Renerabbitt

20 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

My problem is the text files are in my plan folder and I don't have a way to identify that in the PM.  If they were just in a fixed Windows Folder it would work but in my use case they have to be in a project specific folder.  I didn't see a way to get that.  The NVP is probably what's missing.

I've brought this up before in other threads where you mention this and I haven't seen a response.. I know its not perfect but it does work if you give a static main projects directory and then search for your project by project name. I am able to find my csv files from the project and plan name nvp's in that way automatically so long as I give a static master projects directory

2 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

I'm in the same boat but I have additional problems with the PM.  One major problem is the inability to read/write external files with Ruby.  I hope CA will fix that and simplify the PM.

Joe I am curious, I keep giving a method for this, I am able to read..I have never checked write, and I am using PM.
My main gripe is no NVP for the folder tags

46 minutes ago, VHampton said:

but because it introduces more rules than rewards for those of us who already work cleanly and deliberately.

I disagree, updating a template has never been easier. dragging and dropping is a dream. duplicating a complexed linked layout template is super easy. navigating to my projects is faster...like way faster. versioning is faster.
On the flip side, team collab is way more convoluted in project management

21 minutes ago, NewTexan said:

Was PM functionality such a big user request for CA?

inadvertently yes. Huge number of support calls on broken links from people who do not understand where texture files are stored and search for and why renaming a file breaks a linked layout

1 hour ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

Trigger would work amazing for a team and sharing environments

So I want to admit that I have been deeply confused about this request from the start, so it's hard for me to understand the focus really. I do think we could use some additional backup function but regarding your specific request, I just don't understand your process.
You seem to have a need for backing up projects on a daily basis, that part I get, but what I don't get is why the backup does not suffice, and the reason I don't understand that aspect of it is that what you have stated previously is that this is for the case when you have a failure, meaning a backup is required. SO you are doing a ton of complex manual work to get your daily project file into its appropriate place, but the thing I don't personally get, is that I have only had 2 computers fail in the last 15 years. Even if that number was 4, the amount of work you are doing to keep an organized daily project file backup can't possible equate to the amount of time it takes to find the file in the automatic backup file and import it into chief and relink the layout...if we crashed 4 times in 15 years, that's maybe 4 minutes of importing a layout and plan and relinking it..or relinking from the previous save archive.

I just grabbed a plan from the backup and restored it and relinked it and it only took 30 seconds. ..sure I get that you have this preference and far be it for me to stand in the way of a preference, but this specific preference can cause chief a large number of support calls when you consider how others might unintentionally abuse such a system.

I want to keep adding in more knowledge for you to consider your request. Most offices that I work with on a regular basis keep versioning in terms of design version and iteration. They need a design review A-D with versions 4-5 for different collaborative team based designs. This means keeping upwards of 8 files in any given conceptual design phase. Then through that, that might keep a history based on date as progress sets, potentially compounding on several design versions that are set to be further developed so now they may have 12 active versions of the file. Then they may keep these versions through progress cycles while more work is done and they typically wanted to keep previous dated files, as well as keeping files separate based on design technician.... so you might have now 24 active file sets for example:

This is very very common in many offices.
Now consider that my template file, completely blank, with nothing drawn, saved as a caproject file is 270mb. A finished project may be 350mb then...this means im keeping one project active through its design development phase to the tune of  8gb and if we have an office going though 10 projects at 6 office seats, I just feel like somewhere in there is some problems, transferring 80gb of data across 6 machines constantly. Ever wait for a client to download a 280mb file on their terrible ISP during a meeting? .its excruciating.
Add in that I keep all versions from all projects for 7 years before deleting older copies...this is an incredibly huge data store now. It's not that I would use this method, its that someone could without knowing why a caproject file is so large.

I think the request just needs more consideration. I also think that this triggers more questions than it solves for. Most of the people I run chief training and tech support for on a daily basis have trouble even finding their "extract all" button on a zip file. I could almost guarantee that people are not going to understand that when they export a caproject file that this is a DUMB copy. I think they should be prompted to delete the copy in the project browser if their intent is to share with a colleague to work on, since their is now no linked correlation between the exported copy and the original. I swear this will become an issue without proper guidance.

..I'm still a big advocate for having an entirely separate half of this software disabled until you hit an advanced button in preferences for users like yourself who understand complex actions. Give someone an automatic caproject file export where they did one of the most common design based things ever...importing a gigantic sketchup warehouse file and wondering why their hard drive ran out of space on their machine because they dont know that a caproject file is storing all of the images for their project every time it runs even if all they did was 5 minutes of work. I am certain you can see the issue here?

