[Plugin] SketchUcation Tools

TIG

I'm using SU8 pro (8.0.16846) with Win7x64.
Now I can't install any plugin by SUPS v2.0.0 with autoinstall.
I check that it couldn't extended the download file in %TMP%\SCF, Actually there's a "t999" file with 0 byte in the extended folder %TMP%\t.
At last I tried to use the old version "v1.2.0", that's works fine.
I've never install this plugin and any plugin before
I can only provide this information and I really love this work.
This is a bug or my problem?
Do you get any error messages or dialogs referring to this ?
If you have the Ruby Console open are there any messages ?

Do you have a non-ASCII character in your user...temp path ?
Like an 'accented' letter.
The folder is:
C:\Users\**USERNAME**\AppData\Local\Temp\SCF
This will break many Ruby based tools on PCs that will use that folder path [at least until SketchUp starts to use a newer version of Ruby... but we must wait for some future update for that to happen!]
To check the 'temp/SCF' folder exists it writes a temp-file (t999) and does a File.exist?(t999) check to see if the folder is writable, but that returns false even if it exists when there's as accent in the folder path!

Also please double check that you have FULL security permissions to the ../Local/Temp/SCF/ AND ../Local/SCF/ folders - it should be set automatically, but you never know...

So if the issue is that there's an accent in the path try a renamed user-account without it [or wait until SketchUp gets updated...] !?

TIG

@halroach said:

Is there a way to logout my account from the plugin store through sketchup? I logged in using my credentials on more than one computer and I'd like to logout and have that user use his own account...
Each User on a computer has their own 'Users' account.
Each User logging into the PluginStore through the dialog is asked to login once only [they just have to be a current SCF member and enter a valid password]; subsequent changes to the member's password on the main SCF site will not affect the PluginStore dialog's login, provided they are still an SCF member.
Their acceptable login data is stored in an encrypted cookie file.
On a PC this is is stored separately for each User:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\SCF\cookie.dat
Where USERNAME is your PC-user login name...
Note that is AppData folder might be hidden from you - but you can change your 'Folder Options' settings so that then you'll see it...
If that cookie exists and it is found to be valid, then the user is auto-logged-in to the PluginStore dialog every time they open it.

So, if another User has their own Users account they will also be prompted to login once, and your use of the PluginStore dialog will be treated quite separately from theirs - their cookie is stored separately from your cookie.
BUT if you must let someone else use your PC's User account [ why ?] and you want them to be able to login to the PluginStore dialog in their own right as another SCF-memeber, then you will need to 'disable' your own cookie.dat file... go to the 'SCF' folder given above and rename it YFcookie.dat so the dialog's initial check will no longer see it...
Now anyone [including you!] who opens the PluginStore dialog will be prompted to login [once], and if the data given is acceptable, then a new encrypted cookie.dat file is made.

To revert to your login... just rename the current cookie.dat as XXcookie.dat and rename your old YFcookie.dat as cookie.dat. When you restart the PluginStore dialog you will be logged in again.

halroach

I'll have to take a vacation to go through that explanation...

The reason I used my login on another computer was so I could check out which plugins and extensions I have installed on my original computer...
Basically I was hoping I'll be able to "sync" all my plugins on all computers I am logged on.

Bottom line:

There should be a login/logout feature for the plugins store.
Suggest an option to sync plugins in the cloud!? (Apple iCloud style) or at least something similar that will help me install the same plugins on a few computers. (I know of the dropbox option which is not very straightforward for the average user).

user2

@tig said:

@user2 said:

I'm using SU8 pro (8.0.16846) with Win7x64.
Now I can't install any plugin by SUPS v2.0.0 with autoinstall.
I check that it couldn't extended the download file in %TMP%\SCF, Actually there's a "t999" file with 0 byte in the extended folder %TMP%\t.
At last I tried to use the old version "v1.2.0", that's works fine.
I've never install this plugin and any plugin before
I can only provide this information and I really love this work.
This is a bug or my problem?
Do you get any error messages or dialogs referring to this ?
If you have the Ruby Console open are there any messages ?

Do you have a non-ASCII character in your user...temp path ?
Like an 'accented' letter.
The folder is:
C:\Users\**USERNAME**\AppData\Local\Temp\SCF
This will break many Ruby based tools on PCs that will use that folder path [at least until SketchUp starts to use a newer version of Ruby... but we must wait for some future update for that to happen!]
To check the 'temp/SCF' folder exists it writes a temp-file (t999) and does a File.exist?(t999) check to see if the folder is writable, but that returns false even if it exists when there's as accent in the folder path!

