Hi Hal and FlexTools developer, here to report a strange issue.
One of my students had flextools installed without any problems. Then she happened to leave her noteebook disconnected from power so the pc auto-shut down. From the following power-on, she gets this message when starting SKP 2020:

Error: #<JSON::ParserError: 765: unexpected token at ''>
C:/Program Files/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/Tools/RubyStdLib/json/common.rb:156:in parse' C:/Program Files/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/Tools/RubyStdLib/json/common.rb:156:in parse'
C:/Program Files/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/Tools/RubyStdLib/json/common.rb:335:in load' c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6301:in block in filedata'
c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6300:in open' c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6300:in filedata'
c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6291:in load' c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6414:in filedata'
c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6393:in load' c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6810:in fetch_serial'
c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6774:in init' c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:6731:in method_missing'
c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:9763:in setup' c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:9825:in module:FlexTools'
c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:19:in <module:F3d>' c:/users/lambertini-m/appdata/roaming/sketchup/sketchup 2020/sketchup/plugins/f3d_flextools/main.rbe:18:in <main>'
C:/Program Files/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in eval' C:/Program Files/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in require'
C:/Program Files/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in load' C:/Users/lambertini-m/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/SketchUp/Plugins/f3d_flextools.rb:17:in register_extension'

Basically, the rbz installs without errors BUT I get no toolbars, although FlexTools is present in the list of the installed extensions.

I tried uninstalling the plugin, uninstalling SKP, repairing SKP, running CCleaner after uninstall, installing SU2021, but the issue still remains, so I believe it's not related to SKP but maybe to some registry key I suppose has been corrupted during the auto-shut down.... But I'm no expert, that's only an hypothesis....

Could you help me out solving this problem? Thanks in advance!

I was almost there thanks a lot Phil!

Hi all!
Sorry to ask for help again: I'm trying to figure out the simplest way to round a result of a formula to the closest upper value of a list with non constant intervals (e.g. 20,70,180,500)

Do you have any hints for me?

Thanks in advance as usual!

Same here.
It was working on 2020 but it isn't anymore on 2021..

So sad!

Hi Aleja!
I'm afraid you can only set ONE axis origin for each component. BUT with DCs you can move the geometry inside the component and make it rotate the way you want.

Hi Hal and all the Flex team!
I was wondering if a 'replace selected' feature could be implemented in component finder, could be very useful since the native SketchUp folder has been outclassed

The usage would be the same: the user selects a number of component inside his model, then right-clicks on a component on the component finder window and chooses 'replace selected'. Doing this, the software replaces the selected component with the new component, keeping the axis origins and orientation of the original component.

What do you think? Sound feaseable?

Hi again! I've encontered a critical misfunction, I'm posting this in the hope someone can help me figure out how to dodge this.

In the file I attach there's a panel. If I copy the panel, select both copies and change the length, both component react correctly BUT the formulas contained in the last 3 top-level attribute rows are deleted, substituted by their value as fixed number.

What can cause this?

And secondary: is there a way to apply a certain DC configuration to another DC of the same "family"?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT
Found another user's post showing same issue. Seems to be related to the attribute state set to "User can see". Thanks!

auto-erasing formulas.zip

OHHH I see! Thanks!

Hi all! I know this is a very old plugin but seems like it's the only one capable of making dashed lines projections of what is upper than the section plane

I get the same message as the last user reported, but Su is correctly installed, and the plugin too..

Can anybody give some pieces of advices to get it work or is it impossible?
Or, is there a newer plugin making the same thing (dashed projections of sections)?

many many thanks in advance!

Same here. AMS lib is not compatible with SU2021, or so it seems..
It's a pity..

Hi guys! I needed exactly this feature and I found this great tip from master TIG! Wonderful! Thanks!

Now in 2021 you only have to update a tiny detail: in the script you have to point to "su_dynamiccomponents.rb" instead of "dynamiccomponents.rb", and it works great!

@didier bur said:

@boffredlay:
You're right. Fixed
Side note: I'll soon publish an enhanced version with another new feature: automatic sectional view creation (scene, layer, material and style options).

[attachment=0:1xckhsb2]<!-- ia0 -->coupe.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1xckhsb2]

HI DIDIER! WONDERFUL PLUGIN!
I don't know how I could have missed that!!!!

Any chance you finally finished the textured section face mod?

Thanks a lot, as usual.
I ask you a personal opinion: do you think that the trimble team will dismiss the Dynamic Component system? I've writtena whole load of them.....

Sorry to bother again...
I have another tricky question: I have issues trying to report attributes assigned to COPIES of the original instance. I mean: the fields areactually correclty compiled but the native reporting tool keeps only the result of the "original" instance.

I attach my component (which I'm particularly proud of, maybe naively...).

You can spot the issue, for example, if you change the size of the main component eg to 150x100cm. In this case I replicate the inner "Riser_strutt.quadrotta", and the copy is resized to 100x50. If you now enter the component you will see that the copy of the original instance has a "COMP_FIN" attribute changed to 50x100 (dimensions of the tile after the copy).
If I generate report using the "8_PRELIEVO" template, I get a quantity of 2 on the string of "quadrotta truciolare Riser", and the "comp_fin" field still reports "100x100".

Is there a way I can make this work? or is it impossible?
In this second case, my solution would be NOT to modify the copy of the original instance but instead include an invisible pre-set 100x50 component, appearing in the right places(s) when needed... Could this work?

THANKS A LOT IN ADVANCE!

pedana Riser struttura.skp

thanks Phil! Completely understood! Thank you!

Hi all you DCs experts!
I have one silly question: for several reasons, the most complex DCs I have made make themselves unique after a simple copy of the original instance. Given the fact that I have to further investigate why this happens in specific cases, would it be possible to write a plugin which searches all the instances of the same DC and substitutes the identical copies with one single component?

Hi guys,
I hope some of you PRO coders can help me out. I'm thinking about Fredo, given the fact that the request I'd need is somewhat similar to his wonderful FredoPortrait...

I have NO coder knowledge, so i really don't know if what I'm requesting is tough or easy to achieve..

BTW, I kind of have the need to quickly export all the selected components' thumbnail as JPEG/PNG images, named after the component instances' names. I have re-elaborated a few code lines I found somewhere here on the forums, but it's only partial: I'd also like to have the possibility to specify what resolution would be the exporting image. Would be cool also (but not needed) to have the possibility to specify the destination folder..

I'm attaching the basic code lines and thumbnail I made.

Thank you in advance!!!

rough code.zip

As always, thanks a lot!

hi guys! I have a new question: I have a DC which features a choice between type1 and type2. I'd like to have an hyperlink to a pdf showing the technical specs of each choice, so I uploaded both pdfs to an S3 amazon server to have get a valid url.

Is there a way I can insert the <a href> tag inside a formula, so that the hyperlink changes based on the type1/type2 choice?

condiz. monoblocco Gazebo.skp.zip

Still useful in 2020
...could be interesting if a sort of simplified method could be introduced by the developers!