Joe_Carrick

As long as I've been using Chief, I somehow never got around to learning about the "Sticky Mode" for copying an object. ie: Select an Object, Select Copy, Select the "Sticky Mode" button. This allows you to place the same object many times using the mouse. The Library Objects work this way by default but for Objects selected from the Plan the default is single mode. It would be nice if there was a toggle for "Sticky Mode Copying".

OK, after a bit of experimentation I've found a solution that's even simpler and solves the Layer Problem. 1. Use a 2D Plant and a Plant Schedule 2. The Plant Schedule uses just the Number and Label Columns 3. The Plant can be placed on any Layer such as Notes and can have any 2D CAD Block assigned as the Plan Display 4. Just Edit the Plant Label to whatever you want the note to be. Now any note can be added to the Library and it will come back at the correct Layer. There's no need to use the Component dbx, just the Symbol dbx and edit the Label to create a new Note. For notes I add to the Library I find it useful to copy the Label Text and Paste it as the name of the Library Item. That way it's easier to see what the note is when selecting from the Library. But the names can get long if you do that. Another nice thing about this solution is that you can simply copy & paste notes within the Library, rename them and edit the Label. It's a real easy way to create a complete set of notes - and it's fairly easy to organize them in the Library into Sub Folders.

OK Cheryl, Just make the dividers with solids and Save the Cabinet to the Library. You now have a Library Cabinet that you can use whenever you need it.

Perry, I'm having the same problem. It seems Chief just want to insist that a Furniture Symbol must be on the Furniture Layer. You can change it after it's placed in the Plan but you can't seem to save it with the new Layer to the Library. That's why I'd really like CA to give us "Note Objects" with "Note Layers" as indicated in Post #18

That wouldn't bother me a bit. A. Macros that work in Elevation & Section B. Plan Note Objects with Schedules (Plan Note Layer for both the Object and the Label) C. Elevation Note Objects with Schedules (Elevation Note Layer for both the Object and the Label) D. Section Note Objects with Schedules (Elevation Note Layer for both the Object and the Label) Any time CA want's to take one of my ideas and make it a part of Chief - it's OK with me. For now, this works

LESS is MORE Shorter notes will be easier to read and less subject to errors of interpretation. They'll probably help Perry get them grammatically correct too

Just an little update. To create a New Note to add to the Library: 1. Open the Object dbx and change the Name to the text you want in the Note. 2. Then Open the Symbol dbx and put the same info in the Description and Comments Fields. 3. Now Add to Library and move to the Notes Folder or Sub Folder of your choice.

OK, so now the question is: Can we have a separate Symbols on Layer Notes, Plan and Notes, Elevation which could display note on each Drawing Type and all be included in the Same Schedule? Obviously we could use 2 separate Schedules and have one report "Interior Furniture" and the other report "Exterior Furniture"

Yes, I set Stretch Planes at 2" for all 3 axis (x,y,z) I just checked this and it doesn't prevent the loss of the Comments Field Data. IMO that's a bug that Chief needs to fix anyway. The way to handle this is to just "UNDO" if you accidently resize.

Yep, that's the one limitation. CA should make that change to schedules to that we have word wrap. IAE, I can have a pretty long note and the schedule will still fit on a Layout Sheet using Arch-D or Arch-E. Those are the only sheet sizes I normally use anyway.

There are some nice details about how this works: 1. When you change the Description and Comments fields in the Components dbx for a Symbol, the Callout Number and the Comments Column in the Schedule are both updated. 2. If you move a row in the Schedule up or down, the Callout Text changes accordingly. 3. If you open the Object dbx the Name will show the Description Field data (which tells you what the note is) 4. If you add any note in the Plan to the Library, the Name in the Library will correspond to the text of the note. Organize those in the Library and you have a set of very easy to place notes in the Plan and the contents of the note will be displayed while you place and drag.

The following describes a system for creating General Notes with Callouts: Since I don't use Furniture Schedules, I used a Furniture Schedule for the basis of this but I could have used the Plant Schedule or ..... 1. The Schedule has Columns for Number and Comments - renamed Note # and Description 2. The Schedule has Use Callout for Label and Group Simlar Items checked 3. I created a small Furniture Symbol (solid box 1"x1"x1") and set its material to Insulation-Air Gap 4. I named the Symbol Note 5. In the Components dbx I set the Description and Comments both to Note Text 6. I then placed several these in the Plan - some of them I edited the Description and Comments Fields (used the same text for both fields) The attached pics show the results:

Copy Chief's Library object and Paste to your user Library. You can right click on it in the User Library and Edit it there. CA doesn't allow us to make those edits in their Libraries but we can edit a copy that's in our User Library.

Cheryl, I would - but since this can be done once and the Cabinet "Added" to the user Library - It's very low on my priority list. IOW, once you've created such a cabinet and added it to the library It never has to be done again. It's just like having a Cabinet with a set of Appliances already defined and saved for future use.

Exactly what Mark said. But you will have to add the Handle - unless it's a part of the Door Symbol that you get from the Library.

Scott, It depends on what Symbol Classification you use. 1. Appliance - will not stretch in the horizontal (x) direction 2. Cabinet Drawer - will stretch with up to 3 stretch planes but the handle has to be None and the drawer itself will still be a part of the cabinet 3. Cabinet Door - will stretch with up to 3 stretch planes but the Door has to be changed to a Door Panel to eliminate the opening indicators & hardware. I think the best of the solutions is the Cabinet Door - but it does take a bit of extra work (just changing it to a Door Panel. OTOH, if you use Appliance you have to have the exact number of bays and the width must match the Cabinet Opening - requires more than 1 symbol to accommodate different width cabinets.

Dennis indicated that it doesn't work when "Closing Chief". I guess that's when I usually get the message. Evidenlty it works if you're just closing the Plan but keeping Chief open.

That message just indicates that you have a lot of Archive Files which may be taking up a lot of disk space. Supposedly answering "Yes" will open the folder in "Windows Explorer" and allow you to delete some or all of them. I say supposedly because it usually doesn't work. So, if you want to clean it up - just open Windows Explorer and navigate to the Archive Folder and do the maintenance that way.

Cheryl, I created a Symbol that inserts into a Cabinet as an Appliance but I'm not sure if this is exactly what you want it to look like. If you post a pic of the typical (maybe with some dims) I can refine it and post the actual symbol. I kind of assume that you wouldn't really want a Box - probably just a number of dividers (maybe 1/2" thick and 22" deep) spaced to fit within a standard cabinet width. Since the symbol won't stretch in width it will be necessary to create a separate symbol for different width cabinets. Let me know what works for you and I'll do it. Maybe something like this

Very nice Mr Trout! Furniture is of course a natural using the Cabinet Tool. As cool as it is, if there's another Tool that will do the job even better then I'll use the better tool - but I still try to take a careful look. Sometimes the ability to get the right 3D model is just too good. Then if needed that can be converted to a symbol of exactly the right classification.

Scott, Generally you would chose the one that is most closely related to the desired use. I once did a matrix of all the categories and what options were available - I'll try to find it but it was in the old forum and it's been a few years.

Amazing, my buddy the bridge troll seems to be the only one that remembers. It's a Railing Wall Specifically a Post to Beam Panel Railing with a Door. The Beam material is Stucco and the other components (millwork symbols) are shown in this picture.

Now Michael, I totally remember how to do it. I'm just trying to get some of the new kids to scratch their heads in wonder.

Yes, that's what it represents. The question is "How did I create it?"

Some of you may remember this - but for the new users: What is this & how was it done in Chief?