I use 20/20 and Sketchup every day for just what you are trying to do. You are correct, there is a lot of excess geometry imported. The import is pretty good though. There is no other way then to export to DWG and then import into Sketchup though.

It makes for some pretty heavy models, but here at the office we keep the computers pretty high spec so we can deal with the extra geometry.

It would be a real boon if you could convert the catalogs into seperate Sketchup models automatically... Although, I think 20/20 would be rather upset about that...

You can have components hide conditionally based on data obtained from the DC itself. You use an "IF" statement.

Use the scale tool to widen and shorten the cabinet I have attached. Is that what you are trying to accomplish? (In your case, you'd have a drawer hide or unhide based on size...)

Cabinet1.skp

I'd like to throw my hat in here with this drawing....

This is what I used to create the logo for my website. I was going to use the animated gears for my videos, I just haven't implemented it yet....

Just magic finger the gears and you will see...

Dynamic Training Logo.skp

Nice! Thanks for the input folks!

Has anyone out there been able to compare GoToMeeting directly with WebEx... WebEx is a bit more expensive, just wondering if its worth it....

Watch this video. Its a tutorial on exactly what you want to do!

Scott, are you lurking out there somewhere?

Has anyone out there used GoToMeeting with Sketchup? Sometimes is seems that 3D software doesn't agree well with applications like that. Just curious if anyone has had any experience with Sketchup and online meeting software.

You could setup different scenes that have the axis set differently in each scene. If you uncheck all the options for each scene but the model axis, your scene buttons will do nothing except change the model axis.

This is basically the functionality I am trying to duplicate.....

@unknownuser said:

I just wanted to point out the engineering toolbox page does something similar.

They have a minimal ruby plugin that is installed, which opens a WebDialog poited to their server.

Then, they send some Ruby code to the dialog, and 'eval' it; but that is only one way to do it. You could have all of your callbacks defined in the plugin, for example.

View the source code of the plugin, and the source of one of the HTML pages to see how it works.

Home

EngineeringToolBox - Sketchup Edition

(sketchup.engineeringtoolbox.com)

I think you are on the right track here....

Let me outline what exactly I am trying to do, and what I have learned so far...

What I want is a simple Ruby script that loads a web page right in Sketchup. I've got that worked out already....

I want models to be available on the web page.

I want the user to be able to set options on the models.

After the user has set options, they can insert the model into their model.

I also want the web page to be able to gather information about the model (like part counts, materials, stuff like that)

So far I have learned that this can be achieved through Javascript passing commands to Ruby. Exactly how that works, I am still unclear.

What I would like to do is build this in its most basic form. Say a webpage with one model, with one option that can be configured, and work from there. I just don't have the technical knowledge to get even that basic example started. Once I get that, I should really be able to get a handle on things and start to build it out...

Ok, so here's what I have up and running..........

http://sketchupapi.blogspot.com/2008/02/sharing-data-between-sketchup-ruby-and.html

What I am a little fuzzy on here is how that "refresh" button actually sends the command to Ruby. I see part of the command in the HTML file, but I am not sure exactly how it works....

I would assume that somehow the command is created by variables being pieced together, eventually creating a command, based on user input.

I think if I could just understand how the command is created in the HTML file, I could then create buttons that could do anything that I want in the web dialog....

"compName = \"Cone\";componentdefinition = nil;o_red = 0;o_green = 0;o_blue = 0;comp_col = \"\";o_point = Geom;;Point3d.new o_red,o_green,o_blue;o_transform = Geom;;Transformation.new o_point;  dt = 0;  db = 39.37;  h = 39.37;  centerpoint = Geom;;Point3d.new;  vector = Geom;;Vector3d.new 0,0,1;  vector2 = vector.normalize!;  model = Sketchup.active_model;  entities = model.active_entities;  group = entities.add_group;  group.name = compName;  entities = group.entities;  edgearrayO = entities.add_circle centerpoint, vector2, db/2;  edgeO = edgearrayO[0];  arccurveO = edgeO.curve;  faceO = entities.add_face edgearrayO;  pts = [];  pts[0] = [0, 0, h];  pts[1] = [0, 0, 0];  pts[2] = [0, db/2, 0];  if dt != 0 then pts[3] = [0, dt/2, h] end;  base = entities.add_face pts;  unless comp_col == \"\";    base.material = Sketchup;;Color.new comp_col;    base.material.alpha = 0.99;  end;  base.followme edgearrayO;group.move! o_transform;if model.selection[0];s = model.selection[0]; t = s.transformation; group.transform! t;end;"
onSelectionBulkChange1
Webdialog set to#<Sketchup;;Group;0xb908078>
onSelectionBulkChange0

So that's what I get in the Ruby console.

I am assuming that these are all Ruby commands that are initiated by a Javascript that gathers all the user input from the website.

I checked out the Javascript, not knowing anything about Java, its really hard to tell what's going on.
Where would I go to learn how to get Java to talk to ruby? I think if I see it in its most basic example, I could build from there...

Hey guys, just wanted to post this link....

http://www.sketchthis.net/2009/06/using-dynamic-door.html

Its a video tutorial I did to go along with that Dynamic Door...

Check it out, it will explain all of its features....

So I checked that out, its a pretty neat web page.

In some of the models, you can configure options of the model right on the web page, and then insert it into Sketchup, pre-configured.

There is a Javaspript that runs when you configure the model.

I am confused when the actual configuring happens though.... Does the user configure the model, then the model gets sent to Sketchup, where Sketchup then receives the configuration choices from the script, the changes are made, and then the model is dropped in? (That is a long sentence, and my only guess!)

Anyone else have any insights? I am just learning Ruby, and I have just about zero Java experience.

Awesome! I will check it out!

Hi all..

I am trying to write a plugin that can control Sketchup objects from a web dialog that is on a website, not a local HTML file.

I see from this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FALvwBN5-hc&feature=related (If you fast forward to 6:08) that you can grab data off of a website and render it in Sketchup....

Does anyone out there have a sample of this code? I'd like to see it in action... I have searched for that plugin that Scott demonstrated on there, but I can't seem to find it...

Are you talking about snow on the ground, or snow in the air?

I am using Windows 7 RC 64 bit with SU7, and I haven't had one issue with Sketchup.... Interestingly, I am still battling to get AutoCAD 2007 to work right though....

I would say that Windows 7 is great, so much better then Vista. Although, I am running a pretty high end machine too...

I would like to jump in and shamelessly plug my own site! (Click the link in my signature)

In the next week, I am reposting all of the current videos in HD

This sounds like a job for a dynamic component. Is this something that you do often?