DrawingABlank

Perhaps you are trying to change the Value? You can change the component description Formula to whatever you would like. In the attached the description is changed from "=description" to "Test this". The value and subsequently the report will reflect the change.

Being that he owns a mill he is probably very well aware that only certain species should be used. But then again... here is an anecdotal caution against using lumber just because it is in 2x4 form.

A well-meaning gentleman provided friends with milled quaking aspen 2x4's for building use. The friends used that material to frame walls of a chicken coop. Fortunately they asked some questions because the first two walls didn't seem 'sturdy' and could be pushed/racked out of plumb easily with a couple fingers. Turns out nail pull-out on the end grain of a poplar is scary easy. Version 1 was firewood after that. They used typ. framing material in Version 2.
Of course, I don't know the whole story but at the end of the day someone with a mill made 2x4's out of a tree with poor characteristics for building.

First of all good call on keeping yourself at arms length but still being available to make it happen for him. Good for him for wanting to use raw material that he milled himself.

Technically if the wall is not used for 'load-supporting' purposes it does not have to be graded. R602.1. Otherwise it needs to be graded. R602.1.1.

That being said, the wall would still have to stand up to wind pressures etc. Lots of factors involved there with fastener length...

Very interesting...

Is that line perhaps displaying as a precision indicator? perhaps with grid rounding? The dimension itself can be drawn with snap on or off but that line shows only when snap is on. (have not looked in manual to know)

The suppression of the line seems to be in relation to the direction through the wall, start and stop locations when pulling the dimension. There also seems to be a correlation to the distances between the located walls. Snap behavior on/off is definitely at play too.

For a moment it seemed the dimension line was recognizing and being altered by other elements not displayed and not included in the locate. Specifically floor joists.

One other aspect... if you end the dimension well away from the located walls but are snapped to or touching (with snap off) another dimension the line will show up. Draw it again in the same location and end only near the other dimension and it is suppressed. Almost like the other dimension 'unsuppressed' that line somehow.

Some of the above was repeatable but not necessarily every time. Perhaps due to multiple factors.

I agree with TeaTime. There is 'grid rounding' but that would not account for that discrepancy.

There is a setting in preferences that may help going forward. It is 'highlight overridden dimensions'. May be good practice between multiple team members.

Adjusting the line weights of the dimensions may help differentiate.

You will need to the change your preferred dimension default to use to locate the casing for the 'opening'..

Just discussed this today with electrician... clearances needed for his preferred device are beyond actual pop-up receptacle dimensions.

Might need to include a bit more related info on cab drawings until everyone is more aware of clearances etc.

probably a question more for moderators. What is likelihood of a nefarious plan file or script being posted on forum?

To be clear, I have never had an issue with any file shared here. And I understand downloading any file is ultimately my responsibility.

Just thought about that recently when helping out a newer member with a question on their plan.

The macro %floor_number% is pulling for each object. Meaning it is also reporting what floor the schedule is on and not the windows. Cutting and pasting on second floor changes the shcedule numbers to W2-xx. Sorry that's not much for help on how to fix it but perhaps the 'why'.

Not sure if you found this thread but it may be a help. Unfortunately no direct answer but it does include a few more ideas that may work for you.

4 hours ago, basketballman said:

What if we went " old school; extremely low tech "

and just ran a temp dimension line in an elevation view to get right answer ?

Manual is what I typically do. Your implications are correct that sometimes its not worth it. After many years I am just taking another look at tasks big and small to see where further improvements can be made. For me that includes moving beyond the predefined tools to further utilize other assets that Chief has. Quite a few on the forum are good examples of that thinking. Thanks everyone

Here is basic situation in a plan...

Is it known that leader lines connected to roof planes detach when opening saved plan if auto rebuild is on? Just noticed that when saving this plan and haven't had time to search. The file is x14.

Vented Ridge.plan

4 hours ago, Alaskan_Son said:

 

Where exactly are you seeing this "component ridge length" and could you possibly post a simple example plan with this happening?  Because in my experience, when you have 2 properly joined roof planes generating a Ridge Cap at the peak, only one of them will report the Ridge Cap material.  They're not each reporting half. 

My goal for posting was for ridge "vent" quantity. I did leave out that key point when commenting on the reported values. I edited the original to clarify that.

