I have a framework to execute the batch processing of a set of tasks over a list of files. This is based on:
- Tasks, which are defined as a Ruby method processing an individual file. Task can be custom (written by anybody with a top method in Ruby), or builtin (written by me).
- Filesets, which allows to construct a set of files with various options, including wild cards. Files do not need to be just .skp files. For instance, you may want to have a set a .dxf files and automatically generate a Sketchup file for each dxf.
- Job, which is a combination of a set of files and a set of tasks. It represents the Batch processing to be executed.
At this stage, I am wondering if there is any strong interest to have a Batch Processing utility in the real life.
On my side, I have a few examples, such as
- Component library documentation: basically you have a set of models (say cabinets or bolt &nuts) and you generate a single layout document (and thus its PDF) including one or several viewports of each model with a particular camera and style on each page.
- Batch conversion of skp files to previous or current Sketchup versions, as long as this is possible via the API.
- Find specifc information in a set of Sektchup files. For instance, which model uses material XXX, or component YYY. Possibly, a variant with a find and replace…
- Populate a set of skp models with a series of scenes, so that you can update existing models.
Currently, I am looking for complex or unusual cases, to see if the framework is robust enough.