I've been giving some serious thought to the estimating module the last couple of days as I regroup and review my various todo lists.

I would like to spend a few days and update the estimating module to include rafter roofs.  However, as I think about rafters and their lengths I am wondering what length exactly are we talking about?  Do we want the actual (longest length of the member) or do we want a horizontal projection of the length?  Typically both the top and bottom of a rafter has a bevel cut or even a compound bevel cut.

The ridge board on the other hand is very simple (generally).  There are no beveled end cuts so things are straight forward.

Editing a UK outlet:

Version 1.1.8 - 08.15.2020
- Enabled the Draw Outlet (UK) tool with the following outlets types (MK Logic Plus): unswitched, switched, switched w/ USB, weatherproof, blank.
- Added preview thumbnails to the draw and edit menus of the UK outlet tool.
- Added UK outlet (2D) symbols to the Legend tool.

After some further digging about on the internet I really only came upon three or four reference documents for UK outlet symbols.  Based on those examples here are my proposed symbols:



Please provide feedback or suggestions.

I planning on using the abbreviation "SW" for switched since I am trying to keep the length of the text in the legend to a manageable length, or I could spell it out in full.

There will probably be other outlet types (ie. fused outlets or connector outlets), but this is all I have for now.

Version 1.1.7b - 08.13.2020
- Added preview thumbnails to the draw and edit menus of the UK switch tool.

Since I am using manufacturer's part numbers to specify the switch and box with the new UK module I thought it made sense to provide a thumbnail to aid in the selection process:

Version 1.1.7 - 08.13.2020
- Created the Medeek Electrical UK (British Standard) toolbar, with two additional functions/tools: Draw Switch, Draw Outlet.
- Enabled the Draw Switch (UK) tool with the following switch types (MK Logic Plus): single pole, dimmer, blank.

Surface mounted MK Logic Plus switches:

To be perfectly honest I didn't think this plugin would be widely used or adopted, kind of niche thing for a few electrical contractors or guys like myself who like to show a lot of details in their models.  I actually got the initial idea from reading through John Brock's book and I really liked how he was placing electrical components into his models.  It seemed like too much work to have to place pre-made components into the model at the right depth into the walls and also the height, hence the plugin was born, which automatically sorted out these details for you.

As with my other plugins as I have continued to develop them they have garnered more interest and I've tried to make them more flexible to accommodate more users and standards.  I'm currently working to release the British Standard upgrade which will include some typical UK outlets and switches (and boxes).  However, a lot more remains to be done to truly make this flexible enough for a worldwide audience.

Keep sending in the feedback, it ultimately helps me fine tune this plugin to better meet the needs of you the user.

After comparing my UK switch tool and the US (NEMA) switch tool it became abundantly clear that there isn't too much to do in order to get the UK switches up and running so I bit the bullet and opened another can of worms...

First look at some flush mounted MK Logic Plus switches with metal boxes:



I still need to enable the 2D symbols but now I am wondering if the symbols used by the Brits are different from what we use here in North America, knowing my luck they are probably not the same.

Moving a distributed load:



It may be more intuitive to select the distribute load and then select whether to move the start or end point, rather than just moving it by its center point.  Granted, one can modify the start and end locations within the edit menu.

Version 1.1.6 - 08.11.2020
- Updated all electrical drawing tools to be compatible with Medeek gable, shed and hip walls.
- Improved compatibility with the SketchUp Grid Tool.

Slightly off topic but I really like using the Grid Tool to help with laying out walls, foundations and even electrical components:

https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/a784fd64-f0ae-492b-8ca4-06aaec6afec6/grid-tool

My self imposed timeline for getting the UK switches and outlets released is Oct. 1, 2020.  However I may be able to push that sooner if I am able to shuffle a few things.

The beam engineering geometry features are now complete.  You can now add, move, delete or modify an unlimited number of supports, distributed loads and point loads.  If the beam itself is modified there is also a function to regenerate all of the engineering geometry to properly match the updated beam width and depth.

The next step will be to work on the actual engineering engine (FEA) and add in additional engineering (global) parameters.  Some of these parameters will be things like deflection limits etc...

Editing a support:

When you assign a support with blocking (lateral bracing) then it will be drawn with a dashed line (both sides of beam) as shown to indicate that bracing is being provided at that location: