Questions: Use of railing tool

[R Muller]

Trying to learn the new rail tool in AC21.

1. Can I curve a straight rail using the pet palette only if not in edit mode for the rail?

2. What is the difference between editing a rail in edit mode vs editing I can do in plan view with the pet palette?

3. If I remove a section of rail from the middle of a multi-section rail, can I join the remaining sections together?

4. How can I check the end elevations (height) of a particular rail section?

5. Are there more instructions anywhere?

[Laszlo Nagy]

R wrote:
Trying to learn the new rail tool in AC21.

1. Can I curve a straight rail using the pet palette only if not in edit mode for the rail?

No, it is possible to do it in Edit Mode also. All you need to do is make Segments and Notes visible (when you enter Edit Mode, Segments and Nodes are hidden by default), in which case the Railing Reference Line will appear and you will be able to edit the Reference Line using Pet Palette commands just like outside of Edit Mode.
There are two context-menu commands which are very useful when you want to edit on the individual component level:
1. Select Multi-segment Railing, which has automatic (invisible Nodes), use "Create Independent Segments and Nodes" command of context menu: this will let you modify the settings of each Segment of such as Railing individually.
2. Select any Railing Segment where the Segment Pattern repeats more than once, use "Convert Pattern to Segment Length" command of context menu: this will enable you to modify the settings of each repeating component (such as Inner Post, Baluster, and Panel) of each Segment Pattern of the Railing individually.

2. What is the difference between editing a rail in edit mode vs editing I can do in plan view with the pet palette?

When you are in Edit Mode, you can modify the settings of the components of the Railing: individual Nodes and Segments, and also Toprails, Handrails, Rails, Inner Posts, Balusters and Panels.
Outside Edit Mode all your change apply to the Railing as a whole, Edit Mode provides component-level editing ability.

3. If I remove a section of rail from the middle of a multi-section rail, can I join the remaining sections together?

If you modify the Railing Reference Line in the Floor Plan, it you remove that segment, the other Segments will still be continuous. If I did not understand your question, please elaborate it with an illustration.

4. How can I check the end elevations (height) of a particular rail section?

If you select the Railing, then click the point you wish to know the Elevation of, as if you want to start to Drag it in 3D. The Tracker will appear. If you press the TAB key twice it will also reveal the X, Y and Z coordinates of the clicked point.

Also, when the Tracker appears, you can right-click and activate the "Show Z in Tracker" option of the context menu, that way next time you will not have to start pressing TAB, the Z value will be there when you start dragging and the Tracker appears.

5. Are there more instructions anywhere?

On the ARCHICAD YouTube Channel you will soon find Railing-related clips as well:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Archicad/playlists?sort=dd&view=1&shelf_id=0

[R Muller]

Wow, thank you for all this new information. I will need to spend some time trying and assimilating, then I may have some more questions.

I need to create a site grading plan with very specific graded slopes interrupted by flat benches and am investigating use of the railing tool with profiled rail to create a 3D solid of my site. My "rail" profile is actually a graded slope 144' wide by 60' high, and needs to be curved and sloped following a base contour. In AC20 I used profiled walls, and they work, but only for a level base line. I tried profiled beams instead of walls in AC20 and they can slope or they can curve, but they can't both slope and curve at the same time. I am hoping that the new rail tool will allow me to extrude a profile that can both slope and curve, and can be quickly modified by changing a base mesh as design and site grading concepts change.

Here is a question: Given what I am trying to do, is there any reason to define my profile element as a "toprail" or a "handrail" rather than a "rail"? I will use just one of these, and turn all the rest off. Do they all join at the corners in the same way?

[Laszlo Nagy]

You are welcome.

Yes, I think you can do that with the Railing Tool, it can curve and slope at the same time.
The Toprail, Handrail and Rail components work pretty much the same way, with a few exceptions: there can be only 1 Toprail, there can be 2 Handrails (on either side or both), but there can be many Rails in a Railing.
All three of them can use a Profile, for this you need to use the "Profiled Rail 21" GDL Object in their settings page. Just create the Profile in the Profile Manager, specify that it should be available for Railings (Profiles are now supported in GDL in AC21).