Archicad C++ API
About Archicad add-on development using the C++ API.

GDL and API in Layout Mode (Integrated Workflow)

Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
Djordje wrote:
As one of the most important news will be PlotMaker integration into ArchiCAD, how do the GDL/API gurus see the playing field now? GDL in PlotMaker was a loooong standing wish; now it is a reality.
I am assuming, as Djordje, that the NDA's are now all in place. If not, I trust anyone will treat everything here as Graphisoft Confidential anyway. 😉

Brief background: Nautilus will merge the PM functionality with AC in a single application. This "Integrated Workflow" benefts both the user and the development team at Graphisoft. The revised Navigator will provide access to workspaces, views, and layouts/drawings.

A result is that we can now place GDL objects on layouts, and potentially write add-ons for the layout workspace.

(I say "potentially" because that is one of the reasons I asked for this forum to be created: to clarify these things and let GS know what new features are important to the developer community since they cannot possibly add all new features to the new API kit.)

One question comes to mind immediately with respect to placing GDL object in a layout: scale. I would assume the scale would be 'paper space' units (forgive the term - what is the right one for ArchiCAD?). So, if I have a title block object, and set it to be 3" wide, it will be 3" wide when printed.

If I take this same title block object and place it in a plan window, it should be a scale dependent symbol I think so that I still enter 3" as my width, but it appears on plan as 12' wide.

This seems obvious ... but there was some Nautilus discussion about doing things with the placed drawings in the drawings' model coordinate space (dimensioning was once mentioned ... I think we all nixed that).

My standard layout has a bold border around the drawing area and title block to the right. I like the idea of being able to do this with a stretchy GDL object that would work on a variety of master page sizes. But, it would be best if it could work with AutoText.

Is it "reasonable" to expect that an Autotext parameter value to a GDL object be interpreted PRIOR to the evaluation of the scripts? So, if I have a text param, and the entered value is "<DATE>", can the actual date be subtituted and be what is seen by the script?

API in layout mode: we would need resource codes to allow API commands to be enabled in layout windows. What information should the API provide about the layout. Well, everything of course ... but are there things that would be essential for add-ons that people have in mind?

Page size?
Default printer margins/data?
Whether it is a layout or a master?
List of placed drawings?
Autotext values (query new autotext database)?
More (of course)...

How many of the above things should also be new GDL REQUEST options? (This is another means of getting the autotext in my example above... do a REQUEST(..."<DATE>"...).)

Time to have lunch!

Karl
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
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