{{Macro
|Name=StraightenObject
|Icon=Macro_StraightenObject.png
|Description=This macro align an object with FC coordinate system according reference items (face/edge)
This macro has been written mainly to re-align imported objects (eg. STEP) with main FreeCAD planes/axis.
To use the macro, select the reference item(s), eventually other objects, then run the macro.
If you want to align your object with other plane/axis, use the macro then the Transform function of FreeCAD.
See "Details" chapter for multi-object selection.
|Author=OpenBrain
|Date=2019-06-10
|Version=0.8
|FCVersion= 0.17+
|SeeAlso=Macro PlacementAbsolufy 
|Download=[https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/images/c/c9/Macro_StraightenObject.png ToolBar Icon]
}}
This macro has been written mainly to re-align imported objects (eg. STEP) with main FreeCAD planes/axis.
Functionally, the macro will use one or both of following reference items to straighten (rotate & move) the object(s) :
- Face : the selected face will be set coplanar with XY plane, its center mass being set at the origin
- Edge (or 2 vertexes) : the selected edge will be aligned with the Y axis
To use the macro, select the reference item(s), eventually other objects, then run the macro. If you want to align your object with other plane/axis, use the macro then the Transform function of FreeCAD. See "Details" chapter for multi-object selection.
The macro is available through Addon Manager. Code is provided on this page for convenience in case user system doesn't have git-python. Though it should be up-to-date, latest release is always available at FreeCAD-macro repository
For more detailed explanations, see the How to install macros page.
Below a table presenting the different cases that are handled by the macro :
First selected object item(s) Subsequent selected object(s) item(s) Macro behavior
One reference face Any (optional) First object is rotated/moved so reference face lies on XY plane, its center of mass being at the origin. Other selected objects undergo the same movement as first object One reference edge (or 2 reference vertexes) Any (optional) First object is rotated around its center of mass so that reference edge is parallel to Y axis (no shift is applied). Other selected objects undergo the same movement as first object One reference face + one reference edge (or 2 reference vertexes) Any (optional) First object is rotated/moved so reference face lies on XY plane(its center of mass being at the origin) and reference edge is parallel to Y axis. Other selected objects undergo the same movement as first object 2+ faces + any Any (optional) Macro fails 2+ edges (or 3+ vertexes) + any Any (optional) Macro fails Any other combination Any (optional) Macro fails
The macro will perform the following checks :
- If the reference face is perpendicular to the reference edge, the latter will be ignored (warning notification in the status bar)
- If the reference face isn't a flat one, weird result may happen (warning notification in the status bar)
When you select several object, the macro will propose 2 options to apply the straightening :
- Parent : the macro will try to find a common parent to all selected objects :
- If no one is found, the macro fails with an error notification in the status bar
- If one or more is found, the transformation is applied on the hierarchically lower one
- Multiple : the transformation is applied on each selected object separately
To Be Completed with picture example
- Reference items shall all belong to the first selected object. Reference items among several objects is not supported at this time
- Straightened object(s) shall be in a coordinate system corresponding to the global one. If you used Part container(s) to locate your objects, you should first use Macro PlacementAbsolufy
on your model. If this condition isn't fulfilled, weird things can happen.
