topic Re: Making a section marker in Libraries & objects

Making a section marker

Sam Karli — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 15:27:38 GMT

Hi,
I want to make a custom Section Tool ending sign, but do not know, how to make such an object. A link for a similar thing will be enough.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Section/Elevation Tool

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 15:03:59 GMT

Sam wrote:
Hi,
I want to make a custom Section Tool ending sign, but do not know, how to make such an object. A link for a similar thing will be enough.

Thanks in advance.

You might post an image of the marker you are trying to achieve. Perhaps there are settings in an existing marker that will get you there. Otherwise it will take re-scripting the marker in GDL. There are many on this forum who I am sure you could contract with to develop a marker suitable to your needs.

Re: Section/Elevation Tool

Sam Karli — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:27:36 GMT

Hi, thanks for your help, I've decided to walk on the harder way: to develop an own maker sign in a .gsm, and I have solved the first problem, and understood that the .gsm format has an inner "type", and changed it to "Section Marker", and the Section Sign worked, albeit, certeanly, it did not show the "name" of the section ("A-A"), i have to code it, and will search another section marker to analyze.

My next two questions:
1. Can I "upgrade" the .gsm objects? I want to develop them as I progress with the Archicad learning, and want to see the results in my current plans.
2. What is the variable I can reach the section's name through? Or can I found somewhere the "built-in" section markers as .gsm files that i can analyze? I have found only 9.0 gsm files that were incompatible with my 8.1.

Many thanks

Since then I managed to extract the section marker symbol form the default Archicad library, and in the 2d descriptoin there is a line that I need:

text2 0,0,txtcent

where the txtcent is the name of the section sign (ie A, E1, etc.)

i don't know from what the Archicad knows that tis is the name of the section. Now I can draw lines through gdl but cannot draw the text. (style was set to 0)

thx

Re: Section/Elevation Tool

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 02:21:37 GMT

You might post your question in the GDL / library section of the forum since really you are looking at scripting issues.

Re: Section/Elevation Tool

David Maudlin — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 13:09:45 GMT

Sam wrote:
1. Can I "upgrade" the .gsm objects? I want to develop them as I progress with the Archicad learning, and want to see the results in my current plans.

Sam:

Yes, you can upgrade the objects, but placed objects will retain the settings they had when placed, not the updated default values of the object (unless a new parameter is added, it will have the default value). In some cases you may need to reload the libraries (if altered macros are involved), or rebuild the plan view to see the changes, this depends on the script.

HTH

David

Re: Making a section marker

Sam Karli — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 18:10:01 GMT

Thanks all,
I have nearly finished my (yet very simple) section marker, but I still cannot access the name of the section ("A", "E/1"). Where are the "real" GDL docs where I can find such variable name? Does a real "paradise" of such info exist on the web?

Or can I extract built-in library elements to study? (I think the default objects are built in, aren't they?)

I've found a "Section marker ppV8.gsm" file, but it did not work. I simly can't find an example.

Re: Making a section marker

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 01:54:45 GMT

To open an existing section marker in the script editor:

1. Make a section using the section tool
2. Set the marker to the one you want to examine and select it
3. Go to File > GDL Objects > Open Object (This will open whatever library parts are selected)

Setting the section number/name is a little more complicated. There are standard parameters called AC_MarkerText_1 etc. that show the drawing and sheet numbers/names etc. These can also be set to automatically display the correct values in PlotMaker when the drawings are placed on their sheets, but there is much more to this than I can go into here.

Keep at it and you can probably figure it out. Surely there must also be someone in Budapest you could hire to give you a bit of GDL instruction. Once you have banged your head against a few things you will have plenty of questions for an expert and can make the time very well spent.

You could also come to ArchiCAD University in September. There are always excellent courses at all levels in GDL, and there a bunch of us experts who can be coaxed out of our secrets for the price of beer in the pub

Re: Making a section marker

Sam Karli — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 12:56:43 GMT

Oh Matthew, You are all at least gods of Archicad and I am a fool. I did not realize that when I changed a new library part's subtype to "Section Marker" new variables are added, like AC_MarkerText_1. I've been searching for exactly this variable. My first .gsm is ready.

Now I can start making it scale-dependent

Many thanks for all!

One more question:

How does the professional develop the .gsm files? Do You run an Archicad to code the .gsm, and another to try it in a plan/model, or are there wiser methods?

Re: Making a section marker

TomWaltz — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 21:45:33 GMT

I usually just have a "workshop" PLN file that I do all my development work in, and keep all my stuff under development in a separate library from everything else.

Re: Making a section marker

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 22:57:34 GMT

I do much the same as Tom. I also add XXX (ie Section Marker XXX.gsm) to the file names to ensure that no one uses them in a real project. Once they are done I save a copy without the XXX. I also generally append a few characters to identify the parts as project specific, company standard, etc. In this case the XXX is replaced by a project code or company name abbreviation.

