Yancka

Haven't had much time to work on this, anyway I have 1 question at the moment while trying to follow your steps. Once the poly (or whatever) is drawn, how can it be used with BeginXtrd and EndXtrd if extrude's profile requires it's description between BeginXtrd and EndXtrd? At least from quick look to these procedures in VS Reference it seems so. Miguel, thanks for your comment! Currently my code with simple extrude isn't working and reports an error on Line #5: ExtrHnd :HANDLE; { Error: Identifier not declared. } and { Error: Expected ; }. What's wrong with my ExtrHnd declaration? PROCEDURE CustomExtrude; VAR ItemLength :REAL; xRot, yRot, zRot :REAL ExtrHnd :HANDLE; BEGIN ItemLength:= PLineLength; MoveTo(0,0); LineTo(ItemLength,0); BeginXtrd(0,PLineLength); Rect(500,#90,200,#0); EndXtrd; ExtrHnd:=LNewObj; xRot:=90; yRot:=90; zRot:=90; SET3DRot(ExtrHnd, xRot, yRot, zRot , 0,0,0); END; Run(CustomExtrude);

Well, finally I could get it but it was weird and works weird. I read the help at beginning and after succeeding to draw fixed line (with line function) and failing to get it stretchable I decided to look in other .vso files (strange thing with VW help on MAC - with keywords "vso" it gives no results but with ".vso" or "*vso" does). After reducing other code to drawing lines part and matching every part of my plug-in to that other I managed to have mine working as well. But it works only if Plug-in's parameter name is LineLength (originally was used by other one - working plug-in). If I rename this parameter it looses it's grips and isn't stretchable anymore. Meantime changing the value in OIP reflects also on a line. What has parameter name to do with object being stretchable or not?

Thanks Migel! That's good news! I already visited the site you mention and tried to run those scripts. For some reason I succeed to run only the basic like "Create New Layer" but all of those others in plug-in section I received an error alert. So I didn't experience the relief of seeing any successfully created custom plug-in. The way I used the code was copying it from .vss file and pasting it into new script within my resources in resource browser. May be that's wrong? And how to deal with .vso files? Quite embarrassing but I didn't find anything on .vso in VW help... and quick search in internet also doesn't bring much light. Before some time I did it (vso) but now I can't recall. Could you please post a code of simple custom plug-in here if it's not too difficult?

Hi folks. I haven't been much doing VW scripting and would like to get initial advise. I want to create a custom 3D object (steel beam) which in plan view would display it's bottom Z value as a text and also it's ID. Z value is bottom point of that particular object instance. It could be something like combining 2D/3D symbol with stake object. Is it possible with VScript? And which way to look at? With 2D/3D symbols I'm out of luck. And does the term "plug-in" in VS mean the same as in VW usage (say, door is a plug-in object)?

I'm playing with callouts and trying to get it going. VW Help claims that "After placement, notes can be easily updated if changes are made to a database." Somehow I don't succeed to figure out where's the "easily" part. How do I update multiple or all callouts which were created with option "Get text from database" turned on with single click (or very few clicks) after database is updated (meaning the original Note Text within database from which callout text came from is changed)?

Is there integrated way of managing item labels? I want to create 3D items (would it be 2D/3D symbol, 3D solid or whatever), give a label to them and see this label in 3 different places: 1. schedule 2. plan view 3. section VP I've had some luck with symbols and linking text to Record Formats, but it doesn't work in sections, and the placement of label in plan view for different items can't be adjustable. Being specific - I'm trying to create construction drawings with slab panels and beams.

It was as simple as Sheet Layer printing resolution (DPI) number. I had it 72. Btw, could it be that too low DPI causes longer VP updating time because computer needs to perform extra calculations for "bluring" the rendering as set in DPI field?

Other option would be converting text polylines to extrudes and rotate them 3D & place as necessary.

Frank, I dare to claim that you are the bestest person on the world! Thank you very much for this hint. This helps me a lot. I can only ask myself why I didn't notice functionality of Summarize icon before. Giving 2 min Help reading would have saved a lot of time. I can even remember me thinking "what's that Sum icon for" when using sorting icons. Probably it was too simple and I was looking for somehow more complex solution or in other direction, thus being blind to this quite simple and basic functionality.

