HumbleChief

You know what would be REALLY nice? Maybe give it its own layer so you could turn it off like every other aspect of Chief...sigh...so much for consistency.

Yeah that's what I did, video shows that but I know those videos can be long and boring....

Thanks Perry, I think it will come in handy in some cases but I chased that thing around for far too long this morning. Wish it was on/off by choice.

...turns out it is a 'Cantilever Underside' layer that is created by default. Can't delete it, can't remove it, can't turn its layer off, or can you? Had no idea, chased that bugger around for 45 minutes. Hope that helps someone in the future. surface_question.plan

Heard from tech support and was told it's likely they already know about it. I told a story about how it actually cost me time and money but don't know if they intend to change the behavior.

All great tips to fix a very broken aspect of Chief. Video shows how closing/reopening Chief will revise the PDF but again if you do not know that Chief behaves this way it can really cost you, in real time and real money. Inexcusable that this bug remains IMO.

yes but I wish 'limiting' were the only consequence. It's cost me money in the past and that is not cool by any measure...

Maybe, but should a user have to do anything special to expect normal behavior when updating a PDF? And what if someone does not know about this behavior? Should they also know about the trick you just posted?

That might work but there's no way to know at this point and I don't want to have to rename the file and have 2 files to deal with then delete one or the other. It's simply a Windows, and all other programs I have ever used, standard that when you overwrite an older file the file is updated and ready for use with any changes made. If you understand Chief behaves differently in this regard than any other software program and remember to re-boot after making changes to your PDF before printing your Layout then all is good. But if a user is not aware of this problem it can create some BIG problems if that user thinks they just updated a critical PDF for their ConDoc layout and Chief is actually loading the older, unchanged file. Had it happen more than once and when re-opening the Layout you are left wondering what happened as the Layout looks fine (after a reboot) but the Layout you printed for submittal did not update and still has the older PDF file.

This has been mentioned before but there's a bug in which Chief imports an older version of a PDF instead of the current and recently changed PDF file. Tried to document it here and will send to tech though I think they are aware of the bug, or at least I'm calling it a bug, as I can't imagine it being intended behavior.

Interesting points Graham, thanks for the input.

Not sure where you read that DB is expected to synch while a file is open but I agree that would be crazy indeed. The point is that sometimes it requires that Chief be closed as well as the file in order for the synch to complete.

Thanks again for the input Lance and I think your first point is the part I am sometimes confused and surprised about. I haven't traced it to saving a file for the first time but perhaps that's the method that should be followed? We have consistently had great luck with DropBox and the synching usually takes place in a couple minutes after the file is closed. Yesterday we opened the file after a decent amount of time expecting the synching to have taken place (and not checking because it's usually so automatic) and we noticed changes that were missing. Shut down Chief on the other computer that the work was done on and the Synching began and completed. Not that big of a deal because DB is very good at saving everything but need to pay a little more attention.

Thank you for the input but my original post might not have been clear enough. Have used Chief and DropBox for many years. Sometimes, after closing the file, DropBox will not synch until Chief is closed. Not any real question about the problem, and it doesn't happen every time, but really, closing the file will sometimes not allow DB to update until Chief is closed. Can't imagine there's a real test for this as it can be intermittent but the event is real. Perhaps a setting I have? Dunno...

But not all the time, true?

Yeah.

This has happened a couple of confusing times. We have 2 licenses for Chief and if work is completed on one computer, that plan or layout file is closed, drop box will not always update or synch the file until Chief is closed. Seems like odd behavior and am not blaming Chief nor am sure it is a problem with the way Chief handles files when using DropBox and maybe it's even expected behavior? Just sayin' it's happened a few times and today we were able to directly trace the DropBox file non-synch to Chief still being opened, even though the file was closed. Have used DB for a very long time and it seems intermittent but traceable. Anyone else notice this? Is it expected? Do I have something set up wrong?

Thanks for this post. I don't use that often but I'm sure I would have looked in the old spot and posted the same question.

Famous last words....

Steve, I believe the wall 'material' will override the wall type spec and it happens 'per wall' meaning you can change the wall material for each wall even though the wall spec dbx shows another material. This usually happens when using the paint brush to paint a new material on to a wall and once you do 'that' wall will remain with the new material. For example you can paint your glass with drywall material and that will override your glass material - for that single wall. It should not effect any new walls drawn with your default glass wall spec but Chief can do some magic stuff sometimes. Joe's suggestion will most likely fix the issue but to get to the cause I would make sure your glass wall has glass spec'd both in the wall spec dbx like your pics show AND the material dix for that wall's material. Draw a new wall with those 2 items as glass and see what you get. If you still get drywall then that's over my pay grade. Good luck...

Alan, did you ever figure this out?

That's what I do too...

Yeah could be it Mark... I also don't see the "Saved Plan View Control" drop down which is a HUGE help when messing with plan views. EDIT: Which sets your Anno and Layer Sets seen below the " Saved Plan View Control" on the tool bar..

THX...

Curious, do you ever color or texture your slab/footings? I don't, and to be honest never knew one could...