Ah yes, OK, that would make sense, i.e. class inheretance. But, from your comment I was anticipating seeing "layer=" in the instance methods list returned by that nifty command...

Sketchup;;Group.instance_methods.sort
(eval);64; warning; instance_methods; parameter will default to 'true' as of 1.8.1
["add_observer", "copy", "createObservers", "definition", "description", "description=", "entities", "explode", "local_bounds", "locked=", "locked?", "make_unique", "move!", "name", "name=", "remove_observer", "to_component", "transform!", "transformation", "transformation="]

So, why is "layer=" it not in the list?

Thank you. I had seen that, but was thrown off a little the "Introduction" for "Drawingelement" which states...

@unknownuser said:

...These items include edges, contruction points, construction lines, and images...

No mention of "groups" (which did seem contradictory to the Objects Diagram). But now I see I need to get more familiar with the API Object structure.

I'm really sorry to post such a seemingly-simple question, but I'm at a loss where to discover the answer, after significant searching.

In Ruby, how does one assign the Layer property of a Group? (there is no Group.layer= method)

Thanks...

I realize this thread is a bit stale, but I am very interested in this as well. After becoming familiar with some of the commercial products available, and seeing what limited modeling interfaces they provide, I definitely think SU would be a great modeling tool to use as the "front-end" for a structural FEA tool. The biggest weakness that I see with many of these commercial products out there is that they try to re-invent the wheel with their front-end modeling interface, and most of the time fail miserably. In one case I actually modeled a project in SU, then exported/imported it as DXF into the structural analysis program.

The thing is, I don't think the FEA mathematics is any big secret. Complex, yes, but secret, no. Instead, I think it's more a matter of the value-added features like automatic member (re)design based on analysis results, visual analysis reporting/diagrams, regulatory code compliance checking, things like that. It is a fairly complex and involved arena, no question about it.

In the same way that the commercial structural analysis packages should not have re-invented the 3D modeler wheel, I agree with what has already been said, no reason to re-invent the wheel if a suitable FEA engine can be found and integrated with SU via Ruby scripting.

Has anyone hear ever looked at LISA? http://www.lisa-fet.com/ This really looks like it could fit the bill for static structural analysis. What is interesting is that it also seems to do other things like hydraulics, which could be interesting for wind loading. OpenSees also looks interesting, that could perhaps be used for the non-linear/dynamic (e.g.) siesmic side of things.