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#23342 by Mark Toce
Tue May 01, 2007 2:50 pm
Installing smart windows is much like smart doors. You simply activate windows that you want to use in your drawing and then place them into the smart walls.

:arrow: To activate windows for insertion into smart walls:
  1. Select the rightmost button on the Types toolbar to open the Window Type Manager dialog box. Alternatively, you can Press [A] to display the Walls menu, make sure Auto 3D is activated, select Windows to display the Windows menu, and select Manage.
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    Notice that the Window Type Manager has multiple tabs. This gives you more control over the components of the windows you include in your drawings. Each tab offers different display/rendering attributes that you may be able to change. Options that you cannot change are grayed out.
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  2. Select the window type you would like to use instead of the default by double-clicking or by highlighting it and clicking on Load. Notice that when you make a selection, the illustration in the preview window and the window and line properties change.

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  3. Refine the window properties by using the options in the various tab sections of the Window Type Manager.
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    For most of the tab sections, you can change the display/rendering attributes to customize the windows for your drawing. The changes are displayed when you change focus to another field.
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    • Unit – you can change the unit type (fixed, casement, awning, hopper, double-hung, sliding), quantity, plus head and sill heights.
    • Trim Out and Trim In – you can control the exterior and interior trim by specifying head, jamb, and sill width and thickness as well as head and sill extension.
    • Header – based on the options you check, you can change the header’s thickness, depth, and offset from the wall.
    • Jambs – based on the options you check, you can change the jamb’s thickness, depth, and offset characteristics.
    • Sill – if Include Sill is checked, you can control the sill’s thickness and its inside, outside, and side extensions.
    • Sash – if Include Sash is checked, you can control its thickness, width, and offset. The Use 3D Symbol option lets you use a 3D symbol to represent your window in 3D views instead of the parametric window. The % Open 3D setting defines the percentage that the window is open in 3D views. This setting is applied to each window when you place it in your drawing; however, it is a property of the window entity, not its type. To change the percent opening after adding a window to your drawing, use the window Entity Properties Editor. For casement or hopper windows, you can check Opens Inward.
    • Muntins – if Include Muntins is not checked, the window is plain. If the Include Muntins, Centered, and Use Slabs are checked, you can control their thickness, offset, and width. On the window’s edges, you can use the full-width or half-width muntins. Alternatively, the edge can contain no muntins if you select None.
    • Glass – if Include Glass is checked, you can control the thickness of the window, its offset position, and the number of horizontal and vertical panes. Depending on the Unit Type, options for Upper and Lower panes are available separately. If you check Centered, the Offset option is unavailable.
    • 2D Options – you can specify a symbol to use in place of the Sill, Sash, and Glass, or any combination of the three in 2D views of your drawing. Remember that the depth of the symbol must match the width of your wall; the width of the symbol must match the width of your opening. The Unit Width will be defined by the width of the symbol you select.
  4. Select Apply to finalize your choices; then select OK if you want to use this window in your drawing without changing the basic description in the file.
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If you want to use this window with all the attributes you changed in future drawings, select Save As. Give the window a distinctive file name and select Save in the Enter window type filename dialog box. Whenever you want to use it later, just select it from the list that appears in the Window Type Manager, activate it, and insert it in future drawings.
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:arrow: To insert the window into your drawing:
  1. Make sure the Walls menu is displayed (if it isn’t, press [A]) and select Windows.
  2. Decide which smart window you want to use. Either go to the Window Type Manager, highlight the loaded window you want, click Set Active, and select OK to exit the dialog box. Or select the window you want from the pull-down options available on the Types toolbar. The Windows menu appears.
  3. Make decisions about how you want to place the smart window into your drawing:
    • Toggle on Sides if you want to place the smart window by its sides. You are prompted to Click one jamb of window to pick where the first side should go; then you are prompted to Click second jamb of window for the other side.
    • Toggle Sides off if you want to place the smart window by its center point. You are prompted to Click center of window.
    • Toggle on Center Point to automatically add a snapping point to the center of the window.
    • Toggle Cutout on to automatically remove the smart wall where you place the smart window.
    • Anchor the window by its sill or head. Toggle At Sill on to anchor the window by its sill. Toggle At Sill off to anchor the window by its head.
    • Decide which layer you want to use. Toggle One Layer on if you want to search only one layer. Toggle One Layer off if you want to search more than one layer. If you toggle One Layer off, another option appears on the Windows menu to allow you to toggle on Any Layer if you want to search all the “on” layers for smart walls where you can place the window.
  4. Select the point on the smart wall where you want to install the window.
  5. Continue placing copies of that window into your drawing where needed.
  6. Place other smart windows that you loaded in the Door Type Manager by selecting them from the pull-down menu in the Types toolbar.
:arrow: To replace one smart window with another:
  1. Select Search/Repl from the Windows menu. The Search and Replace dialog box appears.
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    If you select Search and Replace from the Edit pull-down menu, select Window types from the Type pull-down menu in the Search and Replace dialog box.
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  2. Select the window type you want to eliminate from the ones available in the Find pull-down menu. Only loaded smart windows are available.
  3. In the Replace pull-down menu, select the window type you want to take the place of those you indicated in step 2. Only loaded smart windows are available.
  4. Click OK. The Search/Repl menu appears.
  5. Toggle on the search parameter you want to use:
    • Entity – lets you replace the windows you select on a case-by-case basis, leaving the other ones as you originally indicated.
    • Group – automatically replaces all of the windows at once.
    • Area – prompts you to place a rubberband around the rectangular area where the windows need to be changed. Windows outside the area you indicated will not change.
    • Fence – prompts you to create a rubberband around the polygon-shaped area where the windows need to be changed. Windows outside the fence you indicated will not change.
    • Mask – lets you search for specific entities based on their properties.
  6. Select the entities to change.
:arrow: To change a smart window’s Z-Base, Z-Height, and window height:
  • Go to the Change menu by pressing [Alt]+[C].
  • Determine which option (At Sill or At Head) was used when the window was created:
    • If At Sill was toggled on, select Z-Base. This is the only way to affect the window’s z-position. Selecting Z-Height will do nothing.
    • If At Sill was toggled off, select Z-Height. This is the only way to affect the window’s position. Selecting Z-Base will do nothing.

