I have come to the conclusion that despite there being a phasing attribute in AECOSIM there is no scope to leverage this in the application other than as an output.
In the event that we have modelled an existing building it appears the only way to manage the removed and retained elements is to put them in sperate files. Does anyone else have a better way to do this?
Ironically I have tried using named groups to knock out existing to demolish but the space flood tool sees the walls that are in the existing to demolish named group, see image (the green area is a space flood). Annoying really... I know its been said before, but named groups would be great if they were properly integrated with AECOSIM.
I had understood that space floods were going to be improved to flood only on the plane identified, is there a timescale for this to happen - I thought it was meant to have been doen for AECOSIM.
In DEM I use to shift elements to a separate level (or levels) and then use the Group-Model to filter demolished out from the main cut, and then make separate Group-Models and cuts with only demolished. A bit hands on but in DEM it was easy to just copy the DEM-definitions and change Group-Model.
The elements stayed in the file and was easy to manage for viewing, also in 3d-pdfs.
Just moving to another level kept all part data etc so you could make Quantifications as well. There is a glitch with door swings because you only switch the cells level, not included geometry.
I find moving to separate files more work and error prone. (as long as we can't "push" elements to other dgns)
"Phasing" in BA/ABD is a joke, so far, for the reasons you say. And DV/BVs clearly lacks functionality here.
There are some workarounds along the lines you mention.
1- Change all elements to a part with name including demolished. And use Select by Attributes to filter for that text and ref NGs etc
2- Set phasing and use Datagroup Explorer and select all elements with the phasing you want. Then you should be able to create a selection set from there, then a NG etc.
Both methods has to be redone as soon as you ad an element.
The lesson from DEM is demolished etc must be in separate cuts. Unless there can be a algorithm in the DV that says "cut, but don't interact with other elements, and don't show forward view".
One thing with Phasing is correct though; it is not enough with "demolished". There are at least the alternatives in DGS. In Swedish level naming system I think we have yet another.
regards / Thomas Voghera