You are now editing multiple components
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A simple plugin that does not require activation through the plugins menu. If it is in your plugins folder then it is active.
What it does is "onOpen" of any component, it checks how many components are manifold with the component the user just opened (perhaps using ComponentInstance.manifold?)
It would then give the user a notification saying "you are currently editing {number of manifold components} components".
I know many sketchup users who struggle to keep track of their unique and manifold components in their head and, in a big model, accidentally modify components they didn't intend to.
I wanted to write this as my first ruby project but it seems slightly trickier than a total ruby noob like me can handle.
Anyone got any idea how to make it happen? It would save several people I know a lot of grief.
Quite frankly, I think this should be a part of sketchup.
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Love it... of course if you have "hide similar components" turned off while editing you'll see the others.
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Irrespective of whether the manifold components are hidden or not, it simply needs to notify the user that they're there.....and they're being modified
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If that were the case there should definitely be a way to turn it off. It would add another key stroke to my workflow every 4 minutes. However I do like the idea.
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Doesn't need to add another keystroke, it could just modify the watermark in the top left hand corner of the screen. Normally there would be no watermark but when you are modifying a manifold component the number of components currently being modified would be displayed.
No extra keystrokes required.
Have seen this watermark modification done within sketchyphysics before...
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Oh so just information... not a dialog box that you have to hit ok on... I'm down.
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Well, once you've got it reading and returning the info you want I can't imagine its much work to change how the info is presented to you whether a watermark or dialogue box
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@krisidious said:
If that were the case there should definitely be a way to turn it off.
there's already a way to turn it off.. close the entity info panel
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Nice try Jeff but that only works while you have it selected, not while editing.
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is there a difference?
(practically speaking) -
Yeah, I don't select components... I just double click them.
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And coz Im clutter-phobic I only turn "Entity Info" on when I need it
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@ashscott said:
And coz Im clutter-phobic I only turn "Entity Info" on when I need it
right.. like when you want to check if a group is solid or how many copies of them you have in a model..
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[edit] oh.. and hey.. i'm not knocking your idea in a way it may appear..
just seems like the tradeoff between having this information being presented in a slightly different way than the native method..
-compared with-
needing yet another plugin to load and (as i understand) running at all times..isn't worth it
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I do have way too many already.
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This is a plugin that in theory could run fairly silently in the background. Wouldn't even need a menu item.
Double click on a component and a little window pops up and tells you that their are X other identical components. Or even just a note that reminds the user that this is a component. It could be fairly useful I think. If it was not too intrusive.
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It would have no interaction from the user and would only be a few lines of code can't imagine it would slow anything down.
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@ashscott said:
It would have no interaction from the user
right.. that's where i was concerned.. the user can't switch it on or off.. it's always on.. even though you'll only use it for maybe 1/10000th of your session time..
@unknownuser said:
and would only be a few lines of code can't imagine it would slow anything down.
possibly.. i simply don't know and as of late, i'm just weary of having too much going at once due to stability issues..
but chris who posted above you likes the idea ANd knows ruby.. and if he says it's ok then it probably is..
but you sort of messed up in your 'request' for a plugin because you said:
@unknownuser said:
I wanted to write this as my first ruby project but it seems slightly trickier than a total ruby noob like me can handle.
so now you've put the ball in your court
get a few lines going and post in the developers forum when you hit a brick wall.. then ask them for a little steering in the proper direction
[or, of course.. get lucky and open this thread in the morning and find that someone wrote it while you were sleeping
][edit] oh wait.. you're in NZ.. so the sleeping & morning thing might not work out in exactly the same way i've described there..
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The point of the plugin would be to stop accidentally modifying components.
If you had to turn it on and off it would defeat the purpose because you would accidentally start modifying a manifold component and unknowingly modify all copies of that component.
It would not be intrusive because it could just induce a watermark popup in the corner of your screen.
Chris seems to understand what I'm getting at.
I have no idea what I'm doing but perhaps something like this is a start:
def onOpen(instance) setVar ("X","definitions.count") end if componentinstance.manifold? = true setVar("text","You are currently editing {getVar("X")} components") end if componentinstance.manifold? = true getVar ("text") endDon't laugh, I've just started reading the ruby documentation this week.
To put it in terms that I actually understand:
If the user opens a component to edit it
Count how many instances of that component are manifold with the one the user has open
Call the number counted "X"
Display "X" within this sentence as a watermark in the top left corner of the screen:
You are currently editing "X" componentsAlso, I'm from NZ but living in India
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What does the manifold bit have to do with it? Why do you only care if it is manifold? It would be more applicable to more people I would imagine if it worked on all components, not just the manifold ones I would guess.
Also, I could be wrong, but the notion of this popping up and disappearing on its own is actually a bit more complicated then might be first suspected. It will require an observer to be running at all times, so it will add a little overhead to the system. Anyhow, I would be interested in trying to make it work, see if its simple and stable.
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