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Truss workflow - Truss System VS Hanging Position


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Hello Vectorworkist, 

 

I've been looking for an ideal Truss workflow for some time (maybe too much!). But I can't find any that suit my purpose.

I mainly deal with simple straight trusses; no complex rigging. And, being relatively new to Vectorworks, I feel like I'm missing some logic that should be obvious.

I found several very interesting posts in this forum, but none convinced me completely!

 

I like the Hanging Positions because they allow me to get :

  • The overall length of the truss assembly
  • The total weight of the elements and loads
  • This groups the trusses together and makes it easier to move (this could of course be replaced by a simple group)

 

But :

  • It doesn't seem possible to create a truss inventory reports sorted by Hanging Positions

 

I don't feel like I'm trying to do complicated things... Simply add trusses, group them for easy shifting, know the total load and create sorted reports.

 

How do you or would you do ?

 

PS: I'am not a Braceworks user !

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Dear Sam Jones,

 

First of all, thank you for considering my question !

 

Regarding truss inventory :

  • Total truss inventory including all Hanging position
  • Partial truss inventory for one Hanging position

An example is better than a long explanation !

The worksheet below are simplified for the example. The idea being to include other information relative to trusses (Symbol according to Data visualisation also)]

1748059129_Trussinventory.thumb.png.01ddfa946d041e11096013ae94e79692.png

 

 

For the loads, I am looking for the information found in the OIP: "Total Hung Weight".  Which, if my understanding is correct, is the set of all equipment associated with this Hanging position (not only those with known records).  You will also see, below, the type of Data Tag that I use for the Hanging position.

 

33437806_TotalHungWeight.png.d2b2b8b85dd20740f5f88843b14a64c7.png1813143267_HP-DataTag.png.c7c8f7c773d437d250f6fa568ffa2c62.png

 

 

Thanks in advance !

 

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There seem to be 2 issues.  Collecting piece data and collecting weight data.  Let's talk about collecting piece data in this response.

In order to collect the pieces that make up a Hanging Position (HP), a data tag would need to enter the Path Profile (PP) of the HP.  That profile can be constructed differently depending on what is selected when the HP is created.  I'm not going to consider HPs created from straight truss for now, though piece information is in the PP created from straight truss.  In the 4 HPs below each one has been created a different way.

image.thumb.png.ea855838784f1c872da5f4794d94f1a1.png

Truss tags on the ends of the truss were created by a vectorscript in AutoPlot Tools which knows how to enter the PP of the HP.  It also knows the difference in how to handle symbols from how to handle "Truss" objects.  It also knows how to enter groups.

I am not that facile with Data Tags, but I don't think they can have the necessary programming power to do the above.  If I'm wrong, great, and I will need to find out somewhere how to program Data Tags; though, I think it will always be easier for me to script what I need.  All of that being said, it would seem that you need a command that would look at the selected truss and create the report you are showing.  I think such a report would be found useful by many users, and I don't see it in the Spotlight report menu.  I will consider making such a command.  The biggest problem is that the format would probably be hard coded and would not be specifiable by the user; however it could then be exported to Excel.  It would always be a one way report that collects information.  Truss sticks could not be reconfigured from the worksheet.

There are similar issues with weight, but they are not exactly the same.  I'm not sure when I'll get to that discussion.  Feel free to message or email me if you wish to discuss this further.

 

Sam

Samuel L. Jones
Developer of AutoPlotVW, AutoPlotTools for SpotLight, and Chain Hoist Tools
sjones@autoplotvw.com
(310) 993-4172(cell)
 

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