SU 2020: Which methods exist to install extension via an *.rbz

[euphoria]

I use SU 2020 (latest version) on macOS.

When I doubleclick a downloaded extension *.rbz SU starts automatically, but nothing happens.

What is the expected behaviour of SU?
Should the extension manager start automatically or not?

Or is the only way to install a *.rbz that way?

• start the extension manager
• click to “add extension”
• choose the *.rbz

Is there an alternative way to install an *.rbz, e.g. by moving the *.rbz to a specific folder of SU?

I ask for alternatives, because in a version 2019 of SU I cannot open the extension manager, as I posted some days ago.

Thanks for your help.

PS: Is it still true, that you cannot temporarily change the language of the interface from German to English?

[DaveR]

@euphoria

Should the extension manager start automatically or not?

No it should start automatically.

@euphoria

Or is the only way to install a *.rbz that way?

• start the extension manager
• click to “add extension”
• choose the *.rbz

Yes. This is the way to install extensions if you’ve downloaded the .rbz to your computer.

@euphoria

Is there an alternative way to install an *.rbz, e.g. by moving the *.rbz to a specific folder of SU?

No. Just dragging the .rbz into a folder does not extract its contents.

@euphoria

I ask for alternatives, because in a version 2019 of SU I cannot open the extension manager,

That ought to be fixed so it works.

.rbz files could be renamed to .zip, the contents extracted and copied into the appropriate Plugins directory but this method is prone to problems unless you get everything done exactly right.

[john_drivenupthewall]

you could try this for now…

eneroth-rbz-installer

for it you will need to unzip and place the file and folder into your User plugins folder manually…

but any others can then be Drag ‘N’ Dropped onto the SU viewport…

john

[eneroth3]

You could also use the Install button in Extension Warehouse inside of SketchUp.

@euphoria

PS: Is it still true, that you cannot temporarily change the language of the interface from German to English?

You can add the argument --lang en-US to the shortcut if you are on Windows.

[euphoria]

@DaveR

.rbz files could be renamed to .zip, the contents extracted and copied into the appropriate Plugins directory but this method is prone to problems unless you get everything done exactly right.

Extracting the files manually in my file manager is no problem.

Which is the appropriate plugin directory please on macOS?
What do I have to consider?

@eneroth3

You can add the argument --lang en-US to the shortcut if you are on Windows.

I use macOS. Is there any way to add an argument too?

[john_drivenupthewall]

~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2020/SketchUp/Plugins

put it in your Finder sidebar for easy access…

john

[euphoria]

@john_drivenupthewall

~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2020/SketchUp/Plugins

Worked perfectly. You have to close and restart SU with that method. No problem.

Thanks a lot for your help. That workaround is OK for a while.

[euphoria]

@eneroth3

You could also use the Install button in Extension Warehouse inside of SketchUp.

Yes, but I was looking for a solution for extensions, which are not offered in the Extensions Warehouse.

Thanks for your very nice extension eneroth-rbz-installer.

That’s a nice concept! I will check, if that will work with the version 2019 where the extension manager does not work.

[DaveR]

@euphoria

but I was looking for a solution for extensions, which are not offered in the Extensions Warehouse.

What extensions are you referring to?

[euphoria]

@DaveR

What extensions are you referring to?

For example: Mirror TIG (not from Curic)

[DaveR]

You could install the Sketchucation Extension Store and use its installer to automatically install extensions such as those from TIG and Fredo6.

Not only does it make it easier to install extensions from Sketchucation, it will help you keep them up to date and create a bundle of SCF extensions that can be auto installed when you upgrade to a new version or move to a new computer.

[euphoria]

@DaveR

You could install the Sketchucation Extension Store and use its installer to automatically install extensions such as those from TIG and Fredo6.

Done. Thanks, that’s a nice improvement.