In developing my future post on Layer Standards, I have noticed that in the 2009 release, any changes made to the Layer Standard, Layer Key Styles or Layer Key Overrides when accessed through the Layer Properties Manager (the ClassicLayer, modal dialog, not the non-modal palette version, which does not have access to the ACD-A layer features) will NOT be saved if these are the only changes being made during that session of the Layer Properties Manager. While less critical for Layer Key Styles and Layer Key Overrides, since these can be accessed outside of the Layer Properties Manager, this is quite serious for Layer Standard changes (imports from other files, creation of new Layer Standards or edits to existing Layer Standards), since the only way to do these is through the Layer Properties Manager.
Fortunately, there is a workaround for this: after completing your Layer Standard, Layer Key Style or Layer Key Override changes from the Layer Properties Manager, before selecting OK, do something directly within the Layer Properties Manager that will result in the Apply button becoming active. My personal favorite is to select the New Layer button, and simply add the default layer (Layer1 if it does not already exist). If you like, you can immediately delete this newly added layer, and then select the OK button.
From what I can tell, it appears that changes made to Layer Standards, Layer Key Styles and Layer Key Overrides from the Layer Properties Manager are being held in a "pending queue" without being applied to the drawing (in memory) when selecting OK in the dialog(s) launched from the Layer Properties Manager toolbar buttons. This would allow for possible remorse while the Layer Properties Manager is still active - I have no problem with those changes being discarded if I select the Cancel button in the Layer Properties Manager. Unfortunately, unlike previous versions, the 2009 Layer Properties Manager dialog starts out with the Apply button disabled, and not only does it not become enabled when a change is made to a Layer Standard, Layer Key Style or Layer Key Override through the Layer Properties Manager, these pending changes also do not appear to trigger the need for acceptance should the OK button be selected. Making a change in the Layer Properties Manager itself does activate the Apply button and also sets something that activates all pending changes when either the Apply or OK buttons are used.
While this should not be necessary, until it is fixed, creating and deleting a bogus layer is a relatively small act to preserve what could be many minutes (hours?) of editing a Layer Key Style or adding descriptions to a Layer Standard.
August 31, 2008
August 26, 2008
Layer Standard and Layer Key Style
The automatic layering feature of AutoCAD® Architecture has two components. Most will be familiar with the Layer Key Style, which allows you to specify on what layer a particular AEC item will be placed. The other component is the Layer Standard. While not strictly necessary (a Layer Key Style can be set to Non Standard), having a Layer Standard offers some advantages over not having one.
If the layer names you use do not have any consistent format (random lengths, not broken into subsections with consistent meaning), then a Layer Standard is not for you. If your layer names do use a consistent formatting, then you probably could create a Layer Standard that "enforces" those formatting rules. It will not prevent you from making non-standard layers, but it will make it easier to create standard layers by allowing you to pre-specify values for each field in your standard. You can also associate a description for each pre-specified value, and the descriptions of the various fields will be combined into the Description that appears in the Layer Properties Manager dialog (in the far right column). Having a field-based Layer Standard will also allow you to make use of the Layer Key Overrides feature, in which you can specify an override for one or more of the fields to create a layer name that is modified from the one specified in the Layer Key Style. This can be done globally or be set up on a tool palette tool, to be used only when that tool is used.
The interface for editing Layer Standards has not changed much over the years, and the Brain Dump Matt Dillon wrote for ADT 2 is still a great resource for becoming familiar with the ins and outs of Layer Standards. Unfortunately, the Brain Dump links listed in Chris Yanchar's Between the Walls blog no longer appear to work. I will try to put together a tutorial on Layer Standards and publish it in a future article. Until then, you can take a look at one or more of the Layer Standards that ship with the program and see how they are set up. These are based on the national or international standards prevalent in various area of the world, and it may be wise to adopt the one that applies in the area where you work, rather than to invent your own.
To edit a Layer Standard, open a file that contains one, open the Layer Properties Manager dialog and choose the Layer Standards button on the tool bar at the top of the dialog (first one on the left).
