Components for AutoCAD Details

As a consultant and trainer, I work with many people that are

currently working with AutoCAD or transitioning to Revit. I
am constantly amazed at the number of architectural users
of AutoCAD that are not aware of detail components within
AutoCAD Architecture. These components can be an
important part of drafting the many details that are part of an
architectural design office. Over the years, I have spent
many hours drafting details for construction documents and I
think of the advantages of having pre-made components
available to me for detailing.
The Detail Component Manager package is only
available inside AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) and is not
available for AutoCAD. However, it is totally worth using
ACA even if this is the only part you use.
It contains 2D geometry for various components used in
detailing and is organized by Construction Specifications
Institute (CSI) divisions. You can find a huge variety of items
ranging from steel beam sections, to finish carpentry profiles,
to concrete masonry units, and even roof drain sections.
Some of the items are very simplistic, like a 24, while some
are very complex, like a roof drain or window frame/sill.
When you insert the detail, it comes in as a block so it can
be exploded and modified if necessary.
The following illustrations show some of the components that
are available:

The Detail Component Manager can be accessed via:

. On the ribbon, go to the Home tab, then the Details panel,

then select the Detail Componentsbutton.

Type DTLCOMPMANAGER at the command line.

AutoCAD Architecture also contains tool palettes specific to
ACA. One of the default tool palette groups is named
Detailing and contains six palettes containing a small
sampling of the available details. The following illustration
shows some of the door details available:

You can right-click over one of the details (dont pick on the
detail) and select Detail Component Manager from the
context-sensitive menu to access more details.
It is a good idea to add your most commonly used details to
palettes for quick and easy access. There are literally
thousands of available detail components to use, so use t
Use this procedure to locate a detail component.

1. Use any of these methods to open the Detail

Component Manager (sometimes also called the Select
Component dialog box):
2. For Current detail component database, select a
database from the drop-down list. The database
provided with the software is the AEC Detail
To start the
command from...

Then...

the ribbon

click Home
tab Details
Components .

a tool on a tool
palette

right-click the tool,

Component Manager.

a tool properties
worksheet

open the Tool Properties worksheet for a tool,

and click the Select a Component icon on the
Component title bar.

and

panel Detail
choose

Detail

the command line

enter DtlComp and then enter as (for ASsign).
Component database (AecDtlComponents(US).mdb),
which is based on the CSI MasterFormat 2004
standard. You may also access other locally installed
databases.
3. Navigate to the detail component table level of the
hierarchy for the selected database using either of the
following methods:
Expand nodes in the hierarchical tree view until
you reach the table level, then select a table name
to display its contents in the grid at the bottom of
the dialog box.

The Detail Component Manager dialog box with concrete

mansonry table displayed

Type a word or character string in the Filter box,

and then click , or press Tab, or press Enter.
This expands all nodes under any node whose
name includes the string you entered, and
displays the component table for the first table
name that contains that string. This is a quick way
to navigate to a component whose name you
know, but it may expand multiple groups or

subgroups in multiple divisions. If you know the

division or group containing the component table
you want, it is faster to expand the nodes yourself.

Using the Detail Component Manager filter

4. Once the components for the selected table are
displayed in the bottom panel of the dialog box, you can
use the vertical scroll bar or your mouse scroll wheel to
locate a particular component. Clicking anywhere on a
row selects that component. Note that the number of
column headings varies from one component table to
another. For some tables, you need to expand the
window or use the horizontal scroll bar to view all
columns.

hem to make your detail creation life a bit easier.

Locate a Detail Component