sketchup insert group in constrained zone

Question

I created a sketchUp plugin that draws a wall (with lenght, width and height).

Now I would like to insert a "window" in that wall (fixed length, width and height, depending on the wall). How can I:

1. Create but not yet draw the group containing the window. Link it to the current mouse position
2. Constrain the current mouse position to the front plane of the wall I drew before
3. When the user clicks, the window is inserted and the group is shown

Answer 1

The easy way to do it, that doesn't fulfill your request 100% - but do use existing SketchUp conventions, is to create a component definition and then use Model.place_component to activate SketchUp's native tool to position a new component instance.

In order to fulfill your question 100%:

1. A Group is an instance. You cannot create one and not place it in the model. You can create it in step 3 when the user clicks. (Though, a window sounds like a candidate for a component since you usually have multiple copies of the same window type.)

2. You cannot constrain the mouse cursor itself, but if you implement a custom Tool and make use of the InputPoint class you can selectively determine what is a valid insertion point when the user clicks. You can also draw virtual lines and polygons to the viewport to give a preview of your window.

3. Profit!