Enhanced Design Options

[James B]

Hi All,

We've made a number of usability improvements, based on feedback, to Design Options in Archicad 28.

• Common management tasks are now available via the Design Options palette, including create, delete, rename and duplicate. All teamwork enabled.
• Context menu available from Design Options and Set in palette. With clearer setting of Default, and linking elements to a selected Design Option.
• Search for Design Options in palette.

For more details:

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Graphisoft-Technology-Preview/Enchanced-Design-Options/ta-p/6064...

[Tintifax2]

@Barry Kelly Same reason I need to show ALL Layers, ALL renovation phases ... Some elements get lost, wrongly attributed, things change ... 

Since only one option per set can be visible in a Combination, I cannot create the Combination "show all" manually.

Show all first options, show all second options, all third options ... and I have to update those with every new set created.

... And "mess" is a relative term, since Layers and overrides still exist.

... And of course I'm using this tool in a not intended way, so there never will be an "overlapping mess".

[Barry Kelly]

How does knowing the number of elements used in an option status or option set help?

You can use Find & Select to select them and that will tell you how many elements are selected.

Barry.

[Algimantas Kuprenas]

For me it's also very needed to show all combinations at same time, because of this I have only single design option in design option group.

Show all design options is needed for checking or deleting elements in plan views in certain plan area, so unwanted elements are not intersecting or left when deleting. Also what I with is to have posible to turn on several design options in Group, not only single option in that group, so you don't need to make so many groups and variations.

[Algimantas Kuprenas]

When You have only few design options in small project everything works with existing design option tool, but when you have big project with many design options element counter can help to find out how much each design option is used, maybe there is design options that don't have any elements in it.

[Barry Kelly]

I am not sure exactly what you are trying to do.

Are you using the options for renovation display (new, existing, demolished)?

Then not using the renovation filters?

If so there is no need.

Combine those three option into just one for each set and then for the elements in each option you apply the correct renovation status.

Now you can turn on all of the options and with the renovation filters show all.

Thinking outside of the box is a good thing, and if you can get the design options to show phasing of a project (if that is your intention), that is all well and good.

But you must remember what the tool is intended for.

And simply turning on all options at once would not be a good thing for how the design options are supposed to be used.

i.e. 5 alternate kitchen designs, all in the same space.

That would be a complete 'overlapping mess' if you turned all option on at once.

Barry.

[Tintifax2]

@Barry Kelly give me some credit ...

No, of course not. This was just a test, if options would work for countless sequenced construction phases (in combination with renovation filters) And I would not recommend using options for that purpose...

The logic implications still remain: Only one (or none) option per combination can be displayed (which makes totally sense).

During my tests I unintentionally "lost" elements in between layers, renovation phases, overrides ... finding them again was not "intuitivly easy".

[Tintifax2]

@Algimantas Kuprenas Isn't "only one option per set" equivalent to a layer structure?

I can see why this still might be desirable on top of an existing layer combination extravaganza, but it defeats the tools purpose. 

Many sets with few options help to prevent logic inconsistencies though.

(So far, no one is using options as intended ;-P)

[Tintifax2]

Also @Barry Kelly in order to evaluate three different kitchen designs I don't need "design options". Three Layers will do this trick nicely. Design options is a powerful beast in search of purpose.

[Algimantas Kuprenas]

If you want to have all design options visible in same view - for me it's must thing, then You need to place each design option in separate option group.

Also I need oportunity to show different option variations. A+C, A+B, A+B+C. Because of these variations also I need to have separate design options to hide elements, only when I have all options in separate sets more complicated design option variations can be aquired in same *.pln file.

[Barry Kelly]

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@Tintifax2 wrote:

Three Layers will do this trick nicely.

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3 wall layers, 3 cabinet layers, 3 electrical layers, 3 floor finish layers, - all of the layers you use to produce the model would need to be multiplied.

Unless you model everything in one layer normally.

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@Tintifax2 wrote:

 Design options is a powerful beast in search of purpose.

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Well, it has its purpose, we all seem to like pushing the boundaries to see what else it can do.

Barry.