Medeek Wall Plugin

medeek

Similar to the Wall Draw Perimeter tool Larry Belk requested that I add this method to the API:

wall_draw_perim

This new method accepts either a face or an array of points:

medeek

I've finally started to tackle the manual for the Wall plugin. There is so much content that needs to be added to these pages that this one will probably take me a few months to complete even if I were to work at it full time. The current organization of this page is probably only temporary as additional items are added it will continue to evolve and probably branch into many separate pages/documents:

Medeek Wall Manual

(design.medeek.com)

gullfo

one future evolution - create a separate plugin for doors and windows, etc so your plugins are focused - wall does walls, floor does floors, trusses do trusses, etc -- then doors and windows CRUD doors and windows in walls or ceilings etc, stairs probably should get their own as well given the complexities. same way you broke out electrical, hvac, plumbing... that would simplify both the wall plugin and not require as many updates, whereas doors and windows would likely get more frequent ones as you add models and options for them.

medeek

Here is what I prompted ChatGPT with:

Okay, now that you have helped me actually program most of the Medeek APIs (wall, truss, foundation and floor). I would like for you to attempt to use the API to generate some ruby code I can dump into the console in order to create a simple garage (four exterior walls) with a simple fink truss roof.

I also forgot to add that this should have a slab on grade foundation that measures 24' x 36'. The walls align with the edges of the foundation (outside of framing) and the truss roof will also be 24' x 36'. On the one gable end will be a 16' garage door 84" in height (default, so don't worry about the height. On one of the long walls there should be a regular 36" x 80" door, centered 6' from the corner. On the other long wall a 36" x 48" window (centered on wall) and on the other short wall opposite the garage door wall should also be a 36" x 48" window (centered on the wall). The fink truss roof should be a 6:12 pitch, leave everything else as default.

After one mistake (it put the roof assembly on the ground initially, not sure why it missed that but it did), it produced this piece of code, which I then copied and pasted into the console and hit enter:

model = Sketchup.active_model
ents  = model.active_entities

wall_mod  = Medeek_Engineering_Inc_Extensions::MedeekWallPlugin::Wall::MedeekMethods
truss_mod = Medeek_Engineering_Inc_Extensions::MedeekTrussPlugin::MedeekMethods
sog_mod   = Medeek_Engineering_Inc_Extensions::MedeekFoundationPlugin::Sog::MedeekMethods

# --- helper: run an API call and return the new top-level group it created ---
def capture_new_group(ents)
  before = ents.grep(Sketchup::Group)
  yield
  after  = ents.grep(Sketchup::Group)
  new_groups = after - before
  return new_groups.first
end

model.start_operation('Create Medeek Garage', true)

begin
  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # GEOMETRY
  # 24' x 36' slab/wall/truss footprint
  # Coordinates in inches
  #
  # Layout:
  #   SW = (0,0,0)
  #   SE = (432,0,0)
  #   NE = (432,288,0)
  #   NW = (0,288,0)
  #
  # Walls are drawn counterclockwise around the exterior perimeter so the
  # outside of framing aligns with the slab perimeter.
  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

  p0 = [0.0,   0.0,   0.0]   # SW
  p1 = [432.0, 0.0,   0.0]   # SE
  p2 = [432.0, 288.0, 0.0]   # NE
  p3 = [0.0,   288.0, 0.0]   # NW

  footprint = [p0, p1, p2, p3]

  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 1. Slab-on-grade foundation
  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  sog_group = capture_new_group(ents) do
    sog_mod.sog_draw(footprint)
  end

  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 2. Exterior walls
  #    South wall: p0 -> p1  (36')
  #    East wall:  p1 -> p2  (24')
  #    North wall: p2 -> p3  (36')
  #    West wall:  p3 -> p0  (24')  <-- garage door wall
  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  south_wall = capture_new_group(ents) do
    wall_mod.wall_draw(p0, p1, 'Rectangular', 'Int-Ext')
  end

  east_wall = capture_new_group(ents) do
    wall_mod.wall_draw(p1, p2, 'Rectangular', 'Int-Ext')
  end

  north_wall = capture_new_group(ents) do
    wall_mod.wall_draw(p2, p3, 'Rectangular', 'Int-Ext')
  end

  west_wall = capture_new_group(ents) do
    wall_mod.wall_draw(p3, p0, 'Rectangular', 'Int-Ext')
  end

