Require 'sketchup'

[honoluludesktop]

When is require 'sketchup' required at the top of a plugin?

[thomthom]

Always include it. If your plugin should be the first one to load it would need it. But since you can't be certain of the load order, always include it.

[TIG]

It will load 'sketchup.rb' IF it's not already loaded.
This is pretty unlikely... BUT it's a safety net just in case you script is loading very early...
So always add it at the start of your code.

[honoluludesktop]

Thanks, but what is its function?

[Jim]

You can look at the sketchup.rb file - it is in the Tools folder.

[Dan Rathbun]

The true answer is that the require 'sketchup.rb' statement is only needed IF and only if your script will be calling any of the methods defined in the Tools/sketchup.rb file.

If your script does not call any of the methods defined in sketchup.rb, then your script does not need to have the require statement.

I disagree with the "always have the require 'sketchup.rb' statement in every ruby script" rule.

I think it makes more sense to have a master control script that begins with an exclamation point, named such as "!autoload.rb" in the Plugins folder, so as to make it the very first script to load.

Then in that master script you decide what gets loaded first (second, third, etc..) by listing require statements.

I also advise that the first extension loaded (and that it always be loaded,) is dynamiccomponents.rb (because there are miscellaneous extra API methods for various classes within the DC extension, that need to be loaded. In addition when the DC extension is not loaded, some of the AttributeDictionary methods no longer work.)

If you look at the Tools/dynamiccomponents.rb file, you'll see the first 3 lines of code are:
require 'sketchup.rb' require 'extensions.rb' require 'LangHandler.rb'

SO.. by having a master script load controller script in your plugins folder, that has as it's FIRST statement
require 'dynamiccomponents.rb'
as the first line, will always ensure that

1. the sketchup.rb methods and $loaded_files array1. the SketchupExtension class1. the LanguageHandler class1. and the various Dynamic Components classes are always loaded and loaded in that order.

[Jim]

@dan rathbun said:

I also advise that the first extension loaded (and that it always be loaded,) is dynamiccomponents.rb (because there are miscellaneous extra API methods for various classes within the DC extension, that need to be loaded. In addition when the DC extension is not loaded, some of the AttributeDictionary methods no longer work.)

dynamiccomponents.rb is always loaded, anyway - it's in the Tools folder. Requiring it first or again does nothing about these "miscellaneous extra API methods" and the "AttributeDictionary methods" (which are these, anyway?) because the file only registers DC's as a SketchupExtension. The DC loader, which defines the various DC classes, is not called if the user has DC's disabled, regardless if a script re-requires dynamiccomponents.rb.

Right?

Also, I question the practice of scripts sneakily loading DC's when I explicitly disabled them. Seems like it would cause greater confusion - especially if I'm working on the assumption that I have disabled DC's.

[thomthom]

@jim said:

Also, I question the practice of scripts sneakily loading DC's when I explicitly disabled them. Seems like it would cause greater confusion - especially if I'm working on the assumption that I have disabled DC's.

Ditto.

[honoluludesktop]

I looked up sketchup.rb. Is it correct to assume that none of that stuff is covered in the api, or required by the methods therein? If so, and if I do not call any of the sketchup.rb methods, should I still "require sketchup.rb" in my script?

Is is also correct to assume that other sketchup .rb's may require it, and that they would call it?

[TIG]

A require 'sketchup.rb' does no harm.
Using if when you don't need to might delay SUp's startup by a nanosecond...

[honoluludesktop]

OK, just curious.

[thomthom]

require is like load, with the difference that it only loads the file if it has not been loaded before. It ensures the file is loaded only once.

[honoluludesktop]

Does that mean that I can add require "drive\path\my_folder\my_method" to the top of my code, and call my_method without the "drive\path" from any of my plugins?

[TIG]

@honoluludesktop said:

Does that mean that I can add require "drive\path\my_folder\my_method" to the top of my code, and call my_method without the "drive\path" from any of my plugins?

Yes [but with 'forward-slashes'=/] BUT you could just load "drive/path/my_folder/my_method" if it's only needed once - or even load it from a separate 'loading ruby' in Plugins... The 'require' will 'load' it if it isn't already loaded, whereas a 'load' will re-load it even if it is already loaded...
You can even set Ruby to load all of the files in you folder at startup by changing the $LOAD_PATH array.
I use this code below to allow my students to load their own Plugins at uni where they don't have access rights to the C:../Plugins folder on the system. Adjust the 'path' to suit your folder needs...

