Complex Macro Request, is this possible?

[Renerabbitt]

@Joe_Carrick @Alaskan_Son and others...

I've been doing prescriptive measures for braced wall plans and would love to automate the process.

main ingredients to be parsed:

number of building stories

length of walls(or length of poly line)

if length of wall is greater than " " add a multiplier.

see example plan

 

[Joe_Carrick]

To get a Braced  Wall Panel length & floor number you will need to use something that has a length or width attribute.  A custom Wall Type or Railing Wall or Cabinet would work for this purpose.  To automate a Schedule I would suggest Cabinets Partitions with specific OIP fields.

 

IAE, It can be done using currently available tools but it will at least 2-3 custom macros.  Depending on the number of calculated fields it might require more macros.  

[Renerabbitt]

1 hour ago, Joe_Carrick said:

To get a Braced  Wall Panel length & floor number you will need to use something that has a length or width attribute.  A custom Wall Type or Railing Wall or Cabinet would work for this purpose.  To automate a Schedule I would suggest Cabinets Partitions with specific OIP fields.

 

IAE, It can be done using currently available tools but it will at least 2-3 custom macros.  Depending on the number of calculated fields it might require more macros.  

THANKS JOE, 

What would you charge for this? I'm considering it. The custom walltype sounds intriguing as I always use continuous wall sheathing method

[Joe_Carrick]

21 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

THANKS JOE, 

What would you charge for this? I'm considering it. The custom walltype sounds intriguing as I always use continuous wall sheathing method

I will figure out a price - but it will take a few days because I need to outline all the needed info and devise a way to make it all work with a minimum of user input.

 

I need to think about using Wall Types (custom named) for the BWLs and Cabinet Partitions for the BWPs. I will also need to set up a table for the Code Table Requirements and Adjustments.  Unfortunately Chief doesn't provide some of the Wall Properties needed to just rely on the plywood sheathing.  However, the Wall Type Name can be used to ID Shear Walls.  

 

OTOH, it might be more logical to just use 2 separate Cabinet items (Shelves and/or Partitions) due to the ability to use OIP fields to store data.

 

 

 

[DRAWZILLA]

That's something I could use also, right now I use cad lines and callouts for the holdowns

 

[jscussel]

I'm very interested to see what you come up with.

[madcowscarnival]

Joe and OP, Johnson County, Kansas has an excel spreadsheet that they created in-house which addresses the various requirements of BWP and adjustments for the 2012 IRC.  It is very comprehensive and might incorporate well into your project.  I can't post it as it was directly sent to me at request, but they seem to readily share it if you get in contact with them.  Their building official has a genuine interest in making sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to code standards.

[DRAWZILLA]

I don't think that Joe could possibly  design all the different requirements from all the different regions of the U.S. into one macro.

[madcowscarnival]

I can't even begin to comprehend how a thing would be designed at all.  However, all boiled down, the code addresses all those areas with established variables for the various scenarios.  I just bring up that entity specifically because their building official, IIRC, was a contributor to the 2012 IRC and I'm unaware of any 3rd party software that accomplishes the analysis so specifically.

[Joe_Carrick]

FWIW, I'm working off of the 2016 IRC and will incorporate that code as much as possible.  In some cases it will require setup by the user to allow proper calculations but for this exercise I'm limiting it to CBWLs..  

 

Note that the Adjustment Factors and Loading will have to be established and specifically entered into a text file or macro depending on the job.

[Joe_Carrick]

4 hours ago, DRAWZILLA said:

I don't think that Joe could possibly  design all the different requirements from all the different regions of the U.S. into one macro.

You have little faith  but in a way, you're right.  It's going to take several macros - at least 4-5 - as a package to do the job.

[DRAWZILLA]

YOUR CORRECT, I HAVE LITTLE FAITH

[RodCole]

When Chief first came out with Ruby I tried to do something similar to this, but I was attempting to use elevations to generate the information I needed for the calculations.  That did not work well given that most of the macros I needed would not work in elevation views.

 

The prescriptive method would be a very useful tool to have indeed.  We would still need to pull elevation information for some applications.

 

I'm all in on this one.

 

Keep us informed on your progress Joe.

[Joe_Carrick]

I am making progress with the prescriptive method.

