? [Question] - A Ruby Calculator ?

NewOne

Pretty terse New.
How do you get the console to push the result into the VCB?


#INPUT THIS IN Ruby Console

Sketchup.vcb_value = 5*3

#THIS WILL RETURN 15 IN VCB

xrok1

wow, i can't believe its that easy and still no one has written a VCB replacement that can accept equations? i can't tell you how many times i could have used this!

pilou

Simple things are always a litle hidden

Jim

(it's not that easy.)

NewOne

@jim said:

(it's not that easy.)

you are right. It's easy to make a webdialog to input calculations, but in ruby you must use regexp to dispatch resulting string and make calculations (this can be tricky and I'm not sure that covers all situations). Other option (more simple for who knows js) would be to make calculations with js and send just the result to ruby.

NewOne

I made a try... a unsuccessful try to make a calculator that sends value in VCB.
When pressing '=', the value is sent in VCB, but there can not be used It's just there, doing nothing.

Now, it sends the value in mm.

simple calc.png

Calculator.zip

TIG

You would need to set the output to a global variable like $calculator_output. Then put that into the VCB AND have any tool also accept $calculator_output as it's input IF $calculator_output has changed since it launched ???

NewOne

@tig said:

You would need to set the output to a global variable like $calculator_output. Then put that into the VCB AND have any tool also accept $calculator_output as it's input IF $calculator_output has changed since it launched ???

hmm... i see... But, for native tools, where does SketchUp stores VCB input? Doesn't have a global variable of its own?

TIG

@newone said:

@tig said:

You would need to set the output to a global variable like $calculator_output. Then put that into the VCB AND have any tool also accept $calculator_output as it's input IF $calculator_output has changed since it launched ???

hmm... i see... But, for native tools, where does SketchUp stores VCB input? Doesn't have a global variable of its own?

If it does then it's avery well kept secret !

Jim

@newone said:

hmm... i see... But, for native tools, where does SketchUp stores VCB input? Doesn't have a global variable of its own?

It is not likely the built in tools are using global variables. If they were, they would be visible using the " global_variables " method.

The issue is that the tool has control over the measurements box. You know from using sketchup that a tool can be suspended and resumed. Take the orbit tool as an example. It suspends the current tool and then returns control on exit.

It is possible to write a tool to the accept and evaluate expressions, and place the value in the measurements box. But the tool which was suspended and then resumed would need to be programmed to look for the change in value.

I don't think it is possible to modify the built in tools in order to look for the change. A replacement set of tools would need to be written.

Gruff

It would be possible to create an external Windows Calculator program that pumped a value directly into the VCB as though it was typed from the keyboard. I would hesitate to do such a thing though because such programs work with zero feedback. They can also be broken by a new release of SU.

Much better to do it internally if at all possible.

If however there is an interest in such a program I might be persuaded to knock one out.

Gruff

Turns out I don't need much persuading.

Attached is an Windows equation editor I slapped together.
It pumps the value into Sketchup via keyboard strokes.
Unzip and run the 'Setup.exe'. Create a shortcut to your Desktop.

It is setup to be a 'Top Most' window so it should float over SU.
It can handle a number of math functions and has a history dropdown. Values from history will be pasted into the equation when selected.

To use make sure your Measurement tool bar is ready to accept a value.
Press <ENTER> Once to resolve the equation. Press <ENTER> again to send the value to SU.

If you have problems running the calculator check the following.

Make sure the tools|options|Target Application is set for '- SketchUp'
Set the number of decimal places to 3. (Not sure why that affects things.) (Also under the tools menu.)

Let me know how it goes.

Windows Calculator for SU

Chris Fullmer

Excellent Gruff

What language is it that you code in?

Chris

xrok1

thats just awsome, thankyou! now you could pretty it up a bit

xrok1

oops! draw a line type 22*2 (or any equation) enter enter runtime error 5 invalid....

Gruff

Chris:
This one was coded in VB6. I find it best for quick development.
If you want to look at the Source code I could post it for you.

Rather than write my own equation parser I made use of the MS Scripting Control to evaluate text expressions. While this supports a wide range of functionality it also opens the door to user input errors. It is extensible. In fact for this implementation I swapped out the Trig functions so that they work with Decimal Degrees instead of Radians. i.e. SIN(30) = 0.50

This means conversion functions as the original poster asked about could be added fairly easily.
I suppose I could write it such that it imports a text file that contains user defined conversion procedures. (Of course they would have to be written in VBScript.)

This brings up a possiblity that this might be written as a Web form.
As I see it the only missing elements for you would be the VB Sendkeys() command and some way of setting the focus to SU while Sendkeys does the job. Hey! I believe there is a Win32API equivalent.
I'll root around for it.

xrok1:
The App was compiled under WinXP. I suspect you are using some other OS.
This might also account for how it looks on your system.

Run-Time Error 5 (Invalid Procedure Call or Argument) can be attributed to an out of range floating point error or more likely an incompatible OS.

Just downloaded the zip from the forum and installed it on my other WinXP box.
Runs fine here.

As far as how it looks. Could you post a screen shot? I was concerned about size so I made it as compact as possible.

Gruff

Hmmm there is a User32.dll sendkeys function but why not use ruby entirely.

I tried this code but it fails on the: require 'win32ole'
I downloaded and installed full ruby but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Perhaps you can get this to work?


require 'Sketchup'
require 'win32ole'
#---

def drive_vcb  
  wsh = WIN32OLE.new('Wscript.Shell')

  # Do not know if we need to put the focus on SU since we are in SU.
  if wsh.AppActivate('- SketchUp')
    sleep(1)

    # Push Test keystrokes into SU
    wsh.SendKeys('100.00{ENTER}')

  end
end
if( not file_loaded?("test_me.rb") )
    add_separator_to_menu("Draw")    
    UI.menu("Draw").add_item($exStrings.GetString("test_me")) { drive_vcb }
end
#---

file_loaded("test_me.rb")

a4chitect

perhaps this thread might help
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=21281

put the attached file into plugins folder, no more load errors

win32ole.zip

this script sends "20" into sketchup - when vcb is active - this gets put in

Gruff

A4chitect:
Thanks! It works on my PC now as well.

Chris:
There you go. You can write a calculator with a Web page front end that uses code like that in 'test_me.rb' to drive the VCB. That would be a better solution as it would be native to SketchUp for Windows. Much much better than my Compiled app.

ktkoh

This looks like a great tool for me as I need a calculator quite often. The way it seems to work best for me is.

Put the formula in the calculator and press enter once.
Back in SU select the tool ie Move and the handle point then click on the TG Cal and return the mouse to show the move direction and then press Enter.

Thanks
Keith