### This file goes in MAIN ..Sketchup../Plugins/ folder - named 
### "ZZ_LoadPathUpdater.rb" so that it loads near [or at] the end.
### This code sets the 'path' to the User's "Sketchup_Plugins" folder on the H; drive.
path = "H;/Sketchup_Plugins"
###
### This next code extends the Ruby search paths to include 'path' 
### therefore any subsequent use of "load 'xxx.rb'" or "load 'xxx.txt'" 
### commands in the Ruby Console etc will also search/load from the 'path' 
### in addition to the more usual paths like ../Tools/ and ../Plugins/
$LOAD_PATH << path; $LOAD_PATH.uniq!
###
### If the User has a folder that matches this 'path' then 
### any Ruby scripts in 'path' will auto-loaded into Sketchup...
Dir.entries(path).each{|file| load(File.join(path, file)) if File.extname(file)==".rb" or File.extname(file)==".rbs"} if File.exist?(path) 
###

[Dan Rathbun]

@honoluludesktop said:

Does that mean that I can add require "drive\path\my_folder\my_method" to the top of my code, and call my_method without the "drive\path" from any of my plugins?

Just to clarify.. load and require both open and read FILES not methods.

Your file could have the same name as the method within it, or the file could contain a module with many methods.

[Dan Rathbun]

@honoluludesktop said:

I looked up sketchup.rb. Is it correct to assume that none of that stuff is covered in the api, or required by the methods therein? If so, and if I do not call any of the sketchup.rb methods, should I still "require sketchup.rb" in my script?

@tig said:

A require 'sketchup.rb' does no harm.
Using if when you don't need to might delay SUp's startup by a nanosecond...

What TIG says is true.. BUT

There is no point, if your script does not "require" the services of a script to put a require 'suchandsuch.rb' statement at the top of your code.

There are ruby utilities the use the require statements to "map" out dependencies for scripts. If you insert bogus require statements, your really lying to Ruby and any person that reads your code. Your declaring a false dependency.

So in the end, YOU decide whether you wish to be a precise programmer or a sloppy one ... (but sloppy is OK for a quick and dirty test, or a script that isn't used that often, or one for your own use.)

@honoluludesktop said:

Is is also correct to assume that other sketchup .rb's may require it, and that they would call it?

TRUE

[thomthom]

@dan rathbun said:

@honoluludesktop said:

Is is also correct to assume that other sketchup .rb's may require it, and that they would call it?

TRUE

But one can't rely on other scripts to do so. Your plugin can be the only one to be loaded - or even the first.

[honoluludesktop]

Thanks All, for the help.

[Dan Rathbun]

@Jim and ThomThom: I am speaking of general use of Sketchup, not Coders doing Debugging or Testing of plugins, etc.

@jim said:

@dan rathbun said:

I also advise that the first extension loaded (and that it always be loaded,) is dynamiccomponents.rb (because there are miscellaneous extra API methods for various classes within the DC extension, that need to be loaded. In addition when the DC extension is not loaded, some of the AttributeDictionary methods no longer work.)

dynamiccomponents.rb is always loaded, anyway - it's in the Tools folder. Requiring it first or again does nothing about these "miscellaneous extra API methods" and the "AttributeDictionary methods" (which are these, anyway?) because the file only registers DC's as a SketchupExtension. The DC loader, which defines the various DC classes, is not called if the user has DC's disabled, regardless if a script re-requires dynamiccomponents.rb.

Right?

TRUE Which is why I suggested in parens "that they be always loaded".
(I could edit & clarify the first post.)

@jim said:

Also, I question the practice of scripts sneakily loading DC's when I explicitly disabled them. Seems like it would cause greater confusion - especially if I'm working on the assumption that I have disabled DC's.

Perhaps the issue of DCs clouds the idea?

I never said anything about creating "scripts sneakily loading DCs".

I said (and I clarify,) that YOU (an experienced Ruby coder,) can create a master load order rb file, for YOUR OWN use, in which YOU control what scripts load and in what order they load, on YOUR OWN computer.

This would be in the normal use of Sketchup for modeling, not when testing or debugging plugins.

But forget about DCs for a moment, .. pretend I never said anything about DCs. Instead imagine the !autoload.rb file as having it's first line be:
require 'sketchup'

... the idea is the same.

[Dan Rathbun]

@jim said:

Requiring it first or again does nothing about these "miscellaneous extra API methods" and the "AttributeDictionary methods" (which are these, anyway?) ....

See this API topic post for info on AttributeDictionary class methods that need the DC extension.

Extended API Methods defined by the DC Extension

` ::Geom::Transformation.rotx()
::Geom::Transformation.roty()
::Geom::Transformation.rotz()
::Geom::Transformation.xscale()
::Geom::Transformation.yscale()
::Geom::Transformation.zscale()

::Sketchup::ComponentInstance.copy()
::Sketchup::ComponentInstance.description()

::Sketchup::Drawingelement.last_scaling_factors()
::Sketchup::Drawingelement.local_transformation()
::Sketchup::Drawingelement.scaled_size()
::Sketchup::Drawingelement.set_last_size( lenx,leny,lenz )
::Sketchup::Drawingelement.unscaled_size()

::Sketchup::Model.delete_attribute( dictionary_name, key )
::Sketchup::Model.entityID()
::Sketchup::Model.layer()
::Sketchup::Model.typename()

::UI::WebDialog.last_height()
::UI::WebDialog.last_height=()
::UI::WebDialog.last_width()
::UI::WebDialog.last_width=()`

.