Room Tags and spaces

[bamckenzie69]

This is for AutoCAD Architecture 2012,  I have developed my floor plans and am adding spaces after the fact.  The spaces are generating as expected.  I am using the out-of-the-box Room Tag (not Project Based).  When it inserts, the tag reads Room and 000.  I read that I needed to add the Property Sets, so I went to Properties and under Extended Data I added the only available items which are Room Finish Objects and Room Objects.  Under Room Objects I am putting the room name and number, but it does not effect the tag.  When I look at the extended data of the tag, it shows the correct information.

What am I doing wrong?  I last used R2005 Architectural Desktop, but this is not an upgrade and I am not working with older blocks.  This is all out of the box.

[David_W_Koch]

Did you migrate content from the 2005 release?  I do not have access to ACA 2012, but based on 2011, the current out-of-the-box object-based Property Set for Spaces is called SpaceObjects, not RoomObjects.  This change was made in the 2007 release.  You say you are using the current "blocks"; if so, the Schedule Tag you applied would be looking for properties in the SpaceObjects Property Set.  If you are working with properties in a Property Set called RoomObjects, then the current Schedule Tag will not reference any of those properties.

Was the file you are editing started in the 2005 release, or based on a template from/migrated from the 2005 release?  The out-of-the-box template for 2012 should have the SpaceObjects Property Set in it already.  Even if it did not, using the current out-of-the-box Room Tag should import this Property Set when you used it.  Did you use a Tool palette tool to add the tags?  If so, right click that tool and choose Properties from the context menu.  Under the Basic category, under the General subcategory, there should be a property called "Property def location".  Does that have a file specified, and, if so, is it the out-of-the-box one for the 2012 release (not migrated from 2005)?  My installation of ACA 2011, with Windows Vista as the operating system, points to this file:

C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ACA 2011\enu\Styles\Imperial\Schedule Tables (Imperial).dwg

(your location will vary - at the least, "ACA 2011" would be "ACA 2012" and if you are using XP, then it would be under Documents and Settings\All Users\, not Program Data).

[bamckenzie69]

I forgot that I opened an older file that had a bunch of wall styles in it that I wanted.  Perhaps it is messing with the Space? The room tags in the old file are Aec3_Room_Tag and the new standard tag I am trying to use is Aec8_Room_Tag, so I am pretty confident it is not the tag itself that is giving me problems.  I think the problem is that the information I need is missing from the SpaceObjects Property Set.

I am using a tool pallete to apply the space and tag.  When I look at the Property Sets of both the space and the tag, SpaceObjects is listed.  The problem is the only information listed under SpaceObjects is related to size.  Nowhere does it show room name or number or room finishes.  That is the information I really need so I can generate my finish scheduled.  I read in another post that the name of the space under the Design tab of the Properties Pallete is where the new tags get name from, but I have changed the name of the space and it does not work either.

When I check the path of the tag it is exactly as you noted below except 2012.  I am on Windows 7 64 bit.

I really don't care about the room size, I need room name, number, and finishes.  Is there a place to edit the SpaceObject Property set?

Thanks for the help.

[bamckenzie69]

OK, I figured out how to edit the Property Sets.  I went into the SpaceObjects and added the stuff I need.  It seems to be working.  Is that the correct fix or have I messed up something else I don't realize just yet?

[David_W_Koch · Accepted solution]

As noted in the blog article I referenced in my previous post, ADT 2006 had a SpaceObjects Property Set Definition [PSD] that contained all automatic properties for Spaces, which, in more recent releases, are now in the SpaceStyles PSD.  If you were working in an older file, or somehow brought the older Property Sets into a new file while copying Wall Styles (perhaps you also copied a Space?), then having the old SpaceObjects PSD in the file is what caused the problem.

When you use add a tag tool, in addition to any Property Sets specified in the tool, ACA will look at the Property Sets referenced by the specified tag and then looks at the target drawing file to see if a Property Set of that name already exists.  If not, it imports the Property Set.  If a Property Set of that name does exist in the file, ACA does nothing.  Unfortunately, it does not look to see if the Property Set in the target drawing actually contains the necessary properties.  Adding the properties to the Property Set manually, as you did, is one solution.  In the future, you may find it easier to use the Style Manager to copy the current version of the Property Set(s) from the Property Set source file (as given in the tool) and overwrite the existing version(s).

[allendesignllc]

I still am having an issue with this.  My room tags keep showing ROOM and 000.  Regardless of my room objects property sets.  I have tried multiple drawings so I think it is a setting somewhere.  I have followed all the steps in this particular forum and everything checks out.  I am using wall styles that I created in ACA 2005.  Could that be a problem?  I am now using ACA 2010.  As far as i remember, that is the only thing i migrated from ACA 2005.

Even when I edit the property sets in the properties tool bar, the data in the room tag does not change.

[David_W_Koch]

Welcome to the community!

In the 2010 release the out-of-the-box Property Set Definition that holds the Name and Number properties is called SpaceObjects. The out-of-the-box Room Tags (non-project-based) are set up to reference those two properties.

If you are using a template and/or other content that started out life in ACA 2005, the Property Set name was different then; it was called RoomObjects.  Unfortunately, there was also a Property Set called SpaceObjects in ACA 2005, but it contained the automatic properties that are now found in the SpaceStyles Property Set Definition.  So, you are likely mixing and matching content from 2005 and 2010 and the properties you need for the room tag to work are not present.

Select a tagged Space object.  On the Extended Data tab of the Properties palette, what Property Sets are shown?  Do you have a SpaceObjects Property Set?  Does it include the Name and Number properties, or have you been editing those in a Property Set called RoomObjects (a 2005 holdover)?

Use the COPY command to make a copy of the room tag.  Use the EXPLODE command to explode the tag, three times.  This will leave you with the attribute definitions from the block definition referenced by the Multi-View Block room tag.  Attribute definition tag names have a special naming convention that allows ACA to recognize that a property values should be displayed in them:  PropertySetName:PropertyName.  What Property Set name appears before the colon in the attribute definitions in your tag?  Is it SPACEOBJECTS or ROOMOBJECTS (or something else)?  If the tag is referencing SPACEOBJECTS but your SpaceObjects Property Set is from the 2005 release, it will not find the Name and Number properties and the tag will display the default values.  There may be other combinations of Schedule Tag and Property Set Definition that would also result in the tag failing to show the data.

To solve the issue, you either need to modify the tag to read the old RoomObjects properties, or you need to overwrite your old SpaceObjects Property Set with the one in the 2010 source file (Schedule Tables (Imperial).dwg or Schedule Tables (Metric).dwg for United States content; default installation location is C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ACA 2010\enu\Styles\Imperial or C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ACA 2010\enu\Styles\Metric; your content file name and installation location may vary, depending upon which localized content you are using and whether the content location was customized at the time of installation/deployment).  I would recommend using the new Property Sets, rather than an old tag.

This blog article discusses the changes that took place with the 2007 release: Room Name/Number PSD Heads Up in 2007.

If you are not able to resolve the issue based on the above, reply and attach a sample file so that someone here can look at your exact situation and provide more specific steps to resolve it.

[allendesignllc]

Thanks for the help.  I was definitely having an issue with an older version of something in the drawing (from aca 2005).  In a drawing created from scratch in aca 2010 the room tags worked as they should.

To solve the problem, I edited the room tag block in the block editor and changed the values from spaceobjects to roomobjects.  Everything works great with the room tags now.  My room name and number was listed under room objects and not space objects in the extended data properties menu.  Thanks again.

[bayleeliu · Accepted solution]

Wow, best explanation ever! Thanks so much!