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Document non-blocking figure usage in REPL and scripts #2056

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adam-urbanczyk merged 2 commits into from
Jun 27, 2026
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Document non-blocking figure usage in REPL and scripts #2056

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Document non-blocking figure usage in REPL and scripts
lorenzncode Jun 27, 2026
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Mention python -i
adam-urbanczyk Jun 27, 2026
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32 changes: 26 additions & 6 deletions doc/vis.rst
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Expand Up @@ -177,17 +177,38 @@ Non-blocking visualization

For non-blocking visualization, one can use the :meth:`cadquery.fig.show` function from the :mod:`~cadquery.fig` module.
It relies on VTK/Trame and opens a web browser window.
To programmatically remove previously added shapes one can use the :meth:`cadquery.fig.clear` function.
To programmatically remove previously added shapes one can use the :meth:`cadquery.fig.clear` function.


.. image:: _static/fig.png

This function is very handy for interactive work and debugging. Alternatively one can use the :class:`~cadquery.fig.Figure`
class for more fine-grained control.
This function is very handy for interactive work and debugging in a Python REPL.

.. code-block::

Jupyter/JupterLab
=================
$ python
>>> from cadquery.func import *
>>> from cadquery.fig import show
>>> show(box(1, 1, 1))
>>>

Alternatively one can use the :class:`~cadquery.fig.Figure` class for more fine-grained control.

Plain Python scripts can be run from IPython using :code:`%run`.

.. code-block::

$ ipython
In [1]: %run model.py

The :meth:`cadquery.fig.show` function returns immediately.
A REPL keeps the Python process active, so the figure server continues running.
A script run directly with :code:`python model.py` exits when the script finishes, stopping
the figure server, so it is needed to run with the appropriate option: :code:`python -i model.py`.


Jupyter/JupyterLab
==================

There is also more limited support for displaying :class:`~cadquery.Workplane`, :class:`~cadquery.Sketch`, :class:`~cadquery.Assembly`,
:class:`~cadquery.Shape` in Jupyter and JupyterLab. This functionality is implemented using VTK.js.
Expand All @@ -199,4 +220,3 @@ There is also more limited support for displaying :class:`~cadquery.Workplane`,
Workplane().sphere(1).split(keepTop=True)

.. image:: _static/show_jupyter.PNG

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