Week 3 - Json Files Part 1

As per Mike Pickton's suggestion I had a look into using .json files for creating a variety of modular piece sets to use for the building generator. That inevitably meant digging out my very limited and dusty Python knowledge from 4 years ago, plus learning a bunch of new stuff.

I started by testing how to read from and write to .json files in Houdini, but ultimately decided, that we needed an external tool for creating those files, which also adds the advantage of making it reusable in the future ( with some changes ).

The idea is, that in this tool you can create either a list of the entire modular kit, you want to import to Houdini or files for specific sets, e.g. ground floor, roof, etc. and also stores certain attributes of each piece, based on a list of keywords, so that in Houdini I can filter out corner, window, etc. pieces, instead of having to create separate files for all of those.

I plan to add an Editor option to the tool, so you can easily edit those .json files, for example appending or replacing pieces, maybe also based on piece type. Furthermore I need to make an executable file out of it.

	"""
	.json file generator for tile kits for the FMP procedural building tool
	@author: Sophie Pette
	"""
	import tkinter.messagebox
	import tkinter.filedialog
	import tkinter.ttk
	import tkinter as tk
	from CreatorFrame import Creator
	from EditorFrame import Editor
	class JSONCreatorEditor(tk.Tk):
	def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
	tk.Tk.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
	self.keywordlistType = ['wall','corner_90','corner_45','ww','pillar','unique','sw','window']
	self.keyworklistStyle = ['skirting','rd','sq','plain','artdeco']
	#GUI
	screen_width = self.winfo_screenmmwidth()
	screen_height = self.winfo_screenheight()
	window_width = 250
	window_height = 350
	#Center window
	x = screen_width/2 - window_width/2
	y = screen_height/2 - window_height/2
	self.geometry("%dx%d+%d+%d" % (window_width, window_height, x, y))
	self.title('Building Generator .json file Editor')
	container = tk.Frame(self)
	container.pack(side = 'top', fill = 'both', expand = True)
	container.grid_rowconfigure(0, weight = 1)
	container.grid_columnconfigure(0, weight = 1)
	menu = tk.Menu(self)
	self.config(menu = menu)
	self.frames = {}
	for F in (Creator, Editor):
	frame = F(container, self, self.keywordlistType, self.keyworklistStyle)
	self.frames[F] = frame
	frame.grid(row = 0, column = 0, sticky = 'nsew')
	self.show_frame(Creator)
	#Menu
	menu.add_command(label = 'Creator', command = lambda: self.show_frame(Creator))
	menu.add_command(label = 'Editor', command = lambda: self.show_frame(Editor))
	#display page
	def show_frame(self, cont):
	frame = self.frames[cont]
	frame.tkraise()
	if __name__ == '__main__':
	app = JSONCreatorEditor()
	app.mainloop()

