The mtrl_list module

Quick Notes

MtrlByGuid ( mem_num, GUID) can be used to access a material by its GUID. You might use this attribute, for example, to add a custom property to a material that you are adding parametrically. The following example adds a round bar, then uses the GUID of that round bar to set to "TRUE" a custom property named GALV . A material custom property named GALV must exist (in setup) for this example parametric to run.

# Adds a round bar to the top flange of a beam, sets it to be galvanized
from param import Units, ClearSelection
from member import MemberLocate
from rnd_bar import RndBar
from mtrl_list import MtrlByGuid, MtrlPropertySet
Units("feet")
ClearSelection()
rb = RndBar()
rb.Member = MemberLocate("Select a member")
x_trans = rb.Member.TranslateToGlobal(rb.Member.LeftEnd.minus_dim,
        0, 0)
rb.Point1 = rb.Member.LeftEnd.Location + x_trans
rb.Point2 = rb.Point1 + rb.Member.TranslateToGlobal(0.0, 8.0,
        0.0)
rb.BarDiameter = 1.0
rb.WorkpointSlopeDistance = rb.Point1.Distance(rb.Point2)
rb.OrderLength = rb.WorkpointSlopeDistance
rb.Centered = 'Yes'
rb.Add()
MtrlPropertySet(MtrlByGuid(rb.Member.number,
        rb.GUID), "GALV", "TRUE")
ClearSelection()

MtrlLocate("prompt") or MtrlLocate("prompt", "Hole") or MtrlLocate("prompt", "Weld") or MtrlLocate("prompt", "Fit") or MtrlLocate("prompt", "Weld To") invokes Select One Item mode. Each of these functions returns a mtrl_list object for a parametric Add Hole or Add Bolts or Fit or Add Weld operation. They return None if the user right-clicks ( Menu ) and chooses " Cancel ."

# Prints the selected mtrl_list object
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate
object = MtrlLocate("Select a material")
print(object)

MtrlLocate("prompt string", "Single") invokes Select One Item mode. Returns a material object if the user left-clicks ( Select ). Returns None if the user right-clicks ( Menu ) and chooses " Cancel " or presses the Esc key.

# Prints the piecemark of the selected material.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate
mtrl = MtrlLocate ("Select a material", "Single")
print(mtrl.piecemark)

# Erases the selected rolled section.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate
from rolled_section import *
erasable = ["Angle", "Pipe", "W flange",
     "W Tee", "Channel", "Tube"]
rs1 = MtrlLocate("Select a rolled section", "Single")
if rs1.MaterialType in erasable:
    rs1.Erase()
else:
    print("You selected a", rs1.MaterialType)
    print("Only these materials are  erasable:")
    print(erasable)

# Loop for erasing rolled sections; press Esc to cancel (break).
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate
from rolled_section import *
redo = 1
while redo == 1:
    mtrl_erase = MtrlLocate("Select a material",
        "Single")
    if mtrl_erase == None:
        break
    else:
        mtrl_erase.erase() # use return instead of break in a function

obj.modelobject() is a method that can be used to return, from a mtrl_list object, a model object (material or hole), whose attributes can be read/written to using parametric code from the model module. Following are examples that you can type at the Python Prompt .

For these two examples, the user needs to select a material:

SDS2 Python Prompt

>>> import mtrl_list >>> mtrl_list.MtrlLocate('Select a material').modelobject() <material 1 of member 8>

SDS2 Python Prompt

>>> mtrl_list.MtrlLocate('Select one material', 'Single').modelobject() <material 3 of member 8>

For this next example, the user needs to select a hole, then press Enter :

SDS2 Python Prompt

>>> mtrl_list.HoleLocate('Select a hole').modelobject() <hole 36 on material 0 of member 2>

MtrlProperties(mtrl_obj) returns a dictionary of the custom properties -- including the " Properties " " Log " and " Notes " -- that are assigned to the material object ( mtrl_obj ). ( read-only )

# Returns a dictionary of properties assigned to the material.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlProperties
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
all_props = MtrlProperties(mtrl)
print(all_props)

# Returns a list of the material property keys.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlProperties
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
prop = MtrlProperties(mtrl)
print(prop.keys())
# .keys() is a Python method for dictionary objects

# Prints the entry to the material property named 'GALV'.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlProperties
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
prop = MtrlProperties(mtrl)
print(prop['GALV'])

# Prints the   log of the material that the user selects.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlProperties
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
prop = MtrlProperties(mtrl)
print(prop['Log'])

# Prints the note of the material that the user selects.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlProperties
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
prop = MtrlProperties(mtrl)
print(prop['Notes'])

MtrlPropertySet(mtrl_obj, "field" or "Notes", "setting") sets the material custom property ( field ) on the material object ( mtrl_obj ) to the "setting", or appends a note ("Notes") whose string is the "setting". The first argument must be a genmtrl object, or you will get a Python exception.

# Enters "True" () to boolean material property "GALV".
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlPropertySet
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
MtrlPropertySet(mtrl, "GALV", "True")

# Selects  or  for boolean material property "GALV".
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlPropertySet
from param import yes_or_no
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
true_false = yes_or_no("OK = 1; Cancel = 0")
MtrlPropertySet(mtrl, "GALV", str(true_false))
# 3rd argument must be a string -- hence str(true_false)

# Writes a "Note" for the material that the user selects.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate, MtrlPropertySet
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
MtrlPropertySet(mtrl, "Notes", "ABM page-line 14-2")

obj.HoleList() or obj.hole_list() is a method that returns a list of holes ( hole_list objects -- see below ) in a material object. In the following script, len() is a built-in Python function that returns the number of items in a list. Since the list in this example is a list of holes, len(mtr.HoleList()) returns the number of holes in the material. Click here for another example of a Python script that uses obj.HoleList .

# Prints the hole count in the selected material.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select material with holes", "Single")
print(len(mtrl.HoleList()))

hole_list object attributes include Point1 (global X, Y, Z coordinates), Point2 (global X, Y Z coordinates), BoltDiameter (a distance), HoleType (Standard Round or etc), SlotLength (a distance), Material (a gen_mtrl object), BoltType (Auto or A325N or etc.), face (NS Face), ShouldBeValid (Yes or No), SlotRotation (number of degrees). The obj.HoleList() method or the HoleLocate() function can be used to return a list of hole_list objects.

# Prints attribute values for holes in a selected material.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate
m = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
attrs = ['Point1', 'Point2', 'BoltDiameter', 'HoleType', 'SlotLength', 'Diameter']
for h in m.HoleList():
    for a in attrs:
        print(a, ": ", getattr(h, a))

obj.MainMaterial or obj.main_mtrl returns "Yes" or "No". "Yes" indicates that the material is main material. ( read-only )

# Prints Yes if the selected material is main material.
from mtrl_list import MtrlLocate
mtrl = MtrlLocate("Select a material", "Single")
print(mtrl.MainMaterial)

HoleLocate("prompt string") invokes Select Item(s) mouse bindings. Returns a list of hole_list objects if the user selects one or more holes and then right-clicks ( Menu ) and chooses " OK ." Returns None if the user right-clicks ( Menu ) and chooses " Cancel ." Click here for information on available hole_list object attributes.

Select Item(s) bindings

# Prints the list of selected holes.
from mtrl_list import HoleLocate
hole_list = HoleLocate("Select holes")
print(hole_list)

page 1 | contents | modules | top