autocad-dxf

This module is used to parse AutoCAD dxf files and to make programmatic and geometric operations on the AutoCAD drawing entities.

Getting Started

Installation

$ npm install autocad-dxf --save

Usage

Import

import Entities from 'autocad-dxf';

Front-end example

import Entities from 'autocad-dxf';


function fileEventListener() {  
  const [file] = document.querySelector("input[type=file]").files;
  const reader = new FileReader();

  reader.addEventListener(
    "load",
    () => {  
		const tolerance = 0.00001;		
		const res = new Entities(reader.result, tolerance);
		const lines = res.filter({etype: ["line"], layer: ["0"]});
		console.log(lines); 
    },
    false,
  );

  if (file) {
    reader.readAsText(file);
  }
}

Back-end example

const fs = require('fs');
const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");

fs.readFile('C:\\test\\example.dxf', 'utf8', (err, data) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err);
    return;
  }
  const tolerance = 0.00001;
  const res = new Entities(data, tolerance);
  const lines = res.filter({etype: ["line"], layer: ["0"]});
  console.log(lines);
});

New updates in this version

• Five new functions connected, crossing, tangent, istangent and nurbs are added.
• weights, start_tangent and end_tangent properties are added to AcDbSpline.
• The length and area functions have new functionalities to calculate spline lengths and areas respectively.

Constructor

The constructor of the Entities class takes two parameters.

const res = new Entities(data, tolerance);

data - is a string data which is read from the dxf file. This is an optional parameter. If not provided, user defined data can be used to call the built-in functions via the Entities class object. The user defined data should be as per the custom keys defined in this module. The list of these custom keys can be accessed via the KEYS property,
tolerance - is a tolerable numerical difference between two numbers to be considered equal. This is an optional parameter. The default value is 0.0001.

Get all parsed drawing entities

The entities property holds the parsed data in JSON format.

const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
const res = new Entities(data);
console.log(res.entities);

Get AutoCAD document information

The tables property holds the list of all AutoCAD file related information. It includes the list of all layers, dimension styles, text styles, line types, blocks, coordinates systems and view ports. The tables property is a json with the following keys: LTYPE, LAYER, VIEW, UCS, APPID, DIMSTYLE, BLOCK_RECORD, VPORT and STYLE with each key having a value of an array of json data associated with the respective key. For instantance, the list of all AutoCAD layers can be printed in the following way.

const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
const res = new Entities(data);
console.log(res.tables.LAYER);

Get AutoCAD block data

The blocks property holds the list of all blocks along with their details. The blocks property is an array with json elements. Each json element contains four keys: name (name of the block), layer (the name of the layer where the block is defined),base_point(a json with the x-y coordinates of the base point of the block) and entities (an array of the entities forming the block). For instantance, the list of all AutoCAD blocks can be printed in the following way.

const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
const res = new Entities(data);
console.log(res.blocks);

Custom keys

For the ease of convenience, the blocks, entities and tables properties discussed above use custom keys instead of the AutoCAD dxf codes. If desired, all the custom keys used in this module can be accessed using KEYS (link) property while the corresponding AutoCAD codes can be referred via the CODES (link) property.

const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
const res = new Entities(data);
console.log(res.KEYS);  // list of all keys for all blocks, entities and tables
console.log(res.CODES); // list of all keys along with the descriptions and 
						// corresponding AutoCAD dxf codes for all blocks, 
						// entities and tables

Functions

The following built-in functions can be called on the object of Entities class.

 triangulate(vertices :array [, plane :string]):

This function is used to triangulate closed or closable (non-straight) polylines (polygons); i.e., to subdivide the polygon into a set of triangles. It takes an array of vertices of a polyline as a first parameter. Each element of the array needs to have a form of (for example in x-y plane): {x:123.456, y:789.012}. The function returns a two-dimensional array where each internal array contains the coordinates of the three corners of a triangle.

