I wonder if anyone has seen this. I have a lot of dynamic components with many attributes - many with complex formulas. If I select 2 of the same DC’s at a time (say window & window#1), open the component options dialog and change a single value (drop down list or option etc…), not only do all of the component options change for both components (not just the values I changed) but all my formulas in the 2 attributes turn into values - the formulas are gone…
If there is no work around, is there a way to stop the component options dialog from opening if more than 1 component is selected - to stop people from messing up very important formulas which are used in my costings.
**** I’ve just done a test and the change to the formula occurs when the Value of the attribute (the one with the formula ) is set to “users can see this attribute”. So even tho a user cannot change this value, changing 2 compenents options at the same time replaces the formula with what ever value is shown to the user at the time - Now that’s gotta be a Bug…
For the attribute to be overwritten then it would be exposed in the option dialogue, only way to stop this would be to use “Users cannot see this attribute” .
Alternatively
If you use a double wrapped component, you can swap it with itself to reinstate the formulas, This double wrap is created by selecting the contents of a component and creating a new component, then passing the values through. (Make sure the LenX,LenY,LenZ attributes are exposed if length updates required)
component example: SmartJoist.skp (126.3 KB)
as can be swapped and retain the lenY with itself or a similar component like the steel beam
Very Interesting - I’ve learned something. This is going to be very useful, thanks a heap Philip… Cheers
For the record. I’ve tried the SketchData free TOOLBAR plugin. Although this is for cabinets which I don’t really need for now, the free toolbar has an attributes dialog which seems to be able to change 1 or more attribute for multiple components without changing other uneffected attributes (shows them as variable)…
pcmoor, I have read your posts talking about double wrapping a component in a couple threads. Could you pleas elaborate a bit? I am building a dc database for deck design and am trying to understand where and how this technique can be applied. I am new to dynamic components but am finding them quite fun to build and use, any tips or techniques that don’t present themselves obviously are greatly appreciated… Thanks in advance.
adding another shell to a component acts as shield to prevent certain attributes from being overwritten, so its a quick fix for rotation interference.
When it comes to swapping components, consider the attached components, right click, saveas each to a folder, then try to swap them, despite the formula for current dimensions, the geometry isize is the same as saved. Now select the internal geometry, make it a group / component, reference the size attributes and replace the saved DCs, now swap and their sizes update
for DCs that exist already, one may find it easier to wrap the component shell rather than altering the internal workings, hence the the “double wrap” term