Room Labels, Macros & Area Analysis

[Joe_Carrick]

I would like to clear up a few things about these items. 

 

1.  Room Labels generally are limited to the macros the Chief provides but they can use Ruby "Owner" macros if the macro is included in the "Default Room Label"

 

2.  It is possible to use a Ruby Macro within the Default Room Label to accumulate the areas of all the rooms in the Plan as well as the individual Floor Living Areas.  It is also possible to accumulate the areas of Decks, Balconiess, Courts, Porches, Garages, Bedrooms, etc. 

 

3.  Rich Text Boxes can be used as Room Labels to customize the way they appear.  The text in such a "Label" can be formatted, have additional text added and have a border and fill as desired.  If the center of such a Text Box is within or in contact with the room perimeter it will execute the Chief Room Macros.  Otherwise, an arrow can be added and when the arrowhead is within or in contact with the room perimeter it will also work.

 

4.  I have been working on a comprehensive system of Ruby macros and Rich Text boxes using Ruby Global Variables to fill in Project Data including Site Area Analysis.  This is almost completed and I am able to sum various room types based on both the type and/or the name of the rooms.  One example is to total all the room areas within a Master Suite.  There is very little that can not be done using my system. 

 

5.  X7 has improved the bond between a polyline and a Text Box Arrowhead so that Site Area Macros are much more reliable.  By using the properties available for various Site objects it is not only possible but I have put together a macro that recognizes the object for what it is and stores it's area for use in Site Analysis.

 

6.  The output of a Ruby Macro can be formatted into rows and columns and can be word-wrapped as desired. 

 

7.  Ruby can read and write to external text files so Project Data that Chief doesn't currently provide for such as consultants, etc can be automatically placed where needed in a set of ConDocs.

 

Some of the above is not trivial and I would not recommend anyone without programming experience attempt it on their own. 

 

I will be making my system available for a fee to those interested - copyrighted of course and only for single use.  I can if needed make some customized macros for displaying the data in ways that might be slightly different than my own.

 

IAE, Don't be discouraged by those who say it can't be done or that it's not worth the trouble.  There are many ways to retrieve data and utilize it with Ruby macros and there is more available within Chief's attributes than is apparent at first glance.  More would be nice of course - but we are not handcuffed.

 

[GerryT]

I strongly doubt that you can copyright concepts that have been previously Demoed by someone else? You can only copyright specific code and what you are describing is so general and obvious that I doubt that Chief would tolerate it. It's  like trying to copyright a "door" or "your fired". Although, nothing would prevent a license agreement and/or NDA. INMNOHO.

 

However, you may not be aware that Ruby macros can be encrypted or compiled which might be a better path. But you would have to convince Chief to allow that, which shouldn't be much trouble since you're now one of the "chosen"..

 

But I wish you good luck and expect that most would prefer this -- Good Luck- I'll help in any way I can -- No Charge!!.

[Joe_Carrick]

Gerry,

 

I would not presume that I could copyright a concept that anyone else demonstrated.   However, having put together a specific way of obtaining and using the information in a Chief Plan and writing detailed macros and subroutines - I have every right to copyright that specific implementation. 

 

I have asked you from time to time about how to do something using Ruby.  You have been most generous in assisting me in that manner and I truly appreciate that.  You have provided code snippets and other information that has helped me a great deal.

 

What I've alluded to is naturally general in its description but the implementation is very specific - and innovative.  It is not the same - or even close - to anything that I've seen demonstrated and I believe is quite different from other solutions that have been described.

 

I have in the past and will in the future continue to provide content to the users of these forums.  Most of the time the effort required to do so takes very little time but sometimes it is a much larger project and when that's the case I believe I have the right to be compensated and to protect myself from anyone improperly giving my work product to anyone else.

 

"chosen"?  Please.....  that's a cheap shot and you know it.  I, along with several others, volunteered to assist and provide feedback on some things that CA is doing.  None of us consider ourselves "special" for having been accepted for this job.  It's an honor and IMO a duty to do what we can to make Chief better for everyone.

[GerryT]

You have every right to be compensated for your work. But it's up to the knowledgeable buyer to determine value. Only suggesting that they should consider the preset limits of the program against your claims.

 

as to the "chosen" comment , I will not apologize or retract it. You are certainly aware of my low opinion of Chief's  management and expect the true purpose is to simply deflect some of the criticism ( much of it unfair and not knowledgeable) on this forum.

 

IAE, my offer still stands but I doubt if I will be associated further with this program, -- so my knowledge my be limited in the future.

[lbuttery]

Joe:

 

I can only imagine the hard work you've done programming

 

years and years, almost a decade ago I wanted chief to have scripts and recorded macros etc

so that I could "go into business" selling my scripts

 

they are your scripts (unless you found some on the forum etc)

 

I also wish that CA would consider one of my other decade long wishes

 

to put all of the living room area data into a schedule

including the most common alternatives

 

thus, the user would have access to this common data in a simple format

 

since CA has yet to do this

 

good luck on selling YOUR scripts

 

BTW:  I'm glad you are one of the "chosen"

as I have advocated for CA to use SME's for almost a decade as well

 

Lew

[builtright3]

I am very thank full for all that participate and give donated time to CA users. Also I know that the teachers generally benefit as much if not more than the people they are teaching. Its a blessing all the way around.

