Alaskan_Son

I don't feel like this would actually solve much of anything. This isn't much different from manually doing a Save As or going back to the Backup Archives. Any changes to a common feature would still require changing in all forked version of the plan.

You don't. Chief simply isn't set up for that. There are all sorts of workarounds that allow for you to place multiple items in the same locations but they aren't worth the hassle in my opinion. Until Chief creates something else, multiple plan files is the way to go. Having said that, IF all you really need to do is show floor plan changes, that IS possible in a single file and can be achieved using any number of methods. One of the easiest however is to just use multiple floors all using the same Reference Floor as the basis. Each floor is a different design iteration and its easy to Copy/Paste Hold Position between floors whenever you want. You can also use 3D Reference Display capabilities but then you're right back to using multiple plan files so the benefits are pretty minimal.

By the way, if you do decide that the entire symbol needs curving, there are a few methods you can use such as: Converting your symbol to a window symbol, placing that window symbol into a curved wall, and then converting that curved window to a fixture symbol. This method is the one I've historically used the most because it allows for pretty easy resizing of the symbol. It is however extremely nuanced and requires setting various things (wall thickness, symbol offsets, wall radius, etc.) just right and using some less than intuitive parameters that you wouldn't normally think of in order to get the desired results. Using the Window treatment method mentioned by @DBCooper. I won't get into this one as its not one I've used very much. Converting your symbol to a cabinet door symbol and then using a Bow Front cabinet to get your desired size and shape. This seems to actually be the most intuitive and easiest to control. Its pretty easy to get accurate results and only requires modifying one symbol setting (which isn't even totally necessary). I have a special "tool" set up specifically for this purpose. Here's what you do. Download the attached object. Its really just a Bow Front Cabinet set to a Filler and with every element turned off except for a single Door Front. Select the object(s) you would like to curve, and click the Convert Selected to Symbol tool. Choose Symbol Category>Cabinet Door/Drawer, check Add to Library, and check Show Advanced Options. Click Okay. When the Symbol Specification dialog opens up, change the Y Position Origin Offset to 1/16" (this will cause the door symbol to hug the cabinet front with no gap between the door and the cabinet) Drop the previously downloaded "Symbol Arching Tool" cabinet into your plan Select your previously created Door/Drawer and hover over your "Symbol Arching Tool" cabinet. You should see the Replace From Library indicator. Click to replace. Change the width and height of the cabinet to adjust the overall width and height of the newly curved object and change the Bow Front Depth to adjust the radius of the curve. NOTE: It really helps visualize things a bit better if you at least temporarily turn on Show Closed Doors/Drawers in Plan View in your General Cabinet Defaults. When you get the shape you want, simply select the cabinet, Convert Selected to Symbol, and select Symbol Category>Fixture Symbol Arching Tool.calibz

There are a couple ways to activate the Library. The most effective I've found though (at least for Windows machines) is the following keystroke sequence: Alt (activates the file menu) Menu key (has the effect of right clicking up in the menu) Down arrow (selects the Library Browser) Enter (closes the Library Browser down) Alt (activates the file menu again) Menu key (has the effect of right clicking up in the menu again) Down arrow (selects the Library Browser again) Enter (opens the Library Browser this time) When the Library Browser is opened using this sequence, the search bar in the Library Browser is activated.

I think the first step in these situations is to make sure you fully understand the geometry of the object(s) you intend to curve. Does the entire object actually curve or it it possible its only a couple specific surfaces that curve? Or perhaps its a combination of elements... ...and the more elements you have, the more complicated it can become. Once you decide exactly what needs to curve, then you can decide the best method of modeling it. Can you verify what exactly needs to curve? And what all elements are involved?

Wow. Troll much?

This is not what I was intending to communicate at all. On the contrary, I almost never have to clean anything up. I just wanted to stop shy of saying never.

Wait, what? That's cheating? Oh man, I have a lot soul searching to do.

I doubt you'll be able to. My guess is that its either a crappy texture where the top and bottom of the image don't align and therefor don't properly tile, or that the problem is with the model itself and that what you think is a single surface is actually multiple surfaces that aren't on the same plane.

They work, you just have to adjust the heights manually is all.

You can, but then you don’t get very desirable control over the textures on the tread surface.

You should really just try it yourself, but my elevations typically require very little cleanup. To be fair though, I don't recall them requiring very much cleanup way back in X7 either.

You should posts the plan and textures

You can also use a landing.... ...speaking of which, you can not only use them in lieu of the room but also in lieu of the stairs themselves. This is build with 6 landings:

You can still use either the Z or / buttons.

Select the cabinet and Use the Add To Library As tool to extract those symbols.

We cannot reorder the Drawing Groups themsleves. We can only move objects to other Drawing Groups or other positions within that group. Your best bet is to either change your Dimension Defaults to put them on Drawing Group 7 (if you run into this problem a lot) OR stick with simply moving the one specific object forward or backward as necessary.

It's definitely buggy but in my own experience, it doesn't seem to become corrupted until you try to send 2 otherwise identical things from different floors at the same time. Once that happens, the Master List seems to be broken from that point forward. Hopefully you either have or will find time to report these issues.

I always send as Plot Lines (NOT CAD Detail From View). This way I can Edit Layout Lines if desired but I can still Update View at any time. Plot Lines also result in crisper drawings since they're vector based instead of raster.

It’s a bit too late for me on this one, but in general, for these challenges, should we open the plan and start the clock before we start studying the drawing provided or can we formulate a plan and then start the clock? I know I can typically cut my modeling time in half (or better) if I spend a little while thinking about it and planning out my approach in advance.

You can also use a non-window symbol set to Inserts into Wall.

This explains a lot. I did a bit of testing with some of my plans and found that you can indeed get almost completely identical items into the Master List if you group select like that and its seems to be because they line items are generated from different floors. I feel like you're not doing yourself any favors by sending identical items to the Master list though and that your practice of doing so may be causing problems that you wouldn't otherwise be experiencing. Having said that, you're also helping reveal a good handful of bugs, so its not all bad. When this does happen (duplicate items), I can also verify that the Default checkbox does not do anything. For all intents and purposes and assuming all items have the Use box checked, its always the uppermost item that gets honored. There are also a whole bunch of other little anomalies that take place having to do with duplicates and on which floor the duplicate was generated by. If for example the Use box is unchecked for the duplicate that was created from a Floor 2 object and you were to select a Floor 2 object and click Update From Master, the Floor 2 object would be deleted from the Materials List entirely; if however you do the same for an object on Floor 1, it does NOT get deleted. It also seems that the Master List can become corrupted by the duplicate situation taking place but I haven't exactly pinned that down. Anyway, long story short, there are definitely a bunch of problems that need to be addressed. You can certainly improve your situation by being more selective with which items you add to the Master List though and by using some of the aforementioned alternatives instead of or in addition to the Master List.

I wasn't trying to suggest any specific approach. I was just pointing out a few perfectly valid reasons a person might want seemingly duplicate entries. Whether they would work or not and whether they would be good ideas or not are an entirely different discussion.

How did they all get there by the way? It sounds like you must have sent them all. Why would you do that? Shouldn't you have only sent one of each?

Can you post the actual master list (the mmaster.mat file) from your data folder?