@aerilius said:

Do you have a reference to the group?

I assume SketchUp cleans up empty groups as they would otherwise clutter with zero-size elements that the user won't ever be able to select or re-use manually.
Similar to that, Ruby cleans up unused references when it is sure that the reference won't ever be used again (garbage collection). If you need a reference later again (to draw entities into the group), the reference must live in the same scope as the drawing method.

Thanks a lot for your fast reply!

I agree with you - MANUALLY, I'm not able to use this group again. But with Ruby, I can find this group again by its name...

Hm, can I insert something invisible?! In the worst case, I have to insert a line, hide it, and when the user starts so insert something in this group, I delete this invisible line at first...

What do you think?

Hi!

I have a strange problem...

Following situation:

• I open a new Sketchup file
• insert an empty group
• this group gets a name and a description

At first, everything is fine... but...

when I will draw something, this empty group will get deleted... but why?

I need this empty group, because it gets filled step by step...

Do you know this situation? Or do you know, how I can solve it?

Thanks a lot for your help!

@aerilius said:

File.join("folder1", "folder2", "filename")

Oh yes, you are right! This is the next point on my list. However, thanks a lot for the hint!!!

OSX = ( Object::RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /(darwin)/i ? true : false ) unless defined?(OSX) WIN = ( not OSX ) unless defined?(WIN)

This looks very smart! Thanks!!

Hey at all!

A first release of my plugin comes closer and closer, but I have no possibilities to check my code on Mac OS... To avoid very basic problems, I would like to ask you: What do you think? Will this code work?

` fileContent = "Java -jar " + File.dirname(FILE) + "\Model2GCode.jar"

fileName = File.dirname(FILE) + "\Model2GCode."
fileName << "command" if (RUBY_PLATFORM.downcase.include?("darwin")) # Mac OS
fileName << "bat" if (RUBY_PLATFORM.downcase.include?("mswin")) # Windows

file = File.new(fileName, "w")
file.write(fileContent)
file.close

UI.openURL(File.dirname(FILE) + "\Model2GCode.bat") if (RUBY_PLATFORM.downcase.include?("mswin")) # Windows
UI.openURL(File.dirname(FILE) + "\Model2GCode.command") if (RUBY_PLATFORM.downcase.include?("darwin")) # Mac OS`

@Thom: You wrote a nice post, at which you explained, at which code parts one has to be careful because of the differences between Win / Mac. Could you please give me a link to this post? I could not find it anymore

Thanks for your help!

Thanks a lot Chris! Okay, no problem, then I start with my ideas! In my case, I have always faces with z = 0. So, I think, it should reduce the complexity of my project

I will public my solution for other people...

@thomthom said:

So you want to offset a set of 3d points representing a polygon - not actually a face itself?

Yes you are right! Sorry for the inexact description!

I'm wondering: In Sketchup, there is the button "offset"... so, choose a face, click on this button, and everything is fine

But, there is an "offset" function in ruby, just for single points. So, in princible, I know to calculate the "offseted" face... but my idea is a little bit more complicated and I have the feeling, that there should be a very easy way in ruby, to do that...

Do you know, how I can use the function, which is used, by clicking the "offset" button in Sketchup?

Thanks for your help!

At first at all, thank you very much for all your help! I will try it at weekend.

@thomthom said:

But... why do you even have two faces overlapping anyway? It's generally something to avoid in any 3d modelling.

Following situation in my plugin:

• you have a model
• you choose a part of this model, which you like to get milled (for example a pocket)
• after you have choosen it and add it to the "milling list", my plugin will copy this choosen faces into a hidden group
• when you click on the list, the "to be milled" faces (I collored it green) will be shown
• with the help of the hidden faces, the plugin is independent of the real model => so, before calculating the GCode, the user is allowed to change the model itself

I hoped, I could explained my situation understandably

Oh thanks a lot! I think, with the help of your links, I will be able so solve the problem!

Hey Joel! Thanks for your help! What exactly do you mean by
@jolran said:

and glue the component onto the other face
?