The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

A simple example to triangulate a square.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const polyline = {
		etype: 'LWPOLYLINE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbPolyline',
		number_of_vertices: 4,
		type: 'Closed',
		vertices: [
			{ x: -347.6186932202399, y: 1722.451518092545 },
			{ x: -247.6186932202399, y: 1722.451518092545 },
			{ x: -247.6186932202399, y: 1622.451518092544 },
			{ x: -347.6186932202399, y: 1622.451518092544 }
		]
	};
	
	const triangles = res.triangulate(polyline.vertices);
	
	console.log(triangles);  
	/* The output is: (the two triangles on each side of the diagonal)
	    [
		  [
			{ x: -347.6186932202399, y: 1722.451518092545 },
			{ x: -247.6186932202399, y: 1722.451518092545 },
			{ x: -247.6186932202399, y: 1622.451518092544 }
		  ],
		  [
			{ x: -347.6186932202399, y: 1722.451518092545 },
			{ x: -247.6186932202399, y: 1622.451518092544 },
			{ x: -347.6186932202399, y: 1622.451518092544 }
		  ]
		] 
	*/

 nurbs(spline :object):

This function is used to obtain the equations of NURBS (B-Spline) for AcDbSpline of degree three. The function uses the combination of the values of control_points, knot_values and weights properties to determine the equations. If the weights property is not given or if all its elements are of value 1, equations of the B-spline curves will be obtained. Along with, the length and area of the NURBS/splines for each respective interval will also be returned. The length and area of the splines are determined using 64-point Gauss-quadrature numerical integration.

See the example below for the type of returned data.

Example

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const spline = {
		etype: 'SPLINE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbSpline',
		type: 'Planar',
		degree_of_curve: 3,
		number_of_knots: 10,
		number_of_control_points: 6,
		number_of_fit_points: 4,
		start_tangent: { x: -1, y: 0, z: 0 },
		knot_values: [
			0,
			0,
			0,
			0,
			638.3901689459577,
			1276.780337891915,
			2227.985036856916,
			2227.985036856916,
			2227.985036856916,
			2227.985036856916
		],
		control_points: [
			{ x: 4817.439144962657, y: -135.1812993643543, z: 0 },
			{ x: 4604.64242198067, y: -135.1812993643543, z: 0 },
			{ x: 4672.382692425447, y: 1016.8200288123, z: 0 },
			{ x: 4756.261548986535, y: -682.6540970671565, z: 0 },
			{ x: 5268.432815474485, y: 19.81275821550565, z: 0 },
			{ x: 5574.913243407952, y: 440.1650046279319, z: 0 }
		],
		fit_points: [
			{ x: 4817.439144962657, y: -135.1812993643543, z: 0 },
			{ x: 4667.464634920965, y: 485.3423940951325, z: 0 },
			{ x: 4817.439144962657, y: -135.1812993643543, z: 0 },
			{ x: 5574.913243407952, y: 440.1650046279319, z: 0 }
		]
	};
	
	const spline_data = res.nurbs(spline);
	
	console.log(spline_data); 
	

The output for this example can be found here.

 area(entity :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to calculate the area of polylines, circles, arcs, splines, ellipses and elliptical arcs. The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the area of a circular arc.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const arc = {
		  etype: 'ARC',
		  line_type: 'ByLayer',
		  color: 'ByLayer',
		  layer: 'Layer1',
		  subclass: 'AcDbCircle',
		  x: 3645.17968042402,
		  y: -390.706985299347,
		  z: 0,
		  radius: 222.3692867624095,		  
		  specific_type: 'AcDbArc',
		  start_angle: 98.67744913656281,
		  end_angle: 285.3692815173683
	};

	const area = res.area(arc);
	
	console.log(area);
	// output: { area: 83441.5993081676, area_sector: 80560.52660686847 }

 length(entity :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to determine the length of an entity as described below.

• If entity is a line/circle/arc/spline, the length/circumference/arc length of the line/circle/arc/spline will be returned.
• If entity is a polyline, the sum of the lengths of each sides of the polyline will be returned.
• If entity is a full ellipse, an approximate circumference of the ellipse using Ramanujan's second formula will be returned.

The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the circumference of a circle.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	
	const circle = {
		etype: 'CIRCLE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbCircle',
		x: 493.8669949609207,
		y: 505.568641983396,
		z: 0,
		radius: 165.089285258525
	};
	const length = res.length(circle);
	
	console.log(length);  // prints 1037.2865715091436

 distance(entity1 :object, entity2 :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to determine the shortest distance between two entities: entity1 and entity2 as described below. Both or one of these entities can be a one-dimensional array with a format of: [x, y].

• If both entity1 and entity2 are points (AcDbPoint) or texts(AcDbText/AcDbMText) or vertices(AcDbVertex) or arrays or any combination of these, the distance between the two points will be returned.
• If both entity1 and entity2 are circles or arcs or ellipses or any combination of these, the distance between the centers will be returned.
• If either entity1 or entity2 is a array/point/circle/text/vertex/ellipse and the other parameter is a line, the perpendicular distance between the point/center to (extension of) the line will be returned.
• If either entity1 or entity2 is a array/point/circle/text/vertex/ellipse and the other parameter is a polyline, the perpendicular distance between the point/center to (extension of) the closest edge will be returned.
• If both entity1 or entity2 are lines which are parallel, the perpendicular distance between (extensions of) the lines will be returned. If the lines are not parallel, undefined is returned.
• If the passed parameters are none of the above combinations, undefined is returned.

The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the closest distance between a circle and a line.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const line = {
		etype: 'LINE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbLine',
		start_x: 76.48716497852402,
		start_y: -120.4229218048302,
		start_z: 0,
		end_x: 888.3252621940712,
		end_y: -29.22024472584008,
		end_z: 0
	};
	const circle = {
		etype: 'CIRCLE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbCircle',
		x: 493.8669949609207,
		y: 505.568641983396,
		z: 0,
		radius: 165.089285258525
	};
	const distance = res.distance(line, circle);
	
	console.log(distance);  // prints 575.4826584729997

 closest(entity :object, [etype :array], [mode :string], [list :array]):

This function is used to obtain the closest entity to a given entity which is passed as the first parameter. It is applicable for points (AcDbPoint), circles(AcDbCircle), ellipses (AcDbEllipse), texts (AcDbText or AcDbMText), dimension lines (AcDbDimension), lines (AcDbLine), polylines (AcDbPolyline) and splines [where control points are used] (AcDbSpline). The optional second parameter, etype, is an array parameter which can be used to specify the list of possible types of entities which need to be considered while obtaining the closest entity. The possible values for the elements of etype array are: point, line, mline, circle, polyline, dimension, text, mtext, spline, ellipse, arc. If this parameter is not provided, any type of entity which is closest to the given entity parameter will be returned. The optional third parameter is used to define the mode of distance calculation for the determination of the closest entity. The possible values are:

• center - (default value) - to determine the closest entity based on distances from a center point, (for lines, splines and polylines, end points or corner points to the center of the given entity will be determined)
• end - to determine the closest entity based on distances from end point/s,
• corner - to determine the closest entity based on distances from corner points and
• perpendicular - to determine the closest entity based on perpendicular distances (for lines, splines and polylines, end points or corner points to the given entity in terms of perpendicular distance will be determined)

The optional fourth parameter is used to define the set of entities from which the closest entity is sought from. It should be an array of entities. If not given, the entities property ( which contains the list of entities collected from the dxf text) of the object of Entities class will be used.

Example

Get the closest all types of texts to one of the ends of a given line (say the line is the first element of entities array).

