Property Set Definitions and Schedule Tablespaulaubin.com/_downloads/2010_AU/Book_Samples/Advanced... · If we simplify the above diagram, we can see in Figure 7–2 that there are

7Property Set Definitions and

Schedule Tables

INTRODUCTIONProperty Set Definitions are the core of the Architectural Desktop Schedule Tablefunctionality. Like the Display System, they can be challenging to master and imple-ment. However, also like the Display System, if they are properly configured ini-tially, you and your users will rarely need to interact with Property Sets at all. Theuse of Property Sets goes beyond Schedule Tables. By using Property Sets, youcan automate the labeling of ADT objects as well as modify their display character-istics to reflect differences in object properties from one entity to another graphi-cally. We will look at some of these additional benefits of Property Sets at the endof this chapter. It is assumed that you already know how to use Schedule Tables inADT. (See Chapter 15 in Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop for a completelook at Schedules.) Except for a brief overview of the workflow, the focus herewill be entirely on Property Set Definitions, Property Data Formats, Schedule Tagsand ancillary benefits of Property Set data.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of this chapter is to equip you for the task of configuring Property Setsand Schedule Tables for your firm. Using Property Sets and Schedule data canassist you to access and report on data that is already contained in your model.This can help you in meeting certain project-specific demands or, in some cases,reduce the amount of manual coordination and re-drafting required in atraditional CAD process. In this chapter, we will explore the following:

� Understanding Schedule tool set workflow

� Understanding Property Sets

� Understanding Property Data Formats

� Working with Schedule Tags

� Understanding and working with Classifications and List Definitions

� Using Property data to control object display—applying Display Themes

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� Customizing your content or modifying existing Schedule content for use inyour office

UNDERSTANDING SCHEDULE TABLE FLOWA Schedule Table is a report of the data/properties contained within a collection ofobjects. Users create objects within their drawings and then add Schedule Tablesto report on them. In Figure 7–1, you can see that this requires a process of objectselection, a link to Property Sets and interaction with the Schedule Table Style.(Like most objects in ADT, Schedule Tables receive their formatting and graphi-cal properties from a Schedule Table Style.) Omitting the Property Set does notprevent a Schedule Table from being created. However, nothing more than a rowof question marks will appear in the Schedule if the Property Set linkage isomitted.

Figure 7–1 Schedule Table flow diagram

The illustration depicted in Figure 7–1 portrays the scheduling process and all itsparts. Whether you are the CAD Manager in charge of hundreds of seats of ADTusers or a sole practitioner interested in maximizing your own performance, yourgoal is to understand the use of the Schedule Table tool set. In most projects, youlikely have the same core set of Schedules that you always include in your docu-ment sets. One of our primary goals in this chapter is to build all of the underlyingresources required to generate this core set of Schedules reliably every time.

When reading this diagram, begin from the left and work to the right for the ma-jor categories. On this basis, you can see that Property Sets and object selectioncomprise the first consideration in determining what will be included in theSchedule Table. Under object selection, there are such considerations as type ofobject and whether or not objects are contained in XREFs. The Property Set Defi-nition is also a major category, because it determines which parameters and prop-

Chapter 7 Property Set Definitions and Schedule Tables 459

erties of a selected object will be exposed to the Schedule. Next comes theSchedule Table Style. In addition to determining the graphical display propertiesof the table itself, the style determines which columns of data will be presented andhow they should be formatted and sorted. The final consideration is the type ofoutput desired. ADT can create Schedule Tables directly on the drawing or outputthe data to an Excel spreadsheet.

If we simplify the above diagram, we can see in Figure 7–2 that there are four ma-jor categories of contributing factors: Object Selection, Property Set Definitions,Schedule Table Style and Output destination.

Figure 7–2 Factors contributing to Schedule Table output

The sum total of all of these factors can make configuration of the Schedule Tabletool set seem a bit daunting. Therefore, we will take a systematic approach to theprocess by beginning with the desired final output and working our way backwardsto the pieces required to attain it.

PLANNINGTo make Schedule resources for your firm, begin with the Schedules you alreadyuse today (or refer to the US National CAD Standard for standard schedules). Ifthe ones you use today already exist in AutoCAD, simply open a drawing withthat Schedule and physically measure each of its components. For example, Figure7–3 shows a sample commercial architectural Door Schedule. If you have only aprinted version of the Schedule you wish to create, you can measure it manually di-rectly on the printout.

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Figure 7–3 Sample Door Schedule with components dimensioned

This diagram gives us two important pieces of information for our Schedule. First,we have a list of all of the columns needed, and second, we know how large eachcolumn should be. We can also determine text heights and formatting from thisexercise as well.

Note: Many of the default Schedule Table Styles provided with ADT are compliantwith the NCS version 3.1, and it is recommended that you consider adopting them.Whether you choose to use the default content or not, however, it is important to un-derstand the inner workings of Schedules and Property Sets. Therefore, please workthrough the example provided here (which is not NCS compliant) or work on an actualSchedule of your own.

Once you have the basic dimensions of your table and a list of the columns needed,you will need to create a Property Set Definition that includes a property for eachof these columns. One of the reasons that Property Sets can initially seem so diffi-cult to understand is that they are often approached from the point of view of theobjects to which they are attached. This can often lead to having more PropertySets than are necessarily required. If instead you approach Property Sets the waywe are doing here, from the point of view of the columns required in the ScheduleTable, they may be easier to grasp. In addition, you will end up with fewer Proper-ty Sets, with the purpose of each more readily discernable. In the next heading, wewill explore Property Sets in detail.

PROPERTY SET DEFINITIONSInitially in this chapter we will be focusing on the use of Property Sets in creatingSchedule Tables; however, they have become key to several other aspects of ADTin addition to their primary function as the ‘‘data conduit’’ for Schedule Tables.They also provide the means for intelligently labeling ADT objects as well as al-lowing for display overrides based on Property data attached to ADT objects. Thisfunctionality will also be covered in this chapter. The most important lesson is thatyou should always be looking for opportunities to leverage Property Set data.

Each column of the Schedule must be associated with a single property from oneor more Property Set Definitions. The Schedule pictured in Figure 7–3 containsfifteen columns; therefore, it needs to reference fifteen separate properties. If pos-


sible, you should try to include all fifteen of these properties in a single PropertySet Definition. A single Property Set Definition is not possible, however, if yourSchedule will reference both style-based and object-based properties; in that case,you will require two Property Set Definitions. If all of the properties are of onetype or another (all style or all object), you will be able to have a single PropertySet Definition.

◗ Style-based Properties—Properties of this type are attached to ADT ob-ject styles (see Figure 7–4). They become a part of the style and thus apply toall objects belonging to the style. As with any style-based parameter, a changeaffects all objects belonging to that style.

Figure 7–4 Assigning a Property Set Definition to be style-based

◗ Object-based Properties—Properties of this type are attached directly tothe individual object (see Figure 7–5). Each object contains its own value, andchanging one does not affect any other object in the drawing.

Figure 7–5 Assigning a Property Set Definition to be object-based

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We now need to evaluate the sketch we made (shown in Figure 7–3 above) anddetermine whether each column should be style-based or object-based. The bestway to do this is to mentally equate styles in ADT with ‘‘types’’ in your architectur-al document sets. This correlation can be made directly in this example, sinceDoors are almost always expressed as ‘‘types’’ in document sets. Simply return tothe same set of documents from which you obtained the Schedule, and locate the‘‘Door Types’’ drawing (see Figure 7–6).

Figure 7–6 Whatever characteristics separate type ‘‘A’’ from type ‘‘B’’ in theproject should also distinguish style ‘‘A’’ from style ‘‘B’’ in ADT drawings

Using this and the sketch of your Schedule, determine which columns will bestyle-based and which will be object-based. For instance, it is obvious that theDoor Number will be object-based, since all Doors must have their own uniqueDoor Number. However, Door Type will be style-based. After all, we did equatetype and style a moment ago. Analyze each column of your Schedule and work upa list like the one in Table 7–1.


Table 7–1 Object-based and Style-based Properties

Property Object/Style-based Comments(Schedule Column)

Room Number Object-based This will be concatenated with theDoor Number Suffix to create theDoor Number Property.

Door Number Object-based The Room Number and Door Num-ber Suffix Properties concatenatedtogether.

Door Number Suffix1 Object-based This will be concatenated with theRoom Number to create the DoorNumber Property.

Door Size Style-based

Door Type Style-based

Frame Type Object-based

Door Material Style-based This will use the Material Definitionthat is actually assigned to the Panelcomponent in the Door Style as itsvalue.

Frame Material Style-based This will use the Material Definitionthat is actually assigned to the Framecomponent in the Door Style as itsvalue.

Glazing Type Style-based This will use the Material Definitionthat is actually assigned to the Glasscomponent in the Door Style as itsvalue.

Hardware Group Object-based

Lintel Number Object-based

Fire Rating Object-based This will query the Wall to which theDoor is anchored and extract itsFireRating property to assign it to theDoor.

Head Detail Object-based

Jamb Detail Object-based

Sill Detail Object-based

Remarks Object-based

1. The Door Number Suffix Property will not actually appear on the Schedule but is necessary forthe formula we will build to generate the Door Number Property.

You may arrive at different conclusions. This is okay, since virtually every propertywould work equally well as either a style-based or an object-based property. The

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essential difference lies in how they are applied to the objects and how they are ed-ited. Object-based properties must be attached manually to all of the objects with-in the drawing before their data will appear in the Schedule. To edit an object-based property, you must edit each object individually (or in a group selection)using the Extended Data tab of the AutoCAD Properties palette. Style-basedproperties are added and edited within the Style Properties dialog box, on theGeneral tab (or the Extended Data tab of the AutoCAD Properties palette). Onceadded to the style, they will apply to all objects that reference that style. Therefore,fewer ‘‘undefined’’ cells (the ones with question marks) will appear in a Schedulethat references style-based properties.

The final bit of preparation that we need to do before actually creating our Proper-ty Set Definition is to determine what type of property to use for each bit of datathat we wish to include. There are several property types available to us:

◗ Automatic Property—Directly references one of the physical parametersof the object and therefore automatically reflects the current value of that pa-rameter at all times.

◗ Formula Property—Can perform mathematical or test functions on otherproperties to produce a new property. For example, the diameter of a circlecould be produced with a Formula property by multiplying the radius Auto-matic property by 2. Formula Properties are very useful to concatenate otherproperties into a single property. The potential of Formula properties thatcan use any VBScript expression is virtually limitless.

◗ Location Property—Can read a property value from a nearby Space ob-ject. An example of this could be a Door number which is based in part on itsroom number. The room number of the Space can thereby become part ofthe Door number property.

◗ Classification Property—When an object has a Classification Definition as-signed to it, either the Classification name itself or a property assigned to theClassification can be a property of the object in question.

◗ Material Property—A Material Definition assigned to an object can be re-ported through a Material property. Also, as with Classification properties, aproperty assigned to the Material Definition can also be passed through as aproperty of the object in question.

◗ Project Property—When working in a project environment, many attrib-utes of the current project can be made part of the object’s properties. In thecase of a Space that defines a room, for example, the room number can bebuilt in part by obtaining the current Level ID.

◗ Anchor Property—If an object is anchored to another, properties of thehost object can be passed to the anchored object. When a Door is placed in


a Wall, for example, an Anchor property can access the Fire Rating propertyof the Wall, allowing for the Door’s Fire Rating property to be based on theWall’s fire rating. This could either be a direct relationship, or could be oper-ated on further with a Formula property in an ‘‘if/then’’ relationship. An ex-ample of this can be seen later in this chapter.

◗ Graphic Property—Objects can have either a Block Definition or an imageattached as a property. This can be useful in creating legends. Graphic prop-erties are not covered in this chapter, but for an example you can refer toChapter 15 in Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007.

◗ Manual Property—Not linked directly to any object parameter. A Manualproperty is simply a piece of data attached to an object for purposes of ap-pearing within the Schedule, a Tag or both. It can be freely edited to includeany type of value.

Figure 7–7 Icons on the Definition tab of the Property Set Definition allow thecreation of several types of properties

There are dozens of Automatic properties available for Property Set Definitions.Including both AutoCAD entities and ADT objects, the complete list is quite ex-tensive. Lists of ADT objects in table form have been provided in an Excel file inthe Chapter07 folder. Open Automatic Schedule Properties.xls in Microsoft Excel toview Tables XL7–1 and XL7–2.

Table XL7–1—Objects with Automatic Properties

Table XL7–2—Automatic Style-based and Object-based Properties (All Objects -List)

For convenience in this exercise, a portion of Table XL7–2 has been reproducedhere as Table 7–2 and annotated with descriptions. This table will help us deter-mine which of our fifteen columns can come from Automatic properties. Unlikewith style-based versus object-based categories, a single Property Set can contain

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both Automatic and Manual properties. The same list of Automatic properties isavailable to both style-based and object-based Property Sets.

Note: In reality, all property types besides Manual Property Definitions can be consid-ered Automatic properties, since they derive their values without any direct userintervention.

