Synchronizing Annotative Content in ACA

In addition to allowing one item of annotation to appear at the proper size for multiple drawing scales, annotative content also offers the ability to have the position of the item to vary between scales. This is often quite handy, as the change in size may require a rearrangement of the annotation to have it read properly at each scale.

There may be times, however, when you want to reset all of the scales to match the position of one of the scales. Set the scale with the desired position current, and then use the ANNORESET command to do that. You can type that command, or use the context menus.
This also works with ACA annotative objects, such as Schedule Tags.

ACA Ceiling Grids: Creating a Mask Block

First post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: The Cell Component
Previous post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: Mask Blocks

As seen in the previous article, Mask Blocks provide a great way to hide unwanted parts of a Ceiling Grid when an item to be placed in the ceiling is larger than one grid cell. The out-of-the-box content contains several light fixtures as part of a Mask Block, but you may need to create your own, to match your office standard graphics.

Mask Blocks have two parts, one required and one optional. The required part is one or more closed 2D polylines, splines, ellipses, or circles, to define the area to be masked. The closed polylines have to be the "newer," optimized LWPolyline type. A single object will define the area to be masked. If more than one object, or "ring" is selected, they must lie completely within or outside of each other; the rings cannot cross or touch each other. The first object will be define a mask area; you will be prompted to indicate whether subsequent rings are "void areas", or holes in the mask area, or an additional mask area.

The second, optional part is additional graphics. If you use the out-of-the-box display settings, the ring(s) selected in for the first part get placed on a non-plot layer; the additional graphics provide the plotable graphics of the Mask Block. The out-of-the-box luminaires that would span two square tiles (2'-0" or 450 mm square) are Mask Blocks with a Multi-View Block for the additional graphics. For the out-of-the-box General and Reflected Display Representations of Mask Blocks, the additional graphics end up on Layer 0, with ByBlock attributes. As these are nested within the Mask Block object, they end up inheriting the properties of the layer on which the Mask Block is placed.

The first step in creating a Mask Block is to draw the closed 2D polyline(s), spline(s), ellipse(s), and/or circle(s) that will define the mask. As previously noted, these items will define a component that is on a non-plotting layer if you are using the out-of-the-box Display Representations.

The mask created will stop short of masking any AEC object linework that is directly under the defining linework, so to mask a 2'-0" square Ceiling Grid for a 4'-0" x 2'-0" object, you can draw the defining closed polyline rectangle with opposite sides of 4'-0" and 2'-0". When aligned with a Ceiling Grid, the crossing grid will be masked, but the perimeter grids will still display.

The next step is to create the additional graphics. For this example, I created a Multi-View Block with the plan graphics for a 4'-0" x 2'-0" supply diffuser. Place an instance of the additional graphics in the proper location, relative to the mask definition object(s).

If you want the additional graphics to pick up the layer, color, linetype, lineweight and plotstyle of the parent Mask Block, then the object(s) for the additional graphics should be on Layer 0, with color, linetype, lineweight and plotstyle set to ByBlock. If your additional graphics include an AutoCAD block or an ACA Multi-View Block, then the objects in the block definition or view block definition should also be on Layer 0 with ByBlock attributes. To set the attributes of an ACA object (such as a Multi-View Block), select the object, right click and choose Edit Object Display from the context menu, and choose the General Properties tab, since these properties are not exposed for ACA objects on the Design tab of the Properties palette.

Finally, open the Style Manager (on the Manage ribbon tab, on the Style & Display panel, choose the Style Manager tool), expand the Multi-Purpose Objects node and select the Mask Block Definitions node. In the right pane, right click on an empty area and choose New from the context menu. Give the new Mask Block Definition a name and, optionally, a description. Right click on the new name and choose Set From... on the context menu.

