Walls and decks may have attachments, which require a bit of caution from users of BreakAll.
There is only one kind of attachment to a deck - it is the deck steps, which are added to a deck from the deck edge context menu Insert Steps. In AS3000, they are added from the deck properties in the "Steps" grouping. The stairs displayed on the deck tab tools are not deck steps; they are separate stairways, and therefore do not be affect the use of BreakAll on a nearby deck. A set of steps on the edge of a deck may be either; true steps will have a centerline selection; deck steps are selectable only along the edge they share with the deck.
For walls, the attachments include:
Note that Punch! has added a couple of new attachments to roos (book and freehand): roof holes and skylights. They need not bother us in thie current discussion, because they are not affected by adding or deleting points, unless these actions cause a hole or a skylight to be partially exposed off a new edge. In these cases, Punch! will delete the hole or skylight with a warning dialog.
Objects from the 3D object library like sinks, cabinets, and toilets are not considered as attachments and are not affected by BreakAll.
BreakAll, in an attempt to place a break on a wall consisting of an attachment will seek to find a location unoccupied by the attachment. It will place the point as near as possible to the center of the wall segment. The algorithm used will always find the most central location provided the wall is not completely full of attachments.
On the other hand, attempting to stretch a window across a break between two segments is not allowed by Punch!, and there is therefore no way to try to make it happen. Having it happen because of the action of a tool like BreakAll is something that BreakAll must prevent just as Punch! itself does.
For example, suppose you have a wall with a window right in the middle of it. You execute BreakAll and try to create another break in the wall. BreakWall is obliged to make sure that the window isn't also broken (whatever that may mean), so it must do something to prevent the problem. What it does is illustrated in this image.
One other problem can occur when an addition is attempted and only the last point of an open object is selected. This point doesn't represent an edge like the other points in the object do. It is simply there to provide an ending location for the last segment of the figure. If this happens, BreakAll will complain and refuse to take action. The fix is to properly select an edge before requesting it be broken.
Normally, BreakAll would divide the wall into as many even pieces as needed to distribute the requested points. In the presence of wall attachments, it sums up the unused space on the wall. This unused space excludes all attachments, including the width of trim additional to doors and windows. It then divides this space by the number of points requested. Then it distributes these points around the attachments. This will result in the edges that contain attachments being larger then those that don't. The attachments remain unchanged in position on the wall, as compared to where they are before addional breaks are requested..
An error occurs only if there is insufficient space remaining on a wall to support the additional points. BreakAll will not allow a wall segment to be less then an inch in length; if the result would be less than that, an error will be reported and the breaks will not be executed.
Since breaks are placed near the center of the segment, moving attachments to one end of the segment before invoking BreakAll influences the placement of the break. If a door, for example, is caught on the wrong side of the break, the only remedy is to undo and retry the break or delete the door and recreate it on the correct segment.
BreakAll and the contents of this help file are
Copyright©2006 by ThistleKeep Engineering; all rights are reserved.
Comments and suggestions, as well as support, are entertained at Lmc@ThistleKeep.com.
"Punch!" and other titles of Punch! operations are trademarks of Punch! Software L.L.C.