basically, just create 2 input points: one at the origin of the line you want to inference to, and another input point offset from that origin along the vector.

here is a really quick example:

class TestTool
	def initialize
		@ip = Sketchup;;InputPoint.new
	end
	def self.add_tool
		Sketchup.active_model.tools.push_tool(TestTool.new)
	end
	def onKeyDown(key,repeat,flags,view)
		ip1,ip2 = Sketchup;;InputPoint.new,Sketchup;;InputPoint.new
		origin2d = view.screen_coords([0,0,0])
		if(key == VK_UP)
			z2d = view.screen_coords([0,0,100])
			ip1.pick(view,origin2d[0],origin2d[1])
			ip2.pick(view,z2d[0],z2d[1])
			view.lock_inference(ip1,ip2)
			puts "up"
		elsif(key == VK_LEFT)
			y2d = view.screen_coords([0,100,0])
			ip1.pick(view,origin2d[0],origin2d[1])
			ip2.pick(view,y2d[0],y2d[1])
			view.lock_inference(ip1,ip2)
			puts "left"
		elsif(key == VK_RIGHT)
			x2d = view.screen_coords([100,0,0])
			ip1.pick(view,origin2d[0],origin2d[1])
			ip2.pick(view,x2d[0],x2d[1])
			view.lock_inference(ip1,ip2)
			puts "right"
		elsif(key == VK_DOWN)
			view.lock_inference
			puts "down"
		end
	end
	def onMouseMove(flags,x,y,view)
		@ip.pick(view,x,y)
		view.invalidate
	end
	def draw(view)
		@ip.draw(view)
	end
end

@cjthompson said:

Has anyone looked into Enumerable.grep()? it seems pretty useful, but I don't know how fast it is.

well, since no one seems to be listening...
I ran my own test (for: is using a for loop, grep: is using Enumerable.grep)
speedTest for: entities - 0.016 grep: entities - 0.015 for: entities array - 0.0 grep: entities array - 0.016 for: range - 0.219 grep: range - 0.203 for: range array - 0.219 grep: range array - 0.218 for: strings - 0.469 grep: strings - 0.234 nil

here is the code I used:

def speedTest
	entities = Sketchup.active_model.entities
	entitiesArray = entities.to_a
	range = 0..1000000
	rangeArray = range.to_a
	strings = range.collect{|number| number.to_s}
	
	## Entities
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	for ent in entities
		if(ent.class == Sketchup;;Edge)
			results << ent
		end
	end
	puts "for; entities - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	results = entities.grep(Sketchup;;Edge)
	puts "grep; entities - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	## Entities array
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	for ent in entitiesArray
		if(ent.class == Sketchup;;Edge)
			results << ent
		end
	end
	puts "for; entities array - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	results = entitiesArray.grep(Sketchup;;Edge)
	puts "grep; entities array - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	## Range
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	for num in range
		if(num == 318256)
			results << num
		end
	end
	puts "for; range - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	results = range.grep(318256)
	puts "grep; range - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	## Range Array
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	for num in rangeArray
		if(num == 318256)
			results << num
		end
	end
	puts "for; range array - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	results = rangeArray.grep(318256)
	puts "grep; range array - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	## Strings
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	for str in strings
		if(str.match(/312\Z/))
			results << str
		end
	end
	puts "for; strings - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
	results = []
	start = Time.now
	results = range.grep(/312\Z/)
	puts "grep; strings - " + (Time.now - start).to_s
	
end

and the model I tested on:

test1k.skp

I just emptied out my plugins folder and they were still there. Is it even possible for a plugin to add actions to Sketchup?

BTW, this is the command I used to find them:
Object.constants.grep(/CMD./).sort.join("\n")

I was browsing Object.constants and I found these.

just use them with Sketchup.send_action as constants, not strings.

