Now that we have a basic scripted component,

we can add it into Plant 3d,

Firstly we need to create a folder named “CustomScripts” under content folder:

“C:\AutoCAD Plant 3D 20##Content/CPak Common/”

AutoCAD Plant 3D 20##Content would be based on your version of Plant 3D.

Now you can save the script as a .py file in the newly created folder.

We now have to register this script inside Plant 3D,

Open Plant 3D and use the following command:

PLANTREGISTERCUSTOMSCRIPTS

If successfully added, there should be several new files added,

ScriptGroup.xml

ScriptName.pyc

ScriptName.xml

variants.map

variants.xml

If these don’t generate or errors display,

Check the script for any errors and try again.

Once it is successful,

we can test the script,

before that, we need to load the App into plant to do the testing.

use the APPLOAD command.

then load the PnP3dACPAdapter.arx

Once loaded we can use the command: TESTACPSCRIPT “ScriptName”

the 3D model should load as predicted.

Now that the model has loaded,

we now need to run the following command 3 times, once per option:

PlantSnapShot

The three options are 32/64/200

these will create a picture of the component,

the spec editor will use these as the previews,

name them as per the format below,

Scriptname_200.png
Scriptname_64.png
Scriptname_32.png

And lastly we need to make one more image,

this time the image needs to be 640 x 640 and include dimensions,

Firstly, change the background of your AutoCAD to white,

Set the visual style to Hidden.

Add in the dimensions and override the text to the display correctly.

you will then need to use the screen snipping tool or similar,

capture and crop the image to be 640 x 640 pixels,

name it as per the format below,

Scriptname_640.png

this will be used in the spec editor for assigning

When we look in the spec editor,

the new component can be located.

It looks a bit different to the originals due to the graphics engine updates.