Does what its name says:
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=15273#p15273
It matches the orientation of a face to any connected 'co-edged' faces.
It mimics SketchUp's "Orient Faces" Tool.
It can sometimes produce slightly different results when more than two
connected faces share a common edge. Its results are equally logical,
and who's to say how they should orient anyway ?
Ideas on how to duplicate the built-in tool are welcomed...
You can call it from other scripts thus: face.orient_faces

Feedback please...

Does what its name says:

It matches the orientation of a face to any connected 'co-edged' faces.
It mimics SketchUp's "Orient Faces" Tool.
It can sometimes produce slightly different results when more than two
connected faces share a common edge. Its results are equally logical,
and who's to say how they should orient anyway ?
You can call it from other scripts thus: face.orient_faces

Feedback please...

EDIT:
v1.1 20090808 Algorithms improved - much faster.
v1.2 20120204 Checks of existing method!
orient_faces.rb

A forced upgrade that doesn't even have the correct release notes on the site it directs you to is inexcusable. It means you MUST upgrade if you want to use SketchUp Pro 6 AND be connected to the internet...

I suspect that Google doesn't have any hidden motives in doing this - it's some inept dork must have written some code wrong... BUT 'they' have responsibilty for their products and services. This level of ineptitude is pretty worrying. Google as a company expect us to trust them with our potentially sensitive personal data, BUT they can't get a simple upgrade tool right - when will it come out that something far worse has happened... This has echoes of the UK's Tax Dept losing unencrypted CDs 'in the post' that contained the names, addresses, bank account details etc of almost half the UK's population - including millions of vulnerable children - and they bang on indentity theft, ID-cards to 'protect' us from the terrorists, and about their 'data protection act' laws etc, BUT they can't keep our details safe by using basic common sense !

Google MUST buck up OR loose our confidence completely - it's already dented !

With web based dialogs it's probably 'yes': BUT the basic SUp-ruby dialog has its values fixed as it opens: only the user input changes input-fields/drop-down selections: you need to OK/Cancel to get it to change values - at that point it could change them and reopen itself with the new values displayed ?

Can you give a more concrete example ?

Something I've toyed with over the years BUT you go for it Didier - long over due...

@unknownuser said:

TIG,
Would it also be possible to add the following... ???
...

1. If the user had the option to choose either Horizontal or Vertical Volume slices it would make the Volume Calculator more accurate.
   Not sure if its possible but would be brilliant.
   (See attached file which illustrates the problem).
   ...
2. To Calculate Volume on a Selection of Several Groups / Components at once...
   eg User selects 12 Groups or Components...
   Volume Calculator then loops thru each Group / Component in the selection in turn calculating volumes for each individual group / component that was selected based upon the users settings in the Volume Dialog box eg Layer for Volume Slices / Hide Edges / (Vertical or Horizontal Slices) etc
   ...
   Hope this all makes sense.
   Anything you can do hugely appreciated.
   ...
   Regards
   Howard Leslie

Edit 1 / Ideas Thoughts:
Script could actually make true Vertical Slices (or any angle) or
Temporarily rotate geometry in the background hidden from user and then turn it back again ??? or
Produce both Horizontal & Vertical Slices for each Group / Component and Delete the lowest Value ??? (might be slow)
Edit 2 / Ideas Thoughts:
Vertical slices may be a problem - how would the script know the best orientation to draw them in ???
ie Vertical slices can be drawn to be parallel to either the red or the green axis - how would any script choose the best way to draw them ???
Poss Solution - Draw Volume Slices Parallel to all 3 Axes !!!
Delete lowest Volume that was computed for each Group / Component (Could be VERY slow).
Edit 3 / Ideas Thoughts:
Best Solution may be to forget Vertical slices altogether ???
Working out Individual Volumes in Turn (Looping) for Several selected Groups / Components would be good though.
That way, for any "problem" Groups (eg similar to attached file), the accuracy could be turned up to say 1% - the Script could then be left to run eg over a lunch break or over night if required.

AdamB has just fired a broadside through the current ideas behind Volume Calculator with an ingenious method the calculate volumes from faces...

I wrote my volume calculator based on totting up areas of slices - somewhat like calculus - which was a few years ago after TBD said it couldn't be done... It's taken till now for someone (AdamB) to come up with a method that does it properly 'mathematically' - his '.dot' method was the answer. Adam's way returns a more accurate result very quickly, but the downsides of his method are that it gives no 'solid' artifact of the volume - although it could have a text-tag made with a volume attribute so that csv making was eased: a copy' group of the entities could be made coloured as desired too. Also his gives unexpected answers for volumes with missing faces, whereas mine only fills up to the top level and then overflows so to speak - like a tilted glass; and I not sure how his method copes with having some faces reversed as it uses face normals during the maths - I need to test that...

I intend putting a a new version 'to the vote' and if there's sufficient demand and Adam agrees I'll look at v2.0 using his methods, but adjusted to suit whatever the 'users' want of it - clearly it'd need alternate volume options, csv listing etc...

