Add ability to access Classification Description in parameters (and get a free Keynoting solution)

[Tomek Piatek]

It is possible to access Classification ID and Name fields within parameters. This is especially powerful when combined with expression based parameters. However, there doesn't seem to be a way to access the Description field of classification items, even though each item has a description.

If we were able to access the description field then we'd have a very powerful, built-in and general purpose hierarchical data editor for ArchiCAD. You could use this feature as a keynote editor for example. Here is how:

- Open Classification Manager.
- Create a new classification and call it Keynotes.
- Create branches and items that describe your keynotes. Each node would have a key (= classification ID), a name (= classification name) and a description (= classification description).
- Add the Keynotes classification to elements and use the dropdown menu to assign the desired classification (i.e. keynote)
- Use the Classification/Property label to display the desired combination of key (i.e. classification ID), note (i.e. classification name) and specific description.

In my opinion this would be a very elegant way to allow users to attach all sorts of hierarchical data to model elements. It wouldn't rely on any 3rd party add-ons. It would be a pure ArchiCAD solution. But first we need to access the description field. Please consider this.

[Tomek Piatek]

If anyone is interesting in exploring this idea I have uploaded a couple of classification files based on the Masterspec CBI classification system. Check out my other post for more info.

[Eduardo Rolon]

I think that this can already be done (or should be done) by using Properties.
Your new Property ID and Property Description get linked to the Classification.

[Tomek Piatek]

That’s what I thought. However, there is no way to access the description attribute of a classification item. Not that I can find it.

[Eduardo Rolon]

BTW you can access description in Schedules but not for Labels.
But I would try to do this with properties instead since they are more flexible.

[Tomek Piatek]

Interesting. So the classification description can be accessed in some places but not others. Seems like it's so close to being really useful. Please see the consecutive screenshots to better understand the workflow that I am trying ot achieve and why I'm trying to use the classification interface to do it.

First I created a new classification suitable for my keynoting system. This is a high-level classification that is used a lot in New Zealand. I want to have a quick and convenient access to all the levels of the classification. This is why I want to use the Classification feature. It give me a nice UI to access and edit the whole classification tree.


Using the Classification Manager I can easily add custom items to the tree:


It is important to me that I am able to add both a generic note and a specific note. This way I can have the same generic note appear on all elements that are of the same general type but each can have its own specific construction notes.


I don't seem to be able to add more images here, I shall continue in the following reply...

[Tomek Piatek]

Continuing form the previous post...

Now, using the same convenient UI for selecting a classification, I can easily assign a note to my element:



Finally, using a suitably configured label, I can annotate my element:


And of course I can schedule everything to provide a legend of notes.

However, what is missing from my annotation is the ability to show the specific construction note on the drawing and not in the legend. There are many times when I want to do that for clarity or just to be explicit.

Unfortunately the Classification Description attribute is not available outside of legends. That's the missing pice for me. If that one thing was available then we'd have a built-in general purpose keynoting tool with a great editor. Everything would just work regardless of whether it's a Solo or Teamwork project.

I think that would be a pretty big win.

[Tomek Piatek]

ejrolon wrote:
BTW you can access description in Schedules but not for Labels.

Can you think of a way to filter the schedule to only show items that appears on certain views?

In Revit I can tell the keynote legend to only display rows for items that appear on the sheet. This way you can either have a big keynote schedule on a single sheet for all the notes in the whole project, or you can have localised mini-schedules/legends that only apply to the given sheet.

I'm still trying to find my way around the many properties and attributes available in ArchiCAD.

[Eduardo Rolon]

To beat a dead horse again, still think that you should use Properties for this. It is the same procedure and possibly more flexible.
To limit notes in schedules you will need to limit by zone. There is no option in AC to do this automatically by view.

[Tomek Piatek]

Ok. I see that you have a good idea of how to accomplish this using properties. I don’t know how to do that using properties alone.

Is there a way to make properties display a tree structure from which I can pick an item?

Is there a way to populate allowable property values from an external source, be it a csv or XML or some other format?

If the above can be done with properties alone then I’m sold.