I use Sketchup and Layout on a number of machines, as I am a mobile worker. I also like to have others work on the same documents as me. This is made very difficult by the fact that all references (models and images) in LayOut are stored as absolute paths. Every time I use a different computer (with project files shared on Dropbox), I have to relink each reference. It is a pain.

If LayOut uses relative paths, this would not be a problem. Couldn't LayOut simply be intelligent about this kind of thing? How about, if LayOut doesn't find a referenced file in the absolute path stored, then it looks for its relative path equivalent?

It is a small tweak which would make LayOut work better for the likes of me who like to get around and work with other people.

Revision Clouds are currently dealt with by using scrapbook objects.

Krisidious has such a scrapbook here:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40%26amp;t=49829

I use them all the time, and it serves my purposes.

@pbacot said:

Free trial.

I think PlusSpec can learn a few things from drug dealers. If only we had the opportunity to develop a PlusSpec addiction...

@jql said:

@tommyk said:

Team Edit updated to v0.1.4. It now works on PC!

(funny no one told me until now - thanks to Near 2010 for the report)

I feel a bit ashamed here, but I haven't tried Team Edit yet. I'm just in the middle of a project and can't change the procedure now. I guess a simple example would be interesting... As soon as I have some time I will try it as fully as I can.

Don't worry! Try it out at your pleasure. It shouldn't be used in a production environment yet anyway. Simply put, the more feedback I get, the more reliable it will get.

Team Edit updated to v0.1.4. It now works on PC!

(funny no one told me until now - thanks to Near 2010 for the report)

I agree with a lot of the comments here. I have only my story to add:

I understand the desire to protect your software, but I believe the pricing model is only encouraging the use of cracked software. I must confess that while I was a student and new graduate (during a recession), I used cracked software (not SU, though with its free version). I couldn't afford to buy the software at the time. Ironically, in the early days, it was cracked software that generated the income to allow me to buy the legitimate counterparts. I bought the cheap software first, then the more expensive; with its reasonable price, Sketchup Pro (v7, I think) was the first architectural package I purchased.

Yes, it was illegal, but I think I made things right in the end. I don't think that story is uncommon. I've met plenty of freelancers straight out of university who were using illegal software. If I employ them, I have been known to make them add extra on their invoice so they can purchase legal versions!

What I am trying to convey, is that with PlusSpec's pricing model, you put more people in the bracket of "won't buy, but will use the cracked version". I am not saying it's right - just that it is a fact of life. I might go further to say that this demographic of people are exactly the kind of people you want on your side for the long term - these are the young and the startups who are open to doing things differently, but with a small wallet. They would be the ones who'd spread the word widest.

@near2010 said:

Hi Tommy,
Me and my team are very excited about this plugins, we also trying it, but it doesn't work as your explanation on usage. First, We have synchronize our files on google drive and it synchronized properly. When enabled team edit, component folder was created, but every time we save the component model, changes made by other users wont be reloaded on my main model. Is there any wrong action we take? We'll very appreciate if you could share the step how to use it properly.
Thanks

I'm sorry to hear that, and thank you for trying the plugin out and reporting back.

Firstly, please confirm the following:

• that the plugin is installed on all computers that are editing those components

Two possible things come to mind:

• changes are reloaded on your main model when you save the main model.
• I haven't tried it with Google Drive before, but it should work like Dropbox. With large components, it can take some time for the component files (.skp files) to be synced on Google Drive/Dropbox. There can be a situation where TeamEdit can't find the new component, in which case it assumes it hasn't been synced yet, and waits until the next save operation to have another go at reloading it.

If the above doesn't help, I would very much appreciate it if you could send me the folder called "Network Files" (within your "XXX_Components" folder. You can PM me. Also please let me know what platform you are on (PC/Mac, Win version, SU version etc).

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the above too. I don't have the choice to use PlusSpec only a little with the subscription model.

I upgrade Sketchup every year because the price is very reasonable, and I developed a trust in a program and the company which I have used for 8 years. That trust was built up, first through using the free version of the software at first, then in the way they listened and developed the program over the years. I trusted that their fees would be stable and reasonable for the foreseeable future. I couldn't put that kind of faith in plusspec for £500 (per year), without any prior relationship with RubySketch. There is no way in for me to develop that relationship under the terms of the license.

@jql said:

Tommy,

I'm confortable on the plugin changing the display style temporarly IF it doen't save/applies the changes. Maybe this could be an option on a plugin definition because I would mind to work on a TeamEdit style. I have all my models setup with styles that are saved on scenes and styles I set while working for faster display. This working style is applied using a plugin "Trog_Styles" (or similar name) and a shortcut.

I really like the idea that the background changes because I always set it to transparent on Layout wich wouldn't be affected by the color change.

However if we are working on a component that is indoors there's no way to see the background that visual indication would be lost. What about allowing us to set the style warning of our choice. I, for instance, would gladly have my style being changed to Red/Orange lines along with the background as it's way more important for me to be careful when editing than to be conservative on changes to the visual style. (Specially if this changes wouldn't be saved on model.)

I think you have some good points there, JQL. So good in fact, that it has been implemented in the latest release.

Team Edit update v0.1.3 with what JQL said

I am loving the "Align to object" feature. Makes my sections look prettier.

Skalp is now firmly in my workflow. To make it even smoother, may I suggest a small additional feature. When one has the Pattern Designer window open, I would like it to display the material that the eyedropper tool selects. It would make adjustments to how things look a little quicker. It shouldn't be too difficult from a technical point of view, as you can use the ToolsObserver in the Ruby API.

Just something to add to that list!

