Globally select all groups in model?

thomthom · 3 Jun 2013, 10:13

Try this quick mashup.

tt_g2c.rbz

thomthom · 3 Jun 2013, 10:13

@fullyfledgeded said:

Oh & its kinda imperative that the code can globally locate them all too, so i don't have to do that manually.

"Globally locate"?

TIG · 3 Jun 2013, 11:00

TT posted his ahead of me, perhaps it is better...

So to put this another way...
You want to find all groups in the active_entities collection that are duplicate copies.
Then to make the first one into a component-instance, and then to replace all of the other copies with instances of that new component...
Try this one-liner in the Ruby Console...

m=Sketchup.active_model;m.start_operation('g2c');m.active_entities.grep(Sketchup;;Group).each{|g|next unless g.valid?;s=g.entities.parent.instances; next unless s[1]; n=s[0].name;d=s[0].to_component.definition;d.name=n if n!='';s[1..-1].each{|e|i=e.to_component;b=i.definition;i.definition=d;b.entities.clear!;};};m.commit_operation;

It's one step undoable.
It processes duplicated groups in the active_entities.
It names the new component after the group, but if that's '', then it is called 'Group#123' etc...

fullyfledgeded · 3 Jun 2013, 17:09

TIG, your code works perfectly, provided groups that are duplicate copies to be found, are in the active selection set. I have attachedTIG code test.skp in case this doesn't make sense.

In the outliner, Please select the contents of "test 1: in active selection set" & run your code. Then repeat for "test 2: not in active selection set".

I need the script to find them all for me, as there are hundreds nested deep within the outliner, which i hope explains why I said "globally locate".

thomthom's code achieves this, but makes each duplicate group copy a unique component , so a synergy of your 2 codes would be perfect, but this is probably asking a lot.

thomthom, i installed your mashup with your quick install plugin, but i cant find it? I've searched "g2c" in the launchup plugin too.

Cheers

thomthom · 3 Jun 2013, 17:39

Under the Plugins menu. "Convert Groups to Components"

fullyfledgeded · 3 Jun 2013, 18:14

cheers thomthom, i confused it with http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29462

worked perfectly, my only concern is that I undid it, to check the stats via model info & it bugsplatted. So I have saved a new copy to be safe.

I put enough in your cookie jar for two beers in the uk, so you can atleast afford one in Norway.. damm expensive

thomthom · 3 Jun 2013, 19:19

BugSplat? o_O Can you reproduce it? Got a test model?

fullyfledgeded · 3 Jun 2013, 19:40

http://sketchucation.com/forums/download/file.php?id=106847

run your sript > edit - undo = splat

thomthom · 3 Jun 2013, 20:18

Huh! I see the crash too. This is not good.

fullyfledgeded · 3 Jun 2013, 20:48

any thing to worry about with regards to how it will affect my model?

thomthom · 3 Jun 2013, 21:27

Any crash is potential for data loss if you haven't saved...

hm... when I use Selection Toys' Group Copies to Component on a single set it can be undone with no bugsplat. I wonder why this is different...

fullyfledgeded · 4 Jun 2013, 20:25

I see. Another problem is that, it does not seem to be reducing my file size much at all. If you run your script on the same file http://sketchucation.com/forums/download/file.php?id=106847 you will see size stays the same.

thomthom · 5 Jun 2013, 07:34

Well, yes - because you're not reducing the number of component definitions. Groups in SketchUp are like ComponentInstances - they have ComponentDefinitions. When you see a Group that has copies in Entity Info it means they all share the same definition.

The only difference is that SketchUp makes groups unique when you modify them.

fullyfledgeded · 6 Jun 2013, 10:31

yes that makes logical sense. Someone once told me that comps' only take up the size of the definition & all instances don't add to count towards memory, where as group instances do.

cheers

thomthom · 6 Jun 2013, 10:46

Well, that is true under the assumption that all group instances are unique. But SketchUp makes some internal optimizations and make copies share the same definition until you edit one of them. Or to be more specific, you don't even need to make changes, just open the group and close it. Then you'll have a new definition - which takes up more space.

fullyfledgeded · 6 Jun 2013, 14:33

Ah yes that's what i thought it should do, but I told myself otherwise by mishearing something. I Learn't from youtube, I guess once you grasp ruby, you'd have a more in-depth insight into SU.

thomthom · 6 Jun 2013, 14:42

It does give some more insight to some of the technical aspects of SketchUp - why things behave the way they do.