Calculator

[Anonymous]

I think a calculator would be a good idea.
A calculator that you could have show up on each screen and info box etc in which you were working. Something like a a share trading portfolio screen that stays with you. This would be useful when calculating heights for walls, slabs, mesh points, etc.
AC is nice and accurate but it would be good to have the tools to help in creating the accuracy IMO.
Cheers,

[Potato Farmer]

kliment wrote:
You have a distance, for example 324, and you want to draw a line at one third that lenth starting from a certain point. So you start drawing the line and just type 324/3 and press Enter.

This is how VectorWorks works as well. And since their info palette has editable fields for an object’s x, y, z, l, a ,etc. you can easily use math operators to modify existing elements, e.g. shorten a wall by exactly 1’-4 9/16”.

[Red]

RandyC wrote:
preferably a conversion calculator !

Randy Clarkston

Everyone may have already heard of this, but this is a nice little free converter.

http://download.com.com/3001-2056-8010171.html

But anyway I think a "built-in" calculator would be a nice feature. Kind of like the old faithful Softplan calculator.

[Red]

Geoff wrote:

kliment wrote:
You have a distance, for example 324, and you want to draw a line at one third that lenth starting from a certain point. So you start drawing the line and just type 324/3 and press Enter.

This is how VectorWorks works as well. And since their info palette has editable fields for an object’s x, y, z, l, a ,etc. you can easily use math operators to modify existing elements, e.g. shorten a wall by exactly 1’-4 9/16”.

I've had dreams about this several times , but never thought about adding it to the wishlist. Great idea kliment!

[Jefferson]

I am growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of ability to perform simple mathematical modifications in the info box.

I.E.: Select a wall,beam, whatever and in the length, height whatever numerical adjustment I want to make, subtract or add, I would be satisfied with just those abilities, let my handy accurate computer do the math work. 25'6"-3'8" as an input and let it not only correct the element but do the math. All within the info box, no outside tools, programs, whatever. After watching what our machines and software are capable of this is a small request!

As Geoff said Vectorworks does this flawlessly, at about $1200 no less.

[Ralph Wessel]

Jefferson wrote:
I.E.: Select a wall,beam, whatever and in the length, height whatever numerical adjustment I want to make, subtract or add, I would be satisfied with just those abilities

You can already add and subtract values in these fields. Type the number to be added/subtracted, and press either the '+' or '-' key to add or subtract it from the current value.
For example, if you want to make something 200mm taller:
- Click in the 't:' box in the Info palette
- Enter '200' (type over the value that was there)
- Press the '+' key

[Jefferson]

Hey Ralph,

Well I was excited (and embarrassed) to realize that I could do all along what I was asking for but I am not getting the results I hoped for.

Addition seems to function fine but subtraction yields mixed results, sometimes it works and sometimes numbers that aren't accurate. So typing over, as in literally sweeping the cursor over the number field to be changed [highlighting it], typing 3'4"-, then hit enter? This method works for addition. For subtraction for instance if I type 5- I get a result of 5' not the subtraction of 5'. Pilot error?

My "wish" is for these calcs to work seamlessly weather using fractions or decimals and in any field that is numerically described, including Z values.

[Ralph Wessel]

Jefferson wrote:
Addition seems to function fine but subtraction yields mixed results, ... For subtraction for instance if I type 5- I get a result of 5' not the subtraction of 5'.

I can see why: the '-' symbol is used to describe measurements in feet and inches, and isn't interpreted as a 'minus'. It works OK with metric units. You could do it by adding a negative number, e.g. to subtract 5' as in your example, you could type -5 followed by '+'.

Jefferson wrote:
My "wish" is for these calcs to work seamlessly weather using fractions or decimals and in any field that is numerically described, including Z values.

They could certainly take this idea a lot further - I've worked with other CAD applications which do this well, and it really is a time-saver.

[Jefferson]

Well it's reassuring to know it's not all me.

Years back we were closing in on going metric, but some "wiser" federal officianados gave it thumbs down. And we pay and pay and pay.............we are all so envious of a base 10 fraction system as well.

back to the point, this needs to be addessed.

[Anonymous]

Great tip, Ralph!
I didn't know I could do this in AC.

It's a pity that when using it for Walls it only works fine with Heigth value and doesn't wokrk with Thickness value.

[Anonymous]

You may or may not be aware that Google now does calculations! By typing instructions into Google's main dialog box you can not only perform complex calculations, but you can convert measurements back and forth, apply trigonometry and more. For example, typing the phrase four plus two or 4 + 2 will return the answer at the top of the search results. To convert measurements, you simply add the word 'in' between the source and destination, as in: 47 kilometres in miles. The calculator seems quite flexible.