Joe_Carrick

Yes, a "Non Evaluated" text macro is especially useful for Elevations (Interior, Exterior & Sections) and anyplace else where Object Labels aren't sufficient.

Val, The only advantage I know of for having more than one Template Sheet is if you want to include something on a specific set of pages. As an example, you might want an Electrical Legend on all Electrical Floor Plans - or a Nailing Schedule on all Framing Plans - or a North Arrow on all Plan Sheets - or ????? on all Elevations, etc. These things would then be visible on any page that uses those particular Template Sheet. If you don't want any special Template Sheets, just make sure all pages use the "Default Page Template"

The problem with the current "workaround" solutions is that you need a different keynote table for various floor plans, elevations, sections, etc. A generalized system that could work with different Layer Sets, Layers, Object Types, etc. would be much, much, much better. Having spent a good part of my career doing Hospitals, Medical Offices and other Commercial Projects I've used Key Notes, Schedules and Detail Callouts extensively. Many of those projects were before CAD and making sure all references were accurate was very important. I must admit that I've seen a lot of Key Notes on residential plans that were full of errors. But I've seen notes on plans that didn't use Key Notes that were wrong as well.

If that doesn't work, reinstall Chief. It sounds like the hired gun deleted some files he shouldn't have.

I agree that more manufacturer's textures would be nice. But Board and Batten can't really be done as a texture because they need to cast shadows relative to the sun position. For that reason, you need to use a 3D object. I find the best solution is to use moldings for the horizontal pieces and wall material regions for the vertical pieces. Both of those will be automatically cut by doors and windows and since they are actual projections from the wall surface they cast shadows correctly.

Thanks Chop. There are pro's and con's to both. In this particular case the advantage to using the Niche Tool is that it will cause the wall to frame correctly. The advantage of using my Wall Niche Symbol is that it will span wall intersections (among other things). There's more than one way to "Skin a Cat".

Also note that importing Cabinet Symbols is not going to provide the same flexibility as Chief's parametric Cabinets. It's OK if you just want the 3D appearance but you lose a lot of intelligence within the Cabinet.

Pull the vertical wall away from the horizontal wall Extend the exterior wall to encompass the interior wall Put a Niche in where you want it Pull the vertical wall back up to the horizontal wall. Use a Wall Material to correct the wall finish inside the small room.

I got a -1 for that post? very strange indeed.

The 1-5/8" should be entered as the depth of the upper base cabinet. Then use Transform/Replicate to move it 20". Once you have that done, you can block the 2 cabinets and save to your user Library for future use. Another option would be to make that "Upper Base Cabinet" a 6" thick Counter Top.

Fantastic!!!!! Now why was that setting not the default in the first place?

What you are seeing is the bottom of the 2nd Base Cabinet that you are using as a top front of the furniture vanity you created. Make that Cabinet to be just 1-5/8" deep and then move it out 20" from the wall.

Look at values "C" & "L" in that dbx. Once you have those correct, go to the room below and edit the "Ceiling" Structure or Finish "J" to make up the difference. I usually use the "J" and just add an Air Gap and Joist Size above the Drywall.

Arkad7, Ceiling heights on lower floors are dependent on the floor elevation of the room(s) above and their floor structure thickness (including in some cases the ceiling structure of individual rooms). Depending on how complicated the overlapping rooms above are it can be a bit difficult to get everything the way you want it. In order for anyone here to really help, you will need to post your plan and explain what you want where.

Some AV programs may think a dll is a threat and will consequently take action to prevent it from executing. If that's the case then setting an exemption in the AV software should solve that problem. Note that you would need to set up the exemption after the Chief install and before the AV software performs a scan. I make sure that any exe's and dll's for legitimate apps (not just Chief) are exempted in my AV software. That's just a good practice.

Macros will only execute if the Text they are imbedded in are displayed. That could be any of the following: An Object Label (Room, Cabinet, Door, Window, Framing, Wall, Symbol, etc) Text Rich Text The macro doesn't need to actually return a displayed value (it might just perform some calculations and/or set one or more Global Variables or read/write to a file), but the text object must be set to be shown and be on a visible layer. There are a couple of ways to force a re-display: The F5 key or (G5 key assuming it has been mapped) to cause a "Refresh" Do a Print Preview in the Layout - this causes a "Display of all Views sent to Layout" If you follow the above, you shouldn't have any problems with macros being executed.

The G5 key causes a "Refresh" and forces all "visible" macros to be executed. I use a couple of macros to set "Ruby Global Variables" that may be needed by other macros. They set those "Globals" but display nothing. Some of them are in Room Labels, some in Cabinet Labels, some in other Labels, and some in Text Boxes. One way to get all macros to execute is to do a "Print Preview" in the Layout. This essentially displays all the Plan Views that have been sent to Layout and forces the macros in those views to execute.

What version of Windows are you using? Updating your signature with your system info may help get to the bottom of your problem.

I would suggest you request the Contractor to submit it as shop drawings of what he's proposing. If a contractor want's to do something different that the original design then it's up to him/her to submit that.

Text Arrows are really for connecting from an existing text object to something you want to point to. Personally, I prefer "Leader Line Text" in most cases. When I want a second arrow I simply "Add an Arrow" or use a "Text Arrow" starting at the center of the existing Text. In either case, I do not get the problem you are experiencing.

I was unable to duplicate your result using "Leader Line Text". Note that you can also simply "break" the existing line and then adjust the arrowhead location. IAE, I don't know how you got the result you did. It's obvious that the offending line isn't connected - just by looking at your pic because there are no handles on the first segment. I was able to do it by drawing a new "Text Arrow" with the second point at the existing arrowhead.

Why not just use the Shelf Tool (one of the Cabinet Tools)

It might be useful to know what your GPU (Graphics Card) specs are.

OK, If I assume (probably a mistake on my part) that you want to display a Callout matching a "Cross Section Camera Callout" from a Plan View in an Elevation and have it display the same data as it does in the Plan - then what you really need is the ability to display that "Camera Callout" in the Elevation. That would be nice but wouldn't work unless the Cross Section Camera was on a single plane perpendicular to the Elevation (no offsets in Plan). Currently, Chief doesn't allow us to display the "Cross Section Camera" in any views except the Plan Views. Chief hasn't provided Callouts for "Details" in Elevations. It would be a nice addition.

Adam, I'm still trying to understand the "Callout" in an Elevation. As stated previously, only "Camera Callouts" have the ability to recognize the Layout which the view has been sent to. Since general "Callouts" don't reference another view, there simply isn't anything for them to use. Can you please show a pic (even of what you do manually) to explain what you are trying to do?