Crown Tool JM10

I use GLOB_MODPAR_NAME statements to keep such parameters in sync. In the code there are a bunch of IF/THEN statements associating the angles and the named slopes.

Since this lookup is used by several objects, I keep it in a macro and use RETURNED_PARAMETERS to get the data back to the calling object.

Element priorities effect plan and 3D geometry. Skin priorities effect only plan. Managing skin priorities is the key to proper automatic joint cleanup between composite walls in plan. Here's a look at the essentials of skin priorities and our standard composite setup.

Make sure Archicad is not running.

Activate Time Machine on the Dock.

Navigate to [Home]/Library/Application Support/Graphisoft/. You should see a folder called Archicad Autosave Folder. If you don't, go 'back in time' by clicking the next window. If you see more than one Autosave folder, sort the window by Date Modified to determine the right one.

Highlight that folder and click the Restore button. (You shouldn't get a 'replace this folder' warning, because if the Archicad Autosave Folder was present, Archicad would have seen it and given you the recovery dialog. If you do get it, make sure Archicad is not running.)

Once the folder copies over, relaunch Archicad. It should find the Autosave data and present you with the recovery dialog. Depending on when Time Machine ran last, you may have lost more work than you would with a normal autosave.

These are OS X instructions. We use the free utility Pref Setter to edit plist files. On Windows, use whatever Windows users use.

The AC preference files are at [home]/Library/Preferences/. There are a number of AC prefs; the one we want is com.graphisoft.AC .plist. You can right-click on the file and choose Open With... Pref Setter, or open the file from Pref Setter's File Menu.

The Pref Setter window will present all the 'Keys' in the plist file. Scroll to Recent Files.

Projects are listed first: Plan File_1., Plan File_2.,... You can delete any of these items. You can also modify the path in the Value field, to point to a different server, for example. Following the projects themselves, there is a Plan FileType_ item for each project. If you are deleting project items, you can delete these items as well, or not. It doesn't matter. Following that is a Plan Number item. This value is set automatically; you can ignore it.

After all the project list information, there is a similar arrangement for recent library parts that have been created or opened for editing. In this context the word 'Symbol' means library part: Symbol File_1., Symbol File_2.,... You can delete or hack these exactly like the project items.

(There are also integer keys for the number of RecentPlans (projects) and RecentObjects (library parts) you would like to see in the list. These are set to 12 by default, perhaps you would like more or fewer.)

We had to do some of this recently when we moved our projects, libraries, modules, etc. to a new server with a different address. When AC launches, it will try to make sure the recent files are accessible. This may lead to a prompt to log in to the missing server. Or, if the password for the server is stored in the user's keychain, the old server volumes can mount without you noticing it. Next comes confusion about where you are actually working, which is never good. Tip: Delete the password to the old server in Keychain Access. That way, you will be notified when AC wants to go looking where it shouldn't and you need to hack your prefs.

(To be honest, even after carefully working through this, I have seen AC mysteriously seek out the old volumes. There's some glitchy behavior going on, but it seems to settle down over time. We do what we can.)

One object -> A few worksheet views -> Several masters -> Many layouts.

Graphical changes to a given sheet type are made in the master. Changes to all the sheets are made in the worksheet. Changes to every sheet in the office are made in the code of the object. (Rare.) To change every future sheet in the office while leaving extant work alone, you need a new object and you need to update the template(s).

The text information in the title block object is a mixture of autotext tags in <angle brackets> and hard-coded text in quotation marks. The TEXT2 shape commands can use hard-coded text or string variables. Both of these will display the text 'Bar':

!! Display the text in the string variable named foo
foo='Bar'
TEXT2 0, 0, foo

!! Display the literal text 'Bar'
TEXT2 0, 0, 'Bar'

(In this usage, double and single quotation marks (and grave accent marks, on the ~ key) are interchangeable as long as the pairs match.)

