Alaskan_Son

Just a quick example of why I think switching the keys is such a bad idea. I find myself hitting the Escape key all the time when I've accidentally started dragging an object, resizing an object, maybe dragging the wrong corner, or activating Resize edit mode instead of Concentric, etc.. Either way, I simply want to escape out of the operation. Switching to the Select Objects tool though, doesn't just escape out of the operation. It drops the current tool and loses the selected object(s) entirely. This means in many cases you're forced to reactivate a tool and/or re-select one or more objects. Very inefficient. Much more effective to learn to select and edit objects as Chief intended. My suggestion for most people would be to learn about left click vs. right click, to read up on Contextual Menu options (first item in Preferences), and to get into the habit of selecting objects without always switching to the Select Objects tool. You end up switching tools a lot more often than you really need to.

Not a foolish question at all. See my last post above.

Ya, I get it. I just think a person should be properly informed first since the 2 tools are very different. On a side note though, it seems Chief (or Windows) recognize the potential for damaging consequences in this area and as such the behavior of the escape key reverts to normal in dialogs where conflicts would exist (most notably in data entry fields where a True Escape is still done using the Escape key) so it may not be a huge deal to switch them. I still think its a mistake though. Muscle memory or not, the OP isn't actually doing the same thing they were doing in AutoCAD. In Chief, its commonly a lot more efficient to stay in the current tool and simply escape the operation.

Yes, but also very much no, not if the person isn't doing what they think they're doing. The OP wants Chief to mimic his or her AutoCAD experience but their suppositions are totally flawed. Select Objects is NOT equivalent to the Escape key. The escape key functions as an actual escape (i.e. "I need out of here"). It cancels the current operation no matter where you are. In addition, hitting it multiple times will cycle back through your previously active tools. Basically, it just keeps escaping you further and further back. The space bar (Select Object) does something entirely different. It doesn't actually escape anything. It just changes you to the Select Object tool. This means it's totally useless as an "escape" if you're in a data entry field or in an open dialog box. This could get very confusing and a person would be misleading themselves to rearrange the keys for the reasons given. At the end of the day, switching to the Select Objects tool with a hot key might feel like its doing the same things as the escape key, but it absolutely is not. You would get nearly the exact same result by assigning the Base Cabinet tool to that hotkey. Only difference? You would only be able to select Base Cabinets and Full Height Cabinets.

Are you referring to the material that might go on top of that little ledge? If so, you can't actually see that from anywhere you might set up a camera if you're just going for the "look" anyway, and the section is far more accurate than it would be with a molding polyline. I actually don't think many builders finish that area anyway. In fact, its commonly too hard to even access. If anything I can maybe see a piece of molding placed on top of that ledge...there's an appropriate use of that molding.

Are you talking about OOB hotkeys too or custom only?

I would suggest you don’t do what you’re trying to do even if there is a way. The Escape key and Select Object are 2 entirely different tools with different functions. If you really want to get efficient with the software, you don’t want to use the 2 interchangeably. The escape key will cancel the operation which is a great function, but it’s terribly inefficient to switch to Select Objects every time you want to cancel out of an operation. Having trained and coached many many users over the years, I can tell you the probably the single most common time waster I see is ineffective selection of objects and one the biggest offenders is constantly switching to Select Objects (number one is probably improper/untimely use of right vs. left mouse button and double click vs. Open Object). Might click on the Select Objects tool and open the Help files. Read up on selecting objects.

Very easy to accomplish by auto building the lower tier, exploding it and deleting the center ceiling section, and then auto building the upper tier.

Like I said, study that 2D Block. The 2D Block is the key. If you need in depth explanation and instructions I would be happy to provide them or make you a custom video, but I can only afford to donate so much time so it would be at my standard rates.

Depends on the situation. For most projects I simply use a manually modeled solid. If the structure is more important though I do similar to Scott except that I have usually used ceiling planes instead of roof planes. Roof planes do however have the No Special Snapping setting that can be useful. Not sure about other benefits or drawbacks of one over the other off the top though.

I only quickly threw that together and didn't really study your symbol or original 2D Block. I believe I set my modified block and the offsets according to the 23.75" dimensions though. If your original block was a different dimension, then some or all of the modifications would need to be tweaked to suit. It's not Chief getting upset though.

I personally don't know why it got brought up as something that should be done. If you don't know exactly WHY you're doing it, then I don't think you should be doing it at all. Chances are that if you renamed your default layers, then you probably want them to keep them renamed. Now if your default plan is a mess and you want to clean it all up and start somewhat new...then yes, that might be a good idea.

This can also be done with a normal symbol BTW by just setting the Elevation Reference to "From Ceiling".

Study what I did. Specifically the origin offsets and the CAD block... Supply Air.calibz

Me too. I'm guessing it almost certainly has something to do with the fact that the imported Default Sets did not have a Revision Cloud Default to set. That's why nothing you do will ever match an old default set. Chief probably just recognizes this in fixes it during the initial loading of the plan...which would explain why you have to save and then open the plan again.

If I recall correctly, you just asked this question. You didn’t respond to the answer you were given though. Help us help you.

Show us a screenshot of the patterns in your Core Catalog in X11

For being so cooperative and thick skinned, I'm giving you a quick, functional, and re-usable example... Copy and paste the notes to additional locations and see how automated it can be. When done, simply select the schedule, copy it, and paste directly into Excel. Easy peasy rice and cheesy.

No. It wasn't you. I've just seen negative points showing up a lot when all people are doing is trying to ACTUALLY be helpful and I see examples all the time of exactly why providing pertinent information is so important. This example just kinda set me off today is all...it could have been anyone or any thread...sorry it was yours

In this case, the whole thing can actually be almost completely automated super easily (numbering and all) with even some built in macros. Not going to go over every step, but you can easily use notes, a note schedule, custom object fields, x_location attribute, y_location attribute and a quick copy paste to spreadsheet. WARNING: Explicative laced side rant to follow... I don’t know who you are, but it really really &$&:#+% pisses me off when people downvote @solver, @Signatures, and other invaluable users for suggesting people provide their information (and possibly post a plan). It’s this type of thankless and ignorant arrogance that drives a lot of us to stop sharing or at least share a lot less or with a much smaller group of users. Some of you guys out there obviously have no clue how much these little details matter, or how frustrating and utterly exhausting it gets having to repeat the same &*#% instruction over and over again because people are too lazy to invest a little effort themselves or because some less proficient and less helpful user thinks the details don’t matter. I promise you, the details matter. They really do. The last thing I want to do is spend 15-20 minutes of my valuable time explaining a method that won’t even work for the user. This is a prime example. The best solution we have in X11 was entirely impossible in X9, and even some of the old less effective solutions are entirely impossible in the highest level Home Designer product. In addition, we have even better solutions available in X12. If you think someone is going to sit down and walk you through every single one of them though you have another thing coming. Help us help you people. P.S. That wasn’t aimed at you Randy, although I would suggest you update your signature.

No. Not really. Every scenario is different. I just sent you a P.M.

We already have arrows in defaults. The thing I assume you're wanting is the ability to set arrow style to be controlled by layer settings somehow...i.e. change layer set and arrows change to suit. Is that correct?

That text is displayed based on Layer's Text Style. Change the Text Style to a special 0" tall text in any given layer set and you can essentially just turn the length and angle off in that layer set.

By the way, this can also be further automated in a number of other creative ways using various object types and schedules. Are you actually still in X9?