If the layer names you use do not have any consistent format (random lengths, not broken into subsections with consistent meaning), then a Layer Standard is not for you. If your layer names do use a consistent formatting, then you probably could create a Layer Standard that "enforces" those formatting rules. It will not prevent you from making non-standard layers, but it will make it easier to create standard layers by allowing you to pre-specify values for each field in your standard. You can also associate a description for each pre-specified value, and the descriptions of the various fields will be combined into the Description that appears in the Layer Properties Manager dialog (in the far right column). Having a field-based Layer Standard will also allow you to make use of the Layer Key Overrides feature, in which you can specify an override for one or more of the fields to create a layer name that is modified from the one specified in the Layer Key Style. This can be done globally or be set up on a tool palette tool, to be used only when that tool is used.
The interface for editing Layer Standards has not changed much over the years, and the Brain Dump Matt Dillon wrote for ADT 2 is still a great resource for becoming familiar with the ins and outs of Layer Standards. Unfortunately, the Brain Dump links listed in Chris Yanchar's Between the Walls blog no longer appear to work. I will try to put together a tutorial on Layer Standards and publish it in a future article. Until then, you can take a look at one or more of the Layer Standards that ship with the program and see how they are set up. These are based on the national or international standards prevalent in various area of the world, and it may be wise to adopt the one that applies in the area where you work, rather than to invent your own.
To edit a Layer Standard, open a file that contains one, open the Layer Properties Manager dialog and choose the Layer Standards button on the tool bar at the top of the dialog (first one on the left).
July 28, 2008
Copy/Paste and Formulas
If you have ever set up a "test" Property Set Definition to work out a Formula property, then wanted to copy and paste the final formula to a Formula property in another Property Set Definition, you may have noticed that while the text will copy and paste just fine, the all-important references to other properties get converted to inactive text. For example, suppose I wanted to copy and paste the HeightSchedule formula shown in the image below.
If I simply highlight the formula text, copy it to the clipboard with a CTRL-C, and then paste it into a new Formula property with a CTRL-V, I will get the following:
While I could highlight each former reference, then double click that property in the Insert Property Definitions area to replace the text version with an active property reference, that could become tedious, particularly if there were a large number of references to replace. The following technique can ease the pain, by avoiding the need to carefully highlight each individual reference. All you need to do is start the new Formula property, add a property reference for each instance in the original formula (I like to add a few returns first)...
...and then paste the formula in front of the property references you added. You will get something like this,
where the references in the pasted formula become active, while the previous references revert to inactive text, all nicely grouped together at the end, just waiting for you to highlight them all at once and delete them.
I have no idea why this works, but it does, and can be quite a time saver. I "discovered" this one time when I was pasting part of a formula that happened to have a property reference that was also repeated later on, after the part I was pasting. I was amazed that an active property reference pasted, annoyed when I noticed that the later one had become inactive and finally thrilled when I realized I could make use of that phenomenon to make pasting formulas easier.
If I simply highlight the formula text, copy it to the clipboard with a CTRL-C, and then paste it into a new Formula property with a CTRL-V, I will get the following:
While I could highlight each former reference, then double click that property in the Insert Property Definitions area to replace the text version with an active property reference, that could become tedious, particularly if there were a large number of references to replace. The following technique can ease the pain, by avoiding the need to carefully highlight each individual reference. All you need to do is start the new Formula property, add a property reference for each instance in the original formula (I like to add a few returns first)...
...and then paste the formula in front of the property references you added. You will get something like this,
where the references in the pasted formula become active, while the previous references revert to inactive text, all nicely grouped together at the end, just waiting for you to highlight them all at once and delete them.I have no idea why this works, but it does, and can be quite a time saver. I "discovered" this one time when I was pasting part of a formula that happened to have a property reference that was also repeated later on, after the part I was pasting. I was amazed that an active property reference pasted, annoyed when I noticed that the later one had become inactive and finally thrilled when I realized I could make use of that phenomenon to make pasting formulas easier.
