Tool Palette description change default to Long Description (Family)

[PatrickByrne]

The tool palette in Plant 3D appears to be made up of various elements from the pipe spec Short Description, Design Std, Pressure rating etc.

Is there a way of using the Long Description (Family) as a default?

I could change the short description but this is better left as is because when I do a BOM I want to be able to group items. For example all elbows to have the short description Elbow and not Elbow 90, Elbow 45 etc.

Also is there also a way of setting the order of the items to be same as the spec. Usually Pipe is the most used and on top. I like the Tool Palette and was hoping not to have to use the Specviewer.

What do other users do?

[PatrickByrne]

Does anybody have a solution

[PatrickByrne]

I asked the expert and although you can change what appears you can't get the Long Description as default.

[dennis]

Bumping this up.

In 2012 Plant 3D, is it still that you cannot have the long description show up automatically in the tool palette?  This thread dates back to 2010, so I was in hopes that something has changed since then.

[Layout-Bob]

+1 on this one. Also, I want the list of equipment to be alphabetical by default. Sorting palettes like this just make me sad 😞

[vannmannen]

This post deserves a new bump. It should be extremly easy to fix by the programmer.

I can right-click and change name in to whaterer I want, but as soon as I close the program and re-open, it goes back to the default name. In other words, you can modify manually but you can not save the changes

[lukecoxon3d]

When is Autodesk going to give us a reply to this one? 

It is so annoying that both the Spec and Catalogue editing interface is based around the Long Description Family, and then when you go to place the components in the 3d modelling interface, the tool palettes only display a concatonation of various data. Whether you have a "Long description Style" set or not. 

To resolve this, I see that autodesk need to fix either of the following.

1) Change the Tool palette display so that it shows the long description family.

2) change the "Long Description Style" script so the user can add the long description family to the style.

Given that i have never met a human being that knows how to control the tool palettes with any confidence, I assume that option 2 would be the easiest option.

Come on Autodesk, give us some hope here. Give us a response that at least someone is responsible for looking into it.

It is quite embarrassing that the user cant even read which part is which in the tool palette!

[vannmannen]

This is a severe issue and Autodesk seems to put more effort into developing these integrated packages rather that focusing on the use of the program.

[lukecoxon3d]

How can we get an answer to this? 

I have written to Autodesk via our CAD support company. 

I have written on this forum.

Maybe we should organise a social network fueled "occupy" style protest.

Drafting nerds from all over world will camp in front of there local Autodesk office, demanding answers to their Forum requests.

Who's in???

How hard is it for someone to say "im sorry, we cant get the long description family to display on the tool palettes, because the script writer that was contracted to write that bit of software was sacked, and replaced by 4 Autodesk salesmen. No one at autodesk actually knows how our software works, so we created this forum so that volenteer "experts"  can go out of their way to explain a conveluted "work around" that is not ideal but will do for now because your boss is breathing down your neck."

If Autodesk really cared about product developement, they would publish all the requests for fixes that they recieve, and let the users vote on their importance, which would democratically assign a heirachy and order of fixes for the next release. At lease if we knew our fix was on the list, we wouldnt have to keep writing to this response black hole that they call a forum. 

[dgorsman]

The democratic process doesn't work that well with software development.  Open source coding projects with lax project management are a good example - development only moves in the direction (if at all) that the contributing coders are willing to move it in, which isn't *necessarily* the direction everybody wants.

As for this forum it is not intended as a direct feedback system for reporting bugs or requesting features but a peer-to-peer support system.  The presence of of AutoDesk personnel here should be viewed as a bonus rather than a requirement.  Otherwise, we run the risk of heading where some of the AREA boards are at: AutoDesk folks literally cannot show their faces without them being (virtually) ripped off.

[patpat79]

You are using the pallete and not the spec viewer in placing components?? I have never used tool pallete in modelling and routing of our piping systems, nor my colleagues. I had advised them to only use the spec viewer, for it is easier and safer.

[teds]

In the specs set the Long Description (family) style to "No Style".  Then items in your spec will be based on short description, end type, compatible standard and design standard (flanges also add in facing).

Then next time you reload your spec in the tool palatte the information there should show the same with the spec number in parantheses.

[JoeKay]

Revisiting this issue. Has it ever been resolved? Or is there a clear way for us to edit the palette information to our liking. Like one of the posters mentioned, the short description doesn't work as that is what most of us use to categorize the BOM. Seems silly that you can edit that names in the palette yourself directly in Plant, but then it doesn't save. Thanks for any input.

[dave.wolfe]

It's a dynamic palette, so it gets generated based on the spec descriptions. If you create static palettes, the descriptions will not change. No, this has not been addressed.

[Anonymous]

I would really like for my pipe support descriptions in the tool palette to be populated based on the Family Long Description.

Please tell me there is a way to do this now in 2017...

All of my pipe supports share the same short description for easier BOM grouping. You can imagine the tool palette and how annoying it is to see every item having the same description.

[EricNyh]

+1 for Family Long Description.

[Anonymous]

Hi There,

Since there are 5 years in between this addressed issue; is there any solution for it?

[gastom8]

Hi There,

Since there are 8 years in between this addressed issue; is there any solution for it?

[jabowabo]

LOL, while you wait another 8 years, use PLANTSPECVIEWER. The dynamic palettes are just awful.