Hi Mathias, hi Anders, thanks for updating this.

It should be possible though to use Mesh.ToPlanktonMesh() in the latest Plankton

Hi Daniel,
Do you mean that a Rhino.Geometry.Mesh now has a method for converting it to a PlanktonMesh? If so, I'm not able to call it I'm afraid. I'm Running Rhino 5 SR8 64-bit (5.8.40305.11495, 03/05/2014), GH 0.9.0072 with the latest Plankton.dll and Plankton.gha installed. I'm doing good Mathias, likewise :)

Hi Anders - yes, but it needs both the Plankton.dll and Plankton.gha referenced (thanks to Will, there is now a clearer distinction between the mesh library itself, and the parts which interface with Rhino/Grasshopper). It works fine in C#, but I'm always getting mixed up with right way of importing references in Python

ok - this seems to work:

import clr
clr.AddReferenceToFileAndPath("C:\Users\Daniel\AppData\Roaming\Grasshopper\Libraries\Plankton.gha")
import PlanktonGh as pl

pMesh = pl.RhinoSupport.ToPlanktonMesh(mesh)

Thanks Daniel,

This does seem to make Plankton more tricky for Python implementation. In order to reference the Plankton.gha I renamed it PlanktonGh.dll and imported in the same way as Plankton.dll. This provides access to the RhinoSupport class which contains the ToPlanktonMesh() method, allowing us to call it in a procedural manor. This is not exactly pretty, but does seem to work. Attached the example from before.

Perhaps this is something for Giulio/Steve to have a closer look at. I have already suggested that the Grasshopper library folder be add..., but it seems that this could use some deeper thinking/planning in general (should we be able to import .gha files etc.).

Best,

Anders

140401_PlanktonDemoPython_Update02.gh

Edit: I see you already figured it out Daniel. I attached another version which assumes that the GH library folder is read by RhinoPython, but offers the perhaps least "ugly" method :)

140401_PlanktonDemoPython_Update03.gh

Hi guys,

right now clr.AddReferenceToFileAndPath is I think the correct method to use here. That .dll has to ultimately be added to the Python context. More in general, McNeel might want to add a new registration to AssemblyResolve for .gha files. Let's see also what Steve thinks.

Giulio
--
Giulio Piacentino
for Robert McNeel & Associates
giulio@mcneel.com

Thanks everyone for looking into this. I did see the ToPlanktonMesh command in the C# examples, but couldn't get it to work without the references.

In order to script Kangaroo functions like in the remeshing examples, I assume I need to reference the kangaroo .dll and .gha aswell?

Hi Mathias,

Yes - that's correct, the remeshing example uses some functions from GhKangaroo.MeshPhysics, so you'll need those libraries referenced. (I'm looking though at whether it might be better to keep all these functions in the .dll in future)

It's all personal preference but here's how I do things (off the top of my head):

import clr

clr.AddReference('Plankton')

clr.AddReference('PlanktonGh')

import Plankton

import PlanktonGh.RhinoSupport as planktongh

pmesh = planktongh.ToRhinoMesh(mesh)

(Note that Plankton.dll and PlanktonGh.gha are in my Libraries folder.)

Thanks Will. That's certainly true. In your example "PlanktonGh" refers to the "old" .dll correct? The one which is now simply called "Plankton.gha"? In which case one has to use "AddReferenceToFile" as there are now two files with the same name, but different extensions (which I think I prefer actually). Anywho, just tried out the following which seems to work for importing all the dependencies for both Plankton and Kangaroo:

# Reference .NET assemblies
import clr
clr.AddReferenceToFile("Plankton.dll")
clr.AddReferenceToFile("Plankton.gha")
clr.AddReferenceToFile("KangarooLib0096.dll")
clr.AddReferenceToFile("Kangaroo0096.gha")

# Import Plankton
import Plankton as pl
import PlanktonGh as plGh

# Import Kangaroo
import Kangaroo as ka
import KangarooLib as kaLib
import GhKangaroo as kaGh

Let the digging begin :)

Oh gosh, you're right. I've just realised I've got both Plankton.gha and the PlanktonGh.dll that Daniel packaged with Kangaroo... Sorry for muddying the waters!

