bernie

My enquiry to chief architect is do they have plans to rewrite the code in the near future (ver x11, ver x12) to use more than 1 cpu core in 2D cad mode? (my understanding is currently there is only 1 cad program that uses multiple cores in 2D cad mode - archicad, since the code was rewritten, and this is very appealing)

Does chief architect x10/x11 use more than 1 core of a 4 or 8 core processor in 2D drawings (e.g. plan view, drawing walls, lines, windows)? If not, in the near future, is it proposed that it will? thanks, Bernie

Dan, thanks for spending time. A1, yes 594x841. Yes, I select "to scale". Im printing direct from a .layout file. x6 works. x7,x8,x9 dont. I will try again tonight on x9 to double confirm my end it still broken... Bernie

im using for example 4-5 different .plan files open Im working on at once. (cutting and pasting CA items inside chief) they are all in their own different windows folder. I might have the same (or different) 3-4-5 text files open (I have 1 main text file for each project) each project has a unique 4 digit code number. so I can edit projectA.txt file, edit projectB.txt file, in CA have project B open (and loaded with projectB external text data from projectb.txt file), and switch to project A, (which will now show project B external text data, until, I force an update by opening the macro dialogue window. now the reason I know it is showing the 'wrong' external text data is in my text file I have the 4 digit code number, and at the top of my page (in .plan file) it is displaying the 4 digit project number (so I know which file it is reading (or last read from). it is a v easy system - takes longer to explain than to use. have found it bulletproof over the years. only p.i.t.a. item currently is I have to manually hardcode the directory path. i.e. want to load into a variable (without any layout files open) the path to the .plan file into a global var. inside the .plan file. (no .layout files open) in x7,x8 I dont believe you can. was wondering in x9 if Joe (?) managed to twist CA arm to give us that functionality. and yes, when my projects get closer to the final working drawings stage then yes, i switch methods back to having 1 layout file open, 1 main working drawing .plan file open. (cad details are in another .plan file to reduce size/improve speed of the main project .plan file linked to the layout file) and as Joe says, once finish a project, (or want to swap) I close CA, start a new session to be safe. I generally start a new session 2-3-4x a day to be safe. just good work practice. Bernie

I can print from pdf to printer fine I can print A3,A2,A0 to printer fine. (directly from CA x7,x8,x9) I CANNOT print A1 to printer directly from CA x7,x8, x9 without CA either: a) going into an infinite loop and printing the same page over and over (say page 2 if I send 1-4 pages to print) b). cutting off borders top and bottom other weird behaviour. for the above reasons, and tech support initially saying "yes there is a problem with the printer driver we are working on it" I did the workaround, which was print to pdf, and then print the pdf. this is a 2 step process. now, I have forgotten about the 2 step required (and gone back to printing A3 not A1) HOWEVER, now that x9 is out in beta, and I need to print A1 again, I thought I would try it in x9. bingo. same problem. so to me, it proves it is a CA problem. not a driver or printer problem. all my other cad software prints fine to the same printer thru the same driver. I would just like someone to test for me to see if they get the same result. if you print say 3-4 pages to your A1 printer directly from CA, (preferably an HP as use same driver?) tell me what happens. cheers, Bernie

