Alaskan_Son

Oh ya...you can also simply double click on the text tool. This will take you to your currently active text default. You can just temporarily change the layer there instead of creating a whole new text style. Just depends on how you prefer to work and how deep you want to delve into Annotation Sets and such. Unrelated, but on a side note, I temporarily change wall types using that same method...double click on the wall tool of choice and change the wall type that gets drawn using that tool.

The text is automatically placed onto the layer specified for that TEXT STYLE. Simply create a new text style and change the layer setting. Now when you use that new text style it will automatically get placed onto the appropriate layer.

Truth be told I have very rarely needed to do this with dimensions but there are absolutely situations where I've wanted to bring extra attention to certain dimensions and the border/fill would be a very good way to do this. Anyway labels are a different story...there are plenty of situations that could benefit from a border around a label. Necessary? Probably not, but as I'm sure you can appreciate...we all like to do things here and there to dress up our plans and add clarity wherever we can. Borders just give us a way to both add a little class to our plans and more importantly they give us a good way to quickly differentiate one group of notations from the next. With reagrd to the fill color, I've personally never absolutely needed anything other than the background color but I could see where having a different color background might help if the notation is overlapping a busy scene such as right in front of shingles or brickwork. Being able to set the fill transparency on the other hand seems like it would be a lot more universally useful. There are plenty of situations where it would be nice (if not necessary) to see through to the objects below. I'm sure you've had those busy framing plans where you need to have certain notations but it seems there's nowhere to put them that isn't covering some important detail. Having no fill in those situations can make it very difficult to quickly find the notations but having semi transparent fill (with or without a border) can help give those notations a little pop without completing covering the structural details. I would post some examples but I'm away from my computer.

That's just the text fill that both Richard and I pointed out. I personally leave the fill on for most of my text styles unless I have a situation where I need it off. Problem is that we can't add a border, we have no control over the margins, and we have no control over the fill style/color/transparency.

I agree. It seems like it would be super easy too. It could be as simple as adding something similar to the Object Information fields to a callout, providing a checkbox for "Include In Keynote Manager" and then a Keynote Manager (schedule) with a setting that allows a person to only include objects from a particular user defined "Group" or layer.

Changes? Not per se, but I have added a few tricks to the toolbox... It's worth stressing again that due to the addition of new new Object Information fields and the new/enhanced Drawing Group controls, it is MUCH MUCH easier to use all sorts of object types now and not just Plants. With regard to the elevation view problem...I mostly just use them in plan views so I can't speak to the elevation views all that much. Most of what I came up with in that regard was just to help other users out. One other thing I would recommend you check out is the Label tab...Hide In This View. That and placing the object on a different layer and simply turning that layer off. I don't know, there might be other methods as well...maybe just using a CAD mask even.

Its gonna take a lot of faces to make a symbol like that look halfway decent. I decided to have a go at it this evening to see if I could cut it down any. Here's my version based on the picture you posted. All done in Chief. Its still got a lot of faces, but at around 130K its still less than a quarter of what that one in 3D warehouse has. I didn't add any lights but a person could do that as well. I personally don't think it would be worth the time or effort though. Anyway, here it is for anyone who would like to use it... Wagon Wheel Light.calibz If anyone finds it helpful enough maybe just consider pasting paypal.me/alaskansons into your web browser and sending a small donation my way if you find it in your heart to do so. Its all good either way though. Hopefully it helps some of you out. P.S. I could reduce the face count substantially by doing away with those ornate lamp bases (those are around 10k faces each) and/or by switching the chains out for something else (those are around 15K faces each) but I was going for accuracy. If you would like me to make some changes I could do so for a fee. Just email me at alaskansons@gmail.com and we can discuss further. EDIT: I realized afterward that I could have actually made the bases with as little as 10% of the number of faces so with a little work I could conceivably cut that symbol size down to as little as 50,000 faces or so without any real noticeable difference.

Yeah, some of the limitations we have are pretty frustrating. Here's a crappy workaround solution if you ever really find yourself needing the borders and fills for your dimensions...

Not sure what you're doing differently, but they work just fine for me. Starting in X9, any surface mounted outlet should snap right to the side of your cabinet.

That's what Current CAD Layer is for. You can also take it a step further and start utilizing Annotation Sets to automatically switch that Current CAD Layer along with a whole bunch of other defaults.

You betcha.

All standard text boxes can have a border and fill (set through the Attributes tab if I recall correctly).

Totally agree. So should labels. Its definitely something I've wanted to be able to do at times and would be a good one for the suggestion forum. EDIT: Since it's something I've wanted anyway I went ahead and posted a suggestion myself...

What do you mean by "Text Mask"?

Good thought. That one seems more likely and is a much less silly question than mine.

Silly question maybe, but did you make sure they're actually turned on?

David, That's just how how those room dimensions work. They're called "Interior Dimensions".

Whether or not there is a fill is controlled by the text style...

Yep. That is exactly what I was talking about. I don't think it's a bug although it does bug me. It's annoying right?

Are you possibly dealing with an invisible wall?

Search "Cable Jack"

My $0.02... Do an ACTUAL union or reshape those objects so there is no overlap. Other than that, you are correct...it is a little hit and miss. If perfectly aligning the objects doesn't work and if you don't want to reshape the objects I think your next best bet is one or more of the following... Use one or more overlayed CAD patches or overlayed p-solids. Set one or more of the objects to use the invisible line style. This only works well for certain circumstances. In conjunction with using the invisible line style, add your own lines only where necessary. Depending on the view type this can either be done with actual CAD or with a thin 3D object. Remove the extraneous lines in layout using Edit Layout Lines. All workarounds I know, but at least its sumpthin'.

It definitely has something to do with the combined height of the top and bottom chord in relation to the heel height. Energy heels will properly generate for essentially ANY heel height as long as the combined height of the top and bottom chord in relation to the heel height is low enough...thus the reason the workaround I suggested above works.

...again, you're not reproducing the same situation I'm talking about. You have a rather large heel height there so you're not going to have the same problem. Try making that heel shorter or try using larger top and bottom chords. I'll say it again...Once the combined height of the top and bottom chord reach a certain percentage of the heel height, the energy heel will not generate properly. Try an 11-1/4" heel with 2x6 top and bottom chords. I'm actually not certain, maybe it has something to do with the height of the truss envelope at the tail or the intersection of the top and bottom chord. At any rate, I know I can't get some of our most common configurations to automatically generate properly. Just try to slowly decrease the heel height or increase the chord dimensions and you should be able to see what I'm talking about.

I'm away from my computer so I may not have the terminology quite right, but try going to your 3D View Defaults and checking Use Layer Settings.