[Plugin] Boolean helper update 08122011

[liquid98]

Hello friends,

I made some improvements to the boolean-helper plugin:

• it scales everything in the model
• it gives feedback on the total scale-factor
• it auto zooms to the model-extents.

But I need some help:

When the model is scaled up, feedback is generated in the form of a sketchup::text
entity. My problem: when the the model is deleted (not select all), the text entity remains on the screen ( entities[0]) while there is no model.

So I have to monitor that.

How do I do that??

I came up with this solution:

<span class="syntaxdefault">if  entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">].</span><span class="syntaxdefault">class </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">==</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Text </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">&&</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">1</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">]</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">==</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> nil<br />         </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">@@</span><span class="syntaxdefault">xnote </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">         </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">@@</span><span class="syntaxdefault">notetext </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxstring">"   "<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">         </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">@@</span><span class="syntaxdefault">xnote </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> model</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">add_note </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">@@</span><span class="syntaxdefault">notetext</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 0.01</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 0.99</span>

But if I put this code in booleanhelper.rb it only runs when the user invokes it.
While it has to run all the time.

I've also read something about Sketchup::EntityObserver. Is that relevant in this case???

Thnx for your help

[mitcorb]

Well, for those who work in Imperial units==inches, it would be cool if you could set the scale factor to overcome the small faces problem but type in the VCB the same numbers as you would if you had not scaled it. Basically, to do away with a bunch of mental math for every value. When finished, reset the scale factor to 1. There's a flaw here somewhere??

[liquid98]

@mitcorb said:

Well, for those who work in Imperial units==inches, it would be cool if you could set the scale factor to overcome the small faces problem but type in the VCB the same numbers as you would if you had not scaled it.

Hi mitcorb,

That's a nice idea, but I have no clue to achieve it..

Indeed, the script I'm working on scales up as much as you want and than scales everything down to scalefactor 1.
In scaled up state there's a screen-note reference to the actual scale-factor.

[TIG]

Liquid98

About the screen-text...
Do you mean that it disappears if there is suddenly no other model geometry ?
As soon as any new geometry is added it should reappear ??
I don't see the problem ? On the rare occasions when the user has deleted the entire model [and why would they do that?] the scaling becomes irrelevant anyway, so they can just delete it ?

To spot if the only thing left is your screen-text and then erase with an observer to watch for this use

class OnlyScreenTextLeftEntitiesObserver < Sketchup;;EntitiesObserver
  def onEraseEntities(entities)
    return if entities[1]
    entities[0].erase! if entities[0].class==Sketchup;;Text and entities[0].text==$xfeedback.to_s ###??
  end
end
# Attach the observer - do this once at startup
Sketchup.active_model.entities.add_observer(OnlyScreenTextLeftEntitiesObserver.new)

[liquid98]

Hi TIG,

@tig said:

I don't see the problem ? On the rare occasions when the user has deleted the entire model [and why would they do that?] the scaling becomes irrelevant anyway, so they can just delete it ?

I admit, that situation won't occur very often. But I only want to tackle it to learn new stuff...

When I put your code in a .rb file, like this:

<span class="syntaxdefault">    require </span><span class="syntaxstring">'sketchup.rb'<br /><br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    class OnlyScreenTextLeftEntitiesObserver </span><span class="syntaxkeyword"><</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">EntitiesObserver<br />      def onEraseEntities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    UI</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">messagebox </span><span class="syntaxstring">"OK"<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">     end<br />    end<br />  <br />   <br />    Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">active_model</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">add_observer</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">OnlyScreenTextLeftEntitiesObserver</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.new)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span>

and then start sketchup, create some entities and delete them,

Nothing happens... Why??

[TIG]

Well if it did work every time you erased something you'd get the messagebox...
The EntitesObserver is known to be buggy... if we did get it to work and erased an entity within it it'd probably crash anyway - so my snippet probably wasn't the best idea
How about using a selectionObserver...onBulkChange() - you select the things and then erase them and the selection changes... and then looking at model.entities if no [1] and [0] meets test erase it ...
http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/ourdoc/selectionobserver.html

[liquid98]

I updated the booleanhelper plugin! Please see the first post of this topic.

[driven]

hi,

I believe I just exposed a bug, doing another testhttp://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=38858&p=354541#p354541

when I have 'auto paint tool' Mac preference set, your twee tekst and LEEEEEG message boxes pop up every time I select or delete something even though I wasn't using your tool.

appears to be "Sketchup::SelectionObserver" related.

I'd rather use this then that, but I'd like the option of both...

cheers

john

[liquid98]

Hi John,

Just download and install latest version -see first post of this topic.

Good luck!

[driven]

cheers,
I'll let you know if I have any issues,,,

john

[CT4]

Thank you Thank you Thank you. I model small parts for RC aircraft and run into so many problems when I try and lathe them or intersect them. This fixes all of the problems.

[liquid98]

It's always nice to hear that my script helped you out! Apparently it works also on a Mac; never tested it

[cotty]

Thank you for this helpful plugin!

[sboup]

@liquid98 said:

This is my modest contribution to the community:

Booleanhelper

The Boooleanhelper plug-in lets you quickly scale up and down your model.
This is especially useful for those people who use Sketchup for 3d printing.
Performing boolean operations or lathe operations on small models (mm size) is problematic in Sketchup, because Sketchup doesn't handle small faces very well.
By scaling up the model these problems disappear. After all operations are done
you can scale down your model to its original dimensions.
Also useful to close small holes in your model.

Your opinions and suggestions are welcome!

Features:

• Visual feedback on scale-factor.
• Scale down at once.
• It is possible to save your work, and scale down later. (feedback not yet provided)
• Auto zoom extents.

Installation:
Open the zipfile and copy booleanhelper.rb and the folder called Booleanhelper into the SU plugins directory.

Have fun!!

If you have problems with unsolicited messageboxes, please download the latest version below:

Wonderfull. Thanks

[Aggertroll]

I love this script - does exactly what it is supposed to (on my Mac) and lets me design small parts for 3D print in a larger scale. Very helpful - thanks!

I have one small comment/request: I am using Fredo6's "!Additional.Pluginfolders" plugin to sync my plugins via dropbox across my different machines - great help by the way. I noticed that the icon in the toolbar will not show for the Boolean helper if that plugin resides in my plugin folder on dropbox; it must be looking for the icon in the standard plugin folder. Is there a way to fix that? As in "Get the image from the folder Booleanhelper in the same folder that this script is in" - if that makes sense?

There are of course simple ways to fix this - install Booleanhelper on all machines - but the fix would remove a glitch when using a custom plugin folder. Thank you for your efforts!

[driven]

@aggertroll said:

There are of course simple ways to fix this...

change line 296 in a plain text editor, and re-save...

        plugins = Sketchup.find_support_file("Plugins")

to

      plugins = File.dirname(__FILE__)

john

[Aggertroll]

John: Thanks a bunch. Works!

[Boff]

Hi, I don't know if this plugin is still being worked on but I'm unable to scale down a model after saving it.

The message I get is "Scale up your model first, and then use the 'Scale down at once' button"

Using SU2016 if that makes a difference.