$dirPathK = "l:/bkup1_128gb/001_kw1/0462_kw_dwgs2/" (hardcoded because I dont know how to get CA to report back a full path name from the directory the .plan file was opened from) then I read in 4 text files in chunks to different variables. these variables are displayed as text in the .plan file. (I use a modified wordwrap.rb file from Joe, placed in the scripts directory.) so for example, for 1 of my 4 text files, (I split them into 4 to make it easy for internal project management - my system) I call the following function into a global var.: $dirFile1 = $dirFileDesign1 mycStart = "[notesDesign1]" mycEnd = "[end]" result = get_section( $dirFile1, mycStart, mycEnd, 1) this will scan thru an external text file looking for the notesDesign1 text. as soon as it sees this, it will start reading the characters in the text file until it finds the [end] string. all of the text is imported at load time. or, to force a manual import, call up the text macro management window, so what I am doing, is reducing the need to type text into CA. I can use any external text editor to modify 4 external text files. so, using the SAM method, I can replicate these 4 text files, modify them externally, open my .plan file (note how I didnt say .layout file) and BOOM, 90% of all my text is already inside CA. of course I could automate my .layout file as well - I just havnt found a need yet as my .layout files are 'dumb' currently. (this years task is to automate the .layout file somewhat.) the main benefits: (1) it ensures intregrity of text. if your roof pitch is 25degrees, you are saying it is 25 degrees on 10 different pages (uses same variable) instead of having 1 page say 20 degrees by mistake, another saying 30, and another saying 25 etc etc. reduced error. if you change the roof pitch, you change the external text file notes, reread the external text file back into CA 2keyboard keys, and hey presto, it has automatically replicated across all your text notes across all pages. you can be sitting there with 5 .plan files open, actively working on all 5 text notes with an external text editor. time benefit cutting and pasting external text notes instead of cutting and pasting inside CA. quite cool really. I should patent the idea!. Does any other cad software allow this? surely. not sure. you tell me. (2) it saves around 0-5 hrs PER JOB. need to look at your super label switch demo, and learn some new macro tricks you guys have discovered over the last 0-6 mnths I dont know about yet....(I've been in production mode making hay while the sun shines over here downunder for the last many few years, we have a building boom on...) Bernie

cheers Joe, will look at. I want it available from the .plan file. (not from .layout file) is that now available in x9 yet? as all my macros are in the .plan file. I treat the .layout file as dumb - it just acts as a place to dump the pages to print. if there are macro's I should be using in the .layout file to speed up my productivity, please show & tell how you do it!. Bernie

OIP - will have to look at. file path - was either drive letter or filename. (one of them was missing. Joe knows. ..) I read several external text files of data into CA in chunks of text between a start and stop designator that I define. it is using Joes macro's he customised for me. still have to hardcode the file path,name for now...would be good one day to not have to hardcode the file path, name for CA to connect up internally and provide the external public macro name to us. was wondering what extra macro variables, attributes CA have opened up internally from x8? if any? Bernie

flush eave - fantastic. use on most houses here with gables. question: what is "OIP" you are all talking about? question: what macro functionality got added in x9 (if any) that we can now hook into? question: Joe, in x9 do we now have a macro to look up the path of the .plan file instead of me still having to hardcode it? cheers, Bernie, NZ

CA support has asked me to post on here today. initially acknowledging the problem, they are now saying the problem is unreproduceable. (Yes, I will keep an open mind with the support dept... hmmm) Do any of you suffer the following: ".......... the last version of x7 had bugs in printing to certain size paper that were never fixed (it was acknowledged but never resolved) -some page(s) were printed multiple times in infinite loop. -intended items to print were cut off unexpectedly -other erroneous items the current version of x8: -with metric template, printing a page with a drawing sheet of ISO A1 (594 x 841mm ) with 'check plot' selected results in the top and bottom borders being cut off by about half an inch. I never use imperial. I never print to pdf first, and suggesting that is not a solution to the underlying problem that still needs to be addressed. the current version of x9 beta: same problem. So, does anyone else suffer this printing problem? support advised that I should print to a pdf first, then print the pdf to my printer. Im not entirely happy with that answer, for various valid reasons I wont go into here. printer is high end HP T2500 dual roll. I proved it wasnt a printer problem - it is a software problem inside CA and how it talks to the printer driver. cheers, Bernie NZ

would love to know the answer too. and I have been drawing for 12years with chief also. been kludging it ever since. filed it in the 'too hard' basket until they eventually bring out CA version x20 with a useful structure dialogue box user interface to allow vertical heights to be easily set based off an arbitrary reference floor level of say 0.0 which is what happens in the real world. wouldnt complain if the terrain code was changed so it worked in a similar way. I have not come across 1 useful 5min CA video by anyone that is clear and concise in explaining a simple slab and foundation example such as this. start with blank page. draw. click. set it up like this. take a cross section. yes. it works. hit the 3D. yes, it is shown correct. foundations on piles next to a slab. I'll even take kludges (that are better than mine) that work for now. nope. nobody...please, someone create one. I'll pay to be shown too. B

anyone successfully found a tool for doing this?

