Reloading imported modules

I have a feature request, or at least a discussion on one.

Use case

NB. This is very simplified, I have one project with 8 different local module imports, and I intend to use more in the next.

driving_dims.py:

box = (100, 20, 30)

main.py:

import cadquery as cq
import driving_dims

a = cq.Workplane("front").box(*driving_dims.box)

show_object(a)

1. start cq-editor, load main.py, render
2. change box in driving_dims.py edit: just realised it’s relevant that I use vim and edit all my files externally from cq-editor
3. render again, new dimensions are not loaded

User side solution

I naively restarted cq-editor a lot until I discovered I could change my import from

import driving_dims

to

import importlib
import driving_dims
importlib.reload(driving_dims)

to have the module reloaded every time the script is executed.

I kind of like this solution because you can be explicit about what needs to be reloaded every time.

Feature suggestion

I would be happy with just documenting the importlib.reload method, but the devs seem to be going for a quite user-friendly feel, so perhaps they want to implement automatic reloading of any module in the working script directory?

[lorenzncode]

This was implemented in #272.

1. start cq-editor, load main.py, render
2. change box in driving_dims.py
3. render again, new dimensions are loaded

With Preferences “Autoreload: watch imported modules” selected:

1. start cq-editor, load main.py, render
2. change box in driving_dims.py, render updates automatically

[adam-urbanczyk]

It should be possible, e.g. like so:

• parse the code with AST and find import statements
• reload the modules is they are already loaded This will have low prio for me at the moment though.