Matthew Giampapa

ErichR, We actually are one of the better programs at translating AutoCAD documents, each version of VectorWorks is much better than the last was at translating these files. If you are seeing these problems in version 9. Please email in an example file so we can fix the problems. If there are simply special settings that need to be used we will let you know. Send the file and description of the problems to tech@nemetschek.net. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Cliff, VectorWorks was not meant to be run from a network volume. We do a lot of small file i/o dealing with the plug in objects. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Please see http://www.nemetschek.net/cgi/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=12&t=001957

Bryan, Marketing is currently evaluating a system that works like this... You buy a license for regular VectorWorks at the basic price, different add-ons for industries (Architect, Landmark, Mechanical, Spotlight, RenderWorks) will be included on the CD, but will only install if you purchase that module in addition. You will be able to combine any group of modules you want. If you wanted Spotlight and Architect, you would get a special serial number that enabled just those. If you decide that you need to add a product, you just purchase the module and we issue you a new serial number that enables those. As always, with any purchase you get a 90 day evaluation period. So, how does that system sound? Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

I just tired this with 8, 9 and the current development build of 10 and did not see any change in assigned values when I changed the field order. I'll need you to narrow this down a bit more. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

We understand the limitations of the Window Wall object. You are correct that is has usability issues when doors come into play, it simply does not have the elegance or flexibility of the regular wall tool. The best way to deal with window walls and doors in version 9 is to simply place the window walls leaving gaps for the doors. You can then go back and place a door in the wall and then place another window above it. In the future you will be able to place doors with windows as a built in option, but you can have the same functionality in 9 if you create your own symbol with both a door and a window. Windows on corners are currently not supported by the program. Since they are sufficiently rare, it has not been our highest priority. They can be done using VW's modeling functions. To do so, split the walls at the point where the window would be inserted. (using the split by point tool) Then superimpose a cube where the window would place an opening in the wall. You can use the subtract solid command to cut this hole in the wall and then build a custom window within it. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

MiniCAD 6 is not supported. As a general rule, we officially support a product for 18 months from the last sale of that version or until a version 2 higher is released. Whichever is longer. For instance, we are already past 18 months on VectorWorks 8 so when VectorWorks 10 is finally released, 8 will no longer be supported. If for some reason in the next 6 months we release VectorWorks 11 and 12, VW 10 would still be supported at least 18 months from it's last sale. (Disclaimer, while we expect a 11 and 12 to eventually happen, it will not be on that time scale.) As for the settings you describe, historically those have been stored in the MiniCAD preferences file, not the document. I would recommend deleting your preferences file and letting the program create a new one. Please remember, MiniCAD and VectorWorks only save their preferences when you successfully quit the program. So reset the preferences once again, go into the program and change your settings, then immediately quit the program to force it to save them. If you were successfully, the next time you open MiniCAD it should not ask you for your name and serial number again. Otherwise all I can do is encourage you to upgrade to a supported version. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Pedro, This is a known bug on OS X. It should be resolved in the next major release of VectorWorks, and I heard that this should not happen under OS X 10.2. In the meantime, you may want to try disabling your screen saver. Some users have reported that this will also solve the problem Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Suzanne, The toolkit from version 8 is now called the Object Library in version 9. Also, the property line tool was extensively revamped for version 9. It is now part of the Architect and the Landmark packages. Here is semi-complete list of things that were in 8, but are no longer in the basic version of 9. DTM and Site modelingProperty Line toolAEC WorkspaceWall FramerSpace Planning Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Tlan, Jay, Actually this is a know problem with the HP 1220c drivers under Windows XP and Windows 2000. If you are using WinXP, you should uninstall the driver you have now, and use the built in driver that comes with Windows XP. If you are on Windows 2000, you should download the v1.2 driver from the HP site. If you can not find it, contact Technical Support and we can provide it. This will cause crashes in a number of other programs besides VectorWorks, and HP has been made aware of the problem. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Slaroye, I can't reproduce this effect... but here's the test that I did. Draw an irregular polygon and duplicate it.Take the duplicate and turn it into a symbol, leave that symbol on the drawing.Next, create a worksheet with the Query "All Objects" and the formula "=area". I get the same area listed for both the symbol and the object. (This is in 9.5.2) If your seeing different results, please send the file into tech@nemetschek.net with a description of the problem. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

First, you may want to check out Appendix B in the VectorWorks 9 manual. It covers the Worksheet Editor in detail. Here is a breif walkthrough. Go to File -> Workspaces -> Workspace Editor.Select "Edit the current workspace".Locate the plug-in on hte left hand columnOpen the menu in the right hand side you would like to add the command to.Drag the command from teh left side to a location in a menu on the right.Click ok

