thumbnails must all be in the same folder, to create a data base from which the user can search for a skp file

C, or java programming would be needed, yes; to create a special file browser hat would add a meta data (the link to the skp file)

Xnview can add meta dat, but the link tothe file is not active

i couldn' select a custom folder to store the thumbnails, through the "select" button, but i did it by typing th whole name of the folder

i couldn't either remove the '+' and '-' buttons, even un checking the option in the snapshot settings

but these are minor problems

because this plugin might fulfil a basic need, something i have been missing in my daily experience of sketchup: the need to retrieve a model lost among thousands of files.

This is how i imagine to proceed:

i store all the thumbnails in a specific folder, always the same

when i look for a sketchup model, i browse this folder, viewing big thumbnails

when i have found the thumbnail i am looking for, i copy the file name (without suffix), move to the folder i think the sketchup file should be, and paste it in the "search file" windows

windows file browser will find it

An extension to the plugin might be a button that would open a specific file browser (like Xnview) and by looking through the thumbnails, would open the sketchup model by clicking on the thumbnail

@aerilius said:

Try it now?

yes, i could download the file
seem to work fine
i don't understand the meaning of "save the name-1" and "save the name "+1"..

@aerilius said:

Can you test the plugin: http://sketchucation.com/forums/download/file.php?id=94646

file deleted?

@aerilius said:

Accidentially I just had made a script for large thumbnails (very large). It probably won't work for you, but I could just extract and modify the relevant code.

My script automatically exports a large thumbnail every time when a SketchUp file is saved (linked to the file name of the opened skp). Would this be what you want, or do you need the option to set the filename manually? Does your incremental backup system work that way that the file that you are working on is the one you want the snapshot for?

large thumbnails are better, because on small thumbnails you hardly see any details if it is a whole model

possible to set a parameter for the size of the thumbnail?

a common folder for all the thumbnails is a good idea, because this way you don't have to look into many folders; if what you are looking for exists, it must be there...

@dan rathbun said:

Actually we cannot close inspectors singly. Once they are open, we can only collapse or expand them.

i am surely missing something

you are right; the window is not closed, only collapsed

but it is sufficient; my experience is that sketchup doesn't crash anymore

@dan rathbun said:

@dan rathbun said:

its nice but...
The code needs updating. It needs to search by ID instead.
(Or have arrays of the Inspector captions in all the local versions.)

Ooops.. just checked. The Outliner does not have an ID.
But Jim's system call 'may' work. The window object can have a different "name" than the text displayed on the caption bar.
Someone running a non-English version could test it and let us know.

I run a spanish computer using french as default language, and it doesn't work...

But there is a simple way to do it, using the standard line of code you mentioned, plus a messagebox

result = UI.messagebox "if the outliner window is opened, close it?'", MB_YESNO
  if result == 6 #yes
	  #close or open the outliner window
		status=UI.show_inspector "Outliner"
		if status==false then
		  UI.show_inspector "Outliner"
		end
 end

This way, you don't toggle on the outliner window if it is not opened already, and if it is, you close it

@tig said:

To change the size of the tool's gizmo-globe, which defaults per session to x1.5 the size of the selection's max bounds, you can type into the Ruby Console
$freerotategloberadius=0.1 or another value to make it small [or gigantic] - it can also be 0, when it reverts to a guide-point only...

Thank you, it helped me a lot

i added some code your "def initialize()":

def initialize()
    @ip=nil
    @ip1=nil
    @ipp=nil
    @iph=nil
#$freerotategloberadius = 1.5
@freerotategloberadius = 1.5
prompts = ["globe radius; "]
@freerotategloberadius = "0.1|0.2|0.3|0.4|0.5|0.6|0.7|0.8|0.9|1.0|1.1|1.2|1.3|1.4|1.5" unless @freerotategloberadius
defauts = [@freerotategloberadius]
list = ["0.1|0.2|0.3|0.4|0.5|0.6|0.7|0.8|0.9|1.0|1.1|1.2|1.3|1.4|1.5"]
results = UI.inputbox prompts, defauts, list, "ratio radius/selection's max size"
return if ! results
#results is an array
freerotategloberadius = results[0]
freerotategloberadius = freerotategloberadius.to_f
$freerotategloberadius = freerotategloberadius
#$freerotategloberadius=1.5 if not $freerotategloberadius

end

So a box appears to type the ratio in

there is still a problem: unwanted rotation along the axis; Depending upon which point of the globe is inferenced, a rotation along the axis occurs or not

This can be corrected immediatly by tiping "tab" to show the disk

But it takes a long time for the disk to appear (strange...), and it is not easy; do you have an explanation why the component turns around its axis when free rotated?

