Cloud and Mobile

Forge Formats Python Scripts

By Jeremy Tammik.

I just published the beginning of a new collection of Forge Python scripts, currently with a count of one:

py_forge_formats.py implements a Python wrapper around two basic RESTful Forge web service calls:

• Authenticate an app – forge_authenticate_app
• Query the file formats currently supported by the translation processes – forge_formats

The result is prettified using the jprettyprint helper function.

The mainline ties it all together and presents the final result, which looks like this at the time of writing:

$ ./py_forge_formats.py
9 Forge output formats:
  dwg: f2d, f3d, rvt
  fbx: f3d
  ifc: rvt
  iges: f3d, fbx, iam, ipt, wire
  obj: asm, f3d, fbx, iam, ipt, neu, prt, sldasm, sldprt, step, stp, stpz,
    wire, x_b, x_t, asm.NNN, neu.NNN, prt.NNN
  step: f3d, fbx, iam, ipt, wire
  stl: f3d, fbx, iam, ipt, wire
  svf: 3dm, 3ds, asm, catpart, catproduct, cgr, collaboration, dae, dgn,
    dlv3, dwf, dwfx, dwg, dwt, dxf, exp, f3d, fbx, g, gbxml, iam, idw,
    ifc, ige, iges, igs, ipt, jt, max, model, neu, nwc, nwd, obj, pdf,
    prt, rcp, rvt, sab, sat, session, skp, sldasm, sldprt, smb, smt,
    ste, step, stl, stla, stlb, stp, stpz, wire, x_b, x_t, xas, xpr,
    zip, asm.NNN, neu.NNN, prt.NNN
  thumbnail: 3dm, 3ds, asm, catpart, catproduct, cgr, collaboration, dae, dgn,
    dlv3, dwf, dwfx, dwg, dwt, dxf, exp, f3d, fbx, g, gbxml, iam, idw,
    ifc, ige, iges, igs, ipt, jt, max, model, neu, nwc, nwd, obj, pdf,
    prt, rcp, rvt, sab, sat, session, skp, sldasm, sldprt, smb, smt,
    ste, step, stl, stla, stlb, stp, stpz, wire, x_b, x_t, xas, xpr,
    zip, asm.NNN, neu.NNN, prt.NNN

This script replaces and improves on the previous forgeauth and forgeformats Unix shell cURL scripts documented in the discussion of the cURL wrapper scripts to list Forge file formats.

For the sake of completeness, those two scripts have been added to this repository as well.

Setup and Usage

Two aspects need to be prepared: Forge and Python.

Before you can make any use of the Forge web services, you will need to register an app and request the API client id and client secret for it at developer.autodesk.com > my apps.

These scripts assume that you have stored these credentials in the environment variables FORGE_CLIENT_ID and FORGE_CLIENT_SECRET.

Regarding the Python components:

• Install Python.
• Install the requests Python library.

Now you should be all set to run as shown above.

forge_authenticate_app

forge_formats

jprettyprint

Mainline

Autodesk View and Data API Notes and Samples

By Jeremy Tammik.

I just published a summary of my notes from three presentations on the Autodesk View and Data API given by Cyrille Fauvel and Philippe Leefsma, in the two introductory workshops at HackZurich on Friday evening, October 10 and at HackaBxl in Brussels on October 17.

Philippe also presented a very nice and absolutely minimal basic viewer sample in node.js demonstrating how to implement a private web service to obtain the authorisation token without exposing your key and secret in your JavaScript source.

Revit ADN Mesh Data Custom Exporter to JSON

By Jeremy Tammik.

I implemented a new Revit 2014 custom exporter to JSON generating the ADN mesh data to drive Philippe Leefsma's online 3D WebGL viewer.

This is obviously mainly of interest to Revit API aficionados, though some of the topics covered are completely generic cloud and mobile issues as well:

• ADN mesh data format
• Tetrahedron sample JSON data
• Little house and curved wall in JSON
• Custom exporter implementation and components
• Centroid and volume
• Export context implementation
• ADN mesh data class
• JSON serialisation

The post also mentions my most recent mountain hike to the Muttenhorn :-)

Trillions – Thriving in the Emerging Information Technology

By Jeremy Tammik.

I just finished reading Trillions – Thriving in the Emerging Information Technology by Peter Lucas, Joe Ballay, Mickey McManus of MAYA Design, distributed to all Tech Summit presenters.

It discusses design and technology for pervasive computing, provides numerous shockingly obvious and often quite old insights, a very critical view of our current use of Internet and so-called cloud technologies, and an inspiring and thrilling read.