His method would allow multiple selections and I can contrive it so that you get much of what you do now but more accurately and faster... Watch this space...

It's quite possible to leave bits visible and adjustable by the users BUT its a bit more convoluted so often it's not done...

I think this does what you ask...
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=14555#p14555
Volume groups are now named after their volume without a unit suffix - e.g. '4.567' (unlike their text tags).
Also you can now right click on a Volume to get the option to make a csv list of all of them - no need to use ComponentReporter+'s clunkiness...

Copyright 2006-2011 TIG (c)

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for
any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided the above
copyright notice appear in all copies.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Name: VolumeCalculator.rb

Description: A tool to calculate the volume of a selected Group/Instance

Context Menu: Volume...

Menu Item: See menu-section at end on how to include: Plugins -> Volume

Usage: First select a Group or Component that has faces that form a
volume, then use the right-click Context-Menu and choose 'Volume...'.
If there is the Plugins Menu Item 'Volume' you can also pick that.
(see the end menu section on how to activate that option...)

A dialog asks for the volume units and the accuracy required.
The units can be cu.m, cc, cu.yds, cu.ft, cu.ins, litres, cl, ml,
gallons(UK), gallons(USA), quarts(USA), pints(UK) and pints(USA).
Volumes are given to varying d.p's depending on the units chosen.

IF Sketchup is <v8 you get extra options...
The accuracy can be 0.5, 1, 2, 5 or 10% - the more accurate you
make it the longer it takes to process and the more complex the new
volume-group will become.Small simple forms will report accurately
even with the 10% sampling...

IF Sketchup is <v8 you get a group made with faces.
The text-tag is added just above the the apex of the selection's
bounding-box.
It shows the volume in the required units using the current
text/font settings.

A possible new layer can be used.It is
named VOLS-nnnnnnnn (where nnnnnnnn is based on the date/time).
Alternatively you can choose to use any existing layer OR make
your own 'on the fly'.

IF Sketchup is <v8 it then calculates a series of thin horizontal
slices through the selection's faces to use to calculate the volume
enclosed. If Sketchup >=v8 then this is skipped.

There are now also new Layer, Hide/Show-Edges and Colour Options
in v1.7, see below...***

IF Sketchup is <v8...
Before ending it checks if 'Xray Mode' was already switched 'on' at
the start and if so there is no action and it exits.Otherwise the
original selection is 'Hidden' so you can clearly see the volume-group.
You are then asked in a dialog if you want to leave it 'Hidden'.
If 'Yes' then it exits leaving it 'Hidden'.If 'No' the original
selection is 'Unhidden' and 'Xray Mode' is then switched 'on' so you
can see the volume-group inside of the original selection and a dialog
asks if you want to leave 'Xray Mode' switched 'on'. If you answer
'No' the normal view is restored and it exits. If you answer 'Yes'
it exits leaving 'Xray Mode' switched 'on'.
If you don't want the slice to be visible you can edit the
volume's group and either delete all of its geometry, leaving
the text-tag in place, or just select all geometry and hide it.

'Volume' can't be expected to be 100% foolproof !It treats an open
topped object as if it were filled with water, taking volumes from the
outer 'skin' inwards to work out which are the solid and which are the
hollow volumes.With a little ingenuity you will be able to contrive
a form with complex linked holes punched in, or a vertical array of
thin volumes spaced apart so as to miss the sampling slices - which
because it uses a series of horizontal slices, can produce unexpected
results. Keep volumes simple and build them up in bits for safety...

***New Options(>=v1.7) let you choose any layer OR make a new one,
hide/show volume's edges and give faces any standard colour -
pick popout' type first letter of colour to jump down list -
e.g. W for White takes you to Wheat...:
use up/down arrow keys to move through list...
or pick any model material listed...
If Sketchup >=v8 the text-tag is colored - so avoid colours matching
the background!

If a volume-group OR text-tag is selected then there's a
right-click context-menu item to export ALL volume data into a
CSV file...

Donations:
PayPal.com - info @ revitrev.org

Version:
2.0 20111004 New version with fast v8 calculation.Put into the Plugins folder and restart Sketchup, read and follow the instructions...

"float-tolerance.rb" is by RickW [I think - I hope he doesn't mind me repeating it in its entirety here]

class Float
	def =~(num2,tol=10000)
		num1=(self*tol).to_i
		num2=(num2*tol).to_i
		return true if num1==num2
		return nil
	end
end #class Float

Then you test two floats thus:
float1 =~ float2
It returns false or true
You could adjust the float tol part to suit...

New sloping fascia and/or sloping soffit options are well advanced and are now in beta testing: only the gable version with all of its permutations for two sloping soffits and gables is proving a pain to debug...

Also looking at allowing heights for gable and pyramid roofs in ^5'4" format as well as existing ^5.3333333 or ^64 depending on units etc...

Also looking at 'Set Slope', which is like the 'Get Slope' tool, but it changes a selected roof face to the given slope (degrees or A:B)...

Also looking at an 'Add Detail' tool so you can add gutters, mouldings, ridges etc to a roof's selected edges; you can also customize the profiles by adding your own - watch this space...

