Upgrade disaster - Help please
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I'll take this opportunity to recommend setting up a Plugins folder which is outside the SketchUp installation folder. The main reason I do this is because I switch between SketchUp versions to test plugins, and so I do not need to maintain a separate Plugins folder foreach version. And when SU9 comes out, I will (hopefully) be able to install my single loader file and not mess with copy/pasting an entire folder of plugins over.
However, there are some important plugins that do not behave well when installed outside of SketchUp's default Plugins folder - Twilight, Subdivide and Smooth, and Artisan amongst them.
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@tig said:
Have you moved all of the Twilight files over... .rb loader, Twilight folder of many files AND the .lic file [which is machine specific] ?
I tried reinstalling from scratch but I think possibly it keeps finding a way to go back to my archival earlier version. It is like killing zombies who keep rising from the dead. -
@tig said:
Have you moved all of the Twilight files over... .rb loader, Twilight folder of many files AND the .lic file [which is machine specific] ?
I am just going to have to pull out pad and pencil and map out evry step and account for every file to figure out what is happening.
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@jim said:
I'll take this opportunity to recommend setting up a Plugins folder which is outside the SketchUp installation folder. The main reason I do this is because I switch between SketchUp versions to test plugins, and so I do not need to maintain a separate Plugins folder foreach version. And when SU9 comes out, I will (hopefully) be able to install my single loader file and not mess with copy/pasting an entire folder of plugins over.
However, there are some important plugins that do not behave well when installed outside of SketchUp's default Plugins folder - Twilight, Subdivide and Smooth, and Artisan amongst them.
Let me feed this back to you to see if I understand.
You ahve a separate Plugins folder in some nonspecific place (like a jump drive in the back pocket of your jeans) and you just remove the native PlugIn folder and copy your back pocket version into the place where the original plugins folder was located? Or do you have a path that is /plugins/plugins/xyz.rb ? Why would any plugin operate outside the Plugins folder? Are you saying if you installed twilight into /twilight_holding _tank , that you could not copy the files into /plugins and have twilight work?
I am sorry but I need this one explained by the numbers so I don't keep rining down the wrong path.
And thanks on the heads up on what does and does not work outside the default folder.
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Just a thought...
If you are on PC with Vista/Win7 and you don't have full access rights to the folders within the Sketchup folder - like Plugins - then 'Compatibility Files' can raise its ugly head!
It looks like you've added the files but to protect you from yourself Windowz has actually put them into a side folder - if there's a 'Compatibility Files' button on the top bar of the window then click it to see what's really happened
Occasionally this drives people mad as they think they've changed or added a file but it has no affect as it's not really there! -
@roger said:
Let me feed this back to you to see if I understand.
I have a Plugins folder in some non-specific place - C:\Plugins; although it could just as easily be a jump drive.
@unknownuser said:
and you just remove the native PlugIn folder and copy your back pocket version into the place where the original plugins folder was located?
Nope. I install a file in SketchUp's default Plugins folder that loads all the other plugins I have in C:\Plugins.
@unknownuser said:
Why would any plugin operate outside the Plugins folder?
Plugins not need nor should not care where they are installed. There is no technical reason that any plugin can not be installed to any (user accesible) folder on the computer. As long as SketchUp can load the plugin, it will work the same regardless of where it is loaded from.
@unknownuser said:
Are you saying if you installed twilight into /twilight_holding _tank , that you could not copy the files into /plugins and have twilight work?
I have not tried to copy Twilight. The last time I checked it did not behave well when I attempted to install it to C:\Plugins. So I just let it install to its default location.
Are you using Windows? The same idea will work for Mac - just create a plugins folder under your home directory.
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So Jim, you are saying your Plugin folder inside SU just holds redirects to a a plugin folder outside SU. Is it just a redirect to the external Plugin folder only or does it also list the complete path to every single ruby in the external folder?
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Roger, so here is a shot of SketchUp's plugins folder. It contains some personal debugging tools, and a few plugins, as well as SketchUp's default files. The loader file is outlined in Blue, and the editor shows the 2 lines which cause everything in C:\Plugins to be loaded.
My C:\Plugins folder looks like this:
Now I just need to copy the file z_load_plugins.rb to each version of SketchUp I use. And when V9 is available, I can do likewise - it's much easier to copy the single loader file than try to copy the entire folder. Also, if a plugin is updated I only need to install it once and it is available to all versions of SU I need.
By the way, the name of the folder is not important; it could be called "C:\Zombies". And if you use a portable drive, it might be "H:\Plugins". If using a portable drive, you can type in
require_all("H:\Plugins")in the Ruby Console window to load your portable plugins once SketchUp has started. This might be useful on a public, or school computer where yu may not have access to SketchUp's plugins folder.On a Mca, the Plugins folder could be created in /Users/Roger/Plugins, in which case the z_load_plugins.rb file would contain:
require_all("/Users/Roger/Plugins")You can set this up and move plugins from SketchUp's default Plugins folder a few at a time. I do know all of Fredo's, Thomas' and Fullmer's plugin work from my shared folder.
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Jim thanks, now I understand. I am enlightened. Much appreciated.
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@jim said:
You can set this up and move plugins from SketchUp's default Plugins folder a few at a time. I do know all of Fredo's, Thomas' and Fullmer's plugin work from my shared folder.
Nearly all - I think TIG found two or three of some of my older to not work like that. But they are rare exception. 99.8% should work like that.
I also have plugins outside SketchUp's plugin folder. -
ThomThom, I just looked at your list of plugins. Amazed at the amount of Ruby work that you have produced. Thanks on behalf of the SU community.
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OK, I am out of the woods and everything is working fine. Thanks to everyone for the moral support.
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Roger, I'm glad everything worked out. It's always a good idea to schedule regular backups. I've lost more files than I care to admit by neglecting to backup.
I try to contact the authors of any plugins that do not work well from outside SketchUp's default folder. The typical reply is that "I'll consider it, but it's not a common request." The installers of some plugins even allow installing to any arbitrary location even if that breaks their plugin.
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