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Yes, if you only want to sort by types.. What I need is to sort lighting fixture symbols into a lighting folder, speakers into a speaker folder and so on. Symbols coming from a referenced(save cache) dwg in to a referenced items folder etc. it gets cluttered fast. For vectorworks maybe just add 2-3 more columns more. Instead of just name and type you could have attached record, symbol category or something. if i receive a file from someone that is not that organized it would be great to just have a autosort symbols tonstart the cleaning process! 🙂

Hi Pat, Thank you for your reply. I thought it was going to be more complicated than that! The problem wasn't with the Sheet Layer or Design Layer, but by unchecking "Include Sub-parts" the problem was solved and there were no more duplicate quantities. Thanks and have a nice day !

Thanks for clarifying when the Texture Tool was introduced thought it was later than that! Good news that @homero should have access to it.

VW2022 was the year that they introduced the individual surface texturing system and removed the old Extrude "parts" (Top, Sides, Bottom) like they are showing in VW2017. Instead, you need to launch the Texture Tool, select a texture, and then select the face you want to texture. The original VW2022 guide for this can be found here: https://app-help.vectorworks.net/2022/eng/VW2022_Guide/Textures/Applying_textures_to_objects_and_faces_using_the_Texture_toolhtm.htm#h And Tom is correct, with this system they removed the Perimeter map (which used to be the default) and replaced it with Surface UV. There are many instances where perimeter mapping is more helpful, so it was great to see it make a return in 2026.

A couple of things: If your plug-ins are written in Python, the Vectorworks encryption functions will prevent opening and editing the plug-ins in the Vectorworks IDE, but will not encrypt the source code. If the plug-ins are written in Vectorscript, the functions will encrypt the source code, with the only things left in plain text being plug-in strings (which makes perfect sense since they can be edited afterward after encryption). It's one of the reasons I still write all of my plug-ins in Vectorscript, even after getting more familiar with Python. If I absolutely need a Python function or library, I can use the PythonBeginContext, PythonEndContext, and PythonExecute VS functions to achieve that while being able to fully encrypt. The hardest thing is passing variables back and forth, since vs.GetVSVar and vs.SetVSVar won't work with encrypted plug-ins, you have to pass variables through the string repository instead (found this out the hard way). Installing the BatchEncryption file from the SDK won't get you a menu command, it will get you access to the EncryptPlugin and EncryptAllPlugins functions. You will need to write your own menu commands to use them. Also note that these commands offer the same encryption as the Shift-Ctrl-Alt-click method you tried before, just in a more convenient and scriptable sense. They still won't encrypt Python code. Any time you move or change a plug-in file outside of the Vectorworks IDE, you generally need to restart Vectorworks. Vectorworks scans the plug-in files when it starts, so if you're going from an encrypted plug-in to a non-encrypted plug-in, you will need to restart for the plug-in to properly get moved back to the Custom Plug-ins tab. If you copy and paste plug-ins in the User Folder while Vectorworks is open, if they are unencrypted you don't necessarily need to restart, you just need to open the script or the Plug-in Definition dialog and press OK before Vectorworks will register the changes. The problem you are having is that you can't really do that if the plug-in is still in the Third-Party Plug-ins tab, which they will be until you restart. I also cannot stress enough the importance of keeping back-ups of all of your plug-ins just to make damn sure you don't encrypt the wrong ones by accident. Once encrypted, there's really no way to get them unencrypted. I'm going to attach the menu command that I wrote to encrypt plug-ins from the post you mentioned earlier. It should help you see the implementation of EncryptPlugin (not that's difficult to use) and will save you the time of writing your own. It is written in Vectorscript, but it also uses Python to get the last modified date, so you can see using Python inside Vectorscript. It's old and could use a little love (it doesn't currently detect .vst files and has even older methods that I used commented out), but should get you well on your way. I use a different system now that integrates with my version tracking database. When I update the database with the new version and release notes, the plug-in automatically copies the source code for the plug-in from the User Folder to backup folder as well as to a local Git on my machine. The copy in the Git then gets encrypted with the EncryptPlugin function. It's then ready to push on to GitHub. It saves a ton of time and is pretty bulletproof (now I'm going to find some wood to knock on...) Encrypt Plug-ins.vsm

It's most likely pilot error. I have experienced this poly tail as well. Solved somehow over the years and almost never cause it anymore. Some trouble shooting to consider: With NURBS, or other 3d Polys, the end snap can inadvertently go to layer plane instead of intended end point. OR Test adjust the snap box size up or down in vwx prefs. (A bit bigger might allow some tolerance?) OR Another long shot idea is if you have snap to grid enabled, your final snap may go to grid. Good Luck! -B

maybe some engeneer can code an AI based tool, which is translating the spagetthicode of the wrapped networks into clear short code. this would fasten all stuff up AND you can use it as a command. I have some real complex networks with thousands of marionette nodes in wrappers, but they are too slow for using them in normal day.

