topic Plotmaker "causes" boolean data loss in ArchiCAD in Installation & update

Plotmaker "causes" boolean data loss in ArchiCAD

Paul King — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 06:40:15 GMT

I have discovered a weird bug whereby a site mesh that has been boolean subtracted from that appears normally in 3D and section/elevation saved views in ArchiCAD does not appear when updating those views in plotmaker.

On clicking on the "failed" plotmaker drawing in order to invoke / open that view back in ArchiCAD, the view indeed opens, but with the mesh either deleted completely from project, or if originally locked , it is visable, selectable & editable in 2D, but is completely invisible in any 3D view - until I place, then delete this or another mesh in the project, or delete then undo detion of boolean objects acting on mesh.
Meshes are NOT excluded from "Elements to show in 3D" setting

Very weird and perplexing, as well as seriously time consuming (I have lost 2 days so far recreating site meshes that were deleted by plotmaker's updates

It appears somehow that Plotmaker is affecting the original ArchiCAD file during the plotmaker update, in a way that does not happen when view is opened in ArchiCAD directly.

I am getting no error messages beyond the normal reference to error loading library parts withing ArchiCAD during update (mostly duplicated textures)

I have plenty of free RAM (2 GB onboard)

In some marquee 3D views withing ArchiCAD, I get a huge weird floating slab hovering above terrain, that does not appear when no marquee.

What could be going on?

Why is Boolean still so buggy?

Would appreciate any help!

Re: Plotmaker "causes" boolean data loss in ArchiC

Djordje — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 08:15:29 GMT

Paul wrote:
I have discovered a weird bug whereby a site mesh that has been boolean subtracted from that appears normally in 3D and section/elevation saved views in ArchiCAD does not appear when updating those views in plotmaker.

Very wild shot in the dark: how are your layer combinations? Is everything that you use to define the the views named?

Reason: your problem sounds as if the BGArchiCAD has trouble doing the proper mesh SEOs.

Check: publish a set of PMKs directly from ArchiCAD and look at them.

Whether the meshes behave weirdly, and they often do, is another problem; with all layers on and visible, open the 3D and do the visual check. No marquees or stuff - plain 3D, maybe not even OpenGL. You might find a culprit or two floating around.

Re: Plotmaker "causes" boolean data loss in ArchiC

Paul King — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:07:52 GMT

Hi Djordje

Thanks for suggestions

I confirmed it was definitely the fact of Boolean operation on the mesh that caused the problem - deleting the boolean element removed the issue instantly

Making another boolean substraction reintroduced the problem.

I have had many (other) problems in the past with boolean subtraction & meshes - after a while, boolean just seems to stop subtracting, & it can't handle holes within holes etc. - but I never before had an issue that was exposed specifically via Plotmaker

Layer combos don't seem to be the problem as they are unchanged before & after, & all layers turned on in Plotmaker & ArchiCAD did not make a difference.

in 3D (no marquees) whole mesh was visible - UNTIL I saved, opened Plotmaker & updated, then loaded ArchiCAD from the corrupted view in plotmaker - what I opened was NOT what I saved - again in 3D no marquee etc, the mesh was gone in 3D, but visible & editable in 2D.

Consequently I have just abandoned boolean on mesh for this project!

Cheers

Paul King