Message: You have dimensioned to cross section lines.


Reference Number: KB-00821
Last Modified: October 18, 2021

The information in this article applies to:

Chief Architect Premier or Chief Architect InteriorsVertical SeparatorHome Designer Professional or Home Designer Architectural



QUESTION

I am getting the following message when I dimension in cross sections. What does this mean?

"You have dimensioned to cross section lines. Point markers will be used to mark these locations. If your model changes, these markers may not be in the correct location to provide an accurate dimension and will need to be maintained manually."


ANSWER

When a cross section/elevation view is created, Chief Architect/Home Designer generates lines to represent the edges of objects that the camera is passing through. These lines are called cross section lines and are temporary in the sense that they are regenerated when the model is changed. Dimensions that attach themselves to these lines will be deleted when the existing lines go away and new lines are created.

To address this issue, Chief Architect/Home Designer drops point markers when you tell it to dimension cross section lines. These point markers prevent the dimension from disappearing when the cross section lines are regenerated. As changes are made to the model, though, cross section lines may change position and these point markers may no longer be in the correct location. When this occurs, you may have to modify and reposition your dimensions manually. In certain scenarios, it may even be quicker to create new dimension lines depending on what parts of the model have changed.

To display objects that are not cross section lines, you can turn off the "Cross Section Lines" layer in Chief Architect Premier, Chief Architect Interiors, and Home Designer Pro. When this layer is turned off, only true, permanent objects will display and can be dimensioned without this message displaying or point markers being placed.

Note: If you need to dimension to cross section lines and don't intend to change the model, an alternative method is to use the CAD Detail From View tool, which is available in Chief Architect Premier. This creates a line drawing of your view in a CAD detail window, and all lines in this view can be dimensioned as needed. The drawback to this method is that if you change the model the CAD detail will not update.