Three Buttons for One Tool - Sections, Elevations + Int Elev

[Eduardo Rolon]

Three tools for the same procedure, might it have not been better to create a tag to choose from in the S/E tool panel?

I.E. group with:

• elevations
  sections
  interior elevations

____
Imagine how I will teach this 3 tools to my next group of students in their AC class.

Professor- For elevations you have to use this tool, For sections this one and For IntElev this one.

Student- But aren't these three things the same just with different settings, WHY are they different tools?

Professor- Because GS in their Infinite Wisdom decided that we needed special icons for each

Student- OOOOOOOOOKKKK…, If I make a mistake and I choose the wrong one (because of a copy) is there a button to change it to the other type?

Professor- No, you will need to erase the previous one and create a new one

Student- Why?

Professor- Because GS in their Infinite Wisdom decided that we needed special icons for each

Student- And in how did it work before? Weren't you able to create sections and Interior Elevations?

Professor- It was one tool were a section was called "SECTION", an elevation was called "ELEVATION" and an interior elevation was called "INTERIOR ELEVATION" each with its own marker.

Student- And that procedure does not work anymore?

Professor- Yes it still does

Student- Then, Why create separate icons for what is essentially the same tool?

Professor- Because GS in their Infinite Wisdom decided that we needed special icons for each

Student- Isn't Autodesk the only one that puts new icons for the same commands and calls it an UPGRADE?

Professor- Not anymore…

[Brad Elliott]

I think it is a conceptual difference. When I was hand drafting I didn't have a "Tool" to cut a section or elevation I just drew a line with my pencil where I wanted to cut and then drew it on a sheet. I did not think of it as created by a "Tool" I just thought of it as a drawing on the Z axis.

Now that I am in ArchiCAD I don't want to think about which "Tool" I need to use I just want to make a cut on the Z axis. With my drawings I don't have pure sections or elevations and often show mixed information on one drawing. I also drag the tools around while developing the drawings as the best place to locate them changes and I frequently change how they are represented because of this. The Door/Window tools are the same problem. I change windows into doors and vice versa during development and having to delete and use different tools is not how I want to do it. I just want to change a door into a window.

Conceptually, very little of my hand drafting methods have carried over into my ArchiCAD drafting methods and I don't want my "Tools" tied to an outdated way of doing things. I think it is much easier to use the program if the tools are in sync with the working method of the program.

[Anonymous]

Years ago I have questioned the same things why we need so many tools why wall slab and roof is different . I believe was a programming limit of some sort and this was the way GS addressed the problems. But now we are in a new age.

[Anonymous]

I'd have to agree with all of you. Fundamentally the tools are all the same. They all cut vertical sections through the model. For those of you who wish to use one tool only, you can. You just need to organize your views yourself. You can. For those who need to have a different tool for each, you can. And bonus AC will organize them for you. For all of you, you can choose which tools show in your toolbar and what order they are shown in. What the hell is wrong with a program that allows all of you to have what you want. I suspect you just need to learn how to use and organize it the way that suits you best. And on that note I bid you all a really nice day as you go to work tomorrow in the knowledge that at long last you can have your chosen modeller / documenting software package working the way YOU WANT it to.
PS You don't even have to model in it as it also allows you to exclusively draw in 2D!!!!!(For those of you who haven't quite caught up with the modelling capabilities)

[Karl Ottenstein]

Karl wrote:
You just need to organize your views yourself. You can. For those who need to have a different tool for each, you can. And bonus AC will organize them for you. For all of you, you can choose which tools show in your toolbar and what order they are shown in. What the hell is wrong with a program that allows all of you to have what you want. I suspect you just need to learn how to use and organize it the way that suits you best.

You've missed the point about tool defaults, Karl. Every tool in ArchiCAD has a set of defaults that is stored in the project or template file. So: no, one cannot obtain what many have wished for here by learning and organization - it is a difference of opinion in the design and implementation of these tools.

Many would prefer to have a single tool for all of these vertical cuts - and yet retain the ability to have appropriate defaults for each without using Favorites. (Clearly the defaults for each of the three are unique.)

GS could indeed give users what they want, with a fully customized environment, with a bit more thought to the implementation.

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

What I generally do is create my own template file organized with all my peferred defaults. I don't think I've missed the point, ideally we would only have one tool, with all the variations included in it available at a right click?? My point is that the program is highly customisable and that each individual can at will have it running the way they want. There are any number of permutations you can choose to use it in. You can't please everybody all the time but AC certainly goes a long way to pleasing all those who are able to come to terms with customisation and then working with it the way they want.

I would be more inclined to angle for tools that actually work the way they were intended to, and to ask for bugs in tools to be fixed, particularly the ones which are carried across versions

[Anonymous]

Sorry for interjecting but the point was to alow each tool a wider array of functionality for example place a door in a slab or curve a wall to act as a shell roof.

[Anonymous]

I don't mind having three different tools for three different thing. I just wish they would work . IE interior elevations. I have had problems with it not showing the floor slab and various other stuff as well as problem adjusting the depth to not see stuff beyond the room. I guess I will need to use the section tool until this gets resolved.