Object to hold objcets

[Anonymous]

hi all,

Our optimal work flow to create a flexible group/ object of furnitures would be (sample):

- Arrange and configure a table, a chair and a drawer to the requirements.
- Select all three elements
- Create new object "Office Standard Equipment"
until now nothing new, BUT
- It shall be able to move/ rotate/ hide the table, the chair or the drawer within the object.

any idea how to get get there or how that can be made possible.

thanks for tips,
Florian

[Erwin Edel]

Instead of saving them as an object, save the configuration as a hotlinked module and copy that around. If you edit the module, you can still arrange/edit/etc the objects.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the fast reply!

It must be object because our external medical equipment database (BuildingOne) requires the objects GUIDs to synchronize.

The second "problem" is that different arrangements of the "internal" objects should be possible from copy to copy without the need to save each arrangement under a new name.

Florian

[SenecaDesignLLC]

You would need to write some sort of loop that calls the desired object based on some sort of user input, and if individual GUIDs are needed for each piece of furniture then you would need to write something to store those for recall later too, I assume.

[Aaron Bourgoin]

There's an object in the USA Library called Kitchen Layout 18 (sorry, that's the version I'm in at the moment). Perhaps the script of that would be a good start point as it strings a number of objects together including cabinetry and appliances.

Hope it's also in your library.

If not try downloading the USA library and have a look.

[Erwin Edel]

So buildingone is some sort of data-management tool, I assume.

How about taking a step back and split the world of data-management and what you see in your drawing. Could you make a very simple object that only lists out what you need for the buildingone tool, it can just be a simple 2d representation in ArchiCAD of your floor plan. You can do this using the 16 layers available in the 2D symbol of the object. With FRAGMENT2 code you can control which layers to show/hide. So put table on layer 1, chair on layer 2, etc. Use layer 3 for rotated option. You can figure this out

This should fix the floorplan and the flow to your data-tool. Now go with the modules for the 3D model part, put this on a layer only visible in 3D, elevations, etc and do not send this layer out to the data-tool.

[Anonymous]

hi Erwin,

thanks for your solution concept! I am not familiar with programming GDL and and as i understood these objects must be programmed, which is not an option because the creation process must be doable by normal AC users and very fast by some clicks maximal. We estimate that we have to make about 1000 of these combinations for the standard Library and some dozens adaptive arrangements per project.

After looking at the kitchen object it seems possible somehow to create a object that can integrate others. So work flow would be:
- Insert "Group Object" (lets call it that way)
- click on it
- activate the magic function to be able to select object in its proximity
- select the objects you want to group.
- done

If someone could do the programming please pm me.

Thanks a lot!

Florian

[Erwin Edel]

The programming is very minimal.

You need to setup some parameters as text type and then you need to define the values for these parameters.

For example I will create the parameter 'type'.

In the Parameter Script I will then define the values for it.

values 'type' 'type 1', 'type 2', 'type 3', 'type 4'

Parameter 'type' now has the values 'type 1', 'type 2' etc that I can pick when I go in to the settings of the object after I place it.

Now if you draw line work in the 2D symbol screen and make sure you use different layers for type 1, type 2, etc, you can control what is shown.

for example type 1 is drawn on layer 1, the 2D script then becomes

if type='type 1' then
FRAGMENT2 1,1
ENDIF

This is very basic coding.

See below for small object with this code (ArchiCAD19 object).

[Erwin Edel]

Anyway, if you say you want thousands of combinations, it is maybe time to evaluate the workflow. ArchiCAD is not meant to be used in the way you like. Assemblies of different objects are best saved as modules, as I stated before. I would instead look to how you can send the data to your addon that doesn't require using a broken workflow.

Perhaps with IFC or in ArchiCAD20 with properties.