[Plugin] SketchUcation Tools

Dave R

hi all
i have the same problem with downloading any plugins it shows that it is installed but i can find it and every time i open sketchup it gives me a screen with a list of load errors
im using sketchup8 pro for windows

You need to be more specific about the error messages you are receiving when you open SketchUp. Is it possible you haven't downloaded/installed required support files? Is it that there aren't proper permissions granted for access to the Plugins folder? The error messages would tell you that. Post those error messages here so we can help you.

TIG

Please give proper error messages so we know what's up...

Are you using the dialog's AutoInstall button?
You chose not to give us the OS or exact SUp version...

Here are some assumptions...

PC:
As an admin [if you are not one give yourself this ability using the Control Panel > Users..]
Select your Plugins folder.
Right-click > context.menu > Properties > Security > Edit...
Ensure each of the users/groups listed is given FULL read/write permissions...
Apply/OK.
These permissions changes should automatically trickle down to the contents too.
Select the SketchUp.exe file in the same folder as the default Plugins folder.
Right-click > context.menu > Properties > Compatibility
Then tick the box 'Always run as an administrator', Apply/OK

MAC:
Plugins folder [HD one for v8 and User one for v2013] - properties > set FULL read/write permissions AND check the box to trickle the changes to all existing files and subfolders so current files are 'manageable' too...

On a PC also ensure that your main Plugins folder does not have a 'custom-icon' 0 this can restrict even FULL permissions very subtly... AND that your user-name does not include any non-ASCII characters [e.g. accénted letters] - it's a well known limitation of the Ruby version shipped with PC SketchUp [up to and including v2013 at least], that file-paths containing non-ASCII characters can cause Ruby's 'File' operations to fail - thus preventing some simple download/processing in your ..Users../AppData../Local ../Temp folder-paths...
Also check that you do NOT have an overzealous anti-virus app that stopping the download/processing of file from sketchucation.com...

tspco

I cleared the IE cache as directed, the tools plugin acts like it is working, asks if I want to install etc. But nothing gets installed, I did it the old fashioned way, that still works
Windows Vista, SU8m2. No biggy but the plugin sounded handy. No I Haven't ventured into SU13 yet.

TIG

@tspco said:

I cleared the IE cache as directed, the tools plugin acts like it is working, asks if I want to install etc. But nothing gets installed, I did it the old fashioned way, that still works
Windows Vista, SU8m2. No biggy but the plugin sounded handy. No I Haven't ventured into SU13 yet.
I should work...
Any errors messages ?
Which Plugins failed to install ?
Did you follow the advice - repeated recently about setting security permissions as FULL, running as admin etc ?

JQL

TIG,

There is in fact a sectioncutface rbz in one of the temp folders. After I try to install layers panel plugin, it appears on the temp folder but doesn't install. I suppose the problem might occur after that point where Plugin Store saves the plugin in temp and then, probably tries to open it and copy the files to plugin folder.

Gábor,

I use avast but I can see no file being blocked when I use pluginstore. Avast should be allowing the files to pass, as they are being saved on temp folders.

Thanks for all your efforts guys. Don't forget this is not a real problem for me as I work with 2013 and everything is working fine there.

Best regards,

JQL

JQL

TIG,

Just to make a final try I changed every permission on plugin folder to none and then set them to full again and it now works. I don't know what might have been missing but something was not right on permissions after all, though I checked them all to full.

Now plugin store installed correctly both plugins.

Sorry for the trouble I gave you as it seemed to be definetely my problem.

Best regards,

JQL

TIG

I wrote this before getting your Security to FULL fixed it post...
Glad it seems to be resolved.
Please keep an eye on this and report anything unusual...
Still weird that there were no error messages, as restricted permissions ought to throw an error anyway ?
I know that some subtle restricts can report as FULL and cause issues - e.g. by having a custom folder icon Windows can illogically downgrade your permissions very slightly, with unexpected consequences...

FYI here' what I was going to say before your welcomed news...

Put simplistically the AutoInstaller downloads a version of the RBZ that is specially encrypted, and then extracts that data to make the RBZ file in the ../Temp/SCF folder.
Is the AutoInstalled RBZ you found in the ../Temp/SCF folder exactly the same as the one you can download manually from the PluginStore page ?
It ought to be...
But if the AutoInstalled RBZ is faulty we need to find out why...
If it seems OK then we need to find out why it failed to install and stopped...
The AutoInstaller should have then used the built-in API 'install_from_archive' method to extract the temporary RBZ's contents into the Plugins folder - just as if you had used the Extensions>Install... button.
On completion it finally deletes the temp RBZ to tidy up... so something is failing in the latter steps.
BUT at each and every step any failure to finish should produce some helpful error messages in the Ruby Console - even if it's just a numerical output...
The failure AND lack of any messages is most perplexing

JQL

TIG,

I would really love to check out if the file is the same as the one that can be downloaded from Plugin Store, but it is there no more. I think this time Plugin Store deleted it after the successful install.