@tig said:

A completely updated version of the tool [for v7 & v8]...
[list]
(c) TIG 2010-2011
..
FreeRotate.rb >>> Plugins Folder

---

nice tool

but the globe is not always necessary, for example when trying to settle the rotation by inferencing an existing objet in the model

In that case, the globe doesn't help, and even makes things more difficult

would there be a way to de activate it?

@a4chitect said:

[color=#4080BF]short tutorial:
installation: 1. extract the provided zip file into your Sketchup\Plugins folder

Future
...
3.allow the choice of closing after launch to be saved/remembered

This plugin might be a solution to the instability i noticed when too many icons are shown on sketchup screen

one minor problem: only one operation at a time, the dialog box can not stay opened, even if i uncheck the "close" rectangle

so i have to re open it each time i need it; any other solution?

This plugin seems a very good idea to me, because i experienced that too many icons make sketchup unstable

gavvy: I modified the original code as you have indicated, and it seems to work better, but i still have a problem:

If i uncheck "close?", the plugin seems to freeze, nothing happens; i can only use it once, and the box closes; each time i want to use it again, i have to open it again

Did you experience the same problem?
Is there a way to fix it?

To have only the plugins i want in the box, i just deleted the lines corresponding to the unwanted plugins in "plugins.rb", and deleted "builtin-pc.rb" and "builtin.rb"

![problem when "close" is unchecked](/uploads/imported_attachments/acdk_A4launchitcloseproblem.jpg "problem when "close" is unchecked")

the closest plugin to your search i have seen in this forum is http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=40569

i didn't try it

Hope it helps

@scott m said:

Has any one had a problem accessing the Ruby Depot the last few days I have not ben able too bring up the sight.

no, i checked: i have acces today

@a4chitect said:

this looks very promising - thanks for sharing

I would prefer seeing the result (even better - immediate feedback) directly in sketchup, like an old game called bridge builder - where you drew lines and could see their condition under pressure by changing their color from green to red. this could help in the initial 'sketchup' phase of designing structure

i agree

Sketchup can be a much better viewer than GNUplot; i have a structural analysis software, with post processing features, but for textile structures for example, the result is better when i import the nodes position (X Y Z) output from the structural analysis software, into sketchup, using "cloud_v8.rbs" and "TIG_points_cloud_triangulation.rb"

The result is much more realistic

Apart from that, congratulation to Oyil for this plugin ! it widens, even more if possible, sketchup potential applications

i get error messages, and then the dialog box open but without the icons

My experience:

each time i open a dialog windows (entity, components), i close it after use
as few icons as possible on the screen (keyboards shortcuts are much more efficient and dont waste space on the screen)
icons on the left side of the sketchup windows, so when i reduce the window, and enlarge it again, they stay in the same position
when really icons position has to be re organized, i use the menu (toolbars > restaure position ...)

As sketchup cannot adapt to the way i work in certain aspects, i adapt the way i work to sketchup...

It seeùs that TIG has a solution for this problem also...

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=45643

"Select the lines and use Move+Ctrl to make a copy off to one side that does not clash with any other geometry.
Now 'weld' those selected lines together to make a curve.
Move the curve back over the original lines snapping to a common end.
The curve will get split into parts by the other intersecting lines at vertex-nodes, but the parts will remain as curves, giving smoothed edges when extruded etc..."

@dukejazz said:

KISS... ("keep it simple, sir" approach)
I basically need only 2 options:

move select
select all exit
ok
Here your ver of Another Sketchup Ver. 1.2a KISS options:
[attachment=0:2vcdagm3]<!-- ia0 -->dj_another_sketchup Ver. 1.2a KISS options.zip<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:2vcdagm3]
I guess it will be the same for some other sketchup users...

If you need more options
Edit another_sketchup Ver. 1.2a KISS

Yes, the messagebox has been removed; it is much more convenient, at least for me
thank you

i'll try to understand what are all the options later

This plugin is helpful, but it took me time to understand how to use it
too many options for me ... and "Another sketchup plus" is even more complicated

KISS... ("keep it simple, sir" approach)

I basically need only 2 options:

move select
select all exit

and this is how i proceed in detail:

select the detail i want to modify in the first sketchup session window
right click, "another sketchup > move select"

the selection disappears from the first sketchup window and a second sketchup session is opened with the selection in it.

modify the detail as needed; when it is done:

right click anywhere in the second sketchup session, "another sketchup > select all exit"
message asks if i want to save modifications (no...)
i come back to the first sketchup session
and this is the important step: go the "menu > edition > paste on place (or something similar)"

the detail appears in its previous position, and with the modifications

If these options are all that i need, i guess it will be the same for some other sketchup users...

The only detail that disturbs me is the messagebox when a sketchup session is opened; would there be a way to get rid of it?

i had problems with 3d pdf exporter until i found out that it was necessary to copy paste the model in a new sketchup window before exporting it

and then it works perfectly

i use metric units; don't know if it makes a difference