Thanks a million, it worked like a charm.

TIG,

You are the best! It worked. Would it be possible to put other delimiters in the brackets, like line colour etc? Then I would tell the function only to calculate length of red lines or ignore lines 6" or smaller?

TIG,

This is similar to a problem I am having. I want to call up the running length of walls at base (where Y axis would be zero, and which would exclude door openings)or ceiling (which would give total lengths for molding etc). Is it possible to convert the above reporting script into a DCfunction in much the same way as you had created the DCvolume function? You may need specific functions that would take only the sum of lengths of the edges of the outer or inner faces of the wall at the base(ie excluding doors) and at the ceiling (which would include door openings).

I really hope someone has a solution otherwise I may have to explore other software options.

I am using Sketchup 8 to do bills of quantities, material measurement and calculate pay for tradesmen based on measured work. I got help from TIG (a forum moderator)in creating a Ruby code which added a volume function "volume()" to SU's DC function set. This was very useful in creating dynamic component attributes for entities such as walls, foundations and slabs in estimating the quantity of concrete to order from suppliers. This also helped with determining how varying the thickness of walls or adding an extra room would affect material quantities and overall cost. The FACEAREA dc function was also useful in calculating square footage for tiling, painting etc. However, when I need to calculate running feet, there is great difficulty. For example, if I need to calculate the total running feet of moulding strips along walls, then I could not use the Lenx or Leny functions as these only give the rectangular dimension of the entity box. What I need is the running feet of walls by floor plan. I need a function that would calculate the total lineal feet in the following ways:

1 Net Lineal Feet one side - Runninng feet at the base of the wall less any openings for doors etc for the inside or outside of a wall.
2 Net Lineal Feet one side - Runninng feet at the base of the wall less any openings for doors etc for both sides of the wall.
3 Gross Lineal Feet one side- Running feet at the base from intersection to intersection on the inside .
4 Gross Lineal Feet one side- Running feet at the base from intersection to intersection on the inside and outside of the wall.

There may already be a plug-in designed for this. I just cant find it. Please help.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be so much easier in doing lineal measurement to "material" or colour an edge/line and have a function return the length of all coloured edges/lines,in much the same way the the FACEAREA command does? That would be so helpful. I could get the inner and outter running feet by merely colouring the walling footing edges. As I adjust the walls so would the measurements and all the calculations that reference them.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be so much easier in doing lineal measurement to "material" or colour an edge/line and have a function return the length of all coloured edges/lines,in much the same way the the FACEAREA command does? That would be so helpful. I could get the inner and outter running feet by merely colouring the walling footing edges. As I adjust the walls so would the measurements and all the calculations that reference them.

TIG,

I have attached the file with the first floor concrete walls for which I need to obtain running foot. I presently would have to dimension each wall inside and outside and manually add them to come up with total running foot. Is there a way the SU could report the total dimension of a component as distinct from lenx and leny dimensions. Could SU report the length of selected edges at the base running paralell or at an angle to zor y? Could it report the maximum length of every face it recognizes?

Concrete wall running foot problem.skp

Ok guys, it worked beautifully. Thanks a million!

NEXT PROBLEM

I pay carpenters by running (lineal) feet to install form ply for pouring concrete walls. I want to calculate running feet along wall components and have them adjust dynamically as I vary walls. Lenx or leny does not work as walls bend and curve. I would have to make each wall a regularly shaped rectanglar component and then add all the length of the base lines in the wall. Is there a script that could do this or a plugin already built.

TIG, I did as instructed.

1. Create a text file called "add_DC_functions.rb"
2. Copy code above
3. Change file extension to .rb
4. place file plugin folder (Should this be place in the Dynamic Component folder instead
5. Restart SU

After restart I cannot find the new function. Where and how is the new function accessed. Is it now part of the list of functions in SU attributes such as FACEAREA, or is it in the list where you find Lenz? How do I call this new "volume function" in a calculation.

All i want to do is to be able to manipulate/vary the thickness of walls and slabs to analyse the impact on overall cost. As I increase the volume of a component wall the cost of that component should adjust automatically. I really need help.