topic Adding parameters to placed objects in Libraries & objects

Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 08:52:40 GMT

Hi.

Is there a way to add/change specific parameters of already placed objects and at the same time keep their existing values (as they differ)?

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Eduardo Rolon — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 10:34:06 GMT

In AC changing one parameter of a groups of objects should not affect the other different parameters. As usual do a save before doing the change and verify.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 14:42:16 GMT

Well the problem is that the object I want to change is a part of the archicad standard library so it is inside a .lcf-file which makes it uneditable hence when opening and saving the object it asks me to create a new object instead of overwrite it. If I create a new object the whole idea is lost as the already placed objects looses their values when assigned as a new object...

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Eduardo Rolon — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 17:09:07 GMT

My mistake was assuming that you wanted to change the parameters of a placed object not edit the GDL of an existing library part with the result of creating a New Library Part. So in that case the answer looks to be no.

As a workaround, once you have created the New Object you can use find and select to find all the objects that have one set of parameters and switch them to the new object. That means that you will only not have to go edit each object individually.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

sinceV6 — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:25:47 GMT

Hi.
If you have saved a new library part with the changes you want (say in the embedded library) you can select your placed object(s) and use ctrl-alt when selecting the new library part. This will transfer parameter values that exist in both objects, but will use the default values of the new parameters.
Hope that's what you are after.
Best regards.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:03:56 GMT

That is exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you!

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 07:25:09 GMT

I have unfortunately noticed that this method does not completely keep all values. It only keeps the dimensions and element ID. Other parameters such as Fire class, door glazing etc are all overwritten.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Barry Kelly — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 07:52:29 GMT

So you have already placed objects in your model.

You can add NEW parameters so long as you edit and save the original object.
This will mean you have to extract the original LCF (Library Container File) so you can access the object and save it back as itself (i.e. not a 'Save As' as this will create a new object).
The problem with this is you are amending the original object so if you ever update with a new library (object) you will lose all the changes you made and will have to re-do them.
However all of your already placed objects will get the new parameters.

You can not change parameter values this way - it will just reset the default for all new (future) objects.
To amend existing parameter values you must select all the objects and change the parameter as Eduardo mentioned - only those parameters you modify will change in the objects.

Using the eye-dropper / syringe method will pass ALL common parameters from one object to another - you have no control over individual parameters.

You could create (Save As) a new object (with a new name) based on the original object - this way you will not have to extract the LCF file.
This new object will have your new parameters.
Then you select the old object in your model and open the object settings.
Browse for the new object and then hold CTRL+ALT (syringe) as you select the new object that you have created.
This will pass on all of the existing parameters to the new object at the same time as swapping the old object for the new object in your model.
You will still need to modify any existing parameters you want changed because this will overwrite all of your existing parameter values into the new object.

Barry.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

sinceV6 — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 14:11:11 GMT

Yeah... what Barry said.

You must be doing something different. Fire rating, glazing type, etc. ARE carried over when selecting a new object (door, in this instance), so long you use CTRL-ALT when selecting. This is provided you select the same type of object and that the parameters exist in both and have the same variable name. If you created a new door to add a new parameter (say you needed fire rating in a door that doesn't have the parameter to fill in), you would need to use the same variable name in the parameter list (notice you need the variable name, not the 'name' that is displayed in the settings dialog or the value) so that the value gets carried over.

Or maybe you need to be a little more specific on how you are trying to add/change parameters.

Best regards.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 08:33:54 GMT

SinceV6, I'm using windows. When I (after having marked placed objects) select the new object in the object setting dialog using ctrl+alt (the cursor becomes an injection symbol), it does not keep existing values such as Fire Rating, it overwrites it.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Barry Kelly — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 08:56:04 GMT

Just to clarify with an example.

You have an existing door in you plan with a 1 hour fire rating.
You want to swap this for a different door with a 2 hour fire rating.
So you select the object, open the settings dialogue, find the new door and CTRL+ALT click it.
You will get the new door with the original objects size and a 1 hour fire rating because that is what you passed onto the new object.

This is what should happen - so long as both objects have exactly the same parameter for fire rating.
If the parameter has a different name in each object then they will not affect each other.

The only other time that parameters will not be passed from one object to another (even if they are exactly the same) is if the object script has been edited and the parameter transfer button has been locked for particular parameters.
If the lock is on then there will be no parameter transfer.
See attached image.

Barry.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 11:37:10 GMT

Im going to try to clarify what I want with an easy example.

I got 3 doors. Door 1 and Door 2 are the same object with differing values. I have placed one Door 1 and one Door 2 in a wall.

