Selecting elements based on different properties is fundamental to CAD/BIM workflow and the intuitiveness and generality of the criteria expressions makes it one of AC most potent functions.
Currently criteria expressions have to be created for each use (find and select, find and check, graphic overrides or scheme settings) which is not only inefficient but the different interfaces means slightly different and limited ways to do it.
Instead I would like to see a dedicated manager for creating criteria expressions which are globally available for all current and future (hint: visibility) uses. The interface can then be built with full focus on the expressions paving the way for realising their potential.
Some starter points:
Finally it should be noted that criteria expressions are an obvious stepping stone to the introduction of AI into AC the form of natural language processing turning prompts like "all doors on the second floor with a width of 900" into expressions. Natural language prompted selection - the marketing team won't break a sweat.
2 aspects to this wish:
A way to determine which system will perform better in archicad, either a built in benchmark, or some way of seeing view load times, rebuild times, frame rate in 3d views etc
Currently the only reference for performance that I know of is the minimum and recommended specs which rarely get updated.
Secondly these performance metrics could be used to help diagnose performance issues - ie: is a particular view taking longer that the others, or a specific object slowing everything down, or running out of ram etc
I'm fairly sure some of this info is already available in the session report window, but having it all in a concise, accessible format with repeatable results to compare systems or projects would help.
Any window with an "OK" button would benefit from having an "Apply" button as well.
The "OK" button applies changes you've made in a window *and* closes the window. An "APPLY" button would apply those changes, but keep the window open. If you wanted to make another change immediately, this would save you the time of having to re-open the window and again find the property you were changing.
This is (from a user's perspective -- i don't pretend to know how to code!) an incredibly basic function, and one that would save a LOT of time.
PLEASE, Graphisoft! This is simple stuff!
When modeling I often feel hamstrung by a lack of control over the visibility of elements in model space which can be traced to the fact that its tied to layers.
Ignoring any discussion about layers raison d'être in todays object oriented applications I just note that its strange to rely on a coarse and rigid structure as layers for visibility when we have access to a much finer and flexible selection functionality.
At the same time there are functionalities already in place that undermines the hegemony of layers regarding visibility.
I would like to see a effort to consolidate all this control functionality in to one tool and base it on the same logic as the Find & Select tool.
My rather spontaneous concept idea for intuitive visibility control is a toggle between 'Show All' and 'Hide All' with an exception/inversion list based on Criterion Sets or Criterion Set Combinations.
Show All
Hide All
-----------------------------
Exception/Inversion
Criteria Set 1
Criteria Set 2
Criteria Set ...
Another functionality that would be useful is the ability to set hidden elements as reference - locking and fading/wireframing/x-raying them.