Happy Holidays!

Just wanted to take a moment and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Don't drink too much eggnog and watch out for those crazy reindeer!! :)

MvPart: How to Add Connectors in Content Builder

So on we continue my "discovery" of MvParts. I had someone ask me how to add connectors to an existing MvPart. So I did a little right click nosing around and here's what I found. (It really is true...right click is your friend)

MvPart: How to Add Connectors in Content Builder:
This is based off of a pre-set up MvPart.
Open up a blank drawing and go to modelspace.
Click on CAD Manager/Content Editing/Content Builder.
Surf to the location of the MvPart that you want to modify.
Select it and then click on the "Modify Part Size" icon on the far right side.
(It's about the 5th button down)
When you get the new pop-up window click on the "Connectors" tab at the top.
Click on the top level name to select it.
Right click and choose "Add duct connector" (or any other connector type desired).
A new pop-up will appear called "Part Family Connector Properties".
Fill in a name, change the flow direction (bi-directional/in/out), and the shape (oval/rectangle/round) if necessary.
Click "ok" once you have entered/verified all the information.
This will now add that new connector to all the sub items in that drawing.
You will have to manually edit the connector locations in each of the drawings individually.
Right click on the connector you created that is under the specific block that you need to edit.
Click on "Edit Placement".
You will now be inside of that drawing and have a new palette show up call the "MvPartBuilder-Connector Editor".
If you know the actual point locations you can drop them in at the bottom of this new palette under the "Connector Geometry" section, under the "Position" subsection.
OR I believe you can click on the ellipse "..." button and physically select the locations.
Once you are done with that hit "OK" on the "MvPartBuilder-Connector Editor".
This will take you back to the MvPart Builder pop-up.
If you need to edit other connectors you can do so by clicking on them and going through the same process.
Click "Ok" and this will exit you out completely from the Content Builder.
I would suggest that you save and regen your catalog.
Also I suggest you and the others whom you want to see your changes close completely out of ABS and then open ABS back up.

MvPart: Editing Connectors

Here is something I am currently exploring: MvParts. (As you've probably noticed since this is the second post in a row concerning them). I am still in the learning process, so this is what I have found thus far. This is based off of having connectors already set up in an existing MvPart.

MvPart: Editing Connectors:
Open up a blank drawing and go to modelspace.
Click on CAD Manager/Content Editing/Content Builder.
Surf to the location of the MvPart that you want to modify.
Select it and then click on the "Modify Part Size" icon on the far right side.
(It's about the 5th button down)
When you get the new pop-up window click on the "Connectors" tab at the top.
Right click on the "Connector 1" (or whichever connector you want to edit) that is under the specific block that you need to edit.
Click on "Edit Placement".
You will now be inside of that drawing and have a new palette show up call the "MvPartBuilder-Connector Editor".
If you know the actual point locations you can drop them in at the bottom of this new palette under the "Connector Geometry" section, under the "Position" subsection.
OR I believe you can click on the ellipse "..." button and physically select the locations.
Once you're done with that hit "OK" on the "MvPartBuilder-Connector Editor".
This will take you back to the MvPart Builder pop-up.
If you need to edit other connectors you can do so by clicking on them and going through the same process.
Click "Ok" and this will exit you out completely from the Content Builder.
You may have to save and regen your catalog; and you may have to close completely out of ABS (and the others whom you want to see your changes) and then open ABS back up.

MvPart: How to Change the Top View Representation

I am currently learning how to manipulate the OOTB MvParts to show how our company requires diffusers to appear on our drawings. I have written this up using a diffuser as an example. You will have to modify the paths shown to get to where you are storing your MvParts.