July 25, 2008
Update 1 Available for AutoCAD® Architecture 2009
The first "update" (formerly known as "service pack") for AutoCAD® Architecture 2009 was made available today. You can get it through "Live Update" in the Communications Center or by going to the appropriate page of the Autodesk Website. There are separate updates for the 32-bit and 64-bit variants.
June 16, 2008
Text Case and the Quantity Column
A recent thread in the Autodesk AutoCAD® Architectural Discussion Group called my attention to the fact that, like the way real numbers are evaluated when including a quantity column in a Schedule Table, text strings are also evaluated using the "raw," or input value, and not the value that results from applying the Property Data Format assigned to the property (or to the property's column in the Schedule Table Style).
So, for example, even though the Schedule Table displays your text value in all capital letters, if the data is entered in different mixes of upper and lower case letters, only those objects whose data were entered identically will be collapsed into one line. In the example files I posted to the thread noted above, I created a manual, text-type property in an object-based property set, and applied the out-of-the-box Case - Upper Property Data Format. I entered the characters, but all upper case for some and all lower case for others. I kept the Case - Upper formatting on the column in my Schedule Table Style, and even though the data appears identical in the Schedule Table, the values entered in upper case collapsed into one line and those entered in lower case collapsed into another.
Fortunately, the workarounds similar to those suggested for real numbers will also work for text values that you can not guarantee will be uniform. If you can not use a List to assure that all values are entered identically, and you have a Property Data Format that formats the text the way you want, simply set up a formula property and pass through the formatted manual property enclosed in double quotation marks. For a manual property called WindowType, the formula would look like this:
"[WindowType]"
where [WindowType] is a property reference selected from the pane below the formula editing pane.
If you need to force all upper case or all lower case text, and do not want to create or rely on a Property Data Format, then you could use the UCase or LCase VBScript functions to achieve that result, respectively:
UCase ("[WindowType]")
While you might be able to replicate sentence case or title case with a more complicated VBScript statement, I would recommend creating a Property Data Format that applies the desired format to the manual property and then pass through the value in quotation marks for either of these formats.
Keep in mind that in later releases, you can choose to not display the formula property in the Properties palette or in the Edit Property Data dialog. The user can not edit the value anyway, and omitting it here will reduce clutter as well as eliminate inquiries as to why there are two properties with what appears to be the same value. Just remember to use the formula property in your Schedule Table Style, not the manual one.
So, for example, even though the Schedule Table displays your text value in all capital letters, if the data is entered in different mixes of upper and lower case letters, only those objects whose data were entered identically will be collapsed into one line. In the example files I posted to the thread noted above, I created a manual, text-type property in an object-based property set, and applied the out-of-the-box Case - Upper Property Data Format. I entered the characters, but all upper case for some and all lower case for others. I kept the Case - Upper formatting on the column in my Schedule Table Style, and even though the data appears identical in the Schedule Table, the values entered in upper case collapsed into one line and those entered in lower case collapsed into another.
Fortunately, the workarounds similar to those suggested for real numbers will also work for text values that you can not guarantee will be uniform. If you can not use a List to assure that all values are entered identically, and you have a Property Data Format that formats the text the way you want, simply set up a formula property and pass through the formatted manual property enclosed in double quotation marks. For a manual property called WindowType, the formula would look like this:
"[WindowType]"
where [WindowType] is a property reference selected from the pane below the formula editing pane.
If you need to force all upper case or all lower case text, and do not want to create or rely on a Property Data Format, then you could use the UCase or LCase VBScript functions to achieve that result, respectively:
UCase ("[WindowType]")
While you might be able to replicate sentence case or title case with a more complicated VBScript statement, I would recommend creating a Property Data Format that applies the desired format to the manual property and then pass through the value in quotation marks for either of these formats.
Keep in mind that in later releases, you can choose to not display the formula property in the Properties palette or in the Edit Property Data dialog. The user can not edit the value anyway, and omitting it here will reduce clutter as well as eliminate inquiries as to why there are two properties with what appears to be the same value. Just remember to use the formula property in your Schedule Table Style, not the manual one.
