prelayn

Application for automatically PREfixing LAYer Names of AutoCAD drawings. This task can be performed using four different libraries:

• win32com (pywin32)
• pyautocad
• pyautogui
• ezdxf

📄 Publication

This work was presented at the 34th INGEGRAF International Conference, held in Seville, Spain, from 25 to 27 June 2025.

• Manuscript (preprint)
• Presentation slides

⚙️ Installation

1. Clone this repository:

C:\Users\Me>git clone https://github.com/tonechas/prelayn.git

2. Create a virtual environment:

C:\Users\Me>python -m venv path\to\venvs\directory\myvenv python=3.12.0

3. Activate the virtual environment:

C:\Users\Me>path\to\venvs\directory\myvenv\Scripts\activate

4. Install the dependencies:

(myvenv) C:\Users\Me>cd prelayn
(myvenv) C:\Users\Me\prelayn>pip install -r requirements.txt

🚀 Usage

To run the application, execute the following commands:

(myvenv) C:\Users\Me\prelayn>cd src
(myvenv) C:\Users\Me\prelayn\src>python prelayn.py

After that, a graphical user interface will pop up, featuring a help button that makes the program easy to use.

Distro

You can create a standalone executable through PyInstaller:

(myvenv) C:\Users\Me\prelayn\src>pip install pyinstaller
(myvenv) C:\Users\Me\prelayn\src>pyinstaller prelayn.py ^
    --onefile ^
    --windowed ^
    --add-data help.html:. ^
    --add-data python-icon-multisize.ico:. ^
    --distpath ../dist ^
    --workpath ../build

The program can be run from the console:

(myvenv) C:\Users\Me\prelayn\src>cd ..\dist
(myvenv) C:\Users\Me\prelayn\dist>prelayn.exe

Or alternatively you can double-click on the file icon.

Platform support

The project supports the following operating systems:

Operating System	Supported
Windows	Yes
Mac OS	No
Linux	No
Other Unix-like	No

Compatibility

The project has been developed and tested on a Windows 10 Pro OS using Python 3.12.0 and AutoCAD 2023.