On Land

2D Moulding JAM9 is the current standard 2D moulding object. It is part of the whole moulding profile scheme, where I can add a new shape in one place and offer it for use in as many objects as we want. The Crown Tool, baseboard, rake, shed crown, door and window trim, etc., etc., are all hooked together. The 2D object offers all the shapes of all types.

I notice that a lot of people still use the individual shape objects in 06 Wood & Plastic / 2D Smoot. This doesn't hurt anything, but be advised that I don't use them and I don't maintain them, i.e., I don't make new ones. I can think of several reasons to use the old ones though:

• Habit.

• There's a shape in there that you can't find in 2D Moulding JAM9.

• You like seeing the shapes in the object browser.

The first one, you're on your own. The other two I believe I've covered with this revision.

I've gone through the old folder and incorporated all the shapes into 2D Moulding JAM9. I think. You'll let me know of course, just like you would if you needed a shape for the first time.

I made a graphical browser for the shapes.

I also reordered the list a bit. This is just a very cumbersome list. The current scheme is groups of:

• Crowns (including cove, rake, and bedmould)

• Casing (including fluting)

• Base (including cap and shoe)

• Panelmould (including nosing)

I hope it makes your shape choosing all that it should be.

This is our 'stair helper'. As described here, I'm not a fan of all-in-one solutions for stairs or other complicated assemblies. I would rather build from discrete parts, each of which does its own job well. The main structure of a stair consists of slabs for landings and Stair Body objects for the flights. The railings and newels are separate.

The RiserMeter is one piece of the whole stair method complex. It performs several helpful tasks:

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Make it Flat or not. If it's arched, you can set either the Spring Height or the Arch Height, and the other dimension will change to maintain the overall height.

You can show Joint Lines representing the stones, and set a Stone Max Width. The lines use the Joint Pen. (The lines on the old arch broke in AC10.)

Turn the keystone off by setting the Keystone Height to zero. The Key Base Width controls the width of the keystone. (At this time, the flat arch can't have a keystone.)

Jambs of two arches

The overhead lines (Cased Op Lines) can be switched off individually.

Two mitered blobs

Despite the version number, a minor update to the Cab Blob. Now you can miter it. No, they don't do that in real life; it's a 'blob' remember.

Also, almost unintentionally, this is the first 'important' object I'm no longer maintaining in AC9. There will be more of this going forward as 9 finally goes under for the last time.

Automatic titles are not new to 10, but title objects are new, and now that they are objects, we can use them, which is new.

A drawing title is essentially a marker for a drawing element. Like section markers, detail markers, symbol labels, and door/window markers, you choose the title from a popup menu rather than from an object-type browser.

As with all markers, there's no way to restrict the list. It shows all the loaded drawing titles, and it's up to you to pick the right one.

Elevations, sections, site plans, and details should all use automatic titles. Plans are the only drawing which has an object (Plan Title RND10) in the window. PDFs placed for notes ordinarily shouldn't have a title. Scanned details might, it depends.

Since the title and its settings are part of the drawing element's settings, you can change them in groups using the Drawing Manager. (Note: You must have a layout as the frontmost window to do this; otherwise the title tab is grayed out.)

Drawing Title RND10a is very similar to Drawing Title RND9a. There's a couple of 10-specific changes:

• By default, the title uses the name of the drawing (which should come from the name of the view, which should come from the name of the window). You can put in a custom text under the 'Title' tab in the drawing settings dialog.

• Titles don't have a length parameter like a regular object. So the Length parameter controls the length. You would normally adjust this graphically:

The length still has a minimum equal to the title text length.

Again I have to apologize for issuing a '10a' revision. There was one issue with Drawing Title RND10 that I couldn't fix in place. That title would appear right on the corner by default. The new one appears 3/8" below the corner, which makes it easier to move the title as needed. Note the 'move marker' palette button:

And, full disclosure, I broke the minimum length thing, but now that's fixed.

Location: 01 General / 5 Title & Layout

Very, very simple. A text showing a standard scale, which you can choose from a list. The primary use will be placement in the SK layouts' scale field.

Why? I don't like typing scales. And no, it's not easy to get the scale of the placed drawing automatically, though it should be.

Use it for SK addenda.

Options

A text object for writing the date.

If Auto Update is on, the date will be read from the system. (Tip: turn it on and then off to get today's date while keeping it from updating by itself tomorrow.) The Year, Month, and Day can be set manually using the pulldowns.

There are a lot of Date Format options. I've tried to cover all the conventions that I know of.

Any of the formats with a separator character will use the character given in Date Separator. You can choose from the list or make something up.

Two-Digit Day will zero-pad single digit days.

Day of Week can be on or off. If it's on, it will be read automatically along with the rest of the Auto Update. It will not fix itself for a manually set date. (It doesn't know the 30th is a Tuesday.) The Format of the day of the week can be long or short. Note that the list will always give the short form. The day of the week can be followed by an arbitrary separator, where the default is a comma.

You can add Leading or Trailing Text.

Text Formatting: All the usual suspects. Font, size. (You can choose mm or points to define the units.) Bold, italic, underline. The object can be anchored by any of the nine typical text block spots, using the Horizontal and Vertical Anchor parameters. You can have a Background Pen and the Outline Pen. Setting either one to zero turns it off. Finally, you can set the Padding between the text and the background/outline polygon. (This uses the same units option as the text size.)

Non-locals who would like to try it out can download it here.

Kinda silly, but.

You can turn off the fluting in Fluted Column JM9. You normally wouldn't do this. You would use Tuscan Column JAM8. But that column doesn't have the option of turning off the base. So if you need a smooth column with no base, use a fluted column and turn the base off.

Someday I'll add a base switch to the Tuscan Column, but this was an easier quick fix.

Location: 06 Wood & Plastic / Columns & Pilasters

Original here.

Added the ability to extend the side fill along the ceiling on either side, even at an angle.

The spot at the end stretches the length, and the spot in the middle adjusts the angle.

A rectangular or arched shape for subtracting niches into walls.

If the Arch Height is zero, the top is flat. The Wall Pen draws a heavy line around the back of the niche, to match the weight of the wall's contour.

The side with the center node should go along the edge of the wall. That side is drawn with the object's pen.

The idea is to SEO subtract the object from the wall, as discussed here. You can use a window to cut a niche, but the subtraction gives you better display control.

You would typically place the object on the layer X SEO Show2. This is the layer for SEO operators that show in plan only. (In 3D views, you would see the niche, but not the operator itself.)

You might need to bring the object forward to make sure it masks the wall. The parameter Edge Nudge helps make sure the lighter edge line of the object covers the heavier wall contour line underneath. Turn on True Line Weights to check it, and increase the nudge as needed.

A minor tweak of the venerable rod and shelf. If Wall Line is on, you get a line at the back of the object, drawn with a dedicated Pen. This pen should match the pen of the wall. The new parameter is on by default with pen 15.

Why. Because if the shelf's plan fill is on, it tends to obscure the wall's contour. You could correct this by bringing the wall forward, but now you don't have to.

Historical note: As far as I can tell, this was my first object in GDL, with a date of 9 August 1999.

Everything in Stair Body JM9a still applies.

Major feature added: You can choose to have the stair cut by the Floor Plan Cut Plane. Recommended.

With the 'Auto' cut setting, you can choose to show a Cut Fill instead of the cut line. This will show the true cut thickness of the stair, similar to the roof element behavior.

Minor feature added: Separate cut line switches for the above and below stories.