June 07, 2008
InputHistoryMode System Variable
I do a lot of keyboarding when using ADT/ACD-A, and I have grown quite used to using the up and down arrows to scroll through previously keyed in data. Unfortunately, I always forget which system variable controls this, and what setting I need to get what I want.
After a long search in the Help and on the Discussion Groups, I finally found the system variable in the Help - INPUTHISTORYMODE - and armed with that, found an old post of mine that contained the setting I prefer. I find the descriptions in the Help of the various bit settings somewhat misleading, as what I want to enable is the ability to get previous input with the up and down arrows (which the Help implies is enabled by the one bit) and get rid of the useless-to-me display of previous coordinates (which the Help implies is enabled by the eight bit). The default setting, 15, has all bits enabled, and you get the tiresome coordinates, instead of previously typed input. Clearing the eight bit, which is what I would have expected would do the trick, does not; clearing the one bit does, so my preferred value for this variable is 14.
I am making this post to my blog to make finding this information easier for me in the future; if it is helpful to others, so much the better.
May 16, 2008
Space Generation in ACD-A 2009 with AutoCAD® Object Boundaries
Several recent posts in the AutoCAD® Architecture Discussion Group have asked why AutoCAD objects can no longer be used as boundaries when automatically generating Spaces, as they could in previous releases. The good news is that you can still use AutoCAD objects, and now you have more control over which objects are seen as Space boundaries. The "bad" news is that you have to tell ACD-A 2009 which AutoCAD objects are space bounding; this is done by setting the newly added Bound space property of the AutoCAD object, found in the Advanced category on the Design tab of the Properties palette, to "Yes".
If the drawing file in which you are working has no AutoCAD objects set to bound Spaces and has no AEC objects that are capable of forming a Space boundary, you will be presented with this helpful dialog, which allows you to either make all visible objects capable of bounding Spaces, or to select the objects you want to have capable of bounding Spaces.
So you can still quickly add Spaces to any "old" file (or any new file you get from someone using vanilla AutoCAD) - just remember to set the Bound spaces property of the linework you want to use as boundaries to Yes.
If the drawing file in which you are working has no AutoCAD objects set to bound Spaces and has no AEC objects that are capable of forming a Space boundary, you will be presented with this helpful dialog, which allows you to either make all visible objects capable of bounding Spaces, or to select the objects you want to have capable of bounding Spaces.
So you can still quickly add Spaces to any "old" file (or any new file you get from someone using vanilla AutoCAD) - just remember to set the Bound spaces property of the linework you want to use as boundaries to Yes.
May 11, 2008
Review: CADaptation’s AecBatchStylesEditorTM 2008
On April 15, 2008, CADaptation released AecBatchStylesEditorTM 2008, an application that runs inside of either AutoCAD® Architecture 2008 or AutoCAD® MEP 2008. The AecBatchStylesEditor greatly enhances the user’s ability to work with styles and definitions in these host applications, particularly when the same, or very similar, settings are required for multiple styles or definitions.FULL DISCLOSURE: I “know” the two main people at CADaptation, Corey Layton and Brian Winterscheidt, from our mutual involvement with the Autodesk AutoCAD Architecture Discussion Groups. I served as a beta tester for AecBatchStylesEditor 2008 and received a complementary copy of the application for doing so.
AecBatchStylesEditor 2008 allows the user to perform batch edits on the Property Sets, Materials, Classifications and Display Properties associated with multiple styles or definitions. Very often, these settings are the same, or very similar, across multiple (if not all) styles/definitions of a particular object type. With AecBatchStylesEditor 2008, you will still need to create/attach the first instance of one of the previously listed items in the host program the way you do now, but you can then copy that from the style/definition where you created it to as many other styles/definitions of that object type as you like. This frees you from the drudgery of manually making the same edits over and over to multiple styles (and then checking what you did to make certain you really did the exact same thing multiple times). If you do need some minor variation between styles, AecBatchStylesEditor 2008 can get you 90% done very quickly, leaving only the variations to be manually edited. Many operations also allow you pick and choose settings from what you are copying, so you can copy just the subitems that are the same.
