[req] help with simple plugin

[georglorenz]

Hi, I am new to ruby scripting and amazed by the possibilities. I am trying to write a simple script that distorts the geometry of all selected faces by a random amount.

I first triangulate all selected faces with TIGs triangulateFaces that I call from within the script which works fine. Then I want to transform each vertices of every face by a random x,y,and z amount.

with my limited programming experience I am so far unable to get it going. Here is what I thought:

for f in faces
for v in f.vertices
v.position = v.position + [xrand,yrand,zrand]
end #for
end #for

But that (and 23 other options I tried) does not work. Can anyone help me here?

[Jim]

It's a good thought, but as you found out - it doesn't work that way.

To move vertices, faces, and edges you will need to go through the Entities collection.

Something like should work:

for f in faces
for v in f.vertices
  tr = Geom;;Transformation.new(v.position + [xrand,yrand,zrand])
  Sketchup.active_model.entities.transform_entities(tr, v)
end #for
end #for

[TIG]

You will need a line the define xrand etc...
Something like...
xrand=10*rand
and the same for yrand and zrand - the 10* give an offset between 0" and 10"...
This only adds to the vertex position - you need another line transforming the vertices in the -ve, like
xrand=-10*rand etc afterwards ?

[georglorenz]

Ok. Thank you guys. Almost there. The main method works fine in the webconsole, but when I save it as a script it tells me: "distort.rb:42: parse error, expecting `kEND'", which I guess means that end end is missing in line 42 (before the menu).
I seriously have no Idea why. Please help me!

# gl_distort 

require 'sketchup.rb'

def GL_distort

model = Sketchup.active_model
entities = model.entities
selection = model.selection

prompts = ['Random Distortion Distance']
defaults = [0.to_l]
results = UI.inputbox prompts, defaults, 'Distance for random distortion;'
distance = results [0]

model.start_operation "Distort"

selection.each do |e| 
	if (e.is_a? Sketchup;;Face)	
   		for v in e.vertices
           		xrand=(-distance/2)+distance*rand
           		yrand=(-distance/2)+distance*rand
           		zrand=(-distance/2)+distance*rand
           		# puts(xrand, yrand, zrand)          
           		vector = Geom;;Vector3d.new xrand,yrand,zrand
           		tr = Geom;;Transformation.translation vector
           		Sketchup.active_model.entities.transform_entities(tr, v)
        	end #for
	end #if
end #do

model.commit_operation

end #main



### Menu ###

if not file_loaded?(__FILE__)

  UI.menu("Plugins").add_item("Distort"){GL_distort}

end #if
 

file_loaded(__FILE__)

[TIG]

Change from GL_distort to gl_distort a def must start with a lowercase letter...

[georglorenz]

@tig said:

Change from GL_distort to gl_distort a def must start with a lowercase letter...

still the same error...

[TIG]

Changed every GL_distortto lowercase ?
Works fine for me...

[georglorenz]

@tig said:

Changed every GL_distortto lowercase ?
Works fine for me...

yes. both of them. thank you. I guess it has something to do with the "for v in e.vertices loop". If I take it out completely it parses fine. Can it be that something would not work in Sketchup 6? I am still running v6 on a mac. Strange thing is: it runs fine in the webconsole. Any idea how to resolve this?

Thanks for your time. G

[TIG]

This is my version that works fine in v7.
Try it in v6...#gl_distort.rb

[georglorenz]

TIG: Thank you. It works. Don't ask me why. Your and my code are identical with the exception of a couple of blank lines. I checked that twice and then again. And side by side. And then again. And I have no idea. But it its working.

I added input for xyz coordinates as you can see on the image. The crinkled surface was distorted only along the z axis, the top plane of the cube was distorted in three dimensions.

This is just for fun. Please use at your own risk and save before using. It crashed on me a couple of times already.

Thank you much for all your time. G

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gl_xyzdistort.rb