ToolBar Icon 
Macro_StraightenObject.FCMacro
{{MacroCode|code= #!/usr/bin/python #####################################
This FreeCAD macro will straighten an object vs. root origin based on a selected face or/and a selected edge (or 2 selected vertices)
* If only a face is selected -> Center of mass of the face is set at origin, and normal to face at this same point is aligned with Z axis
* If only an edge is selected (or 2 vertices) -> Object is rotated around Z axis (centered at the bounding box center) so that the virtual line between the 2 edge endpoints (or between the 2 vertices) is aligned with X axis
* If both a face and an edge (or 2 vertices) are selected, both previous effects are applied (at the difference that the Z rotation in centered on the face center of mass)
*0.7 : multiple objects support (LIMITATION : reference items shall all belong to first object)(LIMITATION : unexpected results may happen if selected objects are in different coordinate systems)
#####################################
Name = 'StraigthenObject' Comment = 'Straighten an object by a face and/or an edge (or 2 vertices)' Author = 'openBrain' Version = '0.8' Date = '2019-06-10' License = 'LGPL v2' Web = 'https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Macro_StraightenObject' Wiki = 'https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Macro_StraightenObject' Icon = '' Help = 'Select face and/or edge to guide object straightening then run the macro' Status = 'Beta' Requires = 'FreeCAD >= 0.17' Communication = 'https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=35191'
dbg = False #True for debugging
from PySide import QtGui
def cslM(msg): FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage('\n') FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage(msg)
def cslW(msg): FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage('\n') FreeCAD.Console.PrintWarning(msg)
def cslE(msg): FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage('\n') FreeCAD.Console.PrintError(msg)
def cslD(msg): if dbg: FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage('\n') FreeCAD.Console.PrintMessage("Debug : " + str(msg))
0Vec = FreeCAD.Vector(0, 0, 0) XVec = FreeCAD.Vector(1, 0, 0) YVec = FreeCAD.Vector(0, 1, 0) ZVec = FreeCAD.Vector(0, 0, 1)
if dbg: ##Clear report view in debug mode FreeCADGui.getMainWindow().findChild(QtGui.QTextEdit, "Report view").clear()
cslM("Starting Straighten Object macro") cslD("Getting selected objects to define targets")
selError = False #true if incorrect selection made cancelOp = False #true if operation canceled by user
if len(FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelection()) > 1: #if several objet selected cslD("Multiple objects selected, asking user what to do") msgb = QtGui.QMessageBox() ##create a message box to ask for user choice & populate it msgb.setWindowTitle("Multiple objects selected") msgb.setText("""You have selected multiple objects This is experimental feature, unexpected results may happen if objects are in different coordinate systems Click 'Parent' to try to find a common parent and apply transformation to it Click 'Multiple' to apply transformation on all objects individually Click 'Cancel' to cancel operation""") msgb.setInformativeText("!!! Reference face and/or line shall belong to the 1st selected object !!!") msgb.setIcon(QtGui.QMessageBox.Question) pbut = msgb.addButton("Parent", QtGui.QMessageBox.AcceptRole) #button for 'Parent' mode mbut = msgb.addButton("Multiple", QtGui.QMessageBox.AcceptRole) #button for "Multiple' mode cbut = msgb.addButton("Cancel", QtGui.QMessageBox.RejectRole) #button to cancel operation msgb.exec_() #display message box if msgb.clickedButton() == pbut: #if 'Parent' mode selected cslD("Parent mode selected, will search for a common one") plist = FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelection()[0].InListRecursive #initialize the parent list for obj in FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelection(): #for each object in selection plist = list(set(plist).intersection(obj.InListRecursive)) #search common parent with previous objects cslD("Found common parent(s) : " + str([str(p.Label) for p in plist]) + " / if several, choose the first one") if len(plist) == 0: #if no common parent found selError = True cslE("No common parent found") else: #if common parent found target = [plist[0]] #take the lowest level one as target cslD("Selected parent as target : " + str(target[0].Label)) elif msgb.clickedButton() == mbut: #if 'Multiple' mode selected cslD("Multiple mode selected, will apply on all objects") target = FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelection() #take all selection as target else: #if operation canceled cancelOp = True cslD("Operation canceled by user") elif len(FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelection()) == 1: #if only one object selected target = FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelection() #take it as target else: #no object selected selError = True cslE("No object selected")
if not(selError or cancelOp): #if a valid selection is available cslD("Target(s) after mode application : " + str(target[0].Label)) cslD("Checking if PartDesign feature selected") for cnt, t in enumerate(target): #going through the targets try: while str(t.TypeId)[:10] == 'PartDesign' and str(t.TypeId) != 'PartDesign::Body': #while object is in a PartDesign and is not the Body t = t.getParentGeoFeatureGroup() #try its parent as new target except: #if a PartDesign object has no containing Body selError = True cslE("Found a PartDesign object not in a Body") break target[cnt] = t #update target
