I don’t know the right category, so please, I leave it to you to fix that…!
Below is a chain of 4 emails between me and Curic, that may be helpful for everybody, and maybe you will also notify Dale Martens (and others).!
Mail 1, initial mail, from me:
"This one (Curic Single Line Text) has big issues (at least v1.0.0).
I use SU 2022, and this extension (after a few SU restarts) begins to create troubles, as follows:
- either you receive a window message from Curic when you start SU that says that you miss rgloader somewhere (it does not say for which extension)
- either it interferes with other extensions (when you start SU) and stops them from loading, and this happens only with extensions that have their own rgloader folder (for example PB4 and others…)
- either SU can not start at all, or at some point during its start, it simply closes without any message
None of these errors are consistent, you have to try restarting SU a few times and you will eventually manage to start it properly, but once you have one of these errors at least once, PrivatePreferences.json will eventually become corrupt and you will have to delete it.
The only cure I have found (after 4-5 hours of testing and playing with different saved versions of PrivatePreferences.json) was to disable this extension and all problems are gone, and also all the (apparently corrupted) versions of saved PrivatePreferences.json are suddenly working.
I’m not sure, but the same issue (with rgloader) might be also in Birdcage (True Isolate), but maybe only a more minor one; I’m not very sure so I will not ask for a refund yet - I still have 2 days for a refund, but I don’t think that I will be able to draw a definitive conclusion in only 2 days…
I don’t know if this matters, but both of these extensions are not in the default Plugins folder, but repathed through TT Extension Sources plugin.
Anyway, if this is an issue, that would be a truly unique exception - extensions either can be repathed, or can not be repathed (which is true for only a very few), so far I haven’t seen one that can start, but also can not work properly (if it doesn’t start, you just know that you have to move it to the default folder).
And why would this be an issue:!? I have in that folder 239 extensions (tested many times), of which 30 are always on…???
It would truly be helpful a feedback, so i know where is the mistake, and what should i do…!!"
Mail 2, also from me:
"Ha, i’ve found the solution, yet with the help of TT Extension Sources.!
My solution is somehow stupid, because the fault is either in APIs (on Trimble side or Rubyencoder side), or either of the developers.
I’ll wait for your solution, and after that I’ll tell you mine."
Mail 3, from Curic:
"Dear Florin,
Thank you for reaching out and informing me about the issues you have encountered with the plugin. I truly appreciate your proactive approach and the method you’ve used to investigate these errors.
Since the launch of SketchUp 24, I have decided to switch to a new security mechanism using Ruby Encoder, which might still have some bugs during this initial phase. I understand that many other developers have also started using Ruby Encoder, employing various methods to load libraries. In my case, I adhere to the most basic approach without altering any loading behaviors.
Could you let me know if you are using any other plugins that also utilize Ruby Encoder? This information might help us understand the scope and impact of the issue better.
I am familiar with TT Extension Sources and also have my own tool for managing plugins outside the default Plugins folder.
Looking forward to your response and eager to compare our findings to resolve these issues effectively.
Best regards,
Võ Quốc Hải"
Mail 4, from me:
"Thank you for your reply.!
Plugins that I use and which they use rgloader:
- ABF
- Curic Single Line Text
- Curic True Isolate (Birdcage)
- Profile Builder (only starting from version 4)
- SK Model Box (Babao Library, huge library…)
- all of the RBC plugins (but those only work in SU 2018 or below)
What I’ve found is that is a big issue with rgloader, and I think is very important that you tell everybody.
The issue is that if you have more than one extension (that autostarts with SU) that has an rgloader folder, sooner or later you’re asking for problems, it’s not happening right away (you have to restart SU a few times and use it sometime…) so it’s very difficult to make the connection.
What I did is I disabled all of them (with rgloader) through TT Extension Sources, i kept only Birdcage to autostart, and all the other ones i start them manually from TT Extension Sources, i also deleted the entire content of rgloader from Single Line Text (and thus it can autostart with SU) because it has the same content as Birdcage (and most importantly the same line codes in Loader.rb.!) so it automatically uses those from Birdcage; i tried to also delete the content of rgloader from other extensions, but it doesn’t work because each one uses different line codes in Loader.rb.
For this problem to go, i think there has to be a global solution, so Trimble, with Ruby Encoder, and with all the developers, have to find a way to use a common rgloader folder (or maybe each one has to create exceptions in loader.rb from inside the rgloader folder…???), otherwise, the problems are just starting to arise, this is just the beginning…
P.S.: Will you please tell me what is your tool for managing plugins outside the default Plugins folder.!? It may be Fredo Additional Plugin Folders, or there is another one, A.S._On-Demand Extension Loader…
I use TT Extension Loader because is the only one that has indexing, and thus dynamic searching option.!
Thank you.!"
If you consider that there is a mistake on mi side, please let me know.!
Thank you.!
Because i am.! 