Version 0.9.9u - 12.22.2018
- Enabled temporary (construction) dimensions for beams in the Draw Beam tool.
- Enabled temporary (construction) dimensions for stairs in the Draw Stair tool.
- Added 2D construction lines for exterior wainscoting.
- When the cladding or wainscoting air gap is greater than zero the 2D construction lines are drawn in order to represent the interior surface.

Version 1.1.8 - 12.21.2018
- Enabled temporary (construction) dimensions for all foundation types.
- Added a section in the General tab of the global settings for configuring construction dimensions.
- Licensee name now appears in the License tab of the Global Settings when plugin is registered.

There has been some call for a tool that is similar to the split tool but rather than selecting just one face you would select two faces and a section could be removed from the solid object (imagine two infinite planes cutting a slice out of your solid object).  I'm not exactly sure what to call this possible tool (section cut?).

The other question is whether to have the tool break the solid into two separate groups or components like the split tool or just leave the resulting geometry as one group/component?   I suppose I could always enable an option that would allow the user to toggle between these to behaviors offering some flexibility to the user.

Similar to the split tool I could allow the user to define the cutting planes but either selecting two faces or selecting six points, or a combination of three points and a face or a face and three points.  Lots of permutations here... just makes the code a little more fun.

With regards to the cutting planes, they could be parallel or they might not be, it doesn't really matter.  Just as I am doing in the split tool I will need to include logic that checks to see that the cutting planes actually do intersect the solids otherwise no action will be performed.  The two cutting planes cannot be perpendicular to each otherwise a valid solution cannot be obtained, or at least that is what I initially thought.  I will need to give that possible solution some more thought.  If a solution can be obtained there is no reason to discard it.  There may be some overlap with the Trim 2 function, but that tool does not have the ability to separate the solid into different groups.

Any thoughts or suggestions with regard to this potential addition to the tools?

Also just a reminder that even though I am including these tools within the Truss plugin they are designed to work with any solid geometry created in SketchUp, it doesn't need to be plugin related geometry.

Version 2.2.6c - 12.18.2018
- Addressed a bug in the Split function regarding nested groups and components.

This is a critical fix for this tool.  I strongly suggest that everyone upgrade from 2.2.6b to 2.2.6c.

Let me know if there are any other tools that might come in handy with manipulating an architectural model.  I think the six tools now available can cover most tasks but I'm sure I'm missing something.

Version 2.2.6b - 12.18.2018
- Added the Split icon to the Medeek Tools toolbar.
- Added the Split function for (solid) groups and components: split plane via one face or three points.



When you first click on the tool it defaults to the user selecting a face for the cutting plane however if you hit the "CTRL" key in Windows it will toggle to the three point mode.

Tutorial 13 - Split Tool:

As many of you know I am currently programming the plugins full time (ie. its my only income).  As such my wife and I sat down yesterday to review the progress made on the plugins in the last year and our prospects moving forward into 2019.  As I have previously mentioned I will be re-assessing my pricing and licensing as we bring the Wall plugin out of BETA.

As much as I detest subscription licensing that seems to be the direction I need to be going otherwise I will not be able to keep working on the plugins full time.  I am not a huge fan of any form of subscription licensing, I prefer to BUY a product not lease or rent it.  This is why I have remained at odds with going to this form of licensing even though it does make financial sense and would give me more stability and resources to continue further with the development.

I guess my biggest issue with subscription licensing is that if your subscription lapses then you are essentially locked out of any of your previous work/projects.  I can totally understand the frustration with something like this, for many including myself it is a deal breaker.

After pondering this problem with this form of licensing it occurred to me that maybe one could set it up in such a way that all of the editing and misc. functionality of the plugin is retained even when the license has lapsed however the ability to draw new geometry (assemblies) would be limited.  In other words you could still use the plugin to edit existing walls, beams, stairs, windows doors etc...  However you would not be able to draw new elements or assemblies unless the license was active.

Let me know if such a compromise with regards to adopting subscription licensing would be acceptable.

I'm a little burned out right now with the addition of all these extra tools to the Medeek Tools toolbar, but I still feel like I need to add one final addition to the mix.

This one will be called the split tool and similar to the trim tool the user will select a single face (or three points, toggle with the control key?) to define a plane which will then be used to cut a solid group or component in two.

