Return normal vector given a workplane?

[xpe]

Given a Workplane how can one get its normal vector? This feels like a very natural thing to do, but I don't see how.

Is my question sensical given the definitions of CadQuery? Why or why not?

In cadquery.occ_impl.shapes I see normal and normalAt but they don't apply to Workplane:

class Mixin1D(object):

# ...

def normal(self: Mixin1DProtocol) -> Vector:
        """
        Calculate the normal Vector. Only possible for planar curves.

        :return: normal vector
        """

class Face(Shape):
    """
    a bounded surface that represents part of the boundary of a solid
    """
    
# ...

def normalAt(self, locationVector: Optional[Vector] = None) -> Vector:
        """
        Computes the normal vector at the desired location on the face.

        :returns: a vector representing the direction
        :param locationVector: the location to compute the normal at. If none, the center of the face is used.
        :type locationVector: a vector that lies on the surface.
        """

[lorenzncode]

You can inspect the Workplane Plane object.

mywp = cq.Workplane("XZ")
print(mywp.plane)

[xpe]

Ok, thanks. I see print(mywp.plane) shows e.g.

Plane(origin=(0.0, 0.0, 8.900000000000002), xDir=(1.0, 0.0, 0.0), normal=(0.0, 0.0, 1.0))

However, can the normal vector be accessed programmatically?

1. I tried: print(mywp.plane.normal)

2. I see no mention of a normal property in the source code for the Plane class.

What's the story... what am I missing?

Ah:

def __repr__(self):
    return f"Plane(origin={str(self.origin.toTuple())}, xDir={str(self.xDir.toTuple())}, normal={str(self.zDir.toTuple())})"

So the answer is the zDir property on Plane.

[lorenzncode]

So the answer is the zDir property on Plane.

right

normal = mywp.plane.zDir.toTuple()

You can also define your own plane.

plane0 = cq.Plane((0, 0, 0), normal=(1, 1, 1))
res = cq.Workplane(plane0).circle(1).extrude(4)