plenty of things you cant copy/ import /export that should be able to. fix the underlying software spaghetti code structure in x9 release, then we can move forward for x10 release.

the programmers at CA would do well to start asking and engaging with us users by using/desiging/testing the software as it is used in the real world, instead of little test cases. this is just one example. there are a lot of items that cannot be copied/imported from one .plan file to another - a real p.i.t.a. as a suggestions, how about for x9 we tidy up this area and present to the user a panel of information, with radio buttons for them to select what parts of the plan they want to import/export. eg export: layer sets anno sets ref sets text styles story poles blah blah blah. a good example is a plan file that you have worked on say prior, (0-3-6-9-12-24-36 mnths ago). you want to use that floorplan again, (or something close to it) but in that time period, your drawing method and systems have improved. a new version of CA has come along, you've started using new features, (like the story pole) etc etc. currently there is no way to import your latest methods from your latest .plan file into the older .plan file (after it has been saved into the newer version of CA, eg existing plan may have been created in x6 or x7, you open it and save it as x8, then you 'try' and back-port all your latest tricks and anno sets into that plan file). note you cant go the other way either - importing the old into the new with edit/all marquee select the old plan information and bring it forward either, as you lose all terrain info and wall/framing info. and all sorts of other stuff hidden in the old .plan file. so what are we left with currently? no clean path to perform the above and import cleanly. CA really needs an overhaul on the import/export user dialogues to bring it all into one place to perform with an efficient user interface. an example of how you did well was the dialogue for importing anno sets - us users actually got some useful radio button options for that one! just do that for a lot more for all the other missing stuff we cant currently import or export please!

intel4000 wont show shadows correctly in chief x7 onwards. turn off anything to do with shadows for x7, x8, and it will half run. but ultimately you need better graphics - i had a sweet sony quad core notebook with intel 4000 and 1gb hd graphcis, and was peeved when x7 came out and they had fundamentally changed how the graphics worked, rendering my sony basically unuseable, forcing an upgrade, even though it was well within spec. sony would not support/update the driver.

so how do you all create a box window like the picture?

awesome michael will give it a go - smart idea...

easy, you need to draw a roof plane and ceiling plane in the room you want a parallel chord truss for. then draw a truss manually. the webbing will go between the 2 as it should.

I cant get this working on 2 levels.- it works on 1 level real sweet. have unticked the plant schedule checkbox "include objects from all floors' but it is still picking up items from the room below. I would also like to use an independent schedule in the elevations. attached is a plan. for demonstration purposes I am using a "floorplan1" layer set. was done on latest x8. can someone show me how to set this up for 2 story building with INDEPENDENT schedules for each floor / elevations / sections .... cheers, Bernie Untitled 1.plan

Im the same. if I remove most of my text, speed improves. I only have to have 5 or leader lines working and I can see a slow down on a 6 core cpu. once again, the best thing CA can do is improve 2D speed with real world .plan file in operation, before any further enhancements to the program are undertaken that will slow it down even further....... need minimal lag in responsiveness to mouse scrolling / zooming - very very important

nope Im the same, when you start running more than 30-40 macros (not complicated ones) CA does slow down in 2D views. x8 seems to be slightly better in this regard than x7. macros involving leader lines and area macros are a killer on cpu drawing time in 2D. run with minimum u need to get the job done.

hi Joe, can u give me an example of where that is a useful feature that I may be interested in? Im sure it is, just need an example.......

