Add an option for easy immediate group-naming after creation

[sirtet]

I would like to be able to name a Group immediately after creation, with minimal effort.
A dialogue with focus in it, i guess.
“name this group”
OK CANCEL
So i could just type a name, or hit enter to go with the default “group”.

Currently, it’s a number of clicks and quite some mouse-travel, depending on screen estate.
When organizing my model i like to name most groups. If i don’t, i quickly start to get lost in the outliner (group, group, group…).
As some people might get disturbed in their Workflow by the obtrusive naming dialogue, i think it should be a checkbox like “ask for group-name upon creation”

[maxB]

@sirtet

name a Group immediately after creation, with minimal effort

Have a look in the extension warehouse at ThomThom’s plugin MakeNamedGroup. It might do exactly what you want.
https://extensions.sketchup.com/nl/content/make-named-group

[sirtet]

Yes, that’s quite exactly what i want, even brings a set layer option, which i find useful too…
I still think it would be a worthy feature to add to SU. For example, the plugin does not bring the option to the context menu. Having it in SU would be an even smoother experience.

One hickup i had, was that the initial focus is on the layer, not the name. But setting the name is the main feature of this, and setting layer an optional 2nd step, i would say by the extensions name. And also by how i use it.
I tried to edit the extension, so it would set focus on the Name, not the Layer… no success.
But that’s another issue.

How to edit/create extensions?

I was searching the API docs, but did not find an easy intro to creating extensions… I guess there must be a beginners tutorial out there, but i did not find it. Q0: Is there a “How to” on geting started with editing/creating plugins? What i tried: Edit thomthom’s plugin ‘Make Named Group’ so that the focus would be on the name field vs. the layer select. The API doc had no hint on how to set focus, so i guessed the last element would get it, so i edited the code accordingly. Q1: Is that…

[Cotty]

@DaveR would suggest to only use components in your workflow here.

[maxB]

@tt_su might be able to suggest a solution for your focus problem. He’s the author of the MakeNameGroup plugin

[JQL]

What i do with ketchup is that I have entity info permanently active on screen.

I changed G key to make group as a shortcut instead of make component and instead of having the plugin window popping up, I simply write the name or select layer from entity info box. I can also get a lot of extra stuff from entity info and I can ignore it when I work fast without taking care of component and group name management.

[katyakean]

I love this idea of prompting people to name groups, but I also agree about having Entity Info open all the time. Mine sits on top of the Default Tray. It doesn’t remind you, but it’s at least quite convenient.

[sirtet]

jql, katya, i have the entity info open too. But move the mouse there, click, type, move back, that’s what i think interrupts the flow. I want, after grouping, just type a name and continue with what i did…

[DaveR]

What’s wrong with selecting the entities, hitting G, typing the name and hitting Enter?

[JQL]

Sirtet, that plugin does just that

[les_booyse]

You could easily go to the ENTITY INFO tray and name the group.

I do it often, and it only requires one mouse click to select the group, and one mouse click to activate the Name: field. Type the name, and press Enter. Job done!