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const line = res.entities[0];
	
	const closest = res.closest(line, ["text", "mtext"], "end");
	
	console.log(closest);  

 intersection(entity1 :object, entity2 :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to determine the intersection point/s of two entities: entity1 and entity2. The return type is an array of intersection points with each element of the form {x: 123.45, y: 678.90}. If there is no intersection point, an empty array will be returned. The entity1 and entity2 parameters can be a combination of (both ways):

• line and line/polyline/circle/arc/ellipse.
• circle/arc and polyline/circle/arc.

The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the intersection points of a circle and a line.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const line = {
		etype: 'LINE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbLine',
		start_x: 13.51291280096347,
		start_y: 440.1406350864196,
		start_z: 0,
		end_x: 825.3510100165108,
		end_y: 531.3433121654098,
		end_z: 0
	};
	const circle = {
		etype: 'CIRCLE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbCircle',
		x: 493.8669949609207,
		y: 505.568641983396,
		z: 0,
		radius: 165.089285258525
	};
	const intersection = res.intersection(line, circle);
	
	console.log(intersection);  
	/* The output is: (giving the two intersection points)
	    [
           { x: 658.8050488328336, y: 512.6333777970402 },
           { x: 331.47271794408545, y: 475.8605471378831 }
        ] 
	*/

 connected(entity :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to obtain all the entities which are forming a chain with a given entity which is passed as the first parameter. Only end point to end point connections are considered and if multiple branches exist, only one arbitrary direction is followed to get the concatenated entities. The return type is an object with two keys: left and right where the associated values are one-dimensional arrays of entities which are connected (exclusive) to the given entity on the left and right sides respectively. The function is applicable for lines, open polylines, arcs and open ellipses.

The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the all the elements which are connected to the first element of entities.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);	
	const connected = res.connected(res.entities[0]);
	
	console.log(connected);  
	
	/* The output is of the form:	    
            { 
				"left": [list of entities or empty array], 
				"right": [list of entities or empty array] 
			}
	*/

 crossing(entity :object [, etype :array, plane :string]):

This function is used to obtain all the entities which cross a given entity (passed as the first parameter). This function is applicable for lines, circles, arcs and polylines and the optional second parameter, etype, (with array data type) is used to specify the desired types of crossing entities among these. The possible values for the elements of the array are: line, polyline, circle, and arc. If not given, all these four entity types will be considered.

The function returns an array of entities which cross the given entity.

The optional third parameter plane specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the all lines and circles which are crossing the to the first element of entities.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);	
	const crossing = res.crossing(res.entities[0], ["line", "circle"]);
	
	console.log(crossing);

 istangent(line: object, circle :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to check if a line (provided as the first parameter) is tangent to a circle (provided as the second parameter). The function returns true if the line is tangent to the circle or false otherwise.

The optional third parameter plane specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Check if a line object is tangent to a circle.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);	
	const line = {
		etype: 'LINE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbLine',
		start_x: 1108.068045643199,
		start_y: -123.0727371516945,
		start_z: 0,
		end_x: 1486.826993488496,
		end_y: 20.28428544742638,
		end_z: 0,
		length: 404.98095819601366
	};
	const circle = {
		etype: 'CIRCLE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbCircle',
		x: 1343.469968505544,
		y: 399.0432280054415,
		z: 0,
		radius: 404.9809540949161,
		area: 515251.2702195186,
		circumference: 2544.5703804567474
	};
	const istangent = res.istangent(line, circle);
	
	console.log(istangent);   // returns true

 tangent(circle: object, point: array [, plane :string]):

This function is used to obtain the possible points of tangency on a circle (provided as the first parameter) for lines which start from or pass through a point (provided as the second parameter). The point parameter is an array of the two coordinates of thepoint as specified by the third parameter (plane). See below for details. For example, a point value of [123.00, 456.00] without specifying the third coordinate means the point from where we want to generate the tangen has an x-coordinate of 123.00 and y-coordinate of 456.00.