Also please double check that you have FULL security permissions to the ../Local/Temp/SCF/ AND ../Local/SCF/ folders - it should be set automatically, but you never know...

So if the issue is that there's an accent in the path try a renamed user-account without it [or wait until SketchUp gets updated...] !?

There's nothing message display in the Ruby console.
My username is CLOUD and there's never a non-ASCII character in my system driver path.
I loggin as the ADMINISTRATOR in my system. And I'm sure the UAC works fine.

NOW I use the old version 1.2.0 instead, It works fine, just without the uninstall option. Did v1.2.0 is the last version before 2.0.0? I will keep it.
I will take some pics and upload them.

TIG

@Hal

We have already been discussing the possibility of a way of users keeping their Plugins Sets synced across their PCs.
At the moment it is a 'Local' setup for each PC...

Why would you ever want to log-out of the PluginStore IF you use separate User accounts properly setup on your networked PCs then each User gets there own login.
BUT if you have been on someone else's PC [during their User-login session] and you have then used your own SCF login details in the PluginStore's dialog, then these details will be reused, until that user's applicable 'cookie.dat' file encrypting your info is deleted from that user's own ../Users/XXX/AppData/SCF/SCF/ folder. So all you have to do is find their 'cookie.dat' file in the ..Users/XXX/AppData/Local/SCF/ folder, as I outlined before, and delete or rename it...
BUT it is best to always login as yourself onto any PC, the other user opens a personal security breach - by letting someone else use their session, anything 'bad' done by the other person appears to done by them, when traced back...
This simple IT protocol ensures that the PluginStore login issue never arises because you always run SketchUp 'as yourself' not as some other user...

However, we will consider a 'logout' option for the dialog, but then we'll have an extra button on the dialog which we are trying to keep simple... Perhaps a "Log-out' of the Plugin Store" menu item in the drop-down menu list ?

PS: This string, copy+pasted+<enter> into the Ruby Console, will rename that user's cookie.dat file with a random-prefix, so the next use of the PluginStore dialog will ask for a login and make a new cookie.dat file. I stopped at deleting it as you can then reuse it by renaming without the random-prefix
File.rename(SCF::SCF_Dialog::SCFDIR+"/cookie.dat", SCF::SCF_Dialog::SCFDIR+"/#{rand}+cookie.dat")
To delete the file use:
File.delete(SCF::SCF_Dialog::SCFDIR+"/cookie.dat")

TIG

@user2

Being an Administrator does NOT necessarily allow you unrestricted read/write permissions to many folders.
That's why I asked you to recheck the Properties > Security settings for these folders...
The earlier version has a less careful check to see if the folder existed and was writable.
It would sometimes fail.
The new version is just more robust, actually writing a file to check it is as expected.
BUT both that earlier version and the newest version will fail on PCs with accented characters etc in User names...
The latest version should work - there are many thousands of users who have no issues with it, so we need to find what specifically you have setup that is breaking it - yours is the only report like this ?

user2

@tig said:

@user2

Being an Administrator does NOT necessarily allow you unrestricted read/write permissions to many folders.
That's why I asked you to recheck the Properties > Security settings for these folders...
The earlier version has a less careful check to see if the folder existed and was writable.
It would sometimes fail.
The new version is just more robust, actually writing a file to check it is as expected.
BUT both that earlier version and the newest version will fail on PCs with accented characters etc in User names...
The latest version should work - there are many thousands of users who have no issues with it, so we need to find what specifically you have setup that is breaking it - yours is the only report like this ?

THANKS, I find the problem.
I installed sketchup in the default path %PROGRAMFILES% which need Administrator privileges.
SKETCHUP NEED RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR.

But the inside installer runs better than "SketchUcation Archive Installer" without administrator privileges.
I will download plugins from "SketchUcationTool", and install it by inside installer.
THANKS A LOT, THAT"S FINE.

Rich O Brien

1.2 will probably stop working soon. So figuring out your issue is important.

halroach

@tig said:

@Hal

We have already been discussing the possibility of a way of users keeping their Plugins Sets synced across their PCs.
At the moment it is a 'Local' setup for each PC...

