overkill can't delete overlapping lines

[Anonymous]

HELP!!! THE Problem has upset me a couple of days! there are thousands of parking lines ,which consist of many rectangles.and as we know ,these rectangles are overlapping on its edge.so my task is to calculate total length of these parking lines.And all these parking line are drawn in block.

here is my solution ,

1、explode all blocks ,and remove all text ,so i can divide them into separate lines 

2、overkill the overlapping edges 

3、use a lsp function to calculate the total length of  all separate lines.

sounds like a quick way to get the total length of parking lines!

but! problems occured during step 2!

overkill can't delete all overlapping edges after i explode rectangles ! (they are the edges of rectangles that has been exploded!)

i try to change the tolerance from 0  0.000001 0.0001 to even 1000,  it doesn't work good enough! 

when tolerance exceed 100,some alone lines  even are deleted!

i have also tried other parameters, results is frustrating........

i even try cad from 12 to 14 version, i found result gets better, i.e ,overkill can delete more overlapping edges,but still not good enough!

i really wonder if  this is my fault or there are some shortcomings about command OVERKILL???

[wispoxy]

Keep your tolerance to 0 and uncheck all boxes.

I once noticed an individual was just typing in the command. Select your object first then type OVERKILL. There are times when it won't tell you to select objects after running the command, not sure what's triggering it.

[Anonymous]

i don't know your purpose of doing that , but i tried ,it didn't work;

overkill works welll when i draw several overlapping objects like line or rectangles ,blocks ,

problems occured after i explode the rectangles,and its overlapping edges just can’t be deleted as usual . maybe explode could cause something wrong?

thanks for your time~

[wispoxy]

I can't replicate the issue, though I did notice a 0.0005 or 0.0001 length difference in some of your lines and some rectangles are made with 5 lines instead of 4. I'll continue to play with your DWG.

[wispoxy]

Set your overkill tolerance to 10,000 and try again. It works just fine with less effort and you lose some text but it's better than nothing. I completely changed my answer from 0 to 10,000 because the first 4 boxes I tried lined up already.

[john.vellek]

HI @Anonymous,

I see that you are visiting as a new member to the AutoCAD forum. Welcome to the Autodesk Community!

Have you tried redefining the block so that it has only three sides and not be a rectangle? If you do this you should be able to eliminate the need for doing the overkill process. In fact, if you know the length contained in the block, you would simply need to do a block count or data extraction to get the totals.

I did these quickly and then added the lines on the ends of runs. you could grab these with a dataextraction or a qselect to get these lengths as well.

Perhaps some of this will help. I hate to explode blocks if I don't have to 🙂

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[wispoxy]

In addition to statements made:

Use burst over explode, that way you're preserving text.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Since I HATE exploding, I have also in the past used a lisp routine that would help count parking spaces. I use three layers: Standard, Compact, and Handicap.  On each layer I place a piece of text to indicate the number of stalls in each run or row. The lisp routine would add all the numbers on each layer and return the totals.

While this is not terribly automatic, it has saved me countless hours in counting stalls.  

I assume, of course, that if you have the total number of stalls then you can make assumptions about the striping for each. This method would not be as accurate as doing the block count method but might get you close enough. If you are interested I can hunt for my old lisp routine.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Hi,John! thanks for your time first! there are some issues want to explain:

1、these rectangles are made already ，my job is to calculate the total length of these rectangles. 

if they are separated ,then i can just select them all and i can know their total numbers.

2、the key is there are many overlapping edges ，and i have to get rid of the length of overlapping lines！

here are the descriptions about my problem:

[Anonymous]

in fact ,john，i can't fully understand what you mean of the three layers:Standard, Compact,Handicap;what the 3 layers are used for? maybe you can upload a attachment or explain it .

grateful for your help

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

In the US, local zoning codes dictate the required number of parking stalls required for a project based upon type of use and area.  In order to maximize a site for parking, most jurisdictions allow a certain percentage of the stalls to be slightly smaller than a standard stall. These are typically called Compact parking spaces. In addition to standard and compact stalls, a certain percentage of stalls have to identified as Handicap, barrier free or accessible stalls. These are typically larger stalls that have specific adjacency to facility entries and designated pathways.

So, when laying out a site with parking, it is helpful to quickly tally the total number of each type to make sure that the total number of stalls is provided in addition to having the correct percentage of each type.

I have attached a sample of your drawing with my three layers and some labels in parking rows. Also, you will find attached a simple lisp routine that can be used to total all the numbers.

In looking at your file, I see that you have wheel stops in each parking stall. You could also count these and divide by two to get the total number of stalls.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your explanation!i know the layers meanning!

I have 2 questions: 

1.  you mean by redefining the block ,we can ignore the vertical overlapping line, and you can get the total length of parking lines.

but there are still some horizontal lines ,how do you think of these ?

2. after you redefining the rectangle, how do you draw these red lines ? by hand or auto-generation?

