Grasshopper 0.7.0030 available for download

GH 0.7.0030 (June 18th build) is available for download.

You need at least Rhino4 SR8 to run this build.

This build fixes numerous serious bugs in the previous 0.7 release so it is highly recommended for those of you who have already had the nerve to depart from 0.6.X.

One of the fixes affects Cross Reference Data Matching and although it is only supposed to be a fix, please be on the lookout for any unwanted changes.

A new feature available in this build are User Objects. Basically you can store any individual existing object on the canvas (including all settings) as a new Component. This allows you to create parameters with preset data, or Components with preset inputs, or Sliders with Integer accuracy as default, or ready made Script components.

User Objects can be created from the Grasshopper File menu. They can be deleted from the toolbars (each component on the toolbar now has a rudimentary menu), or they can be managed manually. There is a single User Object folder (accessible via the File menu again), so anything placed in here will be loaded.

This is still a very early attempt at making a customizable toolset. The interface and responsiveness of User Objects will improve.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on June 18, 2010 at 4:21am

Ah, nearly forgot. Another improved feature is object referencing. It was already possible to 'import' objects into Grasshopper by using the Rhino Object name, but those objects typically failed to update along with the referenced geometry. This is now working. Also, you can add a layer name in front of the object name to be more specific:

--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by Vicente Soler on June 18, 2010 at 5:19am

How about typing only the layer name so it references all items on that layer? or connecting a color swatch and referencing all items with that color?
or using wild-cards in the object names.
edit: wilcards seem to work but only references the first found object.

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on June 18, 2010 at 5:58am

Well, yes. A single string can only ever become a single object. If you want to get ALL objects that match a naming pattern, you need a component that can output more data than you input.

Another problem with this kind of approach is the object order. Not only is there no way to control in which order objects will be imported, it is also likely to change the next time you import them.

Yet another problem is updates. As long as a single object is referenced, it's easy to update Grasshopper when that object changes. If however you reference objects by property instead of by ID, then there's no way for me to keep the Grasshopper data in synch with the Rhino data, except by recomputing the solution on *every* object change, which would slow things down to a crawl.

I'll admit there are cases where these downsides might not matter, but I'd rather not supply a core feature that only works (could possibly work) in a crippled fashion.

--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by Philipp on June 18, 2010 at 7:42am

anyway, it will be really cool to select objects by layer. it will be really handle.

another simple idea - component/script to put some tags (numbers) as curves to batch and use with laser_cuting mashines , but not as contours as in Gulio`s script (it cheaper and easier to find one-line fonts... also - labels and dimensions...

Permalink Reply by Luis Fraguada on June 18, 2010 at 4:27am

Right on! Downloading and testing.

Permalink Reply by Jacek Jaskólski on June 18, 2010 at 6:09am

User Objects: yes, yes, yes!

Permalink Reply by Mårten Nettelbladt on June 18, 2010 at 6:18am

Thanks! I can't pull my User component down from the "User" toolbar to the canvas though...

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on June 18, 2010 at 6:19am

Hi Mårten,

can you mail me the ghuser file that was created? If the deserialization fails, it won't drag+drop. So this is probably an indication that the file read/write has a bug in it somewhere.

--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by Mårten Nettelbladt on June 18, 2010 at 6:37am

My user object folder is empty. All I get is an icon in the User Toolbar. It's gone when I reopen GH.

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on June 18, 2010 at 7:15am

Hmm, odd. Well, this whole system was released while only being tested on my machine. It is possible that maybe the UserObjects folder is in a location that cannot be written to on your login.

I'll dig some more.

--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by Mårten Nettelbladt on June 18, 2010 at 7:27am

This is the path: C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\Grasshopper\UserObjects

On my (Swedish) installation the Program Files folder is simply called "Program", perhaps that is a clue to the problem?

When I click "User Object Folder" it opens an empty folder with the above path, but it is in fact inside the folder called just "C:\Program\and so on". I guess windows is handling the translation there somehow.

Permalink Reply by Simon Pierce on June 18, 2010 at 9:10am

My user objects folder is also empty. Because I'm running a 64bit machine the path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\Grasshopper\UserObjects

This is the path I see when I click on "user object folder" within GH. Mårten, have you had any luck sorting this out?