On Land

Another Hotfix. It's on the Onion, next to the previous one. Here is the list of fixes. I was tragically victimized by the disappearing label thing, so good.

Again, Everyone should run this. Again, You can run it from the Onion, rather than copying it to your machine.

Again, (You can check for updates any time by choosing Check For Updates from the Help menu in Archicad.)

I love the clipboard. I won't paste in my rant about the version numbering, although it still applies. Yup, 9.0.0 v1, now and forever. Watch that build number though.

Take the Archicad competency test. Whee.

I thought it was pretty tough. I managed an 86.

House rules: Since each question is timed (90 sec), I think open book/open Archicad is permitted. If you can open the Attach XREF dialog and figure it out in 90 seconds having never looked at it before, more power to you. The point is to learn anyway.

Unfortunately, they don't tell you which things you got wrong. You'll probably have a feeling though.

I just realized I never mentioned this. I don't use it very often, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't.

In all of the library part settings dialogs, you can search for library parts by keyword.

At the upper left click 'Folder View' and choose 'Find Library Parts'.

Enter the keyword(s) and click 'Find'. Resist the temptation to strike return; that will close the dialog. You can also refine how the keywords are searched for and limit the search to certain libraries.

The matching objects are shown. If you highlight an object and then switch back to 'Folder View', you will get the folder of that object.

When selecting objects this way, be careful to use the most current version. The find function will show objects in the 'xOld RND' folder the same as any other. Make sure not to choose them by accident.

Q
When I paste elements, is there a way to select those elements?

A
Complete the paste. Undo (Cmd+Z). Redo (Cmd+Shift+Z).

Q
Working in section, is there a way to reveal selected elements in plan?

A
Yes.

Q
How can I tell what elements were affected by a marquee stretch?

A
Undo, redo. The affected elements are selected. Current story only, natch.

When an editing action is undone, the edited element will typically be selected. Comes in handy.

It's slow to open the settings dialog when you can use the info box.

It's slow to choose File -> Save rather than typing Cmd+S.

It's slow to choose File -> Merge rather than typing Opt+M.

It's slow to hunt down the close button at the top of a window rather than typing Cmd+W. However: it's slow to bring a window to the foreground so you can close it, if you can click its close button in the background.

It's starfish-slow to choose Edit -> Copy, choose Options -> Stories -> Go Up A Story, choose Edit -> Paste, rather than holding down Cmd and typing C, 6, V.

It's canyon-formation-slow to choose Tools -> Display Order -> Bring Forward, Tools -> Display Order -> Bring Forward, Tools -> Display Order -> Bring Forward, Tools -> Display Order -> Bring Forward, rather than holding down Ctrl and typing 6, 6, 6, 6.

It's slow to right-click and choose Undo, right-click and choose Undo, right-click and choose Undo, right-click and choose Undo, right-click and choose Undo, rather than holding down Cmd and typing Z, Z, Z, Z, Z.

It's slow to drag windows around until you see the one you want rather than use Exposé.

It's slow to go to Display Options when you can use this.

It's slow to go to the Project Map, scroll to the Details part, right-click on it, and choose New Independent Detail, rather than typing Ctrl+D.

It's slow to right-click and choose Open Section/Elevation, or Last Section/Elevation, but unfortunately we don't have a choice.

The fastest way to cancel anything is to type Esc.

The fastest way to deselect is to type Esc.

The fastest way to remove marquee is to type Esc.

The fastest way to switch to the Arrow is to type Esc. The second fastest way is to type Right Arrow, and that's better a lot of the times because it doesn't require that you have no selection and no marquee.

The fastest way to activate the Marquee tool is to type ` (the key above Tab).

The fastest way to activate the Wall tool is to type 1.

The fastest way to activate the Slab tool is to type 2.

The fastest way to activate the Roof tool is to type 3.

The fastest way to activate the Text tool is to type E.

The fastest way to activate the Fill tool is to type F.

