Barton_Brown

Thanks Perry and Joe. Makes perfect sense now that it is explained. THANK YOU!

Thanks Perry! One question: I understand the use of macros that evaluate or display information pulled from an object. In your example, why would one prefer this type of macro over just a CAD block with the same, non-changing information. I'm still learning so the answer may be obvious, please excuse my ignorance if it is. Thanks.

Wow! Thanks Joe, Perry and Gerry - a mini-course in macros! I watched some of the CA vids on macros last night so the samples and explanations (thanks Joe) are a great follow-up.

Jon, thanks for the suggestion/pointer. Will do!

Thanks Gerry, your response clears up my confusion on why, even though I looked, I could only find macros associated with text and labels... I figured I was just not looking in the correct references. That said, Perry, you indicate that even in their crippled form that macros and Ruby have helped make you more efficient, so I'll keep plugging away to understand the features that do exist. Thanks.

I'd love to see how macros are being used 'out in the wild'. Any chance the macros could be pruned down so they show 'functionality' without revealing 'content'? Has anyone done videos featuring 'macros'? I know CA has some videos dating back to X2 and X3 versions.

Barry, this is from the X6 reference manual:When Chief Architect opens a new, blank plan or layout file, the new file is actually a copy of a template using either metric or Imperial units of measurement and predefined default settings, layer settings, wall definitions, and page setup information. In other words, the template files only apply to NEW, BLANK plans. Existing plans will retain their present settings no matter what template file you have selected in 'preferences'. I guess I'm missing something - why not do what Perry suggested and just make a copy of your X5 plan (for safety) and then open it in X6, let X6 migrate the plan and make the minor adjustments, if any, that occur? I have a plan started in V9.5 that I have migrated through each version of CA up to X6. Yes, there were some minor corrections/tweaks required along the way but it was much easier than what it appears you are attempting to do.

Bill, opened your plan on my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro (see my signature) - did not see any of the slowness that you described. Doug Park provided the best advice, IMHO. Memory usage went from 2.5 GB RAM (CA not running) to 2.8 GB RAM (CA running with your plan open) so your plan itself does not put a big load on system memory. Sorry I can't be more help.

Yes, should work since this is pretty much how CA describes, on page 81 of the X6 reference manual, how to create new template plan files. Once you have the new template file, copying/pasting an old file into a new file using the old file as a template should retain everything... Or as Perry suggested, just open a copy of the X5 file in X6 and let it upgrade.

The dashed lines in plan view are there because you represented the door as a 'garage' door. CA assumes you want to know what the clearance area is for a lift door when viewing the plan so they add the dashed lines. If you are using a different type of door, like a rollup door, change the 'door' to a 'doorway' (the dashed lines will go away in plan view) and then insert your rollup door symbols into the doorway for correct 3D views.

Recognize that the hatching is part of the 'room specification' - thus it stops at the wall/doorway because these define the edges of the room. This behavior is what I would expect to happen. Maybe a more experienced CA user has an automatic fix, I do not. If you really want the doorways filled in plan view, you can always draw CAD lines to extend the hatching.

Joe, works perfectly! Thanks for the tip.

Good choice, congratulations and welcome aboard!

Hi Jenny, Attached are three images with the three cable light sets in the kitchen. These are 'dark night' images. The first is a render with shadows, the second is 'high quality' ray trace with cable lights only, the third is 'high quality' ray trace with cable lights and three of your non-displaying lights turned on. I sent you an email containing the zip file of the plan from which these images were made. I adjusted the light data for the cable lights so there are 5 spot lights pointing straight down of '40 watt' intensity each. Click on the cable light in plan view and save it as a symbol. If you need horizontal cable lights, when you bring them back in from the library, they are horizontal - the slope data is apparently not retained when an object is save as a library object. Oh, just noticed when looking at the last ray trace, the hood doesn't go completely to the ceiling... Hope this helps! If you have questions, PM me or email.

Hi Jenny, the plan you attached had no content. I suspect you compressed it while it was still open in CA. Please close it out in CA, compress and re- attach. Thanks.

Dropbox has an 'intelligent' update rather than pushing an entire file when a change is made. I have a .plan file that is large (yes, and probably very bloated) of about 90 MB. When I make small changes to that file, it is synced in dropbox in less than 10 seconds! The only way for you to know is to try it - I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Trivial point, but are we talking two different programs here? One is 'always free' non-PRO version, the other being the '8 hours free trial of Pro'?

I thought that in addition to 'reminding of a change' that CA always creates a *_auto_save_bak.plan file in the archive folder every time the file is closed. Looking through my archive files, it seems like the time stamp on the *_auto_save_bak.plan file is always very close in time to the time stamp of the 'final save' of the file. If you forget to 'save', the archive backup file might be a quick recovery approach - although I think CA should also warn you on the next opening of the file that a new one exists... [ramble off]

I just started using dropbox. As a SINGLE USER the system works great for me. The files (even large libraries) sync as fast or faster than I can do the software activation switch with CA if I switch machines. For a multi-user environment, not sure how dropbox handles file locking but I don't think you would want more than one user actively modifying any project file at once. Library files commonly shared on dropbox might also be an issue with locking as well.

Texture, colors, and scale are all imported. Since the model comes in as a symbol, it has only one layer - the one you assign the symbol too. Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that none of the SketchUp layers transfer.

Joe, would you clarify what you mean by 'synced my other computers'?I'm being nosy, was this manual copying or are you using a 'cloud drive' (dropbox in my case) to hold this information? Until now I haven't worried about this type of problem and was feeling 'secure' in knowing that the files also resided on other computers just in case. But I can now envision a situation where a file on 'dropbox' gets wiped-out by a 'newer date file' and this change ripples to all my other computers, as happened to you. Fortunately, I make daily backups of my desktop PC (which includes 'dropbox) so I do have fallback recovery. Thanks.

Doug, thank you for clarifying my misunderstanding about the 'how' and 'what' model. I accepted it without truly questioning it.

Try changing the upper wall to a wall type of 'room divider'. That is the upper wall type in the attached image. When I used a pony wall with the upper wall of 'open', I got a similar view as the one you attached.

You are correct about the use of TC models for use in CA as symbols. However, once imported into CA they are full 3D objects, so this is a way to increase your library of unique symbols. SketchUp is another application that allows for easy creation of symbols that can be imported into CA.

So, to summarize what I think I've learned here - if we view this as a 'control' hierarchy and use Lew's terminology, Anno-sets (the 'how') CONTROL Layer-sets (the 'what collection') which CONTROL layers (the individual 'what'). Or, stated in the reverse order, the content (the 'what') needs to be formatted (the 'how') to be displayed correctly. The 'King' of the control hierarchy is the Anno-set. OTOH, if you don't change Anno-sets, then Layer-sets become the control 'king' over layers. If you want to take full advantage of all the formatting/display/control capabilities of CA, then you can use Anno-sets for the control/specification of the cad layer, annotation, and active layerset defaults. At least, that is how I now understand this topic. AND, thank you to Joe Carrick for the pdf file that explained this much better and which started off this discussion. EDIT: After doing the mental gymnastics to reach my 'understanding' above, I went back an re-read the posts in this thread. Amazing how what first appeared as gibberish now actually reads like an intelligent discussion :-) . As to Doug Park's original intended use of anno sets, the unintended consequences of letting users 'have their way' with an application is that a feature takes on a life of its own... And while Doug didn't intend for Anno-sets to be the control 'king', now that I think I understand how I can use them in a manner that makes sense to me, they will become my 'king' in controlling how things are displayed in layout.