[Plugin] Layers Panel 1.2.1

jiminy-billy-bob

New version 0.3.2 beta !

Changelog :

Fix bugsplat when deleteing/purging layers with Outliner opened
New naming conventions (For the Extension Warehouse)

At startup, you should get once "Error Loading File layers_panel.rb no such file to load -- layers_panel.rb". This is normal, it's just the plugin deleting the old files.

cmeed

this is with release 0.3.2
same naming issue with names not changing in the LayersPanel - they are changing in the Layers Window though

I updated the plugin this morning. The layers were made yesterday. I closed down SU. restarted SU. captured film so its not happening with the layers or folders before the plugin was installed, as all were made yesterday
C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57MIdJxBA9E

EDIT: in the time its taken me to write the above the layer has now changed to 'hello' in LayersPanel. just so you know...

tt_su

@jiminy-billy-bob said:

Fix bugsplat when deleteing/purging layers with Outliner opened

Doh! I was just about to look at this.

Can you PM me the old version that crashed? I'd like to have a look at it.
(Also, what did you do to avoid the crash?)

tt_su

Is it just the Win32 API dependency that makes this Windows only?

tt_su

And I just downloaded 0.32 from the Plugin Store but it alerts me about a new version...

cmeed

hello again,
Still can't update layer using a shortcut key with LayersPanel open.
works fine when i close LayersPanel.
c

jiminy-billy-bob

@cmeed said:

this is with release 0.3.2
same naming issue with names not changing in the LayersPanel - they are changing in the Layers Window though

I updated the plugin this morning. The layers were made yesterday. I closed down SU. restarted SU. captured film so its not happening with the layers or folders before the plugin was installed, as all were made yesterday
C

EDIT: in the time its taken me to write the above the layer has now changed to 'hello' in LayersPanel. just so you know...

This is really weird. How about renaming a layer, then close the dialog and open it again ? Is the name updated ?

@cmeed said:

hello again,
Still can't update layer using a shortcut key with LayersPanel open.
works fine when i close LayersPanel.
c

Is the dialog focused when you're trying to do that ?
Has anyone else the same issue with shortcuts ? It works fine for me, when the dialog is not focused.

@tt_su said:

Is it just the Win32 API dependency that makes this Windows only?

Nope. A lot of things need rewriting. Pumping, etc...
BTW, I think I read somewhere that you work on mac ? Would you be ok with helping me testing on osx ?

@tt_su said:

And I just downloaded 0.32 from the Plugin Store but it alerts me about a new version...

Yeah, sorry about that, it was a serverside issue. It should be fixed now.

tt_su

Regarding pumping messages, I have a system working quite well in SKUI. https://github.com/thomthom/SKUI

I guess the bridge itself could be an interesting mini-framework to extract from that project. A Ruby class that subclass the UI::WebDialog class, cleaning up some of the cross compatibility issues on the Ruby side, then a JS script, or HTML builderplate that implement the communication with Ruby. That will enable JS to Ruby communication on OSX that doesn't drop messages - and Ruby and JS objects are converted seamlessly. You can even call JS functions from Ruby and get their return value.

jiminy-billy-bob

Whow, sounds great. I'll take a look at that when I have time. Thanks a lot

tt_su

Do you use GitHub / BitBucket?

jiminy-billy-bob

Nope, but I guess I can start.

jiminy-billy-bob

@jiminy-billy-bob said:

@xkalvisx said:

We would like to keep the size of the panel as it was before it was shut down.

Sorry, but that's a limitation of the API. Sketchup saves the dialog's size/position between sessions, but not during a session... Dumb, I know, but there's not much I can do.

Actually, there is a workaround. It's done and will be in next version.
(And I fixed the too-many-layers issue)

jgb

JBB; Very nice job........

The way SU does Layers have been a big bitch of mine since day 1. I use layers a lot as akin to a work breakdown structure. ALL of my layers are numbered with a name
(ie: 01.00 Main Assembly) then major parts are sub tiered (nested) with the name indented
(ie: 01.10______Sub Assy XX) and so on. (Note: Underscore here, spaces in SU)
Because SU layers cannot indent/nest, this drives me into some weird naming conventions. And some models are long on layers, usually in the 50+ range.

So when I saw you did indenting/nesting, I loaded the Ruby in a flash. I realize it is in an early developmental stage, so these are not critiques, but first use observations.

I have used this Ruby for a total of 3 minutes prior to this note, so I am NOT familiar with all its' nuances.

1) When I first loaded a model with 42 layers, SU's layers panel took about 3/4 screen height, and did not need a vertical scroll bar.
Your panel was longer due to your using a higher row height, and it had a vertical scroll bar. That is not a problem.
The problem was the vertical scroll bar does not work (greyed out), nor does mouse wheel scrolling, so I cannot see the last 7 layers in the list.

2) Since ALL my layers are numbered, in SU they sort properly, either ascending or descending when I click on the header.
They were in seemingly random order in your layer panel, neither numeric nor alphabetic. I had to move them into the numeric order I wanted.
The layer sort order should initially match the SU Layer sort order.

3) I simulate indenting/nesting by variable spacing the name of the layer after the number.
You delete multiple spaces in the name.

4) I noticed that to create a nest of layers, you have to define a new group, then move the layers to be nested under that new group, and rename the group layer.
In my case, this creates a redundant top level layer, and since I have a bunch of components inside that layer, it can't be eliminated.
You should consider the ability to elevate any existing layer to a group header status.

