of an entity attribute.

Parameters

Returns

This action returns the list {type value}.  The type can be one of Int, String, or Real.

Example

This example shows how to get a named attribute from the existing database entity $db.

Code

set attrName "OUTLET"
if { ![catch {$db getImportedAttribute $attrName} result] } {
    lassign $result attrType attrVal
    puts "$attrType $attrName = '$attrVal'"
} else {
    puts "Attribute not found."
}

Output

"String OUTLET = 'PRESSURE'"

$entity getImportedAttributeNames ?-regex? ?pattern?

This action gets the entity’s available attribute names.

Parameters

Returns

A string list of the attribute names.

Example

This example shows how to get attribute names from the existing database entity $db.

Code

# get all attribute names
puts "all  : [$db getImportedAttributeNames]"

# get attribute names matching glob pattern
puts "glob : [$db getImportedAttributeNames "EX.*"]"

# get attribute names matching the regex pattern "EX.Word.postfix"
# where "Word" must start with a capital letter.
puts "regex: [$db getImportedAttributeNames -regex {EX\.[A-Z]{1}\w+\..+}]"

Output

all  : Attrib1 Attrib2 EX.Mach EX.Node.attr1 EX.Con9.attr EX.1234.attr
glob : EX.Mach EX.Node.attr1 EX.Con9.attr EX.1234.attr
regex: EX.Node.attr1 EX.Con9.attr

$entity getSupportEntities

This action gets the entities that this entity requires.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a list of pw::DatabaseEntity objects.

Example

This example shows how to get the support entities for $qlt(1).  $qlt(1) is referencing an existing quilt.

Code

foreach ent [$qlt(1) getSupportEntities] {
    puts [$ent getName]
}

Output

TrimSurf-39

$entity getDependentEntities

This action gets the entities that require this entity to exist.  Effectively, this returns the list of entities that would be deleted if this entity is deleted.  It is not necessarily the complete set of entities defined in the parameter space if this entity.  Use getReferencingEntities to get all supported entities.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a list of pw::DatabaseEntity objects.

Example

This example shows how to get the dependent entities for $qlt(1).  $qlt(1) is referencing an existing quilt.

Code

foreach ent [$qlt(1) getDependentEntities] {
    puts [$ent getName]
}

Output

TrimSurf-39
model-1

$entity getReferencingEntities

This action gets the entities that reference this entity, but not necessarily depend on it to support.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a list of pw::DatabaseEntity objects.

Example

This example shows how to get the referencing entities for $curve.  $curve is referencing an existing intersection curve.

Code

foreach ent [$curve getReferencingEntities] {
    puts [$ent getName]
}

Output

surface-1
plane-1

$entity getGridEntities

This action gets the grid entities that this entity supports.

Parameters

This action has no parameters.

Returns

This action returns a list of pw::GridEntity objects.

Example

This example shows how to get the grid entities for $qlt(1).  $qlt(1) is referencing an existing quilt.

Code

foreach ent [$qlt(1) getGridEntities] {
    puts [$ent getName]
}

Output

dom-2