CutList Bridge 2.0 Now Available

Chiefwoodworker · 18 Aug 2012, 20:13

Hi Folks,

I don't think I ever posted this here, but I recently released CutList Bridge 2.0, a free cut list export tool for SketchUp. CutList Bridge exports to CutList Plus fx, Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice. This version has significant improvements for exporting to MS Excel and OpenOffice. You can now choose the columns you want to export and the order in which they will appear. You can also choose three new columns: Dec T, Dec W and Dec L. These columns hold the decimal equivalent of the Thick(ness), Width and Length columns so that you do not have to convert Imperial dimensions to decimal numbers in Excel or OpenOffice. This make it easy for the user to add equations in Excel and OpenOffice to calculate rough lumber board feet, sheet good area and dimensioned lumber linear feet.

You can view the User's Guide here http://www.srww.com/downloads/CutList%20Bridge/CutList%20Bridge%20User%27s%20Guide.pdf or go to my blog post to download the plugin http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=1918.

If you are an OpenOffice user read post http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=1944.

Lastly, the plugin zip file can be downloaded at http://www.srww.com/downloads/CutList%20Bridge/cutlist_bridge_revision_2.0.zip.

wilsonbuilt78 · 18 Sept 2012, 10:32

Hail Chief

This is friggin awesome. I have been using a sketchup through cutlist plugin to cutlist plus workflow for years. You have just radically upped the efficiency of that imperfect system. Well done!!!!!

Havent sunk my claws into this thing just yet but I can already see massive potentiol in terms of timesaving, accuracy, and enhanced sharing of info. One of my biggest problems with my old workflow was maintaining revisions across the network (i employ a druaghtsman and another designer) locking the pertinent information to a single source ie. the model means the mishaps I have had in the past where design revisions werent updated in the cut list plus file resulted in huge costly mistakes in procurement.

Can't thank you enough I will be feeding back as I begin to use the system.

Regards
Stephen

pilou · 18 Sept 2012, 11:29

Seems a wonderful plugin for manage all components!

dermotcoll · 18 Sept 2012, 12:56

Looks good. Cant wait to try it out on my next project.

ebelg2000 · 18 Sept 2012, 23:14

I was wondering if this plugin works with Sketchup on a Mac. When I try to utilize the plugin, the extended entity info window opens but is completely blank. At times I can select a different component and the dialog box will show information, however all of the information fields are blacked out. Any help would be appreciated

pbacot · 19 Sept 2012, 01:46

Glenn,

The black background in webdialogs has been happening in Macs from a Safari upgrade. See this thread:

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=45382&start=15&hilit=FIELDS+BLACK+ON+A+MAC

I fixed my problem by downgrading Safari to 5.1.1. Others say that the problem is gone for them using SU release M4 (current download) and Mountain Lion. M4 probably fixes this across the board, see release notes:

http://support.google.com/sketchup/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=release_notes.cs&rd=1

Peter

timinder · 19 Sept 2012, 10:15

No, it had fixed all previous issues but it seems to have made a reappearance for this plugin only!

Chiefwoodworker · 19 Sept 2012, 12:50

@wilsonbuilt78 said:

Hail Chief

Havent sunk my claws into this thing just yet but I can already see massive potentiol in terms of timesaving, accuracy, and enhanced sharing of info. One of my biggest problems with my old workflow was maintaining revisions across the network (i employ a druaghtsman and another designer) locking the pertinent information to a single source ie. the model means the mishaps I have had in the past where design revisions werent updated in the cut list plus file resulted in huge costly mistakes in procurement.

Hi Stephen,

Do you use CutList Plus fx in your business? If so, the next version of CutList Bridge will be an even bigger plus in terms of locking the information into the .skp file and SketchUp itself. Stay tuned. And thanks for the feedback.

Chiefwoodworker · 19 Sept 2012, 12:58

@chiefwoodworker said:

Hi Folks,

I don't think I ever posted this here, but I recently released CutList Bridge 2.0, a free cut list export tool for SketchUp.

Version 2.1 of CutList Bridge is now available. Go to http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=1918 to download it.