Maybe I can twist my permissions again and help you find out what might be wrong in my system not reporting errors. But today I just need some sleep as last weeks have been heavy.

I'll still check the recycle bin for the deleted rbz today and tomorrow I can compare it.

Thanks for everything and i'll give more info as soon as I can.

JQL

TIG

OK, no worries, at least we know it was a permissions issue.
Just the lack of warnings is puzzling me...
When I say a file is deleted Ruby's File.delete(file) means it is actually removed from the computer, it is not moved to the recycle-bin - it skips that step... and so in many ways it acts as if you have 'emptied the bin' deleting its contents 'forever', the 'bin' is a system contrivance to allow you to change your mind after removing a file from its original location, but not yet deleting it from the records completely...

JQL

Yes I know about the recycle bin but that was me trying to find a way to restore that impossible to restore file.

Thanks,

JQL

TIG

Unfortunately once Ruby has deleted a file it has gone.
Interestingly, files that are deleted from a folder are not 'deleted' from the hard-drive, instead their entry in the folder's directory-listing is removed, so then the system no longer sees them.

However, a file-recovery tool like Recuva can try to find, recover and restore deleted files, by reading all file entries irrespective of their missing directory listing. The success of this is variable, because once a file is no longer in the directory-listing its space on the hard-disk is made available for use by new files, this space is reused somewhat at random. If the deletion was recent the contents might remain intact [or be at least usable], but after some weeks have passed at least some of its data could be overwritten by newer file entries. Ironically you might find that a file deleted yesterday is unrecoverable but one deleted last year is quite usable !

The recovery of deleted "but not gone forever" emails and other similar downloaded files is what brings down politicians/criminals etc from time to time, when forensic-IT guys probe their hard-drives. As a result there are now several secure-deletion tools available - these don't just remove the file from the directory-listing but before it is deleted they rename it in a random way and overwrite its contents with random junk, so then it is totally unrecognizable, and unrecoverable/unusable when probed by other recovery-tools, these 'shredders' might even overwrite the hard-disk's 'Free-space' with 'null' contents, so then any deleted files are really "gone forever", as there is no record they ever existed and not one useful bit of their data is left behind...

JQL

LOL TIG,

It was just an rbz, I hope I'm not caught with my pants down because of that!

Best regards,

JQL

rv1974

.

How could I solve this?

TIG

@rv1974 said:

How could I solve this?...
This is odd...
What's your IE version, SketchUp version etc... ?
Check your Internet Options are set sensibly to allow javascript to run, communication back and forth with www sites etc.
The SCF dialog page is failing to load at its first hurdle when it checks your login cookie, using a js function loaded from the server-side js to which it passes the cookie data read in by the Ruby-side...

Have you set your Security permissions to the Plugins folder to FULL, and SketchUp.exe Compatibility to always run as administrator etc ?

Have you been able to access the dialog previously ?
What has changed ?

Gábor

@rv1974 said:

How could I solve this?

You can try to erase the cookie.dat file in yor user's folder's ~/AppData/Local/SCF subfolder. Restart the pluginstore. You should be prompted for login. If everything goes well, you'll be able to use the pluginstore. My suspition is that this file is corrupted.
If it won't help, let's wait for TIG.
(Meanwhile TIG arrived...)

TIG

If the cookie file is not there at all OR it exists and it is read-in but its contents do not match a server-side encrypted register then you are asked to log-in again, then the cookie file is rewritten/made with suitable data, you can then access the page thereafter.
If the cookie file is read-in and its contents do match a server-side encrypted register then you are free to access the page immediately.

I don't see this as a cookie issue.
The js error message tells us that the function 'loginCookieData()' is somehow missing - this suggests that the server-side js is not loading, and/or its related missing as a callback - the Ruby code must be loading otherwise the web-dialog wouldn't appear at all ?

Gábor

If the .js is not loading then I would like to know what pluginstore version is used?
Can it be a cache issue with the .js file?

TIG

You can get the Version of the SketchUcation toolset from the Preferences > Extensions entry details - the most recent one should be 2.0.0

Pherim

This is really great, I love how easy it is now to install and update plugins! Really a great piece of work!

However, the updating functions in "My Plugins" doesn't seem to work. I saw today that there was a new version of Fredo6's Bezier Spline and still the Window was empty, when I activated "check for updates". I have to wait until other plugins get updated in order to find out whether this also applies to them. I'm running Sketchup 2013 Free version on Windows 7 64bit and I just noticed that apparently I don't have Internet Explorer installed (must have uninstalled it some time but forgot about it). But the plugin still works, except for the update function.

Dave R

Is that a complaint about the tool, Pherim?

Why not install Internet Explorer and make sure you keep it up to date? Then the tool would work for you. It's a well known thing that SketchUp uses Internet Explorer for contact with the outside world.