Expressions Error

[Anonymous]

I'm having problems trying to use Skin Component Area in expressions. The error I'm receiving is "Expressions contains circular reference"

Is this the correct approach/parameters to do calculations with for complex profiles with multiple materials?

[Anonymous]

Having difficulty getting parameters for openings to work in expressions too. Invalid values using the surface area parameters, but is working for actual window objects

[Barry Kelly]

Complex profiles do not have skins like a composite wall does.
They can look the same but a complex profile is just a bunch of extruded fills that can be any shape and in any position in relation to each other.
Not like the parallel skins of a composite wall or slab.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

That's a shame. Does that mean the skin components cannot be converted or used in any way for expressions at all?

[Barry Kelly]

The only skin information that I can see that can be used in the property expressions is ...


And of course this is only for composite walls.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

Guess I'll have to investigate a bit further to see if I can get what I want


Thanks Barry

[Laszlo Nagy]

Andrew,

Maybe you could post exactly what you are trying to achieve, plus show the exact Expression you created to achieve that. From that point, we could help you further, hopefully.

[Anonymous]

The initial problem worked itself out. I've not another issue that is somewhat relevant, so I'll keep it in this thread.

I'm trying to accurately measure the length of skirting of all walls with the material. There doesn't seem to be a parameter to do this, but there is one to detect doors.

I'm working around it by trying to make expressions to detect the wall type/material and then choosing a formula. I've read that you can make a true/false statement with numeric values but am not sure how to do it.

IF ( ( Skirting - Thickness} > 0 ), TRUE, FALSE )

Thanks

[Barry Kelly]

So your skirting is part of the wall composite and you are using a profile modifier to adjust the skirting thickness?
You might be able to use this as modifiers can be used in property expressions.
I will have to have a play with it over the weekend.

If your skirting was a separate object or beam then it would be easy, but of course it would not automatically cut for openings.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

Yes it's part of a wall complex profile. I'm having trouble getting the expression to return TRUE/FALSE.

Looking at the FAQ, this is what I want to achieve

"Can I convert a numeric calculation result to a simple polar question answer (like yes/no or true/false)?
Yes! Typical design validation scenarios are based on polar questions clarifying if your design meets the requirements from a certain aspect or not. You can create a separate property with True/False data type and create an expression which sets the value to True or False depending on the calculated value of the numeric property the validation is based on."

The above says its possible, but I can't find any examples. I seem to be generally having problems getting one data type to another. Are there any particular tips or tricks for me to learn?