Rhino Scripting
All Rhino commands can be used in command scripts. Command scripts can be run by typing the command at the command prompt, from toolbar buttons, shortcut keys
, command aliases
, from the ReadCommandFile
command, or using the Paste
command into Rhino’s command stream.
Writing Command Scripts
Write command scripts just as you would type the command sequence at the command line. A space between characters or a new line act like pressing Enter
at the command line.
Special characters
|
Character |
Meaning in script |
|
! |
An exclamation point (!) and a space in the beginning of a script cancels any previous command. At other locations, it cancels the script. If necessary, the exclamation point can be used at the end of the script. |
|
_ |
Runs command as English command name. Rhino can be localized in many languages. The non-English versions will have commands, prompts, command options, dialog boxes, menus, etc., translated into their respective languages. English commands will not work in these versions. For scripts written in English to work on all computers (regardless of the language of Rhino), the scripts need to force Rhino to interpret all commands as English command names. For example: In the English version of Rhino 3.0, the following script works: Circle 3Point 0,0,0 1,1,0 0,3,0 But in the French version of Rhino 3.0, this won’t work. Instead you need one of these scripts: Cercle 3Point 0,0,0 1,1,0 0,3,0 To make sure scripts work worldwide, write them in English and put _ in front of all command names and options. |
|
- |
All commands are now scriptable at the command line (even commands that have dialog boxes by default). To suppress the dialog box and use command-line options, prefix the command name with a hyphen ( ). |
|
‘ |
The next command is a nestable command. View and construction plane manipulation and object snaps are nestable. Geometry creation commands are not nestable. One-shot object snaps |
|
; |
Lines beginning with a semicolon (;) are not part of the script, but let you document the script or try alternative input. For example: ; This is a test macro |
Examples
Draw a circle
This script creates a circle centered at 5,5 with a radius of 10:
! _-Circle 5,5 10
The spaces between the entries are the same places you would press Enter
when typing the command by hand.
Unselect objects and start the Move command
This script starts the Move
command, but makes sure no objects are selected before asking you to select objects to move:
! SelNone Move
Create a curve through points in a text file
This script creates a set of points from a list, selects them all, and fits a polyline through the points:
How this script works:
|
! _SelAll |
Cancels all previous commands and selects all the objects currently in the model. |
|
_Points |
Creates a point object at each coordinate pair listed next. |
|
_Enter |
Simulates pressing Enter , which stops the creation of point objects. |
|
_Invert |
Inverts the selection. All visible objects in the scene were selected at the beginning of the script, so after Invert only the newly created point objects are selected. |
|
_CurveThroughPt |
Creates a polyline through the point objects. |
Bypass a dialog box
! -_Helix _pause _-pause _Turns=8.2 _ReverseTwist=Yes
You will be prompted for the start and endpoints of the axis. Other options (number of turns and reverse twist) will be set by the script. In the Helix
command, these options are set using a dialog box.
To try these scripts:
-
Select the script right from this Help topic.
-
Press Ctrl
+ C
to copy it to the Clipboard. -
Click in the Rhino command prompt, and press Ctrl + V to paste the script.
Special scripting commands
|
Pause |
Stops for user input in a script. Example: ! _Circle _Pause 50 This script asks for a point and then draws a circle with a 50 unit radius centered there. |
|
Enter |
Simulates pressing Enter in a script. This command does not repeat the previous command like pressing the Enter key does. |
|
SetRedrawOff |
Prevents screen redraw, construction plane or camera changes during scripts. |
|
SetRedrawOn |
Turns screen redraw back on after SetRedrawOff |
|
NoEcho |
Turns off echoing of script commands to the command history window. |
|
Echo |
Turns on echoing of script commands to the command history window. |
Notes
-
If you do not know what to type in a script, run the hyphenated version of the command. Highlight and copy the command sequence and paste it into your script text as a starting point.
Opens an edit window for script creation and testing.
Steps:
-
Type commands in the Macro Editor window.
-
To test, click Run.
-
To delete the macro, click Delete.
Notes
-
Selecting some text and clicking Run will run only that selected part of the macro.
-
There is a right click context menu for selecting all, copy, paste, delete, run etc.
|
Utilities > Open macro editor
Tools > Commands > Macro Editor
|
Related topics…
Reads and executes a command script from a text file.
Steps:
-
In the Read Command File dialog box, select the file to read.
-
The file contents are copied into the command line, and the lines of the command file are interpreted as if they were typed into the command line.
Notes
-
When building command files, use the Enter
command, which is equivalent to pressing Enterto execute commands.
-
If you read in a particular file often, you can assign ReadCommandFile to a toolbar button along with a filename. For example:
-
-readcommandfile myfile.txt
Click the button to read the file. If you leave off the filename, a file dialog box appears. You can then select a file from the list.
-
If the file name has spaces, surround the text with quote marks. For example:
-
-readcommandfile “my file.txt”
Example
Make a text file like the following example that has commands for creating all your curves in it, and then create the curves all at once with ReadCommandFile.
! _interpcrv
23,5,0
23.2,5,0
23.7,5.2,1
_enter
_interpcrv
26.1,4.9,1.1
26.8,4.9,1.0
27.1,4.8,0.9
_enter
etc….
|
Tools > Read Command File
Tools > Commands > Read from File
|
Stops a script for user input.
Example:
This script asks for a point and then draws a circle with a 50 unit radius centered there.
! _Circle _Pause 50
|
None
None
|
Functions as pressing the Enter key for use in scripts or toolbar button programming.
Example
This script sets a construction plane by the z-axis:
‘_CPlane _3Point
_Pause _Pause _Enter
Notes
-
The Enter command does not repeat the previous command like pressing the Enter
key does.
|
None
None
|
Turns on echoing of script commands to the command history window.
|
None
None
|
Turns off echoing of script commands to the command history window.
|
None
None
|
Enables screen redraw, construction plane, or camera changes during scripts.
Notes
-
Turns screen redraw back on after the SetRedrawOff command
|
View > Set Redraw On (Right click)
None
|
Disables screen redraw, construction plane, or camera changes during scripts.
Notes
-
Turn screen redraw back on with the SetRedrawOn command
|
View > Set Redraw Off
None
|
Cancels the current command and deselects objects.
|
Main1 > Cancel
None
Keyboard Shortcut: Esc
|
Closes the current Rhino session.
|
None
None
|
Runs another application from inside Rhino.
Steps:
-
Type the name and path of the file to run.
|
None
None
|
Attaches text information to an object.
The information is stored in a key/value way like the Windows registry uses.
Retrieve the information with the GetUserText
command. This information can also be attached by .NET plug-ins and VisualBasic scripts.
This information is easily accessed in .NET and Visual Basic scripts.
Example
Text key = Weight
Text = Kilograms
Steps:
-
Select objects.
-
Type a text key.
-
Type the text.
Options
AttachTo
Geometry
Attaches text information to the object geometry.
If the information is closely associated with the geometry, attach it to the geometry. For example, a circle’s radius should be attached to the geometry because the information will be invalid if the circle is control-point edited and changed into a NURBS curve.
Attributes
Attaches text information to the attributes of an object.
If the information is higher-level attribute information, like color, then it should be attached to the object’s attributes. Attribute information will persist when an object is control point edited, trimmed, copied, and so on.
|
None
None
|
Retrieves text information attached using the SetUserText
command. This information can also be retrieved by .NET plug-ins and VisualBasic scripts.
Steps:
-
Select objects.
-
Type a text key or press Enter
for all keys.
|
None
None
|