The fastest way to activate the Door or Window tool is to type D or W respectively.

The fastest way to change the reference line side of a wall is to type C.

The fastest way to change the geometry method (box, rotated box, polygon, etc) of any tool is to type G. It's also the fastest way to switch the orientation of the dimension tool.

The fastest way to turn on gravity and choose the gravity element type is to type V.

You can do all those things without moving your left arm. You have to move your left arm a little, but it's still fastest to

...activate the arc tool by typing 0 (zero),

...activate the Object tool by typing (letter) O,

...activate the line tool by typing L,

...activate the Dimension tool by typing /.

...toggle the rotated grid by typing K.

Plenty more where those came from.

There are different ways of doing this, but the first I've been pleased with is the use of Quicksilver.

With Quicksilver running, invoke it (Ctrl+Space, unless you changed it). Type enough of the word "Archicad" to have it pop up on the left. If you have multiple versions, select the proper one from the list below.

Tab. Type "Lau". You should see "Launch Another Copy". Return.

There ya go.

If you don't see the "Launch Another Copy" option, quit Quicksilver, relaunch it, and try again. I have seen this happen after launching another copy, quitting it, and trying to launch again. Seems like a bug.

It isn't needed, but there are times when it's very convenient. You can quickly copy and paste from another project. You can open a placed module without closing the host project. It comes in handy.

Run multiple copies at your own risk. Keep your head on straight. Don't run two all the time. Don't open the same file in two copies at once. Quit the second one when you're done with it. Pay attention to where the second copy is on the dock. All these warnings go double for people who are easily confused, you know who you are.

Another tip: When quitting two ACs, let one quit all the way (the black triangle disappears from the dock) before quitting the other. If you quit them both simultaneously, you're asking for corrupted preferences.

There is a bugfix, they call it a Hotfix, I don't know what that means, update to Archicad. The updater is on the Onion in Archicad Program Files. It's called AC9-1965.

Everyone should run this. You can run it from the Onion, rather than copying it to your machine.

(You can check for updates any time by choosing Check For Updates from the Help menu in Archicad.)

Here is the list of fixes. Most of them don't mean much to me, hopefully some of our (unlisted) issues have been fixed too.

It has been out for several days and no one has complained yet, so it probably does no harm.

Graphisoft's version numbering scheme has become completely ridiculous. Patches like this one should increment the third digit in the version number, making this 9.0.1. But no, they have this quirky "v1, v2" patch numbering deal, but they don't even use that consistently. Sometimes a patch increments the v number, sometimes it adds a "+", and in this case it does nothing, it's still v1. So it's not 9.0.1, it's not 9.0.0 v2, it's not 9.0.0 v1+, it's 9.0.0 v1 Build 1965. You have to know the build number, which should be a really geeky arcane thing, in order to describe the standard current release of the program. Most people outside of software development don't know what a build number is. Ridiculous.

Gravity allows you to "set" elements on top of other elements. Instead of manually setting a Z height, the element will be placed at the top elevation of a slab, roof, or mesh, at the clicked point.

These elements can be placed using gravity: Wall, Column, Beam, Object, Lamp, Level Dimension.

I works in plan and in the 3D window.

You tell Archicad what type of element to set on by using the gravity buttons in the Coordinate Box:

L-R: Off, Slab, Roof, Mesh

You can scroll thru the buttons by typing V.

If more than one of the target element type is present at a given point (e.g., floor, counter, and ceiling slabs), the placed element will be set on top of the topmost element. Elements on stories above will be detected too. In order to get gravity to detect lower elements, you can hide the layers of the elements that are "in the way." (Don't forget the Quick Layers palette.)

Tip: Watch the Z field of the Coordinate Box. It will display the elevation that gravity is using at a given point, so you can see if the element is going to be dropped at the right height.

In practice, I only gravity for a couple of things. It's not convenient to use it to place toilets, for example, since they have to sit on the finish floor, and the toilet usually goes in before the finish floor slab. Since gravity always responds to the topmost target element, it takes some planning and care, and it isn't as natural as it could be.