target = list(set(target).intersection(target)) #remove duplicates to prevent applying 2 times transformation on same object
cslD("Final target(s) : " + str([str(t.Label) for t in target]))
cslD("Getting reference items")
refFaceDef = False #true if a reference face is selected
refPt1Def = False #true if one reference point is found selected
refPt2Def = False #true if another reference point is found selected
cslD("Subobjects : " +str(FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelectionEx()[0].SubElementNames))
for selItem in FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelectionEx()[0].SubObjects: #going through selected items of first object
if isinstance(selItem, Part.Face): #if it's a face
if not refFaceDef: #if reference face not yet defined
refFace = selItem #define it
refFaceDef = True #and remember
else:
selError = True #too much faces selected
cslE("Too much reference faces selected")
elif isinstance(selItem, Part.Edge): #if it's an edge
if not refPt1Def and not refPt2Def: #if reference points not yet defined
refPt1 = selItem.Vertexes[0] #define 1st reference point as first edge point
refPt1Def = True #and remember
refPt2 = selItem.Vertexes[len(selItem.Vertexes)-1] #define 2nd reference point as last edge point
refPt2Def = True #and remember
else:
selError = True #too much points selected
cslE("Too much reference points selected (vertices or edges)")
elif isinstance(selItem, Part.Vertex): #if it's a vertex
if not refPt1Def: #if 1st reference point not yet defined
refPt1 = selItem #define it
refPt1Def = True #and remember
elif not refPt2Def: #if 2nd reference point not yet defined
refPt2 = selItem #define it
refPt2Def = True #and remember
else:
selError = True #too much points selected
cslE("Too much reference points selected (vertices or edges)")
else:
selError = True #incorrect type of item selected
cslE("Incorrect type of item selected")
if cancelOp: cslM("Operation canceled by user ... exiting") elif selError or (bool(refPt1Def) != bool(refPt2Def)) or (not (refPt1Def or refPt2Def or refFaceDef)): #if selection error or only one reference point defined or no reference face/point defined cslE("Selection error : see report view & documentation for more details ... Exiting") else: FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.openTransaction("Straighten objects") #open new transaction for undo management cslD("Starting Transformation") obj = FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelection()[0] # take as reference the first object selected for transformation shiftVec = 0Vec #no shift move by defaut faceRot = FreeCAD.Rotation(ZVec, ZVec) #no reference rotation by default lineRot = FreeCAD.Rotation(ZVec, ZVec) #no reference line by default normVec = ZVec #normal is the Z axis by default rotCenter = obj.Shape.BoundBox.Center #center of rotation at object bounding box center by default warning = False #True if a warning appears
if refFaceDef: #if a reference face has been defined
cslD("A reference face is available")
faceCurv = refFace.curvatureAt(refFace.Surface.parameter(refFace.CenterOfMass)[0], refFace.Surface.parameter(refFace.CenterOfMass)[1]) #calculating face curvature at center of mass
cslD("Curvature : " + str(faceCurv))
if faceCurv != (0, 0): #if reference face is not flat at its center of mass
warning = True
cslW("Reference face is not flat at its center of mass, unexpected results may happen") #warn user about it
rotCenter = refFace.CenterOfMass #changing center of rotation to center of mass of reference face
shiftVec -= refFace.CenterOfMass #the reference face will be centered
normVec = refFace.normalAt(refFace.Surface.parameter(refFace.CenterOfMass)[0], refFace.Surface.parameter(refFace.CenterOfMass)[1]) #getting normal vector at face center of mass
faceRot = FreeCAD.Rotation(normVec, -_ZVec_) #calculate needed rotation to align the reference face with Z axis
for t in target:
t.Placement = FreeCAD.Placement(_0Vec_, faceRot, rotCenter).multiply(t.Placement) #rotate targets to align reference face normal with Z axis
cslD("Targets rotated to match reference face normal with Z axis")
if refPt1Def: #if reference points have been defined
cslD("Reference points are available")
lineVec = refPt2.Point - refPt1.Point #calculate vector (reference line) defined by reference points
lineVecMod = faceRot.multVec(lineVec) #reference line has maybe been modified by previous object rotation
lineNorm = lineVecMod.projectToPlane(_0Vec_, _ZVec_) #calculate line projection on XY plane
cslD("Normality : " + str(lineNorm))
if lineNorm == _0Vec_: #if reference line is perpendicular to rotating plane
warning = True
cslW("Line reference is aligned with normal, line alignment will be ignored") #warn user about it
else:
lineRot = FreeCAD.Rotation(lineNorm, _XVec_) #calculate needed rotation to align with X axis
for t in target:
t.Placement = FreeCAD.Placement(_0Vec_, lineRot, rotCenter).multiply(t.Placement) #rotate targets to align reference line with X axis
cslD("Targets rotated to match reference line with X axis")
for t in target:
t.Placement.move(shiftVec) #finally shift targets if needed
cslD("Targets shift")
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.commitTransaction() #commit transaction
if warning:
cslW("Macro terminated with warning(s), see report view & documentation for more details")
else :
cslM("Macro terminated correctly")
}}
For any feedback (bug, feature request, comments, ...), please use this forum thread : (Macro) Straighten objects
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