pyofel

Python bindings for Ofel, via pythonnet and the Ofel.PythonInterop project. Lets Python/ML code build and solve Ofel finite-element structures without hand-rolling the CoreCLR bootstrap.

Setup

Installing the prebuilt package (Windows)

pip install pyofel

No .NET SDK or runtime is required — the published Windows wheel bundles a private copy of the .NET 9 runtime alongside the published Ofel.PythonInterop output, so pip install pyofel is the entire setup.

Building from source (contributors / non-Windows)

• Python >= 3.10
• .NET 9 SDK — required locally to build/install this package this way.

Clone with submodules (this repo vendors a pinned copy of ofel at vendor/ofel to build Ofel.PythonInterop against):

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/se-benjamin-carron/pyofel
cd pyofel

If you already cloned without --recurse-submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Install (this runs a build hook that dotnet publishs vendor/ofel/src/Ofel.PythonInterop and stages the output into pyofel/_interop/):

pip install -e .[dev]

Run the tests:

pytest

To reproduce the prebuilt-wheel build locally (Windows only), fetch a win-x64 .NET 9 runtime-only install and point PYOFEL_BUNDLE_RUNTIME_DIR at it before building:

PYOFEL_BUNDLE_RUNTIME_DIR=/path/to/dotnet-runtime-win-x64 python -m build --wheel

This bundles that runtime into the wheel and tags it as a platform-specific win_amd64 wheel instead of pure Python — see .github/workflows/release.yml for the exact CI sequence that fetches the runtime and builds/validates this.

Usage

from pyofel.directors import create_cantilever_column_compression

structure = create_cantilever_column_compression(length=3.0, force=1000.0)
structure.Prepare(0.5)
structure.Compute(False)

pyofel.directors wraps every Ofel.Core.StructureDirector.Create* example factory (cantilever/hinged/isostatic beams, the default roof, columns under compression/flexion, etc.) as a thin pass-through, plus create_cantilever_column_lateral_load, a hand-rolled port of the extended example in ofel's docs/python-smoke-test.md that drives the granular MemberDirector primitives (Point, Member, ForceValue, ...) directly.

pyofel.evaluation wraps the higher-level Ofel.API.Services.StructureEvaluationService pipeline (full building input -> climatic loads -> FEM -> Eurocode 3 steel verification):

from pyofel.evaluation import create_building2s1_example_input, evaluate, uls_ratios

structure_input = create_building2s1_example_input()
members, structure = evaluate(structure_input)
ratios = uls_ratios(members)

create_building2s1_example_input is a direct port of vendor/ofel's Ofel.API.Tests UIFixtures.CreateBuilding2S1Input() fixture, building a full StructureEvaluationInputUI (wind/snow loads, roofing plates/purlins, a Building2S1 gantry, project settings) from the granular Ofel.Contracts.UI input objects. Broader wrapper coverage around other gantry types (Building1, Butterfly, DoubleCanopy, SimpleCanopy) is follow-up work.

Updating the pinned ofel version

cd vendor/ofel
git fetch --tags
git checkout <new-tag-or-commit>
cd ../..
git add vendor/ofel
git commit -m "chore: bump vendor/ofel to <new-tag-or-commit>"