I'm out of luck trying to get ZCENTER work with symbols. It works with other kinds of objects (i.e. walls, extrudes). With symbols I get only XCENTER and YCENTER. Any idea of what's going on?

In AutoCAD Data Extraction (something similar to DB rows in VW) there is a tick-box called "combine similar" or something like that. It combines rows with identical cell values and in "Count" column displays total number of identical rows (elements). Is something like that achievable with VW? The DB row could be like "symbols whose name starts with Elem". Then in DB subrows I'd like to have something like this: Nr. V1 V2 Count 1 166 4600 7 2 120 3800 2 3 188 5500 4 Nr., value1 and value2 are something that come from elements within symbol definition (sometimes it's achievable by dividing total with count), meantime Count displays number of symbol instances within defined criteria. I know I can do this by formulas in spreadsheet but having it with DB row would be much more fun!

Take a look at Design Layer Viewports and VW referencing. Meantime I'm not sure if it would be most efficient type of workflow to you. Otherwise use symbols (ala block references in AutoCAD).

Well, then post the file pls. Another thought - does record name end with #?

I think you should type enter/return where you want new text line within Edit Title Block" dialogue box.

Thanks Peter for your input! And thanks Greg for your advise! I tried it and it works... only if I use Hidden line rendering for VP. If I use other rendering modes there appears another problem which is draw order. There are 3 logical objects: A) the white mask; B) visible part of symbol; C) graphics of DL. A must be under C, B must be under A and C must be under B. So each of them has to be at the bottom I'll consider if C under B is a must.

Alright. I'm after integrated and convenient way of dealing with structural grid (construction axis). Besides having structural grid in plan views I'm required to display axis also in elevations and sections (look at picture 1 for required result). So, in order to avoid creating repetitious linework of same thing (which I think is the root of error), I'm hunting for something that will allow me to store geometry of axis in as few places as possible. Thus far I've looked at 3 major concepts of possible workflow for this: Nr.1 was symbol I include as annotation within VP. The problem was that I'm having axis also in 45?. That would be 8 symbols for sections/elevations plus the 1 for plan views. That makes 9 instances where I store my geometry. Better than nothing but far too much. Nr. 2 was axis number bubble as 2D/3D symbol. For having text in 3D I converted it to polyline, extruded and rotated 3D. Later I'd use variuos classes for displaying only appropriate axis in VP. This was very promising from point of view of geometry management - I'd have only 1 design layer with my axis. The problem was that in elevations with Open GL rendering the symbol was looking blur. Just made the quick pic with Open GL rendering at scale 1:100. With other renderings the result is blur anyway. If someone could advise about how to make better quality rendering, that would be great. Then I could use 3D converted/extruded/rotated text as 3D components of door and window symbols - for labeling purpose in elevations/sections. Nr. 3 is 1 design layer with axis in 2 classes and 2 VPs. 1 class is for plan view labels (text vertically only), other class is for rotated text to be used in side views. The possible errors are in placing these 2 VPs wrong together and necessity to move those 2 VPs together across my sheet layer. Currently I'm sticking with this workflow. Any thoughts on this are very welcome!

Peter, the purpose was to hide varying portions of same symbol and in some occasions not to hide anything. I've used XCLIP with AutoCAD for references/blocks (read - for symbols in VW), so was looking to do same thing here. Nering - what do you mean with "hide part of it with a viewport"? If you meant viewport crop then that's exactly what I'm after: having 2 viewports on my sheet layer, 1st VP for typical geometry, 2nd for my symbol exclusively with adjusted crop (cause I failed to include this symbol as CLIPped annotation object). What's a pain here - if I want to move my main VP, the additional VP has to be moved together. But it takes what it takes. I saw NNA sample project Ellicot Heights done in similar manner with even 3 VPs on same sheet layer.

Well, the regular built-in Clip command doesn't work on symbols. Is there a way of hiding some part of 2D symbol?

Thanks! Imo, for Windows quickest way is just to memorize left Alt+0178 and Alt+0179 (numbers on right side only). For VW - yes it does write symbols in text. But it doesn't allow these symbols in worksheets (copy paste of ? came as ??), nor in Units/Area/Custom where I'd like to have Area Unit Mark to be "m?".

Is there a chance to have ? and ? symbols (superscript 2 and 3) in VW?