The slightly tricky part with this is to make sure that the copied group/component is nested in the same overall group(s) as the original and retains all of its properties. 

This tool would be useful where you've used the followme tool to create some geometry but want to break the resulting solid into separate segments (groups).

Version 2.2.6 - 12.16.2018
- Added the Miter Cut icon to the Medeek Tools toolbar.
- Added the Miter Cut function for (solid) groups and components.
- Enabled temporary (construction) dimensions for trusses, roofs and floor assemblies.
- Added a section in the General tab of the global settings for configuring construction dimensions.





Tutorial 12 - Miter Cut: 

In order to round out the selection of tools available and also per suggestion from a respected colleague it would seem prudent that I also include a mitering tool in the grab bag that is the Medeek Tools.

This can take shape in a few forms however the most important configuration in my opinion would be a tool that can take two solids and miter both of their ends at a common plane, while retaining the solid status of the group or component and retaining all of their properties and meta-data.

This would involve selecting the faces to extend/trim on each solid and then selecting two (non-parallel) edges that intersect at a point, so four pick points in total.  The intersecting edges need not be orthogonal (90 degrees) just so long as they intersect at a point, that is enough to define the mitering plane.

I haven't searched very much yet to see if such a tool/plugin already exists and I don't really want to recreate the wheel on this one.  Please let me know if you are aware of such a tool, that can work for any (non-plugin specific) solids.

Would there be a need/demand for this proposed tool?

For CMU I actually use two textures/materials to simulate the look and feel of CMU brick.  One for the vertical faces and one for the faces normal to the vertical (horizontal faces).  I could add a couple parameters in the materials tab of the global settings which allows the user to select their own material for these two face orientations for the CMU framing option.

I've been giving this plugin some more thought now that I well versed with making my other plugins parametric.

The one area that is intriguing to me right now is the ability to make a complex outline parametric.

My concept or idea on how to make this work would be to have a context menu item which allows the user to right click on the foundation (ie. slab-on-grade) and choose to edit "foundation outline". A html menu would open up with the option to cancel or save changes.

The points that define the foundation outline are actually stored in the attribute library.  The tool would create a temporary group and then create a temporary outline (edges) within that group, while greying out the rest of the model.

The user could then modify, delete or create any edges (lines) they like, so long as the edges (points) form a complete, closed loop.  (When the user clicks save the plugin would first do some error checking to make sure that the updated outline forms a valid loop.)

Once the user is done editing they can click the save button and the new points are saved into the attribute library, the temp group and its contents is deleted.  The user is returned back to the root of model and the foundation is regenerated.

Tutorial 7 - Stairs  (23:19 min.)



Unfortunately there is just too much information to convey regarding this new module and the video doesn't really dive deep enough into all of the details and options, but hopefully this will be enough of a primer for getting started with stairs.

I also discuss the new wall isolation concept in some detail in this video.

Version 2.2.5c - 12.13.2018
- Added the Trim 3 icon to the Medeek Tools toolbar.
- Added the Trim 3 function for (solid) groups and components. This trim function allows the user to select three trimming planes.
- Enabled the ability to invert your selection within the Trim 2 and Trim 3 tools using the "CTRL" key in Windows.



Tutorial 11:



Note that the planes in either advanced trim tool do not need to be orthogonal.

When using the Trim 3 tool the suggested order of selecting the cutting planes/faces is:

Vertical - Vertical - Horizontal

On an outside corner like that I'm not entirely sure how a skilled roof framer would cut that birdsmouth, but at least with the Trim 3 tool you have the option to cut it so it fits tight to the wall as I've shown in the video.

I like including this toolset as part of the Truss plugin, but I am also wondering if there might be a potential market for it as a stand alone plugin ($5 - $10).  As it stands currently the prospective user is forced to purchase the entire Truss Plugin if they want to use these tools.

Figured I might as well add construction dimensions to the beam and stair modules:

Version 2.2.5b - 12.10.2018
- Added the Extend function for (solid) groups and components. This function allows the user to extend a member to a single plane/face.



The tool also has the ability to handle fairly complex, prismatic beams etc...

A huge shout out to ThomThom and John (John_DrivenuptheWall) from the SketchUp forums for helping me sort some of the issues out with the algorithm and code. 

Tutorial 10: