ComponentDefinition.insertion_point returns the 'origin' axes of the Component Definition as it was originally made or they where later relocated - which affects the subsequent insertion point of instances. ComponentDefinition.insertion_point=[12,34,56] <say> will appear to reset this BUT when you repeat the above although it returns this new value it doesn't move the axes or where subsequent instances are placed... Weird...

Correctly it will be whew: ... @lines = [] extract_lines(group.entities, group.transformation)#!!! ... def extract_lines(ents, tr) ents.each do |e| if e.typename == "Edge" line = [e.vertices[0].position, e.vertices[1].position] line[0] = tr * line[0] line[1] = tr * line[1] @lines << line elsif e.typename == "Group" extract_lines(e.entities, (tr * e.transformation))##!!! elsif e.typename == "ComponentInstance" extract_lines(e.definition.entities, (tr * e.transformation))#!!! end end end and it works!

Hi. I forgot to add another simple question. If I have an entity object, say entities[0]...is there a way to retrieve that entities' present coordinates? Something like: coordinate = entities[0].get_3dCoord Is there such a method? How can I do this? Thank you in advance!

i second the idea of automatic camera recording (if it works with space nav). and if all the created cameras can be joined by a polyline, even if their number exceeds sanity - the polyline can be tweaked with the bezier tools and scenes recreated with flightpath

I know what a Hash is in Ruby, but are you guys talking about the same "hash"? It's not clear how I could use a Ruby hash without running into the same problem; needing to search Entities for the matching ID. I wanted one of my plugins to handle selections in undo and redo operations, so I wrote a Selection Manager to handle it. It appears to work just fine using the entityID of each selected entity stored in an array of arrays; and stepping back and forth thru the stack. Second issue, there appears to be a que-ing, or scheduler in Sketchup? If I call Sketchup.undo followed immediately by my undo, the entities have not been "undone" in time for my undo to find them. I hacked it up using... Sketchup.undo UI.start_timer(0.1) { my_undo} Any alternative?

Hello, Actually I was wondering if I can preview an entiy drawing inside the webdialog before create it into current model. This will be used on entities created from parameters like width, length, etc. As soon as the user change some of these parameters I could show a preview drawing and only after he hits Ok it creates the entity inside current model. Any ideas? Regards, Fernando

@gieselmant said: I had this same problem. ... Hope this helps. Thanks, I have as they say moved on, but I may well go back to it in the future when your advice will be undoubtedly useful. Cheers Chris

the one and only Ray. . . .[image: W8BA_ray.jpg] everybody sing along. . . Hit the Road Jack. . .doncha come back no more, no more, no more , NO MORE. . .

yes, Juju, I think you are right - the jpp tool is the best way to achieve this at the moment. you just have to make sure to choose "keep original faces" (right click > additional options), which I allways forget the first time

Lol, kinda the opposite of what your plugin says it does... isn't it? Still not what I need however, I need to be able to do this in a ruby script, but I think I got it down. Gotta give your plugin, and a few others a try sometime. There are some very good ideas being worked on around here. [Edit] Ohh and from what I can see in the pictures there, your tool creates shapes on a parallel plane, I need them on the same plane, just not necessarily within the face selected.

Be careful, though, with groups. If you create an empty group in the definition and then add geometry to it, you'll be okay. But if you try to create the group with specified geometry, your group will end up in the main model entities space. That's because in ruby, things that are impossible when drawing manually become (theoretically) possible, such as using FollowMe on a path outside the current entities space (will work), or creating groups inside of groups when you aren't inside the group to begin with (won't work). So, just be mindful when working with groups & nested geometry, that things may not happen the way you expect.

kwistenbiebel: Is this vista's security "feature" biting your behind? Copy the rubies to your desktop first, then drag them into the plugins folder from there. Also, look at the top of the explorer window when you are in the plugins directory. Is there a folder icon for "compatibility files"? That's were these things often end up. CB.

If you can export form blender, couldnt you export from SU to blender then blender to DTS?

The data structure in AutoCAD is different to that in Sketchup so code conversion will be quite complicated. Unless the major part of the lisp code in question is computational rather than related to geometry manipulation, you will be better off writing new ruby code from scratch rather than trying to port the code to ruby.

Thanks xrok1, That's my importer - it's far from perfect, but if you'd like to try it get it from here.

Thanks for all the help, guys. I'm off and runing now. And I have to say, it's a pretty cool trick - the excel window opens and stuff starts appearing in the cells like magic! CB.

Go here: http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/10/plugin-export-outliner.html Regards, Bob

Whats it going to take to release this. I would even pay money.

I guess I would start all over again. See this post post for the default setup of the Plugins folder. http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=6952&hilit=+default

@solo said: wq418, Where did you see that? in our bbs http://www.sketchupbbs.com/ if your chinese is well