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    [Plugin] PipeAlongPath

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Plugins
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    • A Offline
      amis
      last edited by

      @tig said:

      There are 8 edges connected in that SKP.
      Selecting them all and running PipeAlongPath I get no issues.
      The pipe forms perfectly and quickly.

      Thanks you for quick response

      @tig said:

      I can also draw a circle centered on the vertical line's end and then successfully use FollowMe on the selected path. Can you do that ?

      Yes, I performed that and everything's well

      @tig said:

      Do you perhaps have another plugin loading that has an Observer ill-advisedly messing with group creation etc?

      Never heard about such things. I always try to load not too many plugins

      @tig said:

      Have you installed something new recently ??

      Just updated some of plugins.

      @tig said:

      Try disabling most of the plugins, except PipeAlongPath, then retry and see what happens. It it no longer fails you know that one of the disabled plugins is messing you up... πŸ˜•

      That's not the shortest way actually) Anyway thanks a lot. I will try.

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      • TIGT Offline
        TIG Moderator
        last edited by

        You can probably reduce the list of possible culprits by looking at the recent updates or those with do complicated processes - they are more likely to have observers etc...
        Can you post a simple list of your installed plugins ?

        TIG

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        • A Offline
          amis
          last edited by

          @tig said:

          Can you post a simple list of your installed plugins ?

          2DTools
          Fredo6_Curvizard
          Fredo6_FredoScale
          Fredo6_FredoTools
          Fredo6_JointPushPull
          FrontFace
          Layer Manager
          sketchup-stl
          tt_cleanup
          tt_edgetools
          TT_Lib2
          tt_selection_toys
          tt_solid_inspector
          CenterPointAll.rb
          dropGC.rb
          ExtrudeAlongPath.rb
          ExtrudeTools.rb
          extrude_lines2.rb
          HoleInTheWall.rb
          ithil_facefinder.rb
          ithil_reverseface.rb
          LibTraductor.rb
          makefaces.rb
          mesh_additions.rb
          Mirror.rb
          move_to_origin.rb
          ocean_extension.rb
          PipeAlongPath.rb
          PurgeAll.rb
          pushpull_tool.rb
          recurve.rb
          s4u_makeface.rb
          SectionCutFace.rb
          SimplifyContours.rb
          sketchup-stl.rb
          SketchyFFD.rb
          SliceModeler.rb
          TIG-Split_to_plane.rb
          tt_cleanup.rb
          tt_edgetools.rb
          TT_Lib2.rb
          tt_selection_toys.rb
          tt_solid_inspector.rb
          Zorro2.rb
          There are no quite new plugins here. Every of them I used for long time.

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          • TIGT Offline
            TIG Moderator
            last edited by

            Ignoring those I am 99% sure are OK... πŸ˜•

            Try disabling these and re-test:

            FrontFace
            dropGC.rb
            HoleInTheWall.rb
            ithil_facefinder.rb
            ithil_reverseface.rb
            recurve.rb
            s4u_makeface.rb
            SliceModeler.rb

            You also have some 'old' ones that I think might not belong in there - there might be newer su_ versions available ?
            ... e.g.

            ocean_extension.rb
            SimplifyContours.rb

            TIG

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            • A Offline
              amis
              last edited by

              You're right. Many of plugins in my set are a bit old.
              OK. I deleted those you've mentioned, relaunch my SU, select the whole chain (of edges), run PipeAlongPath and stil got SU hang. Looks like my Plugins folder needs total revision...

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              • A Offline
                amis
                last edited by

                I've tried another way. I redrew the same chain (of edges) near existing one and had no problem with making pipe. But still got the hang with existing chain.
                Finally after revision, deleting some of and reinstall/updating all of existing plugins I have no problem. Unfortunally I missed at which step it happened. Thanks TIG


                Pipework.skp

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                • J Offline
                  johnwmcc
                  last edited by

                  I find this plugin very useful to draw scaffolding poles when designing amateur theatre sets using scaffolding as part of the structure. I've reset (in the code) the default sizes, and options, to suit my use.

                  I'd also very much like to have the plugin create a component, rather than a group, and to orient the component axis along the direction of the first line segment in the path. Would that be difficult?

                  I don't think my own SU Ruby skills are quite up to this, though I may well have a go - I might to able to code for component creation, but have no idea how to set the component axes in Ruby.

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                  • TIGT Offline
                    TIG Moderator
                    last edited by

                    You can do it several ways.
                    Without recasting this as a Sketchup Tool etc I think your best bet is to make the group as it is.
                    Then later you can turn that into a component instance...
                    At that stage the origin of the group, and now the component definition ,is at the bounds.min of the container.
                    To relocate the axes you need to do theses steps...
                    Get the vector from the point you want the axes to be back to the container's origin.
                    Then transform all of the definition's entities by that vector.
                    Then move the instance by the inverse transformation, so it doesn't visibly move BUT its origin is now at the desired point.
                    I assume you'd probably want that to be the center of the start of the extrusion @new_pts[0] aka pt1 ?
                    You always want the axes to align in the red along the pipe ?
                    Insert something like this order around line#490 [untested]...

