Thanks!
Simple and useful⌠interested in adding some features?
In the given example, please ignore the fact that everything is in cm but to move the object you have to use millimeters. That extension does not work correctly.
Thatâs cool. Nice little alignment tool. I wonder about the prompts⌠if they are needed? I have to go align myself horizontally or being vertical tomorrow will be a challenge. Let me know if you have more ideas about how to move things the Mihai way .
By âpromptsâ do you mean that window where you type the new dimension? If so, and itâs possible without it, typing directly into the existing text, then thatâs even better.
Sorry to âgive you workâ again in the middle of the night! And I thought Iâd only respond to your posts after 6:00 PM (RO time).
You can see the functions of that extension in the presentation video - Move Arrow Key Pro
I only bought it for the ability to move objects relative to their surroundings and that it works in SU2022.
I donât know if âjust typingâ would work. That would be slick though. Thatâs something to look into. But maybe clicking the numerical field could focus the input to an html dialog input. That way you could click, type number, press enter (or just type numbers into an input on the html dialog). That wouldnât lock up the model like prompts do. Either way, I donât want to copy something someone else made. Thatâs why we need to go with the Mihai suggestion to⌠What the heck is that!? Is that a â3-point corner un-twister box alignment preview line spinnerâ?
First, I think I can make the overlay. I wonder if you need to select 3 corners (on both)? If you selected the âFace to align toâ, then 2 corners that might be enough info. Or even (Box 1) corner, direction, (Box 2) corner, direction⌠Maybe Snaps could do this quicker?
Somehow the central point of departure and the central point where it must arrive must be specified. Plus selecting the face inside a group from outside.
I consider the â3 points alignâ extension to be one of the useful, easy-to-use extensions (both, in SU & Blender).
The SketchUp version involves first selecting points on the object to be moved, and then on the one you will position. It seems easier to follow visually if you select the points two by two, on both objects, including those colored guide lines.
If the operation is using a Ruby Tool, then it can use the VCB if the toolâs enableVCB? method returns true and the userâs text input is sent to the toolâs onUserText callback.
The EW has this extension marked as Windows compatible only. Is that because of a known dependency on Windows, or just for lack of Mac testing? If the latter, Iâd be happy to help. Ignored the compatibility warning and it installed without complaint. Iâll give it a spin later today and report what happensâŚ
That first example is what I was aiming for. You can see my mouse at the end spell out âDang, that did not workâ in mouse-movement scribble language. But Iâll keep trying.
The second was cool. Reminds me how I think of doing layout on jobsites.
If I can get the first couple of things worked out Iâll try more things.
Hi Steve, I just mark the extensions as âWindowsâ and âSU 2025â because I donât have a Mac for testing and I donât want to make sure they work on older versions. I donât have any reason to believe, in general, that they wonât work. I guess itâs âexpectation managementâ. Hopefully, more savvy Mac users (and users of older SU versions) know that extensions can sometimes work on machines they are not marked to work on⌠and that filters for users who would have an easier time uninstalling if they donât work.
Anyhow, if you want the code for extensions I put on EW just ask! If you check that they do work I would then just question whether I should mark them as compatible or maybe just put a comment in text of the extension? (e.g., User tested and confirmed to run on Mac. But not Mac supported.). Dunno the right thing to do here.
But happy to hear you thoughts!
Actually, in the little bit I have thought about it, I think that saving settings might be a âbreaking pointâ for some of the extensions on Mac (because Iâm not sure what the DS_Store file Iâm seen does).
.DS_Store is created by macOS Finder to capture user settings about how they want the contents of a folder displayed. It is normally hidden on macOS but may be visible when folders are copied to Windows or compressed as zip archives. It is harmless but can seem like clutter on Windows. It can be deleted with no consequence other than loss of the userâs Finder configuration for that specific folder on Mac.
Edit: I downloaded the version on the EW and installed it on my Mac running SketchUp 2025. Is there another repository I should check for more?
I played around with the extension for a while on my Mac. There are some aspects of what it does that I am not sure I understand, such as what point on an object it selects to move to position (it could use some words about how to use it, beyond the screenshots) but I encountered no errors.
So for Position Move, a point is selected and if Alignment is on Base, the selected component/group will move to that position with its axes on the selected position.
If you look into settings, you can turn off âUse Axes Originâ. That will use the âmidpointâ and Base alignment.
In the Settings, you can also turn on or disable âShow Tool Messagesâ. Those messages are like a mini-instructor guiding you on how to use the tools.
Iâd add that I picture this an extension that can quickly move things around for scenarios like garden layout where spacing and placement are sometimes about âlook and feelâ rather than exact measured positions.
Object Move is somewhat the reverse of Position Move. Instead of âpick a place, move to itâ, you have âpick an object, move it to itâ. So again, to use a landscaping scenario, sometimes you might be looking at where to plant a tree to screen out a view of the neighborâs house or how something might look if itâs âjust moved over a tadâ.
But also someone posted on the Forum a while ago saying they wish they could more quickly place interior elements like light fixture by to top of the bounding box. Thatâs where the Alignment options come in. Anything where alignment to the top of the bounding box might be handy.
For example:
The Copy to Positions can also spread components around for layouts.
I tested your extension on my mac and it works ok. I have notice a few things that maybe should be considered in order to improve the extension. (I hope you donât mind my advice)
blocked components can me moved and they shouldnât be able to move.
the cursor icon size is too high (probably depending on the screen resolution)
its difficult to pick a specific point in the model
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