I thought I created a really cool gdl object that would automate some of the redundant tasks in our office. However, after writing the code, and testing it out on a small evaluation file, it was deployed to the office. Unfortunately it exploded upon impact and failed to perform as intended.
I was tying to exploit the "I" in BIM. Maybe I was expecting too much.
Here is the background. We are a 75+ person firm with both architects and engineers working in ArchiCAD, (Teamwork of course). Our general building type is multi-family housing. Therefore, we frequently use module files of the unit plans and build a composite file of the overall building. The overall composite file contains zones which define the footprint of each unit. This is also the data source for room names, room numbers as well as door numbers.
Unfortunately, the engineers cannot work with one location for the zone stamp. Depending upon the equipment that is being drawn on the respective plan, the zone stamp needs to reside in different locations. This created redundant zone stamps each living on different layers for each discipline. While this creates redundant data, it also create a coordination/updating headache. (What was once a closet is now laundry or something else.)
So I created this object that would use the REQUEST ("Zone_Relations") command to query the zone name and number and display it accordingly. While the zone needs to be on for the object "to see" the zone, the Zone Stamp was set to Hide through the Model View Options for the engineering drawings. This way each discipline could position the object relevant to their needs. Any change to the zone name or number would reflect in the respective object.
So as I mentioned earlier, it worked fine on a small test file. However, on a large scale deployment, the object fails to display all of the zone names. Instead, it just displays the null response of "?" that was coded into the object. This is true on both views and layouts. A refresh of the views may refresh some, but then others will blank out. It seems like the layout quits the updating process before all of the zones are read.
This is really frustrating because it was presented to the office as this great time-saver that takes advantage of the projects database, facilitates coordination and exploits BIM to the next level. I guess not.
I have attached the object if you want to take it for a test drive.
Regards,
Joe Augustine
ArchiCAD 19
(since 8.0)
