LoomiumBlockCount for Rhino — User Guide

This guide covers installing, updating, and uninstalling the plug-in, plus how to configure and run it.

1. Requirements

• Rhino 8 for Windows or Mac.
• The plug-in package file: loomiumblockcount-0.2.1.9708-rh8-any.yak

This package is distributed directly by Square Wave rather than through the Package Manager's online listing, so you won't find it by searching inside Rhino — it must be installed from the .yak file as described below.

2. Installing the plug-in

There are a few ways to install a .yak package that you already have on disk.

Option A — Double-click the file (Mac, recommended)

1. Make sure Rhino is running.
2. In Finder, double-click loomiumblockcount-<version>-rh8-any.yak.
3. Rhino confirms the plug-in was installed. Restart Rhino when prompted so the plug-in is loaded.

Option B — Drag and drop

1. Open Rhino.
2. Drag the loomiumblockcount-<version>-rh8-any.yak file from Explorer/Finder and drop it anywhere inside the Rhino window.
3. Rhino confirms the plug-in was installed. Restart Rhino when prompted so the plug-in is loaded.

After installation, confirm the plug-in loaded correctly by typing PluginManager at the command line and checking that LoomiumBlockCount appears in the list, or by typing LoomiumBlockCount at the command line and confirming Rhino recognizes the command.

3. Updating the plug-in

To update to a newer version, install the new .yak file the same way you installed the original (Option A or B above). The Package Manager replaces the previous version automatically — you do not need to uninstall the old version first. Restart Rhino to load the update.

To check which version is currently installed, run the PackageManager command, open the Installed tab, and look up LoomiumBlockCount.

4. Uninstalling the plug-in

1. At the Rhino command line, type PackageManager.
2. Switch to the Installed tab.
3. Select LoomiumBlockCount and choose Uninstall.
4. Restart Rhino to complete removal.

5. Configuring the export (optional)

Running LoomiumSettings opens a short sequence of dialogs covering two kinds of settings: which InstanceDefinition fields feed the CSV columns, and which kinds of block instances are included in a whole-document export. Both are saved together, with your Rhino settings, and persist across sessions until changed again. If you cancel any dialog in the sequence, none of your changes are saved.

Column mapping

Each block definition in Rhino carries a set of built-in fields (Name, Description, Url, Url Description, and so on). By default, LoomiumBlockCount writes the block definition's Name into the Definition Name column and its Url Description into the Status column of the exported CSV. If your blocks store this information in different fields, you can remap which field feeds each column.

1. At the Rhino command line, type LoomiumSettings.
2. For each CSV column (Status, Definition Name), pick the InstanceDefinition field that should supply its value from the list box, and confirm.

Export scope options

After the column mapping dialogs, a checklist dialog lets you control which block instances are swept up by a whole-document export:

Check or uncheck each option as needed, then confirm.

Include hidden objects and Include locked objects only affect whole-document exports — a selection-based export (see Exporting a selection) always uses exactly what's selected, since hidden or locked objects can't normally be selected in Rhino in the first place. Include nested blocks applies to both whole-document and selection-based exports.

You can re-run LoomiumSettings at any time to change any of these settings.

6. Running the export

1. Open the Rhino document containing the block instances you want to count.
2. (Optional) Select one or more objects first if you only want to count block instances within that selection — see Exporting a selection below. Leave nothing selected to count the whole document, as before.
3. At the Rhino command line, type LoomiumBlockCount.
4. If nothing was found to count (an empty document, or a selection containing no block instances), Rhino displays a message and no file is written.
5. Otherwise, the Save block count report dialog appears. Choose a location and file name for the CSV and click Save. The default file name is <document name>_block_count.csv (or <document name>_block_count_selection.csv when exporting a selection), in the same folder as the document.
6. Rhino writes the CSV and prints a summary to the command line, for example:

Block count report written to: C:\Projects\Warehouse\Warehouse_block_count.csv 14 block definitions, 238 total instances (from current document).

Exporting a selection

If one or more objects are selected in the document when you run LoomiumBlockCount, only block instances within that selection are counted — everything else in the document is ignored. This is useful for reporting on a subset of the model, such as a single room or phase, without having to isolate it on its own layer first.

If nothing is selected, LoomiumBlockCount counts the entire document, as described below.

What gets counted

• Every block instance placed directly in model space is counted. Whether instances on hidden or locked layers are included in a whole-document export is controlled by the Include hidden objects / Include locked objects options (see Export scope options); both are on by default. A selection-based export always uses exactly what's selected.
• By default, nested blocks (blocks placed inside other block definitions) are not counted individually — only the top-level placed instance is tallied. Turn on Include nested blocks to also count instances nested inside block definitions, in either scope; each nested occurrence is multiplied by how many times its parent block is placed.
• Instances are grouped by block definition, and the CSV is sorted by quantity (highest first), then alphabetically by definition name.

CSV output

The exported file has three columns:

Import this CSV into Loomium to continue processing.

7. Troubleshooting

• LoomiumBlockCount is not a recognized command — the plug-in didn't load. Run PluginManager, confirm LoomiumBlockCount is listed and enabled, and restart Rhino.
• No file is written after clicking Save — check that a valid path and file name were provided in the save dialog; the command prints Cancelled: no file selected. to the command line if the dialog was dismissed.
• Status or Definition Name columns look wrong — re-run LoomiumFieldMapping and confirm the correct InstanceDefinition field is selected for each column.