Update history​

Arquimedes and job control

Bill of quantities of Revit models. Deducting openings in joined parallel walls

When a multilayer wall is defined in Revit, there are usually two different ways for Revit users to define it. One way is to select a multilayer wall that has already been defined as a family and the other way is to enter as many basic walls with as many layers as the multilayer wall to be entered. In the latter case, users use Revit's "Join Geometry" tool after entering the walls to make the whole wall act as a single unit. In both cases, when an opening is entered in the wall in Revit, it affects all the layers of the multilayer wall and all the walls joined by means of the "Join Geometry" tool.

In versions prior to Arquimedes 2024.a, when generating the quantities of these walls using the "MedBIM - Revit Plugin", the composition of the wall was not detected correctly (when it came to deducting an opening in the quantities of the wall) if in Revit the wall had been defined by joining walls that had been entered one by one. For this reason, in the quantities generated by the plugin, the opening was only deducted from one of the walls that made up the complete element. This did not happen when the wall in Revit had been defined as an element with different layers.

As of version 2024.a, the "MedBIM - Revit Plugin" now detects that the wall formed by different walls joined together in Revit is a unit and that the opening affects all the walls joined together in Revit equally.

New method for connecting applications to the BIMserver.center platform

The mode of communication between Open BIM applications and the BIMserver.center collaborative work platform has changed. In previous versions, the applications used the "BIMserver.center Sync" tool to upload and download the files of the contributions associated with the project from the platform. This tool was downloaded from the BIMserver.center platform or installed together with the installation of the platform applications if users so desired.

From version 2024.a onwards, applications are now able to work directly with BIMserver.center without an intermediary. That is, without the need for the "BIMserver.center Sync" tool.

This modification will improve the performance and efficiency of Open BIM applications significantly. By removing this dependency, the applications have more autonomy and the waiting times for communication between BIMserver.center Sync and the program have been considerably reduced. The process of downloading contributions has also been optimised, as users no longer need to obtain the entire content of a project from BIMserver.center in order to work, but only the contributions to be read.

The way of authenticating a BIMserver.center user in the applications has also been modified. Now, this process is carried out within the BIMserver.center web platform. To do this, the application with which the user is working will run the user's default browser when the "Login" button is pressed. When the credentials are entered, or after opening the browser if the user is already connected to the platform, an authorisation page will be displayed. This page details the resources the application is requesting access to and two buttons for granting or denying this access.

The authorisation must be carried out for each application. Once access has been granted, it is saved for the next time the program is run and there is no need to perform this process again for that application.

As well as performance improvements, changes have been made to the user interface of the Open BIM applications regarding the connection to BIMserver.center.

  • The "Connect to BIMserver.center" window now includes a "Configuration" button. Clicking it launches a menu from which you can edit the "File directory stored in local cache". This is the path where the files that make up the contributions will be downloaded when working with them from the applications. In previous versions, this location could be selected from the BIMserver.center Sync tool.
  • The appearance of the "Project selection" window has been modified.
  • In the "Select project" list, the "View only my projects" option has been added to show only the projects where the connected BIMserver.center user is the owner. Icons have also been included for the "Type of project" column in order to make it easier to identify them. The detailed data of a project now shows the image of each contribution, the description and the tags.
  • The "Review new contributions" and "Review updated contributions" options have been added to the "Create new project" window.
  • The list for selecting contributions ("Import BIM models") now includes the images of the contributions and the tags. The name of the contribution will be displayed in blue to indicate that the owner is the logged-in user.
  • When sharing a contribution or selecting contributions during the process of linking to a BIMserver.center project, a progress window will appear during the upload or download process.

To work in BIMserver.center with versions of Open BIM applications prior to 2024.a, users must continue to use the BIMserver.center Sync tool. This is still available for download from the platform and was included in the installation packages of the CYPE Open BIM applications prior to 2024.a.

Font size

The "Font size" option has been added to the general configuration menu of the applications. This tool allows users to increase or decrease the basic size of the font used in the user interface of the programs. Thanks to this implementation, the accessibility of the applications has been improved while also ensuring the correct visibility of the content on devices with different screen resolutions.

To enter a "Basic size" the "Set custom font size" option must be checked. The size users can enter is the application's basic font size. Any other font sizes that may exist in the program's interface will be automatically modified proportionally according to the change in the basic size.

It is important to note that, as this is a common parameter, its modification will affect all installed CYPE tools.

Visible name of the job or database in the top bar of the program

The visible name of the job or database is displayed in the top bar of the program.

This way, users can clearly see which job or database they are viewing at any given moment.

Downloading from the BIMserver.center platform

As of 16 March 2022, the different versions of Arquimedes are available for download in the BIMserver.center Store.

Arquimedes can now be installed by downloading the complete classic package from the download area of the CYPE website or by individually downloading the version of Arquimedes you wish to work with from the BIMserver.center Store.

