SWBDesign

Found it, Defaults - Schedules - Custom Object Fields.

Can someone tell me where the command/tool to edit existing custom fields can be found? I'm trying to change some existing custom fields to be formatted as a number, I'm sure I was able to do this a few weeks ago, but I cannot find the command to do it now.

Rene, Thanks for taking the time to make the clip. That's a very clever solution.

Notes inside of macro's what I currently do, it works well for consistency across the plan set. The issue with doing it this way is I end up with hundreds of macros cluttering up the macro library. The database option will provide additional utility as I'll likely design the note record to storage related technical documentation which can be exported into a project folder to allow for easier collation for submission to the local authority. Also the db does quite a lot of other project specific things as well, so I'll be able to port other information over into Chief via notes as well if I need to. But I do have to build the thing first, from past experience db creation seems to take me at least 2-3x as long as I think it will when I start working on it.

Excellent, I’ll start designing the database side next week.

I would like to create a database module for keynotes to be used in Chief Architect. The idea is to create notes in the database, export a .csv file to a location in the project folder and have a macro in Chief that reads the .csv file and uses it as a hash table. Then, once in Chief Architect, embed the macro into a note object and have one of the Object Information fields provide the key value to allow for the hash table search. So my questions are: 1: Are there any fundamental coding issues with what I’m proposing? 2: Can I output a Hash Table with more than one column of data for each key value? Is it feasible to create a macro that will return the value of a specific column? Exported file format Pk Short Note Long Note 1 Value 1-1 Value 1- 2 2 Value 2-1 Value 2-2 3 Value 3-1 Value 3-2 4 Value 4-1 Value 4-2 5 Value 5-1 Value 5-2 6 Value 6-1 Value 6-2

I have a a cube symbol with individual material definitions for each face. I can quickly change each face of the cube to display a specific material. I use this for quick spatial mockups and form evaluation. But I've struck some trouble getting patterned materials to align & display correctly with other building elements. It seems that any texture applied to the symbol uses the symbol’s location in the plan for defining the origin point for the material applied to it. Which is different to how the materials on other parts of the building (soffits, walls etc) are generated and hence I get a mismatch when viewed in 3D. I’ve tried changing the “global symbol mapping” setting in the Texture – Offset & Angle window but this doesn’t fix it. Can anybody offer some ideas how to get the materials to align correctly?

Michael, many thanks. Another case of me just needing to RTFM.

I've spent the last few weeks creating some custom toolbar configurations to help speed up my workflow. One of the toolbars I've created allows me to jump between my toolbar configurations, is there anyway to customize the icons for a toolbar like this?

Sorted it. owner.linked_view_name.slice(-1).chr

I'm trying to create a "Key to Elevations" legend using callouts which are linked to camera views which in turn will populate automatically with the last character of the camera name. so, a camera with the name of "Elevation A" would return the value of "A" I need a Ruby Script which can return the last character in the variable "owner.linked_view_name" I can get a script to return the full name of the "owner.linked_view_name" but I don't know how to parse it down to return just the last character of the returned text string. I typically label all Elevation camera's as Elevation "A,B,C,D....etc" Can anyone help point me in the right direction please?

Solved it! For reference to anyone striking this issue in the future. Our Chief library's were located in a within a cloud storage directory. The Library file was subject to a "2 way sync" updating process, were the cloud version checked for consistency against the locally storage folder and would update if differences were indicated. This "2 way sync" was the cause for the library file being corrupted. Changing the cloud settings so the library file was the subject to only a "1 way" replication (local version would overwrite cloud version) fixed the issues. No corrupt library files since doing this.

Is anyone else striking an issue where went modifying items in the User library? Typically it seems to be happening to me when using the new "Edit CAD Block" feature The program returns any error and then crashes. On reopening the User library is not longer available. It's happened to me 3 times this morning so far with quite a lot of work lost on each occasion.

That's exactly what i'm trying to do.

Is there anyway to reference more than one external plan file into your current plan and have each reference block be orientated differently? I'm currently doing a multi unit development with several unit blocks, the unit blocks all have a different orientation to north. I'd prefer to keep each unit block in it's own plan file and have a site plan where i can co-ordinate the developed project.

Great, Thanks for that.

I'm confused, can someone explain to me how you would now load a custom hatch/fill pattern into X11? The dialogue window will only let me select from the standard hatch patterns or from ones in the library.

Wondering what others work flow is regarding storing information in Chief’s CAD details. Our current workflow sees us storing us much information within the plan files "CAD Details" as we can. We even have the project title blocks in the project file! However, since upgrading to X9, We’ve seen a marked slowdown while working in the Layout files for any of our projects. And I’m wondering if having everything in the plan file is cause some of these slow down issues? Comments from the hive?

It's common here in NZ too. +1 The way I would work around your problem would be: create the bifold unit out of 3 single hinged doors, (adjust the swing of the hinged panel so that in plan view the doors appear closed.) set their location and orientation so that in elevation the opening indicators represent correctly. back in the plan view draw a filled CAD rectangle and mask the door unit and use a CAD representation as an overlay to give you the correct presentation in the plan view. Windows and door development has been fairly glacial over the years, it would be great to have the flexibility to specify a particular door combination for bi-folds as you're indicating. Other wish list items: -sliding door panel direction indicators in plan/elevation views -hinge panel doors (glazed) with parametric intermediate transoms to control relative position within the panel -sliding doors that can slide over wall panels -multiply opening sash types within an individual sash (aka, uPVC type window joinery) -curtain wall -any window spanning multiply levels to show on the relevant floors.

Joe, Thanks for the offer, I'll do some work at this end writing the export script from the Database. At this stage it is looking like the output file will be .csv or .tab, if that's the case i won't be able to have the data on separate lines, hope that's not a problem. Will be in touch.

I have question for the Ruby “Black Belts” in the group. Could I use Ruby to access information from an external DB and pull across the information into Chief, displaying the data via text macros? Background: We currently use Filemaker Pro for our CRM. Client details, project details & task administration are all done from inside the database. As I have a pet hate for entering the same information any more times than once what I would like to be able to do is pull across the information contained in the DB, information such as: -Project Name -Project Address -Project Number -Copyright -Project start date. -Client Name My inital thinking is to create text macros for each required field and then have Ruby either access the DB or read from a file output from the DB. I can definitely create a script for the Database to automatically create an output file & locate it within the project file structure, but I have literally know idea how or if this can even be connected to Ruby and then brought into Chief. Comments from those fluent with Ruby programming appreciated