How to run an external script in Blender

How to run an external script in Blender#

To view outputs of your file#

The outputs (eg. print statements) of your file won’t show in the Blender console. They are output to the system console (your computers terminal/command prompt).

Windows#

On Windows you can open the system console by simply clicking “Window -> Toggle System Console”

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MacOS/Linux#

On MacOS or Linux systems you have to run Blender from the terminal to be able to see outputs.

  • Open your terminal and navigate to Blender location. This will typically be at /Applications/Blender.app/Contents/MacOS

  • Go to this location with the command cd (change directory) as: cd /Applications/Blender.app/Contents/MacOS

  • Run Blender by typing: ./Blender Blender will open up as normally. Now, whenever you run your script, the outputs will be shown here.

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Running an external script#

Open Blender (either normally or through a terminal) and make a new ‘text’ window.#

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(A) If you want to use the IFC model through in Blender#

Load it with BlenderBIM#

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Test file#

  • Make a new hello_ifc.py file and place it in the same directory as your blender file.

# IF YOU'RE USING THE IFC MODEL LOADED IN BLENDER
from blenderbim.bim.ifc import IfcStore

file = IfcStore.get_file()
spaces = file.by_type("IfcSpace")

for space in spaces:
	print(space.LongName)

(B) If you want to use another, external IFC model#

  • Place both the IFC model and a new hello_ifc.py in the same directory as your blender file

Test file#

# IF YOU'RE ANOTHER, EXTERNAL IFC MODEL
import ifcopenshell
import bpy
import os


modelname = "Duplex_A_20110907.ifc"
modelpath = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(bpy.data.filepath), modelname)
file = ifcopenshell.open(modelpath)

spaces = file.by_type("IfcSpace")

for space in spaces:
	print(space.LongName)

Open template for external scripts#

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Change filename to your file name (eg. “hello_ifc.py”)#

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Run your script#

Alt text Your system console should be showing a list of space names. Alt text