Wall, Slab + Roof Components, in conjunction with the Classes they are assigned to + which control their appearance, are central to my building models. The specifics of the materials the building is constructed from – their name, thickness, unit size + thermal performance, their 2D + 3D appearance (via classes), plus in the case of things like timber framing, the spacing of the studs/rafters/joists – are all bound up in the components within my wall/slab/roof styles. In addition, material take-off calculations are derived by reporting on the same individual components as they are shared across different styles throughout the model.
With components being so central, it would be great, when creating new Wall/Slab/Roof styles, to be able to import existing components from other styles into the new style being edited. When you click on ‘New…’ you could have the option of browsing your files + identifying an existing style + selecting a component or components within it to bring into the new style. In a similar way to how layers + classes are imported into a file. There is inevitably a lot of repetition across Wall/Slab/Roof styles, as surfaces + materials are used multiple times in different contexts, and whilst you can create a new style by duplicating an existing one + in that way ‘import’ a number of components (+ therefore classes) into your new style, this only goes half the distance + it would be a really useful + powerful feature to be able to also identify components in other styles + bring them (+ their classes) into the new style as well. This would make things easier + quicker + help ensure consistency. I spend a lot of time clicking through styles, checking how I've set them up, to ensure that new styles are consistent. To examine a style in a closed file to determine the name of a component + what class it's assigned to means you have to open that file or import the resource into the current file.
I have not started using Materials yet so am not sure how they affect my argument but I assume it strengthens it, in that not only do you then have a class associated with a component but you also have a Material associated with it as well. So making Components transferable entities in themselves would be even more helpful?
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Tom W.
Wall, Slab + Roof Components, in conjunction with the Classes they are assigned to + which control their appearance, are central to my building models. The specifics of the materials the building is constructed from – their name, thickness, unit size + thermal performance, their 2D + 3D appearance (via classes), plus in the case of things like timber framing, the spacing of the studs/rafters/joists – are all bound up in the components within my wall/slab/roof styles. In addition, material take-off calculations are derived by reporting on the same individual components as they are shared across different styles throughout the model.
With components being so central, it would be great, when creating new Wall/Slab/Roof styles, to be able to import existing components from other styles into the new style being edited. When you click on ‘New…’ you could have the option of browsing your files + identifying an existing style + selecting a component or components within it to bring into the new style. In a similar way to how layers + classes are imported into a file. There is inevitably a lot of repetition across Wall/Slab/Roof styles, as surfaces + materials are used multiple times in different contexts, and whilst you can create a new style by duplicating an existing one + in that way ‘import’ a number of components (+ therefore classes) into your new style, this only goes half the distance + it would be a really useful + powerful feature to be able to also identify components in other styles + bring them (+ their classes) into the new style as well. This would make things easier + quicker + help ensure consistency. I spend a lot of time clicking through styles, checking how I've set them up, to ensure that new styles are consistent. To examine a style in a closed file to determine the name of a component + what class it's assigned to means you have to open that file or import the resource into the current file.
I have not started using Materials yet so am not sure how they affect my argument but I assume it strengthens it, in that not only do you then have a class associated with a component but you also have a Material associated with it as well. So making Components transferable entities in themselves would be even more helpful?
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