Layers and Symbols

[Anonymous]

Hi there, I'm quite new to ArchiCAD, and am crossing over from using Vectorworks, which I've used for about 20 years. So far, everything is going pretty smoothly, but there are obviously a few teething problems I'm having!

I am wondering if it's possible to use separate layers within a furniture symbol.

For example, if I am using a specific piece of furniture which always sits on a rug of a given size, and has a light sitting above it, is it possible to draw the items as part of the same symbol, but hide the different components in different views. So hide the rug and the light in a basic layout, then turn them on for flooring and lighting layouts respectively?

So far, I've been able to create the symbols without any problems, but when I place them, they all come through in the same layer.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Nick

[Barry Kelly]

No a single object can only belong to one layer so you would need separate objects for your rug, chair and light.

It is possible to make an object react to different Model View Options and in fact you can create your own settings called Library Globals but you will need to get into the actual GDL scripting to do this.
But it will still not react to layers or layer combinations.
You will then need different Model View Options saved for each type of plan you want to display.

Barry.

[Anonymous]

Cheers Barry! I was afraid this would be the case!

As an aside, I'm interested in learning a bit more about GDL, as it's something I think will really benefit the office - can you recommend any good resources, bearing in mind I'm a complete beginner as far as ArchiCAD goes.

Cheers,

Nick

[schagemann]

check out the following post.... http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=23839&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight...

i can highly recommend the GDL cookbook.

btw. symbol creation and editing is a real beauty in VW although not as easily made parametric as with GDL...

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the link - I'll have a look through those…

Re: symbol making in VW - if only we could take the best parts of VW and ArchiCad, we'd have a pretty awesome piece of software!

Cheers,

Nick

[Barry Kelly]

Yes the GDL Cookbook by David Nicholson-Cole is the way to go.
It is a little old now but still very useful and relavent.

Once you have gone through the Cookbook you will find you can make use of the GDL Refernce Guide that comes with Archicad.
That is good to but lacks the examples and explainations you will find in the Cookbook.

There is a GDL Handbook by CadImage but I found it is not as interesting as the Cookbook and I think it is best to know a little GDL before looking at that one.

Barry.