I hardcopy (use windows file manager) a similar project across and rename it to the new project. then I find the .plan file is king. reason: you can only have 1 .layout file open , but you can have many .plan files open simultaneously. start with a fairly recent .plan file (from your last 5-10-20 projects, and by the way, you'll probably be working on 5-10-20 projects at once like me so its not usually a problem) do a S.A.M. on that file. strip it down, spread things out layer by layer. (or anno set by anno set) declutter it, take out what you dont need for the new project. in this manner you'll have a recent 'base' file to work from. BONUS, it will contain all your new layers, anno sets, etc. so you dont spend time 'fluffing' instead of 'drawing'. now, go draw the existing house plan, if any. take a snapshot, and turn it into the proposed. somewhere along the line you'll want to present some data to clients, so find a recent .layout file, (from the same version of CA. ie dont mix .plan x6 with .layout x7 or x7 .plan with x8 .layout.. a big no no. funny things happen under the hood in them internal magic workings called CA databases...) and take 10ish minutes to relink it all, fess with it, page by page, back to your .plan file you want to use. a pain, but cant be helped. usually most is linked except the elevation cameras, which you'll need to send again. my layout page numering system doesnt change (dont need to add layout pages) as I already have an index system set up that copes with any project type. (if a page isnt used, it isnt included in the index, and not displayed, even though the page is still there in the background .layout template file) in reality you only need 1-2 different 'types' of templates (.plan and .layout files) set up to handle all the projects that will ever come your way. as above, my .layout file never changes, I run it 'dumb', apart from the index and page 0 stuff. I run all the cad drawing data stored in the .plan file in anno sets, I run a mixture of cad details from CA .lib, from .plan master (user library) files, and from within the .plan .cad details pages. My big trick is I use external text files to handle the wordy stuff (I try and keep my plan files minimalist on text) write something, write it once (but display it many times if you have to with macros) is my motto. example: create a short 'key spec' note that you put on each page (floorplan, elevations, sections, etc) every time you type into a new text box some words, you are wide open to litigation because if you say roof pitch 12 degrees on page 10, and 14 degrees on page 11, guess what? when you didnt say the same thing OR the spec changes (and you forget to change it in all places), you are stuffed. the builder will build with what your typo says, not what you meant to say. So I import "chunks" of text into the .plan file with some of Joes macros adapted to read a single text file in 'chunks'. (sections) that I have defined. text macros in the .plan file import particular chunks of text from from external text files (5 is all you need) and display them in the .plan file. In this way I can keep each projects main text in external text files, reason: huge time savings to be had. it is real easy to use an external text editor / file differencing engine to cut and paste similar project info from one project text file to the next. (cutting and pasting text inside CA is not advanced, no multi-clipboard, etc etc) I've shaved 5-10 hours off each set of drawings with this method, and it is super easy to change the spec. I change the external text file text, reload the macros, and all pages are instantly updated to reflect the new data. thats a serious amount spare time that adds up in a year when you pump out drawings for a living works a treat. drawings should be clean with lines and 3D. the only thing that should change in your drawings should be the "art" in the architecture. get all the text out of chief (but still display it) into a system that is repeatable and reliable. manually writing stuff in chief ad hoc is not a system.

hmmm., cant get the plant schedule working in a cad detail (my site plan). I've copy and pasted my plant/callout (note number and note title) and schedule from my 1st level .plan file to my cad detail. problem: the plant and callout wont show up. why? apart from that option "A" the plant schedule method for notes works pretty darn well... as long as you dont want to show ... plants !. darn. so question 2 is, how are you all getting around that one? 2 different .plan files?? cheers, Bernie

if you open your .plan file with a text editor and scroll down ignoring all the gobbledegook you will see a lot of info about the file creation date, type, timestamp, version number first created in, etc etc.located on 1 line.