Your question is curious though... it seems that ridge cap is not a value that is usable in macro or other? At least not from what is in basic object properties for each plane. Of course this qty still reports in to materials though. Thanks for inquiring and being willing to assist.

On 2/24/2023 at 5:30 PM, DBCooper said:

I get 33' of ridge cap for a 30' building with gable ends.  Seems right to me.

 

Thanks. In cases around here the vent is actually held back some from the end and a 'one for one' cap = vent is not as accurate for my needs. So I was looking more at situations when ridge vent is selected as the default though.

On 2/24/2023 at 5:31 PM, JLU_Design said:

Is this what your after:

In a way the schedule results and reporting in text was my goal. In order to get the correct result knowing how the vent qty is achieved was important. (instead of just cap)

On 2/24/2023 at 9:54 PM, Chopsaw said:

 

Yes that is how it works and always good to verify as there are certain situations when it does not work. 

Thanks for confirming that. Good point to keep an eye on it in some cases.

How does chief get the ridge vent qty? I did not find anything in the manual or in forum search.

Two planes meeting at a peak of 40' length gives component ridge vent length result of 20'. It would seem to be allotting half of the ridge vent length to each plane.

Could anyone confirm that or clarify? Thank you

edit: reiterated topic title in the body by adding vent in reported results. Sorry for the confusion

I appreciate all three ways suggested. Thank you all. Having multiple suggestions not only builds my understanding of the specific task and macro use overall.

Good day,

After searching over countless Macro topics, going thru 2 Ruby tutorials and many macro versions its time to give up digging / 'learning' for the moment and just post the question.

How can a "floor_finish_name" macro that returns "Concrete" when no flooring is present be written? (extra credit would be if it also returns "Sub-floor" in case of being on floor system)

This macro IF argument is needed cases such as defaults like Mechanical room and in rooms with default floor removed.

The biggest challenge for me seems to be the syntax when wanting to call on Chief's string values from the plan.

Any help in this regard is appreciated.

Of course!

Overriding the Current CAD layer would not make sense.

I appreciate the tip on closing the file prior to uploading. Next time...

Thank you Glenn.

I created a CAD Block, set my preferred layer (not CAD Default) and then added to library. When the item is subsequently pulled from the library it reverts to the CAD Default layer. After searching, the Help files did not yield an answer or indicate any limits for CAD Block layers.

This was in x14. This was reproduced in x13 so it would seem to be intentional. Seems to be a strange limitation on very basic library item. I will admit, it is possible that I am using these tools differently than intended.

So... what is at play here? Operator error? Is there a better solution to have a ready made CAD 'icon' that starts on my preferred correct layer?

For what it is worth, the CAD Block in question consists of a CAD circle and 4 lines. I tried changing the layers individually to the desired layer prior to creating the block and after with the same results. Thank you

CAD Block Layer.zip

The chief save as pdf worked. Thanks Chopsaw.

For what it is worth attached are the results. For science and prosperity I guess.

One using Chief save as with no artifacts and the second showing artifacts using the cutepdf.

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, the ghosting goes beyond the actual layout box/border for the image. I suppose saying the it is an artifact of the original size is probably better description than the term ghosting.

I will try the chief pdf. Thanks for the tip. I guess at some point from x1 I had issues with Chiefs pdf printer and never bothered to try it with newer versions.

What is also interesting is the construction lines on the adjacent elevation views are not being lightened while the cad lines are. (Same item sent to layout)

Any one have issue with this?

I seem to have a an issue when sending Perspective camera to layout using 'current screen'. (I will call it the image)
The the image is resized to fit properly on the layout page a 'ghosting' of the original size shows up after printing to pdf. (using cutepdf)

It was apparent because the original image size ended up overlapping any other layout items. Creating lightened line color on the other layout items.
Confirmed the source of the ghosting by moving the image on the layout and printing again. The ghosting of original size moved as well.
It is not visible when previewing the pdf in print preview. Adjusting the images layer order does not correct it and may even ghost over the images actual visible area.

I am unable to post the plan and layout sorry. Just wanted to put this out there while still fresh in mind.

2 attachments - one showing the layout box borders displayed and the other is showing the ghosting after it is printed to pdf.