The Style Manager will close, and the Command Line will display prompts to guide you through the process. The first prompt asks you to "Select a closed polyline, spline, ellipse or circle". Select one of your "rings" that define a masking area; in the example, the 4'-0" x 2'-0" rectangle. The next prompt asks if you want to "Add another ring?". If you only have one defining object, answer "No". If you have additional rings to add, answer "Yes", select another, indicate if it should be a void area and then indicate if you have another ring to select. Once you say "No" to adding another ring, you will be prompted for the "Insertion base point". Choose a point in the drawing to serve as the insertion point for the Mask Block. In the example, I set the lower left corner (grid node) as the insertion point. In response to the "Select additional graphics" prompt, select the additional graphics (if any) to be included in the Mask Block. Press the Enter key when you are done selecting additional graphics, and the Style Manager will reopen. Select OK to dismiss the Style Manager and your Mask Block Definition is ready to be used. Erase your ring(s) and additional graphics if you have no other use for them.

You can now use the MASKADD command to add an instance of the newly created Mask Block Definition and attach it to a Ceiling Grid.

ACA Ceiling Grids: Mask Blocks

First post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: The Cell Component
Previous post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: Anchors

AutoCAD^® Architecture Ceiling Grids provide an easy way to generate a representation of the ceiling grid for an acoustical panel ceiling. And, as we have seen in previous articles in this series, they have feature that make it easy to locate and organize ceiling devices. There are occasions, such as when using 2x4 luminaires in a 2x2 ceiling grid,

where specific segments of the grid need to be removed. While you can certainly use linework to create a custom grid with just the grid segments you need, it can be tedious to update should design changes move things around. A Mask Block is an AEC object designed just for this situation - using one allows you to "hide" unwanted grid segments without the need for a custom grid, at the same time you are placing the the ceiling object that requires the removal of the grid segment.

In this article, we will make use of an out-of-the-box Mask Block to show how one is used. A future article will show how to create one.

The Design Tool Catalog - Imperial includes a 2x4 fluorescent luminaire Mask Block tool in Electrical > Lighting > Fluorescent, 2x4. For those using Metric units, the Design Tool Catalog - Metric has a 450x900 fluorescent luminaire Mask Block tool in Electrical Services > Fluorescent, 450x900. The images here were taken from the Imperial content. Using the tool to place the Mask Block results in what is seen in the image above. Select the Mask Block and, on the Mask Block Reference contextual ribbon tab, on the Modify panel, choose the Attach Objects tool.

At the Select AEC object to be masked prompt, choose the ceiling grid. In the Select Display Representation dialog, select the Display Representation(s) for which the object is to be masked.

The result can be seen in the image below.

You will only be offered the Display Representation(s) that is(are) turned on for the current Display Configuration and View Direction. If you need the mask to be applied to other Display Representations used by a different Display Configuration (for example, in addition to the Reflected Display Representation shown here, you may need to also apply the mask for the Reflected Screened Display Representation), you will need to change to a Display Configuration/View Direction that makes the other Display Representation active and repeat this process. If you routinely need to mask multiple Display Representations, you may want to create a "working" Display Configuration for reflected ceilings that has all of the various Display Representations for Ceiling Grids turned on, so you can mask all of them at once.

Anchors can also be applied to Mask Blocks, so you can use a node anchor to keep your 2x4 luminaire locked to a node of the grid, as discussed in the previous article. Since the insertion point for this Mask Block is at a grid point, no offset is required.

Note also that, unlike copies of anchored AEC objects, copies of the Mask Block will not inherit the mask. You can, however, select multiple Mask Blocks that occur within a single Ceiling Grid and mask them all at once, so it is probably best to place all of your instances and then apply the mask for all at one time. Once masked, you can move the Mask Block around in the same grid and it will continue to mask any part of the grid that falls behind the mask.

Next post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: Creating a Mask Block

ACA Ceiling Grids: Anchors

Previous post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: The Cell Component

One useful feature of Ceiling Grids is that you can anchor other AEC objects to the grid (just like any other AEC Grid). Once anchored, if you move the Ceiling Grid, the anchored object(s) will move with it, which makes small adjustments to ceiling grid locations much easier to do. You can find a number of Anchor tools in the out-of-the-box Stock Tool Catalog, in the Parametric Layout & Anchoring Tools category.

Many times objects placed in a gridded ceiling need to be centered in the ceiling panels.