Re: Making a section marker

Sam Karli — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 21:44:51 GMT

Hi, I have another basic problem: I have made custom text for my doors/windows, but the text's rotation is not good.

line2 0, 0.4, 0, -1
define style "Samu Dinamikus" AC_TextFont_1, AC_TextSize_1, 7, 0
style "Samu Dinamikus"
rot2 -90
text2 -0.4, 0, AC_WIDO_A_SIZE*100
text2 -0.4, -AC_TextSize_1*1.5/10, AC_WIDO_B_SIZE*100

I think the problem is that the door text (AC_WIDO_B_SIZE and AC_WIDO_A_SIZE) are aligned to the wall's local coordinate system, and, in this case, if the vector of the wall points form right to left (negative x direction), the text rotation is good, but if the wall's "arrows" point from left to right, aligned to the positive x direction, the door text stands 'upside down'.
Am I able to get the parent wall's direction from a variable somehow to decide the door text's rotation?

Thanks

Re: Making a section marker

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 04:29:01 GMT

The rotation angle of doors/windows and their markers is one of the most mind bending problems I have run into. I still haven't taken the time to sort it out and just put in a parameter (and dynamic hotspots) to let the user fix it.

The angle is some combination of the swing of the door and the direction and angle of the wall (as far as I have determined at this point). I'm hoping to find the time to sort this out so I can make more automatic door tags, but the manual adjustment works for now.

Re: Making a section marker

Frank Beister — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 07:08:41 GMT

Hello Matthew,

in this case AC helps you very much, because you haven't the total access to the wall and window settings. Paradoxon? No! Because of this the SYMB_ROTANGLE contains the correct orientation of the local coordinate-system to the global. If you would program that inside a window or door you would have to calculate by more parameters than SYMB_ROTANGLE, which would contain just 0 or 180, representing the orientation of the window inside the wall.

So the following script will help you. It has to be used as a wido-marker script. It uses just the first set of font setting- and the AC_readable-parameter. An additional rotation-parameter can be added:

! Parameters:
! ef_PosW, free adjustable Angle of text to wall
! values "ef_PosW" CUSTOM,RANGE [0,360)

! define font style
define style "demo" AC_TextFont_1,AC_TextSize_1,5,AC_TextStyle_1
style "demo"

! reading the window orientation.
! does only work in marker environment
! in this easy way!
textAngle = SYMB_ROTANGLE+ef_PosW : gosub 100

! turn direction if reveal side is changed
if AC_WIDO_REVEAL_SIDE = 1 then
  rot2 180
  textAngle = textAngle + 180 : gosub 100
  endIf

! rotation to individual position and
! correcting for readable text if selected
if textAngle >=90 and textAngle <=270 then
  rot2 ef_PosW+180*AC_readable
  else
  rot2 ef_PosW
  endif
  
! output
text2 0,0,"marker"
end

100:
! keep angle in range 0-360
if textAngle >= 360 then textAngle = textAngle - 360
return

Doing this with labels is similar, but a bit more complicated. AFAIK is there a bug with LABEL_ROTANGLE too, which is fixed in AC9 Hotfix 5 (2219).

Re: Making a section marker

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 14:28:13 GMT

F. wrote:
Hello Matthew,

in this case AC helps you very much, because you haven't the total access to the wall and window settings. Paradoxon? No! Because of this the SYMB_ROTANGLE contains the correct orientation of the local coordinate-system to the global. If you would program that inside a window or door you would have to calculate by more parameters than SYMB_ROTANGLE, which would contain just 0 or 180, representing the orientation of the window inside the wall.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Re: Making a section marker

Sam Karli — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:43:25 GMT

Thanks to Your huge help, I have managed to make a working window/door text. Parapet height is not included yet.

define style "Samu Dinamikus Jobbos" AC_TextFont_1, AC_TextSize_1, 9, 0
!Right aligned text style
define style "Samu Dinamikus Balos" AC_TextFont_1, AC_TextSize_1, 7, 0
!Left aligned text style
Samuajtjel_jobbos = true
!If true, text is aligned to right

if AC_WIDO_REVEAL_SIDE = 0 then
line2 0, -1-AC_WALL_THICKNESS, 0, .5
else
Samuajtjel_jobbos = not ( Samuajtjel_jobbos )
line2 0, 1, 0, -.5-AC_WALL_THICKNESS
add2 0, -AC_WALL_THICKNESS
endif

if SYMB_ROTANGLE>45 and SYMB_ROTANGLE<225 then
rot2 -90

else
rot2 90
Samuajtjel_jobbos = not ( Samuajtjel_jobbos )
endif

if Samuajtjel_jobbos = true then
style "Samu Dinamikus Jobbos"
else
style "Samu Dinamikus Balos"
endif

text2 0, 0, AC_WIDO_A_SIZE*100
text2 0, -AC_TextSize_1*1.5/10, AC_WIDO_B_SIZE*100

(As You can see, I have simplified Mr. Beister's original idea, text is not rotateable and angles can be over 360 degree.)

