AutoCAD Architecture 2010 Wall Endcap Enhancements

I would like to put the spotlight this month on the enhancements made to the Wall endcap editing tools in AutoCAD Architecture 2010 (ACA). Wall endcap editing has been improved by the expansion of how individual wall components can be edited.

In ACA software, common AutoCAD commands have been added, providing even more control in designing walls as they will actually be constructed in the field. The Wall endcap tools can be found on the newly-designed Ribbon for ACA (shown below).



When wall endcap conditions do not meet your requirements, you can use the Endcap Edit in Place feature to configure individual wall components. In addition to the existing Edit in Place features such as:

add and remove vertices

hide and show edges

replace or remove endcaps

merge and subtract predefined areas

trim and extend to defined boundaries

You can now fillet and chamfer individual components as necessary. Once you activate the Edit In Place tool, the ribbon expands into a contextual tab providing the user with the existing tools as well as the new tools for editing on specially designed panels (shown below).




The user can also access these tools from the right click menu as well (shown below).



Below is an example of a wall opening endcap showing the results utilizing the chamfer editing tools used in conjunction with the merge tools.


Below is an example of a wall opening endcap showing the results utilizing the fillet editing tools used in conjunction with the merge tools.

In summary, the new Wall Endcap Edit in Place enhancements along with the newly created ACA Ribbon provide easily accessible tools to quickly design walls as they will be constructed in the real world. Remember, you could turn the Ribbon on in 2009, but it was not designed for ACA. The enhancements, available ACA tools and contextual tabs now available on the Ribbon in ACA 2010 are a major improvement. The Ribbon will speed up your design production tremendously.