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.

Help Pick AU 2008 Courses!

In his BLAUG blog, Autodesk's Joseph Wurcher has posted a link to a survey where you can help select the courses offered at AU this year. They have uploaded all of the course proposals and divided them up into categories. You can vote for up to 15 courses that you would like to see at this year's AU. You can vote in more than one category, but the overall limit of 15 courses applies.

But hurry - voting closes on Saturday, May 3, 2008!

ACD-A Display System - Part 3, Viewing and Editing Display Settings

First Article in the Series: ACD-A Display System - Part 1, AutoCAD^® Basics
Previous Article in the Series: ACD-A Display System - Part 2, Big Picture Overview

Before getting into the details of the Display System, a discussion of the ways in which display settings can be viewed and edited is in order. There are five ways to gain access to the Display System and its settings. Which one to use will depend on the task at hand and, where more that one will do, with your preferred means of working.

• Display Tab of the Drawing Setup Dialog.
• Display Manager.
• Display Properties Tab of a Style or Definition Properties Dialog.
• Display Properties Tab of the Object Display Dialog.
• Display Tab of the Properties Palette.

Display Tab - Drawing Setup DialogYou may not have noticed this tab before, especially if you do not open this dialog very often now that you can set the drawing scale on the Drawing Window Status Bar. (You can access this dialog through the Open Drawing Menu - found on the left side of the Drawing Window Status Bar, the left pointing arrow in a circle icon, or from the Format pulldown menu.) Those who have been using AutoCAD^® Architecture long enough may recall that prior to Release 3, this was the only way to view and edit the Drawing Default display settings of any object, without having an instance or a style/definition of an object type in the drawing. The interface here is not as slick as the Display Manager, but if you find this more to your tastes, then by all means use it. Most, however, will consider this an interesting relic and will prefer to use the Display Manager for Drawing Default editing.

Display Manager
The Display Manager gives you access to the Drawing Default settings for Display Representations, as well as to the settings for Display Representation Sets and Display Configurations. Anyone who is serious about making significant changes to the Display System needs to be very familiar with the Display Manager, which can be opened by choosing the Display Manager... item on the Format pulldown menu.It is also available via a button on the CAD Manager toolbar button if you have the CAD Manager CUI loaded as a partial CUI.The Display Manager Dialog has File and Edit pulldown menus, a tool bar, two main panes, left and right, and the usual OK, Cancel, Apply and Help buttons. Most of the action will take place in the left and right panes. The left pane is a tree view pane, that allows you to navigate the various parts of the Display System. Since the 2006 release, all open drawings are shown in the left pane, and you can use the Open toolbar icon or File > Open drawing... from the pulldown menus to open a file in Display Manager that is not open in AutoCAD Architecture. Earlier versions will only give you access to the display settings of the file that was currently active when the Display Manager was opened.

Configurations: Use the left pane to find the part of the Display System you want to examine or edit, then view the settings and make any desired edits in the right pane. The information shown in the right pane will vary, depending upon what is selected in the left pane. For example, selecting the Configurations node for a particular drawing shows a matrix in the right side with the Display Configurations (Configurations) in that drawing listed in the rows and the Display Representation Sets (Sets) in that drawing listed in the columns. An icon appears in the matrix to indicate that a particular Set is active in a particular Configuration. The icon displayed varies with the view direction to which the Set is assigned. A "see-through" cube indicates that the Set is assigned to the Default view direction, while a cube with a "solid" top face indicates the Set is assigned to the Top view direction. A key of all of the icons used for Configurations in the Display Manager can be found in the 2008 Help, by navigating through the following on the Contents tab: AutoCAD Architecture 2008 Help > AutoCAD Architecture User's Guide > Workflow and User Interface > Display System > The Display Manager > Viewing Display Configurations (other versions likely have a similar page).Expanding the Configurations node in the left pane will reveal a list of the Display Configurations in that drawing (the same ones that were listed in the rows of the matrix above). Note that one of these will be in BOLD type, indicating that it is the currently active Display Configuration. This graphic convention carries through for Display Representation Sets, making it easy to know whether the edits you are making will affect the current display. Selecting one of these will display several tabs in the right pane. The General tab displays the Configutation name, description and allows for adding notes, if desired. The Configuration tab shows a list of the standard view directions and the Display Represenation Set assigned to that view direction for that Display Configuration, if any. The Display Representation Set assigned to the Default view direction is used for all view directions that are not one of the six standard orthogonal view directions, as well as for any of those six that is not assigned a Display Representation Set.The Cut Plane tab allows you to set the cut plane height for the Display Configuration, as well as the above and below ranges.The Version History tab is used in conjunction with Project Standards (a subfeature of the Drawing Management/Project Navigator feature). Expanding a specific Display Configutation node in the left pane will show a list of the Display Representation Sets assigned to that Configuration. Selecting one of these displays the same set of tabs that display when selecting a Display Representation Set under the Sets node (shown below). Just keep in mind any changes made here will affect all uses of that Display Representation Set, not just its use in this particular Display Configuration.