MvPart: How to Change the Top View Representation:
This is to copy an existing MvPart and modify the "Top" view of it.
In this example I will step through modifying a diffuser.
Open a completely blank drawing based off of your template.
Go to modelspace.
Go to CAD Manager/Content Editing/Catalog Editor.
On the pop-up go to File/Open/ X:\enu\Aecb Catalogs\MvParts US Imperial\Mechanical\Mechanical MvParts US Imperial.apc (at the very end of the list) and double click on this to open it.
Go to the desired section; in this case: Air terminals/Diffusers
Select a diffuser, right click on it, and click on "copy".
Click on the Diffuser subcategory, right click, select "paste".
Now you have a copy of the original diffuser.
Right click on the new copy, select "rename" and rename the item.
Put your company initials in the name to designate that it is a company modified part now.
On the right hand side click on "Description" and change the information there to match the new name you gave it.
Go to File/Save, to save the drawing.
Close out of the pop-up window.
Now double click on the Catalog icon (magenta colored book looking icon) at the bottom of the screen located next to the padlock icon.
This is to regenerate the catalog to include the new part you have added to the catalog.
At the command prompt it will ask for input, type "m" for MvPart as the catalog you want it to regenerate.
You will see a progress bar for the regeneration process.
Click "ok" on the pop-up warning. (if it shows up after regeneration)
Do not go through the Content Builder to make the top view changes.
Go to File/Open/ X:\enu\Aecb Catalogs\MvParts US Imperial\Mechanical\Air terminals\Diffusers
Open up the new .dwg you had created with your company name in it.
Type "be" on the command prompt to open the block editor.
Scroll down to the desired view. In this case you are looking for the TOP view drawing.
There will probably be multiple blocks with "TOP" in the name.
You will probably want to modify all of these so you have the correct symbology on all of the different sized diffusers.
Eventually you may want to change the blocks with "SYMBOL" in them as well since these are the blocks used for symbolic representations for 1-line and other drafting.
Edit the block(s) as desired to reflect what you want to see in your drawings.
Save the block(s).
Save the file containing the block(s).
Use the Mechanical Equipment icon on the Duct palette to access the diffuser you just changed.
(Or whatever other icon you use to access MvParts)
Set the "Part" tab as active.
Surf down to: All Installed MvParts US Imperial/Mechanical/Air Terminals/Diffusers/ and choose the part that you added/modified (should have your company name in it).
Drop the part into your drawing and verify that it looks like and acts like you need it to.

AutoStacking Fractions

I was talking with a colleague of mine and he suggested I post this on my blog...so here ya go Josh! :)

Ever tried to get the pop up for AutoStacking of fractions back and couldn't find it? Once you hit the "don't ever show this again", it can be difficult to find. It's also not that easy to find in the Help menu. So I have typed this handy little nugget up.

Auto-Stacking Fractions:
Initially when you first begin to type fractions in ABS2007 OOTB you will get a pop-up message asking if you want to utilize "stacked" fractions and how you would like them to output.

Start your mtext.
Type in "3/4" for example.
Immediately a pop-up will appear called: "AutoStack Properties".
If you click on "Enable Auto Stacking" you will then need to choose how you want them to look by selecting either "convert it to a diagonal fraction" or "convert it to a horizontal fraction".
IF you check the box at the bottom "Don't show this dialog again; always use these settings" and then click "OK" to exit the pop-up you will NEVER see this option again.

This is fine up until you need to change how your fractions are representing.
In order to get this pop-up back you may need to do the following:
Let's say you Unchecked "enable autostacking".
Drop in a piece of mtext and type in "3/4".
Go into the text to edit it, highlight the "3/4", right click, and choose "stack".
While still in the editing text mode highlight the "3/4" again, right click, and choose "stack properties".
The "stack properties" pop-up will appear.
Click on the "autostack" button.
The "Autostack properties" pop-up will appear again.
You can adjust it as desired.
Click "ok", and then click "ok" on the "stack properties" pop-up to exit out of this command.

NOTE: this will not update the text that you had highlighted, it just set it for any future text you will be entering.