It's very useful for placing 3D trees on a mesh. No matter where you click, you know the tree is going sit on the mesh, and you don't need to know the height.

It's indispensable for associated Level Dimensions.

Composites allow you to show multiple cut fills in a wall, slab, or roof. I can think of three reasons to use them.

• To display multiple fills. Example: Masonry veneer on a stud wall. This is the most obvious, and probably original, reason to have them. Ironically, such composites don't work at all unless you've made your own windows to handle the masonry openings correctly, which we have.

• To model a wall at one thickness while dimensioning the wall to another. Example: 2x4 with drywall. The wall is 4 1/2" inches thick to match reality, and to properly interact with trim elements. We dimension only the stud portion of the wall. More on the particulars of this below.

• To have elements "break down" nicely when turning a section into a drawing. Example: A joist deck. The deck composite has a skin for sheathing on top of a thick skin of the joist depth. The skins are the same fill, so the slab will appear homogeneous. When the section is unlinked, it's easy to turn the top (sheathing) fill into plywood. Since composites don't have scale-sensitive fills, this is the next best thing.

• Edit composites at Options -> Attribute Settings -> Composites.

• Composites can 'force' skin attributes onto elements. Instead of setting each wall to have particular pens for background color, skin lines, etc., you can set elements to use the attributes defined in the composite. Generally, I think this is a good idea, on the principle that you should control more stuff with fewer clicks. Further,

• There is a special case where you have to use the settings of the composite: To completely hide a skin separator line. This option isn't available in the element settings. For drywall partitions, you have to treat the interior separator lines in this way.

• The background colors, fill pens, contour pens, and separator pens can be applied from the composite independently. If you want a wall to be blue for some reason, you can change the contour (cut) pen while retaining the background color of the composite.

• You can limit the use of a composite to the wall, slab, and/or roof tools.

• For wall composites, the reference line is at the top.

• As with any attribute, you can use Attribute Manager to pull composites from other projects.

• In the setup of the composite, the checkboxes on the left allow you to designate skins as "Core". You can have multiple core skins, but they must be adjacent. What's core? Well,

• In the dimension tool settings, there is a checkbox, "Dimension Core Only of Composite Walls." So,

• The composite 'Wall 2x4 DW' has only the 3 1/2" center skin set to core. When dimensioning, click on the edge of the wall. (Don't hunt for corners!) This results in two ticks on the core, not the outside, of the wall. The wall is built at 4 1/2", and dimensions 3 1/2". Perfect.

• Summary of why this composite set up the way it is: It's 4 1/2" inches overall, because that's how thick walls are in real life, and it's impossible to pretend otherwise and still get the trim modeled correctly. It's three skins; 3 1/2" in the middle, set to core, so we can dimension to the framing. The three skins are all the same fill, so the walls clean up to the slabs in section. (The slabs are all the same fill too.) The separator lines are hidden in the composite settings, so the walls clean up to each other in plan.

See also: Composite Wall Priorities

Click the flyout on the favorites palette and choose "Load Favorites". Navigate to the favorites file you want. We keep general favorites at 3 Resources : Favorites.

If you already have favorites in the list, you will be asked if you want to Merge or Replace the existing favorites. Unfortunately, "Replace" refers to the list as a whole: All the current favorites will be deleted. To overwrite current favorites with those in the new file, while leaving the others alone, you need to choose "Merge." This has its own quirk: When a matching name is found, you will be offered the options "Skip" (don't overwrite), "Skip All" (which cancels all remaining overwrites), and "Overwrite". There is no "Overwrite All", so in order to accept all the incoming favorites, you have to click "Overwrite" however many times. Another D-minus interface element.

Also, I can't stand the word "favorites". It means I have a great subjective, emotional, aesthetic interest in the item, much greater than in most items. "OMG, I loooooove this 2x4 wall!!!" No. They should be called presets.