[Plugin] MXM Reporter (Maxwell Render)

Chris Fullmer

@frv said:

this does not:

auto MXM remains disabled by default

I think that is an issue on the Mac that the Mac doesn't seem to turn a toolbar on just because it was on last time SU was used. Someone figured out this little code snippet and it seems to work:

case toolbar.get_last_state when 1 toolbar.restore when -1 toolbar.show end

where " toolbar" is the variable name of your toolbar object. Add that line after all the menus and toolbars have been loaded in your script. That should do the trick to make it be turned on when a Mac users starts up SU.

Chris

vodkamartini

Sheesh, it really seems like two different people made the pc/osx versions of the maxwell exporter & plugin. I don't understand why there are so many inconsistencies. Ah well.

Try this new version, Francois. The plugin should now replace those "%" characters with spaces. I'm not sure why their osx exporter is saving it in that format, though. I'm curious what would happen if people used "%" in their folder names. You OSX people have it rough, lol!

If you enable auto mxm and scan a folder, those auto mxm settings will now persist throughout the sketchup session. So now if you close and reopen MXM Reporter you won't need to reenable or rescan anything.

That just leaves the maxwell material editor (mxed) to deal with. Francois, can you use spotlight and search for where "mxed" is located on your system? Let me know if it has a goofy extension like ".exe" or something, too. Also, can you open sketchup's "ruby console" window and then click on any of the assigned mxm files in MXM Reporter? When you click on the mxm file it should print out a line in the ruby console telling you where MXM Reporter is looking for mxed. That should help narrow down what the problem is.

Thanks again.

Btw, thanks for the suggestion, Chris. This was a different issue, though. Just some html form control settings on the webdialog that Francois wanted me to persist.

MXM Reporter 0.4c

Chris Fullmer

@vodkamartini said:

Btw, thanks for the suggestion, Chris. This was a different issue, though. Just some html form control settings on the webdialog that Francois wanted me to persist.

Ahh, gotcha. My mistake. I thought it was the lazy toolbar bug/issue popping up again.

frv

Hi Vodka,
update on Version 0.4c

its works !!
But....... you have to remove "MXMPath = " from your default in the auto MXM path. At first I tried your plugin but it could not locate any materials and MXM reporter kept disabling the auto MXM. As soon as I removed "MXMPath = " from the Path in your plugin MXM reporter made a proper list and things worked out.

Clicking on a MXM material in the MXM reporter list does not bring on MXED though.

One material though when clicked in MXM reporter highlight the default material in Sketchup instead of the proper SU material. It happened once , but I did not check thoroughly with other files.

request:
Can you bring "continue" to the top of the scan list. In most cases I am not very interested in the scanlist and just want to move on without having to scroll down.
What is the consequence of ambiguous material names ? and why did you list in the scanlist
Can you make the MXM reporter dialogbox sizable ? Its a rather large window.
Can you skip the path from the MXM materials list that is already in the "auto MXM path box". It would be easier to quickly read the list. The path since its already shown does not need to come up with every material again.

Ha, I hope I am not giving you unwanted homework to do. I am already happy with MXM reporter since it gives me a tool to debug a file before it has gone through the export MXM plugin.
Francois

frv

the ruby console shows up with this
MXED PATH: /Applications/Maxwell/mxed.app/Contents/MacOS/mxed

The application path in my case is
MXED PATH: /Applications/Maxwell 1.7

The application mxed in my case shows up in the Maxwell 1.7 folder as just mxed. No .anything

Maybe you should have a manual path guide in MXM reporter since I think many for instance do not have a Maxwell 1.7 folder but just a Maxwell folder to locate.

Good luck,
Francois

frv

Hi Vodka,
some further testing show me that sometimes the .mxm path is neccesary but sometimes not. I had for instance a material that worked both ways but other only worked when I attached .mxm to the material name in SU.

more request, maybe impossible.
Can you make the list in MXM reported a little more interactive. Like the option to change material names in the list or rename them and maybe even to delete a set of materials from the SU file. In SU I can not delete more than one material at once. Can you imagine deleting 20 materials by deleting them one by one.....

Ok, thanks again a lot,
Francois

vodkamartini

Ok, I'm now parsing the MXMPath line in the MaxwellRender.ini config to accommodate any spaces before the equals sign. That was just another case of a formatting difference between windows and osx.

I hardcoded in the "/Applications/Maxwell 1.7" path for mxed. It should work for you now but I'd like to find a more generalized solution in case someone changes their installation directory or upgrades to a new version of maxwell. On windows there is an environment variable (MAXWELL_ROOT) that will always point to the correct folder. Would it be possible for you to send me the MaxwellExport.rb from your plugins folder so I can look and see if NextLimit is just hardcoding their path as well?

I changed the display of assigned auto mxm files (the purple entries) to not include the auto mxm path, like you had asked.

