@dan rathbun said:

OK. Wait. I just re-read what you wrote in the OP.

It seems that you believed that Sketchup.template=() would load a template (dynamically) into the currently loaded model.
It should not. It only should set up subsequent calls to open a NEW model, to use the specified template.
Sketchup.send_action("newDocument:")
or
Sketchup.file_new()

To load a style dynamically, load a .style file into the styles collection, and set it active by name or index.

Good catch, but I didn't believe that, actually. I was calling file_new after setting the new template, but the template style background still wasn't being used when it was outside the default templates directory for some reason.

Discovered the easy solution to changing the background color to black. One line of code:

Sketchup.active_model.rendering_options["BackgroundColor"] = Sketchup::Color.new(0,0,0)

So if I understand correctly, the style information in a .skp is just a pointer to a .style file that needs to exist on the client machine?

This is getting trickier for just changing the background color.

It worked fine in 2013 to just load a template, but maybe something changed.

Hello sketchUcation!

I've been cutting my Ruby-teeth updating my company's extension to work in 2014. This forum has been a great resource so far. When I get into the thick, I tend to have a bunch of tabs filled with the SketchUp Ruby API and sketchUcation threads. So thanks!

Now onto my question:

Having a helluva time getting a style to load when my extension is on. I've created and saved a template with the style I want in the SketchUp UI that works perfectly when I create a new file.

However, if I copy that .skp file from the Templates directory and set the template in Ruby, the styles don't work.

I'm setting the template in an AppObserver using the following code:

Sketchup.template=Sketchup.find_support_file("Plugins")+"/MyPluginDir/template.skp"

When I call Sketchup.template it happily reports the correct path to the file.

Have been wondering if styles aren't embedded in .skp files, but point to a style file/setting already in SketchUp, which wouldn't exist on an end-user's setup.

Am I missing something?