In SU, the Copy command is invoked as a sub-species of the Move Command, by using a modifier key. The process is to select the object, select Move, hold down modifier key, place the copied item. Then the command default reverts to Move. You have to hit the modifier key for every fresh copy. Might it be better if copy command was retained as default until, say, you hit Esc or the modifier key again? That would mean you could make multiple random copies without having to hit the modifier key each time.
I realize that you can use multiply and divide to create arrays but that is no good if you wanted to, say, populate an elevation with copies of a window that are not regularly disposed. Or if you wanted to create a random population of trees on a site plan.
Another useful idea, Simon. What did you have for breakfast? I want some of it.
FWIW, The copy function is a toggle thing. Donât hold down the modifier key. Just tap it to invoke Copy. Tap again to remove the copy function. My left hand hovers over the left corner of my keyboard most of the time so hitting the modifier each time isnât a real big deal.
I agree that it is not a game changer but I bet if you had it you wouldnât want to go back!
I also agree that I shouldnât have said âhold downâ, tap is sufficient.
The modifier key acts as a toggle so I guess I am asking for the second tap to remove the copy function rather than reinstate it.
BTW, Dave, I think your profile says you live in Minnesota. Isnât that where Fargo is based? Man, you have some weird goings on! (I love that programme, BTW).
I do live in Minnesota but Fargo is across the Red River in North Dakota. Almost 300 miles from me. There are some weird goings on up there. Not so weird down here.
There is a small ruby script in the post that you can download. Once downloaded, you can drag it in the plugin folder of SketchUp (On Mac: /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2018)
No, the Ruby just contains a conditional to invoke via a command number on Windows vs a named symbol on Mac (if that goes over your head, donât worry about it).
Mike, Iâm just trying to work out what you did in the second GIF. Looks like you created a shortcut first. Then you selected the Stacey component, right-clicked, selected Paste, and created the first copy. You then repeated that to create the second copy. Then you seem to stop right clicking, maybe because you were using the shortcut you created. Is that right? Were you doing anything else on the keyboard I couldnât see?
Because you were using Paste to copy, I thought I would try that. If you use Cmd-C to copy and Cmd-V to paste, it seems to work just like the native move and copy command except that you have to hit two keys instead of one. You can do that without adding any new script. This makes me think I am missing something because having to hit two keys rather than one would be a backward step!
OK. So at what point were you able to stop invoking the shortcut? Was that after the second copy of Stacey? I presume it must be because if you had to invoke for each iteration, you would be back to square one.
Once the item is on the clipboard, you are free to go with the shortcut or the rightclick contextmenu.
The shortcut is faster, offcourse.
Depending on its usage, you might wanna check SkatterâŚ
Mike, I remain puzzled. I can see that the shortcut is faster than the rightclick but is it any faster than the native option of hitting the Alt key using Move?
I remain puzzled as well. The thing is, there has to be an interaction with the UI of the software: You want to place a copy of an object in the model or an object somewhere in the model. This can be done with component-objects by âdraggingâ it out of the Component Panel, allready. (It is actually a âMoveâ action with the copy-modifier always toggled on)
Since the last method only applies to Component-objects, the Ruby snippet provides a method to Copy/paste all types of objects.
Just showing possible methods for implementing the FR. Off course, you can Ruby almost anything, so most of the FRâs would not make it to be implementedâŚ
In general:
This FR could very well be set in Preferences->Drawing (or a new tab:Editing)
My preferences would be OFF for Move, but perhaps ON for Push/Pull, depending on what I would be doing.
(Come to think of it, this would be better set in a template, meaning not in Preferences but in Model InFo)
Mike, I suspect the problem is that I am not explaining things well enough.
I think the best way to explain what I am after is to show a vid of how it works in Autocad. That is the functionality I was used to before transferring allegiance to SU. In AC, you not only have a dedicated Copy command (not present in Mac version of SU) but you can go on placing copies until you hit Esc without having to tap any more keys. In other words, once you have invoked the copy command, AC assumes every time you click on a new point you want to make a copy until you cancel the routine.
Much more able SU users than me see no problem having to tap Alt for each copy. And I agree that it is not a big deal. But I also bet that if they had something that worked like AC, they wouldnât want to go back.