Ruby is a relatively new scripting language that has become popular in Open Source programming environments. It is also the language @Last Software has chosen as the supported script language of SketchUp.
Ruby was
introduced to SketchUp with Version 4. As explained in the session "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby" at 3D Base Camp today, you DON’T need to know advanced math or object oriented programming to take advantage of Ruby as a tool to enhance SketchUp. But it does take a methodical approach to problem solving to write a successful script. Such thinking was evident in today’s session, as three experienced Ruby/SketchUp users took the group of about 75 through a quick overview of how Ruby works.
A
Ruby script created by a Ruby programmer in Romania was cited earlier in my reporting on the conference, in the session on
landscape architecture. The script takes a selected set of objects and moves them to a pre-selected destination, compensating for changes in elevation as it moves along. It was the perfect way to automate the placing of 100 trees onto a digital terrain model.
Rubygarden.org is recommended as a good site for beginners.
--RSN