I noticed the change regarding the Length class a few days ago in the API. What's weird is that the API states that the parent of Length is Object starting in SU 2015. That had me worried as it implies that mathematical operations will no longer work on an instance of Length. However everything continued to work ok in my plugin when running in SU 2015.

I ran a few tests in 2015 and found the following:

length = 4.to_l
4"
length.is_a? Integer
false
length.is_a? Float
true
length.is_a? Length
true
length.class.superclass
Numeric
length.class.ancestors
[Length, Numeric, Comparable, Object, Kernel, BasicObject]

It would appear then that the API is incorrect and should be changed to show that Numeric is the parent class.

Thanks guys for all the great comments. I've been tinkering with programming for years and this is the first time I've released something into the wild.

Rich: Thanks for adding me to the store. The plugin interface will take me a few days to figure out and if I have any questions I'll let you know.

Thanks again guys,

Walter

ArcExtensions Plugin

This plugin provides arc and circle related drawing tools. So far I have completed two tools for drawing lines or clines tangent to one or two arcs or circles. I have tested it and fixed all the bugs I could find but this is still beta as there are other tools I wish to add and I'd like feedback from the community as well.

I'll be working on three tools for intersections next. Two to draw a line or cline that intersects an arc or circle as well drawing chords and a third to find the intersection points of an arc with an existing line or cline.

After that, I'm planning on tackling two and three point arcs and circles.

Tested on SU 2013, 2014 and 2015 running under Windows.

Usage

You can find the ArcExtension tools under Plugins > Arc Extension. Select either Tangent Line or Tangent Construction Line. Both work the same.

After activating the tool, select the arc the line or cline will be tangent to, then click a point where the line will terminate. Alternatively, you can select a second arc to draw the common tangents. Please see the screen shots below for the visual cues used by the plugin.

Inferencing is possible only when not drawing to a second arc and the Shift key can be used to lock the inference.

Use the copy modifier key to toggle between the two tangent points on the arc. If you're drawing to a second arc, the position of the mouse cursor over that arc will determine where the line ends. Any one of the four possible common tangents can be selected and drawn.

Lastly, a length for the tangent line (but not cline) can be entered in the VCB. If drawing common tangents the line may fall short or shoot past the tangent point on the second arc so a construction point is added when specifying the length of a common tangent.

In addition to drawing the line or cline, the plugin also adds cpoint(s) for the arc(s). When drawing a cline tangent points are added as well.

Download

ArcExtensions

Change History

11/9/2014 v0.3b:
Found and fixed a bug. If an Undo/Redo operation changes the selected arc/circle the tool will now update itself properly. Before, the Circle object used internally by the tool would no longer match the selected arc/circle causing weird behavior.

11/7/2014 v0.2b:
Added class to manage circles and circle related operations. Many internal changes to clean up the code and prepare for future tools.

11/3/2014 v0.1b:
Initial release

Thanks guys, I'll go ahead and post it here and wait a while and see what people say before submitting to the Extension Warehouse.

Thanks again,
Walter

P.S. That 5 million euro thing was a joke, right? Coz I think all I got is 2 dollars and change.

Thanks Thomthom, I actually found your plugin checklist quite a while ago and it was invaluable in writing my plugin. Thanks for all the great tips and suggestions.

What I'd like to know is there anything I need to do not related to the plugin itself before I post it to the Resources > Plugins board? Do I have to fill out some kind of registration form or seek approval from the admins or anything like that?

I found the "Plugins Forum Sticky Links & Guidelines" post in the Plugins board. But I'm not sure if there's anything more I need to do as a new member.

I may be over thinking all of this but I'm new and don't want to go charging in like the proverbial 800-pound gorilla and make a mess of things.

Thanks,
Walter

Hello,

I've created a plugin that draws lines and clines tangent to one or two arcs. Everything is appears to be working and I'd like to get it out into the world but I have no idea how to do that. If possible, I'd also like other developers to take a look at it in case there are any bugs I missed.

I notice there is a Plugins board in this forum. As a new guy with no history with SketchUcation can I post my plugin there? If so, what are the requirements and how does that work? If not, can anyone suggest a forum or something similar for first time plugin developers?

TIA

Walter