Within each script of the object, you need to do a Find (Cmd+F) for all the text bits that need to be changed. If the company name has changed from Foo Architects to Bar Architects, you need to find each instance of 'Foo' and replace it with 'Bar'. Optional: Use the Replace button to find and replace in one go. I usually don't use Replace All unless it's a very straightforward case with a lot of instances. Also note the checkboxes.)

In the title block object, only the master script and 2D script need to be changed. But while I was in the neighborhood I added some years to the relevant values lists in the parameter script. (Values lists offer the user choices for a given parameter.) I did a Replace All of

'2010', 

with

'2010', '2011', '2012', 

taking care to remember that last comma.

Save as, not Save. Actually, you should save as before you make changes so you don't forget.

More: Structure of Objects, and the Object Editing Environment

Put the abbreviation in the Short Name parameter. If the parameter is empty, the full name is used in plan.

Another idea would be to hard-code standard abbreviations for typical room names.

Download (AC11)

The Artlantis Attitude is being distributed as a personalized PDF file. If you are skeptical you can contact Dwight directly at info.beginnernomore@telus.net to ask for a sample, and he's easy to find on Archicad-Talk. You can buy the book from various outlets that would show up in Google, or you can Paypal US$85 to that address.

I use it for arithmetic, but it will do most scientific functions if you know the syntax. Trig functions are intuitive, but others (pow(x,y) for x^y instead of x^y) are less so to me. As usual, intuitiveness is in inverse proportion to the need to know syntax. Search Calculator's help for 'abbreviations' to see a complete list of functions.

The only 2D element with an ID is the Fill.

I wish other 2D elements had IDs. Then I could 'name' topo contours after their elevations.

You can access the ID field of a selected element by typing 'I'.

If the default settings ID ends with a number, the number will increment (increase by one) as elements are placed. Unless you switch off this preference in Preferences -> Miscellaneous. N.B.: The numbers will only cycle through the available numeric places. I.e., ABC9 will be followed by ABC0, but ABC09 will be followed by ABC10.

The default IDs of the tools in your templates should consist of an identifier for the tool (E.g., 'Roof' or 'R') followed by at least two digits, maybe three. This gives the incrementing room to operate.

Other than the automatic increment, Archicad never changes IDs by itself, and there's no problem with elements having identical IDs. (This is different from viewpoints, where the name/ID combination must be unique.) When you drag-copy or multiply an element, the copies will have the same ID as the original. When you eyedropper (alt/opt+click) an element, the ID of the next element will match, but the next one will increment, assuming the switch is on.

The ID is picked up by the eyedropper, but an existing element's ID isn't changed by the syringe.

I keep that Auto-increase preference on, and the only time it bugs me is when I'm placing Shape Tag objects for revisions, and I have to make sure the triangles say 2, 2, 2 instead of 2, 3, 4. (Really, that's just an illustration, because that object has a setting to use a custom text instead of the ID, but using the ID is easier because you edit it directly by typing 'I', bla bla bla)

Letter IDs do not increment, which makes sense now that I think of it. (WALL, WALM, WALN,... that's no good.)

If an element has an error in it, the ID will often appear in the report window warning. This is helpful, because you can use Find and Select to find elements by their ID, then track down the problem from there.

When you're searching for errant elements in this way, you will probably find many of a given ID, because of the drag-copying and eyedroppering described above. To isolate the troublemakers further, you can manage element IDs using a schedule.

We schedule doors and windows by their IDs, and you can change IDs directly within the schedule.

The only element type we deliberately give a blank ID is doors and windows we want to leave out of the schedule. This includes empty openings and weird openings like trim panels.

Zones have the same ID field as other model elements, but we ignore it in favor of the Zone Number field.

The GDL global variable for user ID is GLOB_ID. Elements also have an internal unique ID which is unmodifiable and invisible except in GDL. That global is GLOB_INTGUID. (I promised you trivia.) I can't recall using that one, but you need GLOB_ID all the time for markers and labels.