topic Re: special menu help in Modeling

special menu help

Jefferson — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 21:44:31 GMT

Having trouble locating anything in the help menu [operating under the assumption that this is a duplicate of the manual] that describes functions and or uses of the tools/functions unknown to me. [I'd like to have a better idea about these before I just start turning things on and off. I regularly toggle show special lines, have enable special features checked, and render without autosave. ]

Can someone point me in the right direction please.

Re: special menu help

Karl Ottenstein — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 21:58:46 GMT

Hi Jeff,

Someone posted this link a while back:

http://www.arkiklub.com/showcategory.asp?CategoryID=95

refers to 6.5, but I'm not sure if many new things have been added since then?

HTH,
Karl

Re: special menu help

Jefferson — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 23:09:34 GMT

Hi Karl ,

Your recall ability is amazing! I have spent a few moments with the special menu [current] and the site list side by side. There appear to be some changes but this is a great start. There are so many functions there it would be great to have some guidelines. Perhaps someone from Graphisoft has something to add here..........

Re: special menu help

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 04:29:57 GMT

Please...

Remember that the special menu is a developer toy that most companies would not even let us use. There is a bunch of junk in there that we don't even want. Let us accept that we get access to a few half implemented features for those of us intrepid/foolhardy enough to use/need/want them and not complain about lack of documentation. Graphiisoft needs to focus on the real development of official features for the next version. We can can handle the impromptu documentation of the special menu ourselves.

Re: special menu help

Dwight — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 06:04:02 GMT

Does anyone know how to summon the SpecialMenu in 9?
Or if at all?
Seems you have to have some extra special Voodoo to do it.

Re: special menu help

Dwight — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 06:14:28 GMT

And can't even find it with ResEdit.

Re: special menu help

__archiben — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 08:01:07 GMT

Dwight wrote:
Does anyone know how to summon the SpecialMenu in 9?
Or if at all?
Seems you have to have some extra special Voodoo to do it.

yep. the art-of-the-plist-editor.

you can do it three ways . . . all involve modifying the file:
~/Library/Preferences/com.graphisoft.archicad9.plist

(or something like that. somebody with a mac please confirm or correct my path name - i'm running on my limited memory chip at the moment with no mac at hand to help)

1. if you know what you're doing with the terminal you can "write defaults" or something. i don't, so:

2. open the file with a text editor and find the lines of text that tell it to turn the special menu on. alter the 'no' to a 'yes' (or perhaps a '0' to a '1'). can say i've ever done it like that myself, so by far the easiest way is:

3. use the developer tool 'Plist Editor' which is installed as a part of the developer tools package. everybody has a developer tools installer file installed as a part of the default mac OSX install. you can find it in ./Applications/Installers/

once you've installed the developer tools, the Plist Editor can be found in ./Developer/Applications/

ONCE AGAIN TAKE NOTE:

Matthew wrote:
Remember that the special menu is a developer toy that most companies would not even let us use. There is a bunch of junk in there that we don't even want.

...if it goes wrong it's your own fault!

~/archiben

Re: special menu help

Jefferson — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 16:03:13 GMT

Well it's all good then. I'll be happy that I get what I get.

Matthew, this was not a complaint! It was just curiosity [given the great uses of the features I already use and those that have migrated to the edit palette from the previous version] driven by a healthy and appropriate dose of caution that prompted the search for "instructions".

Re: special menu help

Ben Odonnell — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 17:16:42 GMT

~/archiben wrote:
Dwight wrote:
Does anyone know how to summon the SpecialMenu in 9?
Or if at all?
Seems you have to have some extra special Voodoo to do it.
yep. the art-of-the-plist-editor.

you can do it three ways . . . all involve modifying the file:
~/Library/Preferences/com.graphisoft.archicad9.plist

(or something like that. somebody with a mac please confirm or correct my path name - i'm running on my limited memory chip at the moment with no mac at hand to help)

1. if you know what you're doing with the terminal you can "write defaults" or something. i don't, so:

2. open the file with a text editor and find the lines of text that tell it to turn the special menu on. alter the 'no' to a 'yes' (or perhaps a '0' to a '1'). can say i've ever done it like that myself, so by far the easiest way is:

3. use the developer tool 'Plist Editor' which is installed as a part of the developer tools package. everybody has a developer tools installer file installed as a part of the default mac OSX install. you can find it in ./Applications/Installers/

once you've installed the developer tools, the Plist Editor can be found in ./Developer/Applications/

ONCE AGAIN TAKE NOTE:
Matthew wrote:
Remember that the special menu is a developer toy that most companies would not even let us use. There is a bunch of junk in there that we don't even want.
...if it goes wrong it's your own fault!

~/archiben

There is one more way you can do it without any editing, if you simply hold down APPLE+CTRL while starting up ArchiCAD, it will appear.