Table 7–2 Automatic Properties for Door Objects

Property Description

Color Color Number of Door Object (0 = ByBlock, 256 = ByLayer)

Color - Text Name of the Color for red through white, ByLayer andByBlock

Description Description in the Door Properties dialog

Description from Style Description from the Description field in the General tab ofthe Door style editor

Documents Name and path of attached documents (Object level)

Documents from Style Name and path of documents attached to the style definition

Door Size - 2@ WxH Double Doors shown as 2 Doors combining width and height

Door Size - 2@ WxHxT Double Doors shown as 2 Doors combining width, height &thickness

Door Size - PR WxH Double Doors shown as a pair of Doors combining width andheight

Door Size - PR WxHxT Double Doors shown as a pair of Doors combining width,height & thickness

Door Size - WxH Combines overall width and height in a single cell

Door Size - WxHxT Combines overall width, height & thickness in a single cell

Drawing Fingerprint A unique identifier code that applies to the drawing in whichGuide the Door is located

Frame Depth Frame depth from Dimensions tab

Frame Width Frame width from Dimensions tab

Glass Thickness The thickness of the ‘‘Glass’’ component (only when a Doorshape is based on a Profile Definition that includes a void)

Handle AutoCAD object handle

Head Height Actual location of the Door head relative to zero elevation

Height The height of the Door itself independent from its location

Hyperlink URL attached to the object

Inner Height The height of the actual Door panel if the ‘‘measure to’’ prop-erty of a Door is set to measure to the outside of the frame


Property Description

Inner Width The width of the actual Door panel if the ‘‘measure to’’ prop-erty of a Door is set to measure to the outside of the frame

Layer Layer of the Door object

Leaf Count The number of leaves in a Door

Leaf Width Size of leaf for uneven Door types (as set on the Design Rulestab)

Linetype Linetype of the Door object (usually ByLayer)

Notes Notes in the Door properties dialog

Notes from Style Notes in the style definition’s General dialog

Object ID A unique identifier code for the Door. Each object in a draw-ing will have a unique Object ID

Object Type The type of object (i.e., Door, Window, etc.)

Rise Rise from spring of arch to top of Door (for arched Doorshapes in Design Rules)

Rough Height Height of Door opening in the Wall; includes the Door heightplus frame size

Rough Width Width of Door opening in the Wall; includes the Door widthplus frame size

Shape The shape of the Door as defined in the style’s Design Rulestab. If a Profile is used, the Profile Definition name will bereported

Sill Height Location of the bottom edge of the Door in the Wall

Standard Size The description of any standard sizes defined in a Door style.Description

Style Name of the Door object’s style

Swing Direction Swing direction of Door object expressed as right or left

Swing Direction Reverse Reverse swing direction of the Door object expressed as rightor left

Thickness Thickness of the Door leaf

Width Width of the Door leaf

Width - 2@ Width of the Door leaf for double Doors expressed as 2 x leafsize

Width - PR Width of Door leaf for double Doors expressed as PR leaf size

If we compile all of the information gleaned from the sketches and tables, we ar-rive at the following conclusions:

◗ We will need to build two Property Set Definitions; one style-based contain-ing Door Size, Door Type, Door Material, Glazing Type and Fire Rating, theother object-based containing the properties for the remaining columns.

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◗ The list of properties and their respective types will look something like Ta-ble 7–3.

Table 7–3 Object-Based and Style-Based Properties

Property Property Type Style or Object Property(Schedule Column) (from Table 7-1)

Room Number Location Object

Door Number Suffix Manual Object

Door Number Formula Object

Door Size Automatic Style

Door Type Manual Style

Frame Type Manual Object

Door Material Material Style

Frame Material Material Style

Glazing Type Manual Style

Hardware Group Manual Object

Lintel Number Manual Object

Fire Rating Anchor Object

Head Detail Manual Object

Jamb Detail Manual Object

Sill Detail Manual Object

Remarks Manual Object

PROPERTY SET DEFINITION PREPARATION CHECKLIST

The following summarizes the previous procedure:

1. Procure a sketch of the Schedule you wish to create.

2. Assign dimensions to all major columns and components (this will be usedlater).

3. Determine which columns ought to be style-based and which should beobject-based.

4. For each column, decide what type of property each piece of data should be.

5. Determine the Property Data Formats and other special formatting required(see below).

6. Using this compiled information, build the Property Set Definition(s).


Included in the Chapter07 folder with the files installed from the CD is an Excelfile named Property Set Def Work Sheet.xls. You can use this to help you plan anynew Property Set Definitions you need to create (see Figure 7–8). There are threesections in the form: the top is general information regarding text formatting, thenext is for style-based properties and the last is for object-based properties. In eachof the Property Set sections are five columns: Property, Property Type, ScheduleData Format, Column Size and Misc. Following the same process as we have here,list each property (Schedule column) that you will need in the first column. Nextto it, determine what type of property it is, and if so, input the property source thatit will reference. In the third column, list the way you would like the data format-ted in that column of the Schedule using a variety of predefined Property DataFormats. In the next column, input the width of each column in the Schedule. Ifyou wish to use variable-width columns, input a zero here. The final column isused to note any special needs or features for that entry.

Note: There are several predefined Property Data Formats provided in the defaulttemplates for you to use. Property Data Formats allow you to format the results of aproperty to display with specific units, or you can assign a suffix or prefix, etc. We willtake a closer look at them later in this chapter.

Figure 7–8 Using the Property Set Definition Worksheet to build new ScheduleTables and Property Set Definitions

BUILDING PROPERTY SETSNow that the preparation is finished and we have a completed worksheet, it is timeto build the Property Set Definition. We will work in a sample file.

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Note: Again, the following exercises are intended to familiarize you with the innerworkings of Property Sets and Schedules. Remember that ADT comes with severalout-of-the-box definitions and styles that are NCS 3.1 compliant already. You may wantto use these as is or modify them slightly to suit your specific needs using the tech-niques covered in this chapter. At the very least, you should explore the existing con-tent before developing your own final Schedule style. We will be taking a close look atthe out-of-the-box Door Schedule and Property Sets later in this chapter.

INSTALL THE CD FILES AND LOAD THE CURRENT PROJECT

If you have already installed all of the files from the CD, simply skip down to step3 below to make the project active. If you need to install the CD files, start at step1.

1. If you have not already done so, install the dataset files located on theAutodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 Advanced Implementation Guide CD-ROM.

Refer to ‘‘Files Included on the CD-ROM’’ in the Preface for information oninstalling the sample files included on the CD.

2. Launch Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007.

3. From the File menu, choose Project Browser. (You can also click theProject Browser icon on the Navigation toolbar.)

4. Click to open the folder list and choose your C: drive.

5. Double-click on the AIG 2007 folder, then the Chapter07 folder.

A single Project named Chapter07 Schedules & Property Sets will appear.

6. Double-click Chapter07 Schedules & Property Sets to make it current. (You canalso right-click on it and choose Set Project Current.) Then click Close inthe Project Browser.

Important: If a message appears asking you to re-path the project, click Yes. Refer tothe ‘‘Re-Pathing Projects’’ heading in the Preface for more information.

CREATE THE OBJECT-BASED PROPERTY SET

Let’s start by creating one of our two required Property Set Definitions: the object-based Property Set.

1. On the Project Navigator palette, click the Constructs tab.

2. In the General Resources Element category (folder), double-click to open theSample Schedule Element file.


This file contains a simple floor plan which we will use to explore the capabilitiesand functionality of Property Sets and Schedule Tables. There are several Doorsalready in place which need to be scheduled and tagged. Three different tools arerequired to build Schedule Tables: Property Set Definitions, Schedule Table Stylesand Property Data Formats. Property Data Formats are used to present the datawithin the Schedule Table in an appropriate format, such as text in all uppercaseand dimensions in feet and inches. To save effort, several Property Data Formatsfrom the Imperial content files have been included in this file already.

3. Launch Style Manager and navigate to the Documentation Objects node inthe Sample Schedule drawing. Click Property Set Definitions.

There are three Property Sets currently in this file. The RoomFinishObjects andSpaceObjects are for Space objects and are present in the default template drawings.We will use the SpaceObjects Property Set Definition to help us automate part ofthe Door Number in our Door Schedule. The WallStyles Property Set Definitionis not normally pre-loaded into a template. It was previously imported into thisdrawing from the out-of-the-box Schedule Table Styles (Imperial).dwg file. We willuse this to determine the Door FireRating property.

4. Right-click Property Set Definitions and choose New (or click the New Styleicon) to create a new Property Set Definition.

5. On the General tab of the Property Set Definition editor in the right pane ofStyle Manager, name the new style: AIG DoorObjects.

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Property Set Definition Naming Conventions

The standard naming convention for Property Set Definitions in the Imperialfile is <ObjectType > <Association> where ObjectType is the name of thedrawing object, such as a Door or Polyline. The Association is either Stylesor Objects, indicating whether the Property Set references Styles andDefinitions (style-based) or Entities (object-based). The naming conventionused in the D A CH file is a bit more generic, referencing object type onlyfor object-based and using the word ‘‘style’’ as a prefix for the style-based.When the Imperial file naming convention is used, both the object-basedand style-based Property Sets for an object type will sort together in a longlist. This makes them easier to work with than the D A CH names that donot sort together. The Imperial file naming convention is logical and easy tounderstand. It is recommended that you adopt it. Note that in this exercise,we are prefixing the name of the Property Set Definition with ‘‘AIG .’’ Youshould adopt a practice of prefixing any custom content that you developfrom scratch with your organization’s name or abbreviation to differentiateit from out-of-the-box content that may very well have similar names.

It is critically important that Spaces not be included in Property SetDefinition names. The same is true for the names of the propertiesthemselves. This is because Schedule Tags use AutoCAD attributes toreference the Property Set Data. AutoCAD attributes still do not supportspaces in their Tag names; therefore, if you include spaces in the name of aProperty Set Definition, you will be unable to link that Property Set or itsproperties to the text within Schedule Tags. For example, ‘‘DoorObjects’’ isa valid name for use in Schedule Tags; ‘‘Door Objects’’ is not.

6. Click the Applies To tab and be sure that Objects is chosen at the top (seeFigure 7–9).


Figure 7–9 Setting up a Property Set to apply to Door objects

7. Click the check box next to Door in the list of object types (see Figure 7–9).

We will add the Manual Properties listed in Table 7–3 above first.

8. Click the Definition tab and click the Add Manual Property Definition icon(see Figure 7–7).

9. Name the new Property DoorNumberSuffix and then click OK.

Note: Refer to the ‘‘Property Set Definition Naming Conventions’’ sidebar for tips onthis naming convention.

Once the property has been added, there are several parameters that must be as-signed to it, which are shown in Figure 7–10:

◗ Description—A more detailed description can be provided. This will alsobecome the default header in the Schedule Table Style if this particular prop-erty is to be listed in a Schedule Table.

◗ Type—The type of data can be a real number, an integer, text, etc. This pa-rameter will only apply to Manual Properties.

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◗ Source—In the case of any property that is not a Manual property, theSource will be the data source that the data is being derived from (the formu-la, Automatic property, etc. that is being used). Source is not edited by theuser.

◗ Default—The default value only applies to Manual Properties.

◗ Units—Allows you to set the units that should be used for a property. Thisis useful for Formula Properties where you want to calculate the value inunits other than the default of the drawing. For example, use this to calculateformulas in inches when feet and inches is the default of the drawing.

◗ Format—This is where you assign the default Property Data Format, whichwill control how the data is displayed in a Schedule Table or Tag. For exam-ple, ‘‘Case Upper’’ will make sure that a text value is always in upper case.The various ‘‘Length’’ Data Format styles will control units format and preci-sion for real number values.

◗ Example—This is not editable, but it will show the result of the default val-ue provided for a Manual property with the assigned format applied.

◗ Visible—There are some Properties that you will not want to display in theProperty Manager screen, because they are not directly editable by the userand having them display in the Property Manager would confuse or ‘‘clutter’’the display. You can uncheck this parameter to make a particular property in-visible to users in day-to-day editing.

◗ Order—If a property is to be visible in the Property Manager, this will con-trol its order in the display. You should order properties so that those thatare most often edited are near the top. Those that are edited more infre-quently are near the bottom.

Tip: You should always assign a default value to all of your Manual properties. How-ever, since you don’t want to assign a default value that might be mistaken as an actualvalue, it is common to input a double dash (–) as the default. Having a default valuemakes it easy to see when Property Sets have been added to objects, and it makes itpossible to use the Edit Table Cell command.

10. Using Figure 7–10 as a guide, assign the following parameters to theDoorNumberSuffix Property:

◗ Default: A

◗ Format: Case-Upper

◗ Visible: Yes (checked)

◗ Order: 1


Figure 7–10 The parameters for the DoorNumberSuffix property

11. Using Figure 7–11 as a guide, complete the rest of the Manual properties.

Figure 7–11 The remaining Manual properties for the AIG DoorObjects PropertySet Definition

Notice that the descriptions for any properties that would be used directly in aSchedule Table column are capitalized. You should try to think ahead and pre-format these whenever possible to save you the trouble of having to override themlater on when you create the Schedule Table Style. The DoorNumberSuffix doesnot need to be treated this way, as it will not directly be added to a Schedule Tablecolumn, but will become part of the DoorNumber Property that we have yet todefine.

Tip: For Property Set Definitions such as DoorNumberSuffix above that aren’t used di-rectly in a Schedule, but are used to create another Property Set Definition, you maywant to consider a description more indicative of their purpose. In the example in Fig-ure 7-11 above, you could instead enter a description of ‘‘Used in Door Number.’’

Now it is time to add the remaining properties. We will start by building the com-pleted DoorNumber property, which requires that we establish the RoomNumberproperty first, then concatenate it with the DoorNumberSuffix property that wehave already defined.

12. Click the Add Location Property Definition icon (see Figure 7–7).

13. Name the new property RoomNumber and place a check mark in theSpace box, the SpaceObjects box and the Number box (see Figure 7–12).

This property, when attached to a Door, will add an additional ‘‘location’’ grip tothe Door. Placing the location grip inside a Space will allow this property to usethe Number property of the Space as part of the DoorNumber Property (of course,the SpaceObject Property Set Definition will have to be attached to the Space inorder for it to work).

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Figure 7–12 Using a Location Property Definition to extract a Space’s NumberProperty and assign it to a Door’s Room Number Property

14. Click OK to return to the Definition tab.

15. Set the Format to ‘‘Standard’’ and make sure the Visibility check box iscleared, since this property will not be edited directly by the user.

16. Click the Add Formula Property Definition icon (see Figure 7–7).

17. Name the Property DoorNumber and clear the check mark for ‘‘Useformula for description’’ (see Figure 7–13).

This property will be used directly in a column in the Door Schedule, so you willwant to provide a more appropriate description parameter.

