topic Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL? in Libraries & objects

making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:49:16 GMT

Hi again,

I have been looking for some guidelines on how to make a wall with GDL, and so far, have only found http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=12056, indicating that it is not possible at all!

Is this true?
There's a subtype called "Wall" in the editor, but I need a clue on how to get started, if possible at all!

thanks,
Jeppe

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:04:09 GMT

You could make walls with GDL, but these walls would not act as wall, they would act as an GDL-object.

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:23:00 GMT

Any hint's what i can do about it?

I need to make a custom wall that behaves like the built in one, should be drawn with the wall tool and be able ti make holes for windows and doors etc.

I'm an IT-engineer, on AC 10 and member of the developer network, but besides that, I'm pretty newbie to AC and GS...

any hints or suggestions is welcome - doesn't need to be GDL if there's an API or something else for AC!

- Jeppe

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Richard Morrison — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:53:40 GMT

1) You can create walls with Custom Profiles. (check the AC Help menu).
2) Look at ArchiWall from www.cigraph.com, if you need something more exotic.

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:06:16 GMT

There is an API available here, if you are really up for some C programming. It's rather a lot of work unless you are making a tool which will be extensively used.

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:07:10 GMT

Ok, the ArchiWall seems interesting, and not too expensive. I might try it out!

But here's a couple of related questions:

- Where does the GDL shapes CWALL_, BWALL_ and XWALL_ fit in this picture... if you can't make walls, why can you make walls (so to speak)?

- Can't I 'just' do like the ArchiWall tool and 'glue' my object to an existing wall, and cut the holes and trim to roof by asking the host walls parameters/global variables?

I'm looking in the GDL reference and the GDL cookbook, but a lot of the time, I miss the ability to get a textual explanation (GDL reference just gives you the syntax and some examples) or the possibility to look up specific commands and/or concepts (GDL cookbook is good reading, but hard to use as a reference) - any other sources I miss out on?

Thanks again, It's cool that answers come so quick!

- Jeppe

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Laszlo Nagy — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:40:31 GMT

jeppe.liisberg wrote:
Ok, the ArchiWall seems interesting, and not too expensive. I might try it out!

But here's a couple of related questions:

- Where does the GDL shapes CWALL_, BWALL_ and XWALL_ fit in this picture... if you can't make walls, why can you make walls (so to speak)?

- Can't I 'just' do like the ArchiWall tool and 'glue' my object to an existing wall, and cut the holes and trim to roof by asking the host walls parameters/global variables?

I'm looking in the GDL reference and the GDL cookbook, but a lot of the time, I miss the ability to get a textual explanation (GDL reference just gives you the syntax and some examples) or the possibility to look up specific commands and/or concepts (GDL cookbook is good reading, but hard to use as a reference) - any other sources I miss out on?

Thanks again, It's cool that answers come so quick!

- Jeppe

You can drag and drop any element from the Floor Plan into the 3D Script of a GDL Object. In that case, ArchiCAD will create the script for that geometry. This is why CWALL_, BWALL_ and XWALL_ etc. exist in GDL.

But the main point is that ArchiCAD Walls made with the Wall object join correctly. If you did a Wall using GDL, two such Walls would not join because they would be elements placed with the Object Tool, not the Wall Tool, and the Object Tool does not have this intelligence.
I do not know if this would be possible using API: create Walls using GDL, then these Walls would sense the proximity of each other and join/"heal" accordingly. Maybe another can answer that.

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Frank Beister — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:58:59 GMT

But what should it be good for creating walls in GDL? Wouldn't it be better to create normal walls by the wall tool and modify them by profiles, attributes, wall acessory, SEOs, or simple opening objects?

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:32:34 GMT

F. wrote:
But what should it be good for creating walls in GDL? Wouldn't it be better to create normal walls by the wall tool and modify them by profiles, attributes, wall acessory, SEOs, or simple opening objects?

I want to make a library with special walls, slabs and roofs, using layers of different materials and with special abilities to eg. calculate the amount of a certain material used.

I could use an existing wall and "glue" my "special-ability" object on that, but it needs to be as user friendly as possible, meaning that downloading the library and inserting the object, assigning it to a given wall, should be enough to make the whole thing work...

- Jeppe

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:28:01 GMT

jeppe.liisberg wrote:
I want to make a library with special walls, slabs and roofs, using layers of different materials and with special abilities to eg. calculate the amount of a certain material used.

I could use an existing wall and "glue" my "special-ability" object on that, but it needs to be as user friendly as possible, meaning that downloading the library and inserting the object, assigning it to a given wall, should be enough to make the whole thing work...

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong. But I think you could do this thing with normal wall-tool.
I read along ago about making GDL scripts that make fills, composite structures, textures and so on that you could use with for example wall-tool. Instead of distribute these things with an .pln file you could distribute this as a GDL-object.

Than, you build component/property GDL-script with bills of material. In wall-tool, Listing & labeling you link every wall on plan to correct type of GDL script.

Then you got a bill of material.

What you have to distribute than is your GDL-scripts that make your composites, and even your GDL-scripts with bills of material.

But like I said on top, I'm not sure about GDL-scripts that make composites.

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:33:57 GMT

jeppe.liisberg wrote:
F. wrote:
But what should it be good for creating walls in GDL? Wouldn't it be better to create normal walls by the wall tool and modify them by profiles, attributes, wall acessory, SEOs, or simple opening objects?
I want to make a library with special walls, slabs and roofs, using layers of different materials and with special abilities to eg. calculate the amount of a certain material used.

I could use an existing wall and "glue" my "special-ability" object on that, but it needs to be as user friendly as possible, meaning that downloading the library and inserting the object, assigning it to a given wall, should be enough to make the whole thing work...

- Jeppe

It's hard to respond without knowing precisely what you are trying to do. Much of it sounds like what the wall tool can do already. Wall accessories can add to that, and then there is the API for really advanced functions.

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:25:16 GMT

Matthew wrote:
It's hard to respond without knowing precisely what you are trying to do. Much of it sounds like what the wall tool can do already. Wall accessories can add to that, and then there is the API for really advanced functions.

I want to embed a companys products into a wall and distribute that wall. This way, the company products can be distributed (and thereby branded) as a useful, feature-rich object in archicad. But it need to be as easy to use as "standard"-walls.

I'm currently a newcomer to ArchiCad, (as my blog might reveal) and I can see that I might benefit from looking into wall accessories or even the API as you suggest.

- Jeppe

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Frank Beister — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:27:26 GMT

GDL-scripts that make composites.

If we talk about the same: There is no way to create composites by GDL. One missing point in the attribute commands section IMHO.

Your project sounds too big to solve in GDL. I think you would have to make it min. as API. Have you thought of using favourites instead?

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:52:59 GMT

F. wrote:
GDL-scripts that make composites.
If we talk about the same: There is no way to create composites by GDL. One missing point in the attribute commands section IMHO.

Your project sounds too big to solve in GDL. I think you would have to make it min. as API. Have you thought of using favourites instead?

Ok, but than it sounds like Jeppe needing an API. Tepro (in Sweden) have use/build an API for placing their products on walls.
http://www.tepro.se/category.asp?publicationid=2900&cat=21&catName=Nyheter&s=4

Re: making walls/slabs/roofs with GDL?

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:56:29 GMT

Hi everyone.

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions - I've been fighting a cold these past days, and trying to figure out what the heck you guys were talking about, whenever my head allowed me to think.

here's what that cocktail resulted in:
jeppe.liisberg.dk/2007/04/18/developing-gdl-part-3/

Regards,

- Jeppe