Top Reasons to Choose Autodesk AutoCAD Architecture 2014

Property Set Definition Auto-attach

It’s now possible to automatically attach Property Set Definitions to all relevant objects in a drawing. With this feature, existing Property Sets may be attached to new objects as they are created - whether directly in the drawing, within blocks, or within Xref’s. Newly created or modified Property Sets work in a similar way, and immediately attach to existing objects. You can enable this setting on a drawing-by-drawing basis from the AEC Object Settings tab of the Options dialog, or by changing the AECPSDAUTOATTACH drawing variable.

Command Line Search

AutoCAD Architecture has extended this new AutoCAD feature to allow fast and easy access to all Architecture styles that are in a drawing. Select the “wrench” icon to the left of the Command line to display “Input Search Options”, where you will see “Architecture” at the top of the list. For example, typing “brick” at the command line will display a list of all Wall and other styles that contain “brick” in the current drawing. Selecting a style from this list will create a new object using that style.

Door & Window Insert Enhancement

Do you miss the previous combined “Offset / Center” option when adding Doors and Windows? Autodesk has responded to the many requests to restore that capability. No longer do you need to switch options in the middle of adding a series of these objects. Instead, it is now possible to specify the position of a Door or Window within the thickness of a Wall while adding it. Simply select Left or Right on the drop list shown above and the object being added will be positioned flush with that edge of the Wall. Previously, this required either grip-editing, or specifying the offset using the Anchor tab for the Door or Window.

Set to Layer Zero

Have you ever gotten a drawing from a consultant and wondered why the color of a block does not change as you expect it to? Most likely, the reason is that the components of the block are not on Layer 0. Layers that cannot be deleted, but are not apparently used, may also be due to this setting. MoveBlockToLayer0 will correct the definition of a block by changing all components with one click.

Change Block

As a design changes, components must also change. This command replaces the definition of one or more selected instances of an existing block with another definition in the drawing. This means that Block instances can now be assigned a different definition, without recreating (inserting) the block.