Topic Title

Here are some wishlist items that I would like DataCAD to consider.
The more I use DataCAD 12, the more excited I get about the possibilities.
Some of these are already "on the table" so to speak, but I want to mention them again so that what I envision is made clear.
Please, everybody add to it and/or comment.

Smart Wall enhancements, ie., 4+ lines, fills, hatches, trims, etc.
Smart Door and Window enhancements, ie., archtops, shutter, headers, etc.
Smart Floors with basically same features as Walls.
Smart Roofs (...this one would need a separate posting)
Smart Foundations.
Smart Objects, ie., columns, railing, decks, kitchens, baths, etc.

All of those listed above will allow us to construct a solid and relatively complete 3D model.
More...

Automatic Hide function for elevations...I don't want to draw 2D elevations anymore.

Now here is the idea I've been leading up to...

Pages (think Excel workbook with page tabs at bottom)
Give us the ability to add them, delete them, name them...

Take a typical single family house...
Page 1 named Foundation
Page 2 named 1st Floor Framing
Page 3 named 1st Floor Plan
Page 4...you get the idea.

Each page should have ability to turn on an image of any of the other pages...kind of like a Highlighted XREF.
This would be perfect for laying framing on a floor plan.

Within those pages you have individual sets of layers and views.
And then give individual Pages ability to be "checked out" and worked on by other users in the office.
Also, make the Crossing function have a sub-function to edit thru all Pages...can you imagine how fast you could add or subtract square footage thru a building?
Now, personally, I don't like MSP...so I would use another DataCAD file as a "layout" sheet and XREF all the different views from the 3D model.
That "layout" file would already contain our cover sheet, titleblock, sheet numbers, typical details, etc.

I know that Revit and ArchiCAD already have similar functions, but those are expensive and difficult programs.
If we did 40-story office buildings we would use one of those...we don't and don't want to.
I might be skeptical by nature but, after using it and seeing the potential start to take shape DataCAD 12 has really piqued my imagination.

Here are some wishlist items that I would like DataCAD to consider.
Pages (think Excel workbook with page tabs at bottom)
Give us the ability to add them, delete them, name them...

Take a typical single family house...
Page 1 named Foundation
Page 2 named 1st Floor Framing
Page 3 named 1st Floor Plan
Page 4...you get the idea.

Each page should have ability to turn on an image of any of the other pages...kind of like a Highlighted XREF.
This would be perfect for laying framing on a floor plan.

Within those pages you have individual sets of layers and views.
And then give individual Pages ability to be "checked out" and worked on by other users in the office.
Also, make the Crossing function have a sub-function to edit thru all Pages...can you imagine how fast you could add or subtract square footage thru a building?
Now, personally, I don't like MSP...so I would use another DataCAD file as a "layout" sheet and XREF all the different views from the 3D model.
That "layout" file would already contain our cover sheet, titleblock, sheet numbers, typical details, etc.

I know that Revit and ArchiCAD already have similar functions, but those are expensive and difficult programs.
If we did 40-story office buildings we would use one of those...we don't and don't want to.
I might be skeptical by nature but, after using it and seeing the potential start to take shape DataCAD 12 has really piqued my imagination.

I've often thought something similar would be handy.
Having Tabs for multiple drawings that are open. Ctrl+tab is handy, but you have to cycle through to the drawing you need. Tabs could have the drawing name displayed for quick switching.
Your other ideas are swell as well, Ben.


-Redd

Just to clarify...

When I say "Pages", I'm not talking about a better CTRL-TAB function.
Maybe I should have said Stories (another program uses that term though) or Levels.
I'm talking about multiple levels of a building model.
Currently, we would have to draw those pieces in separate files and and then XREF to a model file OR...
...have 1.21 gigawatts of layers to separate.
I'm suggesting each Page/Level has its own set of layers OR they could all use the same layer set, but being on different Page/Level they would not interfere with each other.

Would my layer grouping wish work for ya? That's kind of where the idea came from. To simplify huge amounts of layers in complex models into sub-models or could be used as building levels as your wanting. Could also be used well for 2D plan layer management too of course. Being able to have several levels would be ideal.


As for the tabs for open drawings, that might be useful. I usually don't have more than a few drawings open, but several users in here I know can have 10-20 open at a time quite often. Would save a lot of time vs. Ctrl+Tab when each drawing has to slowly regen as being scroll thru. You can use the Window menu option to basically do this now. Maybe a way to open the more windows option via a quick key?

That is interesting, but...
I think my goal is to have ONE Walls layer, Windows layer, etc. to use on multiple floor levels.

The ultimate goal of all these suggestions is to have a 3D model to extract construction documents from.

Ahh I got ya now. You have a single instance of a layer, and on these "pages" that single layer would have a unique set of entities. Yeah doing this via a drawing for each "page" is how your gonna have to do that now. It's a neat outside the box idea which I can appreciate, but I think you can basically do this now with probably just about as much effort if you setup a good set of default drawings, including one to use as your master model file. This also gives you the ability to have more than one person to work on each "page" and the ability to reference any other "page" is as easy as inserting an xref or redefining one. As for the global editing, yeah that can't be done with the multiple drawing method, but it can be with the single file method with a good layer structure. So it's really either have the ability to have multiple people be able to work on the same plan in multiple files or one person at a time in a single file. You can do clever work arounds to the single file method using layer sets, xref binding and such, but it does add a little more work but not too much with a good set of default drawings. Hopefully in the future being able to have multiple people in the same file will be possible. That is the main obstacle I think.

We constantly use multiple people on one project so, yes, that is a big concern.
I would like to see that solved by having the ability to "check out" pages of a model file...limiting one user per page would seem simple to do.

:arrow: Smart Door and Window enhancements, ie., archtops, shutter, headers, etc.

I remember someone mentioning something about door and window editors. I think that this would be a nice enhancement. My thoughts on this would be to be able to open a door or window editor that shows a 2D front, 2D side, 2D top, and 3D perspective views in a separate window (similar to most 3D modeling programs). The window or door could be edited in these window and the changes would be reflected in the Door or Window Style Manager. Likewise, if changes were made in the Style Manager, the changes would be reflected back in the editor. That way, we could easily make muntins, sills, trims, shutters, etc. exactly how we want them.