Conduit Fitting PSD

[theald]

Hi all!

I have a PSD that applies to conduit and conduit fittings. Everything works fine for the Conduit part, but I can't get the fittings to work correctly. This is what I got for the fittings:

*This property set reference 2 different objects which I think is the problem. The [Length] refers to the automatic property definition of Length for conduit. [PartType] refers to the automatic property set MEP assigns to objects.

If "[Length]" = "?" Then
RESULT = "1"
Else
Select Case [PartType]
Case ELBOW
RESULT = "1"
Case CONDUIT
bLAH bLAH bLAH
Case Else
RESULT = "1"
End Select
End If

Now let me explain. I took out all the conduit stuff because its long and boring so thats probably why it doesn;t make a whole lot of sense. The If/Then is there because when I schedule the PSD, everywhere there is a [Length] it shows a "?". I thought that might take care of my issue but I guess not. The Case Else is there because I thought that it might be a problem that if [PartType] wasn't actually called "Conduit" or "Elbow" by MEP it would still give me the "1" that I want but that didn't work either.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,
T

[dkoch]

I have a PSD that applies to conduit and conduit fittings. Everything works fine for the Conduit part, but I can't get the fittings to work correctly. This is what I got for the fittings:

*This property set reference 2 different objects which I think is the problem. The [Length] refers to the automatic property definition of Length for conduit. [PartType] refers to the automatic property set MEP assigns to objects.

If "[Length]" = "?" Then
RESULT = "1"
Else
Select Case [PartType]
Case ELBOW
RESULT = "1"
Case CONDUIT
bLAH bLAH bLAH
Case Else
RESULT = "1"
End Select
End If

Now let me explain. I took out all the conduit stuff because its long and boring so thats probably why it doesn;t make a whole lot of sense. The If/Then is there because when I schedule the PSD, everywhere there is a [Length] it shows a "?". I thought that might take care of my issue but I guess not. The Case Else is there because I thought that it might be a problem that if [PartType] wasn't actually called "Conduit" or "Elbow" by MEP it would still give me the "1" that I want but that didn't work either.

I do not have access to AutoCAD MEP, but assuming that formula properties work the same way there as they do in AutoCAD Architecture, and further assuming there is nothing special about the Length and PartType automatic property sources, the following may be of some use to you.

I am going to guess that conduits have a Length automatic property source that returns a real value. I am also going to guess that MVParts (which is what I assume your connectors are) do not. If you are using an out-of-the-box Property Data Format for the Length property, then in the General area, the Undefined property is most likely set to ?, without any quotation marks. If memory serves, what that means is that for the MVParts, the Length property will be undefined, and may be the cause of your formula crashing, even though you have enclosed the property value in double quotation marks in your formula. I can suggest two options - both may work, but if one does not, perhaps the other will:

1. Edit the Length property. You should have a list of automatic property sources for both Conduits and MVParts (if those are the two object types to which your Property Set applies). If you simply checked the Length property under Conduits and there is no Length property for MVParts, then the value will be undefined for MVParts. If you hold down the Ctrl key, you can choose a source for MVParts without losing the Length property for Conduit. If there is an automatic property under MVParts that would produce a reliable result for which you can test in your formula property, then choose that one for MVParts and adjust your If condition accordingly.

2. Edit the Property Data Format, or make a copy of it under another name, edit the copy and apply the copy to your Length property. It may be sufficient to simply enclose the ? with double quotation marks - "?". That tells MEP to report the string "?" rather than report that the value is undefined. (In case it is falling into the Not Applicable category, you might want to enclose NA in double quotes, too, although that should only be applied when a particular property does not apply to a specific subvariant of an object type. For instance, the LeafWidth automatic property source for Doors only applies to Uneven type Doors, and it reports NA for types that have only one leaf or do not have equal leafs.) Since the Length property for MVParts should now be returning a string value of "?", the formula should not crash. It should still show a ? in schedules.

Including a Case Else line in a Select Case statement is always a good idea, unless you are going to set a default RESULT value up front. If I do not have a default condition value, I usually plug in a text value that is radically different from the expected value to let me know that a particular object had an unexpected value that did not meet any of the Cases in the statement. That usually means I missed something when planning the formula, or that the object itself needs attention to bring it back into line.