I personally would love it if we could export a linked project as a separate file from the linked assets of that file and chief could figure out how to make the two work in unison, and then we could have the option to export a project with or without the assets. 
I know I keep getting a reputation for trying to railroad suggestions...and I suppose I don't full understand why I am compelled to get into it. I think a big part of it is that I just get passionate about creating things that are scalable and function for all users on the whole. One of the biggest problems to me with Chief is every consideration runs through a major bottleneck..which is "How will this effect the volume of support calls?" It is the thing above all things because its one of the largest selling points of this software and every single suggestion must force its way through that sliver of a funnel...and in its current state, this request has the potential of increasing support calls...so what can we do to help narrow its focus and understand your core need.
Dermot said something to me one late night after their dinner event and I am paraphrasing to the best of my recollection..help me out here @KTransue..."Don't tell me your solutions, don't tell me your problems, just tell me what your goal is and maybe I can build something that will work for you"
from my understanding and simply stated:

Your end goal is to have a daily automated backup of your linked layout and associated plan files that you can sync to your own independent cloud.
 

28 minutes ago, twnctyguy said:

OK, ready for the snarky answers, but why is it so difficult to do an entrance gate that matches the railing for a deck?  

Draw out a segment of your deck railing and make the necessary modifications for it to look like a door then with the railing selected use the convert selected to symbol tool to convert it to the symbol category of door 

19 minutes ago, SHCanada2 said:

in the grand scheme of things, of how many R/W are done constantly by windows and others, I would think doing an export is of negligible impact to the lifespan

 

you're right, I was wrong on that part

5 hours ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

Edit: Is an archived file the last saved file? Meaning, as the system is generating archives, when you save last and close the Project, is an archive generated with the last edits? That would be important.

If you set it up that way then yes it can archive based on your previous save"

I'm still not sure why it being a caproject file matters to you in the context of what you are doing. Restoring an archived layout for instance will bring in the associated plan files and anything else that was sent to view as shown here...All I did was restore the layout in archive:

No it wont bring in a pdf that wasn't sent to anything but that's a static object that could just be imported back in.
Since it doesn't seem to me as if you are adding textures that you are worried about losing...you would need to be building a lot of materials everyday from assets not already in your system for it to truly matter, unless I am missing something? More than likely you're not adding more than a handful of materials every week so a weekly backup would cover that.
If you must have a caproject file, I might think about switching to carbonite, which backs up your entire system and then you could just restore your managed files if you truly had a crash or more accurate, you would just restore your entire system if you had a crash. So no need to do this daily export since carbonite would handle that. 
If you're currently writing these caproject files to your main nvme, your pumping the read/write up pretty high and shortening the lifespan on an nvme...I don't know if you are or not but hopefully youre saving to a secondary non-system drive instead as your first save point.
Aside from carbonite, you could just use task scheduler or a symlink to backup the core managed files. Either one of these would save you from needing to manually export your caproject files every day. A project file for me is 270mb so thats a ton of redundant data being written.
Anyways just giving more info in case some of it is new to you

18 minutes ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

I would lose all the work I did on that day

Do you have your auto archive folder set to your backup system? You would only lose the work up to the point of your archive.

On 5/28/2025 at 2:12 PM, ChiefUserMandy said:

Is there an online training video for this rather than having to do the one on one training? I am currently trying to do the same for a residential builder. 

For which aspect specifically? Which step of creating an elevation is hanging you up? I don't think there is an all encompassing elevation video though I haven't looked in a  while

53 minutes ago, mtldesigns said:

stair issues

which stair issues? maybe I have answers
 

53 minutes ago, mtldesigns said:

ailing walls issues

Which? maybe I have answers

53 minutes ago, mtldesigns said:

dimensioning options

We did get some new ones yes

 

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project management system, or I just missed it.  

This is one of the most requested things for the last decade..to specifically address the issue of broken links and missing files across machines and inter-office sharing
It's also Chief's number 1 support call I believe...and though its not perfect..its a big step in the right direction .


Also there are a ton of bread and butter things. just the 3d temp dimensions are HUGE productivity time saver.
 

Going to help you out, most of this info is incorrect....which should make you happy 

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

Chief now groups your plans, layouts, and assets into a single project file (.caproj) stored in your Documents folder.

It is spread out around a number of different folders, and careful with the wording, this almost implies all layouts and plans get stored in a caproject file. A .caproject file only exists outside of your machine if you export one, and then and only then does it become a project file and it includes whatever plans and layouts and other documents were chose to be exported with the project as well as any assets such as material texture files.