Chiefwoodworker · 19 Sept 2012, 13:37

@pbacot said:

Glenn,

The black background in webdialogs has been happening in Macs from a Safari upgrade. See this thread:

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=45382&start=15&hilit=FIELDS+BLACK+ON+A+MAC

Hi Guys,

I am working on a fix for this problem for the CutList Bridge plugin. I hope to have it out today some time. Thanks.

Chiefwoodworker · 20 Sept 2012, 15:57

@chiefwoodworker said:

Hi Guys,

I am working on a fix for this problem for the CutList Bridge plugin. I hope to have it out today some time. Thanks.

I have tried a number of fixes suggested in this thread and a few of my own and still I am getting the black background. I'll keep trying to find a fix, but I would appreciate it if someone with a MAC running Mountain Lion, the most recent release of Safari and SketchUp maintenance release M4 could try this CutList Bridge script and let me know what results you get. I don't have a MAC to test it on. So any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

driven · 20 Sept 2012, 17:05

hi Joe,
initially, the dialogs blank, but after a right-click, it looks fine on ML + SUv8M4, [but could do with .show_modal for mac's]

The generated css for the input type text is probably causing the issues on earlier combinations of OSX/SU [on the actual webdialog i.e. webkit not safari]

<span class="syntaxdefault">background</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">color</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> rgb</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">255</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 255</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 255</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">);<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">bottom</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">color</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> rgb</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">);<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">bottom</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">style</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> inset</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">bottom</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">width</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 2px</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">collapse</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> separate</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">left</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">color</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> rgb</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">);<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">left</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">style</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> inset</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">left</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">width</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 2px</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">right</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">color</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> rgb</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">);<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">right</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">style</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> inset</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">right</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">width</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 2px</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">top</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">color</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> rgb</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 238</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">);<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">top</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">style</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> inset</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">border</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">top</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">-</span><span class="syntaxdefault">width</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 2px</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span>

This is probably causing the problems....
2px borders seem to have been the issue in the past, and you could add the border patch code I put up, to override the default rendering.

john

ebelg2000 · 20 Sept 2012, 20:47

Hi Joe,
As suggested in earlier posts, I updated to OS X Mountain Lion as well as the latest maintenance update of SketchUp Pro 8 and it appears that allows the plugin to function, although as mentioned above the extended entity dialog box is initially blank and requires a right click to have the information show. I've used the plugin briefly and it seems to be working.

Thanks,
Glenn

Chiefwoodworker · 27 Sept 2012, 15:30

@ebelg2000 said:

Hi Joe,
As suggested in earlier posts, I updated to OS X Mountain Lion as well as the latest maintenance update of SketchUp Pro 8 and it appears that allows the plugin to function, although as mentioned above the extended entity dialog box is initially blank and requires a right click to have the information show. I've used the plugin briefly and it seems to be working.

Thanks,
Glenn

Hi Glen,
Thanks for the help. See my response to John's last post in this thread. Do you have an idea about the blank window? Debugging this tool without a MAC is not fun. I can use all the help I can get.

Chiefwoodworker · 27 Sept 2012, 15:35

@driven said:

hi Joe,
initially, the dialogs blank, but after a right-click, it looks fine on ML + SUv8M4, [but could do with .show_modal for mac's]

The generated css for the input type text is probably causing the issues on earlier combinations of OSX/SU [on the actual webdialog i.e. webkit not safari]

John, Unfortunately I just this moment saw your comment as well as Glenn's below. Yesterday I released a new version, CutList Bridge 2.2 (http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=1918) without a fix for this problem. I will implement it in the next release.

I am curious, why would MAC users benefit from a .show_model? I am not a MAC user and don't have one so I am ignorant on this point. But I thought .show_model always forced the dialog window to be on top of all other windows. Is that desirable?

Also, do you have a guess as to what I might be doing wrong that the window initially opens blank?

driven · 27 Sept 2012, 17:55

@chiefwoodworker said:

I am curious, why would MAC users benefit from a .show_model?

