On Land

If you use Entourage, ignore this post.

To attach a file to an email, you can drag it to the mail icon. Mail will start a new message with the file attached. Nice. (Entourage does the same thing.)

When sending files to Wintellians, don't do this. Start the new message, then click 'Attach'. Select the file, and check 'Send Windows-Friendly attachments'. I don't know what it does, but it sounds good.

If you do the drag and drop thing, you won't get this option.

(I assume Entourage, as a Microsoft product, is Windows-friendly by nature.)

PS: Don't send 'Windows-Friendly attachments' to Mac people.

Mac OS X 10.3, Panther, has built-in ZIP compression functionality in the Finder. Use it instead of stuffit. The ZIP format is more standard, and cuts down on problems with the Wintellians.

To create a ZIP file from anything, select the items in the finder, right-click, and choose 'Create Archive of [something]'. A file is created with the extension .zip. If you archived one item, the zip will have the same name. If you archived more than one, the file will be called 'Archive.zip'. Seriously consider changing this name to something more descriptive.

The original files remain.

An overview of Publisher in AC9, and publishing DWGs. Publisher in AC10 and 11 is here.

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Place layout lines where you plan to split the wall.

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One or two check plots may be sent directly to the plotter. Any more than that takes forever, during which time you can't do anything else in PM. Usually, create PLT files. Always create PLTs when giving drawings to anyone else.

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I've created a new category here called 'Workflow'. In it I am placing howtos for the various project stages.

This category is so special that it has its own division in the sidebar to the left. (If it's not a link, it's not done yet.) Refer to it often.

Superseded by this.

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Leads and pending projects should be placed in 1 Projects / zPending.

These are projects which have no modeling or design data with them. E.g., proposals only.

When a pending project actually begins, create the project folder as normal. Drag any documents in the pending folder to the new project folder. The proposal belongs in '3 Contract & Correspondence / Proposal'. (Old location: 6 Documents) Trash the project's 'pending' folder.

If a project does not go forward, move it to 5 Past Projects / Defunct.

A thorough going over for the existing/addition template complex, which really needed it. Let me know what you think, since I don't work on additions much.

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OK I should have done the foundation stuff in the meeting today because it would have given me the opportunity to demonstrate polygon editing for walls, lines, etc.

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All the posts in the Objects category have the location given at the beginning, for your convenience. Unless noted otherwise, the location is the R&D Library, Master LIB 8 : 1 Rill & Decker LIB8.

Once you've got the stair hole, try the same trick on a chimney:

Stone chimney, brick flue