KristjanM

Yes, that was it. Print in color was turned off. I never fiddle with that setting so don't know why it was off. Anyway, my gray fill is back. Thanks for the clue.

In my title sheet and view labels, I have a light gray box behind the text. Today, when I export my layout sheets to PDF, the boxes of grey fill only display the outline and don't display any fill. I have used layout to pdf successfully last week in X16. First thought - updated some drivers a few days ago, maybe that's the issue. Doesn't appear to be. Restart the computer. Doesn't help. Try a file in X15. Works perfectly. Install X16 on my laptop which has a different set of drivers. Same missing grey fill. Tried to print with my pdf driver (not the chief one), doesn't work. Stumped at the moment.

Joe, I will try your directions out. Your template will be my homework. Thanks.

Okay, interesting. If I put refenced into the number format macro, it now works in the text box. However, now it doesn't work in the label. Seems like two macros are required for the different uses. Thanks for the help.

I have a rectangle with a label - macro values for perimeter and area plus two macros for perimeter and area using number formatter. All values display correctly. In a text box, I place exactly the same text as in the label. The two built in macros for perimeter and area display but the number format macros don't work. Can this actually work? Different syntax in the text box?

Thanks for your comments. Kind of what I thought but you never know.

Two part question - 1) For an object (a closed polyline for example), the object properties gives several items which are classified as measurements. These items can produce a totals row in a schedule. In my case, my area displayed would be in sq. ft. I also need sq metres which I can get by doing some kind of conversion in a custom field or using a object information field. All is good as I have the two numbers displayed in the schedule. However, the sq m field doesn't total even if I convert it to a float. It seems that only measurement fields will total and there is no way to define a custom field as a number. Correct or not? Is there a way to get a total from custom field? 2) I have total displayed in a schedule. Is there any way to grab this number for use as a variable?

Joe, I know you are a busy guy but did you ever finish up the macro list? I've done some forum searching but can't find anything. I am definitely interested.

Keep in mind that the design has to be signed off from a designer registered in Ontario.

Chopsaw - Yes, that works now. I had played around with leading / trailing zeros but was missing the Decimal_places = 0. Thanks for your help. Eric - A nice neat solution. I had a bit of an issue making this work until I changed the macro Context: to Owner Object. All is good now. Thanks. Not sure why Chief doesn't supply this format natively. I can do this in Autocad, Archicad, Revit, Vectorworks and Softplan out of the box. Chief is really good in so many other ways that I can put up with the few workarounds that present themselves.

Chopsaw - Upon further thought, I realized that manipulating a string value, considering the possibilities, was not really a trivial problem. A number formatting approach might be better. So... your post has provided that. Thanks for that. This method works except in the case where the measurement involves 0 inches as in a door 3-0X6-8. The zero does not display. It shows as 3X6-8. Not good. I can't find anything in the number formatter methods to force the display of a zero value. Still a puzzle. para-CAD - Good suggestion. That method is clear in intent but I've never been a fan of the very small superscript.

Okay, not entirely elegant. If the door width includes inches of 10 or 11, the insert references the wrong placement for the - insert . EG, 2'10" x 6'8". So for this approach, you would need a macro which would test the second and third member of the automatic_label string and see if they were 10 or 11. Then you could apply appropriate insert numbers to get the proper result. A little more figuring to do.

Chopsaw - Figured it out. Plenty elegant for me.

Chopsaw - Yes, that works. I must say that I find nothing recognizable in your macro. Time for more exploration. Thanks. Eric - A valid question but I would say that typically, door or window sizes are listed as nominal. Any fractions involved would be displayed in the object schedule.

When I was using Revit, an available format for a door or window size displayed as 2-8X6-8. I have always found this quite clear. In Chief I can have 28x68 or 2'-8"x6'-8". The first example is clear to the builders I work with but to others, sometimes they think it means 28"x68". Not good. The second example is sometimes too long for my liking. I've spent some significant time trying a number of ruby instructions to get a display like my Revit example but am not successful. Part of the problem is the lack of any comprehensive help about Chief's ruby implementation. Can someone show me the magic macro to duplicate my Revit output?

Embedding the floor joists in the concrete wall is definitely a prairie thing. Never seen it in BC. If nothing else, all this stuff keeps your brain ticking over.

BC also has their own code but I believe the long term goal is to harmonize all the provinces under the NBC. The 2025 NBC (think the year is right) will incorporate a version of the step code with increasing targets for thermal and mechanical effficiency.

The actual energy model is done in Hot2000, Natural Resources Canada's software. I take off the areas and volumes in Chief and create schedules for windows and doors which list sizes, type, width of overhang above and distance to the overhang. As part of the process, you have to show the house drawings and outline where you are getting measurements from. Chief is proving to be a good tool for this. "rimboard, floors above garages, cantilever floors, walls partially above grade, etc. polyline apoolza - Hot 200 has check boxes to identify where things are located, ie. a cantileverd floor is an exposed floor, wall between house and garage is buffered (next to an enclosed area). What province are you in? This is all coming your way in the future.

A bunch of random comments - I'm located in BC so have had to supply the thermal assembly calculations on permit drawings for some time. I've used a spreadsheet for this with about 30 tabs for most of the common assembles. I just delete the unused ones for a given project and then export a pdf which I drag into Chief. Pretty easy. I also have a sheet in Excel for the trade off calculations which is quite easy to use once set up. I takeoff the areas in Chief and put the numbers into Excel. The biggest reason for doing this was twofold - builders hate the cost of R24 batts and the drywallers don't like how stiff the R24 batt is in the wall. In my climate zone (5) with Hardie board siding, R22 doesn't give me a good enough number so had to go the trade off route to make the assembles work. In BC now, we have gone to the step code which requires an energy advisor's analysis. This is coming to the National Building Code in a couple of years. The prescriptive method is going to be retired except in very specific cases. I'm also qualified as an energy advisor now and am working through a process to do my plan takeoff in Chief. It's working well so far.

Got it. That tip will help in the future. Thanks.

"currently only have the ability to total specific columns to include" Not sure what this means. I only see a check box for "Display Totals Row". No option regarding columns. Of course my wife says I'm blind on occasion, so I might have missed something.

Even if I apply a non formatted macro (eg. ABOVE GRADE has a value of %area%), I do not get a total. It would seem the custom field is not stored as a number.

I have a number of slabs from which I draw data. I have two custom object fields which have a macro definition. The area column of the schedule provides a total. The custom object fields do not even though they are using the same area number (a formatted version). This would lead me to think that a custom object field cannot be a number (float or integer) but rather is defined as a string. Correct? Can I get a total from a custom object field? Do I need to convert the custom object string to a float?

Not to sidetrack the original post but here's my two cents on the terminology. Carpenter and superintendent for 35 years. Always called them lookouts. Designer for the last 10 years. Always called them lookouts. BC and Ontario building codes call them lookouts. Francis Ching (look him up) calls them lookouts. Good enough for me. The builders I work with know what I'm talking about.

Okay, more good info. My ruby syntax knowledge is rather primitive. I will play around with this. Thanks.