Skylights, making the hole in the roof

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

I must have read about this somewhere, but I can't find references to 'skylight' in the GDL-Talk archive, in the Cookbook or in the GDL Reference Manual.

I bought SidingMaker (a window object that makes the 3D profile by cutting into the wall with WALLHOLE), which works beautifully.

I am working on steel panel buildings and thought of making similar 'windows' for the wall panels (I can) and for the roof panels (can I?), showing an outside profile such as
http://www.fabral.com/exp-ultrarib.asp

I checked the Dormer and Skylight scripts and can't find how they make the hole. They have an 'addonavail' parameter for the 'skylight function' which I could not find anywhere in the scripts, and which makes me wonder if RoofMaker has anything to do with the thing.

Is there a way of making a 'SidingMaker' for the roof panels? Or do I need to make a separate object with the prisms, which I will need to position, extend, rotate separately from the roof?

Thanks a lot for any idea.

Ignacio
Archicad 7 US
Mac OS 9.2, G4 733

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

I posted the same message in GDL-Talk and Ferenc pointed me the way: the script I need to start from for my custom panel surfaces is not the Skylight but one of the standard macro roof surface patches used by 'Roof Surfacer', in Roof Accesories.

My thought had been 'if they started out from a window object to make Siding Maker, then I'll need to start from a Skylight object to make my roof panels'. I had not realised that Roof Surfacer is already there, doing to the roof what Siding Maker does to the wall, and that I can create new roof surfaces. Great news to me. : )

[Djordje]

Ignacio wrote:
I posted the same message in GDL-Talk and Ferenc pointed me the way: the script I need to start from for my custom panel surfaces is not the Skylight but one of the standard macro roof surface patches used by 'Roof Surfacer', in Roof Accesories.

Ferenc's great contribution deserves to be here too, therefore I am copying his message from GDL Talk:

Skylight GDL object should be good for an opening (with proper flashing, framing, glazing, etc...)
For roofpanels you should take a look into the RoofSurfacer.gsm RoofAccessory object.
What it does is creating the trim polygons for the holes and perimeter of the roof, and calls a rectangular patch of roofsurface.
(rotated according to the reference line position).
By creating additional roofpatches, you can achieve various kinds of treatments. Take a look at the supplied standard roofpatches.

Hope this helps

Ferenc

GDL Talk is a place to discuss GDL in more depth, so if you feel like it, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GDLTalk/

and join the Group.

Thanks, Ferenc!

[Anonymous]

You welcome:)

The Building Accessories project was a GSUS initiative started in 5.0 with an experiment called "Builders' Edition".

It was made possible by the -at that time- regular extended visits from developers to the GSUS office to gain some more insight into the users' and local support perspective.

It gave us the opportunity to work on local API tools and library content. The commitment of resources (both US and HQ) dried up and the content eventually was merged into the US 6.0 version.

However, the first usable Door/Window Schedule, Framed wall, moldings and panels, roofsurfacer accessories were created within that framework, so I decided to declare it as success although the improvements on the accessory objects missed the opportunity to exploit the capabilities of the API functions to the full extent.

But at any rate, the Accessories are great tools to pass the parameters (including geometry) of a wall/slab/roof to a GDL object, and even updates when the element changes (like moving a door).

[david nicholson-cole]

Can we expect something like ROOFHOLE in a future edition? It seems that the only way a Dormer or Skylight can cut the hole is with a single A,B Rectangle. The chamfer is always cut horizontal and vertical. (its good for almost all dormer and skylight conditions, I am not complaining).
But a status code like 0=cut vertically (as with normal hole in roof), 1=Cut perpendicular to roofplane, and 2=Cut as for Skylight would be very welcome.

Ferenc wrote:
But at any rate, the Accessories are great tools to pass the parameters (including geometry) of a wall/slab/roof to a GDL object, and even updates when the element changes (like moving a door).

[Djordje]

david wrote:
Can we expect something like ROOFHOLE in a future edition?

Methinks this is a good item for the wishlist ... both as implementation of the tool AND the GDL command!

Can you, please, David?