Overview

The Keynotes tool is a legacy tool that does not fully integrate with more recent annotation tools but can still be very useful. 

A keynote consists of a specification code and short description with a leader line.

In our datasets we provide some example Keynote content but the primary use of this tool is to list items from an organization or project specification; our intention is therefore that the content is generally user sourced.

Help documentation covers the detailed options and use of the Keynote tool: Home > OpenBuildings Drawing Composition > OpenBuildings Designer Annotations > Keynotes. This article will provide outline guidance and a method for creating organization or project specific content.

There is also a blog written for previous versions that contains relevant guidance.

Create a custom SPC file

To do this a table containing the specification code and short description must be generated from the appropriate source exported in a structured format (XLS, CSV…). In this example we will use the UK's Uniclass Systems table, provided in Excel format by the NBS.

The SPC file is a text file containing a structured list. Each Keynote requires an line in the format: 

<Code>*<Description>

These can be generated from Excel using the CONCATENATE operator:

e.g.: =CONCATENATE(A4,"*",F4)

The cells can be selected, the asterisk is inserted by adding

"*",

Once the first field is populated just drag and fill to create the list.

Copy and paste the list into a empty text file with the SPC extension (just create a text file and modify the extension, ensure Windows File Explorer is displaying extensions).

Locating the SPC file

Once the file is saved place it in the appropriate folder.

For a file to be shared by an organization this would be the ..\Organization\Data folder in a Custom Configuration.

The value of TFKEY_DIR would need to be set by the custom configuration to point to this folder:

TFKEY_DIR = $(_USTN_ORGANIZATION)data/

This can be done in a Custom Configuration's Standards.cfg file.

To use a project specific file it would need to be located in the WorkSet in ..<WorkSetName>\Standards\Data:

TFKEY_DIR = $(_USTN_WORKSETSTANDARDS)data/

Note that the '=' sign is used in both cases so there can only be one active Keynote file.

Selecting the SPC File

Select the file using the Change File tool

The file name must be typed in, there is no browse function in this dialog.

Placement

Follow the guidance in the help documentation.