The function returns an array of coordinate objects for the points of tangency along with the angle of the line connecting the circle center and the point of tangency from the + x-axis (in radians).

The optional third parameter plane specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the two points of tangency for lines which pass through a given point.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);	
	const circle = {
		etype: 'CIRCLE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbCircle',
		x: 1343.469968505544,
		y: 399.0432280054415,
		z: 0,
		radius: 404.9809540949161,
		area: 515251.2702195186,
		circumference: 2544.5703804567474
	};
	
	const tp = res.tangent(circle, [1343.469968505544, 1051.487343584355]);
	console.log(tp);
	
	/* output:
	[
		{
			x: 1660.9901692001076,
			y: 650.4204253215717,
			angle: 0.669652572129677
		},
		{
			x: 1025.9497678109806,
			y: 650.4204253215717,
			angle: 2.471940081460116
		}
	]
	*/

 tangent(circle: object, angle: number, length: number [, plane :string]):

This function is used to obtain the tangent lines of a specified length to a circle from a point of tangency forming an angle (in radians) from the + x-axis.

The function returns an array of line objects (with start_x, start_y, start_z, end_x, end_y, end_z as keys) representing the tangents.

The optional fourth parameter plane specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get the tangents with a length of 100 from a point of tangency which makes a given angle from + x-axis.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);	
	const circle = {
		etype: 'CIRCLE',
		line_type: 'ByLayer',
		color: 'ByLayer',
		layer: 'Layer1',
		subclass: 'AcDbCircle',
		x: 1343.469968505544,
		y: 399.0432280054415,
		z: 0,
		radius: 404.9809540949161,
		area: 515251.2702195186,
		circumference: 2544.5703804567474
	};
	
	const tangents = res.tangent(circle, 0.669652572129677, 100);
	console.log(tangents);
	
	/* output:
		[
			{
				start_x: 1660.9901692001076,
				start_y: 650.4204253215717,
				end_x: 1723.0615320072616,
				end_y: 572.0166886806273
			},
			{
				start_x: 1660.9901692001076,
				start_y: 650.4204253215717,
				end_x: 1598.9188063929537,
				end_y: 728.824161962516
			}
		]	
	*/

 getCorners(entity :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to determine the coordinates of corner points (vertices with bends) of a polyline. Only polylines (AcDbPolyline) are supported. Hence, the passed parameter has to be a custom polyline object or a polyline element from the entities property of Entities class object. The function returns an array of corner points or null if the passed entity object is not supported. The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Get corners of a custom polyline

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const polygon = {
		etype: "LWPOLYLINE",
		subclass: "AcDbPolyline",
		number_of_vertices: 7,
		type: "Closed",
		vertices: [{ x: 1099.271933374087, y: 341.0072904353435 },
		   { x: 1103.241801372366, y: 154.6366036367878 },
           { x: 1331.509237026766, y: 122.9139333484436 },
           { x: 1506.18344898143, y: 396.5219634399462 },
           { x: 1597.76655981698, y: 539.9768802531387 },
           { x: 1444.650486423653, y: 539.9768802531387 },
           { x: 1200.503578776138, y: 539.9768802531387 }]		
	};

	const corners = res.getCorners(polygon);
	
	console.log(corners);
	/* returns 
		[
			{ x: 1099.271933374087, y: 341.0072904353435 },
			{ x: 1103.241801372366, y: 154.6366036367878 },
			{ x: 1331.509237026766, y: 122.9139333484436 },
			{ x: 1597.76655981698, y: 539.9768802531387 },
			{ x: 1200.503578776138, y: 539.9768802531387 }
		]
	*/

 checkConcentric(entity1 :object, entity2 :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to check if two circle objects entity1 and entity2 are concentric. The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Check if the first and the second elements of the entities property of the object of Entities class are concentric circles.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const areConcentric = res.checkConcentric(res.entities[0], res.entities[1]);
	
	console.log(areConcentric);

 checkEccentric(entity1 :object, entity2 :object [, plane :string]):

This function is used to check if two circle objects entity1 and entity2 are eccentric. The optional plane parameter specifies the applicable plane. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Check if the first and the second elements of the entities property of the object of Entities class are eccentric circles.

