Set up new entities to group or create a new entites list

[DanRathbun]

@ychen182

however, I am wondering how this doc document.layout is created or formed.

In your snippet above, …

@ychen182

doc = Layout::Document.open("C:/path/to/document.layout")

… this statement opens an existing .layout document from the C disk drive.

@ychen182

… as when I create a new file, there are only one *.skp file being created.

You are confounding 2 separate APIs.
The LayOut API is for working with .layout files that users open in the LayOut application.

Layout::Entity class is 2D and NOT the same as Sketchup::Entity 3D class.
They are saved in different documents (files).

Whenever you make changes to a .layout file (whether new or existing) you need to save it.

• Layout::Document#save()

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I suggest you first learn Ruby, then the SketchUp API, … before you try to tackle the LayOut API.

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@ychen182

Is it possible to create a new entities container for a group?

YES. It is easy.

model = Sketchup.active_model
ments = model.entities
group = ments.add_group
gents = group.entities
# Immediately add a construction point to prevent Ruby garbage collection
cpt = gents.add_cpoint(ORIGIN)
# Now add more entity objects to gents. Erase cpt when done.

@ychen182

… or is it possible to add new entity to an existing group?

YES. You need only have (or find) the reference to the existing group.

There is a very informative topic thread on finding a group by name already …

Selecting Specific Entity, Group or Component (By Name)

Not sure if it is on the ruby end or if can be done in c. Is there a way to find a specific component in a model by its definition? Also this is from the ruby api. If [0] assumes the first entity, is there a way to get the last added entity or component? # Assumes that the board group is the first entity in the model. board = Sketchup.active_model.entities[0]

You can use those examples but substitute a test for your plugin attribute dictionary, if desired.