PeterT

Also, check out the L-Soft VectorWorks user discussion list at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/vectorworks-l.html This weeks topics alone have postings by John Williams, Andrew Bell, Robert Anderson, Dan Monaghan, Caleb Strockbine, Lyndsey, Sean Flaherty, Shirley Carter, Bruce Ferguson, and Craig Hollinshead, all Nemetschek employees. Don't ask me why they are all so much more active on the L-Soft list than on their own UBB list. Maybe one of them can respond to this.

I don't know about on a PC, but on a Mac, the Vectorworks EPSF export seems to export at 72 dpi no matter what, fairly worthless. So to get an EPS with a decent resolution we use our PostScript printer driver and "save to file" as mentioned by Mike above. The LaserWriter 8 driver produces excellent EPS's right from within VectorWorks and will support any resolution allowed by the printer. These EPS files can also be opened in Illustrator as vector drawings and can be manipulated there as far as I know. If you go to Adobe's website, for free, you can download the Adobe PS 8.7 postscript driver which produces the same results as the LaserWriter driver. Again this is for a Mac, but I would think Adobe would offer a Windows driver as well, but I'm not sure. Hope this helps, PeterT

Hey Donald, Another thing you can do is create a blank document, save it as a template, put it in your templates folder with a file name chronologically first alphabetically. Now when you open a new document, whether you choose "blank document" or a "document template", you will get the same thing. (the first time you open a template, the list is defaulted to the alphabetically first file in the templates folder) For that matter, you can just change the file names of any templates in the templates folder so that the templates you use regularly are at the top of the templates list.(I don't use the AEC setup assistant template either, which is alphabetically first as the program comes.) Regards, Peter Thayer

Try hitting the "enter" key before your other tool key. The "enter" key exits the text box without exiting the text tool. Now you can hit your other tool key, the "C" key twice, for example, to zoom in, and your text block will remain selected but you will not get two extra "C"s in your text string. Hope this helps, PeterT

I seem to have found an obscure bug in the Minicad to VectorWorks translation process exemplified as follows: In MiniCad 7.0.3, open a new file. In the resources palette, create a new command palette called SOME. Now, open the classes dialog, select the NONE class and edit the name of the class to SOME.(having another object such as a palette with the same name as the renamed NONE class seems to trigger the problem). Now save this file, all appears well in MiniCad. If you now open this same file in VectorWorks, you will notice that your renamed class is now called SOME-0 (VectorWorks will not allow the same name for a classs and a palette and appends the class name with a -0). The wierd thing is that if you now open the classes dialog and edit the name of the class SOME-0 back to NONE and close the dialog, you will now have two NONE classes in your drawing. Yet if you open the classes dialog, it shows only one NONE class, therefore you cannot get rid of this extra none class. Since MiniCad allows you to rename the NONE class, and doesn't seem to notice if the name is already taken by another object, the VectorWorks translator should have some way of dealing with this better than it does. Unfortunatly, as obscure as this bug is, my office renamed the none class years ago to a name occupied by one of our command palettes and saved these files as stationary( we didn't know any better). This was never a problem in MiniCad, but now that we use VectorWorks, every file we have has this double class or -0 thing happening, quite irritating. Hope this helps anyone else who is considering changing the name of the NONE class.

If you are on a Mac, just do a Page Setup to a letter size paper (we do this to either our LaserWriter or our HP plotter). In the Page Setup dialog, just choose a scale percentage and click "O.K.". The grey page boundry will now show the area to be printed at the chosen scale. You can now use the page move tool to move the grey boundry around the area you want to print. After printing, you can "undo" or "revert" to to put the moved page back to where it was before, or do a "save as" if you want to keep this page setup for a future print. If you are unclear as to what percentage to choose to get a particular scale, you can use the "paper scale" window in the Layer Scale dialog box to see relative paper scales at different drawing scales to determine a percentage. Hope this helps.

To delete a Layer Link, just go to the layer with the link on it, select the Layer Link (the selection handles will be grey since links are locked when they come in), choose "unlock" from the edit menu, and then cut, clear, or delete the link. Bonne chance.

I will bring this topic back up top again because it never got any response. What is the invisible polyline doing in the middle of a wall when the wall is ungrouped? Am I the only one who ungroups a wall once and a while? I find it quite irritating to have a bunch of invisible polylines floating around in my drawing. These polylines cannot be seen, so the only way to even find them is to randomly select areas of your drawing with a marquee and look for selection handles.(they actually come in with their edge hidden so the only way to make them visible is to click on "Show next edge" in the object info palette). Is this polyline there for some reason, or for some other functionality of the wall tool, or is it just a bug?

Have you tried the shareware application Graphic Converter 4.0.2? It is available at www.lemkesoft.de and can open, print, or convert a slew of different formats including HP-GL2. You can fool around with the preferences for converting files and maybe get it to translate RTL but I am not sure. Also, Microspot has an application called RasterViewer which comes free with their Raster driver and can at least open and view Microspot raster files. Hope this helps, good luck.

quote: Originally posted by Robert Nichols: I found that printing to a postscript file first, then making the pdf with Acrobat Distiller solved the text mangling problems of PDF Writer.B] I am on a Mac too, and indeed, the PDF Writer does not handle text well in a graphic document, however, Acrobat Distiller handles text flawlessly But the easiest way to use Distiller is to download AdobePS driver v.8.7 from Adobe's web site. Once installed, you can choose the AdobePS driver in the chooser, and the Distiller appears as a virtual printer in the pull down menu. Select the Distiller, and you can print to PDF as easily as with the PDF Writer directly from VectorWorks.

