Joe_Carrick

You need to "Block" the Text Box in order to add it to the Library. I know I asked CA to make it possible to add a Text Box (including Rich Text) directly without Blocking but I don't know if that will get into X13 or not.

Turn off that layer in the Layer Set.

Yes, and I have several such stored in my User Library - Folder = "My Room Labels" - including one that has the Room number and Name. There are other's that display various dimensional and finish information. Most of the macros can also be used in Custom Schedules.

I'm in San Marcos - San Diego County. I would be interested in providing this service on a contract basis. Actual site visits would be tough due to your location. Otherwise, I could easily do this remotely. I'm using X12 and have been using Chief since Version 9.5

Macros can be exported and then imported into any plan or layout. Generally they are not version specific but some older macros won't work in version X11 and later. Currently I don't know of any coming changes that would effect macros written for X11 or X12. I have a lot of macros that I sell and some I provide free of charge. The macros I sell are more complex than the free macros. I also do custom macros - price depends on amount of time required. Let me know what you need and I can put together a cost for those.

I would seriously suggest that you hire a licensed Architect or Engineer to examine the proposed location and determine what would be needed structurally.

It appears that you edited the size of the "Jamb" but didn't select the option to "Inset the Door" which can only be to the "Main" or "Sheathing" layer of the wall. Chief doesn't allow the door to be inset a random dimension. You will need to have a wall of the correct thickness (at least the wall definition) needs to have one of those at the location where you want the door to be hinged. Basically, a door can be hinged at one of 3 locations on the exterior side of the wall: Wall Surface Sheating Layer Main Layer or at the interior face of the wall. You might need to reverse the wall to get the correct side. OTOH, I would just have a thinner wall at the location where the door is inset.

Newell, You should add a "Floor" - maybe only 1/16" Ceiling Height. It only needs to encompass the Bedroom and Stairway areas. This will allow much easier definition and you can specify the floor structure, etc as well as create walls (not attic walls).

Lew, Perhaps the users should use the "Help" file - or - "Search" in this Forum.

Interesting that I can use "File>Manage Archives" but when a Plan or Layout & I get the message which I say "YES" it just closes Chief without opening the File Management dbx.

I just finished watching the "Space Planning" and "Room Types" webinar conducted by Adrean. Her use of the "Glass House View" was a brilliant solution to understanding (being able to see) and working with a Split-Level Plan. She also created a new Floor and then swapped the 1st and 2nd Floors to create a "Walk out Basement" so as to not interfere with the Foundation Level (Level 0). I learned a lot watching her work flow, not to mention a bunch of other little tips and explanations of how Chief works for some things that aren't always understood. Thanks Adrean - nice job.

Jim, Both of these are compatible with X12 and AFAIK X13. Installation is pretty simple and instructions are included. The price for the Stair Labels is $15 and the price for the Area Analysis package is $75. You can make payment by PayPal to my account joe.carrick@dslextreme.com

Of course, in order to modify anything for a Chief supplied symbol you will need to copy it to your user library. The best thing would be if Chief Content made those modifications to the symbols and provided those fixes via a Library update.

I've modified my macro to include web thicknesses. It's notable that for heavier WF Beams the web thickness increases even more than the flange thickness. For CA's information, the label of a WF Beam is in the following format: W 12x45 nominal 12" tall x 45 lbs per ft. This beam is actually 12.06" tall x 8.045" wide.

Even that isn't much use You can't specify the flange or web thicknesses. In addition, Chief calls them I-Beams which in reality are very seldom used in buildings. The WF or W is almost always the type of beam used.

Set the "Side Overlap" to 2"

Joey, Those are very rough approximations and are not really usable to show reality in a 3D model. There are 20 different 12" Wide Flange Beams, ranging from (11.91" tall x 3.97" wide) to (13.41" tall x 12.4" wide). The Flanges range from 0.2" thick to 0.79" thick. The Webs also vary greatly, even more than the flanges. In addition, WF Beams vary in height from 4.16" to 27.8"

Yes, it's just a matter of reading the AISC manual data to add the Web Thickness to my data. Actually I could come pretty close (within a couple of 1/1000ths of an inch) just by using the Cross Section Areas to calculate the Web Thicknesses. My macro does have the Cross Section Area and the calculation would be extremely close. It would be a very easy addition to make in the macro.

Scott, you could create a copy of the Plan File with the opposite framing display preference. Then send to layout from each Plan. Might be a pain to keetp coordinated when changes are made - since the identical changes would have to be made to each plan. OTOH, if the copy is only created when the project is completed it wouldn't be a problem.

Correct - but I haven't included the web thickness. Actual values for Name, Height, Width, Area, Flange Thickness, Weight, Sv, Iv, Sh and Ih are all included.

FWIW, I have similar macros for Lumber, Glulams and TJI's but instead of creating Hashes they just create Global Arrays.

I have a macro that loads all the standard sizes of WF Beam Properties into a Global Hash. I use it for structural sizing but it would be really nice if it could be used to draw the cross section shape or better yet actually create the 3D shape to use in the model. Real World modeling of the specified size Beam would be cool I would gladly share that macro with CA if they want to use it to model steel beams on the fly. I haven't created a macro for any other shapes such as I-Beams, Channels, Angles, Square Tubes or Pipes. But those wouldn't be too difficult.

Here's a helpful link for fire and STC rated walls. https://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/en/design-studio/wall-assemblies.html

This can be accomplished with Chief by using Layout Templates and the Page Information "Comments". Example Template Labels: 1.%layout.comments% --> 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, .... 2.%layout.comments% --> 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, .... 3.%layout.comments% --> 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, .... G-%layout.comments% --> G-1, G-2, G-3, .... A-%layout.comments% --> A-1, A-2, A-3, .... S-%layout.comments% --> S-1, S-2, S-3, .... Then for each layout sheet just edit the Comments to the sub-number you want for that sheet. It's not totally automatic but it gets the job done and the sheet numbers wont change when you insert a new sheet. You just have to edit the comments field. I'm not 100% sure but I believe this will also keep detail references pointing to the correct pages in the Layout.

Generally you shouldn't argue with Michaei (Alaskan Son) when it comes to macros. - or me either for that matter I would have posted the same solution as he did, but I would probably have made it a bit more bullet proof so that it wouldn't indicate an error if not attached to a room - just my preferred way of coding.