About Schedules and Property Sets

Schedules, property set definitions, property data format styles and display themes are all tightly interrelated. Because of that, you should take the time to plan out carefully your system of property data usage.

Property Set Definitions

In addition to defining data fields for schedules, property set definitions can also be used to create “smart” object tags and can be used to override display settings for objects. Because of their myriad uses, you should plan them carefully. Of utmost importance, you need to carefully consider what specific object type(s) your property set definition will apply to and whether or not it will be style-based or object-based.

Note: Because Property Set Definitions, Property Data Format Styles, Schedule Table Styles and Display Theme Styles are so inter-dependent you may want to consider storing them in the same style library to make it easier to make modifications later on.

Property Set Definition Naming Conventions:

<Object type><Optional additional description><Attachment (style or object>

Example Property Set Definition Names:

Property Set Definition Description	Example Name
Property set definition for doors, object-based.	DoorObjects
Property set definition for window frame information, attached to window styles.	WindowFrameStyles

Best Practices for Property Set Definitions:

• Do not include spaces in property set definition names or property names. In the event that you want to have a property displayed in an object tag, it will need to be referenced by an AutoCAD attribute definition by name when the “Define Schedule Tag” tool is used. Attribute definition tags cannot include spaces.
• When a property is selected for use in a schedule table column, the property’s description is the default column header. While this can easily be overridden at any time, if you keep it in mind when you are defining your properties you can streamline the task of creating schedule tables somewhat.
• If you have legacy property set definitions for anchored objects that include formula-based properties that extract information based on the host object’s properties, you should consider replacing them with the “Anchor Property” in AutoCAD Architecture 2021 toolset. An example of this would be a door’s fire-rating property where you want to make sure it is set to match the fire-rating of the wall it is anchored to.
• Take advantage of AutoCAD Architecture 2021 toolset’s new ability to hide properties. This is useful if you have a property that is not actually directly edited by a user. By disabling its visibility you can minimize confusion when viewing and editing properties in the “Extended Data” tab of the object properties palette.
• If you have classified your object styles, consider strongly using classifications to further filter the object and style types that your property sets apply to. This is much more reliable than using layer filters.

Property Data Formats

Property Data Formats control the appearance and character/numeric formatting of property set values when they appear in a schedule table.

Property Data Format Naming Conventions:

Naming conventions for property data formats is fairly relaxed and descriptive:

<Data type/purpose> - <Optional description>

Example Property Data Format Names:

Property Data Format Description	Example Name
Property data format to display the area of an object.	Area
Property data format to display a numerical value as a length to 1/16” precision.	Length - Short 1-16

Note: In cases of numerical values formatted for a specific precision, you can choose to leave the actual precision value out of the data format style name, however you should indicate it in the description.

Best Practices for Data Format Styles:

• Before creating a new data format style, check to make sure there isn’t already an existing one that you can re-use. There are a large number of pre-configured data format styles in the existing “Schedule Tables (Imperial).dwg” or “Schedule Tables (Metric).dwg” files in your AutoCAD Architecture 2021 toolset content folder.

Schedule Table Styles

Schedule Table Style Naming Conventions:

<Object type> Schedule <Optional additional qualifier>

Example Schedule Table Style Names:

Schedule Table Style Description	Example Name
Door schedule, using standard door number property (not project-based).	Door Schedule
Door schedule, using project-based door number.	Door Schedule Project Based

Best Practices for Schedule Table Styles:

• If you have classified your object styles, consider strongly using classifications to further filter the object and style types that your schedule applies to. This is much more reliable than using layer filters.
• Pay special attention to the “Applies to” property of your schedule table style. It must match exactly the “Applies to” property of any property set definitions whose properties you intend to use for schedule table columns.

Display Theme Styles

Aside from making sure that your style names are descriptive, there are no conventions or standards for Display Theme Styles.