Hi VA-people
I’m testing out VA for our little office, and a thing I’m missing, is the ability to make element styles with multiple options. Say we have a library of - in this case - bathroom mirrors, each complete with 3D and 2D block. Is it possible to make a single style the includes them all, and makes selecting the specific model possible from the Styles menu, or do we really need separate styles for each model? If we need a separate style for each model, it would be great to have folders and subfolders inside the styles dialog.
TIA, Jakob
Hello Jakob,
You can have almost everything if you are ready for some pain and using Grasshopper 
And I agree, some categorization would be much appreciated, as well as inheriting properties, but I have noted here some reluctance of the Asuni guys
Cheers, Jaro
Hi @jerry.bakowski
I looked into GH, and it seems fine for creating parametric styles, eg. custom columns etc., but for elements where you already have the geometry (usually downloaded from the manufacturer) it seems less than ideal. It would take some clever Grasshopping to get an index to switch between the various models. Also, the GH definition would be massive, as it would require every single model to be internalised. I was hoping there would some clever way of referencing external 3dm files in styles, but I guess not.
-Jakob
Hi @Normand, you could have one single VisualARQ style that stores the information of multiple blocks.
For example, you can create a GH definition that references different blocks There is a Block Definition Param that you can use for that.
These block definitions could be, for example, a few blocks of the same object in different sizes). Then, you could have a “List” parameter in the gh file that chooses one block or another.
When you create a new style using that definition, you will be able to choose one block or another according to the list parameter.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to “internalize data” on Block definition Params, so it is important to take into account that the block definitions should exist in the document where you create the style.
I’ve developed a small example that should work if you open it in a VisualARQ-meters template.
You can create a new Element style from that definition to see how this works.
This is something planned in our wishlist, so I’ll let you know if there’s any news.
Hi @fsalla
Thank you so much! It was the whole gate/stream-thing I wasn’t getting! I’m still such a Grasshopper newbie, but it’s (slowly!) getting better. Have used it a little for surface patterning in product design, but slowly getting the hang of more details. Great example, and now I get it!
Thanks again 
-Jakob
1 Like