Door 1: Basic door 17 without fire rating value
Door 2: Basic door 17 with fire rating value 90
Door 3: Modified Basic door 17 with 2 new parameters. (I created this door by selecting Door 1 and open object)

Now I want Door 1 and Door 2 to have the 2 new parameters meanwhile keeping all of their existing values.

Barry, I have tried to create a modified door with the parameter for FireRating with a U in the display column of the GDL object parameters but it still overwrites that value...

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Eduardo Rolon — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 12:33:12 GMT

For whats it worth, in this case my workflow would be using Schedules to coordinate this type of information. The reasoning is that this is not 3D data and the easiest way to be sure that the settings are correct is to go thru the items.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

sinceV6 — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 14:55:30 GMT

Ah! Well. The problem then is the order in which you are selecting them or what objects you want the values changed.

AC will transfer the values of the last selected object (while keeping in mind everything that has been said about types, parameter name, etc). In your example, if your last selection is the door#1, without fire rating, you'll see that its values are shown in the door settings dialog box. When selecting another door using Ctrl-Alt-Click those are the values that will be carried over.

If that the case, the door that has the parameters you want to keep must be the last selection (if you are selecting using a window selection, you could shift-click to deselect that one door and then select it again to make it the last active selection), make sure that the parameters you want to keep are shown in the dialog box (edit any if necessary) and only then select your other door.

In case you want to change both door#1 and door#2 to door#3 and keep each fire rating value for both, it cannot be done with a single click as it would be very very hard to create a logic when a user selects different objects and wants to change some of them and not the others while keeping values for some, or knowing what values of what selected objects should be considered.

In this case, you can use the amazing Find&Select. You'll be able to drill down to find the doors (or any object) that has the same values you want to keep, change those, and then find&select again the ones with different values; or like Eduardo said, use schedules to group the objects with the same values and then use the "select on floor plan" option to change them.

Hope that helps.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 08:33:52 GMT

SinceV6, yes I wanted to change door #1 and #2 with one click while both of them kept their specific values. Unfortunately this doesn't seem possible. For me it seems quite logical the possibility to be able to only add gdl parameters to already placed objects without amending anything else, but I guess this is not how GDL scripting works in AC.

If you have about 50 or even more different kind of doors (different values) it is quite time consuming to use a critera method such as a schedule or Find & Select to add these new parameters. It's on my wish list to be able to do this with one click

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Barry Kelly — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 09:26:12 GMT

A wrote:
Door 1: Basic door 17 without fire rating value
Door 2: Basic door 17 with fire rating value 90
Door 3: Modified Basic door 17 with 2 new parameters. (I created this door by selecting Door 1 and open object)

So long as you open the script for 'Basic Door 17' and add 2 completely new parameters and simply save that object (not 'save as') then all your doors will have the new parameters with values set as you saved them in the object.
None of your other parameters will be affected - even if you adjust their default values in the object script.
The only thing that will affect them will be if you delete the parameter - then they will disappear from all objects.

So you have a parameter 'fire-rating' in your object.
Door 1 is placed and value = 0
Door 2 is placed and value = 90

You open the door script and add 2 new parameters (say 'door_strength' and 'door_weight').
Save this object and door objects 1 & 2 in your model will now have these 2 new parameters and the fire rating values will be unaffected.

If you are doing a 'Save As' and creating a new door object then placing this object as a new door 3 then you can not transfer the new parameters into doors 1 & 2 without replacing them with the new door object.
You must select door 1 on its own and transfer the parameters (CTRL+ALT) in the object settings to the new door object.
The fire rating will transfer across as 0.
Then select door 2 and swap that for the new door object and its fire rating will remain 90.

When swapping object in this way you must do it one at a time if they have different values set.

Barry.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 16:33:22 GMT

I undertstand. My issue was that the door object was in the lcf library so I wanted to use 'Save As'. Good to know for next project. If you know in advance that you are going to use some objects which you will have many different parameters/values for e.g. doors, windows etc...might be good to use a object that is not inside a lcf library. Or it would be a nice feature to make it possible

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Barry Kelly — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 01:13:57 GMT

If you are going to modify existing GS objects then you are best to "Save As" with a new name in a new library.
That way you can use them in addition to the standard objects but there is no danger of losing them if you ever update the standard library - which does happen occasionally - or of course when you upgrade to the next version.

Barry.

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 08:25:27 GMT

Or you could use ifc if it's text based info you want to attach and schedule. Avoids changing gdl and you can get consistency across door type for instance. Not sure how ifc reacts to syringe though...

Re: Adding parameters to placed objects

Eduardo Rolon — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 09:48:03 GMT

hfs55 wrote:
Or you could use ifc if it's text based info you want to attach and schedule. Avoids changing gdl and you can get consistency across door type for instance. Not sure how ifc reacts to syringe though...

+1 on using IFC