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

1. Layouts lose their links to plans when imported.

You have to reconnect them manually every time.

Risk: Incorrect or mismatched plans can get printed or submitted—potentially triggering permit rejection, construction errors, or liability for the designer.

This is not true if you import a layout file only and chief asks if you would like to import the associated plan files, the links will be retained. Also the links will be retained for a caproject file if they existed. If you are seeing otherwise then please report it as that shouldn't be the case and you might want to double check that before you exported a caproject file

 

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

2. Duplicate files are accepted without warning or distinction.

Chief allows files with the same name to coexist in the project—even if they contain different content.

Risk: Users can unknowingly work on the wrong version, or issue a file that appears correct but contains outdated or unapproved content—risking rework, confusion, or legal exposure.

It gave me a warning if I tried to rename to the same name and it gave me a warning if I tried to drag and drop into the project with a file of the same name as another that exists in that project:


 

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3. No metadata or file history is visible.

No tracking of who made changes or when.

Risk: Teams have no way to verify the status or history of a file, leading to loss of accountability, inability to verify approvals, or untraceable errors in submitted documents.

 

A team cannot work on a project file within your version of the software. It's currently not possible, so I am not sure what kind of a risk this proposes. For someone to work on a file, you would need to export it, which is very very similar to the process that it was before. Thus producing the meta data. In bried, exporting a caproject file replaces hitting save at the end of a session...and in a team workflow, the caproject file should be deleted from the project browser upon export which you can do by clicking delete, which will give you the export and delete option.

 

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

4. There’s no clean way to share or extract a subset of a project—like multiple design options.

You can export/import individual files, but not a bundle that retains internal structure or references.

Risk: Collaborators can’t isolate just the pieces they need, and reviewers may receive extraneous or obsolete content—introducing major clarity issues and potential misinterpretation of the design intent.

We can do exactly this in the export project option, picking and choosing which files to export:



 

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5. If a team member is unavailable, their work is locked away.

Project containers live in hidden folders. No export = no access.

Risk: Deadlines can be missed, approvals delayed, or teams left unable to submit or revise work without access to another user’s machine—an operational and contractual risk

This is really up to you and the team for what your standards are. If its a collaborative team, then there should be an export at the end of each drafting session. Also their is an automatic backup system as well as the archive system, both of which could be pointed to a team cloud and accessed there as well. This is really no different than it was before, since before if a team member didn't save their work or didn't have their cloud updating you'd be running into the same issue. The different is very slight. you export a caproject folder to your teams cloud..then do as you normally would.
I would also suggest that if a project is being exported, it should at the same time be deleted from that machine's project manager, as now it is the obsolete version in the project browser
 

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

File tagging (draft, issued, archived)

We have this its just called folder...which is abhorrently obnoxious, since we call other things "Folders" but it works lag tags do, such as a project being tagged with multiple folders

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

Metadata tracking: author, modified date, version

Also have this in the time tracker or revision tool

 

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

Support grouped import/export of project subsets, like multiple design options, with links and structure intact

We have this see above

 

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

Persistent plan-layout linking across exports/imports

Double check this, it works on my end

 

5 hours ago, KTransue said:

Shared-access fallback or override for unavailable team members

automatic backup is your friend here, you can also point the archive to a shared folder so automatic archive backs up plan and layout

Will update later, but 3d dimension text is no longer effected by the rendering technique like in past when you had a low sample rate in raytrace rendering the text was barely legible

1 hour ago, KacyRSC said:

Update: For now, it seems like if you consistently switch workstations your best bet is to just disable Chiefs new project management feature. I've tried everything from importing .caproj files to restoring a project from backup, to overwriting the entire Data folder, and my desktop refuses to acknowledge the most recent project file. Hopefully this is something that works seamlessly in the future!

you can simply import a plan file. it doesnt need to be a caproject file

51 minutes ago, Adam_Gibson said:

The plan is too large to attach here

Hope you don't mind, sharing back this much much newer version. I dindt understand the issue you were having. maybe its fixed in this version:

2 hours ago, Electromen said:

I’d like to move the project files to a folder that I backup routinely

The are stored as encrypted files. Instead save a backup and back that up routinely instead, or save a backup and extract the files to backup routinely

24 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said:

Yes. That is what happens if you bring objects over from imperial plans into metric plans.  Feels like it shouldn’t be necessary.  

not just objects. text size for instance, number height on dimensions, , basically many input you had in inches will be wrong, some do convert correclty..it really is a ton of work

