The Floor plugin is very nearly finished but I do have a few more things I want to add to it before I give it the final nod of approval and release it into the wild. Even so it will probably still go through months of revisions and updates after its initial release, as all of the other plugins have done before it. My projected release date is July 15, 2024. This date is now much more firm than any other previous release dates heretofore given.
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So, of all the Medeek Suite users, what are you using to build architectural floor systems that is comparable/ compatible and doesnāt cost more than I already paid for the Suite?
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The truss module does it for solid sawn lumber, I-joist and floor trusses, though only simple rectangle layouts. My understanding is that functionality gets pulled out and put into a floor module of itās own?
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Originally the Truss plugin was intended to be used as the Floor plugin (it has its own floor module). However, only rectangular floors are possible with it and once I developed the polygon algorithm for the complex roof module and foundation plugin I decided that the same capability was needed for floors. Rather than add this into the floor module of the Truss plugin the idea is to create a completely separate plugin which has this capability and additional ones, hence the Floor plugin idea was born.
I realize that people are chomping at the bit for this new plugin and I have been working on it diligently for the last two to three weeks. The biggest holdup has been going back through all of the code and bringing it up to speed with the other plugins. There have been quite a few incremental changes to the other plugins with regards to licensing, materials, layers etcā¦
For instance the plugin material library back end was originally coded based off of the 2022 version of the Wall plugin. I just updated all of the code now so that it is keeping in line with the most current version of the Wall plugins material library code base.
So right now Iām spending a few more days making sure everything is modern and up to speed with the other plugins.
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And then v 1 will be ready?
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I might actually designate it a BETA number initially but Iām still not decided on that yet.
Right now the plugin is all torn apart as I continue to add in a few additional features like presets and the āremove joist listā option:
This is my current desk setup, Iāve just added the big monitor to my left which gives me more screen real estate and improves my coding efficiency. This is where all the magic happens, at least for now.
I also initially used the slab-on-grade code for moving edges of the floor perimeter but now that Iām testing it more extensively it appears that I should probably switch to the code I use for the complex roofs, so some additional adjustments required there as well.
This is how the sausage is made, one line of code at a time.
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The draw and edit menus are working great (all HTML) but Iāve decided I might as well add in āfloorā presets since I know that request will be coming down pike if I donāt add it in initially.
Also after using the current menus and given all the I-joist options (sizes and manufacturers) it seems almost cryptic in many ways unless you are intimately familiar with the various manufacturerās product numbers. Iām not saying now but maybe at a later date (after the initial release) I will add in a small SVG graphic into both of these menus which give a simple preview (cross section) with dimensions of the selected I-joist product. It would certainly make the menus a bit more graphic and exciting and actually be minimal work to implement, thoughts?
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Im looking forward to this release. The graphics youve added in the past make your plugins even better. Have you thought about deck framing as a part of the floor plug in? There are differences with joists and post connections from a floor system. If you want a crash test dummy im game.
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The plugin is not specifically intended for deck framing but I am including an option to use deck boards rather than sheathing, so there is that.
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Just like you can do roof connections in the Truss plugin I am also enabling this feature within the Floor plugin as well as custom subtractions (SUBTRACT and CUSTOM).
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Sick. Canāt wait!
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Just when I think I have it mostly ready to release into the wild I find something elseā¦
Working on system layers (hidden and outline), the exact same system used for the complex roof module in the Truss plugin. The good news is that none of this is really new or off the beaten path, all of it tried and true technology, so debugging should go pretty quick.
Once this plugin is out for about a year and after Iāve addressed a number of updates and feature adds I think it will be a real asset and significant part of the mdkBIM bundle.
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Iāve been pushing the plugin all afternoon trying to find ways to break it and a few things eventually did jump out at me. One of which is the rim board algorithm and the sill plate algorithm (essentially the same algorithm but utilized differently). Other than that the basic joist (framing) algorithm seems very robust at this point no matter what strange configurations I try to attack it with:
My initial framing method for the rim joists was to simply bevel/miter the joints, which makes sense if things are non-orthogonal but in practice when things are orthogonal the joints are usually lapped, at least that is what Iāve always seen in the field. If they are lapped then the question becomes do you lap the long or short parallel to the joists themselves. What Iāve always seen is the long rim joists are perpendicular to the joists however the user may want some control over this, so it is probably best to make this user definable (yet another option).
I will put my thinking cap on and start a new day tomorrowā¦
P.S.
In many ways this plugin has a lot of similarities with the Complex Roof module but obviously some distinct differences. This has allowed me to speed up some of the development or at least give me a leg up since Iāve addressed these geometric and topology problems previously. However, there is no getting around the fact that a brand new plugin like this is a major undertaking and given all the options it still takes a significant amount of time and energy to pull it off. I just wish I could clone myself a couple of times and then break out things, most of the development if very modular.
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The wait has been long, but the screen shots of it doing stuff makes me forget all about it. Even if thereās nothing new to show, seeing it working is awesome and I think I speak for the majority when I say, MORE PICTURES! 
LOOKS GREAT
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I think what I will do is provide three options for the joint treatment of both sill plates and rimjoists:
1.) Lap
2.) Reverse Lap
3.) Miter
Option #1 will be the default. When reverse lap is instantiated the long sided boards will run parallel with the joists. Most floors will be orthogonal and contain an even number of sides, so that makes things fairly straight forward. However, there is the possibility for odd sided floors (ie. 3, 5, 7, etcā¦), in such a case you will usually end up with a non-orthogonal corner somewhere along the perimeter of the floor. Even if option 1 or 2 is selected, if there are non-orthogonal corners I will simply miter those (for now). In the future I may add an additional global setting which also allows for lapped non-orthogonal corners, but right now I donāt want to spend too much time in the weeds on this.
Thoughts?
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Here is an example of the three options for handling joints of both sill plates and rimjoists. Note that they are independent of each other.
This is the part of coding these extensions that I really love, figuring out the algorithms to do complicated stuff. All of the other tedious stuff (HTML, attributes libraries etcā¦) is a necessary part but it can drag on for days and quickly becomes very boring.
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To my mind, the lower right one is the way my brain would think of it. The rim parallel to the repetitive members is cut to the exact same length and stands in as a dumb substitute for just another joist. The rim perpendicular to the joists ties them all together.
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How soon should I release the BETA version? Iām currently checking the floor preset functionality and I will also look at the addition of insulation (bat or fill) tomorrow. The gypsum (ceiling) seems to be working great, but eventually I will add in battens because I know someone will request it, but it is not top priority right now.
Iām thinking I will push out the opening and beam modules after I release the BETA, they will complicate things and may take a few weeks of tweaking and testing before they are ready for prime time. The opening module will be the higher priority of the two.
Iāve created the template for the integration with the estimating module, but this will also require further fleshing out. In addition there will need to be updates to the cost database and weight database modules that integrate materials for the floor assemblies.
Iām honestly not sure how useful the connection function is as compared to the Truss plugin, but it will be a feature since most of the heavy lifting is already done.
The CUSTOM and SUBTRACT feature will be similar to the Truss plugin, it is in place and appears to be working as it should, further testing would be prudent.
The I-Joist libraries (sizes and types) is much more organized than the previous system and should be easier to maintain and if required more manufacturers can be easily added. I may also add in a ācustom I-Joistā option which would allow one to specify the full set of dimensions for a custom sized I-Joist (depth, flange depth, flange width, web width, web material etcā¦)
Similar to the Truss and Wall plugins, one can specify a comma deliminated remove list to remove specific joists from an assembly.
Still lots to do but it is almost close enough to the finish line to think about putting it out there and start garnering feedback and suggestions.
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