How to draw an edge with an angle and distance

Dan Rathbun

i looked at the links and i still can't see how can i specify an angle

Sorry, I left out the link to Geom::Transformation class,
... and TIG showed how to use it (above,)

EDIT. (TIG had it right,) Disregard this:except that the second tranform should be -45.degrees (not -90.degrees,) so you have an angle 135 degrees off the face's plane.

@morci429 said:

P.S i don't know the coordinates of the point the arrow going to stop at

After you transform the end points, you can save the en var and you have the end points, OR you also have vars referencing the new clines.
You can get the endpoints using the .end() instance method for Sketchup::ConstructionLine class, ie:
ep45 = cl45.end

morci429

Thank you so much guys I’m starting to feel like you are magicians

morci429

Guys sorry i don't mean to be pushy, put after i fired the arrow from centroid I’m looking for a built in function in either add_cline or even add_line to retrieve all the faces that intersect with my line.

TIG

@morci429 said:

Guys sorry i don't mean to be pushy, but after i fired the arrow from centroid I’m looking for a built in function in either add_cline or even add_line to retrieve all the faces that intersect with my line.

At each step as you add the 'line' you have two points ' ce' and ' en', the vector ' vec=ce.vector_to(en)' returns the 'arrow'.
Now ' dist=ce.distance(en)' will help us keep track of how far we are going from ' ce'
New use a 'raytest' to find the intersections...

<span class="syntaxdefault">hits</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=[]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">pe</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">ce</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">clone </span><span class="syntaxcomment">### set up a copy of the point to raytest from<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">goon</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">true<br />while goon<br />  rayt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">model</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">raytest</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">pe</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> vec</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">  goon</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">false if not rayt<br />  pt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">rayt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">  hit</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">rayt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">1</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">][</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">  goon</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">false if ce</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">distance</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">pt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">></span><span class="syntaxdefault"> dist<br />  hits </span><span class="syntaxkeyword"><<</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">pt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> hit</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">  pe</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault">pt </span><span class="syntaxcomment">### look from last hit point...<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">end</span><span class="syntaxcomment">#while<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span>

' hits' is an array of arrays of the points and what was hit at each one...
Repeat this for each 'ray' you are making.
If you want to find ALL intersections forget the ' dist' test...

thomthom

@dan rathbun said:

@TIG: I think hit=rayt[0][0] would return the x coordinate of pt ?

Yes.

rayt[0] => Geom::Point3d
rayt[1] => Array<path of entities>

TIG

You're right - my daft typo... I've corrected the original
hit=rayt[1][0]

Dan Rathbun

When done.. you will need to test the hits array members and retrieve objects that are certain types.

<span class="syntaxdefault">hit_faces </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> hits</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">select </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">{|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">e</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> e</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">1</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">][</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">].</span><span class="syntaxdefault">instance_of</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Face</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">}<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">hit_comps </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> hits</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">select&nbsp;</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">{|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">e</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> e</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[</span><span class="syntaxdefault">1</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">][</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">].</span><span class="syntaxdefault">instance_of</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">ComponentInstance</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">}</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span>

..etc ...

@TIG: I think hit=rayt[0][0] would return the x coordinate of pt ?

Dan Rathbun

Hey you missed my boo-boo I had written hits.each instead of hits.select
(corrected the code..)

Dan Rathbun

morc ... use [ code=php ] and [ /code ] tags around your sourcecode when you post it here.

I sent you a PrivateMessage, explaining how.

You are missing 2 end statements at the bottom, just before the **}** closing of the block.

morci429

Tig it isn't working.
guys could u have a look at the code and tell me what do you think?


require 'sketchup.rb'

