Dermot

The program can't convert the library symbol you are using for your door style into an arched shape.  If you choose a parametric door style, such as "Panel", it will look much better.

Your displayed dimensions are probably being rounded to the nearest 1/16". 

Your actual dimensions are probably not really the values you are seeing.

To see the actual dimension, you can change the displayed value as Eric is demonstrating.  Another trick to see what the actual dimension is, is to first select the wall and then click on the dimension.  If it is not the value that is being displayed, then type in the value that you want it to be.  Now your dimension and the displayed value should be the same.

If you look at the picture below, the rounded dimension shows 16' 9 3/4" but the actual distance is 16' 9.7396942287".  It is pretty easy to get strange dimensions like this if you move something with your snaps off or while holding the control key down.  There are probably lots of other ways to do this as well.  The bottom line is that if you want something to have an exact dimension then you probably need to type it in.

You need to select a room first and then it will appear on your edit toolbar.

See if this help article helps:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00939/understanding-the-layout-layer-set-relationship.html

Also, I would recommend that you check out the training videos on layer sets.

I just want to clarify a couple of things Steve said.

In Step 2, he is selecting the wall.  If you look at the status bar, you can see that the wall is selected.

In Step 3, he is using the tab key to select the room.  If you look in the status bar, you can see that the room is selected.

In Step 4, he is changing the room ceiling height by dragging the top edit handle up.  This is basically the same thing that Eric suggested before.

If your view is then showing things that you don't want, you will have to add a cad mask to hide what you don't want and/or reshape your layout box to hide what you don't want (as suggested by both Eric and Michael).

By default, wall elevation cameras are limited to the room's floor and ceiling heights and will only show objects that are within the room.  If you need to display more information, you are usually better off using the full cross section camera.  Cross section cameras can be set to backclip or to clip on the sides if you need to restrict the view.  Currently, there is no way to clip the top and bottom though.  You would need to modify what displays using layers, cad masks, or modify the shape of the layout box to better control what you want to see.

Quote

 In my opinion chiefs stair tool has changed very little if any since version 10...

In my opinion, stairs have changed a lot since Version 10.  Here are just some of the things that have changed:

X11
 - Pony walls with railings can now follow stairs
 - Auto connected stair landings for manual winders and starter treads
 - Improved control over landing railings per edge

X9
 - New L-Shaped and U-Shaped stair tools
 - Ability to specify railings on landings
 - Ability to use panels for stairs, ramps, and landings
 - Improved control over newel and baluster spacing
 - Improved dialog previews for stairs and landings
 - Improved control over top and bottom rails
 - Improved snapping to walls

X8
 - Stair break lines
 - Handrail returns and extensions
 - Improved display with stair and ramp details in plan views
 - Improved display with stair, ramp, and landing railings in plan view
 - Improved control over how to specify top of stair

X7
 - Ability to control solid railings follow stairs

X3
 - New ramp tool
 - Improved landing tool
 - Railings that can follow stairs
 - New stair defaults
 - Improved one-click stair tool
 - Ability to group stair select and modify
 - Ability to manually adjust stair heights
 - Improved stair and landing materials

X1
 - New one-click stair tool
 - New wrapped stairs

"i have added a few different columns to the hvac sched and renamed them, how do i get this info into each column?"

So this all depends on what columns you added and renamed.  For example, if you added the "manufacturer" column, then it is very easy to add your own custom info to the manufacturer data on the Object Information panel.  But if you added a column that does not appear on the Object Information panel, then you may or may not be able to add any custom info.  You can also add your own custom fields and columns.  

It would be much easier for someone to figure out what you did if you post a plan demonstrating what you did.

To clarify what Michael said, the Cad Detail from View tool is only enabled when you are using the Vector View rendering technique.  If you are using any of the other rendering techniques, then it is disabled. 

Although the vector view is a much better preview of what you will get when you use the tool, it may not be necessary that we disable the tool this way.  I think this is a holdover from the old days when we used the data that was shown in the vector view to generate the cad detail.

Currently, there are no defaults for layout box labels.  If you don't want to use them, then just turn off the layer as suggested by Tommy.

I agree too, but how does that help the original poster?

You should probably not send the Working Plan View to layout.  Not unless you want to have to unlink every layout box afterwards.