If you had "enable autostacking" checked:
Drop in a piece of mtext and type in "3/4".
Go into the text to edit it, highlight the "3/4", right click, and choose "stack properties".
The "stack properties" pop-up will appear.
Click on the "autostack" button.
The "Autostack properties" pop-up will appear again.
You can adjust it as desired.
Click "ok", and then click "ok" on the "stack properties" pop-up to exit out of this command.

NOTE: this will not update the text that you had highlighted, it just set it for any future text you will be entering.

NOTE: If you are just wanting to temporarily flip between the stacked and unstacked fractions:
Drop in a piece of mtext and type in "3/4".
Go into the text to edit it and highlight the "3/4"
On the "text formatting" bar that shows up when editing text, click on the a/b "stack" button, it is next to the color button.

Layer Translator

Good afternoon! Have you ever had layer names change on you in the middle of a project? Would you like to be able to get your old layer names "translated" across to the new names? Here's a little "how to" I've worked up on utilizing the Layer Translator in ABS 2007. Enjoy!

Layer Translation:
Open the drawing you want to change the layer names/properties of.

NOTE: this will permanently remove all past layers, you may want to save a back-up copy of your drawing before doing any layer translation!

CAUTION: if you exit out of layer translator before saving, all of your mapping is lost.

Type in "laytrans" (you can also go to this by clicking on the icon, or going to CAD standards drop down and then picking layer translator)
A new window will pop up.
The left-hand side is a column called "translate from" and it should show all the layers that are in the drawing you have open and current.
The right hand side is a column called "translate to" and it should be blank.
You need to load the layers you want to translate to, OR you can load a past saved mapping (a ".dws" file)
When you hit the load button you will get a browser.
At the bottom of that browser you can change what types of files you are looking for.
If you want to translate layers to match another drawing make sure this is set to look for a ".dwg"
If you want to load a past mapping make sure this is set to look for a ".dws"
Once you have that set select your file (.dwg or .dws) and hit Open (or double click on the file name).

If you chose to load a drawing (.dwg file):
Now all the layers that are currently contained in the drawing that you selected will be loaded in the right hand column.
Select one (or multiple layers at once) layer to map to ONE layer in the right hand column.
You can map several layers in the "translate from" column to ONE layer in the "translate to" column.
After you have at least one layer in the left column and one layer in the right column selected hit the "Map" button that is in between the two columns.
You will notice that the layer from the left-hand column has now disappeared from the left-hand column.
It now appears under "layer translation mappings" and shows what layer you have mapped it to.
NOTE: you can map several layers from the left column to one layer in the right hand column.
After you have mapped all the layers you need to hit the "SAVE" button at the bottom of this window.
(If you forget to hit save it will prompt and ask if you want to save)
After you save your mapping, hit the "translate" button at the bottom.
You should now be looking at your newly mapped layers.

If you chose to load a past mapping (.dws file):
NOTE: you can load more than one .dws file at a time.
All the layers that file already had mapped out are now shown under "layer translation mappings".
If you have layers that were not mapped in the file they will still be shown in the "translate from" left-hand Column at the top of the window.

To finish mapping the remaining layers:
Select one (or multiple layers at once) layer to map to ONE layer in the right hand column.
You can map several layers in the "translate from" column to ONE layer in the "translate to" layer.
After you have at least one layer in the left column and one layer in the right column selected hit the "Map" button that is in between the two columns.
You will notice that the layer from the left-hand column has now disappeared from the left-hand column.
It now appears under "layer translation mappings" and shows what layer you have mapped it to.
NOTE: you can map several layers from the left column to one layer in the right hand column.
After you have mapped all the layers you need to hit the "SAVE" button at the bottom of this window.
(If you forget to hit save it will prompt afnd ask if you want to save)
NOTE: it will only save the couple of layers that you had to map by hand, it will NOT combine the .dws file that you used to map the first time with it. Also if you load more than one .dws file it will not save them together.
NOTE: if you opened a saved .dws file and changed something like the layer color for it to map to, it will allow you to resave the .dws file.
After you save your mapping, hit the "translate" button at the bottom.
You should now be looking at your newly mapped layers.

