📐 PBA-AutoPack (autocad_master)

High-Precision Python COM Automation Engine & Vector Drafting Toolkit for Autodesk AutoCAD

The production-grade CAD automation core powering automated engineering drawing production, structural detailing schedules, and dynamic drawing generators at Powered By Akash (PBA).

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📌 Overview

PBA-AutoPack (internally designated autocad_master) is a robust Python COM/ActiveX interface engine engineered specifically for civil, structural, and mechanical engineers who need programmatic control over Autodesk AutoCAD:

• Resilient COM Retry Wrappers: Automatically intercepts and recovers from transient Windows COM errors (such as -2147418111: Rejected by callee) when AutoCAD is executing heavy background operations.
• Full Vector Geometry Primitive Suite: Direct creation and manipulation of lines, continuous polylines, 2-point arcs, circles, triangles, and complex boundaries.
• Advanced Automated Hatching: Native SAFEARRAY IDispatch outer-loop boundary binding supporting SOLID, ANSI, and custom hatching patterns with scale and RGB TrueColor assignment.
• Code-Compliant Dimensioning & Styles: Programmatic creation of aligned, linear, and rotated dimension entities with automatic arrow scaling, text placement, and dimension style overrides.
• Dynamic Linetype & Layer Management: On-the-fly layer creation with TrueColor RGB mapping, lineweights, and automatic runtime fallback loading of missing linetypes from acadiso.lin or acad.lin.
• Interactive User Coordinate System (UCS): Screen-click point polling and dynamic UCS transformation alignment.

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🧩 Core API & Method Reference

Method	Return Type	Description
ConnectAutoCAD()	Instance	Connects to the active AutoCAD application session, initializes active document and model space with exponential retry logic.
_safe_com_call(action)	Any	Executes COM calls wrapped in a micro-delay retry mechanism to safeguard against busy COM server crashes.
true_color(rgb)	AcCmColor	Dynamically loads and instantiates the version-matched AutoCAD TrueColor interface for precise RGB palettes.
ensure_layer(name, rgb, weight, type)	Layer	Validates layer existence, creates missing layers, assigns RGB tones, lineweights, and loads linetypes.
draw_line(xy1, xy2, layer, rgb, ...)	Line	Draws 2D/3D vector line with specific layer, color, linetype, and lineweight.
draw_polyline(points, layer, rgb, ...)	Polyline	Generates continuous 2D lightweight polylines from coordinate tuples with optional closure.
draw_arc_2p(xy1, xy2, radius, ...)	Arc	Mathematically derives center point and sweep angles to draw precise 2-point circular arcs.
apply_hatch(boundary_obj, pattern, ...)	Hatch	Binds pre-defined hatch patterns to closed boundaries via COM SAFEARRAY interfaces.
join_objects(objects_list, width)	Polyline	Joins contiguous lines and arcs into unified polylines and sets global widths.
fillet_objects(obj1, obj2, radius)	None	Automates corner filleting between adjacent drawing entities.
draw_dimension(xy1, xy2, text_xy, ...)	Dimension	Generates aligned or linear engineering dimensions with custom text and formatting.
draw_text(string, xy, height, align, ...)	Text	Injects single-line text entities with 9-point alignment constants (TL, MC, BR, etc.) and rotation angles.
draw_leader(points, text, head_type, ...)	Leader	Draws multi-vertex annotation leaders with customizable arrowheads.
draw_circle(xy, radius, layer, rgb, ...)	Circle	Draws circles with center coordinates and radius specification.
set_ucs_by_click(app_instance)	None	Interactive prompt requesting the user to click a drawing point to set a new UCS origin.

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🚀 Installation

Option 1: Install via Pip from GitHub

pip install git+https://github.com/Powered-By-Akash/PBA-AutoPack.git

Option 2: Clone and Install in Editable Mode

git clone https://github.com/Powered-By-Akash/PBA-AutoPack.git
cd PBA-AutoPack
pip install -e .

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💻 Minimal Code Example

from pba_autopack import ConnectAutoCAD

# 1. Connect to running AutoCAD instance
acad = ConnectAutoCAD()

# 2. Setup standard engineering layer
acad.ensure_layer(
    layer_name="PBA_BEAM_OUTLINE",
    rgb=(0, 212, 255),
    line_weight=35
)

# 3. Draw closed structural beam section
beam_profile = [
    (0, 0),
    (300, 0),
    (300, 600),
    (0, 600)
]
poly = acad.draw_polyline(
    points=beam_profile,
    layer_name="PBA_BEAM_OUTLINE",
    closed=True
)

# 4. Apply solid hatching
acad.apply_hatch(
    boundary_obj=poly,
    hatch_pattern="SOLID",
    layer_name="PBA_BEAM_OUTLINE",
    rgb=(20, 30, 45)
)

# 5. Add dimensional annotations
acad.draw_dimension(
    xy1=(0, 600),
    xy2=(300, 600),
    text_xy=(150, 650),
    dim_type="ALIGNED",
    layer_name="PBA_BEAM_OUTLINE"
)

# 6. Add label
acad.draw_text(
    text_string="BEAM B-101 (300x600)",
    xy=(150, -50),
    height=30.0,
    alignment="MC",
    layer_name="PBA_BEAM_OUTLINE"
)

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📁 Repository Structure

PBA-AutoPack/
├── __init__.py           # Legacy root entry point for autocad_master
├── pba_autopack.py       # Primary framework module with ConnectAutoCAD engine
├── autocad_master.py     # Backward-compatibility bridge
├── setup.py              # Setuptools distribution config
├── pyproject.toml        # Modern PEP 517/518 build specification
├── LICENSE               # MIT Open Source License
├── .gitignore            # Git exclusions
├── README.md             # Documentation and usage guide
└── examples/
    └── demo.py           # Verification and usage demonstration

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🏢 Organization & Founder

• Organization: Powered By Akash (PBA)
• Founder & Lead Architect: Akash Tanna
• Location: Gujarat, India
• Official Website: poweredbyakash.in

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.