More custom fields in the layout book info...

[Anonymous]

I need to make plans with much more information in the layout than the one available (as the information must be displayed in 2 langages, I need at least twice the fields available)...

I'd like to be able to customize AND add custom field in the book info dialog box...

[Aaron Bourgoin]

AutoText carries information that is

a) office specific (changes less frequently and should be entered consistently across projects);

b) project specific (changes more frequently within the office and varies with the scope of the project);

c) submission specific (changes the most frequently, and should also capture or diarize information from events that have come before it - e.g the revisions section of a title block also carry the information from previous submissions as well as the current submission.

three thoughts follow from Geoffroy's suggestion:

1. allow the field names (descriptions) to be altered as well as the information they carry (and by all means the ability to add more fields;

2. integrate the other project information that can be carried from the model (the stuff that is accessed via "File>>Project Info dialog inside ArchiCAD) and allow it to populate the AutoText list as well (does anyone actually use thes fields to store anything at the moment?) maybe this file header from ArchiCAD needs to be revamped and could be carried into another wish - it seems pretty ineffectual in its present form;

3. access an external database for aspects of this feature (a spreadsheet or an XML document perhaps?). Could an XML page not only populate a drawing sheet, but also the AutoText Menu?

While we're at it, Perhaps we should also consider enhancements to the place where the AutoText resides - the Layout itself. As we move to more electronic means of delivery it seems to me that a PlotMaker Layout Master list should include a web page format as well as the paper-based formats we access currently. (instant SWF anyone?).