Joe_Carrick

On the issue of paint. Chief's Wall Types typically have been defined without paint layers. I've been experimenting with various ways of using Material Regions, one of which is to create Material Regions that consist of paint. These can be single or multiple layers and can be colors specified (Sherwin Williams or ......). You can also add the Drywall tape, mud and texture if you want. Those can have costs assigned to them and they will be reported accurately in the ML. I haven't tried the "Wall Coverings" but I would bet that they are also reported in the ML. As some of you have discovered, Polyline Solids are just CAD and are not really integrated as intelligent BIM objects. If you are going to use the ML effectively, you have to use the objects that have the intelligent info (components list) otherwise you will miss out. I don't totally agree with Bill Emery about the number of sheets of Drywall, OSB, etc being the same with doors and windows as if there were no openings. However, there is always going to be a certain amount of waste and that needs to be accounted for. Having a way to include formulas for material waste would be an appropriate addition to Chief's ML. I need to look at the Master List to see if that can be added to the "Extra" field. The bigger issue for me is keeping prices up to date. Quantities are one thing, but prices are a totally different thing - much more difficult to keep current.

Post the Plan and some pics of what you consider wrong.

Dennis, Create one of those stone columns and convert it to a Symbol. You can then add the materials to the Symbol Components and they will be reported in the ML.

You could go back to X6 I think only MS provides for a prior version look / emulation.

Shucks, It also happens in X6. I guess that got in without my noticing before.

Did anyone else notice? When you open a Layout and then dbl click on a Layout Box to open the View - The Plan File now appears in the Project Browser. Thanks CA. It's a big help.

Larry's right, changing the Layout to use this feature will be more work. In the long run it can be a great help - but if you're in that much of a time crunch....... Here's a pic of my Layout Page zero. It includes an automatic Sheet Index and more sheets than you will probably use in most cases.

Bob, Go to page zero, select the text for the sheet number, and change it to %layout.label%

I suspect that your Layout Template isn't set up to use %layout.label% on sheet zero. That's the macro for using the Project Layout Page Information.to number sheets.

In the Project Browser, right click on the Layout Page, select Edit Page Information and change the Label to S-#

I have the same version of AGS as Alan. I also have a "Time Saver Standards" 4th Edition from 1966. Mine are not "hand me downs"

Create CAD Detail Windows for each Schedule. Copy your Schedules to those Views and Delete them from the Elevations. You might have to resend the Schedules to Layout, but I'm not sure of that. Make sure that you only have one of each Schedule in the Plan so that you don't get multiple Callouts/Labels.

Yes, by the name "Shapes" you would think that. But Chief doesn't allow us to save Solids to the Library. If the original Solid had just been "Blocked" and added to the Library then it could be unblocked and used as a Solid.

True, but they are not compatible with the Solids Boolean Operations. The one's in the Library are actually Symbols and who knows exactly what method was used to create them in the first place. IAE, as Symbols they don't have the same options as the Primitive Solids.

Here's a macro that you can add to your Layout and use for the Label of Floor Plan Layout Boxes. FLOOR NAME Arr = [" ","First","Second","Third","Fourth","Fifth", "Sixth","Seventh","Eighth"] Arr[ automatic_label[0].to_i]+ " Floor Plan" Context = OWNER Floor Name.zip

Mark, You could use a macro for the Layout Box Label to construct the desired name. Basically the macro would check the 1st character of automatic_label and if its 1 then return First Floor Plan, if it's 2 then return Second Floor Plan, etc. The macro could be "brute force" or it could be done with a bit more elegant programming. Chief really should allow us to change the name of the Floor Plans in the Project Browser.

Lots of possibilities. Malware (ie: virus, worm, etc) or failed disk sectors or system crashed during a read/write operation, etc. There's really no sure way to know how but it happens.

Ahhh..... Have you tried looking for any higher quality graphic images to use?

Why not continue to use the PDFs - or convert them to JPGs. Either way, I see no reason to recreate the details that are already available.

Export the Materials List to Excel or .... and enter your disclaimer there.

No Argument. It would appear to be a problem with Chief's Wall Type definition.... or the way the program is reading those definitions. Does it happen with any other single thickness wall types? To answer my own question...Yes, it happens with the Glass Block Wall Type as well. I suspect that this is true for all single thickness Wall Types. There needs to be an Interior Face material within the "Main Layers.

I tried this in X7 on my own Plan. Chief's default 8" CMU Wall Type was missing the pattern on the Interior Face. I added a zero thickness Layer with that material and everything is good. Both in the dbx and in the 3D Views. Standard and Vector Views show the material on both sides of the wall. Am I doing something different than everyone else - other than using my own Plan vs Robert's Plan ?

Here's a way to create a Torus Solid that can interact with other Primitive Solids or Shapes using the boolean operations. 1. Create a Cylinder or Cone 2. Explode that object 3. Delete all faces except one circle 4. Determine x/y/z coordinates of the circular face - or move it so it's the desired distance from (0,0,0) 5. Select the Rotate Icon on the Edit Toolbar 6. Set the axis of rotation and the center of rotation. 7. Rotate the face 360 degrees. You now have a Torus that can be used with other solids and the boolean operations (add, subtract, intersect).

Yes, he did. He's getting better and I've been too busy to play as much as I should. He's still the master of the ***** when something doesn't go quite right - just like in his videos.

Perhaps a solution to this would be a tighter relationship between Plan and Layout. My policy is to open the Layout and to use it as a navigation tool to the Plan(s). I understand that opening a Layout "automatically" opens the Plan file(s) ....... but those Plan files don't appear in the Project Browser unless you specifically open them. Consequently I do open them specifically. Opening a Plan File without opening the Layout File obviously can result in changes not getting updated to the Layout. Perhaps a solution would be to have an Open Project function that would open the Layout File and all associated Plan Files, adding them to the Project Browser. It would also be nice if there was a New Project function that would create a file structure (folder & sub-folders) utilizing Layout and Plan Templates and guiding the user thru the Project Data, etc. The current file access system is IMO too loose and results in the kind of problems being reported here. Also, as Perry indicated - the "Save As" of a Plan File doesn't create a new Layout File so there will be a disconnect. This function really need to ask if the Layout File should be copied to the new name as well - with an explanation of the ramifications. In the long term, having a "Project Structure" that includes the Layout File, Plan File, Project Data, Images, Correspondence, etc would be a better solution. Chief has a video showing some of this organization (can't remember where off-hand) that was the basis for how I have my projects organized. A more automatic method of doing this would be appreciated.