New Feature: StartupScript in RevitPythonShell

Here is a new hidden feature in recent versions of the RevitPythonShell: You can specify a script to start when Revit starts. The script is called during the IExternalApplication.OnStartup event when all the Revit plugins get to do their initialization.

This feature is still not quite official yet, but I have been using it for various purposes internally and think it works quite nicely. There are some changes between the code I have locally and what you probably have installed - I will point these out below.

To specify a StartupScript for RevitPythonShell, add a tag called StartupScript to the RevitPythonShell.xml file at the same level as the Commands, Variables, SearchPaths and InitScript tags. This tag has a single attribute src that specifies the path to the script to run.

You can find the RevitPythonShell.xml file in the folder %APPDATA%\RevitPythonShell2013.

This feature is also present in deployed RpsAddins!

Example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<RevitPythonShell>
  <StartupScript src="c:\path-to-your-script\your-awesome-startup-script.py"/>
  <Commands>
    <Command name="Hello World" src="C:\...\helloworld.py" group="Examples"/>
    <!-- ... -->

NOTE:

If you are not building from source, then the attribute to use in the StartupScript tag is still source. I changed it to src for consistency with the Command tag. Future versions of RevitPythonShell (especially the 2014 line) will use src as described in this post!

There is currently no GUI for changing the StartupScript. Also, this is somewhat of a specialist feature: You probably don't want to use it except for some very special cases.

So... what can you do with a startup script? So far, I have used it for two projects...

In the first project, I load a web server and hook it up to the Idling event so that I can provide an HTTP interface to Revit. My day job involves extracting an abstract model of simulation relevant aspects of a building from Revit, much like gbXML and being able to do that from outside Revit gives me some flexibility.

In the second project, I was automating a solar study: For each window in an elaborate model, I traced rays from a grid on the window to the sun from the SunAndShadowSettings to determine the percentage of direct sunlight a window gets - for every 15 minutes in a whole year! Since the model was big, with a lot of neighboring buildings modeled as mass objects, ray tracing (using the FindReferencesByDirectionWithContext method) gets very slow. Simulating a single day takes about 20 minutes. And simulating the whole year just broke down with Revit crashing. So... I decided to do each day separatly, and just start Revit after each day - the startup script would check the __vars__[START_DAY] variable to get the current day to simulate and on successful simulation, increment that day (this is where the writeable __vars__ feature was born) and quit Revit. Then I wrapped that up in a simple script that just started looped 365 times, starting Revit and waiting for it to finish.

Side note: quitting Revit is not that easy. Or really easy, whichever way you want to view it. I ended up using this code to force the process to die:

from System.Diagnostics import Process
p = Process.GetCurrentProcess()
p.Kill()

__vars__ is now writeable

Here is another feature I sneaked in without documentation: The __vars__ dictionary is now writeable, that is, assigning to a key in the dictionary saves the variable to the RevitPythonShell.xml file.

This feature can be used for storing data in between invocations of a script or even Revit sessions!

NOTE:

Changing the RevitPythonShell.xml file manually will not be reflected in the __vars__ dictionary until the next invocation of the shell.

The implementation for the writeable dictionary is in RevitPythonShell.RpsRuntime.SettingsDictionary, which implements IDictionary<string, string>.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml.Linq;

namespace RevitPythonShell.RpsRuntime
{
    /// <summary>
    /// A subclass of Dictionary<string, string>, that writes changes back to a settings xml file.
    /// </summary>
    public class SettingsDictionary : IDictionary<string, string>
    {
        private readonly IDictionary<string, string> _dict;
        private readonly string _settingsPath;
        private XDocument _settings;

        public SettingsDictionary(string settingsPath)
        {
            _settingsPath = settingsPath;
            _settings = XDocument.Load(_settingsPath);