18. In the Insert Property Definitions window, double-click RoomNumber toadd it to the Formula window, and then double-click DoorNumberSuffix(see Figure 7–13).


Figure 7–13 Using a Formula property to concatenate two properties into one

The box in the upper-right quadrant of the Formula Property dialog box will showan example result of your formula. You can enter sample values to see how the for-mula will react. Currently the sample value shown includes ‘‘Space not found’’since we haven’t actually attached this to a Door yet.

19. Enter an example number under the Value column for [RoomNumber] in theEnter Sample Values box.

The sample value should now show your number, followed by the default ‘‘A’’ val-ue for the DoorNumberSuffix property.

20. Click OK to return to the Definitions tab.

21. Edit the description to make it read MARK, then assign the Standard format.Clear the Visible check box.

Next we will create the Anchor property for the Fire Rating.

22. Click the Add Anchor Property Definition icon (see Figure 7–7).

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23. Name the Property FireRating.

24. Clear the check box for ‘‘Use property name for description’’ and put acheck mark next to WallStyles > FireRating (see Figure 7–14).

Figure 7–14 Creating an Anchor property

25. Click OK to return to the Definition tab.

26. Change the Description to: FIRE RATING. Set the Format to Case-Upper and clear the Visible check box.

27. Double-check your work and then click OK when satisfied (see Figure 7–15).


Figure 7–15 Your completed AIG DoorObjects Property Set will look somethinglike this (you can sort on the Name column by clicking on the column header)

28. Save the file.

BUILD THE STYLE-BASED PROPERTY SET

In this sequence, we will build the style-based Property Set.

1. Continuing in the Sample Schedule Element, Launch Style Manager and expandthe Property Set Definitions node under Documentation Objects.

2. Click the New Style icon in the Style Manager or right-click on Property SetDefinitions and choose New from the menu.

3. Name the new Property Set Definition: AIG DoorStyles.

4. On the Applies To tab, choose Styles and place a check mark next to DoorStyle (see Figure 7–16).

Figure 7–16 Assigning the Property Set Definition to Door Style

We will create the Manual properties first.

5. Create two Manual Properties named: DoorType and GlazingType usingFigure 7–17 as a guide for their settings.

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Figure 7–17 The Manual Property Definitions in the AIG DoorStyles Property SetDefinition

Next we will create the DoorSize Automatic property.

6. Click the Add Automatic Property Definition icon (see Figure 7–7 above).

7. In the Automatic Property Source dialog, place a check mark next to DoorSize - PR WxHxT and click OK (see Figure 7–18).

Figure 7–18 Adding an Automatic Property Definition using the list of availableautomatic properties

When an Automatic property is created, the Source and Type fields are automati-cally filled in. The Default value remains blank since it is irrelevant for an Auto-matic property.

8. Set the Format to Length-Short and toggle Visible off. Change theDescription to: DOOR SIZE.

Note: In an Imperial drawing, the ‘‘Length-Short’’ Property Data Format will formatthe result of a distance-type property to read in Architectural units to an accuracy levelof 1/16″. You may want to take a moment to explore the other Data Format styles tosee the effect that they will have on your property values.


Next we can create the DoorMaterial and FrameMaterial properties.

9. Click the Add Material Property Definition icon (see Figure 7–7 above).

10. In the Material Property Definition dialog, clear the check box for ‘‘Usematerial name for description’’ and name the property: DoorMaterial (seethe top portion of Figure 7–19).

11. Under Door Style place a check mark next to Panel and then click OK (seethe bottom portion of Figure 7–19).

Figure 7–19 Creating a Material Property Definition that reads the Material fromthe Door’s Panel component

12. Change the Description to: DOOR MATL, set the Format to Case -Upper and clear the Visible toggle.

13. Repeat the steps to create the Door Frame Property.

◗ Name the property: FrameMaterial.

◗ Under Door Style, select the Frame component.

◗ Change the Description to: FRAME MATL.

◗ Set the Format to Case - Upper.

◗ Clear the Visible toggle.

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With your Automatic and Material properties defined, your AIG DoorStyles Prop-erty Set Definition should look similar to Figure 7–20.

Figure 7–20 The completed AIG DoorStyles Property Set Definition with the Ma-terial and Automatic Properties

14. Double-check your work and then click OK when satisfied.

15. Save the file.

In the exercises above we created an object-based and a style-based Property SetDefinition for Doors. You should review the properties that we assigned to objectsagainst those that we assigned to styles and consider carefully if those assignmentsfit well into your own workflow. Remember that any style-based property valuewill apply to all objects on that style. You should also consider carefully whethercertain properties are manual or from some other source. For example, you maywish to control Material properties with a manual entry rather than have themlinked directly to the ADT Material Definition that is assigned to a particular ob-ject component. In short, you should take the time to carefully evaluate your spe-cific needs and workflow requirements and plan each individual propertyaccordingly.

Tip: There will inevitably be times when you will need to ‘‘debug’’ properties that don’twork correctly. Many times in those instances, you will need to view property values inthe Extended Data tab of the Properties Manager for properties whose visibility togglehas been turned off. When that happens you can temporarily toggle the visibility backon in the Property Set Definition until you finish diagnosing the problem.

SCHEDULE TABLE STYLESThere are two primary purposes of the Schedule Table Style. The first is to estab-lish the contents of the Schedule Table, including its columns, the data those col-umns contain and how they are sorted. The second purpose of the Schedule TableStyle is to establish the graphical formatting of the Schedule Table, includingfonts, text sizes, color and lineweights.


CREATE A CUSTOM SCHEDULE TABLE STYLE

In this exercise, we will build a Schedule Table Style from scratch which will uti-lize the Property Set Definitions we created previously. Again, this is done in thischapter primarily for instructional purposes. Before creating a custom ScheduleTable Style for actual use in your office, you should evaluate the out-of-the-boxSchedule Table Styles to see if they can be used instead. There are several, includ-ing a Door Schedule Table Style, that are already compliant with the NCS. Youcould very well find this perfectly usable as is or with a few minor changes. Don’tforget, it is the ongoing recommendation of this book that you use the out-of-the-box content wherever possible to cut down on the amount of time spent customiz-ing content and the ongoing management that customized content usuallyrequires.

1. Continuing in the Sample Schedule Element, launch the Style Manager. UnderDocumentation Objects, expand the Schedule Table Styles node.

2. On the tool bar at the top, click the New Style icon or right-click onSchedule Table Styles and choose New from the menu.

3. On the General tab name the new style: AIG Door Schedule.

4. Click the Default Format tab.

◗ Set the Text Style to: RomanS.

◗ Set the Alignment to: Middle Center.

◗ Set the Height to: 3/32″(see figure 7–21)

Figure 7–21 Adjusting text properties and other formatting to suit your standards

These are the default formats for all cells in the Schedule Table Style. They can beoverridden on a cell-by-cell basis if necessary. Note that under Cell Size we areleaving the Fixed Width set to 0″. With this setting, any cell that does not have anoverride set for this value will automatically expand to accommodate the longest

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value in the Schedule when it is populated with data. These values apply to thedata cells only. The headers will be formatted later under the Layout tab.

In order to use the properties that we built in the previous exercise as columns inthis Schedule, the items checked on the Applies To tab of the Schedule TableStyle must match those checked on the Applies To tab of the Property Set Defini-tion. The easiest way to avoid frustration related to this point is to always checkthe same objects in both the Property Set Definition and the Schedule Table Style.If you are creating a Schedule Table Style and you do not have the ability to addcolumns in the Columns tab, it is most likely because you did not correctly config-ure the Applies To tab.

5. On the Applies To tab, make sure the only object type selected is Door (seeFigure 7–22).

Figure 7–22 Assigning the object type to which the Schedule Table Style applies—this must match the values in the Property Set Definitions

6. Click the Columns tab.

We will add several data columns and headers here.


7. Click the Add Column button.

8. In the Add Column dialog, choose the DoorNumber property under AIGDoorObjects (see Figure 7–23).

Note that the Heading field is automatically populated with the ‘‘MARK’’ descrip-tion that was specified for this property earlier. Also note that both the AIGDoorObjects and AIG DoorStyles Property Set Definitions are displayed as re-sources for data columns, since both of them had Doors assigned in their AppliesTo tabs, matching the current Schedule Table Style.

Figure 7–23 Adding the DoorNumber property as the first column

9. Click OK to return to the style editor.

10. Use the same procedure to add the following properties to create columns:

◗ DoorSize-PRWxHxT

◗ DoorType

◗ DoorMaterial

◗ GlazingType

◗ FrameMaterial

◗ FrameType

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◗ FireRating

◗ HardwareGroup

◗ LintelNumber

◗ HeadDetail

◗ JambDetail

◗ SillDetail

◗ Remarks

Tip: You can change the order of the columns after you create them by selecting theirheaders and dragging them to a new position.

Frequently it is desirable to group columns under headers to make them morereadable in the Schedule.

11. Hold down the CTRL key and select the headers for the DoorSize, DoorType,DoorMaterial and GlazingType columns. This will select them all.

12. Click the Add Header button (see Figure 7–24).

Figure 7–24 Adding a header above some of the Schedule Table columns


13. Name the Header: DOOR as shown in Figure 7–24 and then click OK.

14. Use the same technique to add a FRAME header above the FrameMaterialand FrameType columns.

Your Schedule Table columns should look similar to Figure 7–25.

Figure 7–25 The completed columns layout

Now that the columns have been defined and organized, the only remaining tasksare to define the sorting parameters and the overall layout of the Schedule TableStyle.

15. On the Sorting tab, click the Add button.

16. In the Select Property dialog, choose the AIGDoorObjects:DoorNumber Property (see Figure 7–26).

17. Click OK to return to the editor.

Figure 7–26 Specifying the sorting parameters

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18. On the Layout tab, change the Table Title to: DOOR SCHEDULE andthen click the Override Cell Format button next to Title (see Figure 7–27).

Figure 7–27 Finalizing the Schedule Table layout

19. Change the Text Appearance Style to Schedule-Header and the Height to1/4″ as shown in Figure 7–27.

Once a default value has been overridden it will turn red.

20. Click OK twice to return to the drawing.

21. Save the file.

Tip: You can also override specific cell columns. For example, when planning was dis-cussed previously in this chapter, it was suggested that you may want some or all of thecolumns in the Schedule to be an explicit width and that you should label those dimen-sions. In the Schedule Table Style editor, you can pick any columns that need to have anexplicit width and use the Modify button to assign them a fixed width and also modifythe text justification so that values entered for those properties can word wrap in theSchedule Table.

TEST THE SCHEDULE TABLE STYLE

The best way to see if the style is configured satisfactorily is to add a table to thedrawing using that style. To test our Schedule and other content that we will


create in this chapter, we will create a tool palette upon which we can place ourtools.

1. On the Tool Palettes, right-click the title bar and choose Document toactivate this tool palette group.

Tool palettes and tool palette groups were discussed in detail in Chapter 4.

2. Right-click on the title bar of the tool palettes and choose New Palettefrom the menu. Name the palette: AIG Chapter07.

Note: Be careful creating a palette when a project is active (Project Browser). Whenyou switch projects, the palette may disappear. To make a ‘‘persistent’’ palette, openthe Project Browser, right-click the current project and choose Close CurrentProject. Then create the palette. You can reload the project after this if you wish.

You can create a Schedule tool by dragging your Schedule Table Style from theStyle Manager to your new palette.

3. Launch the Style Manager. Navigate to Schedule Table Styles underDocumentation Objects in your current drawing.

4. Drag the AIG Door Schedule style from the Style Manager to your AIG Testpalette. When the plus (+) sign appears, release the mouse button.

The tool should appear on the palette as shown in Figure 7–28.

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Figure 7–28 Creating a new style-based tool on a custom palette

Note: The ability to create custom tools in this manner is crucial to effective manage-ment and distribution of standardized content to the rest of your design team. This iscovered in greater detail in Chapter 8.

5. Click OK in the Style Manager.

6. Continuing in the Sample Schedule Element, click the new AIG Door Scheduletool.

7. At the ‘‘Select objects’’ prompt, window the entire plan.

8. When prompted for an insertion point, pick a point just below the plan andthen press ENTER.

9. Save the file.

Your Schedule should look like Figure 7–29. The question marks simply indicatethat although the Schedule is reporting the Door objects, the AIG DoorObjectsand AIG DoorStyles Property Set Definitions on which it depends are not attachedto the Doors in the file yet.


Figure 7–29 The finished Schedule Table inserted into a drawing

There are a variety of ways to attach Property Set Definitions to the Doors; how-ever, before we do so, we need to deal with another problem. Counting the num-ber of rows in the Schedule, you will find that there are seventeen Doors beingreported, but in the plan there are only thirteen Doors that should be scheduled.The additional four Doors are actually the toilet partition Doors. While these arecertainly valid Door objects, they have no business in a Door Schedule. While wecould use the Layer Filter properties of Schedules to eliminate them from ourSchedule, there is a more effective and parametric way to make sure that they arenever included in this or any other Door Schedule using this style. In Chapter 6,you were introduced to Classification Definitions and saw that they can be used toenhance display control of ADT objects. They can also be used to filter ADT ob-jects in Schedules and Property Sets.

FILTER SCHEDULE OBJECTS WITH CLASSIFICATIONS

For convenience, the Uniformat II Classification Definition that ships with ADThas been imported into the current drawing. By simply assigning the proper Clas-sifications to the Door styles in the current drawing and making some minor mod-ifications to the AIG Door Schedule style and the AIG DoorObjects Property SetDefinition, we can effectively eliminate the possibility of the toilet partition Doorsfrom ever inadvertently finding their way into a Schedule.

Note: The AIG DoorStyles Property Set Definition will be assigned to Door Styles, sowe don’t need to use Classifications to filter it—we simply won’t assign it to the toiletpartition Door style.

