wall tool

[ddcpe]

I started creating walls by opening the wall tool.  I then modified it by clicking the little tool icon and changing the thickness and the Height and such via the "Insertion Options" tab.  I proceeded to draw a bunch of walls and insert doors, windows, etc.  Somehow or another I accidently chose a different wall style from the drop down list.  Now for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get the wall tool to open back up with the previous wall type.  Along the way of trying to get rid of the wrongly chosen wall type I opened the Wall Preferences page for the wrong wall and clicked "convert to unstyled".  Did that change the default "unstyled"?  Where on earth is the default?  If I click on the wall I first used that is what I want, then in the OI palette it says Style: unstyled, and Type: standard.  But I can't find this anywhere and can't get back to it.  Jesus this is unnecessarily convoluted.

[Tom W.]

5 hours ago, ddcpe said:

Did that change the default "unstyled"?  Where on earth is the default?

 

There is no such thing as a default unstyled Wall. An unstyled Wall just has whatever settings the tool is currently set to. In a new blank file they are set to 150mm thick, no components, 3m tall, object textures - or whatever - but as soon as you edit those settings, the changed settings become the default for the tool. This includes invoking a Wall style: the tool settings will change to match those of the style.

 

In your instance, you should right-click on one of the existing Walls which have the settings you want + select 'Create Similar Object': the Wall Tool will be activated + the settings will have reverted to those of the Wall you clicked on. Now you can draw new Walls.

 

If you think you're going to use these settings again, save the Wall as a Style in your Favorites, then you can call on it whenever you want in whichever file you want.

 

I have my own 'Default Wall' Wall style so that I can easily get back to a 'default unstyled Wall' if ever I want to.

[ddcpe]

Thanks Tom.  I think I realized it after a bit.  It was really confusing as I just assumed there would be some sort of basis for a wall by default.  When you first open the wall tool it seems to have some settings even though it had not been used.  That's what I mean by default.  That's also what is confusing about a tab that says "Convert to Unstyled".  It just seems by the wording that it would wipe out the settings and go back to whatever unstyled is when the tool is first opened and before any changes to its parameters have occurred.

[Pat Stanford]

Convert to Unstyled does not change any of the setting of a Wall (or any other Styled object), it simply removes the link between the object and the style so that future changes to the style don't change that specific object.

 

This also can be a good way to create a Style "similar" to one you already have.  Select the object, Convert to Unstyled, change the settings you want to be different, right click on the wall and then choose New Wall Style from Unstyled Wall. This will automatically create a new Wall Style and apply it to the selected Wall instance.

[Tom W.]

1 minute ago, ddcpe said:

Thanks Tom.  I think I realized it after a bit.  It was really confusing as I just assumed there would be some sort of basis for a wall by default.  When you first open the wall tool it seems to have some settings even though it had not been used.  That's what I mean by default.  That's also what is confusing about a tab that says "Convert to Unstyled".  It just seems by the wording that it would wipe out the settings and go back to whatever unstyled is when the tool is first opened and before any changes to its parameters have occurred.

 

Like @Pat Stanford said elsewhere you'd do well to do some University courses as it IS incredibly confusing until you have it explained to you, but it does make sense ultimately.

 

'Convert to Unstyled' doesn't change any of the settings per se, it just means they are no longer controlled by the style. So say you have an instance of a styled Wall + you want to change it in a way that the style settings won't accommodate, 'Convert to Unstyled' will free it from those constraints + allow you to edit it any way you want.

[ddcpe]

Oh, I've done those but I simply can't learn this kind of thing without doing it.  Guess that's why I'm an engineer instead of an architect...no creativity 🙂

 

Cheers