April 30, 2016

ACA/AMEP 2017: Styles Browser Enhancements

Several enhancements have been made to the Styles Browser, first introduced in the 2016 release of AutoCAD® Architecture and AutoCAD® MEP.

Add Directory to Content Library
For reference, the image below shows the Content Drawings Library dialog, as it appears in the 2016 release.
When adding files to the Styles Browser Content Drawings Library, instead of specifying individual files, you can specify a folder, and all of the files within that folder will be included in the library.
As always, you can click on an image to see it full size.

Once a folder is added, you can choose whether or not to include all of the files within any subfolders of that folder as well.
The big advantage here is not in saving a few clicks when setting up the Styles Browser Library (you can add multple source files in one operation), but that once a folder is selected, you can add a file to it at a later date and that file will be included in the Styles Browser Content Library automatically. That will save a lot of effort in a firm with more that a handful of users. One note of caution, including a large number of files in the Content Browser Content Library can result in slow performance as the Styles Browser generates preview images. That applies whether or not you are adding folders, but, particularly with the subfolders option checked, it is easier to add a lot of files, perhaps without even realizing it.

Object Type List Auto Scroll
In 2016, when working in the Object Type drop-down list, expanding a category at the bottom of the list did so, but you would then often need to scroll the list to see some or, in some cases, any of the items under the expanded category.
In 2017, when expanding a category at the bottom of the list, the list will automatically scroll to show the items in the expanded category.
A small, but welcome improvement for those making frequent use of the Styles Browser, particularly for MEP users, as they have more categories and the number of items in those categories is greater than the Multi-Purpose Objects category.

MEP Enhancements
  • Additional Objects: Panels, Devices, Schematic Symbols and Plumbing Fittings, which previously used the "old" Select Style dialog, are now integrated into the Styles Browser.
  • Additional Categories: The addition of the previously noted objects has prompted the replacement of the 2016 all-in-one MEP Objects category with five separate categories: Electrical Objects, HVAC Objects, Piping Objects, Plumbing Objects and Schematic Objects. These five categories remain grouped together, after Multi-Purpose Objects, rather than arranging all categories alphabetically, which would place Multi-Purpose Objects between HVAC Objects and Piping Objects.
  • All System Definitions are now selected in the Styles Browser, rather than the two methods used in 2015 (some objects in Styles Browser, some in the Select System dialog).
  • Routing Preferences for Conduit, Duct and Pipe have been added to the Styles Browser, and a single Routing Preferences content drawing has been provided with the out-of-the-box content as the source file. This will allow these routing preferences to be omitted from template files, and imported only as needed from the source file.

Closing Styles Browser
A new command, STYLESBROWSERCLOSE has been added to allow closing the Styles Browser from the command line. The Styles Browser ribbon tool (Home ribbon tab, Build panel, Tools split button drop-down list, Styles Browser tool) now toggles the display of the Styles Browser. If closed, the tool opens it; if open, the tool closes it. In 2016, the tool only opened the Styles Browser (and, if docked or auto-hidden, deployed it).

This Screencast demonstrates some of these new features, in AutoCAD Architecture.

April 20, 2016

Autodesk Answer Days

The next Autodesk® Answer Day will be on May 18, 2016, from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm U.S. Pacific Time. Unlike previous Answer Days, this one will not apply to just one featured software; Autodesk team members will be scouring the AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Revit, Inventor, Vault, Maya and 3ds Max forums.

Read more about the event here and mark your calendar.

April 08, 2016

ACA 2017: CReate type Command Option

Another new feature that some may find of use is the addition of a new command line option, CReate type when adding Walls, Curtain Walls, Railings, Slabs, Roof Slabs and Roofs.

Selecting the CReate type option results in a new command line prompt. The default action is to create a Rectangle shape (by picking the opposite corners of the rectangle). Other shape options are Circle, POlygon and PLine.
Command prompts for those options follow those of the AutoCAD object commands of the same name. While you may not have many occasions for wanting to draw Walls along the lines of a regular polygon, do check out the PLine option, particularly for the object types that do not offer Arc as a command line option (Railings, Slabs, Roof Slabs and Roofs) in the "regular" Add command. For Walls and Curtain Walls, the PLine option makes it much easier to create arc segments that are tangent to the previous segment. And an added bonus when creating Slabs and Roof Slabs, you do not have to explicitly close your shape, as you do when drawing segments under the "regular" Add command. Finally, when using the PLine option when creating a Roof object, you can use object snap tracking to align the next vertex with previous vertices, which you cannot do in the "regular" Add command. This makes it easier (possible) to align your last vertex with the starting vertex on initial placement, rather than having to edit it afterwards.

April 03, 2016

ACA 2017: Grip Editing of a Roof Object Outline

It is that time of year again, when the new releases of Autodesk software come out. One of the new features you can look forward to in AutoCAD® Architecture is the ability to grip edit a Roof Object's outline, allowing you to modify it after the original placement.

As you can see in the image above, in 2016, all of the grips on a Roof are single-function square stretch grips. In 2017, the grips on the Roof outline are enhanced, multi-function grips. Hover over the round vertex grips or the rectangular mid-segment grips to get a pop-up menu offering several grip-edit options.

Vertex Options
For a vertex grip, the Move option is the equivalent to the grip behavior in 2016 and prior. Moving the corner grip moves just the corner point; the other vertices remain in place.

The Remove option does just that, it deletes the vertex.
Of the two roof edges that are deleted, the resulting roof edge will assume the properties of the lowered numbered edge. To see what those properties are, on the Roof contextual ribbon tab, on the Modify panel, select the Edit Edges tool and select the edges on either side of the vertex you plan to remove. The properties in the top row (edge "0") will be applied to the resulting roof edge when you remove that vertex.

The Offset Edges option also allows you to move the vertex, but, unlike the Move option, when you use the Offset Egdes option, the two adjacent edges will remain parallel to their original orientation, and the vertices at the far ends will move as required to allow that.

Mid-segment Options
The Offset option offers the equivalent of the 2016 and prior stretch grip. Selecting this option will allow you to move the entire edge, which will remain parallel to its original orientation. The vertices at either end will move as needed, maintaining the line of the adjacent edges.

To add a new vertex to the Roof, choose the Add Vertex option. The two new Roof edges will inherit the edge properties of the edge they replace.

The Convert to Arc option will convert that roof edge to an arc, and the arc edge of the Roof will be approximated by six straignt segments with the segment endpoints on that arc. (You will not get a conical Roof.)
The arc segment will continue to be treated as one Roof edge; if you desire a different number of segments on the arc, on the Roof contextual ribbon tab, on the Modify panel, select the Edit Edges tool and select the arc edge. In the Roof Edges and Faces dialog, change the value in the Segements column to the desired number of edges.

As with other enhanced grips, in addition to selecting an option from the pop-up menus as noted above, you can select the grip and then, before selecting a new point, tap the CTRL key to cycle through the available options. Preview graphics will show the effects of the currently active option, and, for the mid-segment grip, with ORTHO or POLAR active, if you stop moving the cursor, you will get a tool tip with directions for the current option and a listing of the other options. (For POLAR, a tracking vector must be active for the tooltip to show.)

The brief Screencast below shows the various Roof Object outline grip options in action.