            _dict = _settings.Root.Descendants("StringVariable").ToDictionary(
                v => v.Attribute("name").Value,
                v => v.Attribute("value").Value);
        }

        private void SetVariable(string name, string value)
        {
            var variable = _settings.Root.Descendants("StringVariable").Where(x => x.Attribute("name").Value == name).FirstOrDefault();
            if (variable != null)
            {
                variable.Attribute("value").Value = value.ToString();
            }
            else
            {
                _settings.Root.Descendants("Variables").First().Add(
                    new XElement("StringVariable", new XAttribute("name", name), new XAttribute("value", value)));
            }
            _settings.Save(_settingsPath);
        }

        private void RemoveVariable(string name)
        {
            var variable = _settings.Root.Descendants("StringVariable").Where(x => x.Attribute("name").Value == name).FirstOrDefault();
            if (variable != null)
            {
                variable.Remove();
                _settings.Save(_settingsPath);
            }
        }

        private void ClearVariables()
        {
            var variables = _settings.Root.Descendants("StringVariable");
            foreach (var variable in variables)
            {
                variable.Remove();
            }
            _settings.Save(_settingsPath);
        }

        public void Add(string key, string value)
        {
            _dict.Add(key, value);
            SetVariable(key, value);
        }

        public bool ContainsKey(string key)
        {
            return _dict.ContainsKey(key);
        }

        public ICollection<string> Keys
        {
            get { return _dict.Keys; }
        }

        public bool Remove(string key)
        {
            RemoveVariable(key);
            return _dict.Remove(key);
        }

        public bool TryGetValue(string key, out string value)
        {
            return _dict.TryGetValue(key, out value);
        }

        public ICollection<string> Values
        {
            get { return _dict.Values; }
        }

        public string this[string key]
        {
            get
            {
                return _dict[key];
            }
            set
            {
                _dict[key] = value;
                SetVariable(key, value);
            }
        }

        public void Add(KeyValuePair<string, string> item)
        {
            _dict.Add(item);
            SetVariable(item.Key, item.Value);
        }

        public void Clear()
        {
            ClearVariables();
            _dict.Clear();
        }

        public bool Contains(KeyValuePair<string, string> item)
        {
            return _dict.Contains(item);
        }

        public void CopyTo(KeyValuePair<string, string>[] array, int arrayIndex)
        {
            _dict.CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
        }

        public int Count
        {
            get { return _dict.Count; }
        }

        public bool IsReadOnly
        {
            get { return false; }
        }

        public bool Remove(KeyValuePair<string, string> item)
        {
            RemoveVariable(item.Key);
            return _dict.Remove(item);
        }

        public IEnumerator<KeyValuePair<string, string>> GetEnumerator()
        {
            return _dict.GetEnumerator();
        }

        System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
        {
            return _dict.GetEnumerator();
        }
    }
}

Deploying RPS scripts with DeployRpsAddin

I know nobody is checking the code I check into the RevitPythonShell code repository, because nobody bothered to ask me about the new killer feature i sneaked in. For a project at work that I used the RevitPythonShell for, the need arose to deploy a bunch of scripts on a customers computer. Now, RPS itself has a simple installer that you can execute and go next, next, next, finish and voilà, you have RPS installed on your computer. But... any scripts you write need to be copied to the customers computer, then RPS has to be installed and configured to pick up the script. Oh, and don't forget to install cpython and any modules you make use of.
Have you tried writing instructions for such a manual installation procedure? I have. It is not fun at all! I have also tried to get people to execute these instructions. It just doesn't fly.
This is where the new feature of RPS comes in: In the Ribbon, there is now an additional button called "Deploy RpsAddin" that is located under the button for starting the shell, just above the one for customizing RPS.
Deploying an RPS script as a standalone addin involves choosing an xml file that acts as a manifest or package description of the addin you are about to create. Basically, you describe which python scripts to assign to which buttons and it creates a new dll for you that includes all these scripts and can be used as an addin in Revit. You just need to write an addin manifest and place it in the right position.
The source comes with an example addin called HelloWorld. That really is all it does: a Button that prints "Hello, World!" to the screen. But I include the xml deployment file and also an InnoSetup script to get you started on deploying your own addins.
When you want to include a cpython library, you will need to make sure that this is also in the search path of the addin's bundled interpreter. So, the addin includes a bunch of files, dlls, a version of IronPython (2.7) and also the new RpsRuntime dll that handles the parts of RPS that get used by both the standard RPS version and deployed addins.
You can include cpython modules in your setup program, copying them for instance into your installation directory and then go from there. There is an equivalent of the RevitPythonShell2013.xml file that gets deployed with your addin to the %AppData% folder that you can use for setting up stuff.
The structure of the deployment xml file looks like this: (I will call it RpsAddin xml file from now on)