1. Continuing in the Sample Schedule Element, launch the Style Manager.

2. Beneath Architectural Objects in the current drawing, expand the DoorStyles node.

3. Click on the Double Hinged Door style to edit it.

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4. Click the Classifications tab.

Each Classification Definition in the file will be listed. As mentioned above, wehave included the Uniformat II Classification Definition in this file. If a file hasnothing listed on this tab, or does not list the Classification Definition that you re-quire, you must import it into the current file. This can be done here in the StyleManager on the Multi-Purpose Objects node. First use the Open icon on the tool-bar to open a file containing the Classification Definition that you need. The Uni-format II Classification Definition shown here was imported from the UniformatII Classifications (1997 ed).dwg file, which is found in the C:\Documents and Set-tings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\ADT 2007\enu\Styles\Imperial folderby default. You can also create your own Classification Definitions directly in theStyle Manager.

5. Next to the Uniformat II item, click on *Unspecified*.

*Unspecified* indicates that for this Classification, nothing has been selected yet.

6. Click the Browse icon that appears to the right of *Unspecified* (see Figure7–30).

7. In the Select Classification dialog, select C1020 - Interior Doors and thenclick OK (see Figure 7–30).


Figure 7–30 Assigning a Classification to a Door style

8. Following the same procedure, edit the Single Hinge Interior, Single Hinge- Interior Restroom and Single Hinge (Assy) Door styles and assign thesame Classification to each of them.

9. Assign the B2030 - Exterior Doors Classification to the Double HingeExterior Entry (Assy) and Single Hinge Exterior Exit Door styles.

Important: Do not assign any Classifications (leave it *Unspecified*) to the Standardand Toilet Stall Door styles.

10. Beneath Documentation Objects, expand the Property Set Definitions nodeand then select the AIG DoorObjects Property Set Definition.

11. On the Applies To tab, expand the Uniformat II Classification Definition.

12. Under Classifications, place a check mark in the boxes next to C1020 andB2030 (see Figure 7–31).

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Figure 7–31 Limiting the AIG DoorObjects Property Set Definition to only thoseDoors classified as Interior or Exterior Doors

13. Expand the Schedule Table Styles node and use the same procedure to assignthe B2030 and C1020 Classifications to the AIG Door Schedule style.

Important: You must choose the same items on Applies To for both the Property SetDefinition and the Schedule Table Style for them to function properly.

14. Click OK to exit the Style Manager.

15. Save the file.

Counting the rows in the Schedule Table, you should find that there are now justthirteen Doors being reported. Since the toilet partition Doors were not classified,they are now eliminated from the Door Schedule completely.

Note: You should get in the habit of classifying all ADT geometric objects (objectstyles under the Architectural Objects node). The Uniformat II Classification Defini-tion is provided in the Uniformat II Classifications (Imperial).dwg and the Uniformat II Classi-fications (Metric).dwg files located in the location where your other style content fileswere installed. Simply load this definition (or develop your own custom Classification


Definition) into your default templates. In this way, it will always be available when youare defining new styles.

Where possible and practical, it is recommended that you attach ClassificationDefinitions to object styles. It is also possible to classify individual ADT objects—overriding the definition that was assigned to their style (see the top portion ofFigure 7–32). Classifications can be especially useful for Multi-View Blocks tomake sure that you only include specific MV Block definitions in a particularSchedule. For example, Multi-View Blocks are used to represent both furnitureand equipment in drawings. Classifications can be used to help distinguish thesetwo types of content from one another in Schedules. You can assign more than oneClassification Definition to objects if necessary. As you plan your implementation,consider the various ways that you might like to schedule, quantify, and report thedata in your models and create the Classification Definitions required to do so.

ATTACHING PROPERTY SETS TO THE MODEL

In order to replace the question marks with the actual data, we must attach theProperty Sets to all of the Door objects. There are four ways to accomplish this de-pending upon the circumstances:

◗ Style-Based Property Set Definitions—Attach the Property Set Defini-tion to the Style Definition of the object on the General tab of the Styleeditor.

◗ Tagging—Object-based Property Set Definitions can be attached by simplytagging the objects to be scheduled. The Schedule Tag will have embeddedwithin it the links to the necessary Property Set Definitions. When an objectis tagged, the Tag will ensure that the Property Set Definition is attached tothe object, even importing the definition from a library file if necessary. Wewill create a custom Tag for the Doors a bit later in this chapter.

◗ Extended Data Tab of the Properties Manager—Object-based Proper-ty Set Definitions can also be attached with the icons on the Extended Datatab of the Properties palette (see Figure 7–32). This requires that the userknow which Property Set Definition to attach, however, and that the Proper-ty Set Definition already exists in the drawing. In a normal project workflowthis method is the least desirable.

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Figure 7–32 The Extended Data tab of the Properties Manager—Top: Object-level Classification; Bottom: Attach Properties and Detach Properties icons

◗ Add All Property Sets from the Schedule Table—Both object-basedand style-based Property Set Definitions can be attached by simply selectingthe Schedule Table, right-clicking and choosing Add All Property Sets.

The recommended procedure to ensure that all necessary Property Set Definitionsare attached, with minimal impact on the workflow is to first make sure that whenyou define an object style you attach any appropriate style-based Property Set Def-initions as well, inputting any Manual property values at that time. After the ob-jects based on those styles are created in the drawing, you should tag them,allowing the Schedule Tag to attach the necessary object-based Property Set Defi-nitions. The user can also choose to edit them at that time.

ATTACH PROPERTY SETS TO THE MODEL

Since we have not yet created a Tag for the Doors, we will edit the Door styles toattach the AIG DoorStyles Property Set Definition and use the Add All PropertySets menu-pick to add the object-based Property Set Definitions.

1. In the Sample Schedules Element, launch the Style Manager and select theDouble Hinge Door style in your current drawing to edit it.

2. On the General tab, click the Property Sets button (see Figure 7–33).


Figure 7–33 Attaching a Property Set Definition to a Door style

3. In the Edit Property Set Data dialog, click the Add Property Sets icon (seeFigure 7–33).

4. In the Add Property Sets dialog, make sure that AIG DoorStyles is checkedand then click OK.

Back in the Edit Property Set Data dialog, note that only the Manual PropertiesDoorType and GlazingType are visible and available for editing. This is becauseall of the other properties that were defined in this Property Set Definition werecreated from automatic sources and had their visibility toggle turned off to avoidunnecessary clutter in the editor. However, attaching the Property Set attaches allproperties, even the invisible ones.

5. Click OK to return to the Style Manager.

We can add the actual property values later. While you may want to pre-assigncertain values to style-based properties once they are attached to a specific style, inthis case it is not necessary to do so.

6. Repeat the process to attach the AIG DoorStyles Property Set Definition toall of the remaining Door styles in the drawing with the exception ofStandard and Toilet Stall.


Your Schedule should now look similar to Figure 7–34 (the right half of theSchedule has been cropped off in this figure). Note that the DOOR SIZE,DOOR MATL and FRAME MATL columns are now populated with data, andthe DOOR TYPE and GLAZING TYPE columns are populated with their de-fault values. The DOOR MATL and FRAME MATL values are currently re-

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porting the name of the Material Definitions that are assigned to the Door andFrame components—just like we told them to. However, these values are probablynot what we would want to see in a our Schedule. We will adjust these propertiesto be more appropriate for a Schedule a bit later in this section.

Figure 7–34 The Schedule Table after the AIG DoorStyle properties have been at-tached to the Door styles

Note also that there are still several question marks (?). This indicates that thereare still object-based properties that have not yet been attached.

8. Select the Schedule Table, right-click and choose Add All Property Setsfrom the menu.

Your Schedule should now look like Figure 7–35 (again, only the left side of theSchedule is shown here; feel free to pan to the right to review the additional cells).Note that there are no more question marks since all necessary Property Sets havebeen attached.

Figure 7–35 The Schedule Table after the AIG DoorObjects Property Set Defini-tion has been attached to the Door objects

While most of the Schedule seems to be functioning properly, the first threeDoors in the list still show a problem in their MARK column with an error code*Space not found*. This is easily rectified.

9. Zoom to the exterior Door on the far right side of the plan and select it.

In addition to the standard grips that would appear on any Door, there is now astar-shaped Location grip (see Figure 7–36), since the Door now has a Location


property attached to it. The position of this grip will determine to which Space theDoor is assigned. Since the default position is to the swing-side of the Door, thegrip exists in a location where there is no Space present. Simply moving the grip tothe proper location will fix the problem.

Figure 7–36 The Location grip will determine to which Space the Door is assigned

10. Drag the Location grip into the Corridor Space.

Looking at the Schedule Table, you should notice that there are now only twoDoors with the *Space not found* error, and in place of the third, there is now aDoor 112A.

11. Drag the Location grips of the other two exterior Doors to the interiorSpaces to assign them a room number.

12. Save the file.

You should now have two Doors with the number 112A. This is because the twoside exit Doors are both assigned to the Corridor Space. At this point, you canmanually edit the DoorNumberSuffix Property for one of those Doors on the Ex-tended Data tab of the Properties palette. Change the value to B for one of theDoors.

Note: The Space objects that the Doors have been assigned to can be viewed by thaw-ing the A-Area-Spce layer, which was previously frozen to simplify the onscreen displayin this drawing.

THE FINER POINTS OF PROPERTY SET DEFINITIONS ANDSCHEDULE TABLE STYLES

Although the Door Schedule is now working properly, there still remains somefine-tuning to do, which can be fairly easily accomplished by taking the PropertySet Definitions and Schedule Table Styles just a bit further.

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UNDERSTAND ANCHOR PROPERTY DEFINITIONS

Before actually making any changes to the Property Set Definitions or ScheduleTable Style, lets take just a few moments to explore what is actually happeningwith the FireRating Anchor property that is defined in the AIG DoorObjects Prop-erty Set Definition.

1. Continuing in the Sample Schedule Element, Zoom to the FIRE RATINGcolumn in the Schedule Table.

Most of the Doors show a Fire Rating of ‘‘2 HOUR,’’ while some show a value of‘‘–.’’ This is because the FireRating property is actually using the value of theFireRating property assigned to the Wall style in which the Doors are inserted.When a Door, Window or Door/Window Assembly is inserted into a Wall, a spe-cial type of Anchor called a Wall Anchor is assigned, which is what causes theopening in the Wall to be cut. This is also what allows our Anchor property towork.

2. Select one of the Corridor Walls in the drawing, right-click and choose EditWall Style from the menu.

3. On the General Tab, click the Property Sets button.

4. In the Edit Property Set Data worksheet, change the FireRating property to1 HOUR.

5. Click OK twice to return to the drawing and then look at the Door Scheduleto see the change.

If necessary, select the Schedule, right-click and choose Update ScheduleTable.

Remember that you just edited the Wall style; however, you should notice that allof the values in the FIRE RATING column in the Door Schedule Table that were2 HOUR are now 1 HOUR. The three Doors with a value of ‘‘–’’ for FIRE RAT-ING are the Doors that are on the exterior Wall style, which has no fire rating val-ue assigned except for the default value. If you wish, you can edit this Wall style’svalue as well and type something like ‘‘NR’’ or ‘‘Not Rated.’’ The change shouldimmediately appear in the Schedule.

6. Save the file.

FINE-TUNE THE FIRE RATING COLUMN

In many cases, building codes may require that a Door’s fire rating be based on theWall’s Fire Rating, but not be exactly the same. For example, the code might indi-cate that for a 1-hour Wall, you need a 20-minute Door and for a 2-hour Wall, a90-minute Door. In those cases, you can use a Formula property to perform an ac-


tion on the Anchor property to create a new value based on the Wall style’s Fire-Rating property. You can also simply add a Formula Column to the Schedule Ta-ble Style that does the same thing without creating a new Formula property. Youcan do this on the Columns tab of the Schedule Style Editor and the interface andfeatures are the same as a Formula property. In many cases a Formula Column willbe sufficient. You only need to create a Formula Property Definition in caseswhere you might want the value to be reflected in a Schedule Tag (or an Exceloutput) as well as in a Schedule Table column.

1. From the Project Navigator, open the Formula Column Element file from theGeneral Resources category.

This is a simple drawing with a single Wall, Door and a simple Schedule objectthat reports the FireRating of the Door. Note that the Fire Rating value in theSchedule for the Door is currently ‘‘20 Min.’’

2. Select the Wall.

3. On the Extended Data tab of the Properties palette, click the Edit PropertySet Data icon (see the left side of Figure 7–37).

Figure 7–37 Edit the FireRating property that is attached to the Wall style

The FireRating property of the Wall is a style-based property, so it cannot be edit-ed directly in the Extended Data tab—the worksheet icon opens the proper dialogfor editing.

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4. Change the FireRating property to 2 HOUR and click OK (see the right sideof Figure 7–37).

The Fire Rating for the Door should now read ‘‘180 Min.’’ As in the previous ex-ercise, the Door’s FireRating property is being extracted from the Wall using anAnchor property. In this example, however, the data being reported from the Wallis being further processed to display a separate but related value that is still depen-dent upon the Wall’s FireRating value.

5. Select the Schedule, right-click and choose Edit Schedule Table Style.

6. On the Columns tab, select the Fire Rating column and click the Modifybutton.

The column is actually a Formula column that processes the FireRating propertyinside the Schedule Table object directly (see Figure 7–38). The alternative is touse a Formula property in a Property Set Definition. Using a Formula column di-rectly in the Schedule has the same functionality and is a bit more direct. (How-ever, if you wish to have the result of the formula appear in Tags or Excel output,you must use a Formula property instead.) In this example, a relatively simpleVBA script is being used to run an ‘‘If-Then’’ test against the value being reportedback from the FireRating Anchor property.


