Nicholas Gower
fd3a0b9e15
ALIASEDIT kept its aliases in a process-wide store and nothing saved or restored them, so they were gone after a restart. The engine now gives the set and the alias file REINIT reads to the host profile (alias_profile) and restores them (restore_aliases) in CadApp's profile_json / load_profile, bounded and safe on a malformed saved set; command names still win. The Command Aliases dialog says where the aliases are kept.
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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 and keeps it; the aliases and the file survive restarts. 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. Lines that
would start external programs are skipped. From a script or the control channel:
aliasedit {"file": "/path/to/aliases.pgp"}.
Aliases are user settings, never part of a drawing. The desktop and web apps keep them, and the
file REINIT reads, in the user profile (cadcraft.profile), so aliases added, edited or removed in
the Command Aliases dialog (or with ALIASEDIT's set, remove and clear) are there after a
restart, and REINIT reads the same file again. The headless CLI has no user profile: there, aliases
last for that run.
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. A--cmdparameter value of exactly{last}is replaced with the last object handle an earlier--cmdin the same run returned, soviewport.set {"handle":"{last}","scale":1}can followmview. Every other value is passed unchanged. -
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.