December 2-5, 2003 ◊ MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas

Perfect Properties

Kelly Meyer

BD32-2 This course looks at the non-graphical data behind those intelligent building objects such as walls, doors, and windows. This data is in the form of property sets. We will explore the default property sets and then make some of our own. Topics covered include manual and automatic properties, formulas, project data, and formatting styles. After completing this course, you'll be able to create and add your own property sets to any object in your model.

About the Speaker: Kelly is the AEC product manager for Autodraft, Inc., an award-winning Autodesk® reseller founded in 1988. Kelly started using AutoCAD® Version 2.6 in 1985 when he attended a 2-year CAD diploma program at Caribou College. After graduating, Kelly developed CAD standards for a roof truss manufacturer and designed roof and floor systems until 1989 when he joined Autodraft, where he has handled sales, technical issues, and training. He has been an Autodesk® Certified Instructor since 1994.

kellym@autodraft.com

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Class Objective

By attending this class you will learn the terminology involved with the scheduling tools available within Architectural Desktop 2004. You will learn the how to create, edit, collect and display non-graphic data in traditional schedule tables.

Topics to be covered

The Picture Grande: The Map To Success

Kinds Of Objects

Property Sets

Schedule Data Formatting

Overview Of Schedule Tables

The Picture Grande: The Map To Success

To understand the scheduling system, let’s first take a look at the flow of data and how all of the pieces are connected.

⇒ Data is collected by the property sets from the object, the user and from the project if the project navigator is being used.

⇒ All of the property sets attached to an object become schedule data for that object.

⇒ The schedule data can be referenced from the object to be displayed in schedule tags and tables.

⇒ While the data is being collected and referenced it is also being formatted via format styles.

The following diagram illustrates the overall flow of data until is reaches the schedule table. We will discuss each one of these area further during this course.

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Let’s now walk our way through the different sections of the scheduling system…

Kinds Of Objects

For many years we have considered lines, arcs and circles to be Entities because in various places within AutoCAD they were referred to as Entiites. Since the release of Architectural Desktop (ADT) we now refer to lines, arcs and circles as Objects. There are two kinds of objects discussed in this class: Objects and AEC Objects. Object: An object is any regular AutoCAD graphic object in the drawing, such as a line, circle, text or block. AEC Object: An AEC Object is an Architectural Desktop specific object such as a wall, door or window. Both objects and AEC objects can be purely textual objects that do not have a graphic representation. We will refer to these kinds of objects as being non-graphic Non-graphic objects: Lines and circles are graphic because you can see them in the drawing. Non-graphic data is purely

information pertaining to an object that has no graphical representation. Traditionally we can consider block attributes to be non-graphic data since they are simple text strings stored on a block. Architectural Desktop adds non-graphic data in a much more versatile way using property sets.

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Property Sets

Property Sets are the backbone of the scheduling system. They collect, store and distribute the non-graphical data behind the objects. Here are two terms you should be familiar with: Property Set Definition: A Property Set Definition is a non-graphic table of data, similar to a database table, that contains

Property Definitions. Property Set Definitions are linked directly to an object or linked indirectly through the objects style definition. For example, a line object can have a Property Set linked directly to it but since lines do not have an associated style they cannot be indirectly linked. Walls, doors, windows and other AEC objects which are associated with a style can be linked directly or indirectly.

Property Sets are designed for specific objects or groups of objects. For example, a Property Set can be specific to Lines and Polylines but not other AutoCAD objects, or specific to only AEC Doors objects. You can create, edit and import property set definitions in the Style Manager under the documentation area.

Property Definition: A Property Definition is a single entry within a Property Set Definition, similar to a field in a database. For example, a Property Set for collecting information from or about doors might have Property Definitions like width, height, swing, fire rating, etc.

Here is an example of a property set designed for a door object called DoorObjects:

The Name column contains the individual “Properties Definitions”. Let’s explore the highlighted row named Height .

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The Height property value (that will be displayed in the Schedule Data - the door height) is being automatically filled in rather than typed in by the user. This is indicated by the Yes under the Automatic column. The Type column indicates what kind of value will be shown and where it will come from. The following table shows the different types of values that can be defined. Notice that the graphic representing each type appears to the far left of every property definition (row).

A closer look at some of the Types of data…

Manual text is entered either in the Properties palette or in the General tab when editing the style of the object (more later). This is the only type where the user has direct control of the value of the property. The process of manual entry is made easier and faster by applying appropriate formatting styles (sees the next topic, Schedule Data Formatting).

Automatically retrieving data allows you to specify the value from a list of available properties for that object type. The door object allows the following properties to be retrieved: (Note: this is a partial list)

These properties are fixed and cannot be added to or changed. By selecting the Edit Source button you can see a listing of all properties belonging to all of the objects or styles that are checked in the Applies To tab. This is a great way of finding out what is available, however, do not try and view all objects at once! This will send your computer into tailspin! Instead view only three or four object types at once. (More on the Applies To tab later)

Manual Manually entered by the user, default answer can be assigned

Automatic Automatically retrieved from the object itself

Formula A combination of other property definitions, calculated and/or blended words and sentences

Location A property definition value retrieved from a linked space, AEC polygon or an area

Classification The assigned classification on an abject (only AEC objects apply)

Material The assigned material on any part of the object (only AEC objects apply)

Project Data about the assigned project created in the Project Navigator (stored in the .apj file)

Remove Remove the property definition from the set

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A formula is great for performing mathematical operations on other properties to find volumes, totals, etc. The formula property can also add string values together to build a sentence. The following puts two text values together as one:

A location property adds a new grip onto the object when the property set is attached. When that grip is on top of a space, area or AEC polygon, the property value will be set equal to one of the properties of the other objects. This door has a location property on it and when the grip (the star) is on the area object, it will read the name of the area from the areas attached property set.

