[prototype] Doublecut (0.1.0a) - Need help debugging

thomthom

At the moment, I won't have any need for bug reports as I might need to drastically change my code to avoid the bugsplat. So working on smaller bugs/quirks might not be worth the effort.

However, do feel free to test it out as a concept. See how it fits into your workflow in the large picture. See if it cuts when you expect it to cut etc. Just beware that it does crash. I recommend anyone testing it to disable it when they're not actively testing it.

thomthom

@chris fullmer said:

I'm in! I'll run it through the ringer when I get a chance. Unfortunately, I have never used observers. I sort of understand what they do, just not how they do it. But I'll give it a go!

Chris

Thanks!

scottlininger

Thom,

Fantastic idea!

One thing that might make your script simpler would be use a flattened copy of the window component to cut the 2nd hole instead of creating a new definition or group. (One less thing to keep track of and would keep the file size small.) However, I do like the idea of hiding all of the geometry inside the new hole to keep it out of the way... which wouldn't work with this approach.

thomthom

@unknownuser said:

Fantastic idea!

Thanks.

@unknownuser said:

One thing that might make your script simpler would be use a flattened copy of the window component to cut the 2nd hole instead of creating a new definition or group. (One less thing to keep track of and would keep the file size small.) However, I do like the idea of hiding all of the geometry inside the new hole to keep it out of the way... which wouldn't work with this approach.

That assumes the cut-out to be symmetrical. I trace the intersections specifically since the opposite cut-out could very well be completely different.

thomthom

Been thinkning of what Scott suggested in another thread; see if I can use use onTransactionCommit. I'll make a command stack, where I take all actions I currently perform in events and push them into the command stack array. Then I use the onTransactionCommit to execute them. Will see how that works out.

Chris Fullmer

BTW, I'm really happy to see this script finally up and working. Even if it is a little buggy at this point. I know you've put a TON of time into it, so I'm glad you haven't hit any show stopper problems with the API or anything. Good work, keep it up!

Chris

thomthom

I'd say the bugsplat is a show-stopper...

BillW

Thom

I have had a component hole cutting tool for a while - it doesnt use observers as the original code is ancient.
Perhaps you might want to reuse.

A component placed on a face must have a set of linked edges which define the shape of the cutout which reside on the cutting plane of the component. This means that the geometry of say a window doesn't have to span the component cutting plane inorder to perform cut. Try it in the example file. Select all components and run "Component punch". Notice the circular window which shows the edges of the window outline seperate from the geometry.

If there is no back face (in the same mesh) parallel to the front face containing the component then the front face is cut only which allows the user to reuse for say running an intersection.

Punch hole in place of component

Example file

Regards

BillW

thomthom

Thanks Bill for looking at this. I had a look at your plugin. The thing is that I want to make the holes editable, avoiding having to edit the holes separately. It's that process that takes time when I need to do revisions to model which I want to avoid.

plot-paris

great plugin, Thom! this is one of the things that should have been a part of SketchUp all along. and now you did it!

of course its still alpha, but its such an important script. I felt like crying with joy when I first hit the double-cut command and all the component copies cut through the walls...

after playing a bit I found something interesting: the double-cut component only cuts through the second face of the wall, if it contains an edge in this second plane (example on the right). so if the component goes right through the wall and doesn't provide the edge in the second wall-face's plane, it doesn't work as a double-cut.
that means that you can only use a component for a wall with exactly the right thickness...
(did this last paragraph make any sense? quite difficult to describe... )

thomthom

Try making sure you have edges where it intersects with the wall, then extrude further out once more. It doesn't detect faces intersecting the opposite face, but only edges.

thomthom

Here's an example file.

0.1.0a

Gjenio

I´m not a ruby expert therefore I cannot give you any suggestions, unfortunately.
But let me express my congratulation for your effort to develope such a plugin that will become one of the most useful sketchup plugins. Thanx!
Go ahead, please!

Sir

this will indeed be an incredibly useful plugin! when doublecutting, will it make a permenant cut, or will it just make the intersecting faces hidden?

because this would then allow you to move the windows about, and as you moved them the wall would hide before them and then heal behind...

this will be so useful fo old skool windows where they didnt know what symmetry was

plot-paris

@thomthom said:

Try making sure you have edges where it intersects with the wall, then extrude further out once more.

thats what I did with the example on the right hand side. so that means you always have to design Double-Cut-Components (DCCs as opposed to DCs (Dynamic Components) ) for a specific wall thickness.

now that I come to think of it, this may even be a positive thing - thus you will always see, if a wall is not exactly the right thickness

thomthom

Mind you, if you make a DCC for a wall 200mm thick, and then try to place it on a wall 400mm thick; it won't cut initially. But if you scale the instance 2x in the components Z-axis so that it intersects it will make the cut.

thomthom

I changed the script so all observers events where I added/removed/edited anything to the model where qued up in an command array. That array where then read by the onTransactionCommit. At first it appeared to work, but then I got the bugsplats again. (I might not have done the actions to trigger it initially.)

I've been trying to find the cause of the bugsplat, but all I've found so far is that it happens if I add/remove DDC after they have been made into DCC components. If I just move, rotate or scale them there is no bugsplat.

What I find very odd is that the bugsplat occurs when I open the second scene.


Make DCC
Add/Remove DCC (this will trigger the splat later)
File->New (New model opens, no bug splat.)
File->New (Blugsplat! Why so late?)

I'm wondering if it might be due to some entity references, but I reset all arrays/hashes containing references when a new model is opened.

The only thing I haven't tried is keep track of all observers and removing them. But I'm not sure if I'm able to remove them all...

Version 0.2.0a

plot-paris

hi Thom,

I had a lot of problems with SketchUp the past week; lots of 'bug splats' when using the drape tool. and I got an error message every time I closed the program (and in fact, when I opened the task manager, I discovered that SU hadn't closed at all, but was still running in the background. so after opening and closing several models I had five SU versions running in the background at full speed, bringing down my computer entirely).

after checking, which plugin was responsible for these errors, I found that it is the DCC-plugin. no idea, why that is. but I thought you might be interested in that.

Chris Fullmer

You might check the first post again Jakob, I think Thom's aware of the splatters If I remember correctly this plugin release was more of a developer preview than a full featured stable release.

Chris

thomthom

Yes, it's written in large bold red letters at the very top of the original thread...
And in the comment to the download link.