Placing HVAC Piping Tees

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have had some issues attempting to get a pipe tee to insert so that it comes off of the top or bottom of the main pipe. That is 3/4 of the connections for pipes that I deal with currently. I thought I would post on my blog the solution that I discovered and also the solution that one of my friends at Avatech shared with me.

My solution:
Draw a main piece of pipe. Go to the pipe fitting button on the palette to add a pipe fitting. Find the tee that will match your system. Be sure to input the connection type and the nominal diameter that you want for your fitting. Then click on your main pipe run where you want to drop in the pipe fitting. Next type "p" for plane so you can rotate the fitting in the z direction. For my stuff I use 270 degrees to get the fitting to point up. Once your fitting is in there you can click on the "+" sign on the fitting to add piping in.

Avatech's solution:
"Go ahead and place a piece of pipe. Then, when you want to come up/down with a tee instead of coming out directly with one, start the pipe tool, let your abs snap recognize where you want to connect to off the existing run, click the pipe, then go back up to your Add Pipe dialog that has probably auto-hidden and change the elevation you want to go up or down to. This will automatically insert a tee facing in the up or the down direction for you depending on the elevation specified."

I think both will work great and depending upon the situation or what you are more comfortable with they will both be applicable.

Gobble...Gobble...Gobble

Here's something fun and entertaining to help you celebrate the Turkey day holiday.
Remember to wear your expandable pants on Thursday! :)

http://www.addictinggames.com/turkeytogo.html

Happy Turkey Day!

Object Enabler

As I continue trying to get ABS 2007 and ADT 2007 to work together there are odd things that pop up. Here is one of them. Apparently, even though we are working on the same versions of the program we still have to have the object enablers in order for the ADT side to see the ABS components.

I have found that the links are not that easy to locate. So, here's a link to help everyone out!

If you are running ADT 2007 you will want to install this first: (ADT2007OE.exe)
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=7115021&linkID=2475161

Then install this next: (abs2007oe.exe)
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=7351679&linkID=2475161

If you install the abs2007oe.exe without the ADT2007OE.exe things still will not show up. You probably will not see any of the ABS objects unless you have your "proxygraphics" set to "1". If the "proxygraphics" are set to "1" you will see the ABS objects, but they are flattened.

Hope this helps!

Happy Halloween!!

Just thought I would wish all you bloggers a happy halloween!!
Don't eat too much candy tonight, atleast space it out through the rest of the week. :)

Here's something fun to help celebrate (and less messy than the real thing) have fun!
http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

Exporting a Schedule to Excel (or Word)

So now that you have your schedules set-up and working great in your drawings you would like to export them to Excel or Word to do further calculations or write-ups for the project. Enjoy!

To Export a Schedule to Excel or Word:
Select the desired schedule by clicking once on it.
Right click.
Choose "export".
A pop-up window will appear.
Under "Output" choose the desired program, location, and name for the file.
Click "OK".
A format pop-up window will appear.
Choose the output format as desired.
Browse to where you want it saved and give it a file name.
Click "OK".
If you chose Excel it may ask if you want an "unformatted decimal value" or "convert to formatted text". Choose the desired format.
You can check "apply to all columns" if desired.
Click "OK".
Now you can go to that file and open it in the program you set it up for.

Yellow warning boxes around Room Tags

As I continue to learn new things in ABS 2007 I am sharing with you all. I discovered this awhile back and thought it might be a good item to post out here for you all.

Yellow warning boxes around Room names/numbers:
A yellow box with a slash through over the room name/number tags it will appear if you have unloaded the Arch’s xref that has the spaces in it that your tag is referencing.

This is because the tags can no longer find the spaces they are associated with.
In order to get rid of these warning boxes you will have to reload the Arch’s xref.
Save the drawing.
Close the drawing.
Open the drawing back up.
You can not get rid of them by running a "regen", you HAVE to exit the drawing.

