michaelk Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions.  This is it for a while for this tool.  Still not to v 1.0 😋.  So this is v 0.9.1…  But I have actual work to do.  And I've started working on the actual tool that I built this tool so I could learn how to build tools.  That tool will actually be useful!  Release notes: 1. Added braces 2. Added vertical ribs w/ separate controls for vertical and horizontal rib sizing. 3. The @C. Andrew Dunning bug is still there.  4. The blank ID Bug is still there. 5. Did not add corner blocks & keystones.  I'm attaching a file for 2017 - 2019 to include the useful worksheet.  To install:  Go to Vectorworks > Preferences.  Click on the User Folders Tab.  Mac users will have a button that says "Reveal in Finder".  Windows users will have a button that says something like "Reveal in Explorer"(?).  That will take you to a folder with the year of the version you are currently using.  Inside that folder will be a folder called "Plug-ins". Put the attached .vso file in the Plug-ins folder.  Then you need to add the tool to your workspace. @Jim W explains it here.    Fast Flat.vso Fast Flat 0_9_1 v2017.vwx Fast Flat 0_9_1 v2018.vwx Fast Flat 0_9_1.vwx 1 Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Dear Michael, Very good thanks for sharing. Any chance you can fix it for metric (mm) world? Also, is there a field to alter the French braces's length (Jacks I think you call them?).  Cheers, Peter Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 Peter  Wow.  Just tried it in metric.   Sorry.  What a mess.  I didn't know what the default metric lumber dimensions should be.  Any thoughts?  There isn't a field to alter the length of the jacks.  The number of parameters was getting large and so I just picked a couple dimensions.  What it does now is the base is 3' (about 1m) long.  The upright part is the same height as the flat if the flat is under 4' (1.2m) tall.  Otherwise it's 12 inches (304mm) shorter than the flat.    MK Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Dear Michael, Not a mess - just numbers! Your default height and width is good at 2m x 1m so maybe the ribs should default to 500mm for each. It would be very useful to have an adjustable parameter for the Jack's depth. A default of 900mm would be good which is close to 3' as you have it. Or...maybe some buttons - 1'/2'/3' (300mm/600mm/900mm)?  Cheers, Peter    Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 I have a fix to get the jack to work as well (or as badly) as it does in imperial units. 🙂  Let me know what the default metric values should be and I'll push out a new version. Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 As above - I think 500mm for the ribs and 900mm for the Jack (with options would be great!). Â Thanks it's a great tool. Peter Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 FIXED!!!  Couple of questions:  What is the standard sheet good dimensions in metric?  (In the US it's 4'x8'[1.22m x 2.44m])  What are the standard framing dimensions?  In the US it is 3/4" x 3" (or 3.5") [19mm x 76mm]). Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 That was quick! Sheet sizes are 1200mm x 2400mm. Most flats these days are steel framed (25mm square). Not sure about the carpentry but the 19mm x 76mm seems very familiar.  Cheers, Peter Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 They are mostly steel here, too. Â 25mm is 1", which is the most common here. Â Hey, I just noticed that you're in Australia. Â I'll be there next week! Â New plug in coming in about 5 minutes. Â Â Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 I'll message you off list. Â Cheers, Peter Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 Thanks, Peter, for pointing out what a mess Fast Flats was in metric! Â Here's a new version. Â Let's call it v 0.9.2. Â Release Notes. Â 1. Â Now with metric! 2. Â Brace lengths are now parametric. Â Enjoy. Â Â Fast Flat.vso Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Excellent. Now if only we can have different options for at least right and left Jacks...! Great that 0 covering depth means just the frame. BTW If I put in a number greater than 1200mm in the spacing it doesn't draw.  Cheers, Peter   Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 On 6/10/2019 at 10:22 PM, Peter Neufeld said: Excellent. Now if only we can have different options for at least right and left Jacks...! Great that 0 covering depth means just the frame. BTW If I put in a number greater than 1200mm in the spacing it doesn't draw.   I never tried doing a 0 cover depth.  But you're right.  That is cool.  I wish I could say that was intentional.  😜  I didn't put in roadblocks for crazy values.  You could also have a negative thickness.  If I was good at this - like the the people mentioned in the previous thread - I would have made cool subroutines to check the validity of the data going in.  