Multiple selection changes

[Tom Krowka]

I have windows all over the house. The client would like to change them from white inside and outside trim to white inside, green outside. (That would be the window sash, etc.) There are different types and sizes of windows. Is there any way to select them all, then change the color of all of them at once?

I'm not sure what the AC protocol is. Does it make any difference if I select windows through the marquee or the arrow tool. It seems AC changes the last one selected, or something.

I can't seem to get them all to change at once.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if this is true in 9 but in 8 if one of the parts in the selection set had the values you were changing to (you already changed one windows trim color), the changes would have no effect. It only seems to work when the new value isn't used by any of the selected parts.

Unfortunately you can't filter out this level of material choice in the Find & Select dialog box.

Hope this helps,
Alex Thompson
PowerMac G5 2.0 DP, Mac OS 10.3.5

[Tom Krowka]

Seems kind of odd, but at least I know there is way to do it.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Thompson, wrote:
I'm not sure if this is true in 9 but in 8 if one of the parts in the selection set had the values you were changing to (you already changed one windows trim color), the changes would have no effect. It only seems to work when the new value isn't used by any of the selected parts.

True that if one of the materials shows up as being used in the dialogue box you can't toggle it. But just chose any other material, click OK, go back into the dialogue box and change them all to what you want. Doesn't take much time at all

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what the AC protocol is. Does it make any difference if I select windows through the marquee or the arrow tool. It seems AC changes the last one selected, or something.

I can't seem to get them all to change at once.

Unfortunately, if the different types of windows used in project does not have the exact same parameter name (for your material f ex) and value string in the 3D script, AC only changes the parameter for all the latest drawn types of windows as you mentioned (the ones that has the same name ...)

Easiest way would be to use the "Find & Select/Name" choice and then one by one select the different .gsm names and do the changes in the wind's dialogue box. Then deselect those and go for the next .gsm window name.

[Dave Jochum]

Susanne wrote:
Unfortunately, if the different types of windows used in project does not have the exact same parameter name (for your material f ex) and value string in the 3D script, AC only changes the parameter for all the latest drawn types of windows as you mentioned (the ones that has the same name ...)

This makes a good case for eliminating the use of separate objects for each door and window type. There should be one window (or door) object with all the types handled as parameters (a la Theometric, or whatever it's called now.) It's very frustrating to have to set up (or change) multiple window types to all have similar sills, line weights, trim, etc.

[Eduardo Bell]

Easiest way would be to use the "Find & Select/Name" choice and then one by one select the different .gsm names and do the changes in the wind's dialogue box. Then deselect those and go for the next .gsm window name.

...and if you do it from within the 3D window (with shading on ) you can see how things are going as you go along.

[Anonymous]

Dave wrote:

Susanne wrote:
Unfortunately, if the different types of windows used in project does not have the exact same parameter name (for your material f ex) and value string in the 3D script, AC only changes the parameter for all the latest drawn types of windows as you mentioned (the ones that has the same name ...)

This makes a good case for eliminating the use of separate objects for each door and window type. There should be one window (or door) object with all the types handled as parameters (a la Theometric, or whatever it's called now.) It's very frustrating to have to set up (or change) multiple window types to all have similar sills, line weights, trim, etc.

You don't mention which libraries you have loaded. In ArchiCAD 9, with the use of "Subtypes" in library parts, many components of different objects of the same subtype can be changed without affecting all parameters of the objects.

The screenshot below, for example has 2 casement windows, one double hung and one awning window from the 9.0 library. They all started out with pine casin and a 1 1/2" sill extension. I selected them all at the same time in the 3D window, opened the Window Settings dialogue box and changed the outside casing color, the color of the exterior jamb and extended the sill from 1 1/2" to 6". Only the parameters changed by me changed in each of the windows.

This is one of the major improvements in 9.0 and why the use of Subtypes in Object creation is important.. As Susanne pointed out, in the old days windows with different names may have used different parameter names to do the same thing (for example, "mat_ext_cas" or "mat_cas_ext" for the same thing... the material to be used for the exterior casing") Subtypes have change this.

[Dave Jochum]

woodster wrote:

Dave wrote:

Susanne wrote:
Unfortunately, if the different types of windows used in project does not have the exact same parameter name (for your material f ex) and value string in the 3D script, AC only changes the parameter for all the latest drawn types of windows as you mentioned (the ones that has the same name ...)

This makes a good case for eliminating the use of separate objects for each door and window type. There should be one window (or door) object with all the types handled as parameters (a la Theometric, or whatever it's called now.) It's very frustrating to have to set up (or change) multiple window types to all have similar sills, line weights, trim, etc.

In ArchiCAD 9, with the use of "Subtypes" in library parts, many components of different objects of the same subtype can be changed without affecting all parameters of the objects.

This is true, of course. But it is only a weak, partial fix for the situations I was referring to. In your example, where you want to change only a few parameters of previously placed windows, the current programming works well. However, when building a model that contains several different window types that will share many parameters (interior colors/materials, exterior colors/materials, interior & exterior trim, sill configuration, line weights/colors, etc.) but not type-specific ones (obviously), the current situation of separate window objects does not allow one to quickly (such as with the eyedropper) transfer those parameters.

A typical house that I design (or remodel) will have 50-100 windows that are 30-60 separate objects, since even a 2-unit mulled double hung is not the same object as a 3-unit DH, let alone a single awning or a picture unit with a top-mulled hopper. With a single window object (Theo) I can set all the shared parameters up front, then create all the different window configurations for the project one-by-one.

The quickest work-around I've found is to ignore the shared parameters at creation and then FIND & SELECT them all afterwards to change them. But to be sure all windows change to the correct settings, I have to change them twice--first to wrong settings and then the correct ones.

I don't see any advantage to the current situation of separate objects. I'm not a "power user", so if I'm missing something here, please let me know.

[Anonymous]

Dave wrote:
The quickest work-around I've found is to ignore the shared parameters at creation and then FIND & SELECT them all afterwards to change them. But to be sure all windows change to the correct settings, I have to change them twice--first to wrong settings and then the correct ones.

I don't see any advantage to the current situation of separate objects. I'm not a "power user", so if I'm missing something here, please let me know.

No Dave, you are right. The current situation kind of s__ks. Though it is beginning to improve with the subtypes, there is still a ways to go. In fairness, it is an understandable problem in a program which has had parametric objects evolving for so long and with so many different versions and sources of library parts over the years.

It is made worse by the wide variety of ways that pens and materials are handled by different authors. A project with mixture of parts from various versions of ArchiCAD along with some 3rd party stuff can be a real chore to get consistent in the drawings and renderings.

In the mean time I do pretty much the same as you. Start selecting and placing whatever works from a design point of view, and then going back to fix them as a batch when the time approaches to render and print. I have found that favorites can help the process, but they are still a bit limited.