I'm trying to login to Vectorworks on my Windows PC at home, but after downloading I'm not able to get past the "Login Settings" section. I'm a student and got a code from my teacher for installation, plus I've have been able to do all the steps to get up to this point, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. every time I try to press login it says "Can't find a server on the network. Please enter the IP and port number manually" but I'm not sure what it means. Anything to help would be much appreciated!

I don't see the perimeter option. Like I say, Perimeter mapping was removed in VW2022. But I don't remember seeing the Part option for Extrudes in VW2021 or VW2020 so that might have been removed even earlier...? Is upgrading to VW2024 (or later) an option for you?

I think I got my licensing setup working, so now I'm going to test it with some friends. Of course, I want the test plugin encrypted so they can't read the code. So, I referred to this thread from a few years ago. At first I tried opening the script with the Caps Lock-Shift-whatever keys. I clicked on the two warnings, and sure enough, it moved the plug-in into "third-party" plug-ins, and it cannot be edited in VW. Great. Except the file in the plug-ins folder is easily opened in a text editor and read. Not good. Did I do something wrong there? So, I followed @Jesse Cogswell's post, downloaded the SDK and downloaded the BatchEncryption file. Now, it was a .vwlibrary file and not a .vlb file. I put that in my User Folder in Libraries. Opened VW and went to the workspace manager, and there is still no option to Encrypt Plugin. Oh..this gets even better. I moved the version in my plug-ins folder out, and moved the original (not-"encrypted" one) back in, but it still shows up as a third-party plug-in upon opening VW, and will not show up in the editor. I assume I'm doing something wrong. God I hate this program sometimes!

Hi, macOS 15.7.2 M4 Max 36GB UM Using the smaller file in the post before my reply (182.3MB). Cheers, Peter

Doesn't the resource manager kind of do this automatically? You can select what type of resource to show, so it's essentially like having them in folders.

I am working in VW 2026 - here are two examples of image props that I have downloaded into my file from the Vectorwroks Libraries - Plants- Model - Low Poly. Other image props re importing fine. and when I tried to import into a new file with with a different template (Landmark / Architect) I get the same results. Is there some setting in the OIP that I need to adjust?

Except that it doesn't, and I'm pretty sure that's what the original complaint is. Editing a symbol via the Resource Browser uses whatever view you have active, including rotated views.

I am wondering if anyone else has this issue. It has been months at least - perhaps since upgrading to VW2025 - that I have not been able to just use the publish command and let the program work. If there are viewports that have not been updated already, it will hang while updating them. This may be only renderworks rendered viewports and not hidden line or section viewports, I am not sure. I can rarely tell which viewport is stuck at "load x:xx"....when VW's CPU and GPU use will drop to zero. the work around I have been in the habbit of using is to go through all the viewports and update them a page at a time, prior to using Publish. It isn't usually too terrible, since I can then work on other things while the viewports update vs being locked out while "Publish" works. And I can stop updates when I find something that needs to be fixed. But occasionaly I would like to just hit publish, walk away, and come back to a waiting pdf. This hang is 100% consistent when I forget to get viewports updated before "publishing". I am using VW Designer 2025 sp7 but updates have not affected this issue, and InterirorCAD25. This happens on both my Desktop - (Win 11, iCore 9 14th gen, 64GB ram, RTX 3050) as well as my laptop (Win 11, iCore 9 13th gen, RTX4080, 64GB ram). I do often use higher res sheet layers, but high or low doesn't affect it. My files are usually very large since I started using InteriorCAD, but purged files do not affect it either. Thanks for any insight. Sean