  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 3. Openings
  #
  # WEST gable wall (24' wall): centered 16' garage door
  # wall length = 288", centered opening location = 144"
  #
  # SOUTH long wall (36' wall): 36" x 80" door
  # center placed 72" from SW corner
  #
  # NORTH long wall (36' wall): centered 36" x 48" window
  # wall length = 432", centered opening location = 216"
  #
  # EAST short wall (24' wall): centered 36" x 48" window
  # wall length = 288", centered opening location = 144"
  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

  # 16' garage door on west wall, centered
  wall_mod.wall_garage_draw(144.0, 192.0, 84.0, 'Rectangle', west_wall)

  # 3' x 6'-8" man door on south wall, center 6' from SW corner
  wall_mod.wall_door_draw(72.0, 36.0, 80.0, 'Rectangle', south_wall)

  # Centered window on north wall
  wall_mod.wall_win_draw(216.0, 36.0, 48.0, 'Rectangle', north_wall)

  # Centered window on east wall
  wall_mod.wall_win_draw(144.0, 36.0, 48.0, 'Rectangle', east_wall)

  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 4. Fink truss roof over same 24' x 36' footprint, 6:12 pitch
  #    FIX 1: raise roof to top of walls
  #    FIX 2: reorder points so gable orientation is rotated 90 degrees
  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  wall_height = 97.125

  tp0 = [0.0,   0.0,   wall_height]   # SW
  tp1 = [0.0,   288.0, wall_height]   # NW
  tp2 = [432.0, 288.0, wall_height]   # NE
  tp3 = [432.0, 0.0,   wall_height]   # SE

  truss_footprint = [tp0, tp1, tp2, tp3]

  truss_group = capture_new_group(ents) do
    truss_mod.common_truss_draw(6.0, 'Fink', truss_footprint)
  end

  model.commit_operation

  puts 'Medeek garage created successfully.'
  puts "SOG group:   #{sog_group ? sog_group.name : 'not captured'}"
  puts "South wall:  #{south_wall ? south_wall.name : 'not captured'}"
  puts "East wall:   #{east_wall ? east_wall.name : 'not captured'}"
  puts "North wall:  #{north_wall ? north_wall.name : 'not captured'}"
  puts "West wall:   #{west_wall ? west_wall.name : 'not captured'}"
  puts "Truss group: #{truss_group ? truss_group.name : 'not captured'}"

rescue => e
  model.abort_operation
  puts "ERROR: #{e.class} - #{e.message}"
  puts e.backtrace.join("\n")
end

The result was this:

ChatGPT just built (in SketchUp) my new detached garage in under five minutes. It was even offering to modify the windows to sliders and other modifications if I needed to stray from the defaults that I had used.

These AI engines will continue to improve and eventually they may be able to do much more than design a simple four wall structure like this. Things are going to get really interesting in the next couple of years.

gullfo

nice! how did it know to use your API?

medeek

@gullfo I gave it the links to the API web pages and told it to study them and from that it was able to use the API fully.

Here are the links I provided ChatGPT:

Medeek Wall API Documentation

(design.medeek.com)

Medeek Truss API Documentation

(design.medeek.com)

Medeek Foundation API Documentation

(design.medeek.com)

gullfo

very cool! thanks!

medeek

Just so everyone is aware, they should update to this latest release: SU 2026.1.2 because of specific bug fix for the SpaceMouse issue as documented here:

(Windows) Fixed a crash related to DX12 rendering triggered by orbiting or zooming while using a 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse, notably after using extensions such as Medeek Wall.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

(help.sketchup.com)

gullfo

i find SU 2026 unusable do the folder setting restrictions which make my component and material collections virtually unreadable from all the duplication and then consider that if i do modify the folders, the installer simply reverts. so i'm on 2025 until they can fix it. thankfully i don't use a SpaceMouse...

medeek

Version 4.4.4 - 04.02.2026

Enabled the following methods within the Medeek Wall API: wall_draw_perim
Enabled "profile cutting" of balusters for vertical and OTP handrails.

I'm not sure why I didn't realize I could do this before but I woke up yesterday and I realized that a simple profile could be revolved into the cutting solid (like putting a piece of square stock on a lathe) and then boolean subtracted from the square baluster as shown to give a typical "turned" baluster.