5) I also noticed that when you create a new group, it cannot be renamed until some other layer is nested under it. And, if some other group or layer is highlighted, the new group is placed under it, not at the end of all the layers. Disconcerting if that highlighted group is collapsed. The new group effectively disappears.

More later as I play with it more, but it is a very useful plug-in for me.

jgb

JBB

Played some more.

I noticed 2 major things.

1) I was trying to "un-nest" a layer in a group by pulling it left. Didn't work. I had to move the lay up or down out of the group. That is not the issue. On a few occasions, and it is not always repeatable, if my cursor was dragged too far left and onto the model space, the model started panning right and could only be stopped hitting ESC. Then the model was way off in space to the left. Zoom Extents brought it back.

2) I often open a second SU session to clipboard copy reusable components from a different model. When I loaded the 2nd model, your layer panel stayed as the first model. It should have switched to the second model.

I had to close the layer panel in the first session, switch to the 2nd session, open the layer panel, which opened correctly, then switch back to the 1st session, and reopen its layer panel. After that when I switched sessions, the panels switched accordingly.

This can be an issue when I load 2 different versions of the same model and the layers are the same or very similar.

3) This one may be impossible to fix. After I rearranged all the layers under several groups in a more natural order without a lot of number prefixes, I needed to assign a layer to a new component. But the layer list in Entity Info is in the SU order (alphabetical), making it tough to find the correct layer to assign (because I got used to the new groupings in your layer list).

Your layers still beat SU's layers.

jiminy-billy-bob

@jgb said:

1) When I first loaded a model with 42 layers, SU's layers panel took about 3/4 screen height, and did not need a vertical scroll bar.
Your panel was longer due to your using a higher row height, and it had a vertical scroll bar. That is not a problem.
The problem was the vertical scroll bar does not work (greyed out), nor does mouse wheel scrolling, so I cannot see the last 7 layers in the list.

2) I often open a second SU session to clipboard copy reusable components from a different model. When I loaded the 2nd model, your layer panel stayed as the first model. It should have switched to the second model.

Are you using Mac OSX ? Layers Panel does not support OSX for now.
If not, what are your windows version, Internet Explorer version, and Sketchup version ?

@jgb said:

2) Since ALL my layers are numbered, in SU they sort properly, either ascending or descending when I click on the header.
They were in seemingly random order in your layer panel, neither numeric nor alphabetic. I had to move them into the numeric order I wanted.
The layer sort order should initially match the SU Layer sort order.

The default order in SU layer is by creation order. The API doesn't allow to get how the user is sorting layers in the layers window.

@jgb said:

3) I simulate indenting/nesting by variable spacing the name of the layer after the number.
You delete multiple spaces in the name.

I'll look at that.

@jgb said:

4) I noticed that to create a nest of layers, you have to define a new group, then move the layers to be nested under that new group, and rename the group layer.
In my case, this creates a redundant top level layer, and since I have a bunch of components inside that layer, it can't be eliminated.
You should consider the ability to elevate any existing layer to a group header status.

I wondered about that and decided not to do it. Read this old thread : http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=472428

Remember that Layers Panel has a whole different logic that SU's layers window.

@jgb said:

1) I was trying to "un-nest" a layer in a group by pulling it left. Didn't work. I had to move the lay up or down out of the group. That is not the issue. On a few occasions, and it is not always repeatable, if my cursor was dragged too far left and onto the model space, the model started panning right and could only be stopped hitting ESC. Then the model was way off in space to the left. Zoom Extents brought it back.

Can you do a small video ? I don't really understand what's happening.

@jgb said:

3) This one may be impossible to fix. After I rearranged all the layers under several groups in a more natural order without a lot of number prefixes, I needed to assign a layer to a new component. But the layer list in Entity Info is in the SU order (alphabetical), making it tough to find the correct layer to assign (because I got used to the new groupings in your layer list).

Yeah, it's impossible to correct. I'll add a way to assign geometry to a layer directly from the plugin, though.

jgb

My oops.

Win XP Pro
SU 8 Free
Firefox

As far s a video for the wild panning, A) I don't know how to do it, and B) not sure I could capture the problem as it is not always repeatable when I try on purpose.

jiminy-billy-bob

Sketchup's webdialog use Internet Explorer, even if your default browser is firefox. Which version do you have ?

I don't have WinXP, can't test on it. Anybody else have the scrolling issue ?

For the video, Screenr is pretty easy. In case you're able to reproduce it one day.

jiminy-billy-bob

Ok, I can reproduce the scrolling problem with IE6 and 7. If you do use one of these, please mind updating to IE8 (Or better : Windows 7 and IE10 !)

jgb

@jiminy-billy-bob said:

Ok, I can reproduce the scrolling problem with IE6 and 7. If you do use one of these, please mind updating to IE8 (Or better : Windows 7 and IE10 !)

I am relieved you saw this too.

I know SU uses the IE interface. My IE is Ver 8.6.

I do very much dislike IE for several reasons, so I don't use it unless I have no choice. My Firefox is the latest (Ver 23.0.1) and I have IE Tab installed that sets up an IE session in an FF tab. Works well about 95% of the time. There are still some IE centric developers and many pages out there that use sneaky API calls that FF or other browsers cannot handle, especially around password handling and that dreadful CAPTCHA crap foisted on us.

I will not upgrade Windows to 7 or 8 or whatever, even under threat of no support soon. There never really was from MS, so no loss there. Too many issues with 7 on a few other apps on my system, aside from its own deficiencies.

jiminy-billy-bob

IE 8.6 ? Are you sure ? The latest release is "8.0.7601.17514".
Can you screenshot http://whatsmyua.com/ when opened with IE ? Thanks