Open sketchup from Excel VBA and run ruby code

[davesexcel]

I found this code from google groups it opens sketchup from Excel.

Private Declare Function OpenProcess Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal bInheritHandle As Long, ByVal dwProcessId As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long
Sub fLaunchProgram(ByVal sProgram As String)
    Dim ProcessHandle As Long
    Dim ProcessId As Long
    On Error GoTo errExit
    ProcessId = Shell(sProgram, vbNormalFocus)
    ProcessHandle = OpenProcess(&H1F0000, 0, ProcessId)
    WaitForSingleObject ProcessHandle, INFINITE
    Exit Sub

errExit;
    MsgBox "External program " & sProgram & " was not found", vbCritical, " fLaunchProgram"
End Sub
'To load SU
Sub pTest()
    fLaunchProgram ("C;\Program Files\SketchUp\SketchUp 2015\SketchUp.exe")
End Sub

I have assigned the macro to a button, using sendkeys seems to take care of the splash screen when Sketchup opens.

Sub Button1_Click()
    pTest
    SendKeys "~ (tilde)"
    
    'Shell ("C;\Users\dmorrison\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2015\SketchUp\Plugins\GetFromExcel.rb")

End Sub

How can I run a plugin from sketchup with vba?

[Jim]

2 ways.

1. After SketchUp is open, use SendKeys to execute the plugin from SketchUp's Plugins menu.

2. Set an ENV variable from the VBA in Excel before starting SketchUp, then have a permenant SketchUp plugin that only runs when it sees the ENV variable. It will run automatically everytime SketchUp starts, but only do its work when the ENV var is set.

[davesexcel]

Thanks Jim,
SendKeys does work for the interm, ENV variable looks promising, I will have to look into it.

[Dan Rathbun]

.
FYI, in Ruby the environment is accessed via a hash-like
object referenced by the constant ENV.

Ref: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.4/doc/globals_rdoc.html

Example in Ruby:
user = ENV["USERNAME"] || ENV["User"]

(The implication is that the names of the variables differ from Windows to Mac OSX. But the keys are case insensitive, so any of: "User", "USER" or "user" will access the value.)

If you wish to examine the hash at the console, use the prettyprint method (it should already be loaded.)
pp ENV

If you get an error, just call:
require "pp"
and try again.

---

VBS

WshEnvironment Object

[https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6s7w15a0(v=vs.84).aspx](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6s7w15a0(v)

---

VBA Office

Environ function

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/gg264486.aspx

[davesexcel]

Thanks,
I think I understand the concept, from excel vba we are opening sketchup and passing on a variable that a plugin will recognize to run the plugin?

[Dan Rathbun]

@davesexcel said:

Thanks,
I think I understand the concept, from excel vba we are opening sketchup and passing on a variable that a plugin will recognize to run the plugin?

I think Jim explained it better and more detailed.