Or atleast this is the only way that I have found so far to take care of this issue.

Juggle 101: Part 2

I think it is time for part 2 on juggling. :) I know you all have been awaiting this with baited breath...hmmm...that would explain that odd smell. ;)

Alright, so now you have done your calculations, rounded up 3 rather symmetrical objects, and located a place to practice.

To begin, drop one ball on the floor. Now pick it up. Get used to this. A MAJOR portion of learning to juggle is picking up the balls you have dropped. That's why I suggest practicing over a couch.

What I am about to teach is called the 3 ball cascade. This is the basic form of juggling. Once you get the cascade down you can learn other tricks that build off of it.

Ok here we go:
Set 2 of the balls down. You will only need one to begin with. Start with a ball in one hand, it doesn't matter which hand. Place your hands about shoulder distance apart and approximately at your waist line. You will want to make an "infinity" or "figure 8 on it's side" pattern with your throws. This pattern is accomplished by tossing the ball from one hand to the other and then back again. AKA to get the ball from your left hand (LH) to your right hand (RH) your throw will form half of the infinity symbol. To get the ball back from your RH to your LH your throw will form the other half of the infinity symbol. When you toss the ball do it gently, in one plane (don't throw it away from yourself), and have it peak at about your eye level.

The higher you throw the ball the more time it buys you to react and catch it. But don't throw it so high that you lose control of it. As you throw, I suggest you use a sort of scooping motion. So you throw as your hand comes in towards the center of your body and you catch the ball towards the outside of your body. The scooping motion is in the same plane as the throws. Also, if you cushion or absorb some of the fall of the catch it makes the whole process a little smoother, and easier on your hands.

Now: throw, catch, pause, throw, catch, pause...repeat! Be patient and practice often. You need to get this pattern down. The other two balls will follow the same pattern, it's just the timing of when they are all thrown that creates the cascade pattern.

Hopefully at some point I can figure out how to get a picture on here and I will be able to illustrate the pattern a little more clearly.

Until then good luck! :)

Creating Table Styles

Sometimes you don't need the all powerful schedule style; a table style will work instead. I have found that the tables in ABS 2007 are very slick. This post contains some of what I have found in creating table styles. Some of this is very specific and you will probably want to adjust it for your needs. Enjoy!


Creating a Table Style:
(To create a table style to be used to drop in a table that will then be modified.)
Go to Format
Choose Table Style
A pop-up will show up
You can either "set current" create a "new" or "modify" a style per the buttons on the right.
Highlight the table on the left that you want to work on.
Then select one of the 3 buttons on the right.
If you want to create a new table style then click on the "new" button.
A new pop-up will show up.
It asks you to name your new style
It also asks what style do you want to base it off of, if you don’t know just use the "standard" one.
Click "continue"
A new pop-up will show up with 3 tabs across the top.
These tabs controls the info output of the table.
On any of the tabs you can set up the text style:
If what you want is not available click on the "…" and create the text style
Click on "new" and name the style w/ the font name & a descriptor, click OK (ex: Arial-Title)
Next click on the font name and select the desired font.
For titles use: your title font style
For headers & regular text: use your text font style
Click "apply" once you have created all the text styles that you need.
You will be back to the "new table style" pop-up.
Now you can click the down arrow by the text style and pick the applicable one.
For your text you will may want to set the "text color" to the desired color on all tabs.
Also set the "alignment" to "middle center" for all cells in all tabs for now. (or align as desired)
You can change the outlines of the cells by the border properties at the bottom.
For the outline of the border of everything set the "grid color" to a heavy penweight color.
For the underlining of the Headers set the "grid color" to a medium penweight color.
(When the table is inserted you may want to place it a specific layer in order for the
remaining grid lines to show up the desired weight)
For now leave the cell margins set as they are: horizontal 1/16", vertical 1/16".
Once you have set up all 3 tabs click on OK.
It will take you back to the original pop-up.
You can set your new table style as current, then hit close.
If you ever need to modify this table style come back into this pop-up, select your table style and click on "modify".
Be sure to click on "OK" once you have modified everything.
Then click on "close" once you are finished.
Keep in mind any changes you make to the table style will immediately update in the drawing that you are working in. (typically)
If you need to delete a table style come back into this main pop-up, highlight the style you want to get rid of, click on "delete", and then click on "close".

