Documentation, Annotation, and Schedules
Views and sheets
Documentation starts with the right views: plans, reflected ceiling plans, sections, and details. Understand view templates, view range, and discipline settings, since these control what appears. A common trap is annotation appearing in one view but not another because the view template or annotation category visibility differs.
Annotation
Know tags, dimensions, text, and keynotes. Tags read parameters from the tagged element; if a tag shows a question mark, the parameter is empty or the tag's label is misconfigured. Understand tag all vs. individual tagging, and how annotation scaling affects readability.
Schedules
Schedules are data views. Understand scheduled fields, filters, sorting/grouping, calculated values, and embedded schedules (like panel schedules). A frequent trap is expecting a schedule to show elements that are filtered out by category, phase, or a view-specific filter. Know that shared parameters enable scheduling custom data.
Rule of thumb
When a schedule is missing rows, check filters, phase, and whether the elements are actually placed. When annotation is missing, check view template and category visibility before editing the family.
Worked example
A lighting fixture schedule omits emergency fixtures. The schedule filter excludes a parameter value; adjusting the filter or adding a shared parameter restores the rows.