I'm not sure about moving the continue button on the scan list though. I kind of did it that way so that people would see any highlighted "ambiguous" mxm files. Right now you can hit the "end" button on your keyboard to jump to the bottom of the list. I guess I can add a "jump to bottom" link or something.

Also, that "ambiguous material names" list is just showing you that there are mxm files with the same name in different subfolders within your auto mxm path. So you might have a file named concrete.mxm in an "outdoors" folder, and another file named concrete.mxm in a "construction" folder. I don't know what method the exporter is using to decide which file gets applied on export. My plugin will just assume the first mxm file it finds is the correct one, and will highlight any other mxm files with the same name in red to let you know that they won't be used by MXM Reporter. So it's best to use the "ambiguous material names" list to help you rename your mxm files so that they're all unique.

The MXM Reporter dialog box should already be resizable, and it should remember its size and position when you close and reopen it. I do have it set to a minimum size of 640x480, however. Are you trying to make it smaller than that? For me things start to get pretty cramped and unreadable when you go that small. Maybe you have safari's font size set to be smaller than normal? Anyway, I just changed the minimum size to be 400x300. Hopefully that's small enough for you.

I would definitely like to know the official policy on naming the sketchup materials. The helpfile that comes with the maxwell plugin on windows doesn't mention using .mxm extentions at all. Right now I have it set so that on OSX you can have the sketchup materials named with or without the .mxm extension and they will be matched up with the auto mxm files in MXM Reporter. If the maxwell exporter always works with the .mxm extensions then just use them exclusively. I bet there is something about the filenames that are causing some to work without the extension and others not to. If you experimented enough you could probably figure it out.

I would rather wait and make sure all these other issues are squared away before I start adding more features. From what I've seen the sketchup api doesn't even allow you to rename materials, so I would be doing hackish workarounds like creating a new material and copying over all the attributes. Then I would have to make sure all the stuff you had painted with the old material is now referencing the new material, etc, etc, etc. As far as deleting 20 sketchup materials like in the example you gave, I would do it by using the "purge unused" command in the sketchup material panel. In the future I can probably add more options for things like that in the context menus that pop up when using the right mouse button.

Anyway, let me know how this version works out, and remember to send the MaxwellExport.rb file if possible. It would also be nice if you could find a way to recreate that bug you mentioned seeing one time where selecting a material in MXM Reporter doesn't select it in sketchup's material panel. I know you can do it by renaming a sketchup material and not hitting "refresh" in MXM Reporter, but other than that it shouldn't happen. You can also cause problems if you keep MXM Reporter open while switching between different .skp files. In those cases you should close and reopen MXM Reporter so that it binds itself to the current model. This seems to be another case of the sketchup api missing important functionaility (sending notification when the current model changes).

MXM Reporter 0.4d

vodkamartini

Thanks for sending the MaxwellExport.rb file. You can remove it from your post if you'd like.

They are simply hardcoding the "/Applications/Maxwell/mxed.app/Contents/MacOS/mxed" path that I was originally using, which begs the question... does mxed even come up when used from the maxwell material panel?!

I can't think of a reason why selecting the materials in sketchup won't highlight them in MXM Reporter on osx. It's pretty much the exact same code path as when you select the material from directly within MXM Reporter. Very strange. There are too many little things I would have to test to figure it out, so I won't waste your time on it.

So yeah, the MXED issue seems to be the only major incompatibility left. I would really like to get that one figured out for an official 0.5 version. I've included one last test version that will print out a few addition details in the ruby console when you click on an mxm file. I realize things are pretty much working for you now, but if you find the time to test it out I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for all your help, Francois.

MXM Reporter 0.4e

frv

Hi Vodka,
it works now. Maybe I have just overlooked the proper highlight. I can not reproduce the wrong link to the SU material panel.

What not works, there is no mxed link when you double click materials in the MXM reporter. When you double click a material in MXM reporter the associated material highlights in the SU material panel but there is no other vise versa link.

Still, thanks a lot. It makes life a little easier this way being able to actually see a listing and getting a visual on what to expect from auto MXM.
The ambigious names are indeed handy, I am starting to clean up my MXM library to make sure there are no longer doublures.
Francois

frv

Good news, when I use the color picker in SU then the material highlights in MXM reporter. That's probably also the way it is inteneded to work Very handy, makes MXM reporter even a lot more functional.

Here is the ruby console readout when I double click on a MXM reporter material
COULD NOT FIND MXED: /Applications/Maxwell 1.7/mxed
FOUND FILE: /Applications/Maxwell 1.7/materials database/MXM library/BZKII materialen (Maxwell)/glas.mxm

Now, that's exactly where the app mxed is located.

mxed does not come up either through the Maxwell export material panel. If someone reads this and has it working under OSX please let me know.

Thanks again,
Francois

frv

It seems to me that 100% white materials get confused with the default material in the SU material panel. I noticed before that Maxwell does not understand 100 % white SU materials. I have not tested this thoroughly.

But when I want to reproduce the bug it always shows up with 100% white materials, when clicked in MXM reporter the SU default highlights.