Classification has been added to all AEC objects in release 2004. Classification assigns an object to a specific category and adds specific, predefined descriptions to the object. For example a door can be assigned a classification of interior or exterior, new, demolished or existing. Equipment can be assigned classifications by department. Classifications are defined in the Style Manager under the Multi Purpose Objects category. The following illistrates setting a specific Status classification in a door style:

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Materials are assigned to specific object components in the style definition of the object. The material property reads the material of the component to be used to in various display representations. Optionally, the material style can have additional property sets to describe the materials by color, manufacturer, etc.

The Project properties are only available when the drawing is being used in a project via the Project Navigator. Using Project properties you can find Level and Division information for the drawing is assigned to or any of the additional Project details shown here:

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Assigning Property Sets…

Every property set is designed for a specific set of individual objects or objects based on their style. This is set in the Applies To tab in the property set definition. This restricts the property set to the objects that they are intended for, thus keeping the schedule data neatly organized and less confusing.

Assigning Property Sets by Object…

When a property set is assigned by Object, each instance of the object in the drawing must have the property set assigned to it. Tags in the Tool Palette automatically attach any property sets required for the tag. However, when adding the property sets manually, you use the Extended Data tab in the Properties Palette. Any property sets already attached will be displayed and if any additional property sets are available (for that object type) the button at the bottom left will be available for selection to add them.

Assigning Property Sets by Style…

When a property set is applied by Style, the property set is assigned when editing the objects style. On the General tab there is a button called Property Sets. By selecting the button, you can attach any available property sets.

Schedule Data Formatting

When an object has one or more attached property sets the data is referred to as Schedule Data. The Schedule Data is then retrieved and displayed by tags and schedule tables. Schedule data is displayed based on the associated formatting style. Property Data Formats… Property Data Formats control how the data will read. Typical ways of reading are all caps, sentence case and numeric methods such as integer, real (long and short) and unit type. Other options include rounding, prefix’s, suffix’s and many more.

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Notes on formatting options…

• Create currency by adding a $ prefix

• Add mm or ft as a suffix for measurement

• Undefined is the character(s) that will be displayed to indicate that the property set is not currently attached to the object. A great checking feature!

• Not Applicable is a text string to be displayed when the requested property does not apply to an object for Undefined. For example, the rise property does not apply to a door with a rectangular opening, but it does apply to one with an arched opening. A typical "not applicable string" is "NA."

• Zero padding is the expansion of integer values to include leading zeros. The value entered specifies the maximum length of a numeric value after it has been padded with leading zeros. For example, with Zero Padding at 3, the number 6 would become 006

• For True / False properties you can assign specific words to the value of True or False. For example Yes and No or On and Off

• To use a dimension style to specify some formatting, click Set from Dimension Style, select a dimension style, and click OK. Undefined, Not Applicable, Case, Zero Padding, and True/False are not defined by dimension styles. No permanent association is maintained

• Scale is the value by which the real number is scaled before it is displayed. For example, if the current drawing units are inches, a scale of 25.4 converts a dimension to millimeters.

Different property data formats can be applied to the same properties sets for different schedule tables.

Overview of Schedule Tables

Scheduling is a method for reporting information on a set of drawings. Schedules are very important and one of the most time-consuming parts of a set of construction documents. As changes occur in the drawing, schedules need to be constantly revised. We have seen so far that the schedule data attached to objects is very robust, easy to create, accurate and easily formatted. Now the only thing left is to report this data via a schedule table. Here are a couple of terms to be familiar with: Schedule Table Style A schedule table is an AEC object. As with many AEC objects, schedule tables are defined using an

associated style. The schedule table style dictates what the table will look like and what schedule data will be collected and displayed. You can create, edit and import schedule table styles in the Style Manager under the documentation area.

Schedule Table Object A schedule table object is an AEC object and displays itself based on the schedule table style

assigned to it. The following a door schedule supplied with ADT 2004:

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Schedule tables are assigned to specific objects in a similar way that property sets are; through the Applies To tab. This ensures that a door schedule only reads doors and not walls, stairs, etc.

The columns in a schedule come directly from the property sets that are available for the objects that apply. Therefore, when adding a new column to a door schedule, you will have choices of properties that apply to doors. This example of a door schedule style show what properties will be displayed and what property set they come from:

When adding you columns you simply choose the property to display. Grayed-out properties are already in use by the schedule table. Drag and drop the columns in different orders. Add headers, override the formatting and text styles and establish sorting methods.

Schedule table styles will be beyond the time limitations for this course but for more information on schedule tables refer to another great AU class or the help menu. Another great topic that compliments this course is the creating and editing tags. Happy scheduling!