DupSrf command [feature request]

DupEdge allows duplicating selected sub-objects (ctrl+shift+LMB) inside joined polysurface. I hope there will be some solution to duplicate selected surfaces from a joined group without ungrouping/exploding.

When I fix some surfaces for example after offsetsrf then I have polysurface with ‘show edges’ turned on and I like to isolate bad surfaces and work over them having the source untouched - just in case. It would be much faster to duplicate without exploding and turning off ‘show edges’.

The solution would be also adding an option ‘delete input’ to the ExtractSrf command because it would allow duplicating selected sub-objects:surfaces.

pretty sure you can select the surface in question with ctrl+shift and delete it. would that help your issue?

I did a mistake above. When I wrote about ctrl+LMB I meant ctrl+shift+LMB. I corrected my first post.

And I wasn’t precise with my proposition, sorry:

If you use the command without having selected before, you can select the surface within the command, where you find the option of Copy=No (would make the same as copy and delete) or Copy=Yes, which would leave the Polysurface intact and copy the selected surface.

Hello- this might help for now -

! _ExtractSrf _Copy=_Yes _Pause _SelNone _SelLast

-Pascal

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Not sure if I correctly understood the request, but you can also sub-object select surfaces in one or more polysurfaces and hit Copy>InPlace (I have this as RMB on my Copy button). This duplicates the selected surfaces and leaves the dupes selected.

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I might be wrong, I think sub-object are excluded from ctrl+c:
Unbenannt-1

Thanks a lot. Both solutions are great. The question is: Is it easy to find for a newbie user? Is that needed?

Copy>InPlace is not the same as Ctrl+C → Ctrl+V

That is also not clear for newbie :slight_smile:

ooh, nice, just learned something new, thanks!

I think the best would be to have ctrl+c which works over all sub-objects because many think that what can be selected may be also copied and pasted. That is of course my personal opinion and maybe it`s only my own expectation.

Of course, copy-paste is not the same as duplicating but the first thing I tried was copy/paste.

The Second was trying to find an option inside extractsrf.

Next try was looking for dupSrf command which doesn`t exist :slight_smile:

Well, what exactly do you think Ctrl+C does…? It copies stuff to the Windows Clipboard. That means you are going outside of Rhino. (actually it exports the objects into a special Rhino file somewhere and just copies the marker to the file to the clipboard if I understood correctly). Ctrl+V reverses the process, it invokes the Windows Clipboard which finds the file where the last Ctrl+C was made from Rhino and re-imports it back into Rhino.

The Rhino native Copy command does not need to do any of these shenanigans. It simply copies the object(s) internally. Copy has an option InPlace. Its function is exactly to duplicate objects without moving them. It is the default right mouse command on the Copy button.

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That option exists, as Pascal showed: ExtractSrf Copy=Yes

It’s important to understand that if you preselect things, you basically jump over some important setttings. that’s what I tried to explain and Pascal’s macro just presets things in a macro. Very often you find much information in the command line. What you are looking for is basically already there, you just miss it by preselecting the srf with ctrl+shift+LMB

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Ok, I see where my bad was.

I selected sub-object first and next I typed the command ExtractSrf then option is not visible and as default is copy=no.

Thats how I always do it in Rhino. Selection first. Command next. If possible of course.

exactly, and that’s a very common rule for all rhino commands. you aren’t supposed to already know, but it will immensly help you discover commands.

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That’s why I haven`t seen that. But why do some commands have options visible after preselection and some don’t?

Yep, that is generally a faster and smoother workflow, I’ve found. In some cases we’ve added an extra Enter to commands so that the command options remain visible until the user specifically accepts the results - I like this in some cases (FilletCorners comes to mind - I think that one originally just did it with a pre-selection, so the user never got to set the radius in that case) but the down side is that extra Enter needed, which can become a nuisance in itself.

-Pascal

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Thanks. Understood now. It should be borderlined :slight_smile: