Joe_Carrick

Personally, I think Johnny's example of Vectorworks is just a matter of symantics. Vectorworks "Design Layer" seems to be equivalent to Chiefs "Floor Level". Can't we just get beyond the comparisons between VectorWorks, AllPlan, Revit, etc and Chief Architect? They are all different and if someone likes one better than the other - then go with that App.

Mick, Virtually all computer code for textual data is still ascii based. It wouldn't have made sense to create an entirely new system. If you look at any font in a font editor you will find the characters are numbered 0-255 (256 characters). Typical sorts use those numbers, stepping thru each character in the text string.

Mick, Often these kinds of things get tested with very simple models - like maybe 4-8 walls. When that happens, the problems with a simple ascii sorted list aren't noticed. If the testing was done with 40-50 walls it might be noticed but maybe not.

Here are 2 macros - either of which can be substituted for Chiefs %wall_id%. %wall_id_2% displays a 2 digit number "01,02,,,,,99" %wall_id_3% displays a 3 digit number "001,002,,,,,999" enjoy. wall_id_2_3.zip

You could also simply add a "0" in front of the single digit walls in the PB. That would make them all 2 digit and they would be listed as: 01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,21,,,,,, I think I could no that with a macro. Let me see what I can do.

I don't think so. The problem is that it's an ASCII sort that's typical of computer lists. The only way to avoid it would be to have all the numbers be 2 or maybe even 3 digits. ie: 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,,,,,,,etc. 2 digits would be fine in most cases because it would allow 90 walls all with 2 digit numbers (10-99). 3 digits would allow 90 walls with 3 digit numbers (100-999) If Chief had a setting for Begining Wall Number it could be automatic.

Scott, So your vote would be for A, B & C ? BTW, if I catch you actually doing a 20 story building .......

So, before I send in a suggestion (or post it in the suggestions forum) here's my take on the MRLS & MMRLS: 1. Currently there is one Default Reference Layer Set and only one Layer Set can be used as a Reference Layer Set at any time. 2. The Reference Layer Set can be modified by using Tools>Reference Floors>Change Floor/Reference 3. Each Layout Box can have a different Reference Layer Set and can Reference a different Floor. That's basically the definition of the current MRLS. A. It would be nice if it could be extended so that each Layer Set could have a it's own specific Reference Layer Set B. It would be nice if the Reference Layer Sets could reference/display Multiple Floors instead of just a single Floor. C. It would be nice if more than one Layer Set could be used as a Reference Layer Set at the same time. Does this meet what we need? Is it more than we need? Do we only need "B"?

Ahhh...... I missed that capability. Thanks Scott. MMRLS would be nice.

Scott, The Roof Framing is only a problem if you rebuild it after changing which floor the Roof is shown on. It would be nice if that function didn't effect the Framing at all. MMRLS might be a great solution. but I'm not sure how that would work for multiple floors. Layer Sets are not really tied to any floor other than the one above or below (actually just the previously displayed floor) so some other mechanism would need to be devised.

I have a 3 Story House. There are roofs at each floor level over the areas that are not covered by the floor above. In some areas the upper floors cantilever beyond the floor below. What's the best way to show a single Roof Plan with the Footprint of each floor? I've done it by showing all the roof planes on the 3rd Floor and copied the Exterior Room Polylines from the 1st and second floors - but that seems a bit tedious. I really couldn't figure out how to do it using a Reference Layer Set.

Cheryl, Temperance is one thing - being a TeeTotaler is another.

Check the layer of the "Wall Layer 3" Text. Turn that Layer Off. Add your own Text on a different Layer with %view.name% in that text box.

Mick, When you don't get the thing you want --- hit the tab key until you do. It will step thru the objects until there's nothing else to find.

This is an interesting topic. When I do Wall Sections I don't add much in the way of text. For a larger scale detail I use a Callout with a circle (or oval) around the area. I then create a CAD_Detail from that and do all the specific annotation in that view. That's what gets sent to Layout. This has the benefit of the detail being saveable for use in the future. IAE, the point is that the small amount of text that I might add to a Wall Section in probably not even appropriate for the Large Scale Details.

Agreed, But it depends on if he actually wants the same information displayed.

You need to have differerent Layer Sets for the 2 views sent to Layout.

Scott, here's the Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zWpIHm-sHY&feature=youtu.be

Text Styles - naturally associated with Layer Sets. Eventually you will want to get comfortable with creating and modifying symbols as well as using macros.

Put all that text on one Layer and turn it off. Then create your other Text on a Different Layer.

100% Correct. Just about the only thing I put in the Layout in Text Boxes is on Page 0 - (Borders, Sheet Index, etc) I do have some additional Text Boxes on a few pages - some of which have macros in them but I generally don't add any text if there's a Layout Box. In that case the text belongs in the Plan.

Mick, It depends on the macro. If it's a macro that needs to get attributes from a Layout Box then it needs to be added to the Layout. OTOH, if it needs to get attributes from the Plan then it needs to be added to the Plan. The only user macros that I have added to the Layout are: 1. Filename macros (they get the full path and filename of Layout Box referenced Plan File) 2. Custom macros to read/write "Consultant Info" files to store and retrieve data that Chief doesn't provide for. 3. Custom macros to read/write "Structural Data Files" that provide (loads, spacing, member properties, etc) 4. Macros that I want or need to add to Text Boxes in the Layout All other macros are in my Defaut Plan. btw, Chief provides their "Global" and "Object" macros to display various data - those are available wherever you are (Layout or Plan & depending on the Object currently selected (if any). NOTE: If a macro is in the Plan and that view is sent to Layout then when the Layout Page is displayed it will activate that macro. You don't have to actually open the view, just display the Layout Page.

Ray, If you add the User Macros to your Default Plan Template and/or Default Layout Template as appropriate and "Save", they will be available for new Projects. Note that some macros are used just in the Plan and others are used just in the Layout. I have asked for a "Browser" type organization for User Macros (Similar to the Library Browser) but Chief hasn't done that yet. I hope they will have it in X8.

When Text Macro Management is opened, all macros are executed. I originally thought that only a selected macro would be executed but it's actually every macro. That is how the system determines which are valid and which are not. There is an unintended consequence of this. If there are any Global Variables that have been initialized with actual values - they could be modified by a macro that initializes those variables. It would be nice if there was an option to turn off this "All Macro Validation Check" so that the execution would be limited to "selected macros". This wold need to be a setting in Preferences > General > Ruby.

It's in the Bonus Library "3D Text"