Generally, it is better to create new saved plan views for every unique view you want to send.

More information about saved plan views can be found here:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2421/saved-plan-views.html

And some more general information can be found here:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/playlists/100/20-saved-plan-views-layers-annotations.html

Changing the stair style changes the stringer width.  A single stringer is always 4", 2 closed stringers are always 2", and 3 standard stringers are always 1.5". 

For anything else, you would have to get creative.  For example, you could probably create a stringer out of a stair that has no railings or tread overhang and set it to the width you want and then convert it into a stringer symbol.

I would try a search for dropped ceilings:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/category/26/ceilings.html

In particular:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01050/manually-framing-a-dropped-ceiling.html

Basically, you have to open the Note Specification dialog and enter the information on the Object Information panel (OIP) for the columns you renamed.

Try this:

Make a wall cabinet and change the box construction to "framed".

Click on the door panel and hit "delete".  The program should automatically change the door panel to an "opening".  You can then click on the "specify" button for the shelves if you need to customize them.

Changes made on the components panel do not usually affect the 3D model.  These changes would typically be used to modify the materials list or schedule information.

As a general rule, adjusting the room's floor and ceiling is the best approach.  When you have a particular wall that is not being used to define a room, a half-wall (or solid rail) works well.  For most other cases, editing the wall shape in an elevation view is the approach that works best.

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00802/troubleshooting-exception-and-assertion-error-messages.html

My best guess is that you have missed a step or made a mistake somewhere.  You could post your plan and someone on this forum might be able to figure out what is wrong.  You could also try contacting technical support but this is one of those areas that might be considered more of a training issue than a technical problem.

I have attached a plan and layout that demonstrate how to set this up.  

The plan has 3 pony wall segments:

One is set to use the pony wall defaults.

One is set to display the upper wall only.

One is set to display the lower wall only.

The plan has 3 saved plan views with the pony wall defaults set differently for each one.  If you open, each saved plan view, you should see the differences.

I have also included a layout file with each of the saved plan views sent to layout.

pony wall display.layout

pony wall display.plan

Do not change the setting in the pony walls themselves.  This overrides the default value that the Saved Plan View keeps track of.  Open up each of your pony walls and set them back to "Default".

Parametric shutters will follow the shape of the window they are attached to.  In your case, it looks like you have two windows (my example only had one).  You may be able to get the results you want by blocking the windows to create a mulled unit, then specify a round top arch for the unit, and then turn the shutters on for the unit.

For any case that you want to have shutters that do not follow the shape of the window, you would have to create a custom shutter symbol that has the shape that you want.

You really don't need a library symbol unless you need them to show the center support rail in the frame.  Just select "louvered" for the shutter type.

Try unchecking "Walls, Main Layer Only".

First, before I would even try to fix the stairs, I would fix the walls.  You have brick-6 walls on the interior of your building.  Surely, that can't be intentional?

Next, your landing and stairs are not connected because they are overlapping. If they are not actually connected, they will not create a proper staircase where the automatic heights can do what they are supposed to.  I find that it is easiest to snap stairs to landings by using the point-to-point move tool or by dragging the stair end handle using the middle mouse button.  You can also use the dimension tools to properly locate the stairs and landings.

Next, your landing and stairs are overlapping your walls.  I would make sure they are properly bumped up against your walls rather than overlapping them.  In general, stairs work best when bumped against the surface of the wall but overlapping the drywall layer can work as well.  If you intend to have walls underneath the stairs, I would always make sure that you overlap the walls completely.

As a general rule, stairs will give you the least amount of problems if you are very accurate in how you lay them out. 

You probably need to go into your General Cabinet Defaults and turn on "Show Closed Doors/Drawers in Plan Views".  By default, the program will only show cabinet doors and drawers when they are open.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is any easy way to dimension to the cabinet face items in plan views.  You can dimension to the cabinet box or you can dimension to the counter top but not the face items.  You could use the point-to-point dimension tool or use cad lines to show the dimensions you want.  Maybe some of the other kitchen designers might comment on what they typically do to handle this case.

The easiest way to create that staircase is to place a U-Shaped stair, select the upper section, and use the Reflect About Object tool to reflect it about the landing.