Kevin, Something that appears to be over looked in this thread... Go to the page setup command and make sure that you have the scaling set to 100% on the VectorWorks panel. We add our own version of this in case the printer does not support it, so if you can scale you prints from all programs, make sure you find both scale options in VectorWorks. Also, make sure you do not have "Print Current View" enabled in the Print dialog, this will cause VectorWorks to print based on the viewable area instead of the paper size/location. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Joe is very much correct here. VectorWorks does not deal with images in a particularly efficient manner. If you import a 475k tiff into a 605kb VectorWorks file, it will grow to the size of 605kb + the size of the tiff image as expressed as a bitmap. So to get an accurate idea of how large your file will be, you need to decompress an image before you send it to VectorWorks. Actually, aside from lower resolution and a lower color depth, there is nothing you can do about this. We have compressed image support as a wish list item, and I expect that it will be addressed soon. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Peerman, Once you install a plug-in, you need to add it to your Workspace with the Workspace editor. It doesn't just show up by itself. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Not really, with RenderWorks the video card is used to draw the final image to the screen, but that is about all. So your video card's impact with RenderWorks is negligiable. However, your video card will play a big role in VectorWorks' OpenGL rendering mode. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Hmm, this sounds like a perfect application for the Arc tool in "Arc by 3 Points" mode in conjunction with some straight lines (or polylines). Draw the straight bits, then use the Arc tool to snap to the line endpoints and a point on the circle. Select the 3 objects and use the "Compose" command from the tool menu. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Well for one thing, we do not support more than 1 CPU in VectorWorks. That is on the wish list for a future version, a very high priority one at that. Also, we do not particularly optimize the code for Altivec or MMX/SSE. This may change in the future as we are always looking to speed up RenderWorks with each version. When I last asked about this, I was told that the rendering operations we do are not parallel in nature. So even if we did support these instructions, there would not be much gain at this time. So to answer your question... raw floating point performance is king. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

NNA can not make any comments regarding MacOS 10.2 compatibility until we see the shipping version of MacOS 10.2. Check back on August 24th. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

VectorWorks' image export options are not really meant for large scale print output. But, the only way not run into scale issues is to do the math out for the printer/resolution. If you are just dealing with 2D information, you can restrict the exported area better by putting the program into Perspective mode. (View menu -> Perspective -> Normal Perspective) If you have any windows machine available, you can also use the VectorWorks viewer to generate a print file using the real OCE driver. My only other suggestion would be to find a more platform agnostic print shop. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Because you are using a Mac, your email client encoded the file as if you were sending it to another Macintosh. VectorWorks files contain very little Macintosh specific information in order to be compatible with both the Mac version of VectorWorks and the Windows version. Most email client will allow you to choose how to encode your attachment, so make sure you use a PC encoding method like Mime/64 or UUencode. Actually, the AppleDouble encoding method is recognized by most Window's mail clients. Chances are all your friend needs to do is rename the file with a .mcd extension, and open it with VectorWorks. If it is encoded in a system their email can't handle, they can always download Stuffit Expander for Windows (www.stuffit.com) and use it to decode the file. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

mchase, We don't check this part of the message board with any regularity, questions like this should be in the General section... Yes, you will need an intermediate version of VectorWorks to translate your files. You should call our sales department at 1-888-646-4223, and they will issue you a free copy of VectorWorks for the purpose of converting your files. Alternatively, if you just have a few files to convert, you can email them to tech@nemetschek.net and we will convert them for you. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

The corner snapping is not a design change, it's a regression bug. Probably too late at this point but that is what maintenance release are for. The center prompt is being caused by a separate bug with Bezier vertices in polylines. That was introduced when we changed how snapping works inside symbols. Basically, a rounded rectangle corner is broken up into 3 Bezier polylines, at the last vertice of the polyline you get a center prompt instead of a point prompt. In investigating this, we also discovered a new bug with the decompose command in the development version. Let me know if you have further questions,Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support

Jono, This link should work for all versions of MacOS. ftp://ftp.ealaddin.com/pub/hasp/new_releases/hasp4formac/hdd_unified_installer.sit.hqx Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support [ 07-31-2002: Message edited by: Matthew Giampapa ]

This can't be done easily in the current version (Architect included). Basically you have to select the wall and use the cavities button on the Object Info pallet. This was a high priority wish since version 8 at least. I believe a tool is being developed for version 10 that will do this or something like it. FYI, You can always upgrade a license to include an industry series product for the difference in cost, you don't have to buy the whole thing over again. Matthew GiampapaNNA Technical Support [ 07-31-2002: Message edited by: Matthew Giampapa ]