Numeric input weirdness

[Dave Jochum]

Never had this problem and am pulling my hair out. In the line or polyline tools, when entering angles in tracker the value reverts to 0 when I hit the R key to enter the length. Out of the blue one time it did not revert to 0 and the value I entered stuck, but never again. I've tried every combination of settings in the TRACKER & COORDINATE INPUT window of WE. What the heck?

[Anonymous]

Hi all - speaking of numeric input weirdness...anyone have this happen? In AC15 (have 16 but am afraid to use it yet...) I get a beep when I hit a numeric key to try to input a length. If I
reboot the computer a few times it will work again. It happens in old imported files and new files. This does not happen in AC10 so it cannot be the keyboard. I have a 2.66 12 core using Lion. Thanks for listening!

[Anonymous]

Correction - rebooting the computer does not fix it but new & reset does. (sorry, been staring at it too long...)

[PB]

Dave, your signature shows a Retina MBP......are you now using AC16 on this, & have your problems disappeared?

[Dave Jochum]

PB wrote:
Dave, your signature shows a Retina MBP......are you now using AC16 on this, & have your problems disappeared?

Yes--now using Lion on a MBP 15" retina.

No--the problems have not disappeared.

[NCornia]

Dave et al,

The tracker and the coordinate palette are essentially there to perform the same function. One can be used in the presence of the other but if you do so there can be some stepping on toes, so to speak. My recommendation to new users is to leave the coordinates palette off completely and just use the tracker. I use ArchiCAD quite successfully without using the coordinates palette at all.

I know the last two statements may cause a strong reaction amongst many long time users. The coordinates palette is commonly employed by users who started before ArchiCAD 10. It is a great tool and if it provides benefit you should continue to use it. But if you are going to use the Tracker at the same time as the Coordinates palette then you must realize that ArchiCAD has to send the keyboard instructions to one tool or the other and I think this is where the confusion is coming from. ArchiCAD does not understand the user's intent it only follows the user's instructions.

We have built some provisions into the Work Environment options, as Roberto and designade mentioned, to allow you to make the two coexist but I recommend choosing one tool or the other. My recommendation for users going forward is to use the Tracker but it's not a mandate.

Dave wrote:
This only malfunctions for me in AC 16. Still works fine in 15.

I will look a little deeper to see if there is a change between the two but upon testing it just now I don't see a difference in behavior. A possibility that a migrated work environment from a previous version is in the mix?

Dave wrote:
I've been using AC long enough that I can usually figure out any issues that come up, but I've been referring to the HELP pages quite a bit the last few days and have come to realize that they leave a lot to be desired. The explanation for those controls could definitely be explained better.

I will see about reviewing the help documentation and see if we can improve it.

Dave wrote:
Because logic wasn't working for me, I have tried every combination of the tracker and coordinate input settings with no joy.

If there is indeed a bug we will investigate it. You are welcome to contact us directly at "support at graphisoft dot com"

Best regards,

[Dave Jochum]

NCornia wrote:
Dave et al,

My recommendation for users going forward is to use the Tracker but it's not a mandate.

Using Tracker without the Coordinates Palette gives me exactly the same (incorrect) results. This is what happens: Choose the Line Tool (Polyline, etc.) - Click to start - keyboard entry A - enter value - keyboard R to set length and the A value in Tracker reverts to 0 or if using surveyor's unit, reverts to N 90 E. I've experimented with every combination of settings in WE>Tracker & Coord. Input with no change in results. I would like to remedy this soon, as it is a huge pain in the posterior to draw property boundaries.

[Anonymous]

I had weird behaviour with angle input too in AC16.
When I tried to lock the angle I was always locked on a guide line started from 0,0 angled to current pointer position using always absolute polar coordinates (really what's the use of Abs Polar Coordinates?).
I solved it by opening the Coordinates Palette and discovered that the Delta (Δ) sign for polar input was off. Select it (make it relative) and you are done.
Playing around showed that it was the only place you could actually turn on relative polar input. So maybe it is not a bug but just a bad default preference that is hard to change.

Everything described above is from a clean AC16 Greek MAC Install

I hope my reply was helpful.

PS my hardware is much older and weirder (I also own a Core2Duo Hackintosh that actually works)

[Dave Jochum]

This problem still exists in AC 16 under Mountain Lion. Un bleepin' believable.

[Dave Jochum]

Dave wrote:

NCornia wrote:
Dave et al,

My recommendation for users going forward is to use the Tracker but it's not a mandate.

Using Tracker without the Coordinates Palette gives me exactly the same (incorrect) results. This is what happens: Choose the Line Tool (Polyline, etc.) - Click to start - keyboard entry A - enter value - keyboard R to set length and the A value in Tracker reverts to 0 or if using surveyor's unit, reverts to N 90 E. I've experimented with every combination of settings in WE>Tracker & Coord. Input with no change in results. I would like to remedy this soon, as it is a huge pain in the posterior to draw property boundaries.

So, Graphisoft has been able to reproduce this problem. We've also discovered why some folks suffer and others do not experience the problem. In WE > User Preference Schemes > Tracker and Coordinate Input, selecting the "Prefer polar coordinates in Tracker..." option turns on the bad behavior--and it doesn't seems to be reversible. Unselecting it and drawing results in AC misbehavior.

The problem has been passed along to Budapest. In the meantime, there does seem to be a workaround, though I don't believe it worked in AC 15 (where I first noticed this problem). If you enter N 45 15 E for the angle, the result is correct--that is, do not enter N45 15E as you are supposed to be able to do, but include a space between the compass points and the numbers.

If that doesn't work for you, please post here. I'm not sure when this became a viable workaround, because I tried this and countless other gymnastics in the past with no luck, but it has been working for me without fail for about a week now.

[Dave Jochum]

Dave wrote:
So, Graphisoft has been able to reproduce this problem. We've also discovered why some folks suffer and others do not experience the problem. In WE > User Preference Schemes > Tracker and Coordinate Input, selecting the "Prefer polar coordinates in Tracker..." option turns on the bad behavior--and it doesn't seems to be reversible. Unselecting it and drawing results in AC misbehavior.

The problem has been passed along to Budapest. In the meantime, there does seem to be a workaround, though I don't believe it worked in AC 15 (where I first noticed this problem). If you enter N 45 15 E for the angle, the result is correct--that is, do not enter N45 15E as you are supposed to be able to do, but include a space between the compass points and the numbers.

If that doesn't work for you, please post here. I'm not sure when this became a viable workaround, because I tried this and countless other gymnastics in the past with no luck, but it has been working for me without fail for about a week now.

One further note on this issue: You must enter the length of the line first, then the angle. If you enter the angle first, then hit R to enter the length, the angle reverts to a bad number.