If you put in a rib spacing greater than the flat itself, then there is no rib.  It takes the spacing as approximate and uses that value to calculate the number of ribs and then spaces them evenly.  That way if you are duplicating flats and changing the dimension of the duplicated flat they will have approximately the same rib spacing (as opposed to specifying the number of ribs).  If the rib spacing is less than half the flat dimension, you'll get at least one rib.  Thanks for your help!  Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 On 6/10/2019 at 10:22 PM, Peter Neufeld said: Excellent. Now if only we can have different options for at least right and left Jacks...!  Peter Your 0 trick works to create just a jack.  So you can set the cover depth to 0, the framing depth to 0, and the flat ID to nothing.  Rib option to None.  Draw one  jack.  You've got nothing but a brace! Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 Great now I can have the Jacks at different lengths! It would be great to fix the Flat ID problem. I just use a full stop for now.  Cheers, Peter   Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 13, 2019 Author Share Posted June 13, 2019 I wish I knew what was causing it. I need some more plane flights to figure it out :-). If I can't figure it out, I guess I could always put a checkbox to turn the ID on and off.  Until then, if you don't have any ribs, i.e. building a jack only, you can set the ID to nothing.  Or you can set the ID class to invisible and all the IDs go away. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 13, 2019 Author Share Posted June 13, 2019 Just figured it out. Â I'll post a new version with the ID fix tonight. 1 Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 0.9.3. 🤓  Fixed the ID bug.   Came to me while drawing.  What if an empty field in the OIP doesn't return chr(13).  What if it just returns null.   So when you create text with that variable that reports null and then tempHandle := LNewObj; it doesn't grab an empty text object - there is no text object.   It grabs the last object.  In this case the last rib.  And it rotates and moves that rib instead of the nonexistent text object.  Oy.  I'm not sure if any of that is true, but it's they way I'm choosing to understand it.  And it works.  Good enough. Fast Flat.vso Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Nice! Works well and I like how the text is now on both sides, when it's needed. Â Thanks, Peter Quote Link to comment
Thomas Peters Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 @michaelk thank you for making this. This is super cool!  Any chance of some class manageability making it into v1.0? I.e. the ability to rename the created classes and having the stay that way?  Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 Glad you like it.  Yes, that would be very possible. I’ll add it to the list for the next time I work on it. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 If anyone is interested, the updated version of the flat tool - with class manageability - is now here. 2 Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Thanks Michael that's great. Any chance the classes could be pre-filled like the other Spotlight PIO's?  It would be great to have them self contained with the object. Click the Classes button in the OIP and choose Standard Classes... Cheers, Peter    Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 Hi Peter!  Until 2 days ago that's exactly what it did!  I should probably put back the checkmark to create the classes.  But I don't want to force people to use them.  Maybe I should have a button to create the classes, and then people can set the defaults to use those classes?  The big issue is that there is no way that I (not being as good at this as Julian 🙂 ) can create custom textures to assign to the classes to get the grain running in the correct direction on the ribs, stiles and rails.  That's going to be up to the user.  I'll consider this the first feature request. 🤓 1 Quote Link to comment
Peter Neufeld Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Dear Michael, I think it saves the user from having to think about and then create each and every class if they were pre-populated. That way the user gets the best of both worlds which is the choice to use those or make their own. Currently it's just more work IMO. It would also make it similar to the rest of the PIO's in the staging toolset. I haven't investigated the texture side of things but personally having the already aptly described classes pre-filled allows me to get to the texture settings straight away knowing what's what and then suss it from there. Not everything will have a grain or even be seen so close...  Cheers, Peter 1 Quote Link to comment
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