QUESTION: Using "Multi-Deck Tools" in non-Cosmographer Maps

DaltonSpence · April 2019

After downloading and installing the most recent edition of the Tome of Ultimate Mapping I was perusing the commands spreadsheet looking for unfamiliar commands when I discovered two from Cosmographer that permitted multi-deck operations.

Extract from TUM spreadsheet
Command	Description	Where?	Text Equivalent
Copy to Level	Copies entities in the drawing to the same position in other drawings in the same multi-floor map set	Cosmographer menu → Multi-Deck Tools → Copy to Level	FLOORPLANCOPY
Manage Levels	Manages the various drawings in a multi-floor drawing, such as a starship deck plan. Allows you to add new levels, delete levels and rearrange levels. The navigation links in each of the related drawings will be updated to the new configuration	Cosmographer menu → Multi-Deck Tools → Manage Levels	FLOORPLANADD

Both commands were listed as part of the core program and I've been looking a long time for a feature that could handle a set of multi-level floorplans. I haven't used Cosmographer in a long time so I was wondering; can these commands be used from the command line on multi-level maps from non-Cosmographer templates using other level naming schemes?

Monsen · April 2019

Yes, while written for Cosmographer, they work with any multi-floorplan drawing that was created as such from the new map wizard.

DaltonSpence · April 2019

Thanks. I do have a few more questions however:

If these commands work on any NEWWIZ multilevel map, shouldn't they be on the general Tools menu rather than the Cosmographer one?
I noticed while testing FLOORPLANADD that sometimes when you add a new level via the dialog it doesn't show up in all the key lists. How can I avoid this?
Is there any way to predict the width of the key box generated by NEWWIZ? Sometimes I know the width and height of the map content in advance and I want to leave enough space for the key box without any overlap.
Finally is there any way to copy custom angled snap grids to other map levels (or other maps)? If my building has multiple angled sections it's a pain to add the new grids manually on each level.

Monsen · April 2019

Probably because they were made for Cosmographer, and haven't been tested/intended to use outside it. Besides, floorplan tools like these doesn't make sense in every context anyway, so making them available for every map type just clutter things up.
Haven't noticed this myself, but again, it might simply be a bug related to the fact that they were mainly written/tested with cosmographer in mind
Probably, but I don't know the formula here, that's hidden away in the source code somewhere
No. If it is a grid you commonly use, it might be best to add it to the template, making it available for future maps. For multi-level maps, if you add levels, there is a blank map in the folder that is used as a template for when you add more levels, so adding them to this would ensure that it was added to any new levels

DaltonSpence · April 2019

Okay, that makes sense.
Only thing I can figure is that I may have been working on more than one level at a time so when I used FLOORPLANADD in one window then saved the level in the other it overrode the changed key list.
Too bad. I guess I'm left with trial and error then.
What I ended up doing was
1. deleting all the higher levels and the first basement using FLOORPLANADD from the "Ground Floor" map,
2. copied the ground plan (this included some internal walls and main stairwells) to the "_blank" level map,
3. added the angled grids to the "_blank" level map and saved it,
4. then went back to the "Ground Floor" and used FLOORPLANADD to add the deleted levels back (this included the "Roof").
In the future I will avoid step 1 by not creating those levels until I have the ground plan set up.

Thanks for your help.

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QUESTION: Using "Multi-Deck Tools" in non-Cosmographer Maps

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