How to use pySW - a Python Solidworks VBA API wrapper

 Recently I found a python package called "pySW" to be useful for those who are interested in both Solidworks API programming and python language. If you are familiar with Visual Studio Code and shell command in the terminal, you can easily install and play with it. You may want to visit its author's github repository and try his sample test program. I modified a little to read the lens template and generate the variants. It is almost identical to his box generation sample program. It looks like pySW project has never been updated for last 3 years though. Once the package is installed, you need modify a few lines to make it work. Let me explain one by one. 

The web page link

• PySW 1.4 project in PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/pySW/
• Github repository: https://github.com/kalyanpi4/pySW

Package installation and test program workaround

• Install pySW
  Run the following command. You should install other dependent python packages. 
  

  pip install pySW
  
  

• Update method names in commSW.py and main.py
  You can browse your local python site-package folder of pySW and your local copy of test/box folder respectively. Change getGlobalVariables with getGlobalVars, updatePrt with update, and saveAssy with save.

• Customize test program main.py for my own lens generation
  This is the complete main.py python code of lens model generated from template model. You can double-check the pre-requisite update to run this program successfully from the initial comment lines shown below.  
  

  """
  As of June 2, 2023
  
  1 Python package modification
  Install pySW 1.4 and modify commSW.py at
  C:\\Users\\your-computer-username\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Python\
  \\Python311\\Lib\\site-packages\\pySW
  
  Line 122 getGlobalVariables to getGlobalVars
  Line 140, 190 updatePrt to update
  
  
  2 Sample file modification
  Copy and modify 
  https://github.com/kalyanpi4/pySW/blob/master/tests/box/main.py
  
  Line 17 getGlobalVariables to getGlobalVars
  Line 48 updatePrt to update
  Line 49 saveAssy to save
  """
  
  from pySW import SW
  from pyDOE import lhs
  from scipy.stats.distributions import norm
  import psutil
  import time
  import shutil
  import pandas as pd
  
  partName = r'Lens-DCX.SLDPRT'
  
  if "SLDWORKS.exe" in (p.name() for p in psutil.process_iter()) is False:
      print('starting SLDWORKS')
      SW.startSW()
      time.sleep(10)
  
  SW.connectToSW()
  
  cwd = psutil.os.getcwd()
  SW.openPrt(cwd+'\\template\\'+partName)
  
  var = SW.getGlobalVars()
  
  variables = []
  for key in var:
      variables.append(key)
  
  design = lhs(len(var.keys()), samples=3)
  means = [100, 100, 40, 8]
  stdvs = [10, 10, 5, 1]
  
  for i in range(len(var.keys())):
      design[:, i] = norm(loc=means[i], scale=stdvs[i]).ppf(design[:, i])
  
  analysisDir = psutil.os.getcwd()+'\\analysis'
  if psutil.os.listdir(psutil.os.getcwd())[0] == 'analysis':
      shutil.rmtree(analysisDir)
      psutil.os.mkdir(analysisDir)
  else:
      psutil.os.mkdir(analysisDir)
  
  for i in range(len(design)):
      for j in range(len(variables)):
          SW.modifyGlobalVar(variables[j], round(design[i][j]), 'mm')
          SW.update()
          SW.save(analysisDir+'\\', str(i), 'SLDPRT')
  
  df = pd.DataFrame(design, columns=variables)
  df.to_csv(psutil.os.getcwd()+'\\params.csv')
  
  

 You may add any extra code lines to detect "analysis" folder and manage the result folders more efficiently. I simply focused on the modeling automation itself. Right now, you have to delete that folder before running the program. 

 This is my vscode interface and template model screenshot. Notice the equation variables in the template part model. The order of them matches that of variables in the code. 

 I wonder python library functionality concerning 3D object handling can be transferred to Solidworks COM easily in this way. If we need all wrapper classes and methods corresponding to VBA matrix manipulation functions, it must become a time-consuming and tedious project. If so, I wouldn't continue. Instead, I would check python capability in Fusion 360 personal use API.