Out of curiosity, I was just wondering what the Model#tags are used for, or what they were intended to be used for?
I have to admit I haven’t stumbled over that method yet – although it’s there since SketchUp 6.
Maybe it is metadata for making a model better searchable like in 3D Warehouse?
But it’s not even exposed in SketchUp’s UI (usually users can specify name and description of components), so maybe it should be added to Model Info → File → General. Also it could be connected to the way how the operating system (or file system) manages file metadata.
I thought maybe it was for file browsers, but the tags do not appear in Explorer.
You have model.tags=“Building, House, Brick”
A string of comma separated ‘tags’.
Then the model.tags to retrieve that string.
Its default is “”
However, ‘tags’ are not explained further.
If you close a model after adding ‘tags’ you are NOT prompted to save it !
BUT if you do save the model, then the ‘tags’ are remembered when you next open it.
The ‘tags’ are NOT remembered as attributes with the model.
The name and description are separate things.
They are NOT used as Windows Explorer ‘Tags’ ?
I suspect they are for 3dWarehouse ?
Data that is stored with files (atime, ctime, mtime, tags, color label, custom icon) depend very much on the underlaying file system’s features or are partly implemented file-manager specific or in the file format. It would first have to be coded into SketchUp to use the resp. operating system’s APIs.
It seems there was a change in Windows 8.1.
But what are SketchUp’s model tags then? When downloading a tagged model from 3D Warehouse, the model.tags are empty, so it’s not used for/by 3D Warehouse (and who would then add model.tags, if there is so little use from them?)
Attributes are available on every entity. Name and description are separate, but available on every group/component/model and are editable through the UI. Analogously one would expect the model’s tags to be editable by users, not only programmers. Are they a dead feature? (like a dead code path, implemented but never used)
they are not used by osX either, although it would be possible to add as ‘Finder’ tags…
john
I’m not sure either - and I’m looking at the source. I find no comment that explain the purpose of this or any references to where it’s used. I’m asking around, but this might have been lost in history…
I do not use in Su but it sure helps a lots if you use the windows library capability. For example you can find all of the skp models you have on a number of different drives going back years and display all in one place.