Tip on SQL in ArchiCAD

TechTip of the Month Contest Winner of September 2004:

Karl Ottenstein's tip on SQL in ArchiCAD!

"(...)
I'm imagining a utility object that will automatically build a pen chart in the floor plan window with a user defined array of squares and accompanying text label for each pen. It would be a great help when introducing new coworkers to our pen standards."

Unfortunately, pen weights can not be accessed from GDL yet, but there are two possiblee workarounds:

Use the Attribute Manager in ArchiCAD. The list created will show even which pens are in use and can also be imported to Excel.
The other solution is to try using the SQL functions from the Calculate menu. (To access SQL in the Calculate menu, go to Preferences/Imaging & Calculation... to set Calculation Menu appearance to 'Full with SQL' (Pull-down menu to the bottom right). Here enter the simple query "select * from pens", (without quotes), then click on the 'Execute' button - and the result will appear in your browser similar to the screenshot below:

From here you can easily copy and paste the list to an Excel worksheet for further editing.

Hint:
- Karl was so kind as to attach a sample Excel sheet to his tip with a VBA routine that will color the rows of the list with the appropriate RGB colors. To read the whole tip, and download the file go to:
http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=3806

Page last updated: Wednesday, October 6, 2004