Sets: Selecting the Sets node in the left pane displays a list of the Display Representation Sets defined in that drawing, with the description of each and the ability to set whether or not a give Display Representation Set should be ignored during Standards Synchronization.Expanding the Sets node in the left pane displays a list of the Display Representation Sets (BOLD type indicated the currently active one). An explanation of the icons displayed next to the Display Representation Sets can be found in the 2008 Help: AutoCAD Architecture 2008 Help > AutoCAD Architecture User's Guide > Workflow and User Interface > Display System > The Display Manager > Viewing Display Sets. Selecting one of the Sets displays several tabs in the right pane. The General tab offers the same options as the General tab for Configurations. The Display Represenation Control tab, which offers a matrix of Objects on the rows and Display Representations on the columns. On each object row, a toggle appears in the column for every Display Representation that is defined for that object type. If a check mark appears in that toggle, then that Display Representation for that object type is active in the selected Display Representation Set. A left mouse click on a toggle will change the status - checked (active) or unchecked (inactive). A right mouse click on a toggle offers a context menu with three options: Select All (make all Display Representations for that object type active), Clear All (make all Display Representations for that object type inactive) and Edit... (edit the display settings for that particular Display Representation/Object Type. Display Representations can also be edited as noted below under the Representations by Object node; keep in mind any edits made here will affect all uses of that Display Representation.The Display Options tab offers the ability to fine-tune your display settings based on Classifications (if any are defined in the current drawing) and control live sections and materials.The Version History tab serves the same purpose as it does for Configurations.

Representations by Object: Selecting the Representations by Object node in the left pane displays a matrix of Objects on the rows and Display Representations in the columns. In this matrix, an icon is displayed where the Display Representation of a given column is defined for the object type of a given row. An explanation of these icons (also used in the list of Display Representations below each object type - see below) can be found in the 2008 Help here: AutoCAD Architecture 2008 Help > AutoCAD Architecture User's Guide > Workflow and User Interface > Display System > The Display Manager > Viewing Display Representations. Right clicking on an icon displays a context menu with various options, including Delete (only works if the Display Representation for that object type is not referenced by a Display Representation Set), several options related to Project Standards (these may be grayed out if the selected drawing is not part of the current project, or a project is not set current) and Edit..., which allows you to edit that Display Representation for the given object type.Expanding the Representations by Object node in the left pane shows a list of the AEC object types in the drawing that interact with the Display System. Selecting one of these shows a matrix in the right pane, with a list of the Display Representations defined for that object type on the rows and the Display Representation Sets defined in that drawing on the Columns. A toggle occurs at each row/column intersection; a check mark indicates that the Display Representation of a given row is active for the Display Representation Set of a given column. A left mouse click changes the toggle status. A right click on a toggle displays a context menu that offers several choices: Duplicate (make a copy of the Display Representation), Delete (the Display Representation, will only work if it is not referenced by a Display Representation Set), Rename (only available for Display Representations that are not hard coded into the program), several Project Standards options (see note above under Sets), Select All (set Display Representation active for all Sets), Clear All (set Display Representation inactive for all Sets) and Edit Drawing Default... (edit the display settings for the Display Representation).Expanding the object node in the left pane displays a list of Display Representations defined for that object in that drawing. Selecting one of the Display Representations in the left pane displays tabs in the right pane related to the display settings for the selected object type. Some object types, such as Anchor Free, do not have any user-editable display settings, and the right pane will remain blank when selecting a Display Representation under these (note the grayed-out Display Representation icon in the left pane in these cases). We will get into more detail on the various tabs and settings in a future article.
Display Properties Tab - Style/Definition Properties Dialog
When editing a style or definition, the Display Properties tab will give you access to the display settings for that object type. On this tab, you can edit the Drawing Default level settings, if the override column toggle for that Display Representation is not checked. If the toggle is checked, or you add a check to that toggle, you can edit/create a style-level override for that style/definition/Display Representation.You can edit the display settings by selecting a Display Representation and then selecting the edit button in the upper right of the dialog. Setting an override will also open the Display Properties dialog for that Display Representation.

