[Tutorial] SketchUp Ruby C Extension

thomthom · 19 Jul 2012, 08:53

I talked to my colleague and we're gonna try to hack on it this Saturday at our weekly hackathon. Will update if we get around to it.

thomthom · 19 Jul 2012, 08:54

@dan rathbun said:

Stay away from Cygwin.

If you cannot use MSVS.. at least use MingGW.

Why is this?

Dan Rathbun · 20 Jul 2012, 09:14

@ishboo said:

Thanks for the links Dan

@dan rathbun said:

As as I mentioned before.. there are already Ruby bindings.

Curb looks like the most recent, it was last updated June 29, 2012:
http://rubygems.org/gems/curb

I would assume this would mean the end user would need to install the gem for it to work?

Well, no... gems do not work with Sketchup embedded Ruby.

Actually want is probably needed is to look at the handfull of gems and write a Sketchup friendly "clone".

Dan Rathbun · 20 Jul 2012, 09:16

@thomthom said:

@dan rathbun said:

Stay away from Cygwin.

If you cannot use MSVS.. at least use MingGW.

Why is this?

My advice. (From what I have read.)

If you want expert advice, ask Luis Lavena over at the Ruby Installer project forum.

Dan Rathbun · 20 Jul 2012, 21:48

On this subject:

Redirecting to Google Groups

(groups.google.com)

designingcrime · 1 Aug 2012, 03:22

Hey guys, so I finally got a Ruby C extension to compile on both os x and windows and link curllib. I got a lot of help from Luis at the RubyInstaller group and ended up using RubyInstaller and DevKit to link curl and build using the gcc compiler included with devkit.
Here is the extension. Its a modified version of Dana's sketchup downloader, but also included uploading, basic http authentication and ssl certificate checking(all through curl). I provided instructions on how to build on both os x and windows.

https://github.com/sunglass/SunglassPlugins/tree/master/SG-SketchupHook/src/Connection%20Manager

Thanks for all your help guys.

Dana - Lets get your Sketchup downloader plugin working.

thomthom · 1 Aug 2012, 07:17

@designingcrime said:

Hey guys, so I finally got a Ruby C extension to compile on both os x and windows and link curllib. I got a lot of help from Luis at the RubyInstaller group and ended up using RubyInstaller and DevKit to link curl and build using the gcc compiler included with devkit.
Here is the extension. Its a modified version of Dana's sketchup downloader, but also included uploading, basic http authentication and ssl certificate checking(all through curl). I provided instructions on how to build on both os x and windows.

https://github.com/sunglass/SunglassPlugins/tree/master/SG-SketchupHook/src/Connection%20Manager

Thanks for all your help guys.

Dana - Lets get your Sketchup downloader plugin working.

 :heart_eyes:

ishboo · 5 Aug 2012, 21:58

That's awesome news! Congrats!

I'll have a look at it soon and try to finish up the tool

Anton_S · 6 Aug 2012, 19:37

Lets, say I compile a HelloWorldEx on windows7, will it be the same as compiling it on XP?

Dan Rathbun · 6 Aug 2012, 20:08

I would think it would depend upon which MSVC runtime you use.

Which ever you use, the user(s) will need to have that version installed on their machine(s), regardless of whether they are running Win5.1 (XP,) Win6.0 (Vista) or Win6.1 (Win7.)

SketchUp itself lists MSVC ver 8.x (2005) as a dependent assembly in it's manifest.

There ARE some programmers that have compiled extensions and linked to ver 10 (2010), but they must give the Microsoft download link to install that runtime version, and list it as a dependancy.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_C++

Anton_S · 7 Aug 2012, 03:23

@dan rathbun said:

Which ever you use, the user(s) will need to have that version installed on their machine(s), regardless of whether they are running Win5.1 (XP,) Win6.0 (Vista) or Win6.1 (Win7.)

Hmm, I have win7 and windowns XP mode virtual pc, on the same comp.

Under Win6.1(win7), I recompiled win32/api.so to my own namespace with a name changed to win32/msp_api.so. ( MSPhysics::Win32::API)
It worked pretty well, until I've desided test it on WinXP mode virtual pc. WinXPmode had ruby-186-27, SU8, and some more raw programs, though it did not have MSVC.
Then, I started SU 8 and got this error:

Before I installed msvc 2010, I desided to test the native win32/api.so and seeing it working wasn't expected; Apperently the native win32/api.so worked pretty well, without showing any errors, and without msvc.

Being a little confused I desided to download msvc 2010 Redistributable Package (x86), to test whether my win32/msp_api.so would actually work on XPmode. After downloading, it worked now, but there was one question left: How did native win32/api.somanaged to work without msvc?

thomthom · 7 Aug 2012, 07:44

@dan rathbun said:

There ARE some programmers that have compiled extensions and linked to ver 10 (2010), but they must give the Microsoft download link to install that runtime version, and list it as a dependancy.

No - you don't have to link to the runtime.
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=41077&start=105#p411657

After a simple change in a compiler flag I could use the .so without the runtime installed.

Dan Rathbun · 7 Aug 2012, 21:32

@anton_s said:

How did native win32/api.somanaged to work without msvc?

Because the SketchUp Installer installs MSVC 8.x (2005) runtime if it is not installed. The MSVC runtime install, might seem transparent to the user installing SketchUp, if they do not pay close attention.

Most XP machines will likely already have this older MSVC ".NET" runtime version installed if Automatic Windows Updates are turned ON.

Dan Rathbun · 31 Aug 2012, 05:56

(Ruby-Talk GoogleGroup) Common Traps for C extensions

tomasz · 14 Sept 2012, 09:25

I am trying to build the Basic sample under Xcode 4.4, but I am probably doing something wrong, because the resulting bundle fails to load into SU. I get "#<LoadError: myplugin.bundle Failed to load myplugin.bundle". I do not even get the "Failed to find init.. " error.

When compiling with extconf.rb and make the plugin loads just fine.

What project type should I start with to get the extension running? I have already tied /Framework/Bundle, Generic C++ Plug-in. How can I force the -flat_namespace in Xcode?

thomthom · 14 Sept 2012, 09:30

I've never used XCode. :s
But if you find out, could you post back here? It'd be nice to include alternative setups.

Dan Rathbun · 14 Sept 2012, 16:38

I am sure that I remember an old thread where someone explained how to do a OSX extension. I think they said you had to link it to the framworkized Ruby that is under the SketchUp app directory (not the system Ruby that Apple installs.) .. If I recall correctly, that is.

thomthom · 14 Sept 2012, 17:12

I didn't have to relink anything. But I'm not familiar with his scenario of XCode 4.4.

Dan Rathbun · 14 Sept 2012, 17:18

I'll have to find the old topic.

Is v4.4 too new to work with such an old Ruby version as 1.8.5-p0 ??

thomthom · 14 Sept 2012, 17:25

Dunno - what OS are we talking about?

I've only done this on OSX 10.4 and 10.5. Maybe the Ruby that shipped there was compatible with SketchUp's Ruby - and this new version isn't and might actually require you to link to SketchUp's libs? I'm just taking a stab in the dark here.