@cotty said:

The effect is called z-fighting. You can not give them a different priority to avoid this. You can

• move them to different positions (a little bit)
• hide one of them
• ...

Ahh okay, thanks a lot for your help! I will try to hide the affected faces....

Hi!

I have the following problem: I have two identical (in the view of position) faces. One is green, the other one grey. Sketchup shows these two faces now with a little bit grey and a little bit green, and it changes by rotating the view.

Is there a possibility to push one of these two faces to a higher "level"? Means, it is possible to show just the green one?

To be honest, I don't know the right englisch words descriping this situation, to do a serious search in google and in your forum respectively...

Thanks a lot for your help!

I think, I solved the problem - but I don't know exactly, what WAS wrong...

I saw, by copiing the selected faces into a new group, not every face has the original direction. So, I changed my Face.copy function (I know, its not good to change the Face.class, but I will solve THIS problem later) in that way:

outer_face = ents.add_face ov outer_face.material = "green" if outer_face.normal != self.normal outer_face.reverse! end

Now, all the faces have the right direction and now the problem with the offset of the points is gone.

But, to be honest, I have realy no idea, how these two problems correlate! And it doesn't help, to change the direction of these faces by hand - the problem stays! Just by copiing all the faces again, the problem of the offset is gone!

Do you have ANY idea what's going on?

I thank you sohhhhh much for all your support!!! You helped my realy a lot!

Okay, I played a little bit with this problem...
My new findings:

• when I move the group, the transformation of the outer group change in the right way
• but I have still an offset (in my case in -x direction)

Perhaps it helps a little bit to find the main problem!?

@sdmitch said:

I tried to simulate your problem using the code you posted but I got 0,0,0 points for some of the faces as expected

Perhaps if you posted a model just so we are working on the same problem.

Oh, that's so nice! Thanks a lot for your help!

I uploaded a Sketchupfile:

http://arbeitenkannstduspaeter.eu/Sketchup/Test3.skp

When you get the right result - this means, I have to look for the problem on an other position... puhh...

<span class="syntaxdefault"><br />Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">active_model</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">modelEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    if modelEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">&&</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> modelEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">name </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">==</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxstring">"Model2GCode_project_x"<br /><br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        UI</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">messagebox modelEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">transformation</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">origin</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">to_s<br />        modelEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">projectEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">            if projectEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">&&</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> projectEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">name</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.include?(</span><span class="syntaxstring">"Model2GCode_part_x_"</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /><br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                UI</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">messagebox projectEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">transformation</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">origin</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">to_s<br />                projectEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">partEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                    if partEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Face</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                        partEnt</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">vertices</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">vertex</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                            UI</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">messagebox vertex</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">position</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">to_s<br />                        end<br />                    end<br />                end<br /><br />            end<br />        end<br /><br />    end<br />end<br /></span>

I solved a lot of problems... but a last one is very tricky...

But let me explain a little bit more:

I have a group "Model2GCode_project_x". In this group, there is another group "Model2GCode_part_x_y". In this group, there are a lot of faces.
The faces inside this inner group start in the coordinates origin of Sketchup. So, at the end, I should get at least one point in (0, 0, 0). But I get very strange points with completly different positions.

However, the group.transformations are identity, means the origin of these transformations are (0, 0, 0).

At first: Do you understand my problem?
And then: Do you have any idea, what's going wrong? I tested a lot, but always the same problem...

Thanks a lot for your help!!

@thomthom said:

Regarding your modification of the Sketchup::Face class: please don't release this code in a public plugin. Modifying base classes can easily conflict with other plugins. More info: http://www.thomthom.net/thoughts/2012/01/golden-rules-of-sketchup-plugin-development/

Good hint! Thanks a lot! I will try to write everything in a module to avoid problems with other plugins!

Thanks for pimping my code style!!

You helped me a lot! Thanks!!!!