You might think that the Cell Anchor would be the perfect anchor for this arrangement. While it will anchor a Multi-View Block to a Cell component of a Grid (which, if the insertion point of the Multi-View Block is at its centroid, would center it), it will, unfortunately, also rescale the Multi-View Block such that the X- and Y-scale factors of the Multi-View Block match the Cell's X and Y dimensions.

That is not likely to be the desired result.

You could place the object at the desired location and use an Object anchor to tie the Grid, and if the Grid moves, the object would also move, but that would not prevent the object being accidentally moved, since the object can still be moved independently of the Grid.

Using a Node anchor provides the best result.

For objects where the insertion point is not at a node of the Ceiling Grid, you can set X- and Y-offsets to position the object as desired. You can select the object and on the Properties palette, on the Design tab, in the Basic category, in the Location on node subcategory, select the Anchor worksheet. Change the X and Y values for Insertion Offset to move the anchored object relative to the Node to which it is anchored.

Depending upon how the Ceiling Grid was created, you may have to experiment with the sign applied to the offset values to get the object to the desired location. You may find it easier to select the object, right click and choose Node Anchor > Set Offset.

Then select the point to which you want to offset the object, in this case, snapping to the CENter of the Cell component will give the desired result.

The Node Anchor will prevent the object from being accidentally moved a small amount. The object can be moved, but only from one node to another. If you copy the anchored object, the copies will be anchored to a node of that grid, also, making it easy to place additional copies within that ceiling.

Next post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: Mask Blocks

Revit: "Blank" Dimension

I will leave the debate over whether or not you should ever do this to others, but thanks to a post by Joshua Kohl in the AUGI Revit^® Architecture - General Forum, I now know how to create a dimension with absolutely no dimension value or other text showing. You may be aware that while you can override the dimension value with text, by double-clicking on the dimension text to open the Dimension Text dialog,

Revit will not allow you to enter a string that consists only of one or more Space characters here. But if you right click, a context menu will appear, and you can choose the Insert Unicode control character flyout, and then the Unit Separator (Segment separator) character.

The net result is a dimension string without any text.

I was able to do this in Revit Architecture 2012.

ACA Ceiling Grids: The Cell Component

Like all ACA grid objects, a Ceiling Grid has a Cell component, which marks the center of each cell in the grid. You may not be aware of this component, since, in the out-of-box Display settings, this component is turned off. It is also mapped to a non-plotting layer (G-Anno-Nplt for US imperial content), so turning the component on will not affect the final plotted output.

The Cell component displays as a circle at the center of each cell in the grid. You can use the CENter OSNAP to place ceiling objects at the center of a ceiling panel.

Next post in the series: ACA Ceiling Grids: Anchors

ACA 2013 Service Pack 1

Autodesk^® has released Service Pack 1 for AutoCAD^® Architecture 2013. According to the README, a number of items have been resolved, and an ability to disable the autoloading of AutoLISP or VBA on startup and to disable AutoLISP entirely has been added, to aid in dealing with malicious AutoLISP or VBA code. As always, be certain to read the entire README before installing Service Pack 1.

The following ACA defects have been addressed:

AEC Dimensions

• Crash when saving a drawing originally in 2004 (or earlier) format, with AEC Dimensions on a locked layer. *
• Some AEC dimensions created before version 2007 do not display correctly in later versions.

Annotation Scaling

• Some tags are very small when added to drawings that use meters.

Autodesk 360

• Synchronizing tool palettes to Autodesk 360 is very slow. This capability has been disabled with this Service Pack.
• Online Render does not support AutoCAD Architecture objects.

Doors

• Some double door styles with custom profiles do not display correctly.

Drawing Management

• Intermittent crash when creating a Construct in Project Navigator, or when opening AutoCAD Architecture with a certain project current. *

Elevation Labels

• When an external reference is bound into the drawing, its elevation labels will be reset to zero.

Grips

• Occasional crash when editing grips for of structural members. *

IFC

• Several improvements have been made to meet the requirements of IFC coordination view 2.0 and GSA certification.

