Crate scad_generator

This crate is used to generate openscad models using rust.

Usage

First, let's look at a simple example of the crate being used.

//"Import" the module along with the macros
#[macro_use]
extern crate scad_generator;

//Avoid having to write scad_generator:: everywhere
use scad_generator::*;

pub fn main()
{
    //Create an scad file object for storing the scad objects. This
    //allows us to set things like the detail level ($fn) for the models.
    let mut sfile = ScadFile::new();

    //Sets the $fn variable in scad which controls the detail level of things
    //like spheres. Look at the scad wiki for details
    sfile.set_detail(50);

    //Create an scad object
    let mut cube = scad!(Translate(vec3(2.0, 2.0, 3.0));
            {
                scad!(Cube(vec3(2.0,1.0,4.0)))
            });

    //Create a cylinder with a height of 10 and a diameter of 3 mm
    let cylinder = scad!(Cylinder(10., Diameter(3.)));

    //Add the cylinder to the cubes translation.
    cube.add_child(cylinder);
        
    //Add the cube object to the file
    sfile.add_object(cube.clone());
    //Save the scad code to a file
    sfile.write_to_file(String::from("out.scad"));

    //You can also print the code for the object manually since it's just a string
    println!("{}", scad!(Cube(vec3(5., 3.,  2.))).get_code());
}

Which will print the following openscad code OpenSCAD translate([2,2,3]) { cube([2,1,4]); Cylinder(h=10, r=3); }

The scad! macro

The most important part of the crate is the scad! macro. The first parameter of the macro is the element type of the object we want to create which should be an instance of the ScadElement enum. If you only want to create a single scad object, you can simply end the macro invocation after the parent like this:

    
    scad!(Cube(vec3(10., 10., 10.)));

A lot of times, you want to add more elements as children to an scad object. For example when translating a cube. If you want to add children to the object, add a ; after the element type and surround all the children in {}. The children should be instances of the ScadObject. The children should be separated by ;.

    let child = scad!(Cylinder(10., Radius(3.)));

    scad!(Difference;{
        //A child can be another call to the scad! macro
        scad!(Cube(vec3(1., 2., 3.))),
        //or a variable that is an scad object
        child,
        //Or even a function that returns an scad object
        get_child(),
    });

    fn get_child() -> ScadObject
    {
    //...
    }

Object parameters

Almost all ScadElements take additional parameters that describe them. They are enum parameters so you specify them as you would with enums. Some parameters are regular built in types like f32 but there are some special ones which are described below.

Vectors

The most common parameter is a vector. This library uses the nalgebra crate for vectors but writing na::Vector3::new(x, y, z) each time you want a vector is tedious which is why the library contains the functions vec3(x, y, z) and vec2(x, y). They are simply functions that call the equivalent nalgebra constructor.

Circle radii and diameters.

Just like regular OpenSCAD, you can create round objects by either specifying the diameter or radius of the circle. This is done using the CircleType enum which is either Diameter(d) or Radius(r).

Creating objects in loops

In most cases, the scad! macro should be good enoough to create objects, but one case where it is not, is when you want to create several objects in a loop and add them as children to a specific object. In this case, you have to use the add_child method of the ScadObject struct manually

    //Create the parent and make sure its mutable
    let mut parent = scad!(Union);

    for i in 0..3
    {
        parent.add_child(scad!(Cube(vec3(0., i as f32, 0.))));
    }
    

Reexports

pub use scad_macros::*;

Modules

scad_macros

Macros

qstruct	Used to create structs with ::new functions that set default values without having to write an impl for new.
scad	Creates an scad object with optional children

Structs

LinExtrudeParams	Parameters for the linear extrude function.
ScadFile	Object that stores scad objects along with global parameters for the objects. Also has methods for writing the data to files.
ScadObject	An scad object which is a single scad element and can have zero or more child objects

Enums

CircleType	Since scad allows creation of circle like objects using either radius or diameter, this enum specifies which format to use
ScadElement	Different kinds of scad modules and function. These are parameters for ScadObjects.

Traits

ScadType

Trait for converting from rust types to strings compatible with openscad