Why can't we edit the labels for the default client information yet?

[Michael_Gia]

Wouldn't it be nice if we could edit the labels of these fields and add to them?  Am I the only one?

 

Do you guys just create custom macros for these labels? Or something else? 

 

I fill out a lot of forms for each project.  It's all the same damn forms.

 

It would be great if all I had to do was fill in this card per project and then all of my forms (which are on layouts) would be filled automatically. 

 

Isn't this why we use computers?

 

[Joe_Carrick]

I've requested additions to this tool many times.

 

Currently I have a series of text files which I can edit with NotePad++ and then use macros to read them into $Global variables.

• Energy Consultant Info
• Geologist Info
• Surveyor Info
• Engineer Info
• Builder Info
• Project Info

It would be far better if Chief would simply allow us to add user defined Information classes & fields.  It should be pretty easy to do.

[SHCanada2]

2 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

Do you guys just create custom macros for these labels? Or something else? 

Text macros. If you have to type them in anyway, you can just type them in the TMM dialog.

 

Only downside is organization. For instance you can type it all into one text macro, but then you cannot format specific parts of the text, say underline, in a rich text box. Or you can have individual macros and then you can underline, bold, etc each one. Downside to this is having to go into each text macro and type them in.

 

In my view, CA could just create a category for text macros that they then show on the form you show. I put in a request awhile ago

[ChiefTylerL]

@Michael_Gia I believe in X15 we added the ability to fill out Default Designer/Client Information in your Preferences.

 

Edit> Preferences> New Plans (or Chief Architect> Preferences> New Plans on a Mac) and the options for your default info will be at the bottom. Here you can fill out your information to be automatically populated in new files that you create. 

 

More information is in our Creating and Using Layout Templates article: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00737/creating-and-using-layout-templates.html 

 

Is this the functionality you're looking for or are you looking to define these fields furthers?

[Renerabbitt]

2 hours ago, ChiefTylerL said:

Is this the functionality you're looking for or are you looking to define these fields furthers?

we're asking for user customizable options. AHJ's have a myriad of different requirements for our title sheets, so we need to be able to customize them

[Renerabbitt]

7 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

Do you guys just create custom macros for these labels?

the Macro guys are using things like CSV sheets
 

[para-CAD]

 

[ChiefTylerL]

Thank you for taking the time to clarify and create the image above!

 

I have gone ahead and passed this request onto our development team. 

[Joe_Carrick]

1 hour ago, ChiefTylerL said:

Thank you for taking the time to clarify and create the image above!

 

I have gone ahead and passed this request onto our development team. 

Interesting....

There have been several previous requests with basically the same ideas.  2 years ago at the UGM this was discussed in the Advanced II room and almost every user expressed that it was needed.

[kellyh]

16 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Interesting....

There have been several previous requests with basically the same ideas.  2 years ago at the UGM this was discussed in the Advanced II room and almost every user expressed that it was needed.

Please don't take Tyler's reply to mean that we've never written down this request before or that it's the first time development is hearing about it. It's not. Whenever we hear about a feature request like this, we pass it along to our development team regardless of whether it's new or not. We are always looking for ways to improve the software and take feature requests from users very seriously. It's just, we get A LOT of feature requests from users and while our developers are good, they are a finite resource. And we simply don't have the time to develop every feature request as soon as it's requested.

[Joe_Carrick]

Hi Kelly,

I fully understand and didn't mean to denigrate Tyler's comment.  It's just that I've been asking for this tool to be expanded and made more comprhensive for many years.  Sometimes the flashy new features added to Chief seem to cause to much delay in fixing longstanding problems.

[kellyh]

Thanks, Joe. While I don't intend to have a drawn out conversation about this, I do want to address that potentially dangerous sentiment here: we fully understand your frustration and desire for your feature requests to get into the program, but please bear in mind that our development team is broken up into many smaller teams that work on different areas of the software. So, just because there's a fancy new rendering feature doesn't mean it has taken resources away from another feature or project in the program. There are simply too many requests to address as quickly as we would like, so there is a lot of prioritization we have to do. Please trust that each development team works to make the program better for our users and make them more successful.

[Michael_Gia]

22 hours ago, para-CAD said:

 

 

This is exactly it!  Even better than I ever dreamed it could be.

nice work

 

 

[Renerabbitt]

15 minutes ago, Michael_Gia said:

 

This is exactly it!  Even better than I ever dreamed it could be.

nice work

 

 

I would need a rename/add/delete in section c on that image

 

[Doug_N]

On 7/1/2025 at 12:53 PM, ChiefTylerL said:

@Michael_Gia I believe in X15 we added the ability to fill out Default Designer/Client Information in your Preferences.

