After all the help I have gotten here, I finally have a chance to pay some of it back, unless everybody already knows this, in which case I'm just taking up space in the bbs.
I had a situation where I needed to put two completely different windows one above the other in the same wall. Below was a large picture window, above were two small sliding glass windows with frosted glass.
What doesn't work is the obvious (to me, anyway) sequence of putting in the big window, and then putting the small ones above. The trick I found that did work for me was to work from the top down. You can't install an element in a wall above an existing element, but you can install it below the existing element. So, install the higher element first, then in 3D view highlight it, right-click, and elevate it to the very tip-top of the wall. Go even further than that -- as long as the bottom of the window is still touching the wall, you can elevate it so that most of it is above the top of the wall. Now, you can insert the second element and as long as it is small enough that the top of it doesn't reach the bottom of the first element, it will snap right into place. Once that is done, you can set your elevation of each element to suit.
tanstaafl.
Windows always insert at the height pre-set in Building Locations, which is why some can't work out how to stack them, so thanks for raising the point, as it will no doubt help others.
There are actually several ways of doing it. If there is sufficient length in the wall, you can insert the two windows side by side, set the relevent elevations and as long as there is vertical room, you can just slide the windows sideways so they are in line. As you said you can elevate a window almost totally above the top of the wall to make room, but you can also lower the window with a negative figure so it is almost below the wall and insert the other one above it. A similar method to your suggestion is used to insert windows in gable ends and dormers. In this case they will move above the normal wall level into the gable itself.
Of course if the windows are the same type then you can use the "Lites" option to add windows at the top (or sides) but in this situation the glass is all the same so would not work for your example.
Allan
Quote from: Allan Chesney on January 25, 2009, 10:19:06 AM
...you can also lower the window with a negative figure so it is almost below the wall and insert the other one above it.
At first I thought you were mistaken about this (fat chance, hah?) but a little testing on my part shows you correct. I guess you don't have to work from the top down, but as you stated just get the elements you placed first out of the way, either above
or below wherever the new elements are going to go.
Quote from: Allan Chesney on January 25, 2009, 10:19:06 AM
If there is sufficient length in the wall, you can insert the two windows side by side, set the relevent elevations and as long as there is vertical room, you can just slide the windows sideways so they are in line.
Doh! If I had thought of that, it would have saved me some work! It wasn't obvious to me because I had already placed the first elements along the entire length of the wall, but since they were all duplicates left-to-right, I could easily have deleted the last one in line to get the working room I needed, popped my secondary elements in one at a time then elevated and slid them over. Finally, I could just duplicate and drag to replace the one I had deleted in order to make the working room. I will
definitely remember that for next time!
Allan, if I were even a quarter as proficient with this program as you are, I'd consider myself to be pretty darn good!
tanstaafl.
Don't worry, when you have been using it almost every day for 15 months you will probably be just as efficient, if not better!
Allan