Why would you ever want to log-out of the PluginStore IF you use separate User accounts properly setup on your networked PCs then each User gets there own login.
BUT if you have been on someone else's PC [during their User-login session] and you have then used your own SCF login details in the PluginStore's dialog, then these details will be reused, until that user's applicable 'cookie.dat' file encrypting your info is deleted from that user's own ../Users/XXX/AppData/SCF/SCF/ folder. So all you have to do is find their 'cookie.dat' file in the ..Users/XXX/AppData/Local/SCF/ folder, as I outlined before, and delete or rename it...
BUT it is best to always login as yourself onto any PC, the other user opens a personal security breach - by letting someone else use their session, anything 'bad' done by the other person appears to done by them, when traced back...
This simple IT protocol ensures that the PluginStore login issue never arises because you always run SketchUp 'as yourself' not as some other user...

However, we will consider a 'logout' option for the dialog, but then we'll have an extra button on the dialog which we are trying to keep simple... Perhaps a "Log-out' of the Plugin Store" menu item in the drop-down menu list ?

PS: This string, copy+pasted+<enter> into the Ruby Console, will rename that user's cookie.dat file with a random-prefix, so the next use of the PluginStore dialog will ask for a login and make a new cookie.dat file. I stopped at deleting it as you can then reuse it by renaming without the random-prefix
File.rename(SCF::SCF_Dialog::SCFDIR+"/cookie.dat", SCF::SCF_Dialog::SCFDIR+"/#{rand}+cookie.dat")
To delete the file use:
File.delete(SCF::SCF_Dialog::SCFDIR+"/cookie.dat")

Hi Tig,
I agree with the premise that each user should login with their own credentials on their own computer. But yeah, there will always be the exception or someone like me, trying to see what happens .
So a little inconspicuous button in the menu would be a good idea.

In my case, it just so happens to be (unfortunately) that the concept of searching for plugins on forums, or searching for plugins period, may be difficult for some of my workers. So it's up to me to keep them up to date on the cutting edge of the sketchup world. That's why syncing plugins would be nice, but it would require (in my case) a syncing option between different users... And then another question arises, how do you sync/manage 'purchased plugins'/'plugins that were downloaded from elsewhere and not from the Sketchucation plugin store'... it can be quite a mess to code and design I imagine.

Thanks Tig.

TIG

Anyway... for now, the Ruby code snippet I gave earlier will 'remove' the current user's SCF cookie.dat file, by renaming it or by deleting it, whichever you choose...

craigcampbell66

Hi all, just wondering if it's me or a quirk of the plugin tools (SketchUcation Plugin store) whereby I open the tool, search and auto install but get nothing until I close and restart sketchup in order to find/use the plugins I have either updated or downloaded.

Also the check for updates tool (Fredo 6) doesn't seem to acknowledge the newly installed plugin versions. (Joint pp V3.0) and the Purge Obsolete files tool never shows any old files.

TIG

When you install a Plugin it will usually load its code and set itself up correctly.
Especially if it's a newly installed tool.
However, in some circumstances - like with updated plugins - most menu items, toolbars etc will have been frozen when SketchUp started up earlier, and then a restart is needed to refresh those...
Restarting SketchUp is also recommended when updating, to ensure that everything is reset properly as SketchUp auto-loads things: some updates can load quite different code and this might conflict with what has already been loaded by a previous version - you cannot 'unload' ruby scripts... a restart is needed.

halroach

I've noticed that with some plugins in the plugins store (loaded from within sketchup), when I click on 'more info' I get to a 'clean dedicated plugin explanation page'.
For example:
http://sketchucation.com/plugin/715-jointpushpull

Whereas with other plugins I am pointed directly to the forum thread (like it always used to be).

I can understand the desire to keep things clean and simple, without confusing the average user with tedious forum threads... but right now there is a complete disconnect between this 'clean description page' and the forum where one could once ask questions and add his own two cents.
It's like you're defeating the whole basis on which all the development of these plugins started on - communication and sharing.

There should be a link to the forum. Maybe an added 'see in forum' tab, along with the 'overview, quickstart, documentation, release notes' tabs...

This, along with the "premium members forum" are both eroding the basis on which the Sketchucation community stands on - "free and open knowledge".

cotty

@halroach said:

There should be a link to the forum.

It's called Feedback.

@halroach said:

This, along with the "premium members forum" are both eroding the basis on which the Sketchucation community stands on - "free and open knowledge".

Did you ever asked a question and didn't get an answer because of the premium membership?

halroach

@cotty said:

@halroach said:

There should be a link to the forum.

It's called Feedback.

You're right! simply speaking there should be a feedback button (or a link to the forum)

@halroach said:

This, along with the "premium members forum" are both eroding the basis on which the Sketchucation community stands on - "free and open knowledge".

