Medeek Wall Plugin

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.

medeek

Version 4.4.5 - 04.05.2026

Fixed a bug with the profile cutting of balusters.
Enabled a new boolean subtraction algorithm for profile cutting of balusters.

medeek

Version 4.4.5b - 04.08.2026

Added a tooltip for the Corner Treatment option into the Global Settings, Draw and Edit Wall Menus.

I didn't realize that the term "California Corner" was not well known in the industry. To that end I've added a tooltip for "Corner Treatment" which shows a typical (2x6) California Corner and a U-Corner. Hopefully this further clarifies this parameter for some users who are not familiar with this term. The other corner treatments seem fairly self explanatory.

medeek

I've been meaning to add in a "Style 6" door hardware option for quite some time. Basically something for your entrance door, and I haven't had a good option for this until now. This low poly entrance hardware and deadbolt (handleset) is loosely modeled after the Camelot series by Schlage. I will include this in the next roll out:

medeek

Version 4.4.6 - 04.11.2026

Added a "Style 6" (Schlage - Camelot) to the built-in door hardware options.
Configured the "Ctrl" hot key within the draw door tool with additional justification options (x-dir).

Tutorial 84 - Positioning Doors (7:19 min.)

medeek

Version 4.4.6b - 04.12.2026

Added custom door positioning offsets into the Door tab of the Global Settings.

medeek

Version 4.4.7 - 04.16.2026

Fixed a bug with custom door positioning for metric templates.
Enabled "profile cutting" of posts for vertical handrails.
Fixed a bug with the bottom trimming algorithm for balusters

.

medeek

Version 4.4.8 - 04.18.2026

Enabled custom components as posts for vertical handrails

medeek

Tutorial 85 - Profile Cut Newel Posts (9:04 min.)

medeek

Version 4.4.8b - 04.18.2026

Enabled custom components as balusters for vertical and OTP handrails.

Th sub-folder structure is the same as for newel posts, so Tutorial #85 is applicable to balusters as well.

medeek

Version 4.4.8c - 04.19.2026

Fixed a minor typo in the stair module.
Added a ornamental iron baluster into the baluster component library.

The limitations of profile cutting balusters can be overcome by using a predefined component instead, which allows for much more intricate baluster geometries.

However as I have been researching various baluster layouts I've noticed that with iron balusters usually more than one baluster style is utilized. The typical scenario is two or three different baluster geometries are alternated along the run of stairs. I will need to give this some more thought.

Stairs can be a "rabbit hole".

medeek

Version 4.4.9 - 04.19.2026

Enabled a secondary custom profile/component parameter for balusters.
Added additional ornamental iron balusters into the baluster component library.

I think I've beat this horse to death. Hopefully with this added option we can configure most of the common baluster layouts, however there will always be a few that will be beyond the scope of the plugin (ie. three or more baluster types in various repeating patterns).

medeek

Version 4.5.0 - 04.20.2026

Enabled custom components as posts for OTP handrails.
Enabled "profile cutting" of posts for OTP handrails.
Modified the bottom trimming algorithm for balusters to better accommodate complex baluster components.
Added one additional ornamental iron baluster into the baluster component library.
Added one OTP newel post into the newel post component library: LJ4270_43

I will readily admit configuring OTP handrails with their associated posts and fittings is a bit tricky, adjusting the various offsets takes a few iterations to really hone things in.

I appreciate everyone who has pushed me to flesh out the newel post and baluster capabilities. I feel like the stair module is a bit complicated now and perhaps even a bit clunky with so many options and variables but at the same time it is much more configurable and flexible and can I say with these new capabilities more powerful.

Obviously it would be optimal if I could spend some serious time and create many of the standard balusters and newel posts found in LJ Smith’s general catalog so that the user would have a bevy of options to choose from without having to exert additional effort in creating their own. However, such an undertaking could easily consume two to three weeks and my development time is probably better spent elsewhere at the moment.