Joe_Carrick

That's pretty good but in my neck of the woods we have to actually dimension what is going to be. Just referencing a code section is frowned on because the builder and/or tradesmen may not actually have access to the code.

According to the CRC which I believe is exactly the same as the IRC: Minimum width above handrails is 36". Handrails are allowed to project as much as 4.5" into the 36" minimum width Minimum width at and below handrails is 31.5" when the handrail is only on one side. Minimum width at and below handrails is 27" when the handrail is on both sides. Based on the above, assuming no tread overhang on the open sides you can have a switchback stairway of 6'-0" drywall to drywall. Note that a "Guard" on the open sides could actually be at the same location as the handrail.

It's basically because his "Screened Porch" wasn't a room at all. It was just a slab with some posts and a roof plane. The reason it didn't work with the sloped walls was because the room height needed to be set at the baseline height of the roof plane. Then you get attic walls to enclose the sides from the area from there up.

Great Video and an excellent tip.

One way I use it when I want to create a new Project by automatically copying the current project. The macro copies the entire folder structure and files of the current project - but renames everything. It's a very advanced macro that combines several File_IO tasks. There are other cases that wouldn't be as complicated. Basically this type of macro isn't designed to provide annotation. Instead they perform disk management, file writing and reading to set/retrieve data that might be needed by other macros - but that don't need to be done very often.

Just as a clarification, here's the definition and why it makes sense: Header - the structural member above an opening. It's on the "Framing, Headers" layer and the linestyle can vary from one Layer Set to the next. Currently Chief shows these as a rectangle the width of the wall framing. In reality most ConDocs would show them as a "Single Heavy Line" (dash, short_dash, dash). This modification has been requested. Hopefully it will be done before X11 but probably not. Opening Header Lines - the wall surface above an opening. They are on the "Opening Header Lines" layer and the linestyle can also vary depending on the Layer Set. This is useful for "Reflected Ceiling Plans" where you would want them to be "Solid". The way Chief showed the "Opening Header Lines" in the past, calling them "Headers" was incorrect. Note: A really good way to find such things and what Layer they are on is to select an object and open the ALDO. There you will see all the layers associated with the object and can toggle their display.

Do you ever want a macro to be executed only when you specifically want it to? Macros only execute when displayed so here's the trick: Create a CAD Detail Window - name it the macro name Add a Text Box and insert the macro in it When you want the macro to execute just display that CAD Detail. If the macro isn't anyplace else in the plan or layout it will only execute when that CAD Detail is displayed. This is a great way to use a macro to set a global variable or perform some other task just when you want it to. Note that you can have the CAD Detail Window open during a session of Chief but the macro will only execute when you switch to that tabbed view.

If you make the "Patio" a "Porch" with "Railing Walls" you can get the model to work much better. PSolids are not the way to go. Note: A Porch has a floor, walls and a roof. That's a good place to start. Then edit the walls to get the screened in area.

You might want to change the "Patio" to a "Porch"

Greg, Just use %layout.label% The E# will automatically start numbering at 1 E1 E2 E3 while %page% would be using the actual page number.

Create screened walls adjacent to the porch walls (inside or outside) and set them as "No Room Definition". You should then be able to move them into position without effecting the columns. I don't know exactly how you've defined the columns/porch walls but I would assume you used railing walls "Post to Beam" with an "Open" railing. There is also the option of using "Panels" within that sort of railing wall.

Of course, if you modify a cabinet and then select the "Make Default" (little wrench) icon on the Edit Toolbar it will set that as the default.

Select the W09 Window in the Schedule and drag it down to the W13 position. The Window designation is just a representation of where it is in the Schedule. You might need to check all the other windows after doing this (particularly what were W10-W13) since they will have changed. Note that there is also an Edit Toolbar Icon to "Renumber Schedule" which will renumber everything in the schedule starting at W01.

What is Sheet 1 of the Plan ??? Please explain this. Don't you mean Sheet 1 of the Layout - or maybe even Sheet 0 ?

Where do you access in the Plan? Do you ever have a different set of info in the Plan than in the Layout? The reason I ask is that I only use the built-in macros for this information in the Layout. ei: Title Block fill-in.

Why does this exist in both the Plan and the Layout? It seems to me that having it in the Plan is superfluous. It's useful in the Layout for title block fill-in but I don't understand why it needs to be in the Plan.

Hi Larry, I don't disagree with you at all. I was simply stating what I think might have been CA's reasoning for why they didn't make that feature available for doors. As far as only clipping a corner of the door using a Tudor Half Arch - that isn't possible. It only works for the full width of the door. I also agree that CA should give us the ability to "over-ride" their built-in restrictions so that knowledgeable users have more flexibility. However, it isn't always easy to program these options. There can be hundreds or even thousands of places in the code that have to be tweaked to make it work. Chief is a very large amount of program code and probably not nearly as modular as it needs to be.

Auto Framing is almost always just a starting point when there are any special conditions.

Note that you can use a "Tudor" half arch and manually set the height of the arch to the needed dimension. It's not going to automatically match the roof but if you know the pitch it's not difficult to figure out. Just be sure the hinge side is at the tall edge of the door.

One of the problems that this could create would be interference with the door opening and hitting the ceiling - depending on the hinge side. I suspect that CA didn't want to deal with that so they didn't provide the same ability for doors as for windows.

I use Notepad++ as my editor of choice. By setting the language to "Ruby" I get things like that in color. So when I see: elsif I know it's correct elseif I know it isn't correct. There are many formatting and spelling variations and having an editor that points out problems can be very helpful. After editing in Notepad++ I simply copy/paste into Chief's Ruby Editor and save.

Common mistake. Ruby is one of the few languages that uses elsif instead of elseif.

Here's the best I could do modifying the "Slab" Barn Door. The door thickness isn't correct and the hardware is not what I would expect to be on a modern "Glass Barn Door" but otherwise - not bad. It required a bit of tweaking of both the symbol and the doorway size. I could create a better one if needed but it would help to have a pic of what you need.

Once you have a "Barn Door" in place, the "Glass" portion of the problem is to change the actual door material and thickness. You might be able to do that in the symbol dbx but it might require a completely new symbol. I'm not sure the symbols in the CA supplied library will work.

I tried it on an existing plan. I changed the layer of a Cross Section Camera to a new Layer which I created. Then in another Saved Plan View that didn't use the same Layer Set I unchecked that layer for display. It worked perfectly. When I switched back to the first Saved Plan View the Cross Section Camera was displayed.