Read Serial port or USB interface

[rodstar]

Hello there,
How can I communicate Sketchup to read serial port, HID USB device, a Joystick, game controller or any HID input device. I want data to move objects or do whatever I program. Maybe libraries or plugins let me read input port (serial/USB)? ANy sugested documentation to study? thanx.
RodSTAR

[morisdov]

on windows at least two ways to do this:

1. use the ruby "Win32api.so" library to read data from a dll exposing public methods of these input devices. You can build this dll quite quickly with visual studio for example.
2. "communicate" your input devices to an internet explorer page and then use Sketchup 6 new web-dialog functionality.
   http://sketchupapi.blogspot.com/2008/02/sharing-data-between-sketchup-ruby-and.html

Moris

[alapalap]

Hello morisdov,

@unknownuser said:

2. "communicate" your input devices to an internet explorer page and then use Sketchup 6 new web-dialog functionality

I have been tried your sugestion, but it's not clearly enough. I had created serial port appplication in VB6. I want to send string data "motor_on", then the motor starts running in sketchyphysics. Could you explain step by step please ?

Regards
alapalap

[alapalap]

Could somebody help me please ?

[jblively]

@alapalap said:

Could somebody help me please ?

Could you just use Ruby to write to a text file, and the have the VB app, poll and read the value from the text file and then do the communication to the port?

Kind of a non-direct route...but should get you going.

Joe

[alapalap]

To Joe : I am still confuse what you are saying. I am still beginner on it. May I know the detail ? or may be, where I can find the article of it in web ?

[MartinRinehart]

Highly likely that you can kludge something together and highly unlikely that the result will survive the next release of Windows or SketchUp. Can you solve the problem with a WebDialog? (The user clicks a "motor on" checkbox and you send "motor on" to sketchyphysics.)

[Dan Rathbun]

@alapalap said:

I [have] created [a] serial port application in VB6. I want to send string data "motor_on", then the motor starts running in sketchyphysics. Could you explain step by step please ?

(1) get TBD's SketchUp Bridge ( sub.exe ) utility and install as he explains.

• Download SUBridge v1.1 from http://labs.plugins.ro
  (2) write small ruby snippets, in a subfolder of Plugins, ie:

• .../Plugins/alap/motor_on.rb* .../Plugins/alap/motor_off.rb
  (3) from your VB6 application, call the Ruby snippets, using Shell( )

• [url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xe736fyk(VS.71).aspx:1u4emsd7]VB Shell function (click to read reference at MSDN.)[/url:1u4emsd7]* motor_on (VisualBasic)

Sub motor_on()
  Dim pID As Integer
  pID = Shell("""C;\Program Files\Google\Sketchup 7\Plugins\sub.exe"" alap\motor_on.rb", AppWinStyle.MinimizedNoFocus)
End Sub

• motor_off (VisualBasic)

Sub motor_off()
  Dim pID As Integer
  pID = Shell("""C;\Program Files\Google\Sketchup 7\Plugins\sub.exe"" alap\motor_off.rb", AppWinStyle.MinimizedNoFocus)
End Sub

• ...etc,.. etc. [There are only 2 lines in the code blocks above; the forum may wrap the long Shell line in a strange way, but it's all 1 line.]

P.S.: You may also want to have a look at TBD's SUDLL

• example (MS VC++6) on how to create a DLL and communicate with Sketchup Ruby
• [url=http://plugins.ro/labs/SUDLL.zip:1u4emsd7]Download SUDLL.zip[/url:1u4emsd7] from http://labs.plugins.ro

[Dan Rathbun]

I think I made an error.. and meant to have the 2nd argument in the Shell calls be a Ruby statement, like: "load 'alap\motor_on.rb'" instead of just the rubyscriptname.

@TBD ??

[tbd]

it was ok, the command line needs the .rb file that needs to be executed in the Sketchup context.

[Sofia Oliveira]

Hi! I am a student of electrotechnical engineering and i'm doing a project. I need a little help! How i get values from serial port to sketchyphysics?