                    ###...
                    ###
                    inst=group.to_component
                    defn=inst.definition
                    defn.name="some_name_you_like"
                    ents=defn.entities
                    vec.reverse!
                    xaxis=inst.transformation.xaxis
                    vert=vec.cross(xaxis)
                    trans=Geom;;Transformation.new()
                    unless vert.length==0
                    	ang=vec.angle_between(xaxis)
                    	unless ang==0
                    		trans=Geom;;Transformation.rotation(pt1, vert, ang)
                    		ents.transform_entities(trans, ents.to_a)
                    		inst.transform!(trans.inverse)
                    	end
                    end
                    vector=pt1.vector_to(ORIGIN)
                    unless vector.length==0
                    	trans=Geom;;Transformation.translation(vector)
                    	ents.transform_entities(trans, ents.to_a)
                    	trans=Geom;;Transformation.translation(vector.reverse.transform(inst.transformation))
                    	inst.transform!(trans)
                    end
                    defn.invalidate_bounds
                    ###
                    	model.commit_operation
                    

                    ??? It IS convoluted ???

                    TIG

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                    • EdsonE Offline
                      Edson
                      last edited by

                      hi TIG,

                      I am having repeated crashes while using PipeAlongPath to create a handrail. the model is small and should not be a problem. I wonder if there is a conflict with some other extension. list of extensions attached.

                      any ideas?

                      Screenshot 2015-06-10 14.46.06.png
                      Screenshot 2015-06-10 14.45.56.png


                      escada-emergencia_Leste.skp

                      edson mahfuz, architect| porto alegre β€’ brasil
                      http://www.mahfuz.arq.br

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                      • TIGT Offline
                        TIG Moderator
                        last edited by

                        With your SKP I get the Bugsplat! as well.
                        So something is odd in your path...
                        I can make it work with an exploded path and 8s extrusion...escada-emergencia_Leste.PNG The issue is caused by the tiny geometry you try to make by having very segmented 'sweeps' between the long rails.
                        If you make 90 degree junctions it works at 24s OK...escada-emergencia_Leste_90.PNGIf you want radiused 'sweeps' make them at least the diameter of the tube...escada-emergencia_Leste_26mmRad.PNGHere the swept radius is 26mm, the tube is 25mm radius [5cm diam] - so that works... πŸ˜›
                        This is a 'full-sweep' between the two main rails.escada-emergencia_Leste+FullSweep.PNG πŸ€“
                        Make a swept arc that's tangential from the mid-point of the two rails.
                        Copy that and rotate it to match the other slope...
                        Then weld the path and the rails sweep seamlessly around a curve as I suspect you'd prefer...

                        TIG

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                        • EdsonE Offline
                          Edson
                          last edited by

                          I built the path with Fredo6's BezierSpline extension (Polyline Arc Corners tool). the odd thing is that it works with Profile Builder.

                          regards.

                          edson mahfuz, architect| porto alegre β€’ brasil
                          http://www.mahfuz.arq.br

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                          • oldskoolflashO Offline
                            oldskoolflash
                            last edited by

                            Thanks for this, how do I activate the toolbar set for this?

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • TIGT Offline
                              TIG Moderator
                              last edited by

                              @oldskoolflash said:

                              Thanks for this, how do I activate the toolbar set for this?
                              You can't !
                              It doesn't have a toolbar - there is just a menu entry.

                              TIG

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                              • R Offline
                                Roky
                                last edited by

                                Easy to Use, Well done. worked in Sketchup 2016

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • mariochaM Offline
                                  mariocha
                                  last edited by

                                  Here is a "LangHandlered" version of it.
                                  Had to modify some strings.
                                  French included.
                                  Only thing not completely translated is the last check, for slight skew. I could not reproduce the error case.


                                  PipeAlongPath.rbz

                                  %(#008000)[Mario C.
                                  Every rule has exceptions, but some.]

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                                  • Y Offline
                                    yingishere
                                    last edited by

                                    Thanks

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • TampaPowersT Offline
                                      TampaPowers
                                      last edited by

                                      Just installed in 2018, causes a crash.

                                      Sketchup Community Discord

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                                      • TIGT Offline
                                        TIG Moderator
                                        last edited by

                                        @tampapowers said:

                                        Just installed in 2018, causes a crash.
                                        I just tried using it in v2018... and it worked just fine.
                                        What settings are you using ?
                                        What's the preselected path like ?
                                        A simple example SKP might help...

                                        TIG

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                                        • TampaPowersT Offline
                                          TampaPowers
                                          last edited by

                                          This is the path: https://i.imgur.com/HOQ8AC1.png
                                          Settings are: https://i.imgur.com/6EdzK9f.png

                                          Sketchup Community Discord

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                                          • TIGT Offline
                                            TIG Moderator
                                            last edited by

                                            You can attach images and SKPs to your post.
                                            Without a SKP I can't be 100% sure, but I suspect you are falling foul of the tiny geometry issues that SketchUp has, that is if two points are within SketchUp's built-in tolerance of 1/1000".
                                            Then it cannot make that edge and any related face[s] can't then be made either !
                                            Your outer diameter of 3mm and internal diameter of 1mm will most likely try to produce some tiny facets - especially when you give it 12 sides, and it is following that very wavy path, which itself I guess has several small segments per wave ?

                                            The way to make something this small is as follows...

                                            • Create the path.
                                            • Make a component of it.
                                            • Make a copy to one side.
                                            • Scale the copy up by say x1000.
                                            • Re-zoom extents so that you see the giant copy.
                                            • Edit the copy and select the path.
                                            • Use the PipeAlongPath tool, adjusting the settings by the scale-factor - e.g. 3mm >>> 3m
                                            • When the pipe is successfully made, exit the edit and delete the giant copy.
                                            • Re-zoom to look at the normal sized instance and the very tiny geometry will be OK.
                                              Tiny geometry can exist, but you cannot create it at the tiny dimensions.

                                            Note that this tiny-geometry tolerance issue can affect many operations in SketchUp and its Extensions - the above fix works for all such cases...
                                            Any operation that might make tiny edges - like an intersect-with etc - benefits from this workaround...

                                            TIG

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