Implement Eric's suggestion to limit the dump to wokwi parts/connections only; update README.md

Author: maehw

README.md

@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ This project is WIP. Feel free to contribute, open issues, etc.
 ## Usage
 
 ```
-$ python3 generate.py -h
-usage: generate.py [-h] [-v] [-f IN_FILE] [-o OUT_FILE]
+$ usage: generate.py [-h] [-v] [-f IN_FILE] [-o OUT_FILE] [-p | --parts_only | --no-parts_only] [-c | --connections_only | --no-connections_only]
 
 generate.py is a lookup table generator tool for wokwi
 
@@ -22,6 +21,10 @@ options:
                         path to JSON logic input file; if none is given, stdout is used (default: logic.json)
   -o OUT_FILE, --outfile OUT_FILE
                         path to generated wokwi schematic file (default: None)
+  -p, --parts_only, --no-parts_only
+                        dump wokwi parts list only (default: 0)
+  -c, --connections_only, --no-connections_only
+                        dump wokwi connections list only (default: 0)
 ```
 
 Examples:
@@ -50,6 +53,14 @@ Specify an output file for the wokwi schematic externally but also show contents
 python3 generate.py -f 2bit_half_adder.logic.json | tee 2bit_half_adder.diagram.json
 ```
 
+Switches `-p` and `-c` allow to limit the dump to wokwi parts ony respectively wokwi connections only.
+
+This feature can be used to modify existing designs only. The following command can be used on Mac OS X to **copy** the parts of the design into the **p**aste **b**uffer:
+
+```
+python3 generate.py -f bcd_7segment_lut.logic.json -p | sed 's/[{}]//' | pbcopy
+```
+
 
 After having generated your diagram JSON file, ...
 

generate.py

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import math
 import coloredlogs, logging
 from quine_mccluskey import qm
-from argparse import ArgumentParser, ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter
+from argparse import ArgumentParser, ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter, BooleanOptionalAction
 
 # Copyright (c) maehw, 2022
 # wokwi-lookup-table-generator is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0
@@ -28,6 +28,16 @@
                         help='path to generated wokwi schematic file',
                         default=None)
 
+    parser.add_argument('-p', '--parts_only',
+                       action=BooleanOptionalAction,
+                       help='dump wokwi parts list only',
+                       default=0)
+
+    parser.add_argument('-c', '--connections_only',
+                        action=BooleanOptionalAction,
+                        help='dump wokwi connections list only',
+                        default=0)
+
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     # Create and configure logger object
@@ -230,6 +240,9 @@ def allocate_next_free_or_gate_inport():
 
     log.info(f"Log level: {log_level}")
 
+    if args.parts_only and args.connections_only:
+        parser.error("Combination of -p and -c is currently not supported.")
+
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # generate insights about the design input data, i.e. log them to the console
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -697,10 +710,20 @@ def allocate_next_free_or_gate_inport():
 
     #log.debug( json.dumps(logic_meta, indent=4) )
 
+    wokwi_design_dump = wokwi_design
+
+    # limit the dump; mutual exclusion of both options has been guaranteed earlier
+    if args.parts_only:
+        log.info("Only dumping wokwi parts.")
+        wokwi_design_dump = wokwi_design["parts"]
+    elif args.connections_only:
+        log.info("Only dumping wokwi connections.")
+        wokwi_design_dump = wokwi_design["connections"]
+
     if args.out_file:
         log.info(f"Writing final wokwi design file '{args.out_file}'...")
         with open(args.out_file, 'w') as f:
-            json.dump(wokwi_design, f, indent=4)
+            json.dump(wokwi_design_dump, f, indent=4)
     else:
         log.info("Dumping final wokwi design to stdout...")
-        print( json.dumps(wokwi_design, indent=4) )
+        print( json.dumps(wokwi_design_dump, indent=4) )