Layer Key

• Fatal error when layer key overrides from tool palettes and layer key overrides of current layer standard do not match. *

Migration

• Content browser migration may fail when migrations are done multiple times.

Open

• Frequent crash when opening some drawings. *

Progressive update

• Characters in certain fonts do not display correctly when the AutoCAD system variable setEnableProgressiveUpdate is yes.

Roombook

• In a Roombook schedule exported to Excel, the result is off by a factor of 1000 if the decimal symbol in Windows is set to comma.

Schedules

• Crash when exporting to Excel 2003 a Schedule table which includes a complex formula. *
• Schedules created by Roombook move slowly.
• The total sum values may be incorrect in schedule tables when grouping is first turned on.
• The width of the schedule frame may be incorrect when grouping several columns.

Sections

• Occasional crash when modifying an object that is included in a section. *
• Crash while generating sections for big drawings or when using CreateHLR. *
• New or refreshed sections are not correct in AutoCAD Architecture 2013 as many lines are not hidden.

Sync

• Due to the large number of files in the Tool Palette, syncing AutoCAD Architecture settings to the cloud is very slow. Note: Once you apply Service Pack 1, you can no longer sync the AutoCAD Architecture Tool Palette to the cloud. **

Walls

• Occasional crash related to certain wall cleanup conditions. *

Windows 8

• Frequent crash when closing AutoCAD Architecture. *

The following AutoCAD defects have been addressed:

3D Navigation Tools

• Unexpected exit while panning. *
• Occasional crash related to navigating in 3D drawing. *
• The Keep Scene Upright option in the 3DConnexion Settings dialog box cannot not be changed.

3D Modeling

• Occasional crash while selecting a face during a Presspull operation. *
• Crash when opening multiple 3D drawings containing a large number of 3D objects. *
• Issue with the centroid computation for 3D solids.

Action Recorder

• Action macros recorded in previous releases are not working correctly in AutoCAD 2013.

Autodesk 360

• Crash in Japanese AutoCAD when logging into Autodesk 360 from the Options dialog box. *
• Occasional crash when opening a drawing that contains xrefs, when logged in to Autodesk 360. *
• Pressing F1 does not display Help for the ONLINESYNCSETTINGS dialog box.
• Drawing files with names containing language-specific characters do not get saved to Autodesk 360.
• User is not automatically logged in when launching Autodesk 360 from the AutoCAD ribbon.
• Sometimes the Share Drawing dialog box opens behind the main application window.

CUI (Customize User Interface)

• Occasional crash while loading a custom CUI file. *
• Unhandled exception occurs while clicking the Customize button from Quick Properties palette on a computer running .NET 4.5. *

Customization Sync

• Customization Sync progress animation runs continuously.
• Customization Sync does not sync new custom commands in tool palettes.

DesignCenter

• Occasional crash while working with DesignCenter. *

DGN Support

• Fatal error when attaching or importing certain DGN files. *
• Export to DGN does not use the Global Origin specified in the seed file.
• The DGNIMPORTUNITCONVERSION system variable is missing in AutoCAD LT.

Dimensions

• Crash after undoing the creation of a non-associative continued or non-associative baseline dimension. *
• Existing drawings lose Qleader settings when edited in AutoCAD 2013.
• Dimensions created using the Perpendicular object snap will shift when the drawing geometry is moved, copied, or otherwise modified.

Display Drivers

• Integrated chipsets are unable to return available video memory correctly.
• When using COPYCLIP and PASTECLIP on a 64-bit operating system, you might see the object color change from the original color.

Express Tools

• Occasional crash during a MOCORO (Move/Copy/Rotate) command. *

External Reference (XREF)

• External reference drawings (XREFs) show as unresolved in AutoCAD 2013.

Field

• An object's angular property uses linear format instead of angular format in the Field dialog box.

Hatch

• Occasional crash while zooming during Hatchedit. *
• The Hatch Preview option is not available from the context menu when creating a hatch.

