[Plugin] Three Line Tools (Updated March 9th, 2009)

Chris Fullmer · 23 Feb 2009, 05:50

Note: Used to be called "Make Vertical Lines by Height".
Note: Used to be refered to as "Vertical and "Normal" Line Tool".
(I wonder how long this alias list will get?)

Description: Three tools to help make vertical or normal lines by clicking on a point, then enter the desired line length or elevation.

Usage: Activate it at "Plugins>3 Line Tools". There are 3 tools available. Lines by height creates vertical lines with the user input length. Vertical lines by elevation creates vertical lines by the desired elevation. Normal Lines creates lines that follow the normals of the face, edge, or vertex that is selected.

[flash=813,631:2ca0fbnd]http://www.chrisfullmer.com/forums/clf_vertical_lines_v1.6.swf[/flash:2ca0fbnd]

UPDATE:
v1.0

Original release
v1.5
Added 2 more tools (3 total) and a submenu to organize them all
Vertical lines by height lets you add a vertical by specifying its total height (can be negative).
Vertical lines by elevation lets you add a vertical by specifying its ending elevation (can be negative).
Lines on Normals lets you add a line that will follow the normal of the face, edge, or vertex clicked on.
Added "Undo" support.
v1.6
Added VCB suuport
No more prompts. Just click click to create lines. Enter in a new height in the VCB to change lengths.
2.0:: 2009-02-28
Made some icons and added a toolbar.
Now this plugin registers itself with the SketchUp Extension manager so you can disable it if you don't want it in your menu.
2.1 - It now instlls itself into Plugins>Chris Fullmer Tools>3 Line Tools
And the new icons! First shows multiple lines of the same length but differing elevations, next shows lines of the same elevation but differeing lengths, and the third is a cool "N" with lines shooting off of its normals. (I felt a need to explain them since I'm not convinced they are as obvious as I think they are

Chris
Make sure to delete old versions of clf_vertical_line_maker.rb before (or after) installing. The current file name in the plugins folder is "clf_vertical_line_maker_loader.rb"

v2.1

free agent · 23 Feb 2009, 08:10

thanx chris, this pluggin really helps in working with land surveyor spot heights and quickly translating them to height.

thomthom · 23 Feb 2009, 08:16

Chris, you're on fire! Don't think I've seen so many plugins rolled out so quickly. Good work.

I got a usability suggestion to this plugin. Instead of using the messagebox to enter the values, why not use the VCB? When you activate the tool you enter the length you want, then you can freely click point where the lines are created without having to press enter while you type. And you can also at any point type in a new value for other lengths. going around the model very quickly until you deactivate the tool.

matteo · 23 Feb 2009, 08:28

that's a great help

thank you very much.

rv1974 · 23 Feb 2009, 08:32

Chris are you working beside cradle?

Panga · 23 Feb 2009, 11:25

Chris,

Thanks again for answering so quickly to my request, and It seems that will help others !!

@unknownuser said:

I got a usability suggestion to this plugin. Instead of using the messagebox to enter the values, why not use the VCB? When you activate the tool you enter the length you want, then you can freely click point where the lines are created without having to press enter while you type. And you can also at any point type in a new value for other lengths. going around the model very quickly until you deactivate the tool.

It works pretty well, but if you can implement the Thomthom suggestion, this'll be the perfect tool __

Panga.

Edson · 23 Feb 2009, 11:37

chris,

you are on a roll! one more useful script. very soon you will be among our ruby masters.

regards.

watkins · 23 Feb 2009, 13:52

Dear Chris,

Will your script make normals to surfaces? For example, suppose one has an inclined plane on which one has placed a construction point. Can one use your plugin to create a normal of specified length at the construction point?

Regards,
Bob

Chris Fullmer · 23 Feb 2009, 17:58

@thomthom said:

Chris, you're on fire! Don't think I've seen so many plugins rolled out so quickly. Good work.

Thanks Thom! so far they are all mostly pretty simple scripts that I can write in a day or less. I'm scared of the big multi-day scripts!