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const areEccentric = res.checkEccentric(res.entities[0], res.entities[1]);
	
	console.log(areEccentric);

 filter(criteria :object [, entities :Array, plane :string]):

This function is used to filter entities based on a certain criteria. An array of entities can be those which are read from the DXF file or provided as a second parameter. It returns an array of filtered entities.

The criteria parameter has the following properties

Property | Type | Description ------ | ----- | --------- [etype] | array | The set of entity types to be filtered. The possible values for the elements of the array are: line,mline,circle,polyline,dimension,text,mtext,spline,ellipse,arc. If not given, all entity types are considered. [layer] | array | An array of strings (layer names) to filter from. [color] | string/number | A string (ByBlock or ByLayer) or a number from 0 to 256 representing AutoCAD color number. [visibility] | string | A string (visible or invisible). [line_type] | string | A string representing the line type. [text] | object | An object which is used to filter texts. It has equals, notequals, starts, notstarts, ends, notends, contains, notcontains,regex,height,style, rotation, operator and i keys. The equals, starts,ends, contains and notcontains keys take string value where: equals filters texts equal to the given text. starts filters texts which start with the given text. ends filters texts which end with the given text. contains filters texts which contain the given text. The notequals, notstarts, notends and notcontains are the corresponding negations. If these properties are provided at the same time, the operator property is used to specify which logical operator (&& or ||) to use while combining the filters. If the value of operator property is or or ||, the OR logical operator is used otherwise the AND logical operator will be used. The case sensitivity of the filters can be set using the i property which takes a boolean value. If not given or i: false specifies that the filtering is case sensitive. Alternatively, a regular expression (literal or RegExp class object) can be passed for filtering using the regex property. The height and rotation properties take numbers representing the height and rotation (in degrees) of the text respectively. The style property takes a string representing the style of the text. [between] | object | The bounding coordinates of the entities to be filtered. It has six optional properies: xmin,xmax, ymin,ymax,zmin and zmax. The default value for xmin, ymin and zmin is -Infinity. The default value for xmax, ymax and zmax is Infinity. [radius] | number | A radius value, if the etype propery contains circle or arc. [arc] | object | The degree of the arc and the unit of the arc angle if the etype propery contains arc. It contains two properties angle which is a number representing the arc angle and unit which is a string which can be either radians or degrees. [nsides] | object | A comparison for the number of sides of the entities to be filtered. It contains two properties value and comparison. The value property contains the numerical value of the number of sides to compare and its default value is 1. Whereas comparison is a string which can be one of eq for equal to, gt for greater than, gte for greater than or equal to (default value), lt for less than, lte for less than, ne for not equal to. This property is applicable for polygons (AcDbPolyline) only.

The optional entities parameter can be part or the whole of entities property or a custom made list of entities (json) with keys from this list. The optional plane parameter specifies on which plane that the filterning will be performed and it is applicable when nsides property is defined. Its possible values are x-y (or y-x), y-z(or z-y), and x-z(or z-x). If not given, x-y will be used.

Example

Filter lines and texts on layers 'dims' and 'titles';

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const filtered = res.filter({
		etype: ["line", "text"], 
		layer: ["dims", "texts"]
	});
	
	console.log(filtered);

Example

Filter all texts which contain the string "2nd" OR which end with the string "floor" (case insensitive);

	const Entities = require("autocad-dxf");
	const data = "DATA_FROM_DXF_FILE";
	
	const res = new Entities(data);
	const filtered = res.filter({
		text: {contains: "2nd", ends: "floor", operator: "or", i: true}
	});
	
	console.log(filtered);

Issues or suggestions?

If you have any issues or want to suggest something , your can write it here.