Haven't done this but I think the only chance is to try to export IFC out from ArchiCAD and import IFC in VW. Once I had a chat with Revit guy who claimed that there's no problem with exporting IFC with landscape from AutoCAD Civil 3D and importing it in Revit. NNA guys have always promoted IFC here. So it would be very interesting to hear how usable are data in VW after such import/export from other software. Please try it and let us know!

Here's very common task for Architectural projects. Besides typical plan views with room info, the same plan views with varying info are required. I'm stuck with ceiling labels and floor cover labels. Of course, I could place simple symbols representing what I need and write info in them manually. But I'm willing to make it smart way, so that chance of error is reduced. An option Nr. 1 I tried was Space possibilities. For example, in "typical" plan view I need space Number, Name and Area. Done with ease. I have attached room finish data for use in schedules. There's and option to include also ceiling and floor labels (or "keys" if using NNA terminology) as Additional Data. This would be fine if I could use different classes for different data. Because in Ceiling Plan I'd like to have space Number, Name and "Ceiling Key" displayed only and in Floor Cover Plan would be space Number, Name and "Floor Key". With current space object I'm capable only to show or hide the whole space label with all data. Right? As an option 2 I tried (without any luck) to link any symbol or object with Space object to get "Ceiling Key" or "Floor Key" displayed. Is it possible to link any kind of object to a space object so that this linked object would display any property of space object? Or may be value of any field within Record Format which might be attached to space object? How do you deal with this kind of tasks? Thx in advance.

I'm working on spaces & room finishes and having few issues. 1. Spaces for staircase. It's necessary to be with auto-boundary for 2 reasons. Nr.1 is for updating space if walls are changed. Nr.2 is for having correct perimeter in schedules (it's used in formulas to calculate area of finish materials). But for floor and ceiling the area is much less because most of the space among walls is empty (or - is filled with stair). In space schedule and plan view I need to display only area where there is floor really. How others solve this? Currently I'm making it by displaying custom area, where the value is multiplied by specified percentage which I calculate for each staircase space manually. 2. Spaces as 3D objects. If actual room where people are going to live in is upper floor, in many occasions some part of ceiling is determined by roof with slope and some part by real ceiling. In such case the ceiling area which requires some finish is higher than area of space. How do you deal with calculating ceiling finish area in such situations? 3. This is connected to previous issue. Where I live there are some specific requirements about displaying the space area for rooms which in some part are determined by roof slopes. It's required to show the value of space where it is 1.60m or higher. It is called "usable" area I think. It would mean that in case the ceiling hight in the corner is 1.00m, I'd calculate where the height is 1.60, then would draw dashed line to represent the "usable" area. On the plan and in the schedules I'd include the "usable" area but for calculating amount of room finishes materials I would use the actual area. Has VW any possibilities to calculate and display "usable" area automatically? I know AutoCAD Architecture software allows to create 3D spaces which are determined by surrounding elements such as walls, roofs and slabs. I'm not sure if it allows to do what I want, I'm just showing the direction that other softwares appear to have better solutions for this particular issue. 4. I played around with Room Schedules and reports. My current opinion is - well, does the Room Finish possibilities possessed with Space object offer anything more than would be achievable by simply attaching Record Formats to Spaces? I'm looking for solution which would allow to me to define for the Space and later retrieve automatically in the schedules following information: * total area of ceiling or walls, with or without openings included - for having sq.m. of plaster * total area of paint or other material which might be applied to the walls or ceiling * There are occasions when 2 or more varying materials are applied to same wall, I'd like to retrieve total area of each of those materials. The best I can think is to attach record formats to spaces and calculate for each space manually each material. Or, in case when certain paint is up to certain height (say, 1.50m) and the rest is covered by other paint, I'd use a field in record format to identify the height and then in schedule multiply the perimeter with this number. The upper paint would be overall height minus that number. And it still doesn't solve the question about counting openings out. How do you - others deal with getting amount of finish materials which are used unevenly (say, tiles for bathroom)?

How do you handle 0 height wall appearing in 3D views? In elevation view I see it as a horizontal line. In isometric views it has also texture. The only solution I can imagine is extra class for this specific wall which would be displayed in plan viewports and wouldn't in others...

Yes, yes , yes, this clicks-saving possibility is true and would be highly desirable.