Juggle 101: Part 1

I thought it was time for a "fun" post. I will smatter these in every now and again. We all need a little fun in our lives to break the monotony of life. So you juggle just about everything: work, life, people, and commitments…why not learn how to really juggle? You can improve your motor skills, hand-eye coordination, social skills, and reduce stress.

If you didn’t know already, I am what I would call an amateur juggler. I know just enough to be dangerous, and just enough to be truly impressed by technical tricks that don’t look all that difficult, but really are.

Before you get started: you will need 3 objects to practice with. I will base this on ball/beanbag juggling. (Scarf juggling has a little bit different of a theory to go with it) I suggest getting beanbags or some other object that will not roll away when you drop it. Typically the perfect size and weight for most people is a tennis ball, so base it off of that. If you have rather small hands hacky sacks work well. You will need to be able to hold 2 "balls" in your hand at one time. You want something that has a little weight to it. So stay away from light things such as ping-pong balls, styrofoam balls, and the hollow plastic balls. Here after I will call the items you will be working with "balls" no matter if it’s a beanbag or hacky sack or whatever.

Location: You will probably want to find a location to learn that does not have breakable things around. Even if you think, "I can’t possibly hit that lamp that’s behind me," you would be wrong. Stranger throws have happened. The prime place would be to stand over a couch so you do not have to bend over to pick up the missed balls. Also a good place is to stand relatively close to a wall. This will help to keep your throws in one plane. AKA you won’t be throwing away from yourself.

Now for the theory: This is after all a website that mainly the mathematical/engineering/ programming type people stumble across so I thought some background would be helpful. Juggling is in its simplest form projectile motion. (And you thought physics wasn’t fun?!) Don’t worry I won’t bore you here, you can skip this portion if you’d like.

We will assume that x is in the horizontal direction, y is in the vertical direction, as I stated z = 0 since juggling occurs in one plane. If you want to work this out, assume y is positive going up, x is positive going to the right, and all distances are in meters. t = time, x0 = x at t=0, y0 = y at t=0, V = velocity, theta = the angle the ball is thrown at, g = gravity (9.8 m/sec^2).

The first equation: x(t) = x0 + V*cos(theta)*t
The second equation: y(t) = y0 + V*sin(theta)*t – (1/2)*g*t^2

If you were going to actually do calculations, you would solve the first equation for t and then plug into the second equation. If you knew t then you could solve for the x-y coordinates and map the path of the projectile.

I have written a program in the past to do this, so if there is a high request for it I can elaborate further. (Plus I’d have to go and dig out my notes and find a computer that could run it).

Ok, I seem to have gotten a little long winded, so I will break this up into sections. In the mean time go scout out a good location, some good objects to juggle, and do a couple of calculations! Just kidding on the last one there.

Extracting Attribute Information into a Table

I realize to some people dealing with attributes may be a little out-dated. For those of you who are using them I have thrown this together. This is based off of ABS 2007.