@thomthom said:

I got a usability suggestion to this plugin. Instead of using the messagebox to enter the values, why not use the VCB? When you activate the tool you enter the length you want, then you can freely click point where the lines are created without having to press enter while you type. And you can also at any point type in a new value for other lengths. going around the model very quickly until you deactivate the tool.

I think I'm not fully understanding this one. The VCB option workflow is:

Click on point
Type value (if necessary)
hit enter
repeat

right? That is the exact same workflow for the way script is set up now. Is there something I'm not seeing there? I don't mind setting it up with the VCB, I just couldn't see any real added benefit to it.

@rv1974 said:

Chris are you working beside cradle?

Actually, yes I am. I was up til 3:30am with a sick, which helped me get a lot of script writing done

@Bob Watkins - I really like that idea! I think that will require a separate plugin. I wouldn't want to add a pop-up box each time you start this script asking if you want vertical mode or normal mode. So let me make a new script for it. Maybe they can both be housed under a submenu together or something to help conserve precious space in the plugins menu.

Thanks everyone for testing the script and the feedback. Hopefully I'll have some update news shortly!

Chris

thomthom · 23 Feb 2009, 18:03

@chris fullmer said:

I think I'm not fully understanding this one. The VCB option workflow is:

Click on point
Type value (if necessary)
hit enter
repeat

right? That is the exact same workflow for the way script is set up now. Is there something I'm not seeing there? I don't mind setting it up with the VCB, I just couldn't see any real added benefit to it.

I was thinking more like:

Activate tool
Type length value
click on points (the length of the line will be the last value entered into the VCB)
click some more points
Type in new VCB value
click new points

You only click enter when you need to change the length of the lines. As long as the lines you make are the same length you don't have to enter any values.

Chris Fullmer · 23 Feb 2009, 18:05

Aha! I get it now. Yes, that is an even faster workflow than the current one. I think that will require some VCB figuring-out on my part. But it sounds great!

Chris

thomthom · 23 Feb 2009, 18:11

Don't think you have to change much. Take out the input box in the onLButtonUp event. Add the onUserText http://groups.google.com/group/SketchUp-Plugins-Dev/web/Ruby-Tool.html#onUserText where it sets @@last_height to the users input. ...I think from looking at the code quickly...

Chris Fullmer · 23 Feb 2009, 18:13

@thomthom said:

Don't think you have to change much.

That is music to my ears! I'll check it out later today after class (or maybe during )

Chris

rv1974 · 23 Feb 2009, 20:02

@unknownuser said:

rv1974 wrote:Chris are you working beside cradle?

Actually, yes I am. I was up til 3:30am with a sick, which helped me get a lot of script writing done

I simply heard a baby crying on the tutorial's background)

Chris Fullmer · 27 Feb 2009, 08:58

@watkins said:

Will your script make normals to surfaces? For example, suppose one has an inclined plane on which one has placed a construction point. Can one use your plugin to create a normal of specified length at the construction point?

UPDATE! Yes, I finally got this implemented. Thanks for the suggestion Bob. This plugin now offers 3 tools. Vertical line by height, by elevation and Normal Line. Normal lines will work on a face, edge, or vertex. I've updated all the info in the first post and also the video is new too and it shows how to use the three tools. Though you can probably figure it out faster than watching the video Hope its useful,

Chris

Edson · 27 Feb 2009, 11:43

chris,

thanks for the upgrade. deceptively simple, enormously useful.

broomstick · 27 Feb 2009, 13:16

this plugin IS AWESOME!

Tell me: does it work on mac?

remus · 27 Feb 2009, 13:27

Should work on a mac, there are very few platform dependant plugins.

Edson · 27 Feb 2009, 13:33

@broomstick said:

this plugin IS AWESOME!

Tell me: does it work on mac?

it surely does. no problem at all.

kwistenbiebel · 27 Feb 2009, 13:34

Wow Chris! You are really on a roll here making these tools.
I can sense you enjoy coding it. And it is so cool you share it with us.
Thanks mate!