UI.menu("PlugIns").add_item("Fire Arrows") {

ents = Sketchup.active_model.entities

Sketchup.active_model.selection.each do |e|
if e.is_a? Sketchup;;Face

ce=e.bounds.center

en=ce.offset(e.normal, 100000.mm)

cl90=ents.add_cline(ce, en)   #a vertical line

tr=Geom;;Transformation.rotation(ce, Z_AXIS, 45.degrees)
en.transform!(tr)
cl45=ents.add_line(ce, en)   #a 45 deg line


vec=ce.vector_to(en)
dist=ce.distance(en)

hits=[]
pt = Geom;;Point3d.new  
pe=ce.clone ### set up a copy of the point to raytest from
goon=true
while goon
  rayt= Sketchup.active_model.raytest(pe, vec)
  goon=false if not rayt
  pt=rayt[0]
  hit=rayt[1][0]
  goon=false if ce.distance(pt) > dist
  hits << [pt, hit]
  pe=pt ### look from last hit point...
end#while


hits.each do |s|
if s[1][0].is_a? Sketchup;;Face
hit_face = s.bounds
zmin = hit_face.min.z
zmax = hit_face.max.z
h = zmax - zmin
h = h.to_m
UI.messagebox s[1][0]
UI.messagebox h
end
end


tr=Geom;;Transformation.rotation(ce, Z_AXIS, -90.degrees)
en.transform!(tr)
cl135=ents.add_cline(ce, en)  #a 135 deg line

#en=ce.offset(Z_AXIS, 5000.mm)

#tr=Geom;;Transformation.rotation(ce, X_AXIS, -45.degrees)
#en.transform!(tr)
#cl135=ents.add_cline(ce, en)  #a 135 deg line

#tr=Geom;;Transformation.rotation(ce, X_AXIS, 90.degrees)
#en.transform!(tr)
#cl135=ents.add_cline(ce, en)  #a 135 deg line



end
end
}

Thanks Dan,
i added the two end statements. but the complier doesn't like line 31 ]

pt=rayt[0]

thanks again Dan

thomthom

@morci429 said:

Tig it isn't working.

Error messages?
Unexpected behaviour?

It always help to be specific to what isn't working.

morci429

Error: #<NoMethodError: undefined method []' for nil:NilClass> C:/PROGRA~1/Google/GOOGLE~3/Plugins/Fire Arrows.rb:31 C:/PROGRA~1/Google/GOOGLE~3/Plugins/Fire Arrows.rb:7:in each'
C:/PROGRA~1/Google/GOOGLE~3/Plugins/Fire Arrows.rb:7
C:/PROGRA~1/Google/GOOGLE~3/Plugins/Fire Arrows.rb:3:in `call'

Sorry if i wasn't clear enough

TIG

Try adding a test after the goon=false if not rayt like
next if not rayt that way it will jump.

I notice that your 'line' creation is a bit muddled - you a make one then transform the end_point [en] BUT doing so around the Z_AXIS leaves it where it is - do it around the X_AXIS or Y_AXIS...

Dan Rathbun

morc..

EDIT:The problem is that the API doc does not say that if the ray does not hit anything, the raytest method just returns nil.

rayt= Sketchup.active_model.raytest(pe, vec)

If you read the API for Model.raytest(), you'll see that the first argument must be an Array; the second optional argument (added in SU8.0M1,) is the wysiwyg_flag that sets whether to hit hidden geometry.

EDIT:Actually the method is smart enough to know what you mean... you don't really need an Array arg, unless you want to use the wysiwyg_flag %(#BF4000)[argument.

So you can to call it this way:]
rayt= Sketchup.active_model.raytest( **[**pe, vec**]** )

morci429

Tig it isn't working.
guys could u have a look at the code and tell me what do you think?

...*[snip]*... reposted [in later post](http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f)

Dan Rathbun

Added a note at the bottom of the API doc page for Model.raytest() informing readers of the nil return value, when no geometry is "hit."

morci429

guys i think you are right, the hits array is empty. the ray isn't hitting any geometry. Still trying to find out why though

TIG

Rather than start with convoluted code try a simple 'one-liner' pasted into the Ruby Console...
Draw two rectangular faces place them one above the other, above the origin.

rt=true;p=ORIGIN;while rt;p rt=Sketchup.active_model.raytest(p,Z_AXIS);p=rt[0]if rt;end

it should produce something like this
[Point3d(0, 0, 16.9685), [#<Sketchup::Face:0xbea3ae8>]] [Point3d(0, 0, 39.3701), [#<Sketchup::Face:0xbea3ad4>]] nil
NOW you know it's working........

morci429

Mission accomplished
Thanks to you all Geniuses