Did you ever asked a question and didn't get an answer because of the premium membership?

I am glad to say I have always gotten an answer, and that the members of sketchucation are a wonderful group of people to correspond with.

But, there may be some interesting threads going on up there in the towers of "premium membership" that may be losing the feedback of the general public. I don't wish to sound too harsh - I am sure there are good reasons for a closed membership forum, but it comes at the price of losing a percentage of collaboration.

(Taken to the extremes are the Vray forums of chaos group which are very dry because of "complete closed forum policy").

Box

You could fire a shotgun in that private tower and not hit a thing. It's not some club where all the cool guys hang out.

A premium membership is really just formalised forum sponsorship. It means you are happy to help the forum survive financially and as such the forum gives you back some freebies and discounts on stuff. There is access to private consulting rooms, which is just what they sound like, a place where you can talk and share with specific people because you are limited by non disclosure or other professional restrictions.

Premium membership isn't about taking stuff way from people, it's about adding value on top. There are many benefits to being a premium member, but nobody is missing out on any sort of discussion that would benefit from the addition of the general public. Threads in the premium forum are usually along the lines of, how do I renew my membership or some such.

cotty

@halroach said:

You're right! simply speaking there should be a feedback button (or a link to the forum)

There is a button called Feedback which leads you to the forum

TIG

@Hal

SCF is free to use, but does cost money to keep it running.
This is primarily got from the payments from advertisers and premium memberships.
And for this modest consideration both get something in return - the former get their products brought to the attention of relevant SketchUp users, the later get free or discounted SCF Shop items and additional forums where they can receive more involved advice - but frankly, the advice that is always given freely on the open forums is, more often than not, adequate to all members' needs...
Premium Members effectively choose to 'sponsor' SCF with a few dollars a month, and for that they know that they help SCF to survive.
There are some 'fringe-benefits' of having a Premium membership, but it is NOT some 'exclusive dining-club' where the members 'feast', whilst the rest of you 'plebs' get the table-scraps in the gutter ! The principal benefit is that by becoming a Premium Member your help SCF to thrive...
When have you ever felt unfairly disadvantaged as a non-premium member ?
I would bet that no one has ever said to you, "Sorry, we can't answer that question unless you are a premium member..." !

The 'More Info'/'Feedback' changeover has only just started in the last week or two to redirect the 'More Info' button link on the PluginStore page entry or equivalent dialog listing, to a page that is specific to each Plugin - this has consistently presented information etc to help memebers understand the capabilities and use of each Plugin; in turn, this page has a button called 'Feedback' that links to the forum-post that relates to that Plugin: this is where you can comment, read others advice etc. New or updated Plugins will automatically have this new dedicated page created: however there are many hundreds of Plugins, and therefore there are some older ones that are currently 'unconverted' and are without a dedicated page of their own, and these will therefore still link their 'More Info' button directly to their principal forum-thread [usually the first post]. Over time this should change and all Plugins ought to end up with their own dedicated page, and the 'Feedback' button will then apply to all for accessing the Plugins thread. There has been some internal-SCF debate about what the 'Feedback' button should say, so we welcome your feedback [ ] - it can't logically say 'More Info' because it was by clicking on a link using that name that brought the user to this page in the first place: but instead of 'Feedback' it could say 'Posts', 'Thread', 'Main-Thread' 'Forum-Page', 'SCF-Thread', 'SCF-Posts' etc - would anyone else like to chip in on this with comments ?

All of the pages etc discussed above are free to you, as a valued member of SCF [irrespective of you membership-type], the 'private consultation' pages in the Premium section are just that, the other pages contain general housekeeping questions and responses, the only thing you missed out on recently, by deciding not to have Premium Memebership, was the beta-testing of the new PluginStore software, which Premium Members helped with [thank-you!] - but if you think about that, they actually paid money and then they did additional work to help make SCF better, with no reward other than knowing that SCF was helped... but I can assure you that there will be nothing there that disadvantages the 'hoi poloi'... so please have a little, understanding, humanity and just be thankful...

halroach

@cotty said:

@halroach said:

You're right! simply speaking there should be a feedback button (or a link to the forum)

There is a button called Feedback which leads you to the forum

Oh! There is a feedback button! It took me a while to find it...
I think it needs to be placed somewhere else more visible, or renamed as Tig suggests: I'm all for any of these:
'Thread', 'Main-Thread' 'Forum-Page', 'SCF-Thread', 'SCF-Posts', 'Forum-Thread'.

halroach

@box said:

You could fire a shotgun in that private tower and not hit a thing. It's not some club where all the cool guys hang out.

