I am unhappy with the purge button located in the components list. My students often hit the button and it deletes all there unused components. I typically advise them to delete the components once they create them so they can focus on the new component. I also would like the application to start with setting “never” when purging components. The user can always change the setting from there if that is what they want.
Why do you advise them to delete components once they create them. Why not teach them to move them to the side or build the next component next to the previous one? Or teach them to give the component a tag after they create it so they can turn off its visibility. Then those components won’t be unused and won’t be subject to purging.
Or… save them new components as seperate files for future usage?
Depends upon how they are to be used but yes.
If they do not delete them then they have the tendancy to merge them with the other components. I see them aprox. 2 1/2 days per week and the students forget where they left off. I also know that they can go to settings and click “Never” purge. However, the settings start off with “always” and if they do not follow directions they can delete all their work very easily. Now there is a purge button on the components list and if they hit that they will have to start over. I just think that it should start with “never” and they can switch it to “always” if they want. It is only my opinion.
How do they merge them?
Teaching them to delete them from the model space after creating them seems akin to teaching them to put their finished 3D prints in the waste basket before they move on to the next one and expecting the custodian to know they want to keep them.
With long experience from before this automatic purge feature was created, we’ve seen many cases in which users have extremely bloated SketchUp model files because nothing was purged. With the browser-based versions such as SketchUp for Schools this creates more problems due to max file size limits and connection speeds with the servers where the models are saved.
I get what you are asking for but in my opinion the process you are teaching isn’t ideal.
I appreciate your input. I have a short amount of time to work with the students. The design that they are creating is very primitive compared to what you are teaching your students. The purge button on the component list was created this year and I would like the option to remove it.