Hehe, no worries. One of my main headaches with assemblies was always trying to figure out their actual name (as in, not the file name) and their actual content (available types), I just spent a little time looking into assembly introspection. Seems pretty straight forward, attached a small example. I suspect this could be useful for you Mathias. Best, Anders

140402_AssemblyIntrospection.gh

Thanks, Anders, you have been reading my mind. I've got some sleepless nights ahead.

All, just pushed some documentation to pearswj.co.uk/plankton.

I'm deliberately trying something different (rather than the usual Sandcastle docs as used by Rhinocommon and Grasshopper) in an attempt to bring users closer to the code.

Hello Will,

I've seen a little bit of what you do on Plankton ... and I'm interesting about the documentation you've pushed on your website !

I'm developing rhino & gh tools in my research lab right now and I'm seeking a way to document it in a "friendly" way for others.

How did you manage to make the doc on your website ? Is it auto-generated from a XML doc file (from VS) ?

Thanks in advance for your advice ...

Lionel

Lionel, I added the XML comment parsing to an existing Python documentation program. It's a bit hacky. It runs on the .cs files themselves. Check it out below, instructions in the README.

https://github.com/pearswj/pycco/tree/csharp-xml-docs

Tks Will !

I've manage to install pycco and it's dependencies. But I can't get it work properly ...

Is it working with python 3.4 or 2.7 ?

I get this error (see below) when launching the script from the consol on the Compass.cs file in a \src folder in the C:\Python34\Scripts\pycco folder

Any idea where it comes from ??

Thanks again,

Lionel

C:\Python34\Scripts\pycco>python pycco/main.py src/Compass.cs
File "pycco/main.py", line 484
print "pycco = %s -> %s" % (s, dest)
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

I also tried to launch pycco on the pycco/main.py and got the same kind of error :

C:\Python34\Scripts\pycco\pycco>pycco main.py -p
lionel
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Python34\Scripts\pycco-script.py", line 10, in <module>
load_entry_point('Pycco==0.3.0', 'console_scripts', 'pycco')()
File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pkg_resources.py", line 353, in load_entry
_point
return get_distribution(dist).load_entry_point(group, name)
File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pkg_resources.py", line 2302, in load_entr
y_point
return ep.load()
File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pkg_resources.py", line 2029, in load
entry = __import__(self.module_name, globals(),globals(), ['__name__'])
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2237, in _find_and_load
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2226, in _find_and_load_unlocked
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1191, in _load_unlocked
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1161, in _load_backward_compatible
File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pycco-0.3.0-py3.4.egg\pycco\__init__.py",
line 1, in <module>
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2237, in _find_and_load
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2222, in _find_and_load_unlocked
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2164, in _find_spec
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1940, in find_spec
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1916, in _get_spec
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1897, in _legacy_get_spec
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 863, in spec_from_loader
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 904, in spec_from_file_location
File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pycco-0.3.0-py3.4.egg\pycco\main.py", line
484
print "pycco = %s -> %s" % (s, dest)
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Try Python 2.7. If you have any more questions can we discuss them elsewhere? Perhaps http://discourse.mcneel.com/c/uncategorized would be appropriate, or open a github issue :)

Ok, I finally manage to make it work. Some thing was wrong with my python Install. Now it's working for both 2.7 and 3.4.

Tks,
Lionel

how to use the Plankton in order to build net (mesh) Chebyshev on the surface?

Hi Spiral - generating Chebyshev nets can be done in Kangaroo by fixing or equalizing the edge lengths, and draping over or pulling to some target surface.

Thanks Daniel, it is possible to make the edges of equal length? changing only the angle between them.

Hi Spiral, could you post this as a question on the Kangaroo group? It's easier than having a conversation in these comments.

ScreenShot022.jpg

I cannot get plankton installed. I downloaded the shown files and placed them in my AppData>Roaming>Grasshopper>Libraries folder.  I then restarted Rhino and opened Grasshopper and there is no Plankton tab.

