auto dimension stairs

[adamjedgar]

hi guys,
i have just auto dimensioned my drawing.

as you can see there are a couple of issues

1. on the ends of the building, and obviously because of the steps in the walls on ends, the extensions are absolutely terrible
2. chief has not auto dimensioned the stairs at front and rear.
3. whenever there is limited space for dimension text chief doesnt appear to be able to move the location of the text so that the numbers dont overlap

any ideas on resolving these three issues?

[Bradley Boltz]

Hey Adam,
1) Maybe change your auto reach settings to exclude the setbacks, not sure if that's feasible for your drawing. It shouldn't be that difficult to make some manual adjustments but I see where you're coming from. Auto dims don't get you everything all the time.

2) Chief won't auto dim the stairs, I think you have to do that manually.

3) Switch to Imperial Dimensions like the rest of the English speaking countries! :Slyor dimension in Meters? sorry, bad joke). I have these issues with inches too and don't know if x4 allows spot editing of a dimension string so that certain point sizes of selected dimensions could be reduced.

Not using x4 yet and only used x3 once since loading it. Will need to catch up. Sorry to be so useless. Brad

[Glenn Woodward]

Adam,

As Bradley says, change your Reach distance, and stairs don't dimension.

Try this:
In Auto Exterior Dimension Defaults change the Reach to just a bit bigger than than your bigest stepback.
I have Line Separation at 800mm, 1st Line Offset at 1000mm, Overall Dimension checked.

Now go to the Manual Dimension Defaults that you are using.
It looks like you are using Gap FRom Marked Object (Extensions tab) - that's why some of the extensions are a bit longer and shorter, they are maintaining their gap from the marked object.
Try Length Towards Marked Object instead (I use 600mm) and Length Away From Marked Object (I use 200mm) - with a Line Separation of 800mm (Setup tab).

Deck railings default to No Locate. Uncheck No Locate in the wall dbx and Auto dim again.