User Defined Defaults For Wall Types

[johnnydp]

Hello!  I am a Home Designer Pro user and have maneuvered my way through the basics of this program (though Roof computer construction stills alludes me). 

 

My question today is how can I save a customized wall specification as a default template to use later in other plans?  I laboriously defined several wall specifications ( Wall Types) in one plan, hoping to use them in future plans.  However, when I open the Wall Type window to the Drop Down list, my previous wall type saves from the previous plan were not listed. 

 

Is there a way to Save this work globally to use it in other plans when needed?

 

Thanks.

[solver]

You can save wall definitions in two ways.

 

1) Add them to a Template Plan. The program uses the Profile.plan file as the default template. Open it, define your walls, then save and close it. They will be there when you start a new plan from this template.

 

 

[Jo_Ann]

???  I could not get either of these methods to work?

[solver]

10 minutes ago, Jo_Ann said:

???  I could not get either of these methods to work?

 

Just tested in Pro 2016. 

 

Add to Library does not work -- I forget how limited Home Designer is. (Edited post above to correct)

 

Add to template does work, and is the method I used with Home Designer Pro.

[Jo_Ann]

How exactly did you get new walls added to the profile template without giving it a 'new' plan file name?

[solver]

2 hours ago, Jo_Ann said:

How exactly did you get new walls added to the profile template without giving it a 'new' plan file name?

 

Open your template plan, create a new wall type, save and close the template.

 

Create a new plan using the modified template. Check and the new wall will show up in the wall types dialog.

[Jo_Ann]

The profile plan template says it is a 'read only' file and can not be written to.

The plan can only be saved (with the new wall) by giving it a new name.  And that makes it just another plan file, like all other saved plan files.

If you draw a house on this plan, the 'new' wall will only appear on this plan.

Starting a new plan, using the default profile plan template, the 'new' wall will not be present.

[solver]

Suggest making a copy of the Profile.plan file first.

 

Right click on the Profile.plan file, select properties.

 

Uncheck Read Only. You can set it back to Read Only after making changes and saving.

 

[TonyWed]

I found this forum topic whilst searching for a way to define a new wall type or alter an existing one. I'm fiddling with new designs all the time, at the moment and am getting tired of altering wall width and materials (though the materials are properly set for some walls I add and I understand why). With the wall defaults dialog there is no way to further define the chosen default (e.g. I can select siding-thin from Edit>Default Settings>Walls>Edit but can't define the width and materials).

 

I tried to find use of template files in the help and reference manual but there doesn't appear to be anything about changing the wall type definitions to save them in the template. I tried adding walls to the profilem.plan file  (just as if I'm designing a house) then altering the properties but that doesn't seem to change the default definition so using that altered template doesn't help.

 

I'm new to the program so I may simply be misunderstanding something so any help would be appreciated. To be specific, I'm trying to design a solid timber house so I need exterior walls that are 100mm with a timber appearance inside and out, plus interior 60mm walls of solid timber.

 

(In case my signature doesn't show up properly, I'm on HD Suite 2018.)

[solver]

8 hours ago, TonyWed said:

a way to define a new wall type or alter an existing one

 

Suite lacks, or is very limited in its ability to do this.

[DavidJPotter]

Only Architectural and Pro have any ability to "Define" wall layering and types other than adding "Wall Coverings" which just alters the outer appearance of edited walls. If you require the best such ability upgrade to Pro or even better, Chief Architect Premier.

 

DJP

[TonyWed]

OK, David and Solver. That's bad news. I've moved from a similarly priced product that had great function in this area (like all competing software, there are pluses and minuses) so I may have to go back to that older product until I get a final design, then come back to HD.

 

I may be wrong but users of a product like this will often be doing what I'm doing, trying to put together a new design that works for us and that means discarding many and putting together new ones. At a minimum the width of walls is an important factor (especially for me, as I have a limited footprint to work within) that can affect room layout. I'm not as bothered about the materials. It would be nice if I could at least select multiple walls and update common properties (I can also do that with that other product, by the way, though I can also define new walls) but I haven't found a way to do that, either.

 

Don't mind me, just getting a bit tired of defining individual wall properties, so I thought I'd try to figure out how to avoid it. I could upgrade to Pro but I'm not sure I'd get $250 worth of extra value there.

 

Thanks for responding.

[DavidJPotter]

That is fine, software applications are preprogrammed to do what they do, you might consider using both, employing the strengths of each, your call.

 

DJP

[solver]

I'm curious if these walls will import into your library and can be used in your plan.

 

They should go into your User Library, and are named beginning with Wall. If they import, you should be able to click on one in the Library, then start drawing with it.

 

Wall Test.calibz

[TonyWed]

Thanks for the attempt, Eric, but, even though the walls do import, they can't be used in my version ("The selected library object cannot be used in this product version").

 

Shame.

 

I checked my signature and it is in my account settings (or seems to be) though the option for View Signatures wasn't set. If I change that and then click Save, the screen I get back shows no information for Overview or any other account settings but reloading the account settings page shows a message that it reloaded the signature editor content, so I guess it didn't really save it before; looks like it wasn't saved. I tried another browser and that seems to have saved it, so I hope it appears now.