 

Edit> Preferences> New Plans (or Chief Architect> Preferences> New Plans on a Mac) and the options for your default info will be at the bottom. Here you can fill out your information to be automatically populated in new files that you create. 

 

More information is in our Creating and Using Layout Templates article: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00737/creating-and-using-layout-templates.html 

 

Is this the functionality you're looking for or are you looking to define these fields furthers?

The problem with this form is we need to be able to add custom fields for all the items that Joe listed, and some that he didn't.

[SHCanada2]

1 hour ago, Renerabbitt said:

I would need a rename/add/delete in section c on that image

or it they just let us add them through the TMM as a category of text macro, then all of the management could just be done there. And the ones of that category would show up on that form.

 

And if they let us write to text macros, then joe could just read his text file and write to the text macro contents

 

And if we were given a function to write to the contents of a text macro, then detail configurators (like the one you have?) could also be persistent, and the values chosen saved with the file's text macros, and be available instead of having to go to CAD details each time the file is open or where ever the configurator is located.

 

And we could then have the global variables written to text macros, essentially storing results of calculations, without having to constantly go to the sheet that has the calculation.

 

It's not world peace and doesnt make me breakfast, but it would certainly avoid the %xxx% that show up on my layout because I didn't go through all the plan views, triggering the calculations and solve the "need more custom fields" at the same time

 

 

 

 

[Renerabbitt]

30 minutes ago, SHCanada2 said:

And if they let us write to text macros, then joe could just read his text file and write to the text macro contents

we can define globals from a text file currently. Thats how I am doing my designer and client information

 

[Joe_Carrick]

2 hours ago, SHCanada2 said:

And if they let us write to text macros, then joe could just read his text file and write to the text macro contents

That's essentially what I'm doing.

I have macros that read/wright my text files.

When I read one I assign the $Global variables wihich are then used in text boxes.

 

[JiAngelo]

@Renerabbitt very impressive.

[SHCanada2]

3 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

That's essentially what I'm doing.

I have macros that read/wright my text files.

When I read one I assign the $Global variables wihich are then used in text boxes.

 

 

5 hours ago, Renerabbitt said:

we can define globals from a text file currently. Thats how I am doing my designer and client information

 

I was suggesting CA give us the ability to write to text(non evaluated) macros instead of global variables when you import data from reading a file. That way the information is stored in the CA file, and the import only has to run once or however often you want to bring in the info, vs writing them into global variables which means, I assume, they constantly have to read from the file and put them into globals. Rene, if you reopen that plan, do you have to go into the project information everytime? I assume so by the text you have:

 

just imagine if you could write to the CA text macro instead of the global variable, you would not have to do that constantly. it would be one and done.

 

I was suggesting this also as a way to populate that form instead of putting a bunch of GUI functions in the form. For example if you wanted a 2 level hierarchy, then give us a category of macro called "user data form", and allow a level structure to be specified, say /client information/address.

and then create another text macro with /client information/name etc. and then when you close that form CA just writes to those macros contents.

 

 

 

[Renerabbitt]

47 minutes ago, SHCanada2 said:

Rene, if you reopen that plan, do you have to go into the project information everytime?

it stays active for the session. I really only go into it when I print.
I don't need to write to globals, i use globals so that I can use them in layout easily instead of having to set up reads from both layout and plan and also it gives the end user the option to either use CSV or designer/client information. You would still need to have something to trigger the read. You dont want to be reading cvonstantly

[SHCanada2]

27 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

it stays active for the session. I really only go into it when I print.

if you open up X17 and then open a .layout or .plan file, don't you have to go run that macro to read in the CSV, in order to see all the into on the plan/layout, irrespective of printing?

 

I can see the global variable use case for having the option for both layout and plan, you only have to run it once...its just that, I assume, you have to run it every time you open the plan or layout file if you want to see the info. Where if we could write to text macros it only ever need to have to run twice(once for the plan and once for the layout if one needed it on both) . It would not ever have to run it again when I open files, or print...because it would now be stored in the .plan and/or .layout file in the contents of text macros.

 

Me thinks I am not being very convincing.

 

 

 

 

[Renerabbitt]

1 minute ago, SHCanada2 said:

if you open up X17 and then open a .layout or .plan file, don't you have to go run that macro to read in the CSV, in order to see all the into on the plan/layout, irrespective of printing?