The following example should give you and idea of what this application can do. The CADaptation website offers a free trial version that only works on Mass Elements if you want to see the program in action for yourself.
Suppose you were working with the “new” out-of-the-box Space Styles, with their fancy colored fills in Medium Detail,
but needed to have those same fills display when the Low Detail Display Configuration is set current. Unfortunately, while the color and layer set for the Low Detail Display Configuration is the same as that for the Medium Detail, the out-of-the-box settings when the Low Detail Display Configuration is chosen display a series of lines at 45 degrees, rather than the solid fill.
And then, when you go to check just how those color fills were assigned, you discover that it is all done as style-level overrides!
That means changing the hatch type for the Plan Low Detail Display Representation for every Space Style used in the drawing.
AecBatchStylesEditor 2008 can make quick work of this tedious task. This is one of my favorite features in the application, and not just because it is the result of a suggestion I made during the beta process.AecBatchStylesEditor 2008 provides a number of ways to start the application:
- Tool Bar Button.
- Tool Palette Tool.
- Pulldown Menu
- Typing AecBatchEdit at the Command: prompt.
In the AecBatchStylesEditor dialog, I have selected the Display Properties tab, as the change I want to make is to the Display Properties of Space Styles.
The first step will be to select Space Styles in the Object Type to Edit in the upper left corner. You can also choose an object type and set a source style by using the Pick… button on the left side. If the task at hand is copying the settings from a specific style to one or more other styles, this would be the way to go. Since the sample task involves copying settings from one Display Representation to another Display Representation within each selected style, I will use the tree window to select Space Styles, under the Architectural Objects node (just like Style Manager!). This populates the rest of the tab with data and options, based on the object type selected and the styles of that object type available in the current drawing.
In order to quickly select all styles as styles to edit, I entered an “*” in the Enter Selection Filter edit box (without the quotation marks). This conveniently happens to be the initial default when left clicking in the box. Select the Go button to register the filter, and all of the Space Styles within the drawing will be checked in the Styles to Edit list box at the lower left. If you wanted to, you could uncheck any that you did not wish to edit.
In the Source Display Options area in the upper right of the Display Properties tab, I checked the Copy between Display Reps within each Style to Edit. This grays out the Source Style option on the left side, because instead of one style serving as the source, the values of the source Display Representation of each individual style will be copied to the Display Representation(s) to be edited in that same style. I then chose the Plan Display Representation as the Source Display Rep, using the drop down list isn the Source Display Options Area.
Doing this automatically checks the Plan Display Representation in the Display Rep(s) to Edit list. The final step is to check the Plan Low Detail Display Representation in that same list, as this is the one to which I want to copy the settings from the Plan Display Representation.
Since I want to copy all settings between the corresponding Display Representations and I want to maintain them as style-level overrides, I am done with making settings. If I wanted to be more selective, I could use the other areas on the right side of the dialog to narrow down the settings to be copied or to set up a custom mapping of settings. Selecting OK tells the application to make the selected changes, and after processing all of the Space Styles in my test drawing file, the AecBatchStylesEditor Log dialog appears, as I have the logging option enabled, on the Preferences tab. This dialog displays a listing of the changes that were made, and I can save it to a text file if I wish, for later examination.
Closing the log dialog returns me to my drawing file, with an offer to save the drawing, since I also have that option enabled on the Preferences tab. More importantly, my Low Detail Display now shows solid hatches, just like the Medium Detail Display,
and all 38 of the Space Styles that were in this drawing have had the Low Detail Display Representation Style-level Display Override edited to match the Medium Detail Display Representation in just a few minutes.If the out-of-the-box Display Settings are not exactly to your firm’s liking, but you have been putting off making changes because of all of the repetitive editing that might need to be done, or if you have wanted to create new Display Configurations with new Display Representation Sets and new Display Representations, but were overwhelmed by the enormous task of making all of the settings (particularly if they are the same as the settings for an existing Display Representation for all but a few object types), then you will definitely want to take a look at what this application can do. If you make use of style-level display overrides (whether out-of-the-box or custom), you can also use this application to push any drawing-default level changes you make to components that were not the reason for the override, without having to edit each override manually. Unless you are extremely underpaid, one or two uses on what would have been complicated or repetitious tasks will save you enough time to recoup the cost of the application, and every use after that is gravy.
