📝 Regular text vs Key Text Strings (KTS)
The process that the software uses with either AppliCad CAD templates or Word/Excel templates is the same — using regular text and what we call Key Text Strings (KTS).
Regular text: no ### signs (e.g.
Date)
Key Text String: with ### signs (e.g.
###Date)
🧾 Plan your report content
The first thing you must do is decide what needs to be on your report.
A starting point is what you currently use to supply a proposal to your client. Look at the content and the layout.
Consider what works now and what has been deficient in the past. Use this opportunity to revamp your proposals.
✍️ Build the template
Decide what is regular text, and type this into your Microsoft Word/Excel document using the layout and composition functions of Word/Excel.
Next, type in the Key Text String for the variable you need the software to insert when it creates the output report.
There are hundreds of key text string variables available.
Note that Word templates allow the use of Headers and Footers and multiple graphics files such as logos, etc. The best layout will come after some experimentation, so try all the options that come to mind.
🗺️ Drawing templates (roof and wall drawings)
The same process with templates is used to define templates for the various roof drawings that typically form part of a client’s proposal. These are listed below:
Drawing name | Template name | Intended Use |
Roof drawing | Drawing-Roof | Shows the roof |
Batten drawing | Drawing-Batten | Shows the battens on the roof |
Block Layout | Drawing-block | Shows the blocks on the roof as created by Auto-Block |
Offcut Layout | Drawing-offcut | Shows the cuts and offcuts created by Gen-OffCuts |
Offcut Layout (Colour) | Drawing-offcut-colour | Shows the cuts and offcuts created by Gen-OffCuts using coloured planes that aid in offcut placement |
Panel Layout | Drawing-sheet | Shows the sheets on the roof as created by Gen-Sheets |
Panel Sequence | Drawing-Sheet-Sequence | Shows the sequencing of panel cutting derived from Linear nesting |
Panel Cutting Details | Drawing-Sheet-Cutting | Shows the detailed dimensioned panels |
Flashing Drawing | Drawing-flashing | Shows the roof and dimensions for each roof line as detailed by Dimension-Roof Lengths |
Flashing Profiles | Drawing-Flashing-Profile | Details the workshop drawings for the fabrication of custom flashing profiles |
Single-Ply Layout | Drawing-SinglePly | Shows the membrane layout generated by Cover Select-Membrane Layout-SinglePly |
Wall Plan | Drawing-Wall-Plan | Shows the wall layout |
Wall Elevations | Drawing-Wall-Elevation | Shows an elevation drawing of each wall |
Arc Roof Production Drgs | Cranking.DAB | Details the workshop drawing for the fabrication of cranked panels |
3D Design Drawing | Drawing-3D | ISOmetric view of roof in 3D |
Scaled Ruler | Scaled Ruler | A drawing that allows you to scale from drawings with unusual scale factors |
Individual Plane Layout | Drawing-Wall-Elevation | Prints each roof plane and its panel layout (using the wall plane template) |
Block Cutting | Drawing-BlockCutting | The block-cut details layout drawing |
⚠️ Note
It will help to preview AppliCad’s standard report templates before you edit or design your own, especially the roof drawing reports, as they have particular needs that become apparent upon review.
🖼️ Inserting the roof plan into a Word template
There is a significant difference between the AppliCad default CAD template and the Word template when it comes to placing the thumbnail of the roof plan into the report.
To get the roof plan (with or without dimensions) into the Word report:
Create a text box, a shape, or a table in Word, and
Add the Key Text String for the required roof drawing (for example
###RoofDrawing) into that shape, table, or text box.
Before the roof plan is inserted into the report, AppliCad creates a separate file of the roof drawing called RoofDrawing.eps (a PostScript vector format print file) based on the current view of the 3D model at the time you go to Reporting > Supply and Install and select [Print].
This is fundamentally different to the way the roof drawing is placed using the CAD report when it is generated from the CAD template.
📦 Controlling the roof drawing size and scale
The text box (or cell) defines the extents of the roof drawing on your template.
If you wish to constrain the roof drawing to a particular scale (so you may check measurements from it), insert the Key Text String for the scale as controlled by the process described below.
If the scale is not relevant and you simply require the largest possible drawing, use
###UnscaledRoofDrawing.
The roof drawing will be placed inside and constrained by the text box or cell, and it will maintain its aspect ratio.
Refer below for more options with inserting the roof drawing into a MS Word template.
🔒 Important Note (EPS in Microsoft Office)
As of the April 2017 Windows 10 product update, Microsoft disabled the ability to insert Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) graphics into Office documents to address a known vulnerability and make MS Office more secure.
###RoofDrawing uses an EPS file to get the roof plan from Roof Wizard to MS Word. Without that translator, Roof Wizard crashes. There is a FAQ tip to re-instate the EPS translator.
However, AppliCad recommends changing your template(s) so the EPS translator is no longer required. To do this, remove ###RoofDrawing from all templates and replace it with ###RoofImage[n].
THIS IS THE BEST LONG TERM SOLUTION.
More details about how to take advantage of ###RoofImage[n] are described in the next section.
Apart from overcoming the Windows/EPS issue, it provides more flexibility in how you present your roof plan.