Joe_Carrick

I am offering my Roof Area Schedule Package for $50.00 This package consists of macros to accumulate the areas of Roof Planes in a Chief Architect Plan and Display that Data in Text Boxes as formatted Schedules, etc. It stores the Data in several Ruby Global Variables that can be used by other macros to calculate and display the results of those calculations. Here is some of the sample output: The notes were simply copied from the Chief Help, These samples were done with no existing or demo roof planes, so there is no difference in the numbers at the bottom, but if there had been either of those categories present the calculations would be apparent. This can be used on any new or existing Chief Plan versions X6 & X7. I have not checked it on version X5 or prior. If you wish to purchase, PM me with your email address and I will create a Paypal Funds Request.

Tommy is just telling you how they used to build things in his part of Texas. They did use full 1"+ Shiplap Siding on Interior Walls. Very little Lath and Plaster and back at that time drywall was unheard of. In the mid 1900's there was a move away from wood lath to 1/4"-3/8" lath (made like drywall - but used as a base for 1/2" interior plaster.

I understand..... It's a part of the construction process. As much as we try to avoid "cutting", the fact is that construction is always going to have some imperfections in measurements. There are also expansion and contraction problems to deal with. I think the best we can do is come close and make things so there's as little cutting and waste as we can get. For that reason it's usually better to make things a little bit smaller than bigger. You can cut a few inches or centimeters off of a sheet of plywood but it's really hard to stretch it at all.

You do know that you can take a picture of a material, import it and convert it to a texture, right?

You need to think in reverse. Your Exterior Wall Layer is "Hardieplank". The "Wall Material Regions" you would use would be a "Thin Material" with "Cuts Wall Surface Layers" checked. You make these about 1/2" wide or tall (depending on the direction) as seams to "break up" the wall surface. IOW, you are making "Reversed Wall Material Regions".

Hi Graham, I understand. There should be some way to specify a material thickness but there isn't. That might be a good suggestion

Graham, Since the OP just wanted "Open Back" bookshelves with no doors, I think "Match Front" is easier.

Perry, I could extend this to a finer level of control - Existing, Demo, New. All it would require would be using the appropriate line_styles.

Sure, it's just a matter of having the macro that collects the data in the roof plane's label - or not.

Thanks Doug - now we just need to get the powers that be to agree and fund it

In most cases only the Projected and Surface Areas are useful or needed. Some jurisdictions require these for rain water runoff analysis. The Projected Area is considered impermeable and that will effect storm water systems. The Surface Area is useful for material takeoffs - Roof Sheathing, Shingles, etc. I'm not going to provide the Contractor a materials list - but with this information on the Plan it makes it easier for them to do their own take-off.

Match Front......

Thanks Glenn, The definitions you posted are directly from the Help File for the Roof Specification (Polyline Panel). My schedule used the "Projected Overhang Area". All of the values were retrieved and tabulated from the corresponding Roof Plane attributes. If I change any Roof Plane in the Plan - the Schedule is automatically updated. I added the appropriate footnotes to the Schedule.

Curt, Which Column Values are you not understanding?

It takes just 2 macros to create this Roof Schedule - and the Labels for the Roof Planes.

Here are a couple of pics that show just a fraction of the Object Data for a Wall in Chief. Then there is the pic that shows just how little of that information is available as attributes that could be used within a script. That's not just annoying - it's pathetic. Come on CA - open the doors!

You should post this in the Q&A or Suggestions Forum. Then delete it from this Forum because it isn't a Tip, it's a Question.

I can see a way that both could be used. I already have several different Layer Sets that I use for my Layout(s) depending on Sheet Size and for "working" vs "printing". So by adding another set for "reduced prints" I could use the %scale% macro

Doug, Is there any way the name of the macro could be changed to "printed scale" without effecting the prior use? Maybe just a duplicate macro with that name would be useful. At least that way the name would give an indication of what it actually does. I personally do not find the "zooming" aspects useful since I use different monitor sizes and the "zoomed" scale is not always indicative of what it will look like when printed.

Maybe the Text Style assigned to the Layout Box Label ????

My take on this is that "Zoom Scale" is really irrelevant. When working in the Plan - scale means nothing on the screen. When a dwg is sent to Layout is is according to the sheet that it's to be printed on and the scale of the Layout box on that sheet. Check Plots at smaller sizes should be so noted in and check plots are not intended to be to scale. Yes Tommy, I did read that post - in fact I had several postings in that thread myself.

It happens - sometimes

Tommy, I disagree with Doug on this issue. He has his opinion and I have mine. The scale is whatever scale the Layout Box Scale is. If I rescale the Layout Box, the displayed scale is automatically updated.

In Defaults Settings>Rooms>Room Label you can add any of the Global Room Info macros that Chief provides. Internal Room Area and Room Dimensions are consistent. ie: both refer to the inside face of the walls. BTW, if you want to be able to format the Displayed information you can use a RTB instead of the Room Label that Chief provides. The same macros will work in a RTB.

That is exactly what I do - but I have a set of "Detail Plans" with my Details already in "CAD Details" - so I skip the Library. Many of my Details have already been sent to Layout from these "Detail Plans" so when I open the Layout I can go directly to the correct CAD Detail in the Detail Plan it came from.