Figure 7–38 A Formula column in a Schedule Table Style

Let’s interpret the VB script code; the first line reads:

If ‘[DoorObjects:FireRating]″=‘‘1 HOUR’’ ThenRESULT =‘‘20 Min’’

If you read this like a sentence, it would say something like: ‘‘If the value of theDoorObjects:FireRating property (which comes from the Wall) equals ‘1 HOUR,’then report a value of ‘20 Min’ to the Schedule.’’ This is the first condition of theformula. If it is met, then the test proceeds no further. Otherwise, the next line isinterpreted:

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ElseIf ‘[DoorObjects:FireRating]″=‘‘2 HOUR’’ ThenRESULT = ‘‘180 Min’’

In other words, ‘‘If the value of the DoorObjects:FireRating property (whichcomes from the Wall) equals ‘2 HOUR,’ then report a value of ‘180 Min’ to theSchedule.’’ Again, if the condition is satisfied, then the test stops, otherwise it con-tinues to the final condition:

ElseRESULT = ‘‘Not Rated’’End If

This last statement basically says that if none of the previous conditions were met,then the Wall must not be fire rated, so report a value of ‘Not Rated’ to theSchedule.

This is a very simple example to illustrate the potential of such a formula. As itstands however, this formula would likely prove inadequate. For example, based onits tests, if a value of 4 HOUR was assigned to the Wall’s FireRating property, theDoor would be reported as ‘‘NotRated.’’ Obviously this could prove problematic.Therefore, to have such a formula be effective, all possible Fire Ratings must beaccounted for in the formula. Furthermore, it would be advisable to include somesort of control mechanism to prevent a user from accidentally entering an invalidFire Rating (or one not anticipated by the formula at any rate). For our exercise,we’ll assume that there are only three possible Fire Ratings for the Wall—1HOUR, 2 HOUR and 4 HOUR. We will add the condition for the 4 HOURFire Rating to the Formula column and apply a control mechanism to limit choicesto just these three values.

7. Modify the formula to include the provision for the 4 HOUR FireRatingvalue:

◗ Place your cursor at the end of the line that reads ‘‘RESULT=180 Min’’ andpress ENTER to create a new line.

◗ On the new line, type: ElseIf.

This is the word ‘‘Else’’ and the word ‘‘If’’ without a space in between followed by aspace and then an open quote (‘‘) mark.

Important: The code in VB script should be considered case sensitive.

◗ From the Insert Property Definitions pane below the Formula window,expand the DoorObjects Property Set Definition and double-clickFireRating to insert it into your formula.


Important: Do not simply type the property name into the formula, as it will not beread as a property name. ADT will only treat it as a property if you double-click it fromthe list.

◗ Type the remainder of the entry exactly as shown on the left side ofFigure 7–39.

Figure 7–39 Adding a new condition to the Formula column and testing it directlyin the dialog

You can test the new formula directly in this dialog.

8. On the right side, in the ‘‘Enter Sample Values’’ area, input 4 HOUR in theValue column and then press ENTER.

If you typed your formula correctly, ‘‘200 Min’’ should appear in the ‘‘SampleResult’’ area (see the top-right side of Figure 7–39).

9. Click OK until you return to the drawing.

10. Edit the FireRating property of the Wall as before to change it to 4 HOUR.

The Schedule Table should now update to 200 Min.

Next we need to make sure that no invalid entries are allowed for the Wall’sFireRating property. We will accomplish this with a List Definition.

11. Launch the Style Manager and navigate to the List Definitions node beneathMiscellaneous Objects.

12. Create a new List Definition named FireRatings.

13. On the Applies To tab, place a check mark next to Manual PropertyDefinition only (see the left side of Figure 7–40).

Note: List Definitions can be used to control input for Space and Zone objects as wellas properties in Property Sets.

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Figure 7–40 Creating a List Definition to control the input of the FireRatingproperty

14. On the Items tab, click the Add button and enter a new list value of:1 HOUR.

15. Repeat the previous step to add the 2 HOUR, 4 HOUR and Not Ratedvalues (see the right side of Figure 7–40).

16. Navigate to the Property Set Definitions node under Documentation Objectsand select the WallStyles Property Set Definition.

17. Change the Type of the FireRating property to List and make sure that theSource reads FireRatings (see Figure 7–41).

Figure 7–41 Assigning the FireRatings List Definition to the FireRating property

18. Click OK to return to the drawing.

19. Select the Wall and edit the FireRating property.

Rather than entering a value with the keyboard as before, you should now belimited to just the values in the list (see Figure 7–42).


Figure 7–42 The FireRating property is now limited to just those values in the ListDefinition

20. Close and save the drawing.

MODIFY MATERIAL PROPERTY DEFINITIONS

As noted previously, the DOOR MATL and FRAME MATL columns in theDoor Schedule Table are currently reporting the Material Definition names thatare assigned to the Door Panel and Door Frame components of the Door styles.While this is technically correct and is exactly what the properties have been con-figured to do, it certainly is not what we would want to see in an actual DoorSchedule Table. By taking the Material properties just a bit further we can report amuch more useful result.

We could rename the Material Definitions, but that would be a bit extreme andwould likely generate adverse results for other parts of our implementation. In-stead, we can create a Property Set Definition for Material Definitions that assignsa ‘‘Material Code’’ to them. Using this to create a more abbreviated name, we canthen modify the Material properties in the AIG DoorStyle Property Set Defini-tions to use the abbreviated name instead.

1. Continuing in the Sample Schedule Element, launch the Style Manager andcreate a new Property Set Definition.

2. On the General tab, name the new Property Set Definition: AIGMaterialDefinitions.

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3. On the Applies To tab, choose Styles and Definitions, and then place a checkmark in the box for Material Definition.

4. On the Definition tab, create a new Manual property. Name it:MaterialCode.

◗ Set the Type to: Text.

◗ Set the Default to: –.

◗ Set the Format to: Case Upper.

◗ Make sure that Visible is toggled on and set the Order to 1.

5. Click the AIG DoorStyles Property Set Definition to edit it.

6. On the Definition tab, double-click the DoorMaterial property to edit it.

7. In the Material Property Definition dialog, place a check mark next toMaterial Property, and then place another one next to Material Code underAIG MaterialDefinitions (see Figure 7–43).

Figure 7–43 Using the new MaterialCode Property Definition to modify theMaterial columns in the Schedule Table Style

This will cause the specific MaterialCode Property to be used in the DoorMaterialproperty rather than just the Material name. All that remains is to attach the Ma-terialCodes Property Set Definition to the Material Definitions and provide ap-propriate values.


8. Repeat the process to modify the FrameMaterial Property Definition and alsoconfigure it to use the MaterialCode.

9. Continuing in the Style Manager, beneath Multi-Purpose Objects, expand theMaterial Definitions node.

10. Select the Doors & Windows.Glazing.Glass.Clear Material Definition toedit it.

11. On the General tab, click the Property Sets button.

12. Using the methods shown previously, attach the AIG MaterialDefinitionsProperty Set Definition.

13. For the MaterialCode value, type: GLASS-CLR and click OK.

14. Using Table 7–4 as a guide, assign the AIG MaterialDefinitions Property SetDefinition to the remaining Materials and input their MaterialCode values.

Table 7–4 Material Code Property Values

Material Definition Material Code

Doors & Windows.Glazing.Glass.Clear GLASS-CLR

Doors & Windows.Metal Doors & ANOD. ALUMFrames.Aluminum Frame.Anodized.DarkBronze.Satin

Doors & Windows.Metal Doors & STEEL-PAINTEDFrames.Steel Doors.Painted.White

Doors & Windows.Metal Doors & STEEL-GALVFrames.Steel.Galvanized

Doors & Windows.Wood Doors.Ash WOOD-ASH


16. If the Schedule Table does not fully update, select it, right-click and chooseUpdate Schedule Table from the menu.

The updated Door Schedule Table should look like Figure 7–44.

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Figure 7–44 The updated Door Schedule Table with MaterialCode properties

17. Save and close the file.

While there is quite a bit of work associated with editing all of the Material Defi-nitions and assigning material codes to them all, the effort will pay huge produc-tivity dividends. Once all of the materials have been configured, and all of thelibrary files updated to the change, users simply select materials for object compo-nents and the proper values will automatically report to the Schedule.

Note: The previous exercise shows that by using the Material Definitions that are al-ready assigned to object components, you can automate the reporting of componentmaterials in your Schedules. Consider making the MaterialCode Property a part of all ofyour office standard Material Defintions.

USE PROJECT PROPERTIES

Until this point, we have been working in a temporary drawing file. This was doneto allow us to keep our explorations simple by remaining in a single drawing fileand seeing our results immediately. However, since it is the recommendation ofthis book that you use the Drawing Management system (Project Browser andProject Navigator) to manage your projects, we now need to address Schedule andProperty Set issues related to projects and project workflow. When working in theProject Navigator, Property Sets can utilize Project properties. As defined at thestart of the chapter, a Project property is an automatic property that can read infor-mation from the current project information file (APJ). This includes projectname, description, level and division IDs, and even addresses and phone numbers.In the following exercise, we will explore this capability by modifying the Room-Number property to use the project’s Level ID property as a prefix to the RoomNumber. To do this, we will edit the RoomNumber Property. As you recall, thisproperty is a Location property that obtains its value from an adjacent Spaceobject.


The Chapter07 Schedules & Property Sets project should still be current from the ex-ercises above. If you closed it to make your tool palette, please launch the ProjectBrowser and make it current before continuing.

1. On the Project Navigator palette, double-click to open the Project BasedSchedules Construct.

2. Launch Style Manager, expand the Documentation Objects folder and clickthe SpaceObjects Property Set Definition.

3. On the Definition tab, double-click the Level property to edit it.

Note that this is a Project property and uses the current Level ID for its value (seeFigure 7–45). If you scroll through the list, you will also note that you can extractvirtually any Project property or Detail in a Property Definition.

Figure 7–45 A Project property, using the Level ID to assign a value to a property

4. Click Cancel to exit the dialog without making any changes.

Back on the Definition tab, note the Increment Property and view its settings.

This is a simple Manual property that is an Auto-Increment Integer type value,using the Number-Object Property Data Format. This means that as this Property

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Set Definition is attached to each object, the value of this property will automati-cally increment the value with each successive object. The Number-Object PropertyData Format makes sure that there are always at least two digits in the number, sothat values from 1 to 9 will be prefixed with a 0—i.e., 01 to 09.

5. Double-click the NumberProjectBased Property to view its settings.

This is a simple Formula property, similar to the DoorNumber Property we de-fined earlier in the AIG DoorObjects Property Set Definition. It concatenates thevalues of the Level and Increment properties together to form a completed roomnumber that is based on the current level, and that automatically increments thevalues for each Door.

6. Click Cancel twice to return to the drawing.

This file is actually a duplicate of the Sample Schedule Element file. It uses the non-project-based Room Tags we were using in that Element file. We are going tomodify the AIG DoorObjects Property Set Definition to use the project-basedroom number, but before doing so, we should replace the Room Tags so that theyalso respond to the change.

7. Select any Room Tag, right-click and choose Select Similar (see Figure7–46).

Figure 7–46 Selecting all of the existing non-project-based Room Tags


8. Erase all of the Room Tags.

9. Thaw the layer A-Area-Space.

10. Using the Project-Based Room Tag tool on the Scheduling tool palette, re-tag all of the Spaces.

Tip: Tag the first Space, right-click and then choose Multiple to tag the rest.

Refer to Chapter 15 in Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 for more in-formation on using Schedule Tags.

Important: Make sure you use the Project-Based Room Tag so that it will use thelevel ID of the current Construct. The room numbers will not be the same when youare finished, since they are using the Level Property and the Increment Property insteadof the non-project-based RoomNumber Property, which actually has not changed.

11. Launch Style Manager and select the AIG DoorObjects Property SetDefinition to edit it.

12. Double-click the RoomNumber Property to edit it. Under SpaceObjects,place a check mark in the box next to NumberProjectBased.


There won’t be an immediate change, but we can modify the Construct propertiesto test our new setting.

14. In Project Navigator, select the Project Based Schedule Construct, right-clickand choose Properties.

15. In the Modify Construct worksheet, clear the assignment for Level 1 and re-assign the Construct to Level 2 (see Figure 7–47).

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Figure 7–47 Changing the level assignment of the Construct


The room and Door numbers still will not update—the drawing either needs to beclosed and re-opened or re-evaluated with the Regenerate Model tool.

17. From the View menu, choose Regen Model. At the ‘‘Select objects’’prompt, press ENTER to select all objects in the model and complete thecommand.

The room numbers and the Door numbers should now be updated, since the LevelID has been changed from 1 to 2. Feel free to experiment with changing the levelassignment a few more times if you like to observe its effect on the Door numbers.Another way to see this is to edit the Level ID itself. To do this, on the ProjectNavigator click the Project tab, edit the Levels and then in the Edit Levels work-sheet, change the Level ID to another value. Click OK and then regenerate theModel.

18. Save the file.

USING LIST DEFINITIONS

Frequently you will find it useful to limit the choices for a Manual property to astandardized list of pre-determined values, as was shown in the previous FireRat-ing property exercise. This can help to eliminate spelling errors and help prevent


an invalid or inappropriate value from being entered by a user. You can accomplishthis by creating a List Definition. List Definitions can be used to assign names toSpaces and Zones or for any Manual property. In the Project Based Schedules Con-struct and the Sample Schedule Element, the Space names come from a List Defini-tion that applies to Space objects called: Room Names. To use a predefined list tostandardize Space names, first make sure the option for ‘‘Space Names’’ is chosenon the Applies To tab of the List Definition. On the Items tab, add all of the al-lowed names. If you select the ‘‘Allow individual property values to vary from thislist’’ check box, you will give users the opportunity to type in values that don’t ap-pear on the list. This can be useful in some cases, but does have the potential tolimit the List’s standardization and error prevention potential. After you have theList Definition built, you apply it to each Space style. This will make the list ap-pear on the Properties palette when a Space of this style is selected in the drawing(see Figure 7–48).