Another Step Closer to Eliminating Printed Documentation
The last several releases of AutoCAD® Architecture/Autodesk® Architectural Desktop have not been accompanied by printed manuals, but you could, if you so desired, order one manual per license, which would be shipped to you at no charge.
In previous years, the options were to choose between the AutoCAD manual, the Imperial Tutorial for AutoCAD Architecture/Autodesk Architectural Desktop or the Metric Tutorial. I was disappointed that a printed manual for AutoCAD Architecture/Autodesk Architectural Desktop was not a choice, but was glad to have access to a printed version of the AutoCAD manual.
For the 2009 release, there are still three choices, but the AutoCAD manual is not one of them. Instead, in addition to the usual Imperial/Metric tutorial options, the other choice is to get a copy of the ACA Getting Started manual. At first, I was thrilled to see that an ACA manual was available, but something about the name seemed familiar. A quick check of the box in which the disks for AutoCAD Architecture 2009 were shipped revealed the source of that familiarity: the booklet included with the disks is called "Getting Started" and the part number on the back, 185A1-050000-PM01A matches that on the website ordering page. (Click on any image to see a larger version; use the Back button to return here.)
So unless you want additional copies of the sixty-nine page Getting Started booklet that comes with the disks, you may want to consider one of the other choices.
Given the major change to the user interface, the AutoCAD manual would have been useful. While I love being able to search the electronic Help, I am sufficiently old-school (and sufficiently old) to still value a printed manual, that I can use without having to sacrifice screen space with the application running (does everyone but me have dual screens now?) and can also peruse when I am away from the computer.
I wonder if vanilla AutoCAD users still have the option to get the full manual, or just a "getting started" booklet.
In previous years, the options were to choose between the AutoCAD manual, the Imperial Tutorial for AutoCAD Architecture/Autodesk Architectural Desktop or the Metric Tutorial. I was disappointed that a printed manual for AutoCAD Architecture/Autodesk Architectural Desktop was not a choice, but was glad to have access to a printed version of the AutoCAD manual.
For the 2009 release, there are still three choices, but the AutoCAD manual is not one of them. Instead, in addition to the usual Imperial/Metric tutorial options, the other choice is to get a copy of the ACA Getting Started manual. At first, I was thrilled to see that an ACA manual was available, but something about the name seemed familiar. A quick check of the box in which the disks for AutoCAD Architecture 2009 were shipped revealed the source of that familiarity: the booklet included with the disks is called "Getting Started" and the part number on the back, 185A1-050000-PM01A matches that on the website ordering page. (Click on any image to see a larger version; use the Back button to return here.)
So unless you want additional copies of the sixty-nine page Getting Started booklet that comes with the disks, you may want to consider one of the other choices.Given the major change to the user interface, the AutoCAD manual would have been useful. While I love being able to search the electronic Help, I am sufficiently old-school (and sufficiently old) to still value a printed manual, that I can use without having to sacrifice screen space with the application running (does everyone but me have dual screens now?) and can also peruse when I am away from the computer.
I wonder if vanilla AutoCAD users still have the option to get the full manual, or just a "getting started" booklet.
May 01, 2008
Property Set Tools
While this feature was added way back in the 2006 release, I suspect that many are not aware of its existence. As you may recall, that release added Schedule Tag tools, providing an easier way to create and use Schedule Tags. Mastery of the AEC Content Wizard was no longer required!
One of the abilities of Schedule Tag tools is that you can specify additional Property Sets to be attached when tagging, even if those sets are not referenced by the Schedule Tag itself. Not only that, but you can also have the tool only add Property Sets, and dispense with the Schedule Tag altogether. An external source file can be specified to serve as the source of the Property Set(s), if the set(s) is(are) not already defined in the target file.