On 5/21/2025 at 1:23 PM, Alaskan_Son said:

a lot easier in X17

Pretty sure the unit conversions make 4" into 4mm upon import. It's a nightmare truly. I've tried many times to create my templates in imperial with every workaround I can think of. It's a ton of work

Want to learn Macros, go to these two guys above.
I have it built into my Pro Plan  templates that it pulls this info from a CSV FIle so its easier for an assistant to plug in for me if I choose. it falls back to the default tools/designer\client information in the case that it doesnt see a CSV. You can always use Fax input field as well




They could also teach you how to do this for yourself. I run into Joe in Idaho at Chief's events, an awesome person, and I plan on meeting Mike one of these days up in Alaska, invaluable resources in the community

3 hours ago, PitMan71 said:

look

rebuild your foundation. You have auto unchecked
 

On 5/8/2025 at 7:06 AM, PitMan71 said:

library items, but that doesn't work

why not?

On 5/10/2025 at 7:37 AM, ValleyGuy said:

Some people are fine with this and some people are not.

Your Muni is fine with it .
Chief actually splits on garages correctly.
Regarding interior rooms, dont use standard area, use interior area.
Total sq ft is correct, percentage of coverage is correct, conditioned vs unconditioned sometimes is off ..but it is off less than 0.05% discrepancy and that's if the house is built exactly to the size you drafted it at. You could also build in a discrepancy modifier like I did

See conditioned area working exactly as it should on a garage, my lot analysis is come from room standard area, and I show a P-line confirming its accuracy

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there isn't an OIP (object information panel) in Room Defaults (little wrench) 

Oh but there is one in Floor Defaults
and yes there are streamlined approached to p-line stuff.

1 hour ago, DenandBurrow said:

God bless you, sir! Super new to running Ruby scripts. Is there a quick guide on it for Chief?

There is a tutorial in the program that is very basic and a section the manual but not much else. I saw the chat log, ruby can't do anything programmatically for you so the bot gave you some accurate info albeit a slow method for relinking layout. While in layout you should go to tools menu then layout then referenced plan files to change the reference plan being used to your active plan 

On 5/10/2025 at 3:27 PM, para-CAD said:

6040
 

6/0-4/0

 

6-0/4-0

 

60”x40”

 

crazy, huh. 
 

Rene and Alaskan Son both have macros to make that issue go away. 

 

 

2 hours ago, danilo said:

did any encounter a label discrepancy in windows? 

a window 6040 . My framers always read this has 6ft x 48" like when you actually go to order on a store. but chief architect  interpreted has 5ft by 48" witch is wrong. does any one experience this issue ? 

Danilo, is this the same danilo that uses my templates? I just checked my systems across all versions, no such issue. Even the mulled unit shows correctly

Mention an unlisted feature and I will add it to the Organized List:

1. Text
   1. Text stored in Library, when selected and then hovering over plan no longer shows a preview of the text. You can click and place with precision and without distraction. helpful for long macro scripts
   2. In 3d Views, Move Labels, dimensions and text with the new gizmo that also works with polyline based object end manipulation
2. Fixtures
   1. The help section isn't built on this yet but in the options menu of your symbol, you can specify offset if inserted into cabinet front, and this will only effect offset if inserted, otherwise the Y offset is determined from the 3d panel. So you can have a fixture that has an offset only if inserted into a cabinet. Same goes for other offset values in the options panel of your symbol.
3. Polylines and More
   1. In previous versions if you clicked on a temp dimension to dimension an edge and hit enter, it would cycle to the next side temp dimensions. This no longer does this
4. Library
   1. Tags right click drop down menu on a library object now show more than double the rows on my test machine
5. Macros
   1. New Global variables 

      The following Ruby NVPs and global text macros were updated to include folder paths within projects:

   2. Layout boxes:
      • referenced_full_document_name
      • referenced_full_filename
   3. Callouts:
      • linked_view_full_document_name
      • linked_view_full_filename
   4. Global macros:
      • %document.dir%
      • %file.dir%
      • %document%
      • %file%
6. Interface
   1. After selecting an object and then hovering over a dimension input, visual indicators now show what edges or referenced points are being effected by movement from the dimensional input
   2. Tab/enter input now works in continuous draw mode
   3. Tab/enter now works for 2 directions on 3d solids in 3d view when drawn from an x/y plane
   4. Marquee Selection on Faces facing X/Y will now group select in plan view
7. Walls
   1. You can now specify a different layer for your pony wall to report to making it easier to control display and/or fill on a saved plan view basis
8. Materials
   1. Placemarker for profile painter