Joe_Carrick

The only other thing I can think of that would cause this problem is that one of the arrows is pointing to something that's not a Framing Member. Try deleting one of the arrows and just connect the other one.

You might also want to check your "Snap Distance". I have mine set to 12 pixels.

BTW, Switching from Lumber to TJI would of course disconnect. The edge of the Framing Member has moved so the connection is broken - you have to reconnect.

Do you guys have Object Snaps turned on? When you grab the tip of the arrow and drag it onto the TJI it should show a snap indicator. There is nothing different with a TJI vs a piece of Lumber than the width. Object Snaps should over-ride the Grid Snaps.

Here are my snap settings:

Scott, Please post your Object Snap Settings in Preferences. I have no problem snapping to I-Joists even with Grid Snaps On. It's important that you be able to see the Object Snap Indicator when you hit the object.

Mick, Turn of Grid Snaps when trying to connect the Arrow. It seems that the TJI widths don't match the grids normally being used so the snap doesn't work. The Arrow is snapping to a Grid instead of the Object.

Glenn, The problem is that for Imperial Units Chief rounds up to the common name size. IOW, what we call a 2x6 is really 1.5" x 5.5". That's fine for the Label when we're framing with Lumber - but not for I-Joists, LVL, etc. That's why I created my macro - it differentiates according to the type of framing member.

Glenn, You are correct. A much better name would be Framing Member(s) Label since that's what it really does. It works with any Framing Member - Posts, Beams, Joists, Rafters, Outlookers, Fascias .......

I think they just have too many things to do and have not previously understood just how valuable this sort of thing can be. They have a list of what they want to do for X8 and maybe some of the macro attributes and reference (arrow) connection issues are on that list. The thing about this sort of annotation is that different users will want the output to be a little different. CA can not possibly satisfy everyone on that score. Consequently having the ability for the user to customize it using macros and RTB's actually makes a lot of sense. We just need to get them to open the door for us. Not all users are going to be comfortable writing macros - but there are many who are and then there are some who can do it for those who are willing to pay a small fee.

Mick, Check the Layer "Text, Framing" to see if it's displayed.

Try the "Cross Section/Elevation" instead. Note: It also works for Interior Elevations - so you can include finish information, Floor & Ceiling Hts, etc.

Chief doesn't provide Room Labels for Section/Elevation Views. But here's a pretty neat way to get them: 1. Set up the Defaults for Room Finish Schedules to include Room Name and any other data you want. You will also want to suppress the Column Headings and the Title - and set the Default Display attributes such as text style, etc. 2. Select a Room in a Section View and click on the Icon for "Create Schedule For Room" 3. Place the Schedule in the Room. 4. This will result in a single line. If you only have the Room Name then that's probably all you need to do and it will remain "live". 5. Otherwise, Convert the Schedule to Text and then to Rich Text. 6. Now you can edit the Rich Text - adding and subtracting information as well as formatting it. Note: As Text or Rich Text the data is no longer live so if you make changes to the model you would need to redo the above.

I just hope that CA is really seeing this. If they expand the data access as we've been asking we can almost totally eliminate manual annotation and it will make a lot of the competition look silly.

Perry, One possibility available at this time is a Custom Room Schedule (one Room) with just a "Room Name". It can be set up as the Default for Room Schedule and just generate a Room Schedule for each Room in the Section. You can have all the display attributes set in the defaults. It's a little bit of work, but not too much. Since I already have my real Room Finish Schedule in a CAD Detail Window I don't have to worry about the fact that the Default is set to just display a name. In addition, you can convert the Schedule to Text and then convert the Text to Rich Text. So there's a lot of flexibility if you want it. This might even be better than a Room Label since you have access to everything that you can get in the Schedule. It takes a little bit of formatting but there's a lot of data available.

Nope. Even though I can access the data in the Ruby Console from an elevation. I still can't even connect a referenced macro to it. It's something I've asked for - along with a lot of other attribute access for Elevations and Sections. I do have a system that accumulates all the room data. I might be able to create a way to have a macro to put that into a RTB in a Section but it would require that you know the Room Name. IOW, it would have to be a separate Global Variable for each Room. At this time I think it's more trouble than it's worth.

Yes, just rotate the CAD Block before exploding. Then add a 3rd arrow and connect it to a framing member and set the Line Style to "blank" or the Line Color to white. Then turn off the Joists. The macro still works.

Scott, What are your snap properties in Preferences? Maybe you just aren't connecting to the framing member.

That's not the way I've always done the framing annotation. Basically this kind of annotation indicates the extent of framing. If you want it to be parallel you can do one of 2 things: 1. Rotate the Text Box and make an arrow "invisible" by whatever means you like. It just has to connect to one framing member and you can have other arrows pointing in the direction of the joists. 2. Use the macro as the "Label" of one of the Framing Members and add your own arrows.

Spacing I can't do - because CA didn't include an Ruby attribute for spacing of the framing member(s). If they did and the arrowheads would stay locked (but of course Auto Framing kills that because it first deletes the framing members that the arrowheads are attached to). IAE, it just needs a little more by CA for this to be a perfect solution.

OK, here's the results I get: 1. No arrows connected 2. One Arrow Connected 3. Two Arrows Connected

Scott, You need to change the framing members to "I-Joist". They are all "Lumber" in your Plan. Here's the result when I changed them. BTW, I could edit the Macro to substitute "TJI" for "I-Joist" if needed but I think "I-Joist" is more generic.

There are 2 options: 1. You can add "Room Macros" to the Room Label (even in Room Defaults) but that will all be on the same line as the Room Name. 2. You can create a RTB with everything formatted (different fonts, underlining, multiple lines, etc which when placed in a room will display all the data. I use this and set the default room label to 0 height so it doesn't show.

BTW, the "Framing Line Label" macro can also be assigned as the Label for any framing member. That's guaranteed to work. It's great for Beams, Fascias, etc.

Scott, If you got the Ceiling Joist Label to work then you should be able to get any Framing Member to work. Post the Plan I know spacing is not auto - said that in post #1. IAE, I'm using this for annotation of virtually all framing. It really does pick up all the variations but you have to make sure that at least one of the arrows is connected to the correct framing member. BTW, I agree that CA should make it work, but since there's a problem with their current functionality this is a real time saver for me.