I just want to figure out a quick way to calculate parking lines. it seems overkills doesn't always help . i guess your method of redefining the block may be an good alternative! 

[john.vellek · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

In my example with redefining the block, I added the red lines manually but even with this many stalls, it only took a couple of minutes.

So, rather than explode everything, I suggest redefining the block first.

We know that the length of the depth of each stall is 53 cm

I can do a dataextraction to show only the number of blocks named '34' and also to capture all the lines that are red.

I see in my resulting table that there are 1008 blocks meaning a total length of 53*1008=53424 cm

There are also 385 red lines for a total length of 53*385 = 20405 cm

This gives us a total length of 73,829 cm

This process goes very quickly and means you don't have to explode any items.

Total time to count and add all the lengths is under fivve minutes on my side.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[beyoungjr]

Hello,

Just wanted to chime in and point out my findings...

I too prefer not to explode as a matter of practice but when debugging issues I find that explode can be a must.

With respect, this drawing has a lot of slop and leftovers.  Thawing and turning on all layers reveals the big picture but Purge reveals so very much unused and un-referenced content.

In your dwg and I found that only block objects (block name = "34") were initially displayed.  I performed a purge of blocks, with nested objects, to find out just how much unused stuff was hanging around.  Wow... a lot!

Analyzing block "34" I find that the insertion point is not good.  I also find in the block editor that the bottom line in block "34" is composed of two partial lines.  This is where you could refine the block definition if you desire.  With boundary lines around the entire parking space block you will certainly yield the undesired overlaps.

Looking back on the block placements outside of the block editor, I find that block placements are not connected at true corners of the blocks.  Most are off by only a small amount but this is the prime cause of overkill missing your overlaps after exploding.

On to your need... to gather the information you desire.

You could use the Data Extraction Wizard to develop a table or you can generate your own table.  The Data Extraction Wizard could reveal the number of instances/uses of block "34", or any attribute within, and output that count to the table it creates.  You could then edit the table and add a column and cells with simple expressions to multiply the instances cell by the known length of the parking space (5300 deep or 2400 wide as I see it).  That expression would update in the added cells based upon instances of the block or attribute.  Another row in the table could be for another block or attribute definition, but it looks like you are only using one parking space size here.

You can also window around all objects to see that 1008 of block "34" are displayed and use that selection count in lieu of the wizard.

I hope this gives another good perspective on your need?

Cheers,

Blaine

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am checking back to see if my post or others helped you with your problem. Please add a post with how you decide to proceed and your results so other Community members may benefit.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if a post or posts solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

yes,thanks for reminding; i must point out ,john,your method is fine,but neglect the horizontal overlapping line ~ you should see my last reply,i post two figures and the first one is my question:how do you take overlapping horizontal line into consideration? 

of course ,i can also redefine the block once more by remove the bottom line from a rectangle. but seems a little complicated,right?

Additionally,  i can figure out all the number of stalls  and get the total length L1,

                     then i create a new layer and  draw all the overlapping lines which is also to get their total length L2(by  a  lisp) ;

                     and (L1-L2) is the correct result of all parking lines;  

         its main work lies at the drawing overlapping line;

         how do you think of this method?

thanks again!

[Anonymous]

thanks for your reply! even i don't fully understand, but  i often use command filter  or qselect  to count numbers,seldom use data extraction ;whatever ,it doesn't matter.

back to topic, i could also redefine the block by remove the bottom line from a rectangle ,but maybe complicated because i have to redefine twice so i can 

get rid of all overlapping(vertical and horizontal ).  waitting for better solution 

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

There is no need to redefine twice. Do it all in one operation. I just don't know which horizontal lines actually get installed. If wheel stops are provided then horizontal lines aren't typically installed and the horizontal lines at the bottom of the stall are usually not included.

If you can provide me with the details of which lines actually get created then I can modify the drawing I gave you.  Again, redefining the block can happen all at once and filling in the handful of missing lines is pretty quick.

The overall process that I illustrated would remain basically the same and even for a site this size should not take more than a few minutes to analyze.  If you want to explore a LISP solution I recommend that you add a post in the AutoCAD Customization forum.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

the horizontal  overlapping line is like this , you redefinition do eliminate the need to calculate the overlapping vertical line.but not for these horizontal lines.

And the you can see it in your former drawing .see also in my  attacment.

thanks ! 

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

As I stated in my previous post, without knowing how the horizontal lines will be created in reality I did not do this step for you but the process is identical.

I went back into the drawing and redefined the block so that there is no horizontal at the bottom of the stall. This is typically how it is done in the US> I also removed the horizontal at the top.

Then I simply added the lines that were required.

A data extraction will now allow you to capture the block number and the length of the individual lines.  Please try this per my precious example and let me know if you have additional questions.

Since you are not in control of the layout, as I understand that you received it from a consultant, so it makes sense to keep the blocks in place. As a project proceeds you might need to be judicious on what you replace or just edit.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.