Clash panel

Smart Clash Grouper

Turn a test's results into reviewable issues, grouping by root cause, element, level, grid or proximity, with a live preview.

What it does#

Three hundred clashes between the same two runs of pipework are one problem. This tool says so before anyone opens a report. It groups a test's results into issues, either by the element that causes them or by a chain of rules you choose, shows you the groups it would make, and only then writes them into Clash Detective.

How to use it#

1. Click Smart Clash Grouper. The dialog lists the tests in the document and fills in their result counts as it counts them.
2. Tick the tests to group.
3. Leave smart grouping on to group by the root-cause element, or switch it off and chain your own rules: element on side A or side B, proximity cluster, nearest level, grid intersection, source model, status, or assigned to. Rules apply in order, so "level, then element" gives one issue per element per level.
4. Watch the preview. It shows the groups the current rules would produce, largest first, before anything is written.
5. Click Group. The output window reports each test: how the grouping was decided, the largest groups with a link that shows the first clash in each, how many clashes were left in existing groups and how many stayed individual.

Limitations#

• Ungroup removes only the groups this tool made. Groups made by hand are never touched, which also means the tool cannot tidy up someone else's grouping.
• Grid and level rules need grids and levels in the model. A model exported without them falls back to proximity.
• The proximity cluster distance starts at two metres and is the setting most worth tuning: too small and one duct gets ten groups, too large and two rooms merge.

Other uses#

• Group by assigned to before a meeting so each trade sees only its own pile.
• Group by source model to find out which link is generating most of the noise this week.

Good to know#

Shift+Click stores presets in smart_clash_grouper.json; every run can still change all of them in the dialog. The groups it writes are ordinary Clash Detective groups and behave like any other in the report.