OpenSCAD User Manual/Include Statement

The text in its current form is incomplete.

For including code from external files in OpenSCAD, there are two commands available:

• include <filename> acts as if the contents of the included file were written in the including file, and
• use <filename> imports modules and functions, but does not execute any commands other than those definitions.

A library file for generating rings might look like this (defining a function and providing an example):

ring.scad:

module ring(r1, r2, h) {
    difference() {
        cylinder(r = r1, h = h);
        translate([ 0, 0, -1 ]) cylinder(r = r2, h = h+2);
    }
}

ring(5, 4, 10);

Including the library using

include <ring.scad>;
rotate([90, 0, 0]) ring(10, 1, 1);

would result in the example ring being shown in addition to the rotated ring, but

use <ring.scad>;
rotate([90, 0, 0]) ring(10, 1, 1);

only shows the rotated ring.