These versions of Arquimedes are:

  • Arquimedes
  • Arquimedes and job control

The download links for these versions of Arquimedes can all be found on each of their "Websites". More specifically, by clicking on the "Download" button on any of these pages.

Furthermore, from here users can download the different Archimedes plugins for other applications and the "Arquimedes' data base server".

More applications from the classic CYPE package will gradually be added to the BIMserver.center Store.

General improvements

Version 2021.g of CYPE’s programs is a closing version of the 2021 version.

As well as the new features and improvements expressly indicated in each version of CYPE software, process optimisation involving internal updates for all our programs is normally included. In each revision, all programs are systematically checked and changes are made to improve their performance, therefore, we recommend that our users (in this case those of v.2021) always update their version to the latest one, regardless of the country for which they are using CYPE software or the language in which it is installed.

Import quantities from "ArchiCAD® 24 SPA"

The connection between Arquimedes and ArchiCAD® has been updated in the 2021.b version, to adapt it to import ArchiCAD® quantities from its new version, "ArchiCAD® 24 SPA". The connection with ArchiCAD® is a tool of the "Automatic quantity import from drawings and link with CAD programs" module.

Bills of quantities of Revit models. Use the same quantity extraction combination for entity links of the same family

When, from the "Assign job items and quantity extraction" dialogue box, there is more than one link of several Types of the same Family to the same job item, the Match column allows users to use the same combination in entity links of the same family.

It is possible to match the sets of measurement rules of several entity links with a job item. When one of them is modified, the modification is applied to all the links of that job item. If the project already had different rules (quantity combinations) in the same job item, the program does not unify them; it only does so if one is modified.

All entities (Types) that are linked to a job item will have the same set of measurement rules because they refer to the same job item.

Bills of quantities of Revit models. Sets of measurement rules for openings

More options have been included within the "Deduct openings greater than" option to take into account more measurement rules, e.g. the possibility to deduct only one part (usually 50%) of openings that are smaller than a given value, and deduct them all if they exceed that value. The set of measurement rules for openings can be accessed using the "Set of measurement rules for openings" button. Here, users can:

  • Deduct all openings that are greater than a given surface area.
  • Only deduct the excess of a given surface area of openings, including deducting the excess of a given surface between two values and the total surface area of openings that is greater than a given surface area.
  • Deduct a given percentage of the openings, or just deduct a given percentage of a surface area that lies between two given values and 100% of the openings of more than one given surface area.

Option improvements for the option “Deduct openings greater than...”

The number of fields available for openings measurements and for measurements of elements that use a material have been increased.

When a Revit entity or material with the possibility to have openings deducted is linked to a budget item in Arquimedes, all the numerical parameters of elements and material quantities that produce openings are made visible in the “To deduct” tab, when the option “Deduct openings greater than...” is activated. For example, in a "Wall", both the dimensions of openings provided by the Revit complement and the numerical parameters of the elements that produce openings (windows, doors, etc) are shown in the "To deduct" tab.

The section “RVT links” is added to the Revit entities tree

When the Revit BIM model that is linked to Archimedes contains Revit links, the "RVT Links" section appears in the Revit entities tree. This section aids users to obtain quantities and to make comments in the quantity tables of the selected Revit link.

A new zone called "Links" is also included in the "Quantity filters" option that appears when the new zone button is pressed. In the "Links" area users can mark, to "Show" or "Measure" Revit links to see the number of instances that contain the links and to activate the option "Detail elements" in the quantity tables, depending on the composition of the comments that is defined.

64-bit Version

As of the 2019.f version, CYPE programs (those downloaded from our website and those downloaded from the BIMserver.center platform) are compiled for 64-bit systems. The 64-bit compilation of CYPE software implies the use of the superior features of 64-bit processors and operating systems compared to those of 32 bits.

Please bear in mind that you must have a 64-bit operating system to be able to work with any 64-bit software.

In any case and as a temporary measure, the 2019.f version is available in 64 and 32 bits on the download area of our webpage. The programs that can be downloaded from the BIMserver.center platform are only available in 64 bits. If you have a 64-bit operating system, you can work with either the 64-bit and 32-bit version of our software, although we strongly recommend that you install the 64-bit CYPE software version.

You can see which operating system is installed on your computer by clicking on "Control panel > System".

Since 64-bit microprocessors began to be massively introduced into personal computers from 2003 and from the Windows XP version, Microsoft already offers the two versions of its operating systems (32 and 64 bits). We understand that almost all our users will have computers with 64-bit processors (x64) and 64-bit operating systems.

It could occur that a user may wish to work with a computer with a 64-bit processor but with a 32-bit operating system. It would be very strange if the computer had a 32-bit processor (x86 - computers over 15 years old). If any of these is your case, we advise you to talk to your hardware or software provider to update your situation as soon as possible. However, you can download the 32-bit version and work with CYPE programs that can be downloaded from our website until your situation is up-to-date.