Getting started
Installation
The recommended way to install COMPAS FAB is to use Anaconda/conda:
conda install -c conda-forge compas_fab
But it can also be installed using pip
:
pip install compas_fab
Note
On Windows, you may need to install Microsoft Visual C++ 14.0.
Once the installation is completed, you can verify your setup. Start Python from the command prompt and run the following:
>>> import compas_fab
You are ready to use COMPAS FAB!
Working in Rhino
To make COMPAS FAB available inside Rhino, open the command prompt and type the following:
python -m compas_rhino.install
Open Rhino, start the Python script editor, type import compas_fab
and
run it to verify that your installation is working.
Working in Blender
Once COMPAS itself is installed for Blender following the documented procedure, COMPAS FAB will automatically be available as well after installing it.
Working in Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a free and open source text editor with very good support for Python programming.
We recommend installing the following VS Code extensions:
-
Official extension to add support for Python programming, including debugging, auto-complete, formatting, etc.
-
Add support for ``Dockerfile`` and ``docker-compose.yml`` files to VS Code.
-
Add support for ``.editorconfig`` files to VS Code.
To install the above extensions, open the Extensions
view by clicking on
the corresponding icon in the Activity Bar on the left side of VS Code
and search the extension name in the search box. Once found, select it and
click Install
.
We recommend tweaking some of the default VS Code settings:
Python Linter:
Select
flake8
as your default python linter: open theCommand Palette
(Ctrl+Shift+P
), typePython: Select Linter
, select it and selectflake8
from the list.[Windows Only] Default Shell:
Change the default shell from
PowerShell
toCommand Prompt
: open theCommand Palette
(Ctrl+Shift+P
), typeSelect Default Shell
, select it and from the options, selectCommand Prompt
. Kill all opened terminals for it to take effect.
Run scripts
To run Python scripts from within VS Code, simply open the file and press
F5
. This will start the script with the debugger attached, which means
you can add breakpoints (clicking on the gutter, next to the line numbers),
inspect variables and step into your code for debugging.
Alternatively, use Ctrl+F5
to start the script without debugger.
Virtual environments
If you are using conda
to manage your virtual environments, VS Code has
built-in support for them. When a .py
file is open on VS Code, the bottom
left side of the Status bar will show the Python interpreter used to run
scripts. Click on it and a list of all available interpreters including all
environments will be shown. Select one, and the next time you run a script,
the newly selected interpreter will be used.