Joe_Carrick

Will, Now you're getting me angry. Ctrl_Mouse_ Wheel to read in this forum.....Really?

The January 2016 Macro of the Month is: BlockName and is used with Leader Line Text to annotate CAD Blocks. This is very useful for annotation of CAD Details made up of Library Blocks. To change the annotation, simply rename the Block. This will change the annotation for all like Blocks in the Plan.

Will, Nobody here get's uptight about such discussions - maybe a little tiny bit but it's NBD. OTOH, when we get a lot of bitching and moaning about why Chief doesn't do it the way another app does it.....

Graham, Having programmed a rather extensive Windows Accounting Application, I can assure you that the DPI of the monitor is available and the text size in any dialog can be customized as to size. In fact, Chief already does that in the Plan, Elevations, Sections, and Details (text sizes). They just haven't applied the principles to dialogs. Icons are a different issue, being bitmap images drawn to a specific number of pixels. Generally there are just 2 possible sizes included in an App - but even doesn't have to be true.

Create a Room Polyline and use that for the Fill. Break it at the door edges and drag that segment into the door opening. Move the Room Polyline to the "Back Group". BTW, as long as the Room Polyline is the "Back Group" you don't even need to break it at the door - just drag that side to the opposite side of the wall.

The only way to do this currently is to have symbols for each of those placed where needed in the foundation plan. Symbols are listed in the Materials List. It should not require a macro.

The only way I know of increasing the size of icons, etc. in Chief is to change the Display Settings (resolution) of the monitor. This will effect all other apps as well as the Desktop. Even more annoying to me is the size of the text in DBXs and a the wasted space in those DBXs. CA should provide a setting so we could adjust them. Note: The contents of some DBXs can be adjusted using Ctrl_Scroll Wheel, but that's inconsistent, not working in most DBXs.

Scott, Here's a simple macro that you can put in the Label of any Door It displays the distance from the bottom to the handle in inches. Macro Name = Handle_Height result = owner.handle_distance_from_bottom result = result.to_s result = 'Handle Height = ' + result + ' inches' Enter that in "Text Macro Management" as a new macro, check the "evaluate box" and save it. Then in the Door Label select the "Insert" button and select that macro from the User Defined List This is a free sample. It might not be very useful but it's an example of how macros work. Line #1 gets the data from the door as a numerical value and assigns it to a local variable named "result" Line #2 converts that to a text string Line #3 adds 3 strings together.

Another option - Convert to Symbol. But you need to do that in a 3D View where nothing else is present. A blank plan is the best way.

Maybe set Angle Snaps to 90 degrees ?

Just a side note: It should be a "Balcony Room", not a Deck. Decks are above the ground or other Decks, not above other rooms. It make a difference how Chief works - but that's much further along in learning how to use Chief.

You might also try some of Chief's Bonus Catalogs. "Event Planning" has some tents and arbors, depending on what you need. You could use one of the arbors and add some flowers of a floral material.

Just use CAD boxes for the Window Headers.

Right-Click on any object to get a pop-up menu with a description of each tool. This is a pretty quick way to get to the available tools. I'm not very good with Hotkeys - too many to remember. The pop-up menu is basically the same as the "Edit Toolbar" but it's right there (at the object you selected) with the description so you don't have to look at the bottom of the screen or remember what the icons mean.

Most of the Cabinet Manufacturer's Catalogs have them.

Jerry, Chief doesn't have the ACAD "Offset" command. It would be nice if it did, but the tools listed by Michael will do the job. One way to get to those commands quickly is to "right-click" on the line which will pop-up a list of tools to select from.

Type "Valance" in the Library Search box. They will be found in the Manufacturer's Catalogs.

Terry, Chief X8 will automatically install in separate folders. The biggest thing to remember is that you want to have a separate folder/sub-folders for the X8 plans than for X7. Once you save a plan in X8 it can not be opened in X7. So you should make sure you save in X8 to your X8 folders. That way your X7 plans will still be available. Take a look at Preferences > New Plans > Open and Save As but remember when you open an X7 plan in X8 - immediately save it to your X8 folder. My standard procedure is to copy all the current X7 plan folders to the X8 folder. You will also need to relink your projects so that the Layouts and Plans are pointing to the correct version folders.

Will, Check Default Settings > Annotation Sets. There you can specify: Current CAD Layer Dimension Defaults Rich Text Defaults Text Defaults Callout Defaults Marker Defaults Arrow Defaults Layer Set All of which can be customized. When you select a specific Annoset everything is automatically changed to those settings. Once set up, it virtually eliminates having to worry about the appearance and layer that all the above are on. IOW, if you have a "Plumbing" Annoset with a corresponding "Plumbing" Layer Set then all you need to do to work on a Plumbing plan is select that Annoset. BINGO! Chief already has some OOB Anosets but you may need to modify them to suit your own needs. IAE, this is a huge time saver once you have it all set up in your Default Template(s)

I had this problem this morning. I restarted my computer and Win10 updated. That solved the problem.

I tried to do make the same adjustments in X7 (that I did in X8) without success. There seems to be a fix in X8 so that the 2D CAD Block origin offsets work properly. In X7 I can't get the outlets to snap to the cabinet and orient perpendicular to the cabinet faces. Evidently, this is a fix in X8 that isn't mentioned in the "What's new in X8".

When this happens, open the "Task Manager", find Chief Architect and "End Program".

Johnny, Do you mean the X in the Post? That can be suppressed in the Post dbx by unchecking "Show Cross".

BTW, If you need the outlet to be horizontal - just open the symbol dbx and rotate 90 degrees about the y axis. There's no need for a separate symbol in the Library unless you want it. If you do, just save it after rotating and rename the new saved copy.

Posts & Rafters can be Steel-Box (ie: Steel Tubes). Check the Defaults for Framing. You can specify the Type for Rafters in the Roof Structure Definition.