Display Properties Tab - Object Display Dialog
Selecting an object in your drawing and right clicking displays a context menu which includes Edit Object Display... as an option.Choosing this opens the Object Display Dialog; the Display Properties tab offers the same access to the Drawing Default display settings as seen when editing a style/definition, only here any override is applied at the object level, so it only affects the selected object.
Display Tab - Properties Palette
This is the new kid on the block, and it gives you the option to see changes "live". It also allows you to select the component you want to change in the drawing, without having to wade through a lot of dialogs to get to the setting you want. That can be something of a double-edged sword, however, in that the ease of making changes can result in ill-considered changes that could make a mess of the display settings in relatively short order, particularly when used by someone who does not fully understand the Display System. For that reason, I am going to defer any detailed discussion of this method until after I have covered the Display System in detail, using the methods of access noted above.You can also initiate the select component feature by selecting any object, right clicking and choosing Select Component from the context menu. You are not restricted to selecting components of the originally selected object.

AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Part 4

First Article in the Series: AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Part 1
Previous Article in the Series: AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Part 3

Drawing Management
There have been a number of improvements to the Drawing Management feature in the 2009 release. I do not use this feature at work, and while I have some limited experience with it, I can not pretend to be intimately familiar with it, particularly with regard to what features were added when. So bear with me as I try to convey the new features.

One item that I know has been on the wish list of many people for some time is the ability to make use of Project Browser and Project Navigator without first having to have a drawing file open. As you can see in the series of screen captures below (click on any image to see a full-size version, then use the Back button to return here), both can now be opened and used with no drawing file open.

Project Browser... in the File Pulldown, Zero-Doc State

Project Browser Open, Zero-Doc State

Adding a New Project, Zero-Doc State

New Project Set Current, Zero Doc State

Project Navigator Open, Zero-Doc State

Here is another oft-wished for feature. There is now a button at the bottom of the Project tab of Project Navigator that will allow you to close the current project. Opening Project Browser is no longer necessary to close the current project. You will, however, need to use Project Browser to set a project current, as Project Navigator will close when the current project is closed.

Close Current Project in Project Navigator

When closing or switching projects in 2009, you now have the option to close all project files from the project being closed.

Close All Open Drawings in Closing Project

That might put you back in a zero-doc state, but that is not a problem in the 2009 release.

Yet another item is removed from the wish list: you can now open a file "read-only" from Project Navigator.

Open File Read-Only in Project Navigator

There are a number of other file-related enhancements in Project Navigator. Files that are open are now indicated graphically by the addition of a small lock in the lower right corner of the file icon. In the image below, the 00 Core, Stairs and 01 Interior Constructs are open, and show the lock icon. If you have multiple files from a project open, you are now given the opportunity to bring a particular file that is not current to the front on the right-click context menu in Project Navigator. You can also close an open file from that same context menu.

Right-click Menu Options for a Construct in Project Navigator

The External References Worksheet, accessed from that same right-click menu, has been enhanced in 2009. Instead of merely showing a list of the externally referenced files in a given Project Navigator file, you can now also see the saved path and found location for each of the external references.

