Sydney23

Hi Michael, thanks for this input. I am no longer getting the DB error messages having moved the CA archive folder to within the DB folder as suggested above. But CA has crashed already this morning and layout coudn't find a linked plan even though it worked last night! Weird. I'm not sure quite where the issue is, hopefully it will just smooth itself out. If the crashing keeps happening the simplest thing might be to get X11 - I'm so many years behind it would probably mean just buying a new copy and keeping my X6 for any future co-worker (which I don't really want!). I'd better start saving....

Hi, Thanks, I checked and none of the CA Preference location folders there are in Dropbox, just my C drive. I only put the CA client files I'm actually working on in Dropbox. I think you have probably nailed the problem. I'll try having also having my CA Backup folder in my Dropbox so that CA and Dropbox play together nicely. It won't harm to have my CA back-up files backed up on line. You can never have too many backups!! I really appreciate your help, thanks a lot

And now CA is crashing a lot more than usual, just hangs with the Windows timer donut thing. Pretty sure it's to do with Dropbox / CA backups and file locations. Something has changed, not sure if someone has updated their software (Dropbox, CA or Windows) or if something has got corrupted. I'll sort it out sooner or later, just hopefully without losing too much work!!

I've been using CA for maybe 6 years? And Dropbox for several years too. In the last few weeks I keep getting a Dropbox dialogue when I try and save or close a CA file: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "Remove [file name] from everyone's Dropbox account and all devices? If you move this file to [file name_46f4a6887c94c335e499aa1 etc etc etc....], it will no longer be shared with anyone, and it won't be available in Dropbox or on any devices. [Cancel] [Move out of Dropbox]" xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx What? I have literally no idea what this means. It's in English, but it makes no sense to me. It never used to do this, now it does it all the time. That great big long file name with the weird letters after it looks like an archive folder to me. Why would CA be trying to moving my file to the archive folder when I manually save it or close it? - and upsetting Dropbox in the process? I ignored it until today, when CA crashed. Then I opened up the file I'd been working on (and manually saving every few minutes) and it had lost the last 2 hours' work. I looked in the Archive folder and the latest autosave/archive file is 2 hours old. I have autosave set to every 5 minutes, but they weren't there. What I have just noticed is that on my PC in that client's CA folder, there are 5 extra plans with the same name, but each one has a number in brackets after, as in: file_name(1).plan file_name(2).plan etc No idea why but I suspect it's related. My files are going nuts! I would contact Dropbox but I am suspecting this is a CA autosave/archive issue? and maybe someone here has seen this behaviour or knows what I have accidentally switched on or off somewhere without realising/remembering. Is my CA or Dropbox somehow corrupted? Should I move my CA "archives" folder to be within the main Dropbox folder on my C drive? How about my 'Temporary' folder? Bit of a nightmare. If I can't rely on CA to back up my work that's not good. Or is it some new change with Dropbox? Is the weird message above and the lack of CA autosave backups unrelated? Any guidance gratefully received, thanks. Now to see if I can redo 2 hours' work in 1 hour...

Thanks Lew, that's a good idea. I'll get onto it.

Hi WesternDesign, I'm struggling to get my s910 dxf point cloud into CA, it only seems to import a flat plan view set of lines between the points (and picture refs), not the actual points themselves and not in 3D. But I can pull the dxf into Sketchup - and it is in 3D, points and lines (so why can't CA do that?). I don't really want lines between the points, just the points - can that be done? Anyway, I then try and import that SU file into CA but CA says 'the symbol has no 3D data', so I can't import it. The only way I could get anything from the Sketchup file to CA was to draw a circle around every point in Sketchup, save and then import in CA. This is a pain! Also, if I want to tidy up the orientation of the group of points that comes in, I can rotate it in plan view but not on the other (side elevation) axis, e.g. raise the points at the front as compared to those at the back. Thsi s910 is nearly doing what I bought it for, but it's taking up my time and not really working that great right now. For simple 2D measurements I still have my trusty old Disto D5, I really need the s910 to get me DXFs if it is to pay its way. It's mainly for outdoor use to get rough outlines and relative positions of neighbouring houses where I can't access their land, also for some rough topo data to try and save time/reduce errors. Any advice on simplifying my terrible workflow above would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks. (BTW, I'm still using X6, if that makes any odds to this kind of thing)

