diff --git a/cadquery/README.md b/cadquery/README.md index dc337944241db31e2f725345257bc9acc933da3a..8474ec614b96106d2d83cc36207fb0832d1338a4 100644 --- a/cadquery/README.md +++ b/cadquery/README.md @@ -9,7 +9,28 @@ - [main repo](https://github.com/CadQuery/cadquery) - [GUI repo](https://github.com/CadQuery/CQ-editor) -## Standalone +## About + +CADQuery is a Python library for doing CAD with code. In this regard it follows in the footsteps of +[OpenSCAD](https://openscad.org/). However CADQuery has a higher level API that allows you to write +scripts that look more like reasonable verbal descriptions of the part (or at least what you'd do to +make it in a standard CAD program). In particular, it's easy to define new workplanes, make 2D +sketches in them, and extrude, as one would in standard CAD. CADQuery also has support for common +operations like filleting, chamfers, and hollowing (making shells). And it supports constraints! + +CADQuery started as a wrapper around the [FreeCAD](https://www.freecadweb.org/) API. But now it's +built on top of the underlying [Open CASCADE +kernel](https://www.opencascade.com/open-cascade-technology/) directly so that it can support some +more advanced geometric selection and editing. + +Most importantly, CADQuery functions as a Python library, so you can write Python scripts that +generate geometry and export it (as STL, STEP, etc.). There's also a dedicated GUI that shows your +code in one pane, and the constructed part in another (along with a console and some debugging +info). + +## Installation + +### Standalone The instructions here are based off of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjLTePOq8bQ). @@ -48,12 +69,12 @@ Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. <cadquery.cq.Workplane object at 0x7fd6a24b21d0> ``` -## GUI +### GUI There are several ways to install the CADQuery GUI. Their website recommends using an installer script, but I would recommend using Miniconda as we did for the standalone version. -### Miniconda +#### Miniconda First, clone the [CADQuery Editor repo](https://github.com/CadQuery/CQ-editor). From within that project, run `conda env create -f cqgui_env.yml -n cqgui`, followed by `conda activate cqgui`. You @@ -63,7 +84,7 @@ Note: In theory, you can also install the GUI without cloning any repos by makin environment (e.g. `conda create -n cqgui`), activating it (`conda activate cqgui`), and running `conda install -c cadquery -c conda-forge cq-editor=master`. But this didn't work for me. -### Installer Script +#### Installer Script The easiest way to install the GUI is to download and extract the [zipped release](https://github.com/CadQuery/CQ-editor/releases) for your system. It contains a script