Defining Groups in Object Inspector Using Section Type or Design Member Type

[AnthonyMcTigue]

Morning all,

I have a query with regards defining groups in the object inspector to allow me to show/hide which parts of the structure I can see.  Thus far, I have been selecting the items I want in a group, using the 'Create a group out of the selection' tool and assigning a name to each set of objects in the group for ease of reference and then using group folders to make the filtering process as easy as possible (see below screenshot). 

This all works but I do find it a bit cumbersome for the following reasons:

1. I have to assign separate names to each object type in a group (e.g. R02.01 - BEAMS, R02.01 - NODES, R02.01 - COLUMNS, RO2.01 - SHEETING) as opposed to assigning a single name to cover all object types in a group.
2. Expanding or reducing the scope of groups is often best done by means of deleting and recreating the group.
3. The same objects will often appear across multiple groups depending on what I am doing.  For example, using the groups in the screenshot above, I have separate groups for each of my stepped roof levels but I would also like a separate group for all columns however, the difficulty is that when I turn off all other other groups to show just the columns, Robot turns off all elements overlapping the two groups.

Our previous structural analysis program Microstran had a much better tool for doing this which allowed you to define groups not only be selection but by Section Numbers and Material (see screenshot below and screen capture video for further info).

This was a much more dynamic method as if for example, I had a group called say Column Type A all of which were Section Type 1, the group automatically updated whenever I changed the Section Number whereas in Robot, the only way I have found is to change the section number then manually add/remove the members to the groups.

I have looked through the help documentation and forums but could not find any references as to whether Robot possesses a similar capability.

@AnthonyMcTigue Artur Kosakowski marked post as the solution for better findability. If it did not work as an answer, please post your reply in this thread so that I can unmark the solution. 

[Artur.Kosakowski · Accepted solution]

Hi @AnthonyMcTigue

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly but you may find it easier to open the selected group in a new window rather than switch the others off.  If you want to select bars by their sections there is no need to create any selection group. You can do this directly and then open this selection in anew window:

 

If I managed to answer your question(s) press the Accept as Solution button please. This will help other users to find solution(s) much faster. Thank you.

[AnthonyMcTigue]

Artur,

Thanks for your suggestion.  I will give that a go over the next day or so and it may well partially resolve what I am hoping to achieve however, it would still be nice if I could have set up pre-defined groups using section number similar to what Microstran could do.  I guess I could get part of the way these using the select toolbar to get me part of the way there but difficulty I have with that is that I would need to do notes, plates and bars separately.  The Microstran option allowed you to define a group by means of section numbers which be extension also grabbed all associated nodes and it meant that the group automatically refreshed when you changed section numbers.

Anthony

[AnthonyMcTigue]

Artur,

I have been trying out your suggestion and while not 100% what I was after it is more than adequate for what I am attempting to do.  I was wondering however if it is possible to assign names to the views as opposed to the default names Robot assigns something along the lines of what it possible in Revit?

Anthony

[Artur.Kosakowski]

Hi @AnthonyMcTigue

Could you attach a screen capture showing what you mean?