SketchUp Command Arguments

Following a discussion on SketchUcation, Jim came up with a list of command arguments one could use when launching SketchUp:

$ Sketchup.exe [opts] [file.skp]

Possible choices for [opts]:

• -DisableRubyAPI
• -RubyStartup "/path/to/ruby.rb"
• -template "/path/to/template.skp"
• -notemplate
• -page "Scene1"
• -timing
• -lang fr

Example:

Sketchup.exe -RubyStartup "c:\path\to\My Script.rb"

It’s possible to use either /DisableRubyAPI or -DisableRubyAPI syntax.

With these commands you can create shortcuts that let you run SketchUp without loading any plugins. Or you could place your favourite plugins on a thumb drive with a shortcut that will start SketchUp with the plugins from that drive.

Output Ruby Console to File

In addition to these commands it is possible to catch the output you see in the Ruby Console to a file which is useful for debugging – especially start-up errors.

Create a BAT file with the following command: (Assuming default SketchUp 8 installation under a 64bit Windows system.)

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google SketchUp 8\SketchUp.exe" > myRubyLog.txt

The file might not contain all output until you close SketchUp though. If you create this BAT file on your desktop and executes it the myRubyLog.txt file will be created on the desktop.