@driven said:

@tommy

have you got a dropbox model that people can test against???

we could all play with different bits and you 'overlord' it...

john

Here you go:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kn7zbev4ypffolu/AADO0wm43jj1FgvFjgjBOP3Ia?dl=0

I can't find an option to allow anyone to edit the folder, so it wouldn't quite work in the same way. I will be happy for anyone to PM with their email, and I will invite you to the Dropbox folder.

@jql said:

Tommy,
I have some questions to pose before diving into testing though:

• What happens when you rename a component?

On the next save operation, the component is saved as a new skp file (it doesn't rename the existing skp file). For other users, they will reload this new skp file on their next save operation.

@jql said:

• Do you get duplicate definitions and duplicate materials when updating components?

I haven't tested duplicate materials, but you do NOT get duplicate definitions (I made sure of this). Natively in Sketchup, I know that when components are loaded into a model and the name of the component exists already, a prefix (#1, #2 etc) is added to the newly imported component(s). This does not happen in this plugin.

@jql said:

• What happens when we do have a crash (as you described: "if Sketchup crashes for any reason, some components may falsely tell the user that another user is currently editing in this context.")

I'll need to get a bit technical here. Team Edit works by reading/writing small .txt files in a directory called "Network_files", every time a component is edited. When you start to edit a component, a .txt file is written saying that that component is "pending changes", and it waits for you to save the model (and the component to disk). So if Sketchup crashes, the .txt file will still think that it is "pending changes" for the component. You can ignore the orange screen and edit the component, save, and the problem will eventually go away. I do need to work this issue out in a future release.

@jql said:

• Does the background change affect the current style or does it create a new style? (I wouldn't mind having it affecting the current style, though a new style might slow down my sketchup use) May we define the style used for warnings (this style warning is a VERY clever solution though it has its implications...)

The background change only affects the style if your style is named "TeamEdit". It will ignore other styles. TeamEdit loads this new style by default, which can be changed to your pleasure. I did consider whether it should work on the current style, whatever its name is, but I got the impression in these forums ( http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=180%26amp;t=13666%26amp;start=90#p549744 ) that users might not appreciate changes to their style. I am open to your suggestion.

@anton_s said:

Interesting!

There is an error when I select a group and make it a component:

onComponentPropertiesChanged get defiinition path in: Error: #<NameError: undefined local variable or methodversion' for #TeamEdit::TeamEditDefinitionsObserver:0x000000077ba2a8>
C:/Users/Anton/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2015/SketchUp/Plugins/TeamEdit/core.rb:1280:in onComponentTypeChanged'

Thank you for the report. I have just fixed it. Please download v0.1.1 from the PluginStore (which also fixes other related bugs)

@driven said:

congrats tommy,

Have you thought about adding file tagging to visually reflect status in 'Finder', or maybe custom icons?
both are possible on a mac and there 'may' be a cross platform way...

I like the idea, john. I will put it on the future wishlist (for after v1.0, I think). I do want it to be cross-platform regardless. I hate it when I see a plugin that "only works on PC".

@juju said:

:ecstatic:

+1

Team Edit 0.1 alpha released.

I might also suggest that if the geometry you are working with doesn't work well with the orientation of the axes, just change the axes so they do. Context click on the axes, select "place" or "change axes" then put it where you want them. You would usually want to use the geometry you are working with as the inference point for placing the new axes.

Model Observer:
onAfterComponentSaveAs(model)
and
onBeforeComponentSaveAs(model)

The "model" parameter is actually a ComponentInstance object - the one currently selected. This is the case at least in Sketchup 2015.

@jql said:

• Inference? SU is WAY better;

If I could prioritise anything from JQL's list, it would be this one. In SU, I often get my point to hover over a line, hold shift, then any movement is locked to that line. And that is just one example. SU-style inferencing would be awesome! Inferencing in my view is the number one core feature that puts Sketchup ahead of all the other software.

To add to this general list of wishes, I want to add a feature where LO doesn't hang while the views are updating. With multi-core supportit should be possible to render a view while editing elsewhere in the document. I have more details of the wish here:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13%26amp;t=58905%26amp;p=554458#p554458

I know this is an old post, but Sketchup 2015 didn't have this feature, so I am going to bump!

@ely862me said:

If Layout can be ran in two instances, like Sketchup, then you just need to put one instance to produce renders and work out your files in the other instance. Make sure you set your processors affinity in Task Manager if it is the case.

I am not sure if I understand you, or if you haven't quite understood me! If you can indeed run LayOut in two instances with a PC, that sounds very useful (I am Mac only at the moment).

In the picture below, it illustrates what I am wanting to achieve:

The idea being that you can work away on other parts of the drawings while the individual views update. It's a technical challenge for the Sketchup team, which I am sure can be solved, and the rewards are higher levels of productivity for us LayOut users whose models (and ambitions) are getting bigger.

@box said:

Tommy, it does do that, if I understand what you are saying.
Grab the middle scale handle and pull then type 1.67m and it will scale to that.

DOH!

BTW - you can ignore the square brackets

I didn't know this. I tried it out and looks great (since when did this feature exist?). However, it doesn't quite do what I had in mind. So to save face, I amend my original wish:

I wish:

• That it can be scaled by adding/subtracting absolute distance. It would work thus:

You scale some objects, and to get it accurate, you type into the VCB how much (add or subtract) you want to scale by:

• scale by number only (eg. [2.5]) - it scales by factor (tick)
• scale by number followed by dimension (eg. [2.5m]) - it scales the entire object to that dimension (tick)
  - scale by adding or subtracting dimension unit (eg [-300mm], [+300mm]) - it scales the object by adding/subtracting the inputted dimension to/from the original size.

I realise that [-300mm] would clash with the current interpretation of that inputted text. Perhaps [--300mm] would work? Maybe confusing.

In any case, if this feature existed, I think I would use it more than scaling the entire object to an absolute dimension.