Now, my current (but not yet perfectly working result):

<span class="syntaxdefault">group </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> projectGroup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">add_group<br /><br /></span><span class="syntaxcomment"># add selected faces to group<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">model</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">selection</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">tmp</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    if tmp</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">ComponentInstance</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">||</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> tmp</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        getEntities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">tmp</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> nil</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    elsif tmp</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Face</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        newFace </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> tmp</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">copy</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> nil</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    end<br />end</span>

<span class="syntaxdefault"></span><span class="syntaxcomment"># Thanks to http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=29138&start=0<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">class Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Face<br />    def copy</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">ents</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        vec </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> Geom</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Vector3d</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">new 0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault">0<br />        dist </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 0<br /><br />        ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=[]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        vec</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">length </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> dist if dist </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">!=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 0<br />        self</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">outer_loop</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">vertices</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">            if dist </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">!=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 0<br />                ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">push</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">position</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">offset</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">vec</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">))<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">            else<br />                if </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(!</span><span class="syntaxdefault">trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">nil</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                    ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">push</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">position</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">transform</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">))<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                else<br />                    ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">push</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">position</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                end<br />            end<br />        end<br />        outer_face </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> ents</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">add_face ov<br />        outer_face</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">material </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxstring">"green"<br /><br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        inner_faces </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">[]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        if self</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">loops</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">length </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">></span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 1<br />            il </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> self</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">loops<br />            il</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">shift<br />            il</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">loop</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=[]<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                loop</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">vertices</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                    if dist </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">!=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> 0<br />                        ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">push</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">position</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">offset</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">vec</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">))<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                    else<br />                        if </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(!</span><span class="syntaxdefault">trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">nil</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                            ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">push</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">position</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">transform</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">))<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                        else<br />                            ov</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">push</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">v</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">position</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                        end<br />                    end<br />                end<br />                inner_face </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> ents</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">add_face ov<br />                inner_faces</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">push</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">inner_face</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">            end<br />            inner_faces</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">f</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">              f</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">erase</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">!<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">            end<br />        end<br />        return outer_face<br />    end<br />end </span><span class="syntaxcomment"># Class Face &nbsp;</span><span class="syntaxdefault"></span>

<span class="syntaxdefault">def getEntities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">element</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    entitiesArray </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> Array</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.new()<br /><br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">    if </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">element</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">ComponentInstance</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">))<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        elementEnts </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> element</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">definition<br />    else<br />        elementEnts </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> element<br />    end<br /><br />    elementEnts</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">each do </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">|<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        if entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">ComponentInstance</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">||</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">            if </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(!</span><span class="syntaxdefault">trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">nil</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">                trans </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> trans </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">*</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">transformation<br />            else<br />                trans </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">transformation<br />            end<br />            getEntities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        elsif entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">is_a</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">?(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Sketchup</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">;;</span><span class="syntaxdefault">Face</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">            newFace </span><span class="syntaxkeyword">=</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> entity</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">copy</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">(</span><span class="syntaxdefault">group</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">.</span><span class="syntaxdefault">entities</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">,</span><span class="syntaxdefault"> trans</span><span class="syntaxkeyword">)<br /></span><span class="syntaxdefault">        end<br />    end<br />end</span>

Oh my goodness - lots of stuff

So, copying all the faces into the group "group" is successful. Problem: At the end, the position of "group" is different then the original one... so, the transformation doesn't work.

Do you understand my Ruby code and, with a little bit of luck - can you find a mistake using the transformation? I'm not quite sure about

trans = trans * entity.transformation

Thanks again for all your help!!!

EDIT: Oh, why the tabs in the code are not shown? Now, the code looks not very clear...

@thomthom said:

combine the transformations of the previous levels

I transform a vertex in such a way:

vertex.position.transform(group.transformation)

So, do you mean something like that:

vertex.position.transform(group3.transformation).transform(group2.transformation).transform(group1.transformation)

group1: outer group
group2 and group3: inner group

@thomthom said:

So the user picks a group in the current context and you want to drill down into all the sub-groups and report coordinates for each face?

Yes, you are right! I mean, I know how to drill down into all the sub-groups until I get a face. But now, whats the easiest ways to get the coordinates? Undependent of the number of the nested groups...