Figure 7–48 List Definitions can be used to ensure Spaces are named from a pre-defined list

Note: The Room Names List Definition in the Project Based Schedules Construct andSample Schedules Element is not an out-of-the-box List Definition, but was created as apart of this chapter’s dataset.

DEFINE AND APPLY A MANUAL PROPERTY LIST

1. Continuing in the Project Based Schedules Construct, launch the Style Manager.

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2. Beneath Multi-Purpose Objects, select the List Definitions node.

3. Right-click and choose New from the menu or click the New Style icon.

4. On the General tab of the new List Definition, type: DoorTypes for theName.

5. On the Applies To tab, select the Manual Property Definition check box.

6. On the Items tab, create the list items shown in Figure 7–49.

Figure 7–49 Creating the DoorTypes List Definition and making it available forManual properties

7. Beneath the Property Set Definitions node, click the AIG DoorStylesProperty Set Definition to edit it.

8. On the Definitions tab, change the Type for the DoorType property to List.

9. From the Source column make sure the List Definition DoorTypes isselected (see Figure 7–50).

Figure 7–50 Assigning the DoorTypes List Definition to the DoorType property


The Door Schedule may now show blank cells for the DOOR TYPE column,since the original default value of ‘‘A’’ no longer applies after changing the datatype to List.


11. Select any Door in the drawing, right-click and choose Edit Door Style.

12. In the Door Style editor, click Property Sets and edit the DoorType property(see Figure 7–51).

Figure 7–51 Setting a Manual property value from a list


Note: You can also access the style-based Property Sets from the Extended Data tabof the Properties palette. Look for the small worksheet icon beneath the Property Setsfrom Style grouping.

All Doors of the style you edited are now assigned the Door Type that you chosefrom the list and the Schedule is updated.

14. Continue editing Door styles, assigning a Type value until all Doors areupdated.

15. Save the file.

Tip: You may find it easier to edit the Properties from the Style Manager since it willbe easier to be sure you haven’t missed any Door styles.

In the preceding several sections we explored how Property Set Definitions,Schedule Table Styles and List Definitions all work together to make the processof creating Schedule objects more automated and less error-prone. Additionally,we explored the value of using various Automatic Properties to leverage existing

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data already present on ADT objects, such as Material assignments, Levels andproperties of objects to which the scheduled objects are anchored. Obviously,whether you are going to use your own custom Schedules and Property Sets, or ifyou plan on modifying the existing out-of-the-box content, you should take thetime to carefully plan out your scheduling system to take full advantage of all ofthese interrelated components.

We could take nearly all of these examples further and make them even more po-tent. For example, you could use a List Definition for the FireRating of the Wall-Styles Property Set Definition like we did above. Doing so would make it easier touse a Formula property or Formula column in conjunction with the Anchor prop-erty that we have already established. In this way, you could ensure that your for-mula would not fail simply because one user inputs a FireRating value of ‘‘1 Hour’’while another user inputs: ‘‘1 HR.’’ Look for other opportunities to use these vari-ous tools and properties together to create a highly integrated and powerfulsolution.

UNDERSTANDING SCHEDULE TAGSA Schedule Tag is an ADT Multi-View Block that is anchored to another objectand links the data in the object’s Property Sets with the attributes contained in theTag’s View Blocks. Several components are required to make the Tag Anchor rela-tionship function properly:

◗ A Property Set Definition containing the desired properties

◗ AutoCAD Block containing one or more Attributes

◗ Attributes named in the correct format

◗ A Multi-View Block containing the Attributed AutoCAD Blocks as ViewBlocks

◗ A Tag Anchor attachment

Fortunately, ADT provides an easy-to-use tool that automates the creation andconfiguration of many of the above components for you, taking what could poten-tially be a time-consuming and complex task and making it a relatively easy andpainless operation. In order to create a Schedule Tag, you simply need to create thegeometry and text that you would like to see in the final Tag. You also include textas a ‘‘placeholder’’ for the attributes that the Define Schedule Tag tool will createfor you. In addition to the geometry and text, you need the properties whose valuesyou want reflected in the Tag present in the current drawing—so build or importyour Property Set Definitions first.

Several Schedule Tags are provided out of the box. You can find them scatteredamong the various catalogs in the Content Browser. The specific options chosen at


the time of installation (see Chapter 1) will determine exactly which catalogs willbe available in your Content Browser. In the Documentation Tool Catalog - Im-perial catalog, you can find all of the Tags in the Schedule Tags category. Thesame is true of the Documentation Tool Catalog - Metric catalog. In the SamplePalette Catalog - Metric D A C H catalog, you will find Tags in the ExtendedDocument palette category. Figure 7–52 shows examples of each of these threecatalogs’ Schedule Tag tools.

Figure 7–52 The out-of-the box documentation Tool Catalogs contain pre-builtSchedule Tags

Like any ADT tools in the Content Browser, these Tag tools can be i-dropped di-rectly from Content Browser to execute in the current drawing, or they can bedragged to a palette for easy access and ongoing use.

CUSTOMIZING SCHEDULE TAGS

Regardless of all of the sample choices available, you will likely wish to create orcustomize some of your own Tags. We will use our Project Based Schedules Con-struct to experiment with custom Schedule Tags.

CREATE A CUSTOM DOOR TAG

1. In the Project Based Schedules Construct, create the geometry shown in Figure7–53.

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Figure 7–53 Creating the geometry and text ‘‘placeholders’’ for the Schedule Tag

Important: Be sure to use MTEXT instead of DTEXT.

2. Set the Color, Linetype, Lineweight and Plot Style properties for the ellipseand the two MTEXT objects to ByBlock.

Note: This is a typical ‘‘best practice’’ when creating symbol-based content. We willlook at this more closely in Chapter 9.

3. From the Format menu, choose Define Schedule Tag.

4. At the ‘‘Select objects to create tag from’’ prompt, select the graphics andtext objects and then press ENTER.

5. In the Define Schedule Tag dialog, name the Tag: AIG Door Tag (seeFigure 7–54).


Figure 7–54 Creating the Door Tag Multi-View Block

6. For both text objects that were selected, choose Property from the Typecolumn.

Changing the Type to a Property value will cause the Text ‘‘placeholders’’ thatwere selected to be converted to block attributes with the proper formatting andnaming to function in a Schedule Tag.

7. For the MARK text object, set the Property Set to AIG DoorObjects andthe Property Definition to DoorNumber.

8. For the DOOR SIZE text object, set the Property Set to AIG DoorStylesand the Property Definition to DoorSize-PRWxHxT.

9. Double-check your settings with Figure 7–54 and when you are satisfied,click OK.

10. At the ‘‘Specify insertion point’’ prompt, snap to the center of the ellipse.

The Schedule Tag is now created. The objects on your screen were converted to aMulti-View Block with block attributes that will link to the Door properties oncea Tag Anchor is applied to attach it to a Door (we will explore Multi-View Blocksmore in Chapter 9). A Multi-View Block that contains embedded attributes likethe one we have created will be seen as a Tag automatically by ADT. To see thisfor yourself, select the Tag, right-click and notice the presence of the Tag Anchorflyout menu (press esc to cancel). To make the Tag more useful and automatedhowever, we should create a tool and place it on a palette. Schedule Tags (likemost ADT content) should be stored in a central library drawing, as should the

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Property Set Definitions that they reference. For that reason, we will copy thisMV Block Definition and the Property Set Definitions it uses to our Office Stan-dard Library.dwg file. We will also copy our AIG Door Schedule Table Style.

11. Launch the Style Manager and click the Open Drawing icon (or chooseOpen from the File menu).

12. Open L:\Styles\Office Standard Library.dwg.

13. Beneath Project Based Schedules.dwg, expand the Multi-Purpose Objects nodeand then click Multi-View Block Definitions.

14. Right-click and Copy the AIG Door Tag Multi-View Block Definition andthen Paste it to Office Standard Library.dwg.

Note: You can paste to any node in the Office Standard Library.dwg file. The Tag will au-tomatically appear in the Multi-View Blocks node.

15. Next, copy the AIG Door Schedule Table Style from the DocumentationObjects node to Office Standard Library.dwg.

This will also copy the AIG DoorObjects, AIG DoorStyles and AIGMaterialDefinitions Property Set Definitions as well.

16. Right-click on Office Standard Library.dwg and choose Close. When prompted,choose Yes to save the changes.


Now that the Property Set Definitions and the Schedule Tag Multi-View BlockDefinition are safely stored in the Office Standard Library,dwg file, we can create aTag tool from them.

18. Activate the AIG Test tool palette that was created earlier.

If you deleted it, create a new one.

19. From the Window menu, choose Content Browser (or press CTRL + 4).

20. Click on the Stock Tool Catalog, and then click on the Scheduling andReporting Tools category.

21. Using the i-drop icon, drag the Tag tool to the AIG Test tool palette (seeFigure 7–55).


Figure 7–55 I-dropping the Tag tool to the AIG Test tool palette

22. Right-click on the new tool and choose Properties from the menu.

23. In the Tool Properties dialog box, change the name of the tool to AIGDoor Tag.

24. Click in the box for Tag Location and then browse to L:\Styles\OfficeStandard Library.dwg.

25. From the Tag name list, choose: AIG Door Tag (see Figure 7–56).

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Figure 7–56 Specifying the Tag name and location

26. Click in the box next to ‘‘Property def location’’ and Browse to OfficeStandard Library.dwg.

27. Click on the worksheet icon next to ‘‘Layer key,’’ choose DOORNO, andthen click OK (see Figure 7–57).


Figure 7–57 Finishing the Tag tool

28. Double-check your settings and then click OK to return to the drawing.

29. Test the Tag by clicking the tool and selecting any Door in the plan.

30. Follow the prompts to complete the tagging routine.

31. Save the file.

The resulting Door Tag should accurately reflect the DoorNumber and the Door-Size Propeties. If you change the size of the Door, both the Schedule Table andthe Door Tag should update to reflect the new value.

The process of creating tools and palettes was covered in much greater depth inChapter 4 of this book. In addition to reviewing the process outlined here, Chap-ter 4 also includes copying the new tool to the Office Standard Tool Catalog inContent Browser. This makes the tool accessible to all members of the projectteam or the entire office. For our purposes in this chapter, we will skip this step.

Important: The preceding several exercises have been presented for instructionalpurposes only. If you decide to use the out-of-the-box content, either as is or withmodifications, you should remove the custom Schedule Table Style, Property Sets and

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Door Tag Multi-View Block that were created in these steps from your office standardstyle library.

EXPLORING THE OUT-OF-THE-BOX SCHEDULE TOOLSNow that we have taken an in-depth look at the inner workings of Property SetDefinitions, Schedule Table Styles and Schedule Tags, you can explore the Sched-ule content that is provided with Architectural Desktop and make an educated de-cision as to whether or not it is appropriate for use in your organization. Out-of-the-box content can be used as is, or depending on your specific needs, can oftenbe modified more quickly than creating new content from scratch. First, it is im-portant to realize that most of the Imperial and Metric Schedule Tables providedwith ADT are fully NCS 3.1 compliant. This certainly applies to the Door Sched-ules that are accessible from the Scheduling tab of the Document tool palettegroup and in the Content Browser libraries.

Note: Metric D A C H content is an exception, since it was developed specifically for aregion in which NCS is not typically in use.

Even though we have built a complete Door Schedule solution in this chapter, wewill now explore the out-of-the-box offerings for comparison. There are two DoorSchedules provided on the Scheduling palette—a project-based Schedule Tableand a non-project-based one. The only difference between the two Schedules isthat the project-based Schedule Table uses a DoorNumberProjectBased PropertyDefinition (similar to the one we built above) and is intended for use with theProject Navigator. The other one uses a simple manual property for the Mark col-umn instead and can be used when the Project Navigator is not being used. Wewill examine the project-based Schedule here in a single drawing for simplicity andthen at the end of this chapter we will see it in the context of the full project.

EXPLORING THE DEFAULT SCHEDULE CONTENT

There are several styles included with ADT in the box. The best place to look forthe styles provided is the Content library files. There are three such files includedwith the software. Look for each of these in the Styles folder of your ADT installa-tion. You can easily navigate to the location for your default ADT content byclicking on the Content shortcut in the Open File dialog (see Figure 7–58). Youcan also locate them using the Content Browser in the Documentation Tool Cata-log - Imperial and Documentation Tool Catalog - Metric catalogs.


Figure 7–58 The Content shortcut in the Select File dialog will allow you to navi-gate directly to the folder in which the default ADT content files are located

Schedule Table Styles (Imperial).dwg is located in Styles\Imperial.

Schedule Table Styles (Metric).dwg is located in Styles\Metric.

Schedule Tables Styles.dwg is located in the Styles\Metric D A CH\Styles folder.

Figure 7–59 Door Schedule samples provided in the AEC templates

You should take some time to explore the styles contained in each of these files be-fore you begin customizing or building your own. You may find that one of thesetable styles meets your needs as is or simply requires some minor modifications.

EXPLORE THE OUT-OF-THE-BOX DOOR SCHEDULE

1. Open the Project Based Schedule Construct.

We will continue to use the same Construct that we used above. The fact thatthere is already a custom Schedule Table in the drawing with custom Property Setsattached to the Doors will not inhibit our exploration—the out-of-the-box Sched-ule will use its own Property Set Definitions and will therefore ignore the ones wecreated earlier.

2. Erase the Door Schedule that was placed earlier.

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3. From the Scheduling tool palette, choose the Door Schedules ProjectBased tool.

4. When prompted to select objects, use a window or crossing selection toselect all objects in the drawing, and then place the Schedule below the plan.

5. Select the new Schedule, right-click and choose Add All Property Sets.

The updated Schedule Table should look like Figure 7–60. Note that there areseveral objects reported that were not in the custom Schedule created earlier in thisexercise, and that there are still ‘‘?’’ marks, indicating properties that are notattached.

