Joe_Carrick

X1 is quite old so I can't say for sure - but you may have turned off "Connect CAD Segments" in Preferences>CAD.

Since the text is actually a part of the 2D Block, the answer is "No".

If you have several CAD Detail Plans, it's pretty easy to organize by Detail Subject. Door & Window Details Railing Details Foundation Details Floor Framing Details Roof Framing Details etc Each of those Plan Files can have multiple named CAD Detail Windows. It's kind of a "Library of Details" that are available to be sent to any Layout. They can be modified in those Plans and any Layout that references one of those details would be automatically updated. It's also very easy to create new details from any of those. The Details are always "to scale" and the Library doesn't get cluttered with hundreds of details that can be difficult to locate.

Ditto.

Considering those restrictions, I would suggest a reversal of the Plan with the Living Room at the back and the Kitchen adjacent to the Garage so that you don't have to carry groceries, etc so far. Eliminate the door into the Garage from the "Entry" side of the house - it's really not needed and is a security problem. Based on your stated lot size and assumed setbacks you may have difficulty with driving into the Garage. You may need to relocate the Garage Door if the street is on the left or reduce the depth . It all depends on the site orientation and setbacks. Without that information it's difficult to give any better advice.

Richard, I agree with regard to Project Specific Details and Notes. But many notes and details are "standard" and need not be in the Project Folder. "Code References" should of course be Project Specific and I would have those in a CAD Detail in the Plan. I will have to check on the "duplicate names" that you mention as always being first found in the same Folder as the Layout. IMO it shouldn't work that way but I would never have such a condition anyway.

Richard, It works like this: When sending to Layout Chief first looks for an open Layout If none found it looks for a Layout the same name as the Plan in the Plan Folder If that's not found then it will use the Default Layout File Layout Boxes all have a link to the Plan & View that they came from (it's a full qualified path, filename and view) If that location, file & view doesn't exist then you would need to relink

If they are in the Chief Data Folder (or a subfolder thereof) you might need to relink. If they are in a folder independent of the Chief Architect version then no relink would be needed. That's probably the best solution - something like "My Documents/Chief Architect Notes and Details". In my case, I use a Folder in Dropbox and I retain the old Chief Architect versions and all their folders. Currently I have X4, X5, X6, X7, X8 and X9 all available. It's probably time to clean out some of those - at least as archives.

Just keep the Main Plan File and the Layout File in the same directory. All other Plan Files (General Notes, Details, etc) can be in another folder. I prefer to keep them subfolder(s) in the Chief Data Folder.

I sent you a PM with my phone number and email address.

A lot of that can be done in Chief using Solid Color Fills with about 50% transparency. In some cases the Terrain Features can be used because they are already Polyline Objects that can have a fill. In other cases you would have to create the closed Polylines.

Then it's no longer an active view and any changes in the Plan will not be reflected in the Layout.

I'm not an expert on Scissor Trusses - but I'm pretty sure that "No Birdsmouth" should cause the Ceiling to be higher than the Top of the Plate - and "With Birdsmouth" should make it match the Top of Plate. The critical thing is to get all that set up (figured out and coordinated) before creating the Ceiling Planes & Trusses. I think Chief's recommendation of creating the Ceiling Plane at the outside of the wall is only appropriate for "No Birdsmouth". Otherwise the Ceiling Planes should be at the inside of the wall. IMO "No Birdsmouth" is the better way to build Trusses and there should be added plate support (ripped to match bottom chord slope).

Notes in the Plan is the way to go. General Notes in Text Boxes in the Layout is OK, but you can also have those in Plan CAD Details sent to Layout. Leader Lines in Layout is not a good idea.

You can uncheck "Reflections" in the Camera Defaults or in the individual Camera dbx. The other option would be to make one of those Mirrors a non- reflective material.