Thanks, I found the components.  What I'm trying to do is remesh the attached surface or other surfaces like it (it's a mesh) in hopes of flattening it using Rhino's Squish command.  If there are any other, better methods using other Grasshopper components or Rhino tools or (free) plugins, I'm open to that as well.

sample%20surface.3dm

The latest version from the link below is downloading the 0.3.0 instead...? i can't get the 0.3.4 version...

https://github.com/meshmash/Plankton/releases

plankton.PNG

Dekani, you've got the right one. We just forgot to bump the assembly release number...

What problems are you having?

HI thanks for your replies, i just had to unblock the dlls and they worked. 

Glad it's working for you now :)

Hi all, Is anyone is using plankton for scripting on mac?

more specifically, for rhino python scripting?

I am considering trying it out, and curious if there are any tips/tricks known already.

Hi, 

I am wondering how to draw hexagons/circles around clothed vertices by using their neighboring vertices distances. I have some confusion... Can this be achieved with 'Deconstruct Plankton'? (I assume yes, by getting the proper half edges). 

Also, I have looked inside the 'Tangent Circle' component and see that it only measures the distance from two neighboring vertices. I believe this is why my result is imperfect. See below. 

How can I tweak the tangentCircles component to achieve a more accurate result, or how can I use 'deconstructPlankton' to achieve this?

Thank you in advance. EriktangentCirclePLANKTON.gh

Hi all, 

We created an open source plugin "Leopard" using Plankton for internal mesh processing. We hope that this can be a good example to demonstrate the advantage using Plankton and help improve it. 

More feedback and insights are welcome to discuss in Leopard forum. 

Source code can be downloaded on GitHub. 

Cheers, 

Gene

This may be a really dumb question but how do I install the plankton 0.4.0 gha file. I've used grasshopper for a couple years now and normally just drag and drop. I have tried that, restarting grasshopper, restarting my computer and it never seems to load...??

1. Solution exception:Could not load file or assembly 'Plankton, Version=0.3.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

why does this happen? I have it download in pluggin folder, all 3 parts :(

Farah – When/where are you seeing this error? Have you unblocked all the .dll/.gha files? (right-click, properties, unblock)

Jay – Plankton doesn't have very many components as it's mostly used for scripting. I wonder if this is why it seems not to be loading... There are a few components which can be found in the "Mesh" tab, under "Triangulation". Are these present?

Gene – Thanks for sharing! I'm really glad that you've been able to build something so cool on top of Plankton! I'll keep an eye on the Leopard forum/github in case there are any cross-over support topics that I can help with :)

Hi,

I have finally managed to load Meshmachine within Kangaroo0099 following the tip in this forum:

https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/meshmachine-plankton-related-questio...

Am I right that it is not possible to run meshmachine within Kangaroo2?

Now my problem is similar to Farah's. In Grasshopper, the component does not work. The error message says:

1. Solution exception:Could not load file or assembly 'PlanktonGh, Version=0.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

So unlike Farah's error message it's looking for PlanktonGh and version 0.3.0.0

Trying this on a university PC

Cheers 

Thomas

Hi again, one thing to add:

I have problems installing weaverbird due to a missing admin licence. 

Could that be the reason that meshmachine does not work?

Meshmachine works for me now with Kangaroo0099 on a different PC where I do not need admin rights to install software. Looks like that was the problem.

Can someone help me find the documentation for Plankton's Halfedge data structure? I seem to have lost the link to it, and Google isn't helping. 

@DavidBachmann

The source may help u...
https://github.com/meshmash/Plankton

@OrtlerMark

There used to be a documentation page with a description of each half edge operator, in addition to the GitHub page. I believe the location was here:

https://pearswj.co.uk/Plankton/docs/

I can get the info from the source files, but its not as easy.

@Will Pearson

Thank you!!!

First time trying to write a C# script using a plankton mesh. I've connected the output of a PMesh component to the input of a C# component, and named that input "pmesh". Inside the script I'd like to call a method such as:

int count=pmesh.Vertices.Count;

However, I get an error that `object` does not contain a definition for `Vertices`.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Dave