Script to remove a small bit from the middle of edges

Developers Ruby API
1

Hi! I’m looking to write a script that will remove a small segment in the middle of an edge. I use SketchUp to design for a laser cutter and I have some a lot of design I want to cut up but leave the pieces connected just barely. I’ve been needing to create a joining segment on an edge, copy-move the segment 0.2 mm, and then erase both segments and the middle. This gets tiring for a design with a lot of pieces.

Ideally, I’d like a script that takes all edges over a certain length (say, 20mm), divides them into three with the middle piece at a set length (say 0.2mm) and deletes the middle, or some variation.

I’m a beginning at ruby scripting and been poking around other scripts and tutorials. If anyone could share some tips or code snips, I’d really appreciate it!

Thank you!

2

You can start with something like the below.It will add a gap to selected edges according to the parameters in the main method.

module MiddleSegmentRemover

	def self.mid_segment(pt0, pt1, seg_length) 
		d = pt0.distance(pt1)
		ve = (pt1 - pt0)
		return [pt0.offset(ve, 0.5 * (d - seg_length)),
				pt0.offset(ve, 0.5 * (d + seg_length))]			
	end

	def self.get_edges(ents, threshold)
		return ents.grep(Sketchup::Edge).select { |e| e.length >= threshold }
	end

	def self.divide(e, gap)
		segement = mid_segment(e.start.position, e.end.position, gap)
		e = e.parent.entities.add_line(segement[0], segement[1])
		e.erase!
	end

	def self.main
		mod = Sketchup.active_model
		sel = mod.selection

		#### PARAMETERS ####
		threshold = 10.mm
		gap = 2.mm
		####################

		mod.start_operation("Gapper", true)
		get_edges(sel, threshold).each { |e| divide(e, gap) }
		mod.commit_operation
	end

	main

end
2 Likes
3

That works perfectly. Thank you so much – you’re awesome! I will study this and learn.

4

It is assumed that any example module posted needs to be wrapped within a unique author or company namespace module.