Adding new Fields to Interactive Schedule

[TomWaltz]

I'm setting up templates for our office using the IS, and I can't seem to find where I can add my own "User Defined" fields.

I saw them in some of the ones out of the box. Where did they come from?

Thanks!

-Tom

[Karl Ottenstein]

knacad wrote:
I'm setting up templates for our office using the IS, and I can't seem to find where I can add my own "User Defined" fields.

I saw them in some of the ones out of the box. Where did they come from?

Take a look at the attached screen shot and the one in the next message.

Click on the Additional Parameters button to get a dialog that lets you choose from any parameter associated with any object. Here, you can get additional User Defined (text) fields for example. Or, you may want part-specific fields as illustrated in the last dialog which shows parameters for trusses - if you were generating a truss schedule for example (not that you would use these library parts ... so the example is a bit lame).

You can of course define additional custom parameters in your own versions of library objects to contain even more info if required.

Note that there are some 'gotchas' with selecting fields.

When you view the library contents, the order of objects is not alphabetical. If you are viewing by "all types by folder' and view the ArchiCAD Library 81.pla for example, you have an un-ordered list of thousands (?) of objects ... good luck finding the one you want!! (I've sent in a wishlist item for this list to be alphabetized.) If you are viewing 'All Types by Subtype', the list is sorted and grouped and things are easier to find.

If you select 'User Defined 7' as an additional parameter, and not all objects in your IS have that field, you'll have issues to deal with.

If you have converted 7.0 or earlier objects to 8.0/8.1 format and have manually added a field called User Defined 1 to the converted object, that field may not 'match' the field with the same name in a genuine 8.1 object. (I haven't tested this in 8.1 - that was the case with 8.0R2.) To get the fields to match, you'll have to edit the converted object and make sure that the subtype matches exactly that of the other objects that you want it grouped with...if the field is part of the subtype information as in this case.

In looking at the GDL script for an object, note that the parameter (variable) name is something quite different from the 'Name' displayed in the parameter settings dialog ... and in the 'additional parameters' list for the IS. This can lead to some interesting mismatches that are hard to track down, too.

I just noticed a weirdness with the screen shot below - the dialog is showing that 'User Defined 2' is selected twice, the first occurence being a length-type (numeric) parameter and the second being a text parameter. The two objects in my sample plan only have a text type parameter, so this length-type one is a mystery. Everything in the subtype hiearchy is text. Quite strange.


HTH,
Karl

PS If you're using Internet Explorer with the default settings, the image will shrink to fit your window and will look pretty bad (once you click on the thumbnail below). Hold your mouse over the image in the new window until you see an orangish button (with blue arrows going out from each corner) at the lower right of the screen - click that and the image will be full scale.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Second image - pixel size was too big to be accepted as one image.

[TomWaltz]

Let me make sure I understand this correctly:
You can only add fields that are in the GDL objects being used in the schedule. There is no way to add a field that is only ever seen in the schedule (like maybe Jamb Detail number or Notes).

Is that correct?

[TomWaltz]

More to the point, once I add fields for "Notes" or other User Defined columns, how do I add text to them?

It seems like all I can change is the ID number and materials.

[Karl Ottenstein]

knacad wrote:
Let me make sure I understand this correctly:
You can only add fields that are in the GDL objects being used in the schedule. There is no way to add a field that is only ever seen in the schedule (like maybe Jamb Detail number or Notes).

Is that correct?

Correct. The interactive schedule is a 2-way interface to the model database, so any values that you enter must be stored somewhere. (It is like a query or query-based form in Microsoft Access if that analogy helps ... it it hurts, forget that I said it. 😉)

The "User Defined" fields are pre-loaded into most library parts to provide you with some fields to use as you might choose. Use one of them for your jamb detail and another for your notes (re-naming the displayed header of course).

When you think about it, you don't want to be able to add fields like in a word processor ... because you loose the consistency enforcement that the virtual building/BIM provides. When you take a user defined field and type in information about your jamb detail/etc ... that info is now stored with the placed object. Any user who clicks on that object and opens the properties can read that value ... and any other schedule/etc can retrieve that value. We don't hear from Martha much these days, but "It's a good thing!". 😉

You can always add more fields if more are required, but that probably isn't necessary for most people I imagine.

Karl

PS If you have a lot of text/information that you want associated with objects, then typing it all into a field may not be the way to go. In such a case, you may want to do something similar to the Calculate menu database and instead type a code into a field, then export the schedule to an Excel spreadsheet that is linked as a table into an Access database that does a 'join' of that code against a table of notes/specifications and then generates the appropriate reports.

[Karl Ottenstein]

knacad wrote:
More to the point, once I add fields for "Notes" or other User Defined columns, how do I add text to them?

It seems like all I can change is the ID number and materials.

A line in the schedule will appear light grey and no fields will be editable if the element on that line is either (a) in a hidden layer or (b) in a locked layer.

If your plan is to edit field values rather than just to format a schedule, then be sure to make all layers visible and unlocked first.

(Of course, you can use layer combinations and locking if you want to have a schedule in which you are sure that only some elements can be edited... this makes things quite flexible.)

A line in the schedule will appear in red/maroon if that line represents multiple objects and one or more of those objects is invisible or locked on plan. You will be able to edit the fields ... but when you apply changes, only the unlocked/visible objects will receive the changes.

Just in case you're not familiar with doing database-type queries ... keep this in mind: When you specify the fields for your schedule, only the values in those fields are examined to determine any differences between objects. For example, if you were to generate a door schedule of sorts and the only field in your display was the "W x H Size" ... then all doors with the same size would be grouped together regardless of the door style or library part or any custom parameter settings within a part. Adding the library part name as a field will break them apart a little bit, and now each library part/size combination will have a single line - possibly with multiple matching doors. (Always include a quantity field so you can see what's happening.) And so it goes. You can come at it from the other direction as well, which is what I end up doing too often ... where almost every part is on its own line and field values have to be edited to get their values to match and group the genuinely identical parts properly.

You'll find the interactive scheduler to be an incredible tool the more you get familiar with it!

Cheers,
Karl