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Hint: Switching to an elevation view and using 3D Move is another way to accomplish this.
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#56318 by vsem
Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:22 am
We are trying to use this for 3d purposes. If a smart window is placed - then repositioned - it does not cut out in the wall anymore - any one know if this is a setting or something else? Smart objects can't be that 'dumb'....right?? Thanks for (any) help!
#56325 by Michael Olney
Thu Dec 22, 2011 2:01 pm
Here's a few things to try. Make sure that you're updated to the most recent version. Make sure that the windows are "in" the wall; if the window if off by 1/64", it won't cut. The same goes with the angle; the wall and window must be exactly the same angle. Check to make sure that the window is in the wall in the elevation view. If, for example, the height of the wall is "0" (z-base=z-height), then the window won't cut the wall. The same applies if the window is above or below the wall. Also, make sure that you are copying the window into another smart wall and not 2D lines (I've made that mistake before).
#59747 by Richard Mauser
Mon Apr 01, 2013 3:37 pm
Hello .... ?
I've put off trying smart stuff for a long while, to avoid the frustration. Right now I'm in a 'squander my time' mode, so I finally took a look at smart walls and smart windows, etc. to see about using them to do the 3D model.
Neither the doors nor windows cut a hole in the wall. I zoomed on in to make sure that the door/window is exactly in the wall, and when 1/64" looks like an inch on the surface of my screen, and the symbols align with the wall, I'm thinking they are "in the wall". Auto 3D is toggled 'on' for both making walls and symbols. Any idea whats up with this?
#59748 by Roger D
Mon Apr 01, 2013 4:01 pm
Is cut wall on in the Menu when placing the door?
Are the z-heights of the door with the range of the wall. You might be a foot above/below the wall?
Are you searching the wall layer?

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