When you generate PML from Excel, Python or a web page, every text value has to be wrapped so E3D reads it as text. Get it wrong and E3D does one of two things: it stops with CP: Syntax error — which is the good case — or it silently writes a different text. That second case is why this module exists.

The rules

Your text	Write it as	E3D stores	Status
`cable tray 600`	`DESC \|cable tray 600\|`	`cable tray 600`	Verified · 15 Oct
`cable tray 600`	`DESC 'cable tray 600'`	`cable tray 600`	Verified · 15 Oct — single quotes are equal to bars
`price $5`	`DESC \|price $$5\|`	`price $5`	Verified · 15 Oct — double every `$`
`price $5` in a macro, not doubled	`DESC \|a$1b\|`	`ab` — `$1` is eaten as a macro argument	Verified · 15 Oct
`3/4" pipe`	`DESC \|3/4" pipe\|`	`3/4" pipe`	Verified · 15 Oct — a double quote goes in as it is
`CEN` (a text attribute)	`CABLAY \|CEN\|`	`CEN`	Verified · 27 Aug — `CABLAY CEN` without bars is a syntax error
`600` (a number attribute)	`VWIDTH 600` or `VWIDTH 600mm`	`600mm`	Verified · 22 Sep — no bars on numbers: `VWIDTH \|600\|` is a syntax error

Two texts that cannot be written

A line break. A PML command is one line; the rest of the text would run as a separate command. Replace line breaks before writing.
A vertical bar and an apostrophe in the same text. Bars are the wrapper, so a text with a bar goes in single quotes — and then an apostrophe has nothing left to wrap it. Change one of the two characters.

Both the console and the helpers below refuse such a text instead of writing something else.

Why the dollar sign matters

$ is a control character in PML: $1…$9 are macro arguments, $!x substitutes a variable. In a macro DESC |a$1b| writes ab — no error, the text is just shorter. Doubling helps both in a plain paste and in Paste as Macro: $$ becomes one $.

Names are stricter

A name is one word: a space splits the command in two, and quotes, bars and $ are not allowed. A name must start with / — without it E3D does not navigate, silently, and the next POS lands on whatever element was current.

Files

File	What it is
`pml_text.py`	`pml_text(value)` and `pml_name(value)` for Python — wrap, double `$`, refuse what cannot be written.
`pml_text.js`	The same for JavaScript (browser or Node).
`probe.pmlmac`	Check the rules in your E3D: writes test descriptions under a rollback mark and undoes them.

from pml_text import pml_text, pml_name
pml_text('price $5')        # -> |price $$5|
pml_text('a|b')             # -> 'a|b'
pml_name('PMLC-CWAY-T1')    # -> /PMLC-CWAY-T1
pml_text('line 1\nline 2')  # raises ValueError: line break

Check it yourself

probe.pmlmac runs on one element you stand on (an EQUI, a SUBE, a branch — anything with a DESC). It sets a rollback mark, writes several descriptions, prints what E3D stored, and rolls everything back with UNDODB. Run it on a test project; nothing stays in the model as long as you do not SAVEWORK in between.

One line in the probe is marked not yet verified by us — a bar inside single quotes. Tell us what your E3D prints, and the register gets a new line: run report.

Verified