.show_modal works differently on a mac, it's none blocking, but keeps the window forward when it looses 'focus'.

With .show the window falls to the background when it looses focus. It's very annoying to have to constantly move windows to click it back into view,,,

there are many examples for a conditional .show/.show_modal

personaly I like the "wedtextures_loader.rb" version

@unknownuser said:

PC Load paths will have a ':' after the drive letter.

@is_mac = ($LOAD_PATH[0][1..1] != ":")

I've only been looking at the basic 'webDialog' issues, but now realise that 'refresh' doesn't seem to be working at all?

john

anubis2784 · 16 Oct 2012, 15:05

Thank you for the huge effort and all the sketchucators Big thanks

wilsonbuilt78 · 24 Oct 2012, 12:44

Hail Chief

Been a while since I downloaded and started using your plugin and I would like to make a few observation and suggestions if I may:

So brilliant being able to upload all of my materials from Cutlistplus- I have an enormous raw materials database.

Suggestion: would it be possible to upload the "other items"? I have a huge database of the fittings,fixtures,finishing supplies which I would dearly love to have use of in sketchup so that my model truly contains all of the information required. For instance I have a standard drawer assembly which i use over and over and having the drawer runners specified whenever I use it would be awesome.

I am finding the process of adding atributes through the extended entity info dialogue box a little bit tedious. My models generally have nested components as I find this the easiest way to design and edit kitchens for instance. This means that in order to make use of the cutlist bridge I have to burrow down into nested components to assign a material to a drawer rail for instance.

Suggestion:
It would be amazing if the plugin could assign the material by picking up its texture from sketchup especially with Fredo's Thrupaint which can paint individual faces within components. The process I envisage would be as follows: one creates a materials collection in sketchup from the cutlistplus database file (not sure how one would do this but its really about getting the names to correspond to cutlistplus's database). You then "paint" the components in your model with the selected material from the collection which would have a folder for each material type rough lumber,sheet good,edge banding, etc. Cutlist bridge then assigns the relative attribute in the extended info from the texture name on the faces of the component. This would mean one could paint edges with the desired edge banding-a feature i would pay money for. It would also mean that one could- at a glance -see if you had missed any components or if components were assigned the wrong material.

A further advantage to this workflow would be the ability to do instantaneous cost comparisons by substituting materials of certain components within the design. For instance painting internal components in a cheaper sheet material and seeing how much it would save on a project, without leaving sketchup.

Thank you for sharing your plugin it is already making an impact on my productivity

Kind Regards
Stephen

Chiefwoodworker · 5 May 2013, 12:16

@wilsonbuilt78 said:

Hail Chief

Been a while since I downloaded and started using your plugin and I would like to make a few observation and suggestions if I may:

Hi Stephen,

I am so sorry for getting back to you so late with this reply. Somehow I missed you post. But the good news is that a few of your suggestions are either implemented in version 2.5 or will be in version 3.0. See my post on my blog for the release of version 2.5 at http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=1918 .

Version 3.0 will address the Other Items issue and much, much more. If you are a CutList Plus fx user and are familiar with the Raw Materials tab then you will be plased to know that all of what you see under the Raw Materials tab will be included in CutList Bridge. That is, you can enter it in CutList Bridge and keep the data with the SketchUp design file. You can export it to CutList Plus fx and/or import it from CutList Plus fx. In other words, keep the two synchronized but keep the Raw Materials data with the SKetchUp design file. This will allow for the quick costing analysis that you suggested all in SketchUp.

My bottom line goal is to keep all Raw Materials data and model parameters (attributes) with the design file (.skp) so that the user need only save one file and not more than one. Others, like .cxp can always be recreated in a flash.

Also, While I want to tightly couple CutList Bridge to CutList Plus fx, I want to provide basic functionality for SketchUp users who can't afford CutList Plus fx but leave the professional functionality to CutList Plus fx, such as sheet optimization, layouts and dxf export for cnc.

I hope to have a beta release available in mid summer and am looking for beta testers if you are interested. Just let me know via email at jpz@srww.com. Thanks,