Creating a Property Object

[Katalin Borszeki]

This description will take you through an example of assigning a property object to a wall. The property object can have one or more properties and these properties can be programmed, linked to a database and used for material takeoffs. The same concept is applicable to all ARCHICAD construction elements.

Create a wall

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Creating a new Menu for Calculate commands

Go to Options/Work Environment/Menus

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Create a new menu in the menubar, and rename it to e.g. Calculate

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Loading commands to the new menu

On the left under „Application commands and menus” set the list to „All commands by theme, And open folder 16 (Calculate) and select the Following commands: Set Up List Schemes, Edit Database, New Properties, Edit Properties, Last Selections Properties, Link Properties to Criteria, (Open Element, Component and Zone List), Query, Show Data Structure, Criteria, Open Link Properties, Edit Database, Last Selections Properties. And press „Add selected button”. So your newly created Calculate menu will be populated.

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Editing database

Go to the brand new Calculate menu select Edit Database command. There in „Databases in Active Libraries” tree you can find „common brick 21,5*10,3*5,6 cm”, but we won’t use this one. Here you can create new component by clicking on Component under Create.

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Editing the details of components

This will appear in the Components list, so name it for example Brick Quantity.

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Change the Unit to pieces. Leave Quantity at 1,000.

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Set Reference Quantity to Volume.

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(If you would like to add a new type of unit like price you have to create it. In that case you have to go down in the main tree to Units, and there where pieces are also present. Add Unit under Create button).

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Creating the Property Object

Go to Calculate menu/New Properties. This will bring up a GSM creating window.

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There press New button. Press Link to Database Item button.

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There select Common brick 21,5*10,3*6,5 cm or the previously created Brick Quantity Component. Then go to File/Save as (For example Brickquant.gsm)

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Linking Properies to Criteria

Calculate menu/Link Properties to Criteria button. And in the popup window press New Link button.

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Press Edit Criteria button, and select Wall in the Criteria Selector for Find Elements.

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Then add another item with pressing More choices, and set it to Fill and finally choose a desired fill type, Common Brick in this case. (This way only the walls that have Common Brick as a fill will be listed in the final outcome).

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And finally press Link Property Object Button. Select from the Link Properties list the previously created Brickquant.gsm.

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If it is done save it. (If the walls that you would like to list have a different fill on the floorplan than Common Brick change them. Otherwise the list won’t be created).

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Select the wall on the floorplan and go to Documant/Schedules and Lists/Component Lists/Basic to create the Calculation of number of bricks.

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The result will be the following.