view raw JSONCreatorEditor.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

	import tkinter as tk
	import tkinter.messagebox
	import tkinter.filedialog
	import os, json
	#Creator Window
	class Creator(tk.Frame):
	def __init__(self, parent, controller, kwListType, kwListStyle):
	tk.Frame.__init__(self, parent)
	self.keywordsType = kwListType
	self.keywordsStyle = kwListStyle
	self.rbState = 'disabled'
	self.pieceList = []
	self.data = []
	#File Use
	lblUse = tk.LabelFrame(self, text = 'File Use')
	lblUse.pack(fill = 'both', expand = 'yes', padx = 2, pady = 2)
	self.use = tk.StringVar()
	self.use.set('importList')
	rbImportList = tk.Radiobutton(lblUse, text = 'Import List', variable = self.use, value = 'importList', command = lambda: self.setUse('disabled'))
	rbImportList.pack(anchor = 'w')
	rbModuleKit = tk.Radiobutton(lblUse, text = 'Module Kit', variable = self.use, value = 'moduleKit', command = lambda: self.setUse('normal'))
	rbModuleKit.pack(anchor = 'w')
	#Kit type
	lblType = tk.LabelFrame(self, text = 'Kit Type')
	lblType.pack(fill = 'both', expand = 'yes', padx = 2, pady = 2)
	self.kitType = tk.StringVar()
	self.kitType.set('gfloor')
	self.rbGFloor = tk.Radiobutton(lblType, text = 'Ground Floor', variable = self.kitType, value = 'gfloor', state = self.rbState, command = self.prntState)
	self.rbGFloor.pack(anchor = 'w')
	self.rbMFloor = tk.Radiobutton(lblType, text = 'Mid Floors', variable = self.kitType, value = 'mfloor', state = self.rbState, command = self.prntState)
	self.rbMFloor.pack(anchor = 'w')
	self.rbRoof = tk.Radiobutton(lblType, text = 'Roof', variable = self.kitType, value = 'roof', state = self.rbState, command = self.prntState)
	self.rbRoof.pack(anchor = 'w')
	self.rbFSep = tk.Radiobutton(lblType, text = 'Floor Seperators', variable = self.kitType, value = 'fseparation', state = self.rbState, command = self.prntState)
	self.rbFSep.pack(anchor = 'w')
	self.rbRSep = tk.Radiobutton(lblType, text = 'Roof Seperators', variable = self.kitType, value = 'rseparation', state = self.rbState, command = self.prntState)
	self.rbRSep.pack(anchor = 'w')
	#Buttons
	lblButtons = tk.Label(self)
	lblButtons.pack(fill = 'both', expand = 'yes')
	btnCreateJSON = tk.Button(lblButtons, text = 'Create .json', command = self.selectFiles)
	btnCreateJSON.pack(padx = 10, pady = 10)
	#disable kitType buttons, if ImportList selected
	def setUse(self, state):
	for rb in (self.rbGFloor, self.rbMFloor, self.rbRoof, self.rbFSep, self.rbRSep): #go through all kit type ratiobuttons
	rb.configure(state = str(state))
	self.rbState = state
	print(self.rbState)
	def prntState(self):
	print(self.kitType.get())
	#select .FBX files
	def selectFiles(self):
	try:
	self.data = []
	self.piece_list = tk.filedialog.askopenfilenames(title = 'Select files', filetypes = [("FBX Files", "*.fbx")])
	print(self.use.get())
	if (self.use.get() == 'moduleKit'):
	for piece in self.piece_list:
	name = os.path.basename(piece)
	name = name[:-len(".FBX")]
	t = self.kitType.get()
	if (t in name.lower()):
	path = piece
	pieceType = self.checkKW(name, self.keywordsType, self.keywordsStyle)[0]
	pieceStyle = self.checkKW(name, self.keywordsType, self.keywordsStyle)[1]
	d = {'name': name, 'path': path, 'type': pieceType, 'style': pieceStyle}
	print(d)
	self.data.append(d.copy())
	else:
	for piece in self.piece_list:
	name = os.path.basename(piece)
	name = name[:-len(".FBX")]
	path = piece
	d = {'name': name, 'path': path}
	print(d)
	self.data.append(d.copy())
	self.writeJSON(self.data)
	except:
	tk.messagebox.showerror('Error', 'File Creation interrupted')
	#setting piece type and style
	def checkKW(self, name, pTypeList, pStyleList):
	t = ''
	s = ''
	for kwT in pTypeList:
	if (kwT in name.lower()):
	t = kwT
	break
	for kwS in pStyleList:
	if (kwS in name.lower()):
	s = kwS
	return [t, s]
	#writing data to .json file
	def writeJSON(self, data):
	#select save location
	loc = tk.filedialog.asksaveasfilename(title = 'Save file location', filetypes = [(".json", "*.json")], defaultextension='.json')
	json_name = loc
	with open((json_name ), 'w') as outfile:
	json.dump(data, outfile)
	tk.messagebox.showinfo("Info", json_name.rstrip() + " created")
	json_name = ''

view raw CreatorFrame.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

	import tkinter as tk
	class Editor(tk.Frame):
	def __init__(self, parent, controller, kwListType, kwListStyle):
	tk.Frame.__init__(self, parent)
	self.keywords = kwListType
	label = tk.Label(self, text = 'Editor')
	label.pack(anchor = 'w', padx = 10, pady = 10)

view raw EditorFrame.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Here is how it works in its current state:

Current User Interface

As for future plans I will now move on to properly implementing the use of those files in Houdini and also do some testing with how it translates to UE4. Whilst doing that I am sure I will have to adapt how exactly the tool works, improve and expand it.