Interesting comments Patrick,
I have had an in depth attempt at using the stair tool and found the same problems you are describing.
What I am wondering is whether the problem here is a difference in conventions. Here in the UK it would be normal on a plan to show the stair below and the stair above with the cut spliting them. The current arrangement causes real problems for me. In the project I used the stair tool on I have a fairly normal arrangement of concrete basement with concrete stairs and then steelframe above with steel stairs. The way that the annotations work at present results at ground floor level the stairs appearing to go up to first in steel, but also run down to basement in steel.
Is this just a mismatch between US standards and UK standards? Or is it a general deficiency in the stair tool annotation?
In simple terms the annotation don't work for UK use which is a huge disappointment.
Robert Klaschka
Robert,
Thanks for your input on this - I was beginning to think that it might be just me. Since posting originally I have had to rebuild my normal desktop PC, so have reinstalled V8i/BA to the pre-SS1 version (08.11.05.XX) with the US NCS dataset and the behaviour is more erratic, but defenitely the plan symbol is locked to the ACS insertion plane.
I have just been having a look at the xml file (uniclass_stairs.xml) and therea re lines in that, that do not appear in the interface:
<!--AnnotationTab-->
<!--<Property definition="Stair_Common" name="Stair_Common/Annotation/@BreakStairAtTread" />--> <!--<Property definition="Stair_Common" name="Stair_Common/Annotation/@SettingDescriptions" /> <Property definition="Stair_Common" name="Stair_Common/Annotation/@SettingName" /> <Property definition="Stair_Common" name="Stair_Common/Annotation/@TreadsInReflectedView" /> <Property definition="Stair_Common" name="Stair_Common/Annotation/@TreadsInForwardView" /> <Property definition="Stair_Common" name="Stair_Common/Annotation/@Break" />-->
Now these lines might not deliver the display that we are after, but why are they part of the Annotation Tab the Stairs Property panel? -->
The cut/forward plan symbol for most UK purposes could be limited to a default mid-point and not respond to teh actual section height AFFL.
Patrick