Ablolute and Relative settings

[Steve Jepson]

I am so tired of not knowing exactly how to get the settings I need for this.

I go months at a time with it how I want it and then if I change it for some reason, I can't remember how I had it configured. Very frustrating!

I want these settings so that when I move a wall a distance I type in, it will move that distance from where it was.

Which of these buttons you need to click once or twice to do that is as clear as mud.

Absolute/Relative. Fine which is it when the button is highlighted? Absolute or Relative? And relative to what? Project origin, user origin, the item selected ? relative to one of the grids or auxiliary grids?

[Steve Jepson]

And I don't know what other things are relative to those buttons.

I have it working again how I want it but the buttons look exactly the same as before. ??

[Laszlo Nagy]

When the Delta button is pressed, it is in Relative mode.
When unpressed, it is in Absolute mode.
So on the image you attached, it is in relative mode as it is pressed.

Absolute means it is measured from the User Origin.
Relative means it is measured from the Edit Origin.
The Project Origin does not play a role in this situation.

The User Origin is located where you placed it (may be different from the Project Origin).
The Edit Origin appears when you start creating or modifying an element.

Try this:
1. Set the delta button to unpressed (Absolute). Start drawing a Wall (from a point that is different from the User Origin). Now hover your cursor above the starting point of the Wall you are creating. This is where the Edit Origin is and since coordinates are absolute, it will show X,Y etc. values from the User Origin. If you now hover your cursor over the User Origin, it will show zero for X, Y etc. values.

2. Set the delta button to pressed (Relative). Start drawing a Wall (from a point that is different from the User Origin). Now hover your cursor above the starting point of the Wall (Edit Origin) you are creating. Since coordinates are relative, it will show zero for X,Y etc. values. If you hover your cursor over the User Origin, it will show X, Y etc. values from the Edit Origin.

By the way, the Tracker works similarly.
There if the Relative Coordinates in Tracker option is enabled, all coodinates are measured from the Edit Origin.
If it is not enabled, all coordinates are measured from the User Origin.

You can even see a rubber band from either the Edit Origin (when enabled) or the User Origin (when not enabled) to the cursor position.

[Steve Jepson]

Yes. I know what the buttons do. And I am always able to make it do what I want eventually. When you move the cursor over the button used for switching form Absolute to Relative mode it says Absolute\Relative. But there is no indication as to which mode is activated by pressing the button.

Also, there is the matter of which button do I use for setting Absolute and Relative ? The one on the left for x: y: or the one on the right for r: a: ?
I forget which one is controlling what I want to do.

This is also counter intuitive and the exact opposite of what works with the key strokes I am using to move an object in the x or y direction.

If I want to move something in an x or y direction I have to type r.

If I type x or y it will move the thing I have selected based on the setting of the button on the left which is associated with User Origin rather than Edit Origin. So it is a matter of 2 buttons and 2 settings giving me 24 possible ways to get it wrong when I can't remember how I had it set.

Normally it is all done by reflex and a role of the hand. But when it dose not work like that, and you have to try and reason out the settings it is frustrating because the feed back is either too subjective or counter intuitive.


Perhaps it is only me who finds this annoying.
As I recall, this was the single most difficult thing for me in learning to use ArchiCAD. How to move something a certain distance in a certain direction. Now is it just a reflex motion IF my settings are how I want them.

[David Maudlin]

Steve wrote:
When you move the cursor over the button used for switching form Absolute to Relative mode it says Absolute\Relative. But there is no indication as to which mode is activated by pressing the button.

In the Coordinates palette, when the button is pressed it is in Relative Mode, and small triangles (deltas) appear next to the x, y or r values. Delta typically means difference between two values, which is relative rather than absolute.

I always enter the direction (+ or -) after the value, which keeps the input relative regardless of the Coordinates palette setting.

David

[Barry Kelly]

x & y are your Cartesian co-ordinates and r & a are your polar co-ordinates.
Use x & y if you know the x and y vectors (distances) that you want to move.
Use r & a if you know the overall distance and the angle (direction) you want to move.
Either or both of these can be relative or absolute - delta button on is relative.

Having said that I don't think I have used these ever since the tracker came about.
You can do exactly the same with the tracker and you can set it for Cartesian (x/y) input or more commonly polar (distance and angle) input.
The advantage is when the tracker is on you just have to type a number and it will automatically set the distance instead of typing 'R' or 'D' first.
You still have the option of typing 'X', 'Y', 'A' if you want and you can TAB through the values once the tracker is active or simply click on one with the mouse then enter a value.

Barry.

[Steve Jepson]

It also depends on if your habit (role of the hand) is Shift-A-R, Shift-A-D, Shift-A-X.

A person my use different strokes to do the same thing depending on how they have the polar, rectangular, Absolute, Relative settings configured.

Out of habit I use Shift-A-R to move things. Shift-A-D does the same thing.
Shift-D or Shift-R... same thing.

Now that I have thought about it, I am having trouble doing it by doing it by reflex anymore. I hope I can recover. If you have to consciously decide which button to push your back to the pace of an beginner.

The only time I find myself using the Cartesian co-ordinates is when I am trying to flush out a 64th somewhere in a dimension chain.