This command allows you to define your abbreviations for your Finish, Door,
and Window schedules so they will appear (if used) in the legend portion of the
appropriate schedule. You may specify these abbreviation definitions in either
the default file (APS-2008.SAM) or in a job
specific file (<JOBNUMBER>.SAM). This
command first searches for a job specific ".SAM" file and if found uses it, if
not found then it uses the default file.
Command: SAM
One of the following dialogs will appear:
Depending on what existing .SAM files can be found you will see one of
the dialogs above. Select the appropriate action on the file you would like
to edit and the following dialog will appear:
Select the schedule type button to edit it's abbreviations. (Select the
schedule type button in the image above to go to the description for it's
options below.)
The 
button saves changes made and closes the dialog.
The
button saves changes made to another filename and closes the dialog (good for
copying the default definitions to a job specific file).
The
button discards changes made and closes the dialog.
The
button
brings you to this web page for help during the command (without canceling).
Job specific files
This command will search for both job specific files and the default .SAM
file.
The default files might be located either in your "Custom" folder...
or in
your local APS folder if you are using a network APS setup.
Job
specific files should be placed in a folder that is in or above all of the
drawings that will be in that specific job. When looking for a job specific
file the APS software looks in the current drawing's folder and then in
every folder above it.
A job specific .SAM file allows you to have different abbreviations for
different jobs. A job specific file will only be used for the job
it is named after so it allows you to customize it exclusively for that
"special" job (for some every job is "special").
It can be a modified copy of the "standard" file or you can create an
entirely new file from scratch, it is up to you. The filename should be
<JOBNUMBER>.SAM (of course substitute
your job number for <JOBNUMBER>). So if
you had a job number of "2004-123" your file would be named "2004-123.SAM".
Set how the job number is calculated in the "Method of determining
job number" section of the APS-CONFIG
command.
When any of the schedule commands are used while in this job they will
find this job specific definition file and use it instead of the "standard"
one. Other jobs will not be affected and will still use whatever .SAM file
they normally use.
Example:
Let us use an example to help you see how easy it is to set this up.
We
will assume that you have a job with the job number of "04-543". We will
also make some assumptions about your file management; we will assume that
you use the folder structure shown below.
The following steps
would set up a job specific .SAM file for this project:
1. Set the number of characters in the job number
to 6 since our job number (04-543) has six characters in it. The number of
characters is set in the Title blocks
section of the APS-CONFIG
command.
2. Copy the
APS-2008.SAM file from the
"Custom" folder to the "Dwgs" folder for this project.
3. Rename the file in the "Dwgs" folder
from: APS-2008.SAM
to: 04-543.SAM
When looking for a .SAM file the system will try to find the job number
by first looking at the current drawing's filename. If the filename has the
job number in it (example: 04-543-FloorPlan01.dwg) the job number
will be used to find the 04-543.SAM file. If the job number is not in
the current drawing's filename the names of the current folder and the next
three folders up will be used to see if one of them is the job number. Since
we have a folder named 04-543 it would search for 04-543.SAM.
It will search for the .SAM file in the current folder, the next 3 folders
up in the path, and in the current AutoCAD search path (the paths set up in
the "Support file search path" under "Files" in AutoCAD's options).
For more details on how a job specific file is located see:
How
a job specific file is located
The following dialog appears:
Select one of the abbreviation definition lines listed to edit it or
select the "Add" or "Delete" buttons to add or delete a definition.
Editing a definition:
Select one of the abbreviation definitions from the list and you will see
the following dialog:
Edit the abbreviation and definition as needed and press "OK". This
dialog will close and the changes will show in the list of abbreviations.
Adding a definition:
Select the "Add" button and you will see the following dialog:
Enter the abbreviation and definition of your abbreviation in the boxes.
Press "OK" and this dialog will close and they will be added to the list
shown.
Deleting a definition:
Select the "Delete" button and the dialog below will appear with the
current list of abbreviations and their definitions.
Select the abbreviation that you would like to delete from the list. You
will then see the following dialog:
If you are sure that you want to delete it press "YES" if not press "NO".
If you select "YES" the abbreviation and it's definition will be deleted.
The following dialog appears:
Select one of the abbreviation definition lines listed to edit it or
select the "Add" or "Delete" buttons to add or delete a definition.
Editing a definition:
Select one of the abbreviation definitions from the list and you will see
the following dialog:
Edit the abbreviation and definition as needed and press "OK". This
dialog will close and the changes will show in the list of abbreviations.
Adding a definition:
Select the "Add" button and you will see the following dialog:
Enter the abbreviation and definition of your abbreviation in the boxes.
Press "OK" and this dialog will close and they will be added to the list
shown.
Deleting a definition:
Select the "Delete" button and the dialog below will appear with the
current list of abbreviations and their definitions.
Select the abbreviation that you would like to delete from the list. You
will then see the following dialog:
If you are sure that you want to delete it press "YES" if not press "NO".
If you select "YES" the abbreviation and it's definition will be deleted.
The following dialog appears:
The finish schedule portion has three separate definition areas. Select
one of the abbreviation definition lines listed in any of the areas shown to
edit it or select the "Add" or "Delete" buttons below the appropriate area
to add or delete a definition to that area.
Editing a definition:
Select one of the abbreviation definitions from the list and you will see
the following dialog:
Edit the abbreviation and definition as needed and press "OK". This
dialog will close and the changes will show in the list of abbreviations.
Adding a definition:
Select the "Add" button and you will see the following dialog:
Enter the abbreviation and definition of your abbreviation in the boxes.
Press "OK" and this dialog will close and they will be added to the list
shown.
Deleting a definition:
Select the "Delete" button and the dialog below will appear with the
current list of abbreviations and their definitions.
Select the abbreviation that you would like to delete from the list. You
will then see the following dialog:
If you are sure that you want to delete it press "YES" if not press "NO".
If you select "YES" the abbreviation and it's definition will be deleted.
