Organizing Details for Easy Retrieval?

[Richard Morrison]

I posted this awhile back on the old forum, but never got a really satisfying answer. Thought maybe some creative ideas might have come out at ACU West. So here's the issue:

Does anybody have a good system for keeping track of a library of standard construction details that you've drawn over time, so that you can sort through them quickly and pull out the appropriate ones for placing into Plotmaker? Obviously you could draw one detail per file, put a paper copy in a binder and find it that way. Or keep all your details in one large file, use one view set per detail and send a live copy or a PMK to Plotmaker. This is how I'm currently doing it, but there must be a better way.

I'm wondering if there is anything more efficient, like maybe having a slew of PMK's already pasted up on layout pages, and sorting and dragging around details from there. My only complaint with this is that if you have 10 eave details (labeled eave-1.pmk, eave-2.pmk, etc.), you don't get the automatic title block feature to work as well when you only need eave-5.pmk. Seems like everything I've come up with is pretty kludgy. Any good ideas?

[vfrontiers]

Right now I have a bunch of details in a STANDARD DETAILS folder... Individual Files....w/ unique "ID" numbers....

A few years ago, someone had the idea of making all details OBJECTS...hmmm. I could dream up a way to have all RELATED details in ONE OBJECT... Obviously less than 16 variations... then with a pull down menu, you could select the option to display. Sooner or later tho, you would need to modify it slightly which would mean creating a new FRAGMENT or putting it into a plan and exploding.

On the other hand (and thinking slightly outside the box) if they were Objects, you could conceiveably use the INTERACTIVE SCHEDULE to layout a sheet of details! Ok, too far outside the box...

Now that you can embed PLAN files, it should be easy to keep up with details. But be careful... Changes you make to the master detail will eventually show up in ALL PAST PROJECTS... You could keep ITERATIONS in separate QUICKVIEWS, tho... If something changed for one project, you could create new layers and save a new quick view.. The benefit would be keeping the number of files down by iterating withing one file.

Ok... I'm rambling now.... There's the kernel of an idea without much exploration.... Do with it what you will....

[Erika Epstein]

I keep a file for each building type and organize my details by story. An example is wood construction for a residence.The bottom-most story has foundation details the next story up @ grade then @ 1st floor and on up. Variations of a a tile roof eave having different slopes are on the same story.
Pre AC8 I had quick views set up for the different details on a story. These translated beautifully into 8 both for AC and plotmaker layout books.

When I have a typ. eave detail, I'll use the detail marker when placing it in my section to reference the correct detail from my detail file. I then unlink them so my file stays complete for a project. This also allows me to make project specific alterations to a basic detail without potentially messing up the master.
When the project is done, I add it's details into my detail file. Kind of like sorting cards.
What do others do?

[Petros Ioannou]

I believe that the easiest way is to save each detail as an individual file.
What is important is to have a well organized archive. Usually there are office prototype details and project specific details.
Office prototypes are divided in categories given a number like:
54.100 (roofing)
72.100 (doors) etc

inside these categories each detail gets a number:
54.100 (001)
54.100 (002)
in order to keep track of them (in an excel file)

when such a detail is inserted in a project it gets the category number followed by a ascending number of the project (like 54.100/05) . Same happens with project specific details which are inserted in the same numbering system (category and individual number)
Of course each detail is an individual file in order to use this.
By mixing in the same file different details,specially if they come from different sources (manufacturers, file types dwg) could cause a lot of trouble (with layers etc). So I keep a file for each detail.
HTH
Petros

[Anonymous]

So far everyone in this topic is on Windows and I'm sorry to say I haven't much to add there. But, for Mac users there is ScrapIt Pro X (available at http://www.johnvholder.com).

This scrapbook utility allows you to copy/paste anything from/to ArchiCAD to create catalogs of details, bathroom layouts, symbol legends, etc. I have been using it for about 14 years and recommending it to all my Mac based clients.

Unfortunately I have been unable to find an equivalent program on Windows. As is so often the case, there are many more to choose from but none of them are good enough to be worth the effort to set them up. The one passable alternative I have found is to save details as modules organized into folders. Browsing them from ArchiCAD provides a small preview icon which helps select the desired detail.

[SeaGeoff]

Matthew,
Does ScrapIt save ArchiCAD objects in their native format, or just as lines. What I mean to say is, can you save module-like assemblies of walls, doors, cabinets, etc. and reuse them with all parameters and 3D attributes intact? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

ScrapIt stores the pasted data completely intact. It is effectively a scrapbook of modules that you can paste back into ArchiCAD with all their attributes intact. The limitation is that copy/paste is the only way it works. ScrapIt cannot import or export ArchiCAD modules intact.

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:
The one passable alternative I have found is to save details as modules organized into folders. Browsing them from ArchiCAD provides a small preview icon which helps select the desired detail.

Could some one point out where is this SMALL PREVIEW ICON of a modules talked about?
Thanks,
Joseph

[Anonymous]

Joseph wrote:

Matthew wrote:
The one passable alternative I have found is to save details as modules organized into folders. Browsing them from ArchiCAD provides a small preview icon which helps select the desired detail.

Could some one point out where is this SMALL PREVIEW ICON of a modules talked about?
Thanks,
Joseph

That works in Windows only (AFAIK). There is a far better solution on the Mac in the shareware program ScrapIt Pro X. The drawback is you have to copy/paste your modules into the program. the advantage is that you can see large previews of your details before bringing them into your project. You can get it at: http://www.johnvholder.com

[Anonymous]

Here's what we do in my office:

Create a PLN or PLP file that contains all of your standard details. Organize them in Navigator as you wish...ours are organized first by general type and then by a more specific type. For instance there is a subset for Millwork\Teller Counters.

Once this is done you can publish any or all details in whatever format you desire - pmk, mod (module files), etc. using a "real" folder structure (in the publishing options. Your details are then organized on your hard drive or sever in the exact same folder structure as in navigator.

The only drawback is than since AC 8.0 we no longer have the ability to publish individual stories, instead ALL stories get published. We set this up in AC 7 and had each different plan drawn on a different story which could be published individually. Now we must workaround this by manually saving out the plan views, but for sections, elevations, and details it works great.

Having all of your standard details in a single file will also allow you to modify them globally at once if the need arises...say if your office decided to change the pen table settings or whatever, it will affect all of the drawings contained in the file.

Finally, in PM we have added the source file path autotext to the titlebar so that we can know just be looking where a drawing came from. Some of our standard details are linked directly to the standard detail PLP file instead of placing them into the project file directly, so having the source path in the titlebar helps to realize this when looking at the drawings on paper or in PlotMaker.

Regards