So, how would CA show a sagging roof or a wonky wall where the thickness is variable depending on what mood the plasterer was in? It's a problem. CAD is great at new, prefectly straight or perfectly curved things, less good at 400 year old houses where every. single. thing. is out of whack. A point cloud would pick that up for sure, but how is that going to be translated into CA? I'm guessing this is a similar problem to computer generated music, where quantise levels can be set to bring something robotically 'perfect' into something humanly 'musical' or 'real'. My poor head, this might be something I leave for the next generation of whizz-kids unless they can make it really simple for me...

Absolutely, great point about using a CA block in the 2D, bit clunky but it will do the job. And thanks for letting me know that about X9 too. Thanks a lot.

I made a geometric shape, a sphere, squashed it vertically, placed it in plan. It is obscuring everything beneath it, e.g. chairs, in 2D plan view. I can't edit its transparency or its fill style or send it back/forward in the dialogue. And I can't bring chairs to the front either... So the chairs behind it are hidden in 2D plan view, not what I need. Is there anything I can do? (Might try an orthographic direct overhead view and turn on the blue transparent view, but that's a really poor bodge) BTW, I brought in another object from Sketchup and it imported as a geometric shape, but that does have a transparent fill. Weird. Thanks! (Please note my out of date version in case this situation has subsequently been fixed)

Update: I tried a few more times, some other smaller items worked, never could get any chairs to work. Started a completely blank plan - it works fine. Copied and pasted from that new empty file into the original file - all good, works fine, I can change distribution, arc angle, etc. Some weird bug. Maybe because the original file had something imported form Sketchup in it? No idea. Anyway, thought this might help someone, so good luck.

You got it, that's what I need. I really need to update my X6... Thanks Glenn, say Hi to the motherland/city from me.

Hi Glenn, No problem, attached. There's a little semi-circle of fire extinguishers on the bottom left - they should be chairs! Dome_ideas_july.plan

Hi Glenn, Super helpful thanks, I am now on the right, ahem, path But now every time I try and select a chair to distribute along that path, it tells me "area too constricted" - this is in an empty plan, just trying to get it working. A flower is fine, a small alarm clock works fine, but something as big as a chair (I'm laying out a church), it's a no go. I've even tried using a straight path - same issue. Investigated further... a fire extinguisher is fine, even if I make it larger than the chair! But if I try and use any chair, it still says "area too constricted" and won't let me go any further. Any clues to fix this?

Is this possible? I can only seem to get objects to distribute along straight lines. Thanks! (NB - still running X6)

This works for perspective view but not for orthographic. Any way of re-setting the centre in orthographic 3D overview?

Mick, Thanks v much. it seems a bit long-winded for something that only really needs the equivalent of a spreadsheet of materials and prices - like I do in Excel - but hey ho. I'll keep going because once working it could be v useful to me and clients. Still having bricks and blocks showing up in "Framing" and "Wallboard" - crazy, I can't seem to force t to be masonry by default but am going to work more on my own library and will probably get there eventually - via trial and error! Thanks again.

Hi, I'm trying to use CA to come up with some rough and ready pricing, which I've never used before but believe it can do. I've watched a couple of videos, read the Help and this forum but haven't found a couple of really basic things: I drew a CMU wall and got a materials list off it: 1) It has a per metre section under "General" but there's no price. Can I save a price per metre for this kind of wall that would then be the default for whenever I create this kind of wall in other files? I can't find it under wall definition and can't find a master materials/price list anywhere. 2) I changed the height of the wall in the plan but the materials list doesn't reflect that change. How do I keep the materials list up to date? Or do Ihave to manually pull off a new materials list every time the plan changes? 3) There is a second section showing materials for this wall under "Framing". How is framing anything to do with a concrete CMU wall? 4) The Framing wall section has the CMU blocks as 128x256x190. In the UK that should be 215x215x440. I changed it successfully in one file but when I started a new file and ran the same test, it was back to the old small size. Where do I change this material's default - in the library somehow? 5) There is no price assigned to the framing section either. I can force it to work by entering a price per block, but how do I get this saved to defaults so it always comes up with that price in other plans? 6) I just tried the same thing with a typical UK block/cavity/brick wall - the bricks have come up under a section called "Wall Board"! What the heck is going on? I'll keep bashing my head against this one but any advice gratefully received. (BTW, I do less design these days so am still on X6) Many thanks!