A premium membership is really just formalised forum sponsorship. It means you are happy to help the forum survive financially and as such the forum gives you back some freebies and discounts on stuff. There is access to private consulting rooms, which is just what they sound like, a place where you can talk and share with specific people because you are limited by non disclosure or other professional restrictions.

Premium membership isn't about taking stuff way from people, it's about adding value on top. There are many benefits to being a premium member, but nobody is missing out on any sort of discussion that would benefit from the addition of the general public. Threads in the premium forum are usually along the lines of, how do I renew my membership or some such.

@tig said:

@Hal

SCF is free to use, but does cost money to keep it running.
This is primarily got from the paymments from advertisers and premium memberships.
And for this modest consideration both get something in return - the former get their products brought to the attention of relevant SketchUp users, the later get free or discounted SCF Shop items and additional forums where they can receive more involved advice - but frankly, the advice that is always given freely on the open forums is, more often than not, adequate to all members' needs...
Premium Members effectively choose to 'sponsor' SCF with a few dollars a m
@box said:

specific people because you are limited by non disclosure or other professional restrictions.

Premium membership isn't about taking stuff way from people, it's about adding value on top. There are many benefits to being a premium member, but nobody is missing out on any sort of discussion that would benefit from the addition of the general public. Threads in the premium forum are usually along the lines of, how do I renew my membership or some such.
onth, and for that they know that they help SCF to survive.
There are some 'fringe-benefits' of having a Premium membership, but it is NOT some 'exclusive dining-club' where the members 'feast', whilst the rest of you 'plebs' get the table-scraps in the gutter ! The principal benefit is that by becoming a Premium Member your help SCF to thrive...
When have you ever felt unfairly disadvantaged as a non-premium member ?
I would bet that no one has ever said to you, "Sorry, we can't answer that question unless you are a premium member..." !

The 'More Info'/'Feedback' changeover has only just started in the last week or two to redirect the 'More Info' button link on the PluginStore page entry or equivalent dialog listing, to a page that is specific to each Plugin - this has consistently presented information etc to help memebers understand the capabilities and use of each Plugin; in turn, this page has a button called 'Feedback' that links to the forum-post that relates to that Plugin: this is where you can comment, read others advice etc. New or updated Plugins will automatically have this new dedicated page created: however there are many hundreds of Plugins, and therefore there are some older ones that are currently 'unconverted' and are without a dedicated page of their own, and these will therefore still link their 'More Info' button directly to their principal forum-thread [usually the first post]. Over time this should change and all Plugins ought to end up with their own dedicated page, and the 'Feedback' button will then apply to all for accessing the Plugins thread. There has been some internal-SCF debate about what the 'Feedback' button should say, so we welcome your feedback [ ] - it can't logically say 'More Info' because it was by clicking on a link using that name that brought the user to this page in the first place: but instead of 'Feedback' it could say 'Posts', 'Thread', 'Main-Thread' 'Forum-Page', 'SCF-Thread', 'SCF-Posts' etc - would anyone else like to chip in on this with comments ?

All of the pages etc discussed above are free to you, as a valued member of SCF [irrespective of you membership-type], the 'private consultation' pages in the Premium section are just that, the other pages contain general housekeeping questions and responses, the only thing you missed out on recently, by deciding not to have Premium Memebership, was the beta-testing of the new PluginStore software, which Premium Members helped with [thank-you!] - but if you think about that, they actually paid money and then they did additional work to help make SCF better, with no reward other than knowing that SCF was helped... but I can assure you that there will be nothing there that disadvantages the 'hoi poloi'... so please have a little, understanding, humanity and just be thankful...

Hi Box, Tig,
Please understand that I did not mean to be harsh or offensive, and I have no criticism on your ways. I am very thankful for these forums and for the hard working people behind them.
I guess the plugin store did come up as a surprise to me. But I can completely understand why you would want to develop such a plugin in a closed forum - keeps things more tidy and under control.
I think it is up to each individual do decide how he contributes. I contribute with my experience, knowledge and time, suggesting ideas and giving solutions. And time = money. Maybe not the kind that will keep your forum up and running, but that's what forums are all about.
Your explanations for why and what the premium membership is all about, are very good and convincing. I am very glad to hear that it is all about "adding value on top".

So please, no hard feelings.
Keep up the good work! and Cheers to you all!