The topic is how to harness and live in – as opposed to 'with' – the unbounded complexity of the trillion-node network of connected devices that we are inevitable heading towards, and will lead to catastrophe unless we radically change some fundamental aspects of the ways we handle and share information.

I highly recommend reading this book.

I highly recommend abstaining from all use of the word 'cloud computing' until you have completed it :-)

Debugging Asynchronous CouchDB Callbacks & Snapshots

By Jeremy Tammik.

I more or less completed the research for my cloud-based round-trip 2D Revit model editing project.

Here are the main items in my discussion of that and one or two other cloud and mobile related topics:

• Three aspects of life and programming
• Room editor navigation
• Nested asynchronous database call-back functions
• Roomedit – my first GitHub project
• Debugging JavaScript with Firebug
• Screen snapshots on mobile devices
• Open source components used by Autodesk

2D Mobile Revit Model Editing Update

By Jeremy Tammik.

Continuing the research and development for my cloud-based round-trip 2D Revit model editing project, I updated the project description to emphasise more strongly that I am using pure client-side scripting to display and edit my graphical data, so there is nothing to implement or install at all on the mobile device, beyond testing that my server-side scripts really do their job.

The presentation outline looks like this:

• Show a Revit model.
• Export the model to a cloud-based data repository.
• Query and display the repository contents as a 2D rendering on a mobile device.
• Edit the model in the browser on the mobile device, updating the data repository.
• Watch the BIM in Revit auto-update.

I have completed the implementation of all these steps with the single minute exception of the prefix 'auto'.

In other words, I currently have two commands in my Revit add-in:

• CmdUpload uploads the room and equipment boundary data to the cloud repository, either from a manually selected set of rooms, or all rooms in the model.
• CmdUpdate retrieves the changes applied to furniture and equipment on the mobile device. This is currently a command triggered by the user.

Here is a little two-minute film demonstrating the current functionality to give you the idea:

Getting ready for the last stages, now...

Room Editor Project Overview and CouchDB Configuration

By Jeremy Tammik.

I am continuing the research and development for my cloud-based round-trip 2D Revit model editing project.

To recapitulate, the grand plan is to grab a 2D floor plan with furniture and equipment layout from the BIM, upload it to the cloud, and make it accessible for viewing on mobile devices:

Furthermore, I am enabling some simple editing operations on the mobile device, e.g. to move the furniture and equipment around in the room a bit, update the cloud-based data repository, and reflect these changes back into the desktop BIM:

All of this with absolutely nil installation on the mobile device, and thus totally ubiquitous, using SVG and server-side scripting.

Here are some issues I tackled since my last report:

• Project Overview
• Replicating a CouchDB with Python
• Same origin policy snag and resolution
• Learning and struggling with CouchApps
• Relief moving to Kanso
• Next steps

Check it out, and please let us know what you think!

Desktop to Cloud via DreamSeat CouchDB Client

By Jeremy Tammik.

I mentioned the idea of using CouchDB and IrisCouch as a simple cloud-based data repository option, and Philippe picked up that idea to demonstrate a simple and efficient restful database using those components to host and consume images of CAD model data.

Now I presented my own example of pushing desktop data to the cloud via a DreamSeat CouchDB client to store 2D plan view room and furniture boundaries in a cloud-hosted data repository.

Check it out, and please let us know what you think of it!

Relax – Simple Free Cloud Based Data Repository with NoSQL, CouchDB, and IrisCouch

By Jeremy Tammik.

I searched for a simple cloud-based data repository option and found one that seems simpler and more transparent than the Microsoft Azure and Amazon solutions discussed here so far: NoSQL, CouchDB, and IrisCouch.

Check it out, and please let us know what you think of this alternative!

2D SVG Editing on Mobile Device with Raphaël

By Jeremy Tammik.

I spent some more time exploring how to display and interact with 2D graphics in a browser using SVG and JavaScript.

In my last foray into the area, I demonstrated display and interactive picking by implementing a room polygon and furniture picker in SVG.

It enables picking and identifying objects and proves that the same code and interaction is supported on all mobile devices, in particular both Android and Safari on iOS.

I now went one step further and explored 2D SVG editing on a mobile device with Raphaël, which adds interactive dragging and rotation of the polygons representing furniture or equipment, making use of the Raphaël JavaScript library.

If you would like to circumvent all explanations and just jump straight into the final result, take a look at The Building Coder SVG folder, or access the step-by-step evolution of the demo directly from here:

1. Curves
2. Grid
3. Room
4. Reporting text and click handler
5. Furniture
6. Drag
7. Rotate
8. Button

You can test each step interactively, then see how it works by viewing the source.

I hope you find this useful. Have fun, and good luck!