Schedule Criteria = "Objects in use on this project"

[Anonymous]

My goal is to create a schedule of objects whose selection criteria is "Objects in use on this project".

I begin by placing on a worksheet a complete list of objects I might normally use. Then I created a schedule for these objects.

The schedule should only show objects in actual use and not show all others. My desire is that the schedule criteria be able to select 1) objects placed into stories and/or 2) objects placed onto layouts. And of course it should not include objects on worksheets. I have a workaround that works, but am curious if there is a "direct flight" to my destination.

Can someone tell me where or how to find detailed information on the Schedule Criteria called "State"?

You help much appreciated.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Update:

State is a criteria available for lamp objects and responds to whether the lamp is turned on or off.

After a call to Tech support, it seems the simplest solution is to use my workaround of choosing a parameter such as "Position" then use the exterior vs. interior values as substitutes for in use vs. not used. Of course, if you actually make use of the Position parameter for your objects you will need to find and use a parameter that is not in use in your projects.

Not elegant but it works. Tech support did mention that I could create my own IFC parameter as an alternative. That is a horse of different color, and so will go on my not-so-short-list of things to learn.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Not really understanding the issue, Mark. No objects that I place on a Worksheet or a Layout shows up in a schedule anyway.

Maybe you can clarify more precisely what you're trying to accomplish? (I assume visual favorites? In which case using Worksheets doesn't appear to present any issue.)

Besides using an IFC parameter to distinguish, you can also use the User Defined parameters to enter a text value to distinguish objects... but either requires manually modifying the parameter of your placed objects vs your 'list of objects' on the Worksheet.

Al of that aside - it is easy to select objects placed onto stories by using the Home Story criteria twice - enclosed in parentheses - to select objects that are on some range of stories, e.g., Home Story between 1 and 4. I wasn't aware that it was possible to schedule anything that was placed on a Layout in an Element Schedule?

[Anonymous]

Karl,

Maybe this description of my original problem will help:

I want an automatic legend of parts/objects in use. So far - standard out of the box AC functionality. However, the library object name is not always a name that can be used on a legend, so I modify the part names, add descriptions and a photo to accompany these objects in my "hand made" legend.

The questions is how do I create a "Automatic AC" schedule with my names, description, and photos - that does not need to be hand edited for every project or reedited when I add a new part to the drawing?

I could open each object i use and re-save it with my own names, and descriptions, but this has unintended consequences, the most aggravating is that with each version of AC there is a new library, and all that work must be repeated for a large number of objects.

Currently, I compose this legend by hand in a worksheet rather than use schedules. The problem arises that this hand made legend is quite long, and has instances of every object I might use. BUT, I want a legend of only the objects is use, so I have to manually remove unused objects from my legend.

My attempted solution was to modify an AC schedule in a separate file, bring that in as a HLM, place it on a worksheet, use it as an interactive legend, then have AC create a new legend with only the parts in use, based on this HLM schedule that has already been modified to suit. It is this attempted solution, that I am trying to resolve. I am not sure I am on the right path.

Thank you for your attention to my question.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Hi Mark,

I never use the library part name in a document schedule. (Doubt anyone does?) I DO, however, use the part name in my editable, working schedules - to group, identify, etc while editing custom fields.

Renaming a library part is not the best solution to getting the desired name... particularly since you have to repeat your work every time there is a library update... or suffer the consequences of not using the updated library parts (which ideally have fewer bugs or added features).

This is what the User Defined text fields are for. Every library part is like a mini-database (actually, a 'record' in a database) - with lots of data fields, including these User Defined fields that are there to hold any data you might want. ArchiCAD doesn't use them. (The Manufacturer fields, and more are also pretty much there just for you to fill in with whatever you want.)

So, the idea of creating a MOD with placed objects is good - for visual favorites - but just edit the available parameter fields to place your desired name. The same part might be placed multiple times with different parameter values including different names. Then, schedule THOSE fields - not the Library Part Name in your schedules. (Same thing can be done with textual favorites.)

Hope that helps,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tips