topic Detail Tool - Explodes drawing , but to what? in Project data & BIM

Detail Tool - Explodes drawing , but to what?

tsturm — Fri, 26 May 2023 13:29:05 GMT

I have just spent the last couple of hours reading through lots of topics about detailing systems and methods for storing them.

What I have not read about is why the detail tool when used on a plan explodes the plan drawing into lines and fills with layer attributes of ArchiCAD.

I have done some experimenting. Seems when you Rebuild from source and the source is LOCKED then the lines and fills resulting from the source drawing are placed on the ArchiCAD layer.

It sure seems odd to do this.

I discovered this while working on a Teamworked project. I do not think it has anything to do with if you have the privilege to work on the information, but just that the source be locked. I cannot verify this just now. Just trying to understand how to deal with the exploded lines and fills and how to get the details to work most easily.

Another problem is detail naming. AC limits detail names to 27 characters due to file naming limits (left over from Windows 98 days I am sure). How do I get around this? We set up our drawings to Publish as PMKs to help speed up the loading and updating process of the Layout book. Did this create the limitation of file name? Had we linked the AC file, could we use longer drawing names?

Additionally, how are people naming detail drawings since they must be numbered or contain unique numbers in the name?

Regards

Re: Detail Tool - Explodes drawing , but to what?

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 11:39:04 GMT

It can be annoying that the detail is exploded into lines, etc. I believe it is a result of the tool being relatively new (with 8.0) and that the ramifications of live model details are yet to be sorted. It was the same with the section tool when it was first introduced.

If you need to edit the drawing (as opposed to just annotating it) it is always a good idea to work on a copy anyway. Just drag the copy some round number of feet or meters to the right (or left if you prefer). This way AC doesn't wipe out your work the next time you rebuild from the source.

The use of the ArchiCAD layer is a bit odd, but I don't find it much of a problem. I only really need two layers in a detail anyway (one drawing and one annotation), and since there are no other drawings overlaid I have no need to turn layers on and off.

The naming problem is another issue. There is not a complete and proper solution yet. (Maybe soon though?) Since the direct linking is still problematic, I still typically publish to PMKs, and so have to deal with the file name limits. One way around this is to manually title the longer drawings, but this is annoying. I just try to keep inside the 27 character limit. (This is actually a Mac/pre OSX limitation. I believe GS is working on wringing it out of the program since OS9 is no longer supported.)

To keep similarly named drawings from being confusing I just set up a clear folder structure in the Publisher.

Re: Detail Tool - Explodes drawing , but to what?

David Maudlin — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 13:21:04 GMT

tsturm wrote:
Had we linked the AC file, could we use longer drawing names?

Terrence:

The naming limitation is the same when directly linking to the PLN file, so both methods (PMK or PLN) have the same problem, hopefully gone in version 10.

David

Re: Detail Tool - Explodes drawing , but to what?

tsturm — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 15:58:22 GMT

Thanks for the suggestions.

Good point about sliding the drawing in some direction and working on it there. Then there would be no confusion about what was drawn versus what came from the model. As the information comes from the model is broken to lines and fills and moved the AC layer, then there seems no reason to worry about layer setting much. It will always be on.

What kind of convention would anyone recommend for naming details as they are created? Since the details are grouped by location, such as plan, sect/elev and nonlinked. What is a good way of dealing with a long list?

I am using a cloning system to help with details which are added to a project. I have one clone which turns on plan drawing info and one which turns on section/model info. When I build the detail or refresh I use these settings to activate the specific layer combination to trigger the right display.

Re: Detail Tool - Explodes drawing , but to what?

TomWaltz — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:18:44 GMT

I think that if a condition is being modeled and its detail requires substantial editing of the model (such as described in the "make a detail and drag a copy in order to edit" posts), then the detail should just be an independent detail.

You are going to spend as much time messing around with copies and updates and trying to update your copies as you would to just draw it initially.