window/door dimensioning

[zgobolos]

Hi,

I'm ramping up with VW 2008 in a live project and it's going surprisingly well but there's one thing that I couldn't find a solution for: I must use a specific measurement/dimension marker on windows and doors like the ones attached. It shows the distance of a window from the ground - the floor actually -, the height and the width of a window OR the height and width of a door. I've been looking for the right tool desperately for a week or a setting that makes the window and door tools to display it automatically but I couldn't find it.

In ArchiCAD you can display the marker by choosing "Window Selection Settings" -> "Marker Settings" -> "W Marker 12". The third attachment shows how you can set it up in AC 12.

Is it built in to VW somehow? Maybe a specific dimensioning standard? Or a custom one? The attached images that show what I want to achieve are cut from a plan I found on the internet.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Zoli

[zgobolos]

As nobody answered I assume I wasn't clear enough, so let me try again as my problem is kind of a showstopper on using or not using VW.

I live in Hungary, Europe. The door and window dimensioning standards here require me to specify the doors' height and width and the windows' height, width and the so called parapet height the way the small pictures show above.

As the ID settings of the doors and windows and even the ID tool or the custom id solution are incapable of doing this I decided to write it in VectorScript. I'ts going well and I'm almost ready but I'm struggling with some bits that would make it perfect.

If any of you had faced the same challenge please share your solution because I'm stuck.

If you know about this standard but you think the built-in ID tool and the schedule sheets are quite enough in Europe please just tell me.

Thanky you very much in advance,

Zoli

Edited December 10, 2008 by zgobolos

[panta rhei]

If any of you had faced the same challenge please share your solution because I'm stuck.

Sorry. I think I know what you mean, but having spent several months full time in programming Window and Door objects that comply with the Finnish practise (and can probably be Magyarized quite easily...), I don't think I'll just "share" my solution of thousands of lines of incomprehensible code.

The NNA door and window objects work only in the U.S. of A. (and, as I understand, not necessarily even there.) You can't localize them in any way. Yes, you're stuck.

[J Lucas]

Have you checked to see if Windoor (a third party plug-in) can do what you want?

[mike m oz]

Windoor isn't able to do that particular type of European annotation.

[panta rhei]

...leaving yours truly as the only software supplier who is able (with some explanation from the user and a couple of hours of programming)!

And we can even do Dom Melnikova windows:

http://www.dommelnikova.ru/about-melnikov.php

or whatever one can draw. Eliel Saarinen's (father of Eero) windows are a piece of cake.

http://www.nba.fi/fi/hvittrask

With annotation.

[zgobolos]

I watched the relevant Windoor presentation - it was quite long - and besides the tool is looking very useful it can even do something similar that I need with it's ID Label feature. I'm thinking in buying the tool for other reasons but it would be fair to say that the solution it provides for door and window dimensioning is just similar to what I want. I'm in the middle of a big VW script so I won't drop VW if I can't find anything off the shelf but it would just save me a lot of time.

Many thanks for all of your answers, and best regards

Zoli

[Miguel Barrera]

Since I do not have the VW architect, I do not know what parameters are in the window and door plugins. But if you need to know about their location within the wall, you can get this information by iterating through the 3D polys that make up the wall. The plugin should have a 2D group and a 3D group.

[zgobolos]

Thanks Miguel. Very good approach indeed. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

[panta rhei]

http://developer.vectorworks.net/index.php?title=VS:GetObjExtentsInWall ?

For the z-value: GetSymLoc3D(h, x, y, z) ?

Just theories. I haven't tried GetObjExtentsInWall and I calculate the window's z-location within the PIO.

[zgobolos]

I'll give it a try tomorrow and get back with the results. I got a lots of input in the last couple of days and I'm very grateful about it.