InfoCenter

• Crash when clicking any option from the Stay Connected button in the title bar when no drawings are open. *

Inquiry

• Crash while calculating area of a polyline that contains at least one segment that has been reduced to zero length. *

MLeader

• Multileaders incorrectly display a dot at the content block's insertion point.
• If the Extend Leaders to Text option is turned on, the text in multileaders moves if the drawing is opened or edited in AutoCAD 2013.

Modify

• The SCALE command gets cancelled while dragging when small scale factor is acquired with object snap turned on.

PDF Export

• Plotting to a PDF file with a plot style causes wipeouts to appear black.

Performance

• Slow performance while running a large script.
• Slow performance while creating Layers quickly.

Plot

• Occasional crash while plotting to PDF. * Crash while plotting to a PDF file and the PDF driver is not present. *
• Crash while plotting to a PDF file and the PDF driver is not present. *
• Using Plot Preview turns the Command window back on.

Point Cloud

• Crash if the PCG file used to create a point cloud object does not exist. *

Properties Palette

• When an object is selected, the tooltip is missing in the Properties Palette for the following languages: Traditional Chinese, Czech, Russian, and Hungarian.

Ribbon

• The Visibility drop-down control on the Block Editor Ribbon is not working properly when property preview is enabled.

Selection

• Pressing Shift with a window selection fails to remove multiple Drawing Views from the selection set on a layout.

Sheet Set Manager

• A high network utilization will result with the SMB V2 (Server Message Block) protocol while working with the Sheet Set Manager.

Startup

• Crash due to corrupt graphics cache files on startup. *
• Crash occurs while canceling a LISP routine that runs at program startup. *

Visual Lisp

• Menucmd does not display the drop-down menu when the Command window is docked.

General

• Crash on undo/redo after adding 256 or more objects to a group. *
• Crash on viewing thumbnail in AutoCAD 2012 when installed side-by-side with AutoCAD 2013. *
• Occasional crash when exploding splines created by third-party applications. *
• Crash when AutoCAD exits on computers running .NET 4.5. *
• Error on launching AutoCAD after the QuickCalc palette is anchored.
• INSBASE value is incorrect for a drawing created using -WBLOCK.

* - Indicates item was reported through the Customer Error Reporting Utility.
** - Well, that is certainly one way to fix a slow feature.

ACA: Grip Editing of Doors and Windows with Standard Sizes

One nice feature of AutoCAD^® Architecture is that you can assign standard sizes to Doors and Windows. This allows the user to select a standard size from a list of the sizes entered into the Style, saving time and minimizing the potential for error.

Better still, when grip editing an instance of a Style with standard sizes, the inital default is to restrict the grip edit to one of the values that is part of a standard size. Does that mean that you cannot use such a style to create a non-standard size Door or Window? No. You can always use the Properties palette to enter a non-standard Width or Height. But you can also use grip editing to do so.

Given the wide range of things that grips on AEC objects can do, I highly recommend turning on grip tips, if you do not already have them on. Check the toggle in the Grips area on the Selection tab of the Options dialog or set the GRIPTIPS system variable to 1.

With grip tips enabled, if you select an AEC object and hover over a grip, you will get a tip on how that grip can be used. In the image below, a Window has been placed, using one of the standard sizes assigned to its Style. The Window has been selected, and the cursor is hovering over the grip, but the grip has not been selected (made "hot") yet.

The first line of the grip tip (yellow box) indicates that the Width and Height of this Window are currently a standard size*. The rest of the tip tells you that you have two options when using this grip - either stretching to a Standard Width (the initial default, as it is first on the list) or to a Custom Width - and that you can toggle between the two by pressing the CTRL key. If you start with a Window that has a Width and Height which are not paired as a standard size, the grip tip is nearly identical, with the exception that the first line indicates that the Window is currently a Custom Width*. The initial default remains to stretch to a Standard Width.

Many AEC grips have more than one state or function, and the tip provides a handy reminder of what those are and how to activate them. In general, the CTRL key is used to toggle through the available options.