Figure 7–60 The out-of-the-box project-based Door Schedule

The extra objects in the Schedule are Door/Window Assembly objects. The out-of-the-box Door Schedule style is set to apply to both Doors and Door/WindowAssemblies. This can be useful for Doors that are mulled units with sidelights and/or transoms; however, without the use of Classifications or layer filters, any Dooror Door/Window Assembly will be included in the Schedule. As discussed above,Classifications will give the greatest degree of control and provide a more auto-mated solution. However, for this to work properly not only do all Door andDoor/Window Assemblies need to be classified properly, but the Schedule itselfand its associated Property Sets need to be configured to apply only to those ob-jects that are classified as exterior or interior Doors.

6. Select the Door Schedule, right-click and choose Edit Schedule TableStyle.


On the Applies To tab, verify that both Door and Door/Window Assemblyobject types are selected.

7. On the right side, expand the Uniformat II Classification Definition and selectboth B2030 (Exterior Doors) or C1020 (Interior Doors). (See Figure 7–61.)

Figure 7–61 Modifying the out-of-the-box Door Schedule Table Style to filter byClassification


Now only the same Doors that were reported in our custom Schedule Table fromthe previous exercises should be included. However, looking at the plan, we findthat the front entry is a mulled unit. The Door that is a part of that system shouldnot be scheduled by itself—instead the entire Door/Window Assembly should beincluded. This can be corrected by changing or removing the Classification of theDoor itself and then classifying the Door/Window Assembly as an exterior Door.

9. Select the entry Door (the Door within the Assembly, not the Assemblyitself), right-click and choose Edit Door Style.

10. On the Classifications tab, choose Unspecified for the Uniformat IIClassification and then click OK to return to the drawing.

There should now be one less Door in the Schedule.

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Tip: Because it may be necessary to create a Door style that is part of a mulled unit,and therefore may need to be classified differently than regular Doors, you shouldmake Door styles that are dedicated for use in Assemblies. The out-of-the-box stylesare built this way. For example you will find styles like Double - Hinged (Frame-less) being used in many out-of-the-box Assembly styles. They are not classified by de-fault however. You will need to make this edit and resave them.

11. Select the Door/Window Assembly that contains the entry Door, right-clickand select Edit Door/Window Assembly Style.

12. On the Classifications tab, choose B2030-Exterior Doors for theUniformat II Classification value and then click OK to return to the drawing.

13. Select the Schedule Table, right-click and choose Selection > Add. At the‘‘Select objects’’ prompt, select the entry Door/Window Assembly and thenpress ENTER.

Important: Remember to select the Assembly and not just the Door itself.

The updated Door Schedule should look like Figure 7–62.

Figure 7–62 The Door/Window Assembly added to the Schedule, showing an errorfor the Mark and a missing Thickness property

Note that the new entry shows the *Space not found* error under the MARK col-umn, and shows a ‘‘?’’ mark in the THK column. You can move the Location gripas in the above exercises to assign the space, however the question mark is report-ing an invalid or unattached property. This is because Door/Window Assemblies


do not have a Thickness Automatic property. This can be fixed by modifying theProperty Set Data Format style being used by the Property Set Definition or bycreating a new one and assigning it to the Property Set Definition. Exploration ofthe DoorObjects Property Set Definition used by the Schedule would reveal thatthe Property Set Data Format style used is Length-Short. We will modify it to re-move the question mark.

14. Launch the Style Manager and expand the Property Data Formats node.Select the Length-Short Data Format style to edit it.

15. Change the value for Undefined to NA (see Figure 7–63). Click OK toreturn to the drawing.

Figure 7–63 Modifying the Length-Short Property Set Data Format style

The Door Schedule should now show ‘‘NA’’ under the THK column for the entryAssembly.

EXPLORE THE OUT-OF-THE-BOX DOOR SCHEDULE PROPERTY SETDEFINITIONS

Let’s take a look at the underlying Property Set Definitions for this Schedule Ta-ble Style and see if there is anything else that can be improved.

16. Launch the Style Manager again and select the DoorObjects Property SetDefinition to view its contents. (Make sure you do not select AIGDoorObjects this time.)

Note that there are several more properties in this Property Set Definition than weadded to AIG DoorObjects. There are some similarities. Examination of the Num-berProjectBased property will show that it was constructed in the same way thatwe created our DoorNumber property earlier. On the other hand, note that theFireRating property is a simple Manual property and does not take advantage ofthe Anchor property capabilities. Take a moment to examine some of the otherproperties.

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17. Select the DoorStyles Property Set to view its contents. (Again, make sureyou don’t select AIG DoorStyles by mistake.)

This Property Set Definition is populated entirely by Manual Property Defini-tions. Note especially the Material Property Definition, which does not leveragethe availability of Material properties as we did in our custom Schedule earlier.


19. Save and close the file.

While you certainly can build a completely custom solution as we did at the start ofthe chapter, it is likely that you will find that the out-of-the-box content can bemodified to incorporate some of the ideas covered here or be simply used as is. Youshould take the time to carefully consider what might be changed in the out-of-the-box Schedule content to make your implementation more effective. In the caseof a Door Schedule, you will most likely want to make a few changes. Often, onlysome minor modifications will make it perfectly usable. Remember, however, thatif you modify any out-of-the-box content, you should make sure to copy it to youroffice standard library drawing and create custom palette-based tools to provideeasy access. Choose the solution that works best for your firm and your workprocess.

SCHEDULES AND PROJECT WORKFLOWOne of the most important issues you will decide regarding the use of ScheduleTables is in which file the table itself ought to be located. This is because yourchoice will directly affect the workflow of your team and the methods of selectionyou use to create Schedules. There are three choices: directly in the file with theobjects being scheduled, in a separate file linked through XREFs (usually a Viewfile in the Project Navigator), or in a completely separate file using the ability ofSchedules to link to external drawings (this is usually done in a Sheet file using theProject Navigator). There are advantages and disadvantages to each method. It isalso possible that you might find uses for more than one approach at differentphases of a project. As with all other drawing objects, regardless of the method youchoose, final printing will occur in a Sheet file. The essential difference lies inwhere the Schedule object is generated. If you are using the Project Navigator, it isthe recommendation of this book that you create your Schedules for printing inView drawings using XREFs to populate the drawings with the geometry beingscheduled, or that you create the Schedules directly in Sheet drawings using thelink to external drawing functionality. However, you can use Schedules directly inthe drawings containing the scheduled geometry (Constructs and Elements) forinternal management, editing and informational purposes.


GENERATING SCHEDULES IN THE SAME FILE AS THE OBJECTS

If you generate a Schedule Table in the same file as the objects it reports, you canbenefit from two-way interaction between the Schedule and the objects. For in-stance, the Edit Table Cell command can be utilized to edit directly from theSchedule. Additionally, the Schedule can be set to update automatically any time achange is made to any scheduled object (see Figure 7–64). While these capabilitiesare certainly desirable, the trade-off is a situation that does not lend itself well toproject-based workflows. To print Schedules created this way, you must XREFeach floor plan Model file into the Schedule Sheet file and use xclip to crop awaythe floor plan. This will leave you with several Schedule objects that must be ar-ranged manually for presentation on the Sheet. The amount of time spent in suchmanipulations and the potential for error that this introduces arguably negates anybenefits gained by attempting to maintain plotted Schedules in the same drawingas the objects that are being scheduled. Furthermore, Schedules are considered an-notation and are scaled automatically when added. If you add them to Constructs,you will violate a basic rule of Constructs, which is that Constructs should notcontain any scale-dependent annotation.

Figure 7–64 Using Edit Table Cell to directly manipulate data in the Schedule andsetting the Schedule to update automatically as objects are changed

While this method is certainly not recommended for project-based scenarios, itcan still be useful to generate ‘‘working Schedules’’ to speed data editing or as adata checking tool. In this case, simply add a Schedule to a Construct, use EditTable Cell to edit values and delete it or freeze its layer when finished. It is veryimportant to note that deleting a Schedule does not delete the attached PropertySets and their values!

Advantages◗ Can directly manipulate individual cells in the Schedule Table using the Edit

Table Cell command.

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◗ Schedules can automatically update as geometry is modified.

◗ Can use any AutoCAD object selection method (like crossing or window pol-ygon) to determine which objects are included within the Schedules.

Disadvantages◗ Team workflow can be restricted because one individual becomes responsible

for both the Plan and the Schedule.

◗ Sheet files must be laboriously XCLIPed and arranged to form the final Sheetlayout.

◗ If new objects are added to the model, the Schedule Tables must be manuallyshifted in the Sheet file to avoid overlapping rows of data.

◗ Introducing scale-dependent data like Schedules in Constructs can force tedi-ous layer management that would otherwise be unnecessary.

◗ Automatic update severely degrades performance in larger files.

Recommendations◗ Turn off Automatic Update in larger files or if you notice a lag after perform-

ing edits on geometry, and be sure that the ‘‘Out-of-Date’’ component of theSchedule Table is turned on in Object Display.

◗ Generating a Schedule Table in the same file can be appropriate for very smallprojects and teams; however, if you are using the Project Navigator, youshould generate Schedules that are to be plotted in either a View file or aSheet, regardless of the size of your project or team.

GENERATING SCHEDULES IN THE COMPOSITE MODEL VIEW FILE

If you generate your Schedules through XREFs, you gain the flexibility implicit inthe separation of data, and you maintain consistency with the other building modelrecommendations made throughout this book. The Composite Model View file isan appropriate location for generating Schedules through XREFs. Simply add theSchedule directly in model space in the Composite Model View file. Be careful touse Classifications as described earlier in this chapter to control which objects willbe included in the Schedule Table. Failing that, you can also use the layer filtermechanism provided in the Properties palette (see Figure 7–65). Using Classifica-tions is recommended, however, as they eliminate the possible error introduced ifan object is inadvertently placed on the wrong layer, and once a Classification isassigned, it automatically interacts properly with the Schedule.


Figure 7–65 Adding a layer filter to limit the selection of objects included in theSchedule

Tip: If you need to have different Schedules for each floor or wing of a building, placingthem in View files is still recommended over placing them in Constructs. Simply createa View file for each level or division for which you need a Schedule, instead of placingthe Schedule in a Composite Model View. You can even use your existing floor planView files if you wish. You can also title each one separately with names such as ‘‘FirstFloor Door Schedule,’’ ‘‘Second Floor Door Schedule,’’ etc. This is done on the Proper-ties palette.

Advantages◗ Team workflow is not restricted, because one individual can work in the

Constructs and Elements files while another generates Schedule Tables in aView file.

◗ Sheet file setup is simplified, requiring only a one-time setup of viewports.

◗ Automatic update occurs as soon as XREFs load. The Schedule is always upto date, without degradation in performance in the model reference files.

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◗ Edit Table Cell can be used to edit property values in the XREFs as long asno one else is currently editing the Construct file.

◗ The scale-dependent Schedule Table is placed in the proper location with re-gard to Project Navigator guidelines (see Chapter 3).

◗ In a project environment, your levels and divisions will most likely be split upamong several Constructs. It is virtually impossible, in those cases, to create aSchedule in a Construct that will contain all of the elements on a given flooror wing. You need a View file to compile all of the geometry together in oneplace and create a meaningful Schedule.

Disadvantages◗ Editing of Property data is possible through the XREFs only if no other user is

editing the Construct file.

◗ While editing of Property data is possible through the XREFs, editing of ge-ometry (which is reported automatically by many properties) is only possibleby opening the Construct or Element file directly.

◗ You must use either Classifications or layer filters to limit selection of objectsincluded in the Schedule.

◗ If the Schedule grows because of new geometry, you will potentially need toexpand the viewports in the Sheet file to accommodate the change.

Recommendations◗ Use Classifications to control the selection of objects included in the Sched-

ule and be diligent about classifying all objects and styles as they are created.

◗ It is recommended that all Schedules be placed in View files (or Sheets—seebelow).

GENERATING SCHEDULES IN A SHEET FILE

In a project environment, you can create a Schedule Table in a Sheet file, placing itdirectly in paper space. The geometry reported by the Schedule does not need tobe in the drawing at all or even XREFed. This is accomplished by utilizing theSchedule Table’s ability to scan external drawings (see Figure 7–66). In this scen-ario, you create a View file that contains all of the geometry that you need in theSchedule (either a Composite Model View or a View of a single level or division).In the Sheet file, create the Schedule Table and set it to scan the View file. Eachtime the Sheet file is opened, the Schedule will update according to any changesthat have been made in the geometry that is included in the View file—which willbe its XREFed Constructs and Elements.


Figure 7–66 Schedule Tables can scan external drawings without XREFing theminto the drawing first

WORK WITH SCHEDULES IN SHEET FILES

In this exercise we will briefly explore the use of Schedule Tables in a project envi-ronment and placing Schedule Tables directly in a Sheet file.

Before creating the Schedule, we need to eliminate the Project Based Schedule Con-struct from the project data, since it was used merely to experiment with some ofthe more advanced Schedule and Property Set capabilities.

1. On the Project Navigator, right-click on the Project Based Schedule Constructand choose Properties.

2. In the Modify Construct dialog, clear all Levels so that the Construct isessentially ‘‘orphaned’’ and will not be included in any View files (see Figure7–67). Click OK when finished.

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Figure 7–67 Clear all Level assignments for the experimental Project BasedSchedule Construct

Next we need to create the Model View from which we will extract the Scheduledata. In this project we want to create a Schedule Table that will include all Doorsfrom the entire Model.

3. On the Views tab of the Project Navigator, select the Architectural category,right-click and choose New View Drawing > General from the menu.

4. On the General page of the Add General View wizard, type: 3D ModelComplete for the View Name and then click Next.

5. On the Context screen, choose all Levels and then click Next.


6. On the Content screen, verify that all Constructs are selected and then clickFinish (see Figure 7–68).

Figure 7–68 The new View should contain all Constructs in the Model

If you like, you can open the new 3D Model Complete View and verify its contents;however, it is not necessary to do so. We can go directly to the Sheet file andcreate the Schedule Table.