If you have ever wanted a tool that would attach Property Sets without adding a tag, simply make a copy of an existing Schedule Tag tool and edit the tool's properties. For example, in the 2008 release, I copied the out-of-the-box non-project-based Door Tag tool and pasted it on an editable tool palette.
Right clicking on the tool and choosing Properties... from the context menu...
...opens the Tool Properties dialog, as shown below. This tool is a "Tag" type tool that currently does not add any Property Sets other than those referenced in the Schedule Tag, since the Property data property is empty.
If you left click on the Type property, you will get a pulldown menu with two choices: Tag and Property set data, as seen below. Change this from Tag to Property set data...
to have the tool attach Property Sets without adding a tag.
The tool you copied may point to a source file other than the one where your properties are kept. If so, simply left click on the Property def location property, and choose Browse... from the pulldown list.
This will open a standard file selection dialog that will allow you to navigate to the folder holding your source file and select that source file. With the proper source file chosen, left click on the Property data property, and choose the property or properties you wish to have the tool add from the Add Property Sets worksheet that displays. You can choose from both object-based and style-based Property Sets, keeping in mind that if you add a style-based set to an object, all objects of the same style will also have that Property Set added.
Select OK to register your choice(s), and then OK again to save the changes you made to your tool. Its as simple as 1, 3, 2 - and your tool is good to go. For a truly professional look, you may want to create a custom image file for your Property Set tool and add that to the tool (right click on the image in the Tool Properties dialog and choose Specify Image... from the context menu to specify the image file you created). Unlike tools that reference visible drawing objects, there is no "automatic" image for a Property Set only tool; the tool will retain the original image from the tag you copied unless you manually replace it with another image.
One feature I would like to see added is the ability to drag and drop a Property Set from Style Manager onto an editable tool palette to create a Property Set tool. Unfortunately, that is not possible in the 2008 release. Sounds like a good addition to the Wish List.
One of the abilities of Schedule Tag tools is that you can specify additional Property Sets to be attached when tagging, even if those sets are not referenced by the Schedule Tag itself. Not only that, but you can also have the tool only add Property Sets, and dispense with the Schedule Tag altogether. An external source file can be specified to serve as the source of the Property Set(s), if the set(s) is(are) not already defined in the target file.
If you have ever wanted a tool that would attach Property Sets without adding a tag, simply make a copy of an existing Schedule Tag tool and edit the tool's properties. For example, in the 2008 release, I copied the out-of-the-box non-project-based Door Tag tool and pasted it on an editable tool palette.
Right clicking on the tool and choosing Properties... from the context menu...
...opens the Tool Properties dialog, as shown below. This tool is a "Tag" type tool that currently does not add any Property Sets other than those referenced in the Schedule Tag, since the Property data property is empty.
If you left click on the Type property, you will get a pulldown menu with two choices: Tag and Property set data, as seen below. Change this from Tag to Property set data...
to have the tool attach Property Sets without adding a tag.
The tool you copied may point to a source file other than the one where your properties are kept. If so, simply left click on the Property def location property, and choose Browse... from the pulldown list.
This will open a standard file selection dialog that will allow you to navigate to the folder holding your source file and select that source file. With the proper source file chosen, left click on the Property data property, and choose the property or properties you wish to have the tool add from the Add Property Sets worksheet that displays. You can choose from both object-based and style-based Property Sets, keeping in mind that if you add a style-based set to an object, all objects of the same style will also have that Property Set added.
Select OK to register your choice(s), and then OK again to save the changes you made to your tool. Its as simple as 1, 3, 2 - and your tool is good to go. For a truly professional look, you may want to create a custom image file for your Property Set tool and add that to the tool (right click on the image in the Tool Properties dialog and choose Specify Image... from the context menu to specify the image file you created). Unlike tools that reference visible drawing objects, there is no "automatic" image for a Property Set only tool; the tool will retain the original image from the tag you copied unless you manually replace it with another image.One feature I would like to see added is the ability to drag and drop a Property Set from Style Manager onto an editable tool palette to create a Property Set tool. Unfortunately, that is not possible in the 2008 release. Sounds like a good addition to the Wish List.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)