Help GDL Wizards!

[Anonymous]

I need to make an object that will represent two vertical railing posts whose centers are separated by distance X. I would like to be able to define a PROFILE A for the columns in Profile Manager so that I can edit the profile throughout the design process and be able to have the object update automatically as the model rebuilds CALLing these profiles.

Furthermore, I would like to be able to define a second column PROFILE B to the object for substituion when the columns is greater than a certain distance D away from the camera so that I could have the object automatically switch to the second simpler profile in 3d views. So, I could set it to 20 meters and any instance of the object beyond that point it would use a square post for simpler geometry and line work at a distance.

Of course, the object should also show the correct PROFILE A in plan. PROFILE B should never show up in plan.


to summarize, I need an object that will:

1. Have a pulldown parameter for the available profiles in profile manager
2. Have a second pulldown for the profile I would use for simple geometry
3. Have a distance D for the profile A to change to Profile B
4. the X value would define the distance between centers of columns.


Will the current GDL language accomplish this? I searched the AC10 GDL manual and the word "Profile" doesn't even exit in the manual. So I thought maybe an object has no way to pull profiles from the API.

Any chance a GDL whiz, might be able to crank this out real qucik?? Thanks in advance!

[Frank Beister]

Will the current GDL language accomplish this? I searched the AC10 GDL manual and the word "Profile" doesn't even exit in the manual. So I thought maybe an object has no way to pull profiles from the API.

AFAIK you can't request a profile from the attributes database out of GDL without AddOns. I do not know any AddOn, that could that do either. GDL is no real API. The API is the AddOn interface, which you can acces by own AddOns, written e.g. in C++.

[TomWaltz]

I must concur with Herr Beister. I don't think it's even possible using the Archicad Profiles.

You could write an entirely object-based version of this, with profiles saved as objects that you could modify once and have update throughout the project. It would probably not maintain its own live list of profiles, though. You would have to type their names in manually.

It won't be quick, though.

[Anonymous]

I was afraid of this. Oh well. I will just keep them as columns in plan then and make a duplicate set of columns for long didtance shots of the building. its a 44 story tower, so it should work fine this way too. I just have to track movents for two sets of columns thought out multiple modules.

[Frank Beister]

@Tom
For shure you can export polylines to GSM and use them as macro or "shape container". But you haven't access to the profiles database, isn't it? This is the downer in the AC 10 update, that most inventions did not get an equivalence in GDL, in opposite to most other inventions in further updates (SEO, RICHTEXT etc.). You should be possible to request a shape to an array as you can request material or pen attributes. Or at least use them by name as fills or linetypes. Hope for 11.

[Frank Beister]

@Daniel
Toms idea to use "hard coded" shapes is a good way, if there will not come much changes. You could use the same (GDL-object-) columns, which could internal dicide (GLOB_EYEPOS_X etc.), if they are far enough away from the camera to switch to square or anything else. But there will as more programming work as more shapes or flexibility you do need.