ArchiCAD 16 and Encina

[Ralph Wessel]

Encina's add-ons have been updated for ArchiCAD 16 and are available for download here.

The update is free to registered users (and students). The new versions will automatically recognise your existing registration, so you only need to download and install the update. Migration of existing work should be seamless.

One word of caution - ArchiCAD 16 is not fully backward compatible with GDL objects from 15 or earlier. This affects the Modular Joinery object, for example, and potentially many others. Check with the authors of all your GDL libraries before making the leap. The problem is not necessarily easy to spot, because the object may appear normal until any editing takes place, and once the damage is caused it cannot be undone by merely updating the library.

The update to Modular Joinery has been released for all versions from 13 to 16. The new version will migrate directly and seamlessly into ArchiCAD 16 from any previous version. All you need to do is replace your current Modular Joinery library with the latest release to suit the ArchiCAD version you currently use. Check with other GDL vendors about their objects too.

For those who understand GDL, the change concerns the behaviour of the VALUES command. When applied to an array, it would only come into force when an item in the array was directly edited by the user, and only applied to the value they were editing. In ArchiCAD 16, it comes into force whenever the Parameter script runs, e.g. even if the object is moved, and applies to all array values. This means an entire array can be overwritten with arbitrary values. In the previous version of Modular Joinery for example, an array for a window's content might be:
- Frame
- Window
- Pane

If the wall holding the window is moved, ArchiCAD can change the entire array depending on what the user was last editing, so it might become:
- Frame
- Frame
- Frame

[Chazz]

Thanks Ralph. I continue to use and enjoy Objective. Are there any feature changes from the previous version to V16? Is the Morph tool going to give Objective a run for its money?

[Erich]

Ralph wrote:
For those who understand GDL, the change concerns the behaviour of the VALUES command. When applied to an array, it would only come into force when an item in the array was directly edited by the user, and only applied to the value they were editing. In ArchiCAD 16, it comes into force whenever the Parameter script runs, e.g. even if the object is moved, and applies to all array values. This means an entire array can be overwritten with arbitrary values. In the previous version of Modular Joinery for example, an array for a window's content might be:
- Frame
- Window
- Pane

If the wall holding the window is moved, ArchiCAD can change the entire array depending on what the user was last editing, so it might become:
- Frame
- Frame
- Frame

Yeow! This seems like a mighty big change that is quite destructive to some objects. Any hints on how to handle this?

[Thomas Holm]

Erich wrote:
...

Yeow! This seems like a mighty big change that is quite destructive to some objects. Any hints on how to handle this?

And Ralph, do you host the updated Modular Joinery Object, or do you have any other hint on who to obtain it?

[Ralph Wessel]

Chazz wrote:
Thanks Ralph. I continue to use and enjoy Objective. Are there any feature changes from the previous version to V16? Is the Morph tool going to give Objective a run for its money?

This version primarily provides compatibility with AC16. A preference for whether the OBJECTiVE library should be automatically loaded has been added for those using TeamWork.

The Morph tool and OBJECTiVE are only superficially alike. OBJECTiVE is primarily about parametric modelling - objects never lose their original parameter set and most geometric transformations are parametric (and therefore every operation can be reviewed, measured, or reversed). For example, a steel beam always retains core information about its cross-sectional sizing, length, etc. irrespective of the bending, cutting, twisting operations applied to it.

The Morph tool is primarily about geometry. It's great for making awkward shapes, but discards the 'I' in 'BIM'.

[Ralph Wessel]

Erich wrote:
Yeow! This seems like a mighty big change that is quite destructive to some objects. Any hints on how to handle this?

If you've developed objects that are affected by this change, there are a number of possible strategies:

• 1. Don't use VALUES for items in an array at all, e.g. control values through constraints coded in the Parameters script;
  
  2. Add CUSTOM to the VALUES list, although this largely defeats the purpose for the command;
  
  3. Create proxy parameters for array, so the user never directly edits an array item (and hence the array is never subject to the VALUES command);
  
  4. Populate the VALUES command with all possible values in the array, but use a combination of the Interface and [/Parameter scripts to limit the values offered to the user.

I'm generally using a combination of 1 and 4 to work around this.

[Ralph Wessel]

Thomas wrote:
do you host the updated Modular Joinery Object, or do you have any other hint on who to obtain it?

I don't distribute the object directly - it should be freely available through your reseller (for those on subscription generally).

[Thomas Holm]

Ralph wrote:

Thomas wrote:
do you host the updated Modular Joinery Object, or do you have any other hint on who to obtain it?

I don't distribute the object directly - it should be freely available through your reseller (for those on subscription generally).

Thanks Ralph (sorry 'who' should have been 'where' - my spellcheck behaves quite weirdly sometimes)

The usual issue seems to be that all resellers (still) aren't aware of the Modular Joinery object. I (still) can't understand why GS (centrally) doesn't take care of the distribution. They have a number of officially 'unsupported' add-ons, so why not this?