I hope it is those 2 keys, it's ALT+CTRL on the PC, so that's why I'm assuming it is APPLE+CTRL on the MAC.

Just to reflect Matthew and ben's sentiments USE IT WITH CAUTION!

HTH.
Cheers.
Ben

Re: special menu help

Dwight — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 20:16:57 GMT

Thanks for the idea - but things have changed with 9 and it doesn't work like that any more.
So it looks like your hack is the only trick left.

Can anyone make this work with key combos?

Re: special menu help

Fabrizio Diodati — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 20:27:37 GMT

Using 9 it's just a bit more difficult.

You should use Regedit (like before) to enable it and then you should use the WorkEnvironment function to add this menu.

I still never tried under Mac, I suppose you should do like before for the first step (using ResEdit) and then, once again, WorkEnvironment dialog window to add the menu.

Let me now if anything is clear...

Friendly
Fabrizio

for Ben: Wow, what a wonderful Avatar I was there, near you, when you take that picture!

Re: special menu help

Dwight — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 20:44:17 GMT

I went into ResEdit to find the MENU unit, but it is not there - in prior versions it was easy to find.

So, yes, if you can give me a road map to find the DLOG I can check the little box inside....

Re: special menu help

__archiben — Fri, 24 Sep 2004 05:16:21 GMT

Ben wrote:
There is one more way you can do it without any editing, if you simply hold down APPLE+CTRL while starting up ArchiCAD, it will appear.

I hope it is those 2 keys, it's ALT+CTRL on the PC, so that's why I'm assuming it is APPLE+CTRL on the MAC.

Dwight wrote:
I went into ResEdit to find the MENU unit, but it is not there - in prior versions it was easy to find.

So, yes, if you can give me a road map to find the DLOG I can check the little box inside....

okay . . .

things have changed with 9 (mac at least) - you need to alter/edit/hack the archicad plist file in order to see the special menu! just install your developer tools. it's easy!

if i get a moment later i'll fire up the laptop and see if i can work out a step-by-step using only a text editor . . .

ben O - do you have that picture big-stylee? if so, could i ask you to mail it to me when i next get my laptop online? (working from webmail in SE asia internet cafe's at the moment...)

cheers
~/archiben

Re: special menu help

Ben Odonnell — Fri, 24 Sep 2004 06:22:53 GMT

Ben, Dwight.
Sorry for the misleading information. You are both right, it is different in ArchiCAD 9. Ben's plist instruction is the way to do it.

Ben I have all of the photos that were taken that night. I sure do have my avy large size . It's a great pic!
Just drop me a line and I'll mail you all of them if you want them all.

Cheers.
Ben

Re: special menu help

Dwight — Fri, 24 Sep 2004 07:25:02 GMT

I forgive you since you are getting ready for the "big dark" up there - what is your lattitude? Dark enough here at 49 degrees North. Stocked up on pickled herring? I know I am. Muktuk, too.

Re: special menu help

Durval — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 16:35:26 GMT

Therefore, I suppose the following page in ArchiCAD 9 Help deserves a little update, as the key combo doesn't work on Macs as stated:

Introduction to Object Making > PART ONE: OBJECT MAKING WITHOUT GDL > Chapter 1: Introduction to Object Making > Sources of Library Parts

"Using old libraries - update library parts
"(...) You can speed this up by opening ArchiCAD with the Special Menu visible. Boot up ArchiCAD holding down the Opt-Cmd keys (Mac) or Alt-Ctrl (PC) - you will see the Special Menu appear. (...)"

Re: special menu help

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:54:15 GMT

Still having trouble with this on Mac OSX and AC 9.

I've got a plist editor (nice tool called "Pref Setter" linked from the Apple OSX support page). I can find the Special Menu plist item, change it to "true", close file, open again to confirm the setting took, and...

No change upon opening AC9. Sniffing around in the Work Environment settings didn't reveal a Special Menu item either. I also tried some key combo's to see if they worked once the plist was edited. No dice.

Who is doing this on Mac OSX and AC 9.00 v1?

Thanks.

Re: special menu help

__archiben — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 21:17:01 GMT

RobertNichols wrote:
Who is doing this on Mac OSX and AC 9.00 v1?.

i am.

see attached sceenshot. once you've enabled it by way of editing the prefs (which sound successful), you need to add it from the available menu to those in use. find it in the left hand column as shown and drag it to your preferred position in the right hand (in use) menus . . .

hope that makes sense. usual disclaimer applies: use the special menu at your own risk.

cheers
~/archiben

Re: special menu help

Dwight — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 05:42:08 GMT

How about this:

I enabled the Special Menu and it appeared on the list of Toolbars, not Menus.

So I made it a toolbar.

haha.

Re: special menu help

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 18:07:11 GMT

I get the same result, Dwight, toolbar only....