3rd Party ArchiCAD Add-OnsBy Jim Mahoney 
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There is a under used palette in ArchiCAD which can put a wealth of information at your fingertips. If you go to the Window Menu>>Palettes>> Element Information, it brings up the “Element Information” palette. This palette can provide information about either the last item you currently have selected or all items selected. There are 6 buttons on the palettes that act as a filter for the information you wish to display. That information includes the element’s properties, size, area, height, surface area or volume. Some of the choices, such as area, don’t apply to 2D items like lines.
So what is a practical use for this palette? I use it all the time to calculate travel distances to exits for code review. On most of the commercial work I do, I create an Egress Plan that shows the travel distances from all the applicable rooms and spaces to their two exits. To create the egress plan I use a polyline set to a heavy pen weight. I set the start point of the line to a show an arrowhead in the form of a large dot and I draw the polyline along the path of egress travel. At the exit out of the building I use a fill to create an arrowhead to represent the travel direction. Select the appropriate polyline and the travel length will be listed. I often put the two travel distance figure as a text box. These egress plans really seem to help the building officials understand your design and see that it meets the egress requirements.
Bring up the Element Info palette and use it with both 2D & 3D elements to see what kind of uses you can put it to in your practice.
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