External References Worksheet

The Project Properties Worksheet has gotten a makeover, making it easier to find the particular item you want to edit. Of particular interest, note that the last item, Project Tool Palette Group, is set to None. Project Tool Palettes are now optional.

Project Properties Worksheet

Drawing tooltips in Project Navigator are now available, paralleling those available in the Sheet Set Manager in AutoCAD^®. In Project Navigator, the tooltips are available for all files types, not just Sheets.

Drawing Tooltips in Project Navigator

The tooltips combine the information on the Detail and Preview options of the Detail area at the bottom of Project Navigator; you may find that you can close the Detail area, expanding the file viewing area, and using the tooltip when you need to see that information.

There are a number of other Drawing Management enhancements. If these sound like a solution to one or more pain points for you, be sure to check them out in 2009:

• Double-click on APJ file enhancements.
• Commas in Sheet file names (and therefore sheet drawing titles).
• Who-has information
• Recovery from failed, cancelled or missed repathing.
• Reference file repathing queue worksheet.
• Use layout name for sheet name.
• Improvements to the Attach Elements to Constructs Worksheet
• Project Templates installation location improvements.

Additional Features
The context menu for external references has been improved, with the addition of several new options. You can now unload, reload, detatch or bind an external reference from the context menu.

External Reference Right-Click Context Menu

Support for gbXML has been added to the 2009 release. Those of you interested in green building and extracting information from the building model will want to look into this more deeply. You can find an overview at the gbXML.org website.

IFC import and export has been improved to provide greater control over the IFC process.

Material tools now allow you to apply a material directly to a component of an AEC object or to an AutoCAD object. When a tool is active, hovering over a component will highlight the component and give you a tooltip identifying the component and listing the material that would be applied. The tooltip will also let you know if the highlighted component can not accept a material. For AEC objects with styles, the assignment can be made at the style or object level.

Applying a Material to a Door Panel with a Material Tool

Here is another one that many have asked for over the years - all dialogs in ACD-A 2009 are resizable. I have not personally opened every single one to see if this is true, but I do not recall any that could not be resized.

The Match Properties command (MATCHPROP) now also allows you to copy the style of an AEC object to other objects of that type. Look for the new icon on the Standard toolbar.

Match Properties Icon

The Display tab of the Properties palette has also been improved. The "light bulb" icons on the components list that formerly only indicated whether or not the component was on or off can now be used to toggle the on/off status of the component.

Toggle Component Visibility with Light Bulb Icon

All of the Display Properties of an object, including properties that appear on additional tabs like Cut Plane and Other in the Display Manager, are now available through the Display tab of the Properties palette.

All Display Properties Accessible Through Display Tab

AutoCAD Features
There are also a number of improvements to AutoCAD 2009 that will also be available in ACD-A 2009. Many of these have been covered in detail by other bloggers of greater stature than I, and I will defer to their postings. If you have not already read these articles, you may want to take advantage of the following links.

General Overview
Heidi Hewett

Quick Access Toolbar
Lynn Allen
Heidi Hewett

Steering Wheel
Lynn Allen

ViewCube
Lynn Allen
ACD-A 2009 users will also see the ViewCube in the Object Viewer.and the Components tab of a Wall Style, among other places.
Action Recorder
Lynn Allen
Heidi Hewett

Show Motion
Lynn Allen

Quick Properties
Lynn Allen
Heidi Hewett

Quick View Layouts
Lynn Allen
Heidi Hewett
Shaan Hurley

Status Bar
Heidi Hewett

Menu Browser
Heidi Hewett

I hope this series on the new features in AutoCAD^® Architecture 2009 has helped whet your appetite for the coming release and shown that there are features in the new release that make the effort to install it worthwhile.

AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Part 3

First Article in the Series: AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Part 1
Previous Article in the Series: AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Part 2

Spaces
There have been several improvements to the Space object. Curved surfaces of freeform spaces are now displayed as one surface, rather than as a series of segments, as they were in previous releases. The freeform spaces shown below are from 2008, on the left, and 2009, on the right.
AutoCAD^® linework, such as lines, circles and polylines, now have a "Bound spaces" property, in the Advanced category.When this is set to "yes" and you are calculating Space areas from a standard, the AutoCAD linework will affect the calculation the same way as an AEC Object that is set to bound spaces. For the BOMA standard, Base and Net areas will exclude the area of bound items within the Base and Net boundaries, respectively, while Usable and Gross areas will include the area of bound items. For AutoCAD linework, it appears that the linework needs to be entirely within the Base Area boundary, while AEC Objects can straddle a Space edge and still have their area included in the Usable and Gross area. In previous versions, when AutoCAD linework formed the boundary of a Space, the Space would still be associative to it, but the area within the AutoCAD linework would not be included in any of the areas.

The associative interaction of Spaces with objects in external references is improved. In a test file, I found that reloading the external reference with changes to the walls forming the boundaries of a space would automatically update the Spaces in the host file in 2009; a manual updating of the Space geometry was necessary in 2008.

Multi-line Attribute Text in Schedule Tags
One of the cool things added in the 2008 release was the ability to set a width for an attribute in a block, and have the entered text wrap to multiple lines if it exceeded that width. Unfortunately, that ability was not supported in Multi-View Blocks, and therefore, not in Schedule Tags. The 2009 release extends that functionality to Multi-View Blocks and Schedule Tags. One common use for this will be in room tags. You will no longer need to have multiple attributes in your view block, one for each line to be supported, and either separate Manual properties for entering the lines, with a Formula property to knit them together for use in a Schedule Table, or a set of fancy Formula properties to take the value entered into a single Manual property and chop it up into smaller pieces for use in the tag. It will also make it much easier to use List Definitions for room names.

When selecting a Schedule Tag, you will now see two or three grips. The square cyan grip is the old, familiar location grip, used to move the entire tag. If the Schedule Tag is annotative, and more than one scale is assigned to the tag, then there will be a square, yellow grip for relocating the tag graphics for the current drawing scale. New to 2009, there is now a round, gray grip that is the trigger grip for editing attributes.Selecting the edit attributes grip will enable a number of grips that allow you to edit the attributes, as shown in the composite image below. (Click on any image for a full-size version, then use the Back button to return here.)As the tooltips indicate, the two triangular cyan grips allow you to set the width of the attribute (and the tool tip lets you know the current width - 0 will display the entire text on one line). The upper circular gray grip triggers another set of grips (not shown) where you can change the justification of the attribute. The square cyan grip allows you to change the location of the attribute and the diamond cyan grip allows you to change the rotation of the attribute. The lower circular gray grip allows you to exit the attribute edit mode.

After using the left width grip (either will do) to offset the width by 3'-6", the attribute will have a total width of 7'-0"...... and result in a three-line display for the featured room tag.So easy, even a project manager could do it.

Additional Annotation Improvements
You can now associate a Display Configuration with a particular scale. Changing to that scale will also set the associated Display Configuration current. These settings are on a drawing-by-drawing basis, starting with whatever may be set in the template file, so you could have different assignments for different drawing types. For example, the imperial default setting of Medium Detail for scales from 1/8" = 1'-0" through 3/8" = 1'-0" may be appropriate for a regular plan drawing, but you will want to reset the assigned Display Configurations for a reflected ceiling plan drawing, unless you are working in a single scale. Set or change the Display Configuration assigned to a particular scale on the Scale tab of the Drawing Setup dialog.
Multi-leaders are now supported for the leader and keynoting tools.
There are new tool types for inserting various types of annotation. (Out-of-the-box DesignCenter content for imperial and metric annotation is down to Chases and Elevation labels.) These include various symbols (Bar Scale, Datum Point and North Arrow, although you could customize an instance of this tool type to insert any symbol),various polyline symbol tools (fire-resistance-rating lines - line only - and match lines and revision clouds - line and symbol)and a Column Grid Bubble tool..
The Stock Catalog's Command Tool now also features the ability to specify a Layer Key or Layer Key Overrides! This tool type is now used to provide Dimension tools and a Shrink Wrap tool that are not dependent on AEC Content.
I hope to wrap up this overview of the new features in the 2009 release in the next installment.

Next Article in the Series: AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Part 4