[Plugin] Multiple Component Edit Warning

ashscott · 4 Oct 2013, 17:27

But for the PluginStore we can use the API to send us an IPN to let us know a purchase was made to your account. We can then change the BUY button to a DOWNLOAD butto

Thanks for the explanation Rich

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) money is a big motivator. Making it easier for developers to get paid will encourage developers to "push the envelope" even more which will push SketchUp and the whole community forward.

So, whos going to build the comprehensive Finite Element Analysis plugin?

ashscott · 7 Oct 2013, 09:05

@unknownuser said:

Your idea is fantastic!

but it doesnt work with V7

I was so excited to use it as well.

Hey sorry, I put you wrong earlier. The plugin hasn't been tested in V7 and there may be some issues there - my mistake.

Rich O Brien · 8 Oct 2013, 10:29

@ashscott

SketchUp Plugins | PluginStore | SketchUcation

SketchUp Plugin and Extension Store by SketchUcation provides free downloads of hundreds of SketchUp extensions and plugins

(sketchucation.com)

also to edit this plugin...

(sketchucation.com)

Or when on the homepage, sketchucation.com, you should see Dev Tools in the header.

There's also this...

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=382&t=52516

ashscott · 8 Oct 2013, 16:55

Cool, thanks for that

ashscott · 9 Oct 2013, 20:29

This is probably a dumb question, but I'm going to ask it anyway for interests sake:

I got Dan to do some more tweaking and added the following features that you people suggested:

Have the flag turn back off as you exit components that you have been editing including nested components.
reverse iterating the edit path (nesting) array, and multiplying the lower instance counts by the next level up - if that will return an accurate count of the components being edited.
Make the zoom out function when the flag is clicked. Must be reversible so that when clicked a second time the user will be taken back to the close up view of the component they were originally editing (you simply click on the body of the webdialog to see all components being edited and click it again to go back to where you were).

I've paid to have this plugin developed and I wondered about charging a small price for this advanced version. Funds would go towards furthering the plugin. However, we all know of the "Penny Gap" issue and charging for this plugin could mean no-one uses it and it simply fades into obscurity (something I definitely DONT want to happen).....

What are people's thoughts? Is the penny gap too big an obstacle to successfully keep plugins like this available?

Or maybe I should just stop working so much and learn to code so I don't have to pay others to do it for me??

jiminy-billy-bob · 9 Oct 2013, 20:47

How about crowdfunding ?
"We need $XX for these functions"

monmonred · 10 Oct 2013, 03:41

hello!

i suggest these 2 things:

-make the notification become just a text that goes above the sketchup workspace at the lower-left corner (or probably make it have options for the location). the text doesn't not have to have its own window and just a floating text like how the "two point perspective" label appears on the screen when you go to 2-pt-persp view. this is a very useful plugin and it will help a lot if it appears as if it is a native option in sketchup.
-the notification auto-closes/disappears when you leave a component. and make it so that you do not have to close it yourself, and that you do not have to leave the whole 10-level grouping that your edited component is in just to make the notification disappear automatically.

thanks for being awesome and for this awesome plugin!

ashscott · 10 Oct 2013, 06:18

@monmonred

Your second suggestion has been done in the update I refer to above.

In terms of the notification position and style - you can move the webdialog to wherever you please and it will appear in the same place next time. The webdialog also serves as a button in the latest revision in that clicking it zooms the camera out to show all components being edited.

ashscott · 13 Oct 2013, 08:33

So.....no one is willing to fork out for this plugin?

monmonred · 29 Oct 2013, 03:59

thanks!

i hope someone helps in this plugin's development. i wish i am that knowledgeable in scripting/programming. :l

JQL · 2 Nov 2013, 15:33

@ashscott said:

So.....no one is willing to fork out for this plugin?

Well Ashcott, I forked this thread to another one and I would love to have your contribution:

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=54843

Thanks and best regards,

JQL

ashscott · 11 Nov 2013, 23:13

I think that the discussion about reimbursing plugin developers for work done is fundamental to pushing SU forward as a community - I highly recommend that people consider the thread that JQL just linked to

Dan Rathbun · 13 Nov 2013, 06:29

@ashscott said:

In terms of the notification position and style - you can move the webdialog to wherever you please and it will appear in the same place next time. The webdialog also serves as a button in the latest revision in that clicking it zooms the camera out to show all components being edited.

Also.. if you know CSS, you can COPY the "user.css" file, up into the EditFlag directory (one level,) .. and then modify it to change color, font, text size, etc.

The WebDialog HTML will load the "user.css" file IF (and only if,) it is in the same directory as the HTML file. (If it is not, then the inline StyleSheet will be used unchanged.

There are also 2 variables that can be changed in the "EditFlag_loader.rb" file:

    ### Module Variables
    #
    @@topmenu = "Edit" # change to "Plugins" if desired
    @@remind  = true   # change to false for no reminders

Dan Rathbun · 13 Nov 2013, 06:37

@monmonred said:

-make the notification become just a text that goes above the sketchup workspace at the lower-left corner (or probably make it have options for the location).

I tried using a view-based model note in the initial version 1.
No one liked it because it modified every model ... even model's you only wished to view, and not change.

@monmonred said:

...the text doesn't not have to have its own window ...

It does,... so that users can size it and move it around.

The API does NOT have cross-platfrom features that allow us to create borderless and/or captionless windows. I could do it on only Microsoft platforms.. but how would a user move it, or size it?

Dan Rathbun · 13 Nov 2013, 19:33

Well actually it is a single-click (the second click is ignored.) Helps prevent "a zoom out and back in again so fast ya' head spun"

JQL · 5 Dec 2013, 14:31

Hi, I hadn't noticed this new version of the plugin. It's working very nicely... Thanks for implementing that zoom out feature. It's great!

ashscott · 5 Dec 2013, 19:30

yeah I like it too

Dan Rathbun · 6 Dec 2013, 01:49

Yes we fixed these issues you reported, earlier:

@jql said:

When working on nested components, there are two things happening that I think could be revised.

1 - The flag doesn't go off as I dig inside components nested inside other components. One has to turn them off manually.
2 - The value showed does not reflect how many components really exist in the model if there are components inside other components.

JQL · 6 Dec 2013, 22:44

Yes I've noticed that too! It's very handy. I also notice that if you have a group within a component, it says you're inside a group too. What more could one need from context management plugins...

ashscott · 20 Jan 2014, 23:39

Hi all, Dan made some quick modifications and upgraded the plugin to version 2.4.0

Bug fixed so that multiple edit warnings do not appear on top of each other

This allows better compatibility with the latest version of SU

Also, I can't understand why this plugin isn't more popular, we (people I work with daily) use it on a daily basis and it has sped up our workflow immensely.....should I name it something more descriptive??