Also preparing new help docs to go with all of this....

For further Slicer info see... http://www.sketchucation.com/scf/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2635

@pixero said:

Thanks for the script. It will come in handy for a current project.
I can't however see any images in the help file. Im on WinXp.

Vista, XP and Mac users all seem to be having problems with different forms of the Help files...

As well as the mht file there's a pdf... see: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6643#p6643

Version 2.1 is now available: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=6648#p6648

@unknownuser said:

Thanks for the info.

I have found a slight problem with V2 on Vista.
It will not show in plugins pull down as the new version.
I have extracted ruby to plugins folder and overwritten older version. I also tried deleting it and dragging in a new v2.rb, so I know the correct ruby is in the folder.
When I go to use it, I still get the old menu and not the new 3 point option.

It works perfectly on my XP machine.

Firstly v2.1 is in the depository, so get that now...

Secondly - I also have Vista and sometimes you get 'compatibility file / mode' problems. Ensure that SketchUp 6 is running NOT in administrator mode (though you need to have administrator rights for your login). Look on the top bar of the Plugins window - on the right-hand end there might be a red 'compatibility file' option - click it and it should list some new files with the correct content that are there BUT not being allowed to load.

It seems that dragging and dropping new files with the same name, into program folders in Vista, sometimes results in this glitch. You can either delete the old file first and then move the new one in, OR open the new file elsewhere (in notepad) and then 'save_as' into Plugins, overwriting the earlier one and it'll (probably) be correct...

I haven't the faintest idea why Vista does this - See Help >> 'compatibility' and it will let you open a window and you should ensure that SketchUp ISN'T running in 'compatibility mode'. This should avoid these weird glitches. Vista shows one file but uses another...

It's not an issue with the script but more with Vista holding your hand too tightly...

@unknownuser said:

I love this tool, it really makes me smile.
Create this really complicated roof shape, pick the surface, choose hip and a perfect roof is created.
Is there a way to make the Gable work turning 90 degrees?
If I want my roof to follow an L shape for example.
With hipped it follows no problem, is there a way to tackle this with a gable?

You must either make a hipped roof and then edit it to change the required gable hips into gables, easily done by rotating the hip face vertically and then adding edges etc and then pushpulling and reapplying materials to suit...
OR for two gables try making two intersecting gable roof groups, each with a blank-with-fascia second gable; and then select both and explode them and immediately regroup them into one group: then edit that group, select all and intersect with selection. Move the apex of each unwanted gable back to the main ridge, and erase any unwanted coplanar edges (use xray mode to erase unwanted interior edges)...
See the attached tutorial...

Tutorial

Version 2.0 of Roof.rb is now out.

See: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=153&t=1519

The attached zip contains the .rb script and the .mht help file. Both should go into the Plugins folder and older ones should be removed.

There is also a separate pdf version of the help for some of you having problems getting the mht to open via the menu item. Open the pdf 'manually'.

The main changes in v2 are that dialog defs have been reworked in an attempt to suit Mac users. Also the way the Gable tool works has changed: you now run the tool and then pick three points - 1 for the 1st corner of the First-Gable, 2 for the 2nd corner of the First-Gable and 3 for the Line of the Second-Gable. The Pyramid Roof tool is also similar to the gable - pick two points to define the edge from which the slope (if any) will be taken and the third one to set the other side of the pyramid's base.

Try, and feedback please...

@stuartb said:

TIG . . what are the font limitations? Can I use ANY TTF font I have installed?
Edit : I re-read your instructions . . I can add fonts by editing the script. I will try that.

Yes: Scroll down from the instruction part and find ###FONTLIST...
You can add any TTF fonts you want. Only use a plain text editor - word-processors will mess up the script by putting in hidden formatting characters etc...
Firstly make a back up of the ruby somewhere in case you mess up...
The font names are sorted into alphabetical order later on in the script so you could add your own fonts at the beginning...

### FONTLIST...
### ADD into the font list [or delete] any fonts YOU use [don't ever want to use]...
@fontlist=["YOUR_FONT","Arial",...]

Use the 'name' that appears in the system's list of fonts, rather than the file name itself - so it's "Arial" NOT "arial.ttf". If you want to remove any fonts ensure that the whole thing goes with any separating commas - e.g. <kept>"Tahoma",<kept>... The more fonts you have in the list then the longer the dialog's list and then you might have to resort to typing the first letter and then using the arrow keys to find the one you want - like on the colors... I recommend you have a concise list of fonts you usually use - I find that I only use a few fonts.

@stuartb said:

that's pretty brilliant TIG! Thanks a lot.
How can I get the text created using the script to export to dwg? The 'normal' Sketchup text seems to export to dwg by converting itself to faces.

You can't... BUT I could make an addition to the script to export the TextTags as a dxf file for the TextTags only [model-TaGTags.dwk]. It'd be done by manipulating the components' attributes to get the text, font, size etc and then make a 'real' text bit when opened into ACAD... It's a bit convoluted but could work - watch this space...

See: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?p=14125#p14125

for a script to do what we've discussed...