Alaskan_Son

Just a few quick notes for when you're trying to utilize global arrays and hashes... You can use the = nil, .clear or similar in the Ruby Console to force a rebuild. The downside though is that you have to type it up every time. You can write a custom macro to do the exact same as above and then simply opening and closing Text Macro Management will force the rebuild. The downside to this though is that it will also force an empty hash or array inside Text Macro Management, so you'll never get to preview your results in that dialog. To me, this is pretty minor and the results there are usually inaccurate anyway, so it's really a non-issue for me personally. You can place the aforementioned macro somewhere on screen so that whenever that particular object is displayed, the array or hash is cleared and subsequently rebuilt. It can only be displayed temporarily though because otherwise it will continually empty the array or hash and you won't get your desired results. You can use the time oriented method Joe suggested, but this also has it's downsides...For example, if you have roof planes on more than one floor, you'll almost always be missing results from the other floors. The only totally consistent method I've found is to use something with a schedule number so that the schedule number can be used as a constant. If the schedule number already exists in the hash or array, then that item is deleted and the new one is placed there. This essentially makes sure no extra items are ever added to the list. It's obviously only possible for items with schedule numbers though. For items without schedule numbers, one of my personally preferred methods is to use a .clear macro placed up on the attic level. I then just periodically cycle through all floors to both clear the array or hash and to also pick up on any items that are on other floors. Anyway, just beware that those hashes and arrays are tricky to work with in Chief and that you have to be pretty deliberate with your methods if you want to be sure you're getting accurate results.

You bet. Here’s a bonus trick too... Convert a schedule to text, delete the unnecessary stuff and then use that as your text box instead if you want the title line with double underline.

BT's macro can definitely be modified to help accommodate this a little more, but it already has tab stops in it to get you most of the way there. The problem though is this: The text box you're using needs to have the appropriate number of tabs added to the text itself or the macro generated tabs don't work. It could be as simple as adding the column headers and their related tabs.

Here's one more trick for increased label display options that doesn't require any complex macrology ... You can use the Reference Display. Just set your reference floor to the same floor and create a new layer set for that reference floor where the desired label(s) are turned on/off and the desired label layer text style is set to whatever you want it to be. You can actually set up as many of these extra reference floors as you like to essentially get complete label control on an object by object basis. If you really want to make your life easier, you can turn on all the polylines layers themselves on the current floor and then use the additional reference floors simply to control labels. That way you can still select all your desired objects. I thought I made a post about this before but I can't seem to find it.

Are you asking for design advice or are you having a problem with Chief Architect? If the latter, then you might need to clarify what exactly are having a problem with.

Object Eyedropper or Match Properties are your best bet for right now.

Beats me. ...actually, just through testing things out. I'm usually pretty determined to force things to do what I want one way or another. And when I see something work in one instance and then not in another, I typically don't walk away till I figure out why. Yes. You have to trick the arc into becoming a polyline one way or another. There are various ways to do so, but placing a break and then clicking Simply Polyline is one of the quickest and easiest.

Ya, those seem to be a little tricky. I think you have to attach the leader line before you add arrows to the polyline.

...also, you can always just use a text box with an line/arrow and a referenced context macro. Just turn the line/arrow layer off or change the line style to invisible. That way you can format the text independently of everything else.

That is correct. Those General CAD default are view specific, but when I say "view", I mean plan view vs. an elevation view vs. a CAD Detail. You only get one default in plan view unfortunately. P.S. You can also convert to a Rope Light, remove the molding profile, and adjust the settings so the lights are basically non-existent, and then you can use the Electrical, Labels layer.

Good idea, but no. Chief hasn't given us access to the current file name anywhere except in layout boxes where they've given us access to the referenced file.

Prior to X10 I think it was, those object id's were not persistent and couldn't reliably be used for much of anything. They basically changed with any changes to the model. They are now semi-persistent and don't change very often. Just beware that they still do change sometimes...most notably during undo/redo operations.

Just a guess here, but I'd bet that your problem is this... You're using the job_info macro to set a bunch of global variables but that macro isn't actually getting executed anywhere onscreen. What you probably need to do is place that macro somewhere onscreen so that it actually executes whenever you open your plan, and just make the last line "" so that it doesn't actually show up. I usually place macros like this in the title line of an appropriate schedule or list. ...again, just a guess.

You set the number style in your General CAD Defaults for that particular view.

You can convert to a molding polyline (no molding assigned) which gives you one additional layer to work with. Or you can also use a more complex macro scheme that only displays labels in specific layer sets.

Custom macro in the label of a polyline arc with arrows on each end.

Turn the smoothing angle down to something like 40...

Its because the ceilings are set to Use Room Ceiling Finish and the rooms have 2 totally different ceiling finishes defined. That setting is one of the very first places I would recommend people look when having issues with manually drawn ceiling planes.

That's a weird one for sure. You can leave it as concrete too but you have to change the material definition on the Materials List tab to something other than concrete. Probably best to just create a new material for that. On a side note, I'm curious if the structural definitions are actually correct. Around here we would typically pour that inside the wall which would mean placing the concrete in the Floor Finish definition.

I’ll answer your question with a question. What is it that you are telling Ruby to round in that last example?

...or at the least, valuable time and expertise. The first of which you can of course spend freely...in order to arrive at the second if you should so choose to do so. Or, if your time is valuable enough to you, yes, you can just pay one of us (with money) to set something up for you or perhaps to coach you so you can start writing your own.

Yes. That’s essentially the method I utilized. In a nutshell, my method for this particular use case was to first convert the file path to a string, then to break that string up into an array of values to represent drive, directory, subdirectories, and file, and then to display only the first 3 of the last 4 values in the array.

Well, I'm a little disappointed. The way you worded your post sounded like you had a super extremely cool secret to share. I kinda feel like it was false advertising and that you owe me an extremely cool secret Chief trick now.

Ah, that's what I meant then when I said that it "doesn't seem to do anything unexpected". Holding down the control key to override snaps is a pretty common and standard practice and it matters not what handle, what tool, or what mode you're drawing in. The control key just overrides all snaps.

You're probably missing out. Makes it super fast to draw a building perimeter or trace things.