CMD_ARC
CMD_CAMERA_UNDO
CMD_CIRCLE
CMD_COPY
CMD_CUT
CMD_DELETE
CMD_DIMENSION
CMD_DISPLAY_FOV
CMD_DOLLY
CMD_DRAWCUTS
CMD_DRAWOUTLINES
CMD_ERASE
CMD_EXTRUDE
CMD_FREEHAND
CMD_HIDDENLINE
CMD_LINE
CMD_MAKE_COMPONENT
CMD_MEASURE
CMD_MOVE
CMD_NEW
CMD_OFFSET
CMD_OPEN
CMD_ORBIT
CMD_PAGE_DELETE
CMD_PAGE_NEW
CMD_PAGE_NEXT
CMD_PAGE_PREVIOUS
CMD_PAGE_UPDATE
CMD_PAINT
CMD_PAN
CMD_PASTE
CMD_POLYGON
CMD_POSITION_CAMERA
CMD_PRINT
CMD_PROTRACTOR
CMD_PUSHPULL
CMD_RECTANGLE
CMD_REDO
CMD_ROTATE
CMD_RUBY_CONSOLE
CMD_SAVE
CMD_SCALE
CMD_SECTION
CMD_SELECT
CMD_SELECTION_ZOOM_EXT
CMD_SHADED
CMD_SHOWGUIDES
CMD_SHOWHIDDEN
CMD_SKETCHAXES
CMD_SKETCHCS
CMD_TEXT
CMD_TEXTURED
CMD_TRANSPARENT
CMD_UNDO
CMD_VIEW_BACK
CMD_VIEW_BOTTOM
CMD_VIEW_FRONT
CMD_VIEW_ISO
CMD_VIEW_LEFT
CMD_VIEW_PERSPECTIVE
CMD_VIEW_RIGHT
CMD_VIEW_TOP
CMD_WALK
CMD_WIREFRAME
CMD_ZOOM
CMD_ZOOM_EXTENTS
CMD_ZOOM_WINDOW

I might be able to help a bit with the math, although I'm definitely no mathmatician.

@honoluludesktop:
if I was able to get the Point3d, would your plugin be able to handle the rest?

@tig said:

>   ssg=ents.add_group(ssa)
> 

This is a bit off subject, but how do you add entities to a group as you're creating it, without crashing Sketchup?

Otherwise, you can add the bounding boxes together into a new bounding box. but that could potentially affect the size.

Has anyone looked into Enumerable.grep()? it seems pretty useful, but I don't know how fast it is.

will this work?

http://www.alexschreyer.net/cad/sketchup-ruby-api-cheatsheet/

It looks like that's what the problem was. Now I just have to figure out how to combine meshes.

this script isn't for any use in particular, I'm just trying to get the hang of polygon meshes.

the best way to describe what I'm doing is trying to turn all model entities into a mesh, delete the original entities, then put the mesh back, hopefully keeping the original stucture.

@thomthom said:

what if... you use the mesh you get from the face as a temporary mesh. Then iterate the polygons in that mesh and recreate a new one - but in the new one you add negative indexes for the edges you want to hide?

the problem isn't getting the negative numbers, it's making Sketchup recognize those numbers. it seems to completely ignore them. (if you puts face.mesh.polygons, you can see that there are already negative numbers there).

ok. I tried that, but I want to seperate faces that aren't coplanar.

Basically, I'm trying to go from a face to a mesh, then back to a face again, so there is no visible difference between the original and the face from the mesh. It sounds like that isn't really possible.

even when I set weld to true, I still get the triangulation.

here is an example:
I start with this. then I use mesh = face.mesh

but when I try adding the mesh to the entities, it triangulates regardless of the flag setting:

I tried using entities.fill_from_mesh(mesh,false,8) and entities.add_faces_from_mesh(mesh,8). it only works on faces with four or less edges.

Are these the same arguments that you are using?

Is there any way to hide the triangulated edges in a PolygonMesh when you use either fill_from_mesh or add_faces_from_mesh?

I noticed that there can be negative indexes in a polygon, but I can't find any way for either method to hide those edges.

It looks like it's like it's the same as the four argument version, but works with 3 vectors at once, instead of just 2.

Just to make sure we aren't all going insane: what happens when you double click a .htm file?

@tig said:

Try UI.openURL("C:/Windows/System32/notepad.exe")

UI.openURL("notepad.exe") or even just UI.openURL("notepad") will also work.

I haven't had any problems. do you have a code example?

http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/ourdoc/face.html#classify_point

@unknownuser said:

The classify_point method is used to determine if a given Point3d is on your face. The return value will be from this list:

0: PointUnknown,
1: PointInside,
2: PointOnVertex,
4: PointOnEdge,
8: PointOnFace,
16: PointOutside

the list should be:
0: PointUnknown,
1: PointInside,
2: PointOnEdge,
4: PointOnVertex,
8: PointOnPlane,
16: PointOutside