When you first make the grip hot, you will be restricted to stretching the grip to a standard Width, as defined in the Style. ACA will display a series of lines, indicating the places to which you will be permitted to stretch the Window or Door. You can stretch to any Width that is part of a standard size, even if it is not paired with the current Height as a standard size. To show this graphically, "long" gray lines are used to indicate Widths that are paired with the current Height in a standard size, and "short" red lines are used to indicate Widths that are part of at least one standard size, but which are not paired with the current height in one. A grip tip will appear to remind you of this, if grip tips are active.

If you press the CTRL key once after making the grip hot (but before left clicking to select a stretch point), you will be able to stretch the grip without any restriction.

* - Unfortunately, if the current Window Width and Height are not a standard size, the tip for the Width grip will read "Custom Width", even if that Width does appear in the standard size list, paired with a different Height. The tip really should read "Standard Size" or "Custom Size", to be less confusing. NOTE: Images in this post were made using ACA 2010. Other versions may have slightly different graphics or text.

ACA and Plotting Image Borders

My firm is currently using ACA 2010 for most of our production work that is not being done in Revit. Our template file has the IMAGEFRAME variable set to 2, so that the frames are visible but they do not print. (We have all of the "frame" variables set to 2, which can be done all at once by using the FRAME command.)

I have found, however, after starting a new drawing, that the frames around images will plot, particularly those nested within an externally referenced file. I double check the file, and IMAGEFRAME is set to 2, yet the border shows on my plot. I have no explanation for this, but I do have a workaround - if I set the value to 0 (do not show or plot the borders) and then back to 2, the setting "takes" and the borders remain visible but do not plot.

Revit Architecture 2013 Update Release 1

Update Release 1 for Autodesk^® Revit^® Architecture 2013 is now available. As noted in the Enhancements Documentation, the following improvements have been made to Revit Architecture 2013:

• Improves stability when closing a sketch editor, such as slab, site, etc., which create a large number of points.
• Improves creation of U-shaped winder stairs.
• Improves stability when editing winder stairs.
• Improves performance when many railings exist within a project.
• Improves stability when support type is not defined for stair.
• Improves railing representation in coarse view.

In addition, the following enhancements have been made to Revit Platform 2013:

• Improves stability when opening projects from previous versions of Revit.
• Improves stability during Copy/Paste operations.
• Corrects display of solid filled regions with transparent backgrounds.
• Allows exporting of materials painted on elements to ODBC.
• Improves performance of opening and closing sketch mode in projects with many families.
• Improves stability when setting a Design Option as the Primary.
• Improves stability when Fixed Distance option for a divided path.
• Improves stability while browsing to Revit Server when there is no network connectivity.
• Improves export consistency of Space and Zone elements when multiple elements have the same name and number.
• Allows Raytrace mode to work with DirectX 9.
• Improves stability when using Raytrace mode with Hardware Acceleration disabled.
• Improves Raytrace mode rendering output.
• Improves Surface Transparency override by element for multiple selection.
• Improves printing consistency when tone mapping is enabled.
• Disables Sun and SunPath from being rendered in Raytrace mode.
• Improves stability when using manual exposure in Raytrace mode.
• Improves stability when rendering views.
• Improves stability and performance when using visualization features like Sky, Exposure, and Anti-Aliasing.
• Improves stability when importing IFC data which contains special characters.
• Improves the setting of custom parameter values during import of IFC data.
• Improves stability when importing IFC data which contains an invalid line pattern.
• Allows Markups from DWF to be exported to DWF.
• Improves stability when drag and drop a DWG file into a Revit project.
• Improves stability when importing DXF data.
• Improves dimension fidelity when exporting to DWG with export units set to Meter.
• Improves alignment of hatch and fill patterns when exporting to DWG.

The following improvements to Autodesk Revit 2013 are also included:

• Improves stability when selecting a new host for an element within an In-place Wall.
• Improves section creation within a project with linked model.
• Improves stability when working with Materials.
• Improves the displayed Pattern Type assigned to an element with the Material Editor.
• Corrects the display of the materials category within the Paint interface.
• Corrects the printed display of fill patterns within perspective views.
• Improves stability of Type editing when multiple element types are in the selection set.

There are also a number of enhancements to the API; those who customize Revit Architecture can read about those in the Enhancements Documentation.