DraftSight: Scripting and 3D

No, this isn't about how to use scripting to do 3D CAD, although at the end of this article, I point you to the DraftSight help files for some hints on how to do just that.

In my first review of DraftSight, I mentioned that the free version of DS doesn't support LISP macros.  Well, it still doesn't.  I'm not complaining; that was a sound business decision.  Buying the SDK also buys you LISP macro support, and the SDK is not prohibitively expensive.

But if you're willing to get by without the speed of LISP, you can create and run scripts in DraftSight.

For example, suppose you want to draw a circle centered at (5,5) with radius 10.  (I borrowed this example from another online DraftSight help file.)  One way to do this is to type on the command line:

CIRCLE 5,5 10

Another way is to type on the command line:

CIRCLE
5,5
10

(Note the spaces in the first command entry, and the new lines in the second command entry.  The commands are identical in their execution.)

You can use Notepad, Vim, or your favorite text editor to create a script file to do the work for you.  Simply copy and paste either of the above commands into the editor, and save it as "circle55.scr" . (SCR for "script file".)

Now, at the command line, type the command LOADSCRIPT and press Enter.  A "Select File" dialog pops up.  Select your "circle55.scr" file, click Open, and watch the magic.

You can use a script file to automate a sequence of drawing commands that you perform regularly.  Here's an easy way to create that script file:

1. Perform the command steps that you want to store.
2. Type CommandHistory to open the separate command history window.
3. Right-click and select Copy History.
4. Open an editor program such as Microsoft® Notepad.
5. Paste the command steps into the editor program.
6. Save the file as an .scr file.

 (I stole that text from DraftSight's own help file, under Customizing-->Running Scripts-->Running a Script File.)

Now, one of my hobbies and passions is 3D graphics.  I thought DraftSight was just a 2D CAD program, but I kept seeing hints in the documentation to a Z-axis pointer on the Cartesian Coordinate Reference (CCR), that widget that shows up in the lower left of the drawing window.  In addition, the cursor location given in the Status bar is always a 3D coordinate.  It just so happens that DraftSight's help pages include two tantalizing sections, labeled "3D Viewing and Presentation" and "Creating and Modifying 3D Entities."

After I worked through those 2 sections, I can say that yes, DraftSight can draw in 3D.  HOWEVER, the free-as-downloaded version only does 3D primitives:  triangles, rectangles, and polygons of a size that I haven't discovered yet.  Two problems arise from working with primitives:  you often get the "butterfly" shape that the help pages warn you about; and if you create some triangles clockwise and others counterclockwise, their normals point in opposite directions, your solids come out goofy, and the lighting and surface rendering don't work as you expect them to work.

If you want to do complex 3D shapes, you will have to do one of the following things:

1. A lot of typing.
2. Buy the additional 3D capability (if it's available - I haven't hunted that far yet).
3. Buy the SDK and write some 3D macros in LISP.
4. Write script files instead of LISP macros.

Also note that the free version of DraftSight only saves DWG and DXF files, so you may end up doing some beautiful 3D work and have no way to export it to STL or another 3D format.

Conclusion: It's nice to know that some programming - er, scripting - capability is built into the free version.  And, with respect to 3D, it's also nice to know that I had to direct my explorations into something as complicated as 3D modeling before I found any serious limitations in DraftSight - and even those limitations are just temporary bumps in the road.

CORRECTION, NOVEMBER 4:  It's all in there. DraftSight does indeed have high-level 3D capability.  See this post.

UPDATE, NOVEMBER 9:  For more information on using scripts in DraftSight, see this post.