..  -*- rst -*-
  
..
  This file is part of pyFormex.
  pyFormex is a tool for generating, manipulating and transforming 3D
  geometrical models by sequences of mathematical operations.
  Home page: http://pyformex.org
  Project page:  http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/pyformex/
  Copyright 2004-2018 (C) Benedict Verhegghe (benedict.verhegghe@ugent.be)
  Distributed under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later.
  
  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.
  
  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.
  
  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with this program.  If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
  
  
.. _`homepage`: http://pyformex.nongnu.org
.. _`development`: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/pyformex/


pyFormex is a program for generating, transforming and manipulating large
geometrical models of 3D structures by sequences of mathematical
operations. Unlike traditional CAD systems, pyFormex uses a powerful
(Python based) scripting language as the basic user input method, making
it very well suited for automated and repeated (parametric) design
procedures. It provides a wide range of operations on surface meshes,
like STL type triangulated surfaces, and FEA meshes or CFD grids.
There is also support for Nurbs curves and surfaces.

pyFormex is often used to create 3D models from medical scan images,
or as a pre- and post-processor for FEA programs.
But it can just as well be used to create some nice 3D renderings.
The fully open scripting allows you to do just about anything, including
interfacing with many other softwares. You are only limited by your own
imagination.

In pyFormex, the topology of the elements can be unlinked from the final
geometrical form. Often, topology is created first and then mapped onto some
geometry. Through the scripting language, the user can define any sequence
of transformations, built from provided or user defined functions.
Since the model is stored as a script, building parametric models is a
natural thing.

While pyFormex is still under `development`_, it already provides a
fairly stable scripting language and an OpenGL GUI environment for
displaying, manipulating and exporting the generated structures.

.. End
