2d tools
-
I have followed Jim's SketchUp [Plugins] Blog: How To Download and Install 2d Tools and all appeared to go well. However now I cannot find the new toolbar. Can you suggest any thing to help me locate it.
I have the latest version of Sketchup8 and Windows 7
Thank You
Jim -
It should be under View > Toolbars > '2D Tools'.
Once activated it appears.
To check that you have indeed installed the toolset properly there should also be a submenu item called '2D Tools...' in the 'Draw' menu, containing the various 2dTools...
Unlike some other tools... this set is NOT an Extension, so it does not need activating from the Preferences dialog.If none or neither of these is available you have mis-installed something.
This might not be you fault, sometimes the files/subfolders can appear to be properly installed... BUT if you do not have FULL security access permissions to the Plugins folder then 'Windows' can actually put them into a parallel 'VirtualStore', then they don't work as expected; having a 'Compatibility Files...' button/link in one of the top bars of your Explorer Window is a clue.
Being an Admin is NOT sufficient.
Set the Plugins folder security settings to FULL for yourself [all?] by selecting its icon and using the context-many Properties > Security > Edit... Also do this to the Components, Materials and Styles folders as you will also need to write to those from time to time...I also recommend that you seek out thomthom's 'Simple Plugins Installer' tool [see the Plugins Index linked from the menu above...] - using this tool removes much of the worry from installing archived toolsets or even a single file, AND the newer version even checks for this potential VirtualStore issue and warns you...
-
TIG Thanks for the reply.
I found the simple installer package you suggested. It was easy to follow each step as he shows. Unfortunately I cannot get past the step he shows as "Access" Now if I click on "Plugins" I find I now have an option for "Install" just as he shows with the options to select the type of file as he shows.This is as far as I can get. If I select "2Dtools to open as a zip all I get is a few simple files obviously related to the desired file(no main files). But I am unable to open them anyway. Can you suggest how to proceed?
Thank You Jim -
I think you are over-thinking this; or worse, completely misunderstanding how Plugins actually 'work'.
Please open your Plugins folder in Windows Explorer; look for and remove any '2d' files or subfolders... I suspect that you might have mis-installed it initially and some spring-cleaning before we retry is advisable...
Next in Windows Explorer click on the Plugins folder icon and in the context-menu [right-click] open Properties > Permissions > Edit ensure that you [and any others] have FULL permissions [all ticked] - you might need to be an Admin to do this... While you are at it also fix the permissions for Sketchup's Components, Materials and Styles folders, because one day you will want to write to those too, and could have similar 'Compatibility Files...' issues - best to anticipate and get your setup trim and fit now.
As I understand it you have already successfully installed thomthom's Simple Plugin Installer.
Now when opening Sketchup you will have an item in the Sketchup 'Plugins' Menu, called 'Install' with a fly-out menu listing various archive/file types and a final link to open the Preferences > Extensions dialog.So when you have downloaded ANY tool it will have arrived on your PC into a selected folder - perhaps in a 'Downloads' folder - depending on each downloaded tool's setup it could be a simple .RB file, or more likely a .ZIP format [as with 2D Tools]: this archive contains various files and subfolders of helper files [note that the recently introduced .RBZ format is actually just a .ZIP archive with a renamed suffix - which can be auto-installed using the button in the Preferences > Extensions dialog...].
Before the changes to v8 and consequently the arrival of thomthom's SimpleInstaller-tool you would have had to manually extract all of these files/subfolders-of-files from the ZIP archive and then placed them into the Plugins folder [retaining the subfolder structure and their contents intact], before restarting Sketchup to auto-load the tool[s] and make them available to use. The SimpleInstaller now does the steps to extract/move for you, all you need to do is select the type of file/archive from the fly-out - in the case of 2D Tools it's a 'ZIP' - a file-dialog appears, you navigate to the folder - e.g. Downloads - and click on the appropriate ZIP file.
Everything is installed automatically for you.
When Sketchup is restarted the new tool becomes available, just as its instructions explain - in the case of 2D Tools there will be a 'Draw' menu submenu '2D tools...' listing the various tools and a View > Toolbars item '2D Tools' which can be activated, this has buttons for the various 2D Tools too...
Note how other types of tools that you might install may differ in their usage - for example. they might need to be initially activated as an Extension [via Preferences] before their menus/toolbars/etc become available to you, or they might put items into different menus, or they may only appear in context-sensitive right-click menus; or in the case of very specialized tools they might only run by typing commands into the Ruby Console... but each tool's instructions will explain this clearly...Note that IF you still have limited security permissions to the Plugins folder thomthom's tool should warn/explain that as it tries to install...
When you say you get a few files... do you mean files in the Plugins folder ?
If the tool was installed via thomthom's tool without any error reports then a simple restart of Sketchup should make the tool's menu/toolbar item available for use/activation as explained above...
YOU should NEVER need to 'open' anything in the Plugins folder [like .RB files etc]: these are simply files of instructions to Sketchup, which Sketchup automatically loads and follows as it starts up...
You NEVER need to open/activate a .RB in the Plugins folder - Sketchup does that as it starts up - you might then need to act upon that loaded tool's menu/toolbar options WITHIN Sketchup, but that's quite different from messing with the contents of the Plugins folder !
You cannot 'open' a .RB file unless the file-type .RB has an associated application... IF you did choose to associate a plain-text editor [typically 'Notepad.exe', and NEVER use a wordprocessor as its formating will break the coding]... then you could 'open' a .RB file and 'read' its contents, which will be hundreds of lines of simple text 'instructions' - that's why they are sometimes called 'scripts': HOWEVER, at your stage there is absolutely no need to 'open' these files at all, and their gobbledygook might just be confusing... ALSO, never edit a .RB file like this, unless you really know what you are doing - the simplest change could break it, or change how it works, or even crash Sketchup ! So, I suggest you leave that side of Plugins until you gain more experience and understanding. -
Often when you unzip something there is a creation of a "second level" folder with a same name result!
So just open this folder and now copy past this "inside" in the Plugin folder of SU
-
TIG
Thanks a lot for your help and the clear write up. I have dual monitors so I just put your write up on one of the screens and worked step by step. I now have a Sketchup screen with the 2d icons on the screen. Whoopee. However, when I click on the Plugin icon it shows that I have just 3 plugins.
"Tube Along a Path" which I believe you suggested to me a while back.
"Install"
and
"Cost" (Somehow I must have got this accidentally while I was floundering about.) Might be useful tho.
BUT no 2D Tools is shown here. Should I worry about this. I REALLY want this plugin!Thanks again for your patience.
Jim -
Please reread the various exchanges... and the 2dTools own notes...
Not all tools that are loaded appear in the 'Plugins' menu.
In the case of 2D Tools there's a submenu of tools added to the 'Draw' menu...What you have in the 'Plugins' folder are just those scripts that you have which are coded to appear there.
Sometimes a tool appear under a menu, that the author considers more appropriate to its use...
Sometimes a specialized tool has no main menu item, but it works in a right-click context-menu, perhaps only appearing there [or being enabled] if the current selection meets certain criteria...
Advertisement