One (and the last main) problem to solve is decide whether this is a window or a door, since the for the window we have to define the height of the parapet (the wall under the window).

My next question is how to modify (or is it possible) an existing window easily. Because I want to use built in or readily got windows, for example, but I also want to see my 2D drawings. So the 3D, and other difficult stuffs (database connectivity, etc) must be the same as a well workjing window or door, but the 2D symbol has to be mine (not only the text, but the window drawing, too).

Is it difficult?

Many thanks

Re: Making a section marker

David Maudlin — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 13:08:36 GMT

Sam wrote:
One (and the last main) problem to solve is decide whether this is a window or a door, since the for the window we have to define the height of the parapet (the wall under the window).

My next question is how to modify (or is it possible) an existing window easily. Because I want to use built in or readily got windows, for example, but I also want to see my 2D drawings. So the 3D, and other difficult stuffs (database connectivity, etc) must be the same as a well workjing window or door, but the 2D symbol has to be mine (not only the text, but the window drawing, too).

Is it difficult?

Sam:

If I follow your question, the subtype of the text symbol you created could be changed to "Window-Door Marker". This would make it available as a Dimension Marker for any door and/or window, but the symbol part of the door and/or window would be from the original door and/or window. One advantage of this is that the Window-Door marker's visibility is a Display Option, so the text part can be turned on or off via Display Options for different plan types. Do you want the text always visible?

Creating your own 2D symbol for the existing doors and windows is more complicated, as these parts already have their own 2D Scripts. As a minimum, you would need to open each door and window and disable all or part of their 2D Scripts, then add your own, either in each part, or via a macro call (to a new macro, or perhaps part of the script you have written for the door/window symbol that contains the your text). The parts that come with ArchiCAD are complex, and understanding the code is not a simple process. If you are interested in modifying a few doors and windows (and hopefully their 2D Scripts are similar) this might not be too bad, but to go through all of them will take some time.

HTH

David

Re: Making a section marker

Sam Karli — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 16:33:51 GMT

Hi, I made a temporary sollution for the first problem to make it fully understandable. In this script, if the Parapet height, AC_GLOB_ELEVATION is 0, the user has to set the SAMU_PARAPET_KELL variable to true to see the parapet height.

define style "Samu Dinamikus Jobbos" AC_TextFont_1, AC_TextSize_1, 9, 0
define style "Samu Dinamikus Balos" AC_TextFont_1, AC_TextSize_1, 7, 0
define style "Samu Dinamikus Közepes" AC_TextFont_1, AC_TextSize_1, 8, 0
Samuajtjel_jobbos = true

if AC_WIDO_REVEAL_SIDE = 0 then
line2 0, -1-AC_WALL_THICKNESS, 0, .5
else
Samuajtjel_jobbos = not ( Samuajtjel_jobbos )
line2 0, 1, 0, -.5-AC_WALL_THICKNESS
add2 0, -AC_WALL_THICKNESS
endif

if SYMB_ROTANGLE>45 and SYMB_ROTANGLE<225 then
rot2 -90
else
rot2 90
Samuajtjel_jobbos = not ( Samuajtjel_jobbos )
endif

if Samuajtjel_jobbos = true then
style "Samu Dinamikus Jobbos"
else
style "Samu Dinamikus Balos"
endif

text2 0, 0, AC_WIDO_A_SIZE*100
text2 0, -AC_TextSize_1*1.5/10, AC_WIDO_B_SIZE*100

if (AC_GLOB_ELEVATION <> 0) or SAMU_PARAPET_KELL = 1 then

if (SYMB_ROTANGLE>45 and SYMB_ROTANGLE<=90) or (SYMB_ROTANGLE>=225 and SYMB_ROTANGLE<270) then
rot2 90
else
rot2 -90
endif

style "Samu Dinamikus Közepes"

if (SYMB_ROTANGLE>90 and SYMB_ROTANGLE<270 and AC_WIDO_REVEAL_SIDE = 1) or ((SYMB_ROTANGLE<=90 or SYMB_ROTANGLE>270) and AC_WIDO_REVEAL_SIDE = 0) then
text2 0, -AC_WALL_THICKNESS-.3, SAMU_PARAPET + str (AC_GLOB_ELEVATION,3,0)
else
text2 0, AC_WALL_THICKNESS, SAMU_PARAPET + str (AC_GLOB_ELEVATION,3,0)
endif

endif

Another, quite absurd problem, that the Archicad puts the door markers to the wrong side of the door, the SE 2006 symbols put them to the reveal side of the door, which is the 'inner' side. In Hungary, we put them to the 'outer' side. It is not a problem, but the windows have the opposite direction. If I optmimize my script to a door, it will be bad for a window, and vice versa. Do You have the same problem?