7. From the Sheets tab in Project Navigator, open the A-601 Schedule Sheetbeneath the Architectural\Schedules subset.

8. From the Scheduling tab of the Documentation tool palette group, clickDoor Schedule Project Based.

Make sure you do not click the non-project-based Door Schedule tool bymistake.

9. At the ‘‘Select objects’’ prompt, press ENTER to schedule an external drawing.

10. Pick a point in the upper-left area of the Sheet and press ENTER again to placethe Schedule Table (see Figure 7–69).

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Figure 7–69 The Door Schedule Table after being inserted into a Sheet

At this point, we have just the Schedule headers without any data. We need to editthe properties of the Schedule and assign an external drawing file—the 3D ModelComplete View—as its source.

11. Select the Schedule Table and on the Properties palette, change the value of‘‘Schedule external drawing’’ to Yes.

12. Click in the External drawing field, choose Browse from the pop-up menuand then navigate to the C:\AIG 2007\Chapter07\Chaper07 Schedules &Property Sets\Views\Architectural folder.

13. Choose the 3D Model Complete.dwg file.

14. Select the Schedule Table, right-click and choose Update Schedule Table.

After the 3D Model Complete View file is scanned, the updated Schedule Tableshould look like Figure 7–70.

Figure 7–70 The completed Door Schedule Table after scanning the 3D ModelComplete View


In this example, the Schedule Table works because the following steps were takenin the Sheet file prior to this exercise:

◗ The Door Schedule Project Based Schedule Table Style was modified in thisdrawing to only include Doors and Door/Window Assemblies that have beenclassified as either B2030 (Exterior Doors) or C1020 (Interior Doors) in themodel, as we did in a previous exercise.

◗ All of the Door and Door/Window Assembly styles in the Constructs havebeen classified according to their purpose, again as was done in a previousexercise.

This simple exercise illustrates the power of Classifications in a project environ-ment, and the ease with which a Schedule Table can be created on a Sheet thatwill automatically update according to any changes to the Model, by scanning the3D Model Complete View file every time the Sheet is opened.

15. Save and close the Sheet.

Advantages◗ Team workflow is not restricted, because one individual can work in the

Constructs and Elements files while another generates Schedule Tables in theSheet file.

◗ Sheet file setup is simplified, requiring no viewport setup. The Schedule iscreated in paper space and can be stretched to multiple columns with thegrip.

◗ Automatic update occurs as soon as the Sheet is opened. The Schedule is al-ways up to date, without degradation in performance in the model referencefiles.

◗ In a project environment, your levels and divisions will most likely be split upamong several Constructs. It is virtually impossible, in those cases, to create aSchedule in a Construct that will contain all of the elements on a given flooror wing. By creating a View file that contains all of the Constructs you wantin a given Schedule, and then using the external drawing scanning capabilitiesof Schedule Tables, you ensure that the Schedule is always up to date, show-ing all of the model information that you need, regardless of how many sepa-rate drawings it is contained in.

Disadvantages◗ You cannot directly manipulate individual cells in the Schedule Table using the

Edit Table Cell command—you must open the external files and editdirectly.

◗ The Schedule becomes a one-way report; no direct editing of cells is possible.

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◗ You must use either Classifications or layer filters to limit selection of objectsincluded in the Schedule.

Recommendations◗ Use Classifications to control the selection of objects included in the Sched-

ule and be diligent about classifying object styles as they are created.

◗ It is recommended that all Schedules be placed in Sheet files (or View files—see above).

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SCHEDULES IN A PROJECTCONTEXT

Schedule Tables should be placed in a Sheet file, except in cases where the Sched-ule is too large to fit on a single Sheet. In those circumstances where a singleSchedule Table needs to span multiple Sheet files, it is best to place the Schedulein a View file and use viewports to split the Schedule between the Sheet files.

You should tag geometry in View files. This will automatically attach the properProperty Set Definitions in the Constructs in which the tagged geometry resides.Do not tag or include in Schedules geometry that is located in an Element that re-peats itself in different levels or divisions. While the Tags will appear correct onmultiple instances of XREFed element geometry, the Schedule data will be incor-rect. If you need to Schedule Element data, you will first need to bind the Ele-ments into their Constructs.

Remember that in the case of Location properties, even though the object may betagged in a View file, the properties are actually attached in the Construct. Youwill need to edit the Construct to modify the Location grip. This is also true of anyautomatically derived property such as width or height. You cannot simply type anew width value. You must open the Construct and physically edit the Door (orother object) to edit its size. The Property data and Schedule will then report thenew size once the XREFs and Schedules are updated.

Use Classification Definitions to control the selection of objects for Schedule Ta-bles. Property Set Definitions and Schedule Tables alike should include Classifica-tion parameters in the ‘‘Applies To’’ tab where applicable. Additionally you shouldmaintain as a procedural standard that all geometric objects include Classificationassignments in their style definitions. The Uniformat II Classification Definition isprovided out of the box. You should include either this Classification Definition orone that you have developed yourself in your template drawings so that they are al-ways readily available when you are creating your objects and object styles.


UNDERSTANDING DISPLAY THEMESIn addition to their primary function of enabling Tags and Schedule Tables, Prop-erty Sets can also allow for the overriding of object display characteristics based ontheir values. Display Themes are easy to configure and will allow you to conveycritical property data graphically for presentation as well as analysis purposes.

USE DISPLAY THEMES

The following short exercise will illustrate the functionality of Display Themes,using one of the out-of-the-box Display Theme styles.

1. From Project Navigator, open the Display Themes Element in the GeneralResources category.

This plan has Doors that have been tagged with the out-of-the-box Door Tag,and have the out-of-the-box DoorObjects Property Set Definition attached.

2. From the Themes tool palette in the Documentation palette group, click theTheme by Fire Rating tool.

3. At the ‘‘upper-left corner’’ prompt, pick a point above the plan and pressENTER.

The corridor Walls and Doors should now be red.

4. Select the Display Theme Legend, right-click and choose Edit DisplayTheme Style from the menu.

On the Design Rules tab of the Display Theme Style Properties dialog, you willsee two panels. The top panel contains the Theme Settings, which define the dis-play settings for each condition that you want to show. The bottom panel containsthe rules for the Theme Setting that is currently selected (see Figure 7–71).

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Figure 7–71 The Display Theme style design rules

Study the rules for the ‘‘2 Hour’’ Theme Setting. This theme changes the color ofeligible objects to color 10 and uses a solid hatch pattern if applicable to the objectin question. This rule is triggered by two possible conditions shown in the lowerpanel. The first condition applies if the value for the FireRating property of theWallStyles Property Set Definition equals ‘‘2 Hour.’’ The condition also applies ifthe value of the FireRating property of the DoorObjects Property is equal to ‘‘2HOUR.’’ If either condition is true, then the properties in the rule will be appliedto the qualifying objects in the drawing.

5. Click the Cancel button to return to the drawing without making anychanges.

6. Select one of the corridor Walls, right-click and choose Edit Wall Stylefrom the menu.


7. On the General tab, click the Property Sets button and change the FireRatingproperty to ‘‘1 HOUR.’’

Note: As in the previous FireRating exercise, a List Definition limiting the choices toonly those that are valid and accounted for in the Display Theme style would be recom-mended here.


The corridor Walls should turn yellow (Color 41), because the FireRating propertyis now meeting the requirements for the 1 HOUR Display Theme Setting instead.The Doors, however, are still red, because in the out-of-the-box DoorObjectsProperty Set Definition, FireRating is a Manual property. If you choose to use aProperty Set for Doors that uses an Anchor property (as we did at the start of thechapter) to assign the Door Fire Rating, they can change automatically when theWalls are changed.

You can also disable Display Themes when you don’t want them to override objectdisplay.

9. Select the Display Theme Legend, right-click and choose Disable DisplayTheme from the menu.

The plan should return to its normal display. To re-enable the Display Theme, allyou need to do is to right-click it again and choose Apply Display Theme fromthe menu.

10. Close the drawing without saving.

Note: Display Themes are view-specific, so you can apply a Display Theme in oneviewport while leaving another viewport unaffected or assigned to a different DisplayTheme even though it might be showing the same geometry.

CD RESOURCESThe modified Project Based Door Schedule, using Classifications to filter objectselection, is included in the Chapter07 folder of the files from the CD. ModifiedDoorObjects and DoorStyles Property Set Definitions, also using Classifications,and a modified Length - Short Property Data Format are also included. They arelocated in the file Modified Schedules and Property Sets.dwg. If you wish to use themas part of your office standard content, you will need to copy them all to yourL:\Styles\Office Standard Library.dwg file. You will also need to create new pal-ette-based tools and place them in your catalog (see Chapter 4 for the procedurefor doing this). Finally, you will want to use the steps outlined earlier in this chap-

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ter to create a new project-based Door Tag, since the existing Door Tag tools willcontinue to reference the original unmodified Property Set Definitions.

Also included in the Chapter07 folder of the files from the CD are the AutomaticSchedule Properties.xls file and the Property Set Defs Worksheet.xls files covered at thebeginning of this chapter, for your reference and to assist you with any customProperty Set Definitions that you decide to create.

PROPERTY SET AND SCHEDULE TABLE CHECKLISTI. General

1. Review and test all out-of-the-box Schedule Tables that apply to yourwork. Inventory their Property Set Definitions and Property DataFormats.

2. Develop a list, using the Property Set Defs Worksheet.xls file (included withthe files from the CD) of any properties that you want to change.

3. Put in place any underlying content items that are necessary in order tofully implement your changes.

a. If you want to use Material Codes to automate the Material columnsin any Schedule Tables, build the Material Code Property SetDefinition and attach it to all of your Office Standard MaterialDefinitions.

b. If you want to use Anchor Properties, allow for the appropriateProperties to be attached to the host objects (most likely Walls). Youmay want to consider a Wall style-based Property Definition that isattached to all Wall styles that the Anchor property will ‘‘link to.’’

c. Make sure you have a Classifications Definition loaded into yourtemplate that will work with your customizations. The Uniformat IIClassifications Definition is provided with the out-of-the-box contentand may suit your purposes fine for most items.

II. Property Set Definitions

1. Perform the steps in the ‘‘Property Set Definition Preparation Checklist’’earlier in this chapter.

a. Procure a sketch of the Schedule you wish to create.

b. Assign dimensions to all major columns and components. (This will beused later.)

c. Determine which columns ought to be style-based and which shouldbe object-based.


d. For each column, decide what type of property each piece of datashould be.

e. Determine the Property Data Formats and other special formattingrequired (see below).

f. Using this compiled information, build the Property Set Definition(s).

2. Make sure you have all of the Property Data Formats you need withinthe drawing. If necessary, build or import them.

3. Decide on a Property Set Definition naming convention. It is therecommendation of this book that if you create a custom Property SetDefinition, that you prefix it with your organization name or abbreviation,then indicate the object type the Property Set Definition applies to,followed by ‘‘Styles’’ or ‘‘Objects,’’ depending upon whether it is anobject-based or style-based Property Set Definition. You should refer tothe Content Creation Guidelines in the ADT Help files for more namingconvention guidance.

4. Work in a temporary file to build Property Set Definitions and laterimport them into your Office Standard Library.dwg file.

5. Use at most two Property Set Definitions per Schedule Table Style thatyou need, one Property Set Definition for object-based, the other forstyle-based.

6. Add or modify the required properties.

7. Update your Office Standard Library.dwg file with your new or modifiedProperty Sets.

8. Open any style libraries that require style-based Property Sets and attachthem on the General tab of the style editor.

III. Schedule Table Styles

1. Import a Schedule Table Style that is close to the one you wish to use.

2. Configure all formatting and be sure that the Applies To tab informationmatches the Property Set Definition(s) you plan to use.

3. Add or modify columns and headers.

IV. Schedule Tags

1. Use the procedures covered in this chapter to create a new ScheduleTag in a working drawing.

2. Copy the Tag Multi-View Block Definition into your Office StandardLibrary.dwg file.

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3. Using the procedures covered in the ‘‘Understanding Schedule Tags’’section of this chapter, build a palette-based Tag tool.

V. Display Themes

1. Build or modify any Display Theme styles that you would like, based onyour Office Standard Property Set Definitions.

2. Copy the Display Theme styles to your Office Standard Library.dwg file.

3. Create palette-based tools for your Display Theme styles and copy themto your Office Standard tool catalog using the procedures covered inChapter 4.

VI. Test Components and Distribute the Tools to Your Office

1. Test all components. The easiest way to do this is to create a newdrawing based on your Office Standard (Model).dwt drawing template,generate some sample geometry, then tag it and create a Schedule.

2. Using the procedures covered in Chapter 4, copy your Schedule and Tagtools to your Office Standard tool catalog.


��SUMMARY��

Property Sets provide the data link to both Schedule Tables and ScheduleTags.

Schedule Tables and Schedule Tags work independently; one does not re-quire the other to function, but both require Property Sets.

Property Set Definitions can be either object-based or style-based, but notboth at the same time.

Property Set Definitions can include a variety of Automatic property typesand Manual Properties.

You should try to limit the quantity of Property Sets referenced by a Sched-ule Table to two or fewer.

List Definitions can be used to limit the possible values for Manualproperties.

Pre-planning makes the creation of Schedule Table components mucheasier.

Before creating new Property Sets and Schedule Tables from scratch, youshould inventory the out-of-the-box content and look for Schedule Tablesand Property Sets that can either be used as is or with modifications.

There are advantages and disadvantages to adding Schedule Tables in thesame file or remotely through XREF.

In a project-based context, you should always create your plotted ScheduleTables in either a View drawing or a Sheet file.

Classification Definitions should be used to control object selection inSchedule Tables and Property Sets.

Schedule Tags are Multi-View Blocks that use Tag Anchors to link data totheir internal attributes.

Display Themes allow you to override display settings for a view to illustrateProperty data in a graphical fashion.

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