PlotMaker Renaming Details!?

[Anonymous]

We have a layout book that changes the names of similarly named details every time we open the layout book. For example, if we have three details named BUILDING SECTION, Plotmaker will rename two of them to BUILDING SECTION_2 and BUILDING SECTION_3. This only occurs on details with long names.

Every time we need to print or plot the drawings we have to update those details just to get the names right. It's a 1/2 hour process every time we open the layout book.

Is there any way to get PlotMaker to stop renaming the details? This has wasted a day's worth of man-hours just on this one project -- and I know it is happening on others, too. I'm not sure why you would want PM to rename details in the first place.

[Aussie John]

In the drawing settings do you have naming by plotmaker selected?

[Anonymous]

This should not happen if you are linking views. Are you using PMKs? If so publishing may be adding the numbers during the save operation since the system will not allow identical file names in the same directory.

[Anonymous]

Matthew wrote:
Are you using PMKs?

Nope. We let PlotMaker do everything. The first time you import something it's named correctly. The next time you open PlotMaker the name has changed. You may be right about identical PMKs though -- in the process of creating the PMKs in the background, PlotMaker might be changing the names for carity's sake. But if that is so, why does it work properly the first time you import, and every time you update?

This isn't the only project that has this behavior, most of our projects have this problem at one time or another.

[TomWaltz]

Jay wrote:

Matthew wrote:
Are you using PMKs?

Nope. We let PlotMaker do everything. The first time you import something it's named correctly. The next time you open PlotMaker the name has changed. You may be right about identical PMKs though -- in the process of creating the PMKs in the background, PlotMaker might be changing the names for carity's sake. But if that is so, why does it work properly the first time you import, and every time you update?

This isn't the only project that has this behavior, most of our projects have this problem at one time or another.

.... and people wonder why I never trusted the "Title Types" to name drawings....

[Djordje]

Jay wrote:
Is there any way to get PlotMaker to stop renaming the details? This has wasted a day's worth of man-hours just on this one project -- and I know it is happening on others, too. I'm not sure why you would want PM to rename details in the first place.

Regardless of PlotMaker, are you sure that the details should have identical names? Sounds like a good disaster recipe to me?

[Anonymous]

Djordje wrote:
...are you sure that the details should have identical names? Sounds like a good disaster recipe to me?

I have tried to get people to use names like "WALL SECTION @ RM# 105", but for some reason they're still in love with "WALL SECTION".

My million dollar idea is to create a mouse with a built-in tazer that will zap them when they do something stupid. Half the office would be unconscious for the first week.

[TomWaltz]

Jay wrote:

Djordje wrote:
...are you sure that the details should have identical names? Sounds like a good disaster recipe to me?

I have tried to get people to use names like "WALL SECTION @ RM# 105", but for some reason they're still in love with "WALL SECTION".

My million dollar idea is to create a mouse with a built-in tazer that will zap them when they do something stupid. Half the office would be unconscious for the first week.

I'd be more than happy to invest in that.....