Counts the total number of dxf files which have specially crafted title block. Makes copies of those files with title blocks updated with the values for sheet number, total number of sheets, date, scale, address. Extracts titles from those title blocks, creates contents and saves it to Excel file.

This script was created to ease the final stage in production process of design drawings for the needs of http://artidea.gallery interior design studio.

This script was tested only with dxf files created and modified with LibreCAD. Never tested it with files created using another CAD software.

In order to be processed by the script a dxf file must contain a specially prepared block (see 'examples' directory). That block:

• must be an INSERT in that dxf file;
• must contain some unique marker (artidea.gallery in my case).

If such a block is found, this script tries to find corresponding title block fields. If title block is just inserted from my template, those fields would contain the following ready for replacement placeholder markers:

• X - for the 'Sheet number' field;
• XX - for the 'Number of sheets' field;
• TitleField - for the 'Sheet title' field;
• AddressField - for the 'Address' field;
• 1:50 - for the 'Scale' field;
• 0000-00-00 - for the 'Sheet date' field.

In my workflow, during sheet editing the 'TitleField' is usually manually replaced by some text starting from words 'План' or 'Развёртка' (in Russian). Yours is obviously different. You can adjust corresponding regular expression in configuration file. Also you probably need to adjust regular expression for the 'Address' field.

This script should be able to process not only freshly inserted from template title block, but also modified title block whose field markers are already replaced with real values. As far as 'Sheet number' and 'Number of sheets' may contain values of the same pattern, some dumb logic is used to guess which value belongs to what field.

I use LibreCAD for creation of my drawings. Since LibreCAD cannot manage multiple drawings as one single multipage document, I have to do that myself. Each drawing is a single dxf file. My usual projects contain of 50-60 such files. When working on a project the final total number of those drawings is unknown. Even after all of them are ready, some may be removed or added or reordered. So, there is no way to know beforehand the exact total number of sheets and their serial numbering. When all sheets are ready I had to do manual insertion of sheet numbers and total number of sheets to each sheet title block. I had to copy every sheet title and create contents file manually. That required a couple of hours of boring repetitive manual work. Even worse, when after doing all that job you suddenly realize that you need a couple of new drawings more somewhere in the middle. Or if during numbering you make a mistake. That's horrible. This script automates the job and produces results in seconds.

An initial drawing is drawn. When it is ready additional blocks are inserted into the drawing file, including the block with sheet border and the title block (see 'templates' directory for my templates examples). I edit TitleField in inserted title block and optionally set the Scale field. Before saving the prepared sheet I also do print preview in LibreCAD, set printing scale according to my sheet's scale, and also center the drawing on the page. After all that I save the drawing and close it. My final dxf files names usually include a number, e.g. sheet-001.dxf, sheet-002.dxf, and so on to ease their ordering.

When all sheets are ready I make a copy of the script's config.ini in my working directory, edit it in order to add the address lines (address_value parameter) and optionally set other configuration parameters. Then I run the script with that config.ini and have a bunch of copies of my sheets with title blocks filled with the correct values, and also an Excel file with all titles exracted from those sheets. By using another tools, those prepared and numbered sheets are converted to one big pdf file ready to be printed or given to a client.

Create virtual environment in a directory of your choice and activate it by running:

virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3 venv
. venv/bin/activate

Install required dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

enumsheets.py [-h] [-c CONFIG] dxf_file [dxf_file ...]

There is also enumsheets.sh helper script. It activates Python virtual environment and after that runs the enumsheets.py script with the same arguments provided on the command line. If Python virtual environment was not created yet this script creates one in the same directory where both scripts are located.

First, take a look at 'templates' and 'examples' directories. Modify templates according to your needs and set a unique marker. Change the marker parameter in the configuration file according to what you set in your template. Also edit patterns parameters in the configuration file in order to make the script to be able to find your fields inside your title block.

To be clear, sheet templates in 'templates' directory are not to be used as base for new drawings. Only as imported block to your existing drawing. That is important. Otherwise, the script will not be able to find the title block inside your drawings.

Have fun!