Stephen, I checked and there is no layer control for layout line edits in Layout. I will try Glenn's idea as there is full control of CAD in Plan - it might be the answer to help avoid repeating additons and masking/blanking out boxes (though not for deletions that would still have to be done in Layout).

Glenn, that's a good idea, I'll have a go and see if I can retrain my tired old brain! (BTW, I was born in Paddington down under, lived in Manly as a baby - trust they're still doing OK!)

Mick, sorry, I wasn't paying attention - I should have said X6. I just checked and I could get completely up to date for USD1600, which is a lot if I don't do many projects a year (as currently) but very cheap if I'm designing full time. I think that is a flaw in CA's pricing structure but that's way, way off topic for this thread!

What? Have to pay for a completely new copy?! I don't get it, so my X5 will be worth NOTHING? I guess I might be allowed to ebay it with CA's permission, but it seems harsh. I know they have to pay for development but this seems over-zealous. I have been looking at swapping to Sketch-up for some time - far, far cheaper and better in some ways (worse in others!). This might push me unless I get a load of work in and can justify the hit for an updated CA... I really appreciate the heads up, must check that 'X5 is worth nothing' issue out when I have 5 mins.

Chopsaw - thank you - veeeery interesting.... I think I need to budget for an upgrade at some point...

The defaults per floor works ok, but it breaks down when you have multiple /split floor levels on the one floor, or multiple buildings. Sometimes CA changes things due to its auto-basements/footings with, e.g. a garage adjoined to a house. It comes down to CA trying to automate things. That's fine, and helpful on simple builds. But on more complex builds, especially legacy, the automatic altering of room heights can drive me completely nuts. It just needs between 5 minutes and several hours of messing around with room structure dbx's, wall definitions/intersections, footings, etc. All the while keeping multiple sections and transparent 3D views open to see what effect a change in one room might unexpectedly - and with no warning - have on another room. Probably my number 1 problem with CA. That and spurious lines when sending elevations to layout - another feature of over-automation and over-complication of CA trying to make walls connect in a way it finds sensible but which often bears no relation to real life. I think a lot of this comes about form a mindset that buildings are all timber framed and covered in sheet rock (few are in the UK) - maybe not but that's the way it comes across.

Hi David, I remember you answering questions very usefully when I was an HDP newbie a fair few years ago! It is highly appreciated. I have read other people over the years saying that they have to spend a lot of time cleaning up elevations once output to Layout - there are often strange lines indicating where walls of different definitions intersect in external elevation views, cross sections can show far to much confusing detail (e.g. wall layers) which either cannot be switched off or which have to be part there/part not there in order to illustrate things clearly. It means adding or deleting lines with the "Edit Layout Lines" tool or even adding white boxes in Layout to hide things because there seems no way of having any other layout box shape other than rectangular (or has a newer version enabled layout boxes to have edit points added so we can step in/out the view window in Layout? I believe a post X6 version has enabled stepped elevation views?). I have long wanted to come to the USA for some more detailed training to try and get CA set up to work more efficiently for how I need it and sort out some perennial issues I can't seem to conquer (multiple floor / room heights / basements can still drive me absolutely nuts after YEARS of using CA! Recessing doors and windows to exactly where I want them relative to interior or exterior wall surface is another). The way CA works is often way too complex for what I need and I'm 100% sure I'm not using it in an optimum way - far from it. But I've simply never had the time and money - though of course it would later save me time and money if I were to do this! One day, one day. Until then, I get by - CA is (relatively) cheap and I can get out of it most of what I need without too much drama these days. It is already amazing - just wondering if it could be even more amazing...