Hi Mark, I looked at the catalogs and IMO these Manufacturers have gone way out in left field. It seems they have a CODE for every possible condition rather than a simple system for the box and door/drawer configuration. Since I'm concentrating on Conestoga (Youngdale is a Dealer) the Codes are much simpler. Almost every CODE can be represented based on the existing Cabinet attributes. Basically there are just 3 primary Box Types: B = Base W = Wall U = Utility Then there are some qualifiers such as: S = Sink C = Corner O = Oven (replaces the "U") FD = Full Door FC = Filler 1D = 1 Drawer, 2D = 2 Drawer, 3D = 3 Drawer, 4D = 4 Drawer LS = Lazy Susan Followed by size (usually w x h but sometimes w x d x h) Followed by "BD" for Butt Doors If the cabinet doesn't fit a standard size or configuration the CODE is prefixed with a "C" for Custom If it's a Vanity Cabinet the CODE is prefixed with a "V" Some other Cabinets such as Desk, Open Shelves, etc may be prefixed with other characters but generally it's possible to just use one of the 3 basic types. IAE, the most complex CODE would be something like: CBCFD32134.5BD [ Custom, Base, Corner, Full Doors, 32" wide, 21" deep, 34.5" high, Butt Doors ] while a stock Base Cabinet would be: B2434.5 [ Base, 24" wide, 34.5" high ] Single Door and 1 Drawer Door Styles, Pull-outs, Finishes, etc are not a part of the CODE. There are still a few configurations for which it's easier to just enter in the CODE field manually rather than trying to program into a macro, but those are special cases. In addition I can specify a Custom Front and Box with whatever Doors, Drawers, Openings needed. Those would also be entered manually in the CODE and Description Fields. In summary, I don't think it's going to be feasible to do a macro to automate the CODE for the majority of your Cabinet Brands because of the complexity of those catalogs.

Marc, I've got most of the Conestoga Codes done in my macro based on the Cabinet attributes and sizes. There are a few that simply have to be manually entered and saved in the Library - but only a very small number and nothing that's very often used. I would like to have an cabinet attribute for the "room" which would facilitate identifying Vanity and Office cabinets as opposed to Kitchen cabinets. I have my macro set up so that depending on the contents of the Manufacturer Field the Code is set. This includes both stock sizes and Custom sizes. Anything that's not stock is prefixed with a "C". I still need to take a look at the catalogs you sent. It just seems that CA must have had something as a starting point for the automatic_labels. I strongly suspect that most companies use a very similar set of Codes. IAE, it would be great if someone at headquarters could chip in with an answer.

Chief provides an automatic_label attribute for Cabinets. This includes a prefix and suffix which must have been based on some manufacturer's standards. Does anyone know what manufacturer(s) that was originally based on? Most Manufacturers use a CODE that's similar to what Chief provides but there are differences. I want to automatically adjust the CODE in Chief for various Manufacturers but I would just use the automatic_label attribute for the ones that match (if any).

Without the Plan and Layout files I can only guess. Most likely it's because the Camera View Names in the Plan (Project Browser don't match the ones in the Layout - but as I said, that's just a guess.

Unfortunately there are no Defaults for the Label of Layout Boxes so you just have to insert that directly for each Layout Box Label. Personally, I have the Titles and Scale in the Plan Views I send to Layout in most cases. %view.name% and %scale% in the Plan are reliable as long as you edit the view names in the Project Browser.

Set the Text Style for the "Layout Box Labels" layer in your Layout.

The way I do it is to create another floor without a roof. IOW, the Floor becomes the Roof and you can draw railing walls on that floor.

You will need to do a bit of manual work. Edit the Doorway to raise the bottom - or use a Window Pass Thru. Drag the Roof of the Garage back over to the Main Wall Create a PSolid to fill the Wall that's not showing in 3D (create it in an elevation view so you can get the shape right). Create a Slab to fill the missing floor - you could actually check "No Floor below this Room" and use a Slab for the entire area.

In that case, simply open the room dbx and set the floor height and structure thickness. The walls shouldn't extend below that. You will need to make the opening in the Interior Wall as a "Pass-Thru".

If you are using a "Bay Window" - in the dbx select "Has Raised Floor" and set the values there for height and floor thickness. This will preclude it from going down thru the Garage Roof.