<?xml version=" 1.0" encoding=" utf-8" ?>
<RpsAddin>
  <RibbonPanel text=" Hello World">
    <!-- the script is always searched relative to the location of the RpsAddin xml file -->
    < PushButton text="Hello World! " src="helloworld.py "/>
  </RibbonPanel>
</RpsAddin>

You can add as many RibbonPanel tags as you would like. Each PushButton is then placed on that panel and assigned to the script. The path to the script is relative to the RpsAddin xml file. The DLL that gets created is placed in a folder "Output_YOUR_RPSADDIN_NAME" relative to the RpsAddin xml. The name of your addin is taken from the name you call the RpsAddin xml file. In this case, the file is called "HelloWorld.xml", so the Addin will be called "HelloWorld", a folder "Output_HelloWorld" is created with the dll "HelloWorld.dll", "RpsRuntime.dll" and a bunch of IronPython dlls.
You can then use an InnoSetup file to create an installer for this. The HelloWorld example comes with this file:

[Files]
Source: Output_HelloWorld\RpsRuntime.dll; DestDir: {app};
Source: Output_HelloWorld\IronPython.dll; DestDir: {app};
Source: Output_HelloWorld\IronPython.Modules.dll; DestDir: {app};
Source: Output_HelloWorld\Microsoft.Scripting.Metadata.dll; DestDir: {app};
Source: Output_HelloWorld\Microsoft.Dynamic.dll; DestDir: {app};
Source: Output_HelloWorld\Microsoft.Scripting.dll; DestDir: {app};

; this is the main dll with the script embedded
Source: Output_HelloWorld\HelloWorld.dll; DestDir: {app};

; add a similar line, if your addin requires a configuration file (search paths or predefined variables)
;Source: HelloWorld.xml; DestDir: {userappdata}\HelloWorld; Flags: onlyifdoesntexist;

[code]
{ install revit manifest file }
procedure CurStepChanged(CurStep: TSetupStep);
var
  AddInFilePath: String;
  AddInFileContents: String;
begin

  if CurStep = ssPostInstall then
  begin

  { GET LOCATION OF USER AppData (Roaming) }
  AddInFilePath := ExpandConstant('{userappdata}\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2013\HelloWorld.addin');

  { CREATE NEW ADDIN FILE }
  AddInFileContents := '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>' + #13#10;
  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '<RevitAddIns>' + #13#10;
  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '  <AddIn Type="Application">' + #13#10;
    AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '    <Name>HelloWorld</Name>' + #13#10;
  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '    <Assembly>'  + ExpandConstant('{app}') + '\HelloWorld.dll</Assembly>' + #13#10;

  { NOTE: create your own GUID here!!! }
  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '    <AddInId>276D41F2-CCC4-4B55-AF2A-47D30227F289</AddInId>' + #13#10;

  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '    <FullClassName>HelloWorld</FullClassName>' + #13#10;

  { NOTE: you should register your own VendorId with Autodesk }
  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '  <VendorId>RIPS</VendorId>' + #13#10;
  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '  </AddIn>' + #13#10;
  AddInFileContents := AddInFileContents + '</RevitAddIns>' + #13#10;
  SaveStringToFile(AddInFilePath, AddInFileContents, False);

  end;
end;

{ uninstall revit addin manifest }
procedure CurUninstallStepChanged(CurUninstallStep: TUninstallStep);
var
  AddInFilePath: String;
begin
  if CurUninstallStep = usPostUninstall then
  begin
    AddInFilePath := ExpandConstant('{userappdata}\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2013\HelloWorld.addin');

    if FileExists(AddInFilePath) then
    begin
      DeleteFile(AddInFilePath);
    end;
  end;
end;


[Setup]
AppName=HelloWorld
AppVerName=HelloWorld
RestartIfNeededByRun=false
DefaultDirName={pf32}\HelloWorld
OutputBaseFilename=Setup_HelloWorld
ShowLanguageDialog=auto
FlatComponentsList=false
UninstallFilesDir={app}\Uninstall
UninstallDisplayName=HelloWorld
AppVersion=2012.0
VersionInfoVersion=2012.0
VersionInfoDescription=HelloWorld
VersionInfoTextVersion=HelloWorld

I included some Pascal code for installing an addin manifest to the %APPDATA% folder. This is generally something like C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\ADDIN_NAME. Running this setup will produce a file called Setup_Helloworld.exe that can then be given to your friends to try out your new cool HelloWorld Revit Addin, coded in the sweet python language we all love so much!