RICH - Rhino.Inside.Cpython.Helpers

This small tool makes it easier to interact with Grasshopper through cpython using Rhino.Inside.
It contains wrappers for setting and collecting data from selected component types.
See examples files.

Installation

Developed and tested using Rhino 7 on Windows 10 and Python 3.8.
Requires rhinoinside:

pip install --user rhinoinside

Contents

The src folder contains:

• a module with helper functions util.py
• three demos/examples (addition, delay, inputs) consisting of a python file (to be run in cpython, e.g. in terminal, VSCode or another IDE) and a corresponding Grasshopper file (does not have to be open). Additionally, inputs_rhinoscript.py shows an alternative way of interacting with a Grasshopper file from RhinoPythonEditor.

Features & Comments

• Finds components and inputs by nickname, in a Grasshopper file given by the path.

• Set values to:

  • "Primitive Param" components (Int, Num, Text, Bool): set_value()
  • components that have inputs, incl. ghpython components: set_input()
  • single value or a 1D list

• Read values from:

  • "Param" components, e.g. Data: get_values()
  • The collected data is flattened (no tree structure preserved).
  • Returns Rhino.Geometry object types, not only primitives.

• It runs a Grasshopper in a headless mode (without Rhino/Grasshopper GUI), and it creates an invisible instance of the Grasshopper file. Even the Grasshopper file is open, the changes done by the cpython script will not be visible and will not be saved.

• Through this interface, the state of the objects (e.g. disabled) seems to be ignored. This means that values from disabled sources will be collected!