Hope this helps,
thanks Francois

vodkamartini

I find it hard to believe that even the official Maxwell Plugin won't let you use mxed. You ARE using the latest version of the maxwell plugin, right?. And I assume you can start mxed manually? Is that how you've been editing your mxm files, or have you always been using mxs studio? If you can start mxed from the osx finder, you should be able to do it from a terminal (by just typing in that "/Applications/Maxwell 1.7/mxed" path.)

Can any other osx maxwell users chime in on this one?

Anyway, If choosing a color in the sketchup material panel causes the material to highlight in MXM Reporter, then that may be a possible bug in the sketchup api on osx. It sounds like it's not firing the "set current material" event when you click on materials, but rather when you edit them.

As far as maxwell having problems with white materials in sketchup... that one is beyond me. I haven't seen anything like that over here. MXM Reporter only uses material names to distinguish between the sketchup materials, it doesn't care about colors or any other attributes. So, yeah I don't know.. if you can't find a method to recreate this bug it may have to wait until I can play on an osx machine.

frv

Hi,
yep latest version.
And yes, the bug I can reproduce with white materials. They get confused with the default material. No idea why, mabe its just my machine or even me.
I will test on other OSX systems here at my office.

Since I am close to a deadline I will have to postpone further testing till later next week.

I wonder if there are any other OSX Maxwell users here, seems I am the one and only OSX guy here. Hope not....
Francois

frv

Hi,
just found out its actually rather often that MXM reporter does not highlight the proper material in the SU material panel (OSX).
Its also normal that with the entity info palette the wrong materials are highlighted in the SU material panel . I see his happen with slightly larger files.
Francois

frv

When I click on a material in MXM reporter I see in the SU material panel the right color or texture highlighted but in the color grid in the same panel often the wrong or previous material remains highlighted. I think this is really a SU bug under OSX. Has little to do with the color white as I previously thought.

Francois

vodkamartini

I have to admit you've lost me, Francois. Are you saying that selecting sketchup materials in MXM Reporter DOES highlight the proper material in sketchup's material panel, but the color picker doesn't update to reflect that material? And if you simply click on the currently selected material in sketchup's material panel (the one that was just set via MXM Reporter) the color picker will update? If that's all that is happening then it's just an osx sketchup bug.

So just to be clear... as long as clicking on a sketchup material in MXM Reporter correctly sets the current material in sketchup's material panel, everything is fine with the plugin. So for instance, if you have the paint bucket tool active and click on the various sketchup material names in MXM Reporter, you will always be painting the correct colors regardless of what the color picker shows.. is that the behavior you see?

frv

Hi,
well, the material panel under OSX is not very reliable. It does not always show all the materials. And it does not always highlight the material the colorpicker is picking up.

MXM reporter shows up only when activated so in combination with the colorpicker its not very handy. Each time you click geometry to colorpick the material MXM reporter dissapears to the back.
But once you click a material in MXM reporter the material is set under the colorpicker so that works...if only MXM reporter would remain visable while assigning materials..

I think you really need a OSX system for a day to see how things are different. And you should use a big file to see what happens with lots of materials. Just a few materials on simple geometry will usually work but when things are more complicated the typical OSX-SU bugs show up.
Thanks again,
Francois

vodkamartini

Yeah, I can understand the osx version of sketchup having problems. I was just trying to ensure it had nothing to do with my plugin. That said, I completely forgot that modal dialog windows acted differently in osx. This new version of MXM Reporter should now stay on top like you expect. I also made the "scan results" window start out at the bottom so you can quickly click on the continue button like you had asked for earlier.

I tried setting up an osx virtual machine last weekend, but was never able to get sketchup running inside it. I'm being honest when I say I don't think I'll be able to borrow a macbook and install sketchup & maxwell on it anytime soon. This plugin was never really meant to do anything but help me diagnose a few issues I was having when toying around with sketchup renders. I've since moved on to modo, and have been dealing with writing python scripts for it. Regardless, I'm still trying to accommodate you as best I can, and as long as you keep bringing osx issues to my attention I'll keep trying to fix them. Right now it seems like launching mxed is the only one left, and unless you experiment with some of the earlier suggestions I made or someone else chimes in it probably won't get fixed. But yeah, I wish I had a nice big mac pro to work on, I really do.. =(

MXM Reporter 0.4f

frv

Thanks a lot sofar, MXM reporter works well to sort out materials in SU before exporting.
I do not really care for MXED to start within SU anytime soon.

We are also into Modo these days. SU to us seems a dead end since Google took over. The newsletter from SU proves our feelings. Hardly any news on developments, just shows and tutorials.....

Hopefully within a few years we are as fluent in Modo as we were in SU. We feel Modo is one of the most interesting CAD applications to invest time in.

thanks again and if I have any further requests I let you know
Francois

Richard

Vodka

I wish I had the resources to give you and big fat mac for your great efforts! Wouldn't mind one myself!