To extract attribute information from an entire drawing and drop it into a table:
Make sure you have saved your drawing first.
Go to modelspace.
Set current layer to “0”.
Make sure you have all the blocks with attributes already in your drawing.
Type “eattext” at the command prompt.
An “Attribute Extraction” pop-up will appear.
There will be 6 steps to this process.
Click on “Create table or external file from scratch”
Click “Next”.
If you are wanting the count on the whole drawing click on “current drawing”.
Verify that the drawing name under “drawing files” is the one you are working in.
Click on the “Additional settings” button.
Verify that the “include nested blocks” and “include blocks in xrefs” are checked.
Verify that the “include all blocks from entire drawing” is selected.
Click “OK”.
Click “Next”.
You can edit the displayed text by click under the “display name” column and edit what the table will output.
Click “Next”.
It will preview the information that it will show. If you do not like it hit the “Back” button and edit it again.
You can click on “Full preview” to see it as it will appear in your drawing.
Make sure under the “Extract attribute data to” section “AutoCAD table” is checked.
Click “Next”.
You can enter in a title for this table if desired.
Now you can choose the table style you want. Select the table style you have previously set up for this.
Make sure “Display tray notification when data needs refreshing” is checked.
Click “Next”.
Click “Finish”.
It will warn you “Any manual edits you make to an attribute extraction table will be lost when you refresh the data in this table”. Click on “Yes”.
Click somewhere in your drawing to place the table.
For my particular table style the table comes in 1:1, therefore some scaling may be required.
If your drawing is 1/8” = 1’-0” scale you will need to scale up this table.
Click once on the table to select it.
Type “Scale”.
Choose the base point, enter in 96 for an 1/8”= 1’-0” drawing.
Now move your table around as desired.
Select the table and change the layer it is on to the desired layer (I have a layer I place all of my schedules on)
Now you can print out this schedule if needed, if not place it off to the side in your drawing.
If a pop-up balloon notification shows up stating your tables need to be updated this is due to attributes having been changed, removed, or added.
If this happens, click on the blue “Refresh table data” text inside the balloon.
You will get a pop up warning that any manual changes you made will be lost.
Click “Update”.
Your schedules will be scaled back down to their original insertion scale.
You will need to re-scale them back up as required for your drawing.
SAVE YOUR DRAWING.

Wrong Type of Install

Have you ever accidentally installed a Standalone seat of Autodesk software when you wanted a Network install? Or maybe your company is converting their licenses from network to Standalone. What a hassle. Everyone thinks that you have to uninstall the software and reinstall. But this is not true.

To do this you have to edit your registry, always make a backup copy just in case.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R16.x\ACAD-xxxx:xxx\AdLM] "Type"=dword:00000019

19=network
2a=standalone

This first came to me from Rob Henriksen. Revit works a little different, in Revit go to the Help pull down and select Produce and License Information.

Schedule Tips & Tricks Part 2

Creating a New Property Set Definition for a New Tag:
Open up the drawing that has the standard tag in it.
If you have everything pathed to your C: drive it is probably located here: C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\ABS 2007\enu\Styles\Imperial
A word of warning when you open up this drawing: do NOT purge while you are inside of this drawing.
It may appear to be a blank drawing, but it houses a plethora of information.
Go to Format/Style manager/
Under your drawing name expand "Documentation Objects".
Expand "Property set definitions".
You can either right click on one and copy and paste it in here, or just add a new one.
To do either of these functions right click and select the appropriate action.
To edit the property set definition that you have made click once on it.
On the right hand side you can pick from the tabs there and edit as required.
Once you are done click on "apply" and then click on "OK".
Save your drawing.
Now you can apply the property set definition to a schedule tag, see below.

Creating a Schedule Tag:
(If you have the properties already set-up)
Open up the drawing that has the standard tags in it.
If you have everything pathed to your C: drive it is probably located here: C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\ABS 2007\enu\Styles\Imperial
A word of warning when you open up this drawing: do NOT purge while you are inside of this drawing.
It may appear to be a blank drawing, but it houses a plethora of information.
Drop in mtext at a 1:1 ratio.
Set the mtext for the proper font and size.
Place the mtext on the "0" layer.
Edit the text as required.
Add in any required linework around the tag.
Go to Format/Define schedule tag.
Select the mtext (and linework) you have prepared.
Give the tag a descriptive name.
Under "type" choose "property".
Under "property set" choose the property set you created earlier (or an existing one)
Under "property definition" choose from whatever was in the property set you choose.
Click "OK".
Click on a point by your mtext for an insertion point.
Save the drawing.
Suggestion:
Drop in grey text (perhaps your company name) over the top of the tag to identify it as a
customized item.
Drag it onto a new temporary palette.
Right click on it on the palette and select properties.
Edit the layer key, scale, and whatever else is desired.
Drop it into the content browser in the desired location.
Erase the temporary palette.
I-dropper in the updated or new palette from the content browser.

