Set_texture_color does not change material/texture & get_texture_color always returns 16777215

[shuanaX]

Hello,

I am trying to automate setting a solid color texture for elements based on their material using the Cadwork Python API.

I encountered two issues:

1. Running material_controller.set_texture_color() does not seem to change the material or texture visually.

2. Using material_controller.get_texture_color() on beam rectangles of different materials/textures always returns 16777215.

Here is a simplified snippet of my code:

import csv
import cadwork
import utility_controller as uc
import element_controller as ec
import visualization_controller as vc
import material_controller as mc

elements = ec.get_active_identifiable_element_ids() or ec.get_user_element_ids()

for element_id in elements:
    material_id = vc.get_material(element_id)
    print(mc.get_texture_color(material_id))  # always returns 16777215
    mc.set_texture_color(1, material_id)      # does not change anything

My questions:

1. What is the int returned by get_texture_color() based on?

2. Is there a way to automate the menu sequence Modify -> Texture/Transparency -> Modify Texture -> choose color via the Python API?

Thank you in advance for any guidance or examples.

[ancelin-charpentier]

Hi Shuana,
I am not a specialist but by doing the following you should be able to achieve your goal.
All materials are having an ID.
You can find the ID of the colour you want as a material by setting one element to that colour and go as follow:

import cadwork
import element_controller as ec
import visualization_controller as vc

elements = ec.get_active_identifiable_element_ids()

for element_id in elements :
   material_id = vc.get_material(element_id)
   print(material_id)  # This return the material ID you have got - let say "901375416" in my case

Then now that you know the material ID you want to work with, you can set it to a selection of elements by doing as indicated below:

import cadwork
import element_controller as ec
import visualization_controller as vc

elements = ec.get_active_identifiable_element_ids()

for element_id in elements :
   vc.set_material([element_id], 901375416) #So all active elements in the 3d will have the color a captured with the previous snippet

Hope that helps

[shuanaX]

Hi Ancelin,
Thank you for your reply and the explanation.
My goal is slightly different from applying another material ID. What I’m trying to achieve is to keep the existing material (for example, "non visible steel", which already comes with its own default texture) but change its texture to a solid color (for example, cyan) programmatically.
I would prefer not to create a duplicate material with the same name but a different texture, as this could result in multiple "non visible steel" entries in the project.
Is there any method in the visualization_controller (or elsewhere in the API) that would allow changing the texture color while keeping the same material ID?

[ancelin-charpentier]

I think material_controller is more to interact with the materials menu but not to apply a material to an element in 3d.
visualization_controller is the one for that