zucoc wrote:
no it woud be not !
Sometimes even comunication between archicad and plotmaker is tricky. do you think a link between archicad and excel will work?
i don't think so.
even if comunication was perfect in ac we need special tools adapted for our needs not link to general editors like word excel or corel.
i woud prefer spreadsheets, better text blocks and hatching with bitmaps, transparecy and other effects built into archicad.
Glad to see your an expert on software development..
have to agree with you on the text blocks, if it is not on the wish list maybe someone should start that one.
The point I was trying to make is, why should graphicsoft spend the time starting from scratch to write the spreadsheet software, when they could incorporate it into archicad direct from another source, so when you click on the spreadsheet option in the menu in archicad, it brings up the display etc within archicad, not take you out of the program. Therefore borrowing the technology and expertise from another software developer. At least then you may get something with limited function sooner rather than later.
I would also be interested in what would users actually use the spreadsheet facility for?
The reason I ask, is simply to find out how other practices work in other counties, as I have never found the need to use a spreadsheet, except for preparing door, window, lintel schedules etc, but when preparing these, we never use the calculation facilities of the program just the fact it sets up a table format very easily. We never prepare for instance schedules with quanities, mainly as we have seperate surveyors for that task, who use their own specific software, and even for small projects where a surveyor is not used, the burden would fall upon the contractor to ensure they know the quantities they need for each item taken from the drawings. (thus limiting our liability...
)
When it comes to preparing calculations then we would not expect graphicsoft to add this into the program as these change and often the software requires to be certified by the building control authority. For instance the thermal and energy calculations have changed in format twice in the last five years, and require the software used to be certified by the approriate authority.
So I am curious to see why it is so important to have this facility, and get an insight in how other offices in other countries work..