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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2025.16

PrintTalk: A Language for Constraint-Based 3D Modelling

Authors: Jef Jacobs, Wolfgang De Meuter, and Jens Nicolay

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 340, 31st International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2025)

Abstract

Programmatic CAD (PCAD) is an emerging alternative to traditional visual CAD software. However, state-of-the-art PCAD tools have limited or no support for constraints. Consequently, these tools depend solely on parametrisation for variability, reusability, and composition of shapes. This leads to problems such as parameter explosion, leaky compositional abstraction, and prevents a declarative approach to defining spatial patterns (linear, grid, circular, etc.) for the constituents of a composition. This paper describes the design of PrintTalk, a PCAD language that supports 3D modelling by composing shapes and expressing relations between them using first-class constraints. Evaluating PrintTalk against state-of-the-art PCAD tools demonstrates that its expressive abstraction and composition mechanisms facilitate the design and promotes the reuse of shapes.

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Jef Jacobs, Wolfgang De Meuter, and Jens Nicolay. PrintTalk: A Language for Constraint-Based 3D Modelling. In 31st International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 340, pp. 16:1-16:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{jacobs_et_al:LIPIcs.CP.2025.16,
  author =	{Jacobs, Jef and De Meuter, Wolfgang and Nicolay, Jens},
  title =	{{PrintTalk: A Language for Constraint-Based 3D Modelling}},
  booktitle =	{31st International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2025)},
  pages =	{16:1--16:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-380-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{340},
  editor =	{de la Banda, Maria Garcia},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2025.16},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-238775},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CP.2025.16},
  annote =	{Keywords: Programmatic 3D Modelling, PCAD, Domain specific language, Constraints}
}

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PrintTalk: A Language for Constraint-Based 3D Modelling

Abstract

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