 

Currently I am able to get the required data from the model (with some extra cabinet partition & shelf objects).  These items have been added to my user Library for easy addition to the model in a manner very similar to Rene's example.

 

I have been able to put that information into a Schedule.

• Braced Wall IDs
• Braced Wall Lengths
• Sum of Braced Wall Panels on each Braced Wall Line
• Floor Number
• Number of Stories
• Story Heights.

My next step is to add the Residential Code requirements and values into Chief in such a way that I can retrieve them and perform the calculations to determine what the code requires to compare with the current state of the model.  This will allow the model to be modified to match those code requirements.

 

I should have a working example by next Monday.

[Evolution]

On ‎9‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 4:35 PM, Joe_Carrick said:

You have little faith  but in a way, you're right.  It's going to take several macros - at least 4-5 - as a package to do the job.

Joe, I don't know about the rest of these guys, but I think you're pretty incredible!

[Renerabbitt]

3 hours ago, Evolution said:

Joe, I don't know about the rest of these guys, but I think you're pretty incredible!

SECOND THAT!

[Joe_Carrick]

Do I need to allow for:

1. Wind Loads?
2. Different Seismic Zones?
3. Any Methods other than CS-WSP?
4. Masonry veneered walls?
5. Which adjustment factors?
6. Anything else you can think of?

All of the above require extra variables within the macros to determine the required total panel lengths. 

They also require a way to initialize those variables.

• Either macros to set them or inclusion in the BWL attributes. 
• It's really a matter of preference as to how these things are defined.

 

 

 

[DRAWZILLA]

I would say no b/c my engineer will do the calculations, but I am looking for a way to add them to the plans quickly. I really don't add them to the plan until the engineer has done his work.  As we all know there are too many varibles  even within a 50 mi radius form me.. 

[Joe_Carrick]

15 minutes ago, DRAWZILLA said:

I would say no b/c my engineer will do the calculations, but I am looking for a way to add them to the plans quickly. I really don't add them to the plan until the engineer has done his work.  As we all know there are too many variables  even within a 50 mi radius form me.. 

 

Perry,

 

This would be for using the requirements and allowable bracing values in the Residential Code - Chapter 6, Tables R10.3(1)(2)(3)

Use of these tables eliminates the need for engineering calculations.  With the CS-WSP (Continuous Sheathed Walls) you generally don't even need any HDs - Just ABs.  I know that many engineers don't like using this Method but it's perfectly fine.  Most large builders use it because it eliminates a lot of fussy foundation work setting HDs.

 

Programming the requirements into a Macro Package makes it possible to automatically determine the requirements for each Continuous Braced Wall Line.  Then it's a simple matter of adding the Braced Panels to meet those requirements.

 

 

[jscussel]

Joe,

Here, we use CS-PF on almost every job. I think we need to be able to input all the factors that go into calculating the Braced Wall length.

[Joe_Carrick]

9 minutes ago, jscussel said:

Here, we use CS-PF on almost every job

OK, that will be for Wind.  I will make the system work for both Wind Zones and for Seismic Zones.  It's just a matter of including the Code Table data.

[DRAWZILLA]

4 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

 

Perry,

 

This would be for using the requirements and allowable bracing values in the Residential Code - Chapter 6, Tables R10.3(1)(2)(3)

Use of these tables eliminates the need for engineering calculations.  With the CS-WSP (Continuous Sheathed Walls) you generally don't even need any HDs - Just ABs.  I know that many engineers don't like using this Method but it's perfectly fine.  Most large builders use it because it eliminates a lot of fussy foundation work setting HDs.

 

Programming the requirements into a Macro Package makes it possible to automatically determine the requirements for each Continuous Braced Wall Line.  Then it's a simple matter of adding the Braced Panels to meet those requirements.

 

 

as you know at least around here everything need a stamp, they won't take my word  in place of a stamp on the plans.  Must also include calculation's on every job..

[Joe_Carrick]

19 minutes ago, DRAWZILLA said:

as you know at least around here everything need a stamp

Ahhh....

They take my stamp and they will take the Residential Code prescriptive lateral bracing.

[DRAWZILLA]

what about beam calc's and I can't remember the last time any city accepted  -- without calc's   most of the jobs I do are not anything standard.

[Joe_Carrick]

I use StruCalc for everything but trusses and I do stamp the calcs.