Walls are the most complicated types of objects in Punch!, so we will use them as an example about how InSync is used..
When discussing walls, the true object is a wallset (a set of connected walls), and the individual walls are segments of the wallset. A wallset is a group of joined walls; for example, the outside bounds of the house should be delineated by an "exterior wallset", which is the joined set of all the walls that determine the outside shape of the house (see The Ten Commandments of Walls for more details about this). Interior walls are generally joined in sets within as convenient - there are no requirements about how interior wallsets have to be formed - as working with wallsets is more convenient than working with unjoined walls. Note that a wallset may consist of a single unjoined wall, so all walls are in wallsets.
Walls and wallsets have different, complimentary Properties. Wallsets have a thickness property, for example, and that means that every wall in a wallset will have the same thickness, as it is a wallset (not a wall) property. On the other hand, each wall has a shape, and several walls joined may have different shapes. Here is a summary of the wall and wallset Properties which InSync works with:
| Wallset | Wall | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Property | Values | Property | Values |
| flat trim finish | texture/color | wall finish (on left and right sides) | texture/color |
| wainscot finish | texture/color | trim style (on left and right sides) | flat trim (4 sizes), library paneling (4 sizes), wainscot (4 sizes), custom |
| library paneling vertical finish | texture/color | wall style (shape) | one of twelve styles |
| library paneling horizontal finish (shared with) autofloor bottom finish | texture/color | elevation | measurement |
| autofloor top finish | texture/color | base height | positive measurement |
| autofloor? | on, off | Pitches A and B (Note 1) | positive number |
| autofloor thickness | positive measurement | Heights C and D (Note 1) | positive measurement |
| wall thickness | positive measurement | autodimensions? | on, off |
| footing? | on, off | callouts? | on, off |
| footing width | positive measurement | curved? | on, off |
| dimension side: right | true, false | ||
| dimension the center | true, false | ||
Note 1: These properties only apply to some of the wall shapes, so the settings may not be available.
For InSync's purposes, we merge the wall and wallset Properties on the same dialog, applying a uniform wall property to all walls in all the wallsets in the group, if that is indicated.
This list does not exhaust the Properties of walls - in particular, we have not mentioned positioning, which is indicated on the plan by the wall's handles. This applies to all object types - the positioning, orientation and shape of some of them are all determined by the handle positions, probably the most vital piece of information about any object. However, it is not likely that anyone has a use for a tool which will position a number of walls identically, so InSync does not consider positioning of the object (nor orientation, a corollary to positioning).
The dialog that supports walls and wallsets is shown here; the wallset items are above the divider; the wall items below:
All the changeable properties are listed on the dialog, along with an appropriate control for setting that property. The data (or lack) in a control indicates whether the initial scan of the selected objects all match a single value for each property. If a value is displayed, that value is the same for all objects selected. If the control is empty, then the values differs among the objects.
To the left of each control is a checkbox called the activator. The activators are all initially set to off when a dialog is opened, and the corresponding data items are grayed out, whether they contain data or not (see the paragraph just above). When an activator is checked, the corresponding data becomes available for editing, and the selected objects will all have that field set to the edited value when the user clicks OK. The activator can also be unchecked, and the data field will again gray out, and the corresponding field will not be edited at exit.
As expected, clicking the Cancel key will abort any changes to the plan data. The OK button will cause the changes to be committed, and will exit InSync back to Punch!.
Be aware that if the changes you require are extensive it may take a while for Punch! to incorporate them back into the plan when InSync exits. Unfortunately, in Punch! version 8.x and less, there is no indication that is happening (one would expect the cursor to change to an hourglass, as it does in versions following 8.0). If any action is attempted after returning to Punch! while this is happening, Punch! will display a dialog saying that a PowerTool is currently in control, and asking if you want to abort it. Answering No to this will allow InSync to continue the update; answering Yes will result in unpredictable outcomes, so choose No and wait a while longer. The screen should flash once when the update is complete.
As always, help is available from each dialog using the Help button. In InSync's case, The first call for help from a dialog results in the following display to assist in a basic how-to for using InSync dialogs:
The second use of the Help button results in the usual display of the InSync User's Guide.
InSync and the contents of this help file are
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