GRAPHISOFT Launched GDL Center

[Gergely Feher]

Dear All,

Last week we started our brand new GDL knowledge base, the GDL Center. The goal of this site is to have all of GRAPHISOFT’s GDL related contents in one place: official documents, learning materials and tips & tricks. We are also starting a forum here, where you can ask us or each other about possible solutions in GDL. This site should be the starting point of GDL developers, an easy to find solution center, where everyone can search through the existing materials, and ask for new ones.

As there is a forum on the new site, I would like to ask you to put your upcoming GDL technology related questions a to the new site in the future.

Regards,

[David Shorter]

Thanks Barry, checked it all out, found the check box and on the Mac it automatically logs on.....
I do think it should be add free though

[sinceV6]

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*** for the record, this was written on Sep. 18, a day before the announcement was made in this forum; but never got around to post it***
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Hi everyone.

Sorry if you feel this is kind of a rant.... but bear with me a little...

I just recently found the GDL help center: gdl.graphisoft.com , but didn't have time to post (and I didn't find any announcement or something related)

On one hand...
I think it is great that a help resource like this comes directly from GS. Many of us know that there are a few sites with great knowledge about GDL, but the effort from GS wasn't that good in that matter. Articles seem to be well written and the code is structured.

On the other hand...
I really don't know what to think about this.

First, it shows in plain sight what many users -new or veteran- complain about: the GDL complexity. I only see four articles right now. All related to text. And three are for: set the units, create a frame and make it readable. In a way, GS is confirming what new users fear when getting into AC, be it basic or advanced:

-"I need an object to display text... with certain units, a frame and an option to rotate it or make it readable"
-"Sure thing... you just need a few lines of GDL code and a bunch of parameters."
-"Great! How many are we talking about?"
-"Oh... just a few hundred lines"
-

Look at the code in the examples from a different point of view. It is kind of ridiculous. Sometimes you need to write two hundred lines of code before a TEXT2 or RICHTEXT to tell AC what and how you want text in an object.

By this date and age, I would have thought that this should have evolved. Something like, instead of having to define and redefine in writing every single bit of options available for a text element, it should behave like an object itself, with certain properties that can be tied to whatever parameters are needed. I mean... you create parameters if you want to define the style that the text will have before you put the text because the style and the text are different things. Why?!? The user creating an object should be able to place a text element -be it from a special palette in a GDL IDE inside AC or whatever- and have every property it can have available to the user to link to a certain parameter. Because that is what you do with all those two hundred lines of code before you call TEXT2.

Want it bold? Link that property to a parameter. Want it centered? Give to user the option to link justification to a parameter. Want it with a frame? Link it to an boolean parameter instead of needing to ask AC to give you the length in meters of the current text and then moving the origin to the correct position set the pen and line type for the following commands and then call another statement so that it can draw a rectangle around the text, all this instead of having a text with its integrated frame.

It is nothing new. I know.

And second... I feel it is a dream crusher. It somehow means that GS is still thinking to keep GDL in its current form: write everything in notepad style windows, save and check outside its development environment, and reopen and look for the errors if it doesn't work and rewrite. I don't think or know if GS would spend the effort in creating a GDL helpcenter -no matter how simple it was to create- and post more structured GDL examples for users if it was thinking of evolving the GDL core of AC.

Thanks.
I feel better now.

Best regards.

[Anonymous]

GDL is killed by GS...

After all this years of not updating, AC GDL sux just like before 20 years...

Second-

As architect, I need to know C+ to write a addon...
cmon GS are you nuts ???

For all this years you where not able to improve GDL, you where first in this area, parametric design....now, nobody takes GDL serious, it's outdated, old etc

You just turned on lights on very old and dusty area of archicad - GDL

It's a shame that Archicad is a such a half baked product in many areas, especially in GDL

New site and graphics will not change the fact that GDL is OUTDATED, 10 years ago...

GS, go read wishes on the forum....you can find everything there