Hi all. 2 questions! I'm trying to setup the Lighting Device symbols in our workgroup to somewhat accurately portray their brightness in renders, but I'm a bit confused as to where they pull this information from. In the "Light Info Record" there is the "candlepower" field, which after some googling i was able to establish this is a relatively old/uncommon unit of measure, but can be converted to Candelas (cd). After inserting a symbol in a drawing as device and selecting "use emitter" you then have the option for either "Lumens" or "Candelas". Selecting Candelas does give an accurate value assuming you have correctly entered the "Candlepower" value, if selecting "Lumens" though i can't work out how this value is calculated. Additionally, trying to calculate the "candlepower" can be tedious as I'm yet to see any manufacture list it or "Candelas" for a fixture, they mainly just spec the Lumens. I know you can manually edit the Lumen value when to match what a manufacturer states, however this doesn't update the symbol, so it doesn't translate to other instances and has to be entered manually in every drawing. So, the first question; Is there a way to save the "lumen" value to a symbol, OR what is the formula used to calculate this? Second question, If a symbol has been modified to have multiple Light Emitters to generate multiple beams, when you select "use emitter" for the device, is the value applied to EACH emitter? Or is the value an overall figure? For example, a LED Bar with 15 "emitters" and an Emitter value of 1000 lumens, does it render (15) 1000 lumens beams (15,000 lumens total), or does it divide the 1000 evenly across the beams (66.67 lumens each)

I don't see the perimeter option. As stated originally, I can't even select a "part" to add a texture to.

Just to eliminate all the possibilities, have you tried a different mouse? Or try changing any settings on the mouse like polling rate? I have my doubts that the mouse should be the answer, but in the absence of another more reasonable source of the problem it may be worth looking at.

I think it will always default to the current view's rotation when editing a symbol instance. To quickly unrotate the view you can choose Top/Plan (or hit Ctrl+5 or Cmd+5). You could also put an unrotated symbol instance off to the side and edit it there, or edit the symbol definition via the Resource Manager, which would default you to the unrotated view. However, these solutions aren't helpful if you need to see your symbol in the context of the other surrounding objects.

Thanks for identifying that one. I've added it to my list of problems when working in Rotated Top/Plan:

I've built out a few PTZ cameras that I've used for installs and figured I should try reaching out if anyone else would see benefit from this silliness. I've segmented the camera into a lens - body - and stand (base of camera in my situation). The pan Left/Right works great. It's the Tilt Up/Down where things get weird. I wish I could designate the point of tilt - or tell it which symbols to tilt. The plugin seems to tilt and pan the same symbols together.

I’m personally hoping many of these problems will be resolved by transition. Make sure you give words of encouragement for this critical feature. https://www.vectorworks.net/en-US/public-roadmap?url=roofslab-modernization

Hello All- As I dive into cable routing, I feel like I've lost the plot on the difference between a cable and a circuit. When you connect two schematic devices together you create a "Circuit" object. It looks like this object defaults to a "Cable" of "null". It has fields for "Cable Length", "Calculated Cable Length", "Cable Type", "Cable Outside Diameter". So there's a lot of references to "cable". A single circuit object can contain any number of "Circuits"-- (i.e. you connect from a socket with 10x circuits to a socket with 10x circuits-- your circuit object has 10x circuits) It looks like I can assign any circuit on the drawing to a user defined "Cable". The "Edit Cabling Tool" edits cabling in a drawing. For a connection between two equipment racks with 20 circuits, the dialog will show me a "Cable Count" of 20. The dialog also has a "Cable" field, but when I assign "Cable" to the circuits in that route, the "Cable" field is not populated with that information. Is anyone able to point me towards any documentation on Cable vs Circuit? When and why would I want to use a "Cable"?

Presumably this is the reason...? You need the projection to be Orthogonal.

Found the answer: https://university.vectorworks.net/mod/page/view.php?id=1473 But what's the point of having an annotation if it cannot produce accurate measurements in Isometric or Perspective? Why have that feature at all? At least disable the Measure Tool in viewports with Isometric and Perspective camera angles to prevent very costly mistakes.. I personally use Isometric and Perspective to show depth in the design. In one of my plot where the viewport and design layer "Scale" were matching at 1/4=1 it was very hard to spot the inaccurate Annotation. It produced a difference in annotated measurement of only 1-1/8in... If you're not paying attention, this can translate to a real-world problem, or worst-case catastrophe. This should be fixed or added to the feature list in the futures, ASAP!