Distance Check

[Anonymous]

How can I check a distance after a wall is drawn? In AutoCAD there is a distance feature (DI - Enter) wherein you can verify the distance of the wall drawn. Is there such a feature in ArchiCAD?

susanmoses

[Anonymous]

In short no. Read the following post and you will get a way to obtain distances and a lot of conversation about whether or not AC needs a measuring tool like Autodesk products. I am firmly in the camp of it being a needed tool.

archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=7914&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=distance&&start...

cheers - chris

[Anonymous]

or go to the menu

Window/Palette Display/Show Element Information

[Karl Ottenstein]

susanmoses wrote:
How can I check a distance after a wall is drawn? In AutoCAD there is a distance feature (DI - Enter) wherein you can verify the distance of the wall drawn. Is there such a feature in ArchiCAD?

Hi Susan,

You say "distance", but it sounds like you mean "length"? Place the user origin on a hotspot at one end of the wall (hover, see checkmark, press alt-shift), then hover your mouse over the matching hotspot at the other end and read of the length in the "r" coordinate box ... if you have working units set to 1/64", the most accurate we can get with Imperial.

The alternative is to select the wall and bring up the Element Information palette ... which you should map to a shortcut key for convenience. (The trick to select what you just drew is to undo/redo - ctrl-z/ctrl-shift-z if PC ... cmd if Mac). Unfortunately, for we Feet/Inches types, there is a bug in the Element Info such that it only displays the correct length if your working units are set to decimal inches with max decimals (3). With fractions set at 1/64, the fractional part is truncated! It is unreasonable to work in decimal inch mode, of course...I'm reporting this bug now...

Karl

[Anonymous]

This is where the revit approach is clearly superior

[Anonymous]

Personally, I always use the dimension tool to check a length. Because snaps are always so uncertain in Archicad, the dimension reference lines gives a useful double-check as to where you're measuring to and from.

[Link]

Because snaps are always so uncertain in Archicad

What? How?!

I've never had a problem in this regard.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

I mean, if you have a number of elements close together, it's hard to be sure that the hotspot you have selected is really the one you want unless you zoom right in.

Certain other programmes (which shall remain nameless) enable you to specify 'endpoint' or 'intersection' etc - so you can be sure you're picking up the correct point.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Keith wrote:
I mean, if you have a number of elements close together, it's hard to be sure that the hotspot you have selected is really the one you want unless you zoom right in.

And, so then how do you place your dimensions any more accurately? They need the same hotspots...?

Karl

[Anonymous]

Karl -

You're absolutely right - it's the same problem!

But the difference is: if you get it wrong - you can see that it's wrong because the dimension leader shows you that you've picked the wrong spot. Otherwise you proceed in blissful ignorance.