Home

These pages contain a documentation of the PYTHA-Lua api for developers intent on creating plugins for PYTHA.

Recommended VS Code extension

For autocomplete, inline parameter documentation, snippets and a config.xml schema, install PYTHA Lua Support from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace. Every API entry in this wiki has a corresponding stub with @param / @return annotations and a direct link back here.

ext install pytha-3d-cad.pytha-lua-support

The same extension also contains the debugger for PYTHA plugins — see Debugging with VS Code.

Getting started

A basic understanding of the programming language Lua is required. Many resources on Lua can be found on the web, but the guide "Programming in Lua" is a very good starting point (note that this is the online version of a book and the most recent editions are only available in print). For hardcore-programmers, we recommend the Lua reference manual.

If you want to create your first PYTHA-Plugin, we recommend that you start from one of the provided samples. Take a look at the tutorial My first PYTHA-Plugin to get some ideas.

The PYTHA Lua API is split into different namespaces which have their own documentation:

• pytha for PYTHA modelling functionality
• pyui for creating user interfaces like dialog boxes
• pyio for file IO and persisting settings
• pyux for user interactions with the scene
• pyplot for creating and managing plot sheets, details, sections and annotations
• pydim for creating dimensions in the model
• pymsg for cooperation between plugins via message handlers
• pygeo for 2D geometry processing helpers (polygon cleanup, offsetting)
• pymath for tensor and matrix math (multiplication, transposition) and quaternions

Notes

• PYTHA uses Lua Version 5.3.
• The PYTHA Lua runtime is a customized version with extensions to the Lua syntax and some restrictions regarding the standard libraries. See Lua Runtime
• Plugins can be debugged in Visual Studio Code with breakpoints, variable inspection and stepping. See Debugging with VS Code