 

Joe,

I have no issue with you getting compensated for your work. If I'm understanding you correctly this is something that is saving someone the time to go thru all the work of learning and building something that will benefit them in making the program more efficient for them. So this would be an out of the box working item that all they have to do is use it and not have to set it up. Some are not too good with coding and depend on others to build it for them. This is not the same idea as helping others to do the work themselves. I understand completely and may even be a buyer once I have an understanding of macros and how they can help me. I have not gotten to macros yet but I will be soon.

 

Thank You Joe

[DRAWZILLA]

Joe, I have recently (last week) had another dis-connect of the arrow pointing to a window, to get the macro header size, I'm just not sure I can trust it anymore.

[dshall]

Joe, I have recently (last week) had another dis-connect of the arrow pointing to a window, to get the macro header size, I'm just not sure I can trust it anymore.

I am with Perry on this.  I do not want to do macros to analyze floor areas.  This should be part of CA.  I do not want to have a master's in computer programming to figure out the area of my garages  (yes garages,  working on a house right now with two garages),  my decks,  (yes multiple decks,  working on right now with multiple decks),  and etc.  

 

I am done trying to use macros with unreliable arrows to dissiminate different floor areas.  This is basic info that we need access to that CA needs to some how find a way for us users to have access to.

[lbuttery]

Basic info in a schedule would be nice

 

IF, the programming of the scripts was done right

the casual user of Chief would never see the code

or need to change the code

 

IF, a change was needed, the programmer

would probably have to make it unless the user felt "adventurous"

 

IF, Chief had recordable macros the user could create their own scripts

without programming just be doing clicks etc and then saving the recorded macro

to be used as needed

 

need to make a change to the script - just record it over

or if capable/desirable - edit the script and tweak it

 

Lew

[HumbleChief]

I am with Perry on this.  I do not want to do macros to analyze floor areas.  This should be part of CA.  I do not want to have a master's in computer programming to figure out the area of my garages  (yes garages,  working on a house right now with two garages),  my decks,  (yes multiple decks,  working on right now with multiple decks),  and etc.  

 

I am done trying to use macros with unreliable arrows to dissiminate different floor areas.  This is basic info that we need access to that CA needs to some how find a way for us users to have access to.

I agree. I have tried to make the point that Chief allows a lot of its programming to be exposed to the end user where it should not and "the casual user of Chief would [should] never see the code" (Lew) unless they wanted to dig into the code as an option. But many basic functions should not require any knowledge of any code to achieve basic info and simple calcs. etc.

 

It's like sausage. It should be delicious to the taste, but one should never have watch it being made before eating it..

[Joe_Carrick]

I am with Perry on this.  I do not want to do macros to analyze floor areas.  This should be part of CA.  I do not want to have a master's in computer programming to figure out the area of my garages  (yes garages,  working on a house right now with two garages),  my decks,  (yes multiple decks,  working on right now with multiple decks),  and etc.  

 

I am done trying to use macros with unreliable arrows to disseminate different floor areas.  This is basic info that we need access to that CA needs to some how find a way for us users to have access to.

Scott,

 

My system doesn't require any arrows to disseminate different floor areas.  I am not using Polylines with arrows pointing to them so there isn't any confusion.  Using my system the areas are automatically summed and available to use for calculations and display of the data as needed.  The only caveat is that you must use room types and unique names for each room that's to be included.  I do this simply by giving each room a number.  Rooms on the 1st Floor are the 100's, 2nd Floor the 200's, 3rd Floor the 300's, etc.  For the "Basement" I use "001",  "002", etc. 

 

Using just a single Ruby Macro my system:

 

1.  Gets and stores the following attributes for each room:

   name, type_name, standard_area, internal_area, floor #, included_in_living_area (T/F)

2.  It sums the areas of all:

   Balconies, Courts, Decks, Garages, Porches, Bedrooms & the Master Suite

3.  It gets the Living Area of each Floor, Sums them and also stores the total area of each floor (including Garage Areas) which provides the "Lot Coverage"

 

Using another Ruby Macro - this time with Arrows my system identifies and stores the following:

 

   Property Area

   SetBack (Buildable) Area

   Road Area Totals

   Driveway Area Totals

   Terrain Path Area Totals

 

There are a series of "Display" macros that can be used to put together a Rich Text Box formatted as needed.

 

If there are special sub-totals or totals needed for any specific set of rooms (there needs to be a unique common word in the room names) I can easily provide a macro to provide those sub-totals or totals as well.

 

I have not found a single case where the data was inaccurate in any way and I do not get any "evaluation errors".  All of the data is live and only requires that each Floor and the Site Plan be displayed for any changed to be reflected in the displayed results.

 

Due to the complexity of doing the above I do not expect that CA will provide for it at any time in the foreseeable future.  It has taken me a lot of time to put it together and I don't see CA putting this on a priority list.