Dimension Instability

[DGSketcher]

Dear Graphisoft,

When can we reasonably expect dimensions to be stable in our drawings?

I have today opened up floor plans to be issued urgently following the 27.1 update & found most of the linear dimensioning to the outside face of the walls has arbitrarily abandoned the wall thicknesses in favour of base lines and single faces. Upon trying to restore the dimensions numerous wall thicknesses reappeared in the same dimension and in one case an adjoining dimension line also restored itself.

Seriously, why are you bothering with structural & MEP system development & time wasting experimental features when you have primary CAD functionality which regularly fails at the most basic level? If Archicad can't reliably do these simple tasks then why would any discipline use it!

Hacked off again.

Original layout

 

After update

 

[Romans]

😱

[runxel]

Not to mention that the dimensioning of windows was broken from the start.

I really wonder what their QA looks like. I mean, some people can't even start the application. *Cough*

[mthd]

This demonstrates the fallacy of the 3D BIM concept. That you build a 3D model of the project and extract the 2D drawings from it and it saves you time ? ? ? How long will it take you to go over all your dimensions add them all up again and re-set them ? ? ? Not to mention if you didn’t change your drawings before they were seen on site ? ? ? Don’t tell us to use static dimensions instead because they do not automatically adapt to a change in the model ? ? ?

GS please stabilise the dimensions first before you start chasing after MEP and other functions that can be done with other apps. It’s all about priorities !

That situation perfectly illustrates why you can’t always upgrade mid project to the latest version of AC.

[jl_lt]

Ahhh another chance to request my proposed dimension tool, with which none of this inconveniences would happen.

I dont know about you guys, but for us, dimensioning has become our bottleneck using Archicad, at least for full CD packages. Its slow, inacurate, tedious and worst of all, unstable.  I say lets evollve from the "click-based dimensioning" to the "view based dimensioning".  You only set it once, like setting up a section view and then you can rest assured everyhing you model, delete, edit, etc, will be correctly anotated according to the criteria you set up on the tool.

GS: stop adding unwanted or unneeded complexity. Begin sending processes to the back

[Barry Kelly]

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@jl_lt wrote:

Ahhh another chance to request my proposed dimension tool, with which none of this inconveniences would happen.

I say lets eliminate the "click-based dimensioning" 

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You mean you want something like the interior dimension add-on, where you place a line across what you want to dimension, and it dimensions all of the intersecting edges (this add-on only works with walls though).

I am not sure how that will solve this problem.

It seems the dimensions were associated to the correct edges or nodes and now they are not.

What has affected that I don't know.

It can't be partial structure display because the entire dimension would have gone.

It can't be renovation filters because you can't apply reno status per skin.

I don't even think wall skins are involved here anyway.

But back to my point.

Even if we could auto-dimension, what is stopping the associativity from disconnecting as it seems to have done here.

Whether the dimensions are place manually or automatically, I don't think it would make any difference here.

The question is, why have these dimensions suddenly decided to associate to only one side of the walls?

@jl_lt ,

Please don't go into explanation here about how you proposed dimension tool would work.

I would love to hear about it, but that will be going a bit off topic.

Please start a new post (in wishes maybe) or link to an existing post if you already have made one.

Barry.

[jl_lt]

Yeah, something like that, but much better.     It would work with an interfase similar to that of a section marker, with all construction elements in any combination, in any angle, any view (with the ability to copy it), and with different dimensioning criteria, independent if you add or erase elements. Its a set it and forget stuff.    The problem that is presented in this post would be solved because, if implemented correctly, it would never occur to begin with, because there wouldnt  be any clicking involded in adding the dimensions; Instead, the tool reads the objects and dimentions them according to criteria and a view range. Nevertheless, the tool is noble enough to allow for click-based dimensions if you decide to do so, for the sake of remembering the old times.   In any case, It would allow us to FORGET ABOUT ASSOCIATIVITY, an ackward concept that we shouldnt even be thinking about.  

But worry not; i have explained several times how it should work, so i wont waste space here with it. 

[mthd]

Someone on the panel will have to set dimensioning as a priority to be improved in its operation for the benefit of all of us including GS. The reputation of the company is on the line with a major thing like this that needs to work correctly at all times. Why not make that a starting point on the wish list ? Let’s have the wish list divided up into categories and start a thread on what we want improved with dimensioning starting with 2D dimensions first.

[DGSketcher]

On the subject of QA I am currently reading An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. Ok, NASA is probably the gold standard of quality control and the stakes are high, e.g. you mess up and it's likely someone will die; in a way though, that does reflect the construction industry e.g. tower block fires, collapsing buildings etc, but I imagine CAD software developers consider themselves suitably detached from all liability.

Anyway, the big take from the book on QA, is the whole interaction process where everyone's feedback is valued, nothing is taken for granted, they learn from their mistakes, view things from the other peoples perspective, especially those at the sharp end floating in the cold vacuum of space, and they actually make constant improvement so tasks are run smoother & easier. Imagine if a software developer operated to the same standard...

[DGSketcher]

I guess there might be a clue in the List of Improvements contained in update AC26UKI 6002...

• DEF-8442 New Dimension point could not be associated to skin’s edge on Floor Plan.

I don't know what goes on at GSHQ, but I assume what I saw was in some way related to some coding cross pollination.