Python Scripts
==============

.. note::

    Since Tiled 1.3, Tiled can be :doc:`extended using JavaScript
    </manual/scripting>`. The JavaScript API provides a lot more
    opportunity for extending Tiled's functionality than just adding custom
    map formats. It is fully documented and works out of the box on all
    platforms. It recommended over the Python plugin whenever possible.

Tiled ships with a plugin that enables you to use Python 3 to add support for
custom map and tileset formats.

For the scripts to get loaded, they should be placed in ``~/.tiled``.
Tiled watches this directory for changes, so there is no need to restart
Tiled after adding or changing scripts (though the directory needs to
exist when you start Tiled).

There are several `example scripts`_ available in the repository.

.. note::

    To create the ``~/.tiled`` folder on Windows, open command prompt
    (``cmd.exe``), which should start in your home folder by default, then
    type ``mkdir .tiled`` to create the folder.

    On Linux, folders starting with a dot are hidden by default. In most file
    managers you can toggle showing of hidden files using ``Ctrl+H``.

.. note::

    Since Tiled 1.2.4, the Python plugin is disabled by default, because
    depending on which Python version is installed on the system the loading of
    this plugin may cause a crash (`#2091`_). To use the Python plugin, first
    enable it in the Preferences.

.. warning::

    For the Tiled Python plugin to work you'll need to install a compatible
    version of Python.

    On Windows, get Python from https://www.python.org/. As of Tiled 1.11, the
    Windows 10+ build requires Python 3.12 whereas the Windows 7-8 build
    requires Python 3.8. You will also need to check the box "Add python.exe to
    PATH" in the installer:

    .. figure:: images/python-windows.png

    On Linux you will need to install the appropriate package. However,
    currently Linux AppImage builds are done on Ubuntu 22.04 against Python
    3.10, and you'd need to install the same version (on Ubuntu likely
    ``libpython3.10`` and on Fedora ``python3.10-libs``).

    The Python plugin is not available for macOS releases, nor in the Ubuntu
    snap.

Example Export Plugin
---------------------

Suppose you'd like to have a map exported in the following format:

.. code::

    29,29,29,29,29,29,32,-1,34,29,29,29,29,29,29,
    29,29,29,29,29,29,32,-1,34,29,29,29,29,29,29,
    29,29,29,29,29,29,32,-1,34,29,29,29,29,29,29,
    29,29,29,29,29,29,32,-1,34,29,29,29,29,29,29,
    25,25,25,25,25,25,44,-1,34,29,29,29,29,29,29,
    -1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,34,29,29,29,29,29,29,
    41,41,41,41,41,41,41,41,42,29,29,24,25,25,25,
    29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,32,-1,-1,-1,
    29,29,29,29,29,29,39,29,29,29,29,32,-1,35,41,
    29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,32,-1,34,29,
    29,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,37,29,29,32,-1,34,29;


You can achieve this by saving the following ``example.py`` script in
the scripts directory:

.. code:: python

    from tiled import *

    class Example(Plugin):
        @classmethod
        def nameFilter(cls):
            return "Example files (*.example)"

        @classmethod
        def shortName(cls):
            return "example"

        @classmethod
        def write(cls, tileMap, fileName):
            with open(fileName, 'w') as fileHandle:
                for i in range(tileMap.layerCount()):
                    if isTileLayerAt(tileMap, i):
                        tileLayer = tileLayerAt(tileMap, i)
                        for y in range(tileLayer.height()):
                            tiles = []
                            for x in range(tileLayer.width()):
                                if tileLayer.cellAt(x, y).tile() != None:
                                    tiles.append(str(tileLayer.cellAt(x, y).tile().id()))
                                else:
                                    tiles.append(str(-1))
                            line = ','.join(tiles)
                            if y == tileLayer.height() - 1:
                                line += ';'
                            else:
                                line += ','
                            print(line, file=fileHandle)


            return True

Then you should see an "Example files" entry in the type dropdown when
going to *File > Export*, which allows you to export the map using the
above script.

.. note::

    This example does not support the use of group layers.

.. raw:: html

   <div class="new">New in Tiled 1.11</div>

Tileset Plugins
---------------

To write tileset plugins, extend your class from ``tiled.TilesetPlugin``
instead of ``tiled.Plugin``.

Debugging Your Script
---------------------

Any errors that happen while parsing or running the script are printed
to the Console, which can be enabled in *View > Views and Toolbars
> Console*.

API Reference
-------------

It would be nice to have the full API reference documented here, but for
now please check out the `source file`_ for available classes and
methods.

.. note::

    Any help with maintaining the Python plugin would be very appreciated. See
    `open issues related to Python support`_

.. _example scripts: https://github.com/mapeditor/tiled/tree/master/src/plugins/python/scripts
.. _source file: https://github.com/mapeditor/tiled/blob/master/src/plugins/python/tiledbinding.py
.. _open issues related to Python support: https://github.com/mapeditor/tiled/issues?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+python+in%3Atitle
.. _#2091: https://github.com/mapeditor/tiled/issues/2091