Schedule Tips & Tricks Part 1

Here is something I have put together for the others and myself in my group that I thought I would share. I do need to give a nod to the AUGI ATP schedule class that I have been taking. Course # ATP127 has some excellent information on schedules as well. I learned the changing of the lineweights from them.

Creating a New Schedule Style:
Open your standard schedule drawing.
Go to Format/Style Manager/Documentation Objects/Schedule Table Styles
Click on the "New" button at bottom.
Enter in the name and description by clicking in that cell area.
Click "Apply".
In the left hand column double click on the schedule you just created.
Click on the "General" tab, it should be filled in already, but you can edit it if you would like to.
Click on the "Default Format" tab to change the default text information.
This sets the default for all the text in this particular schedule.
Change the text appearance here as required.
Click "Apply" at the bottom when you are done with your changes here.
Click on the "Applies To" tab.
Select the applicable item here. For the room schedule select "Multi-View Block Reference".
Click "Apply".
Click on the "Columns" tab.
Click on the "Add Column" button at the bottom.
A pop-up will appear.
Select the desired item.
Format as required, you can override cells and header columns here by clicking on the
"Override Cell Format" or "Override Header Format" buttons. You can change font style,
alignment, height, gap, rotation, matrix symbol, and cell size here.
You can choose where this new column is located in the schedule at the bottom.
Click "OK".
For additional columns click on the "Add Column" button again and repeat the process.
To modify a column click on the "Modify" button.
To delete a column click on the "Delete" button.
Click "Apply" to apply your changes.
Click on the "Layout" tab.
Edit the title of your schedule and any other desired information.
To format all of the headers and title at once go under the "Format" section.
Click on "Override Cell Format" for each of the desired items and change them as required.
Click "Apply".
Now click "Apply" and "OK" to exit out of this window.

To rotate an individual header text to 90 degrees:
Open your schedule table drawing.
Go to the "Format" and then choose "Style Manager".
Surf down to "Documentation Objects" then to "Schedule Table Styles".
Select the schedule table style you want to edit.
Go to the "Columns" tab.
Click on the column that you want to edit its header.
Click the "Modify" button at the bottom.
You will now have the "Modify Column" pop-up window.
Click on the "Override Header Format" button.
In the "Rotation" field change it from horizontal to "Vertical".
Click "OK".
Now a check mark should show up next to the "Override Header Format button".
Click "OK" to exit out of the pop-up window.
Now click "Apply", and then click "OK" to exit out of the Style Manager.

To get a different line thickness around a schedule table:
Open your schedule table drawing.
Click once to select the table.
Right click on the table.
Select "Edit Object Display".
An "Object Display" Pop-up will appear.
Go to the "Display Properties" tab.
Check the box under the "Object Override" on the far right hand side.
A "Display Properties (Schedule Table Override)-General" pop-up will appear.
Go to the "Layer/Color/Linetype" tab.
Here you can change the color, linetype, and line weights for each component of the table.
For the border adjust the "Outer Frame" color.
Click "OK".
Click "OK".
Your table should automatically show your changes if you have one already dropped in the drawing.

Welcome to my new blog! This is my inaugural post so please bear with me while I learn the ropes of blogging.

I intend to use this blog to post information I learn as I help my company transition from ACAD R14 to ABS 2007 and ADT 2007. Yes, that is a huge generation gap. Luckily I have drafted on ACAD 2000i, 2002, and a little on 2004. This is the first time I am really working in the background to set-up a system.