Just thought I would add that as of VectorWorks, a page move is an undoable event. This was not the case in MiniCad, and the only course was to revert to saved, losing any work done since the save. This was a big problem before. Now when I accidently move the page I just undo it, no harm done. Hope this is relevant.

quote: Originally posted by Archken: For worksheet exporting there's a workaround: Group it, go inside the group, export as PICT. Now outside the group, import the PICT, immediately group the text blocks. You don't even have to delete the original worksheet or group because it won't export anyway. An even easier workaround if you are on a Mac is to simply copy the worksheet, open the scrapbook form the Apple menu, paste the worksheet into the scrapbook, then cut it from the scrapbook, and paste it back on the drawing. Voila, now it is just lines and text. Actually, you can use this paste and cut method with any application that supports PICT files, I can do it in my word processor. I don't know, after explaining this, I'm not sure its that any easier than the export/import method, just another way to do the same thing.

I just saw a demo of the new VectorWorks add-on package called "Landmark" at the Macworld convention and it did exactly what you ask. It seemed like you draw a polyline representing the center of the road or path on a digital terrain model, specify the width, and Landmark did the cut and fill in 3D. Seemed quite impressive. Check it out elsewhere on this website, it sounds like what you are looking for.

Kenneth, Yes, I agree, all of my joins require the opacity of the wall to be solid, and this is a problem if you are going to export DWG. But inside VectorWorks, I can help you with the first image in your last posting: I'm afraid the other two are impossible without "bandaids". The problem with the wall tool seems to be that when walls are joined, the joint of each piece has to be a straight line from one side of the wall to the other. There is only so much you can do with that type of joint. The tool would have to be modified to allow compound shape cuts through the wall such as a "V" cut or an "A" cut, then you could get compound joins without overlaps or breaks. Regards, Peter Thayer

Just to throw my two cents in, I agree that the wall joining abilities of VectorWorks could be improved, but all of the examples shown except the one on the far left can be accomplished without the use of any patches at all. It takes some trimming and manipulation of the stacking order of the wall segments, but the following examples have no patches whatsoever: I admit, my left example is not a true join, but we find it close enough for our work. Regards, Peter Thayer, Architect

I agree with the above. We use Microspot's raster driver on an HP DesignJet 230 with excellent results. Their product is now called Microspot GraphicPac or Ultra GraphicPac (formerly MacPlot) and you get both a raster driver and an HPGL2 driver with it. The only downside is that it uses a software protection device (dongle) which is required at each workstation for speedy plotting, or if you get the Ultra GraphicPac you only need one dongle and your entire network recognizes it. Good Luck, Peter Thayer

Kenneth is absolutly right. The only thing I might add is that if you are not already using a custom dimension standard, you will have to create a new one first, then edit it. (you cannot edit any of the predefined dimension standards).

quote: Originally posted by mickey: AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! Yes, it would be great if AutoDesk would give away their code to their competitors so that they could develop translators more quickly. But I think they would just rather you buy AutoCad. The VectorWorks developers do a great job of implementing new DWG translators as fast as they can. I'm sure an ACAD 2000 DWG translator will be soon to come.

quote: Originally posted by Brian O: Guy: Please contact vs_support@nemetschek.net regarding this question. Also, you may wish to look at the following information for more assistance as well. VectorScript mailing list This list is for the exchange of ideas and support relating to VectorWorks's VectorScript command language. To Subscribe send an e-mail to: VScript-L@lists.diehlgraphsoft.com with the command subscribe in the Subject line. To Unsubscribe send an e-mail to: VScript-L@lists.diehlgraphsoft.com with the command unsubscribe in the Subject line. Brian, Could you please verify the email address for the VectorScript Mailing list. I have e-mailed the exact address you have given several times over the last 6 months and it comes back as "undeliverable" every time. Is the list down? Does the list exist? Has the address changed (maybe to Nemetschek.net)? I would really like to get on this list, how do I do it? Thank You, PeterT

Why on earth are Tech Notes found on the web site under the heading "training" rather than "support", and why is the section called "How-To" rather than "Tech Notes". I really don't care what you call them, but it seems to me the name of the document type ought to match the name reflected in the home page navigation menu. If I want to find a "Tech Note" the first thing I am going to look for is a catagory called "Tech Notes". Oh well, I know where they are now.

O.K., I too must jump in on this one. In our office, different machines launch either VectorWorks or MiniCad in different situations. Two of our Macs (let's call them Mac A, and Mac B) are both beige G3's running OS 9.0.4, and loaded with both MiniCad 7.0.3 and VectorWorks 8.5.2. We have strong reasons for keeping both applications on our machines concurrently. Here is what happens on Mac A: 1. If no applications are loaded, double clicking on either a VW or MC document will launch VectorWorks to open the file. 2. If both MiniCad and VectorWorks are loaded, double clicking on either a VW or MC document will try to open the file in MiniCad. 3. If only one of the two applications is loaded, double clicking on either a VW or MC document will try to open the file in the application that is running. Mac B is the opposite: 1. If no applications are loaded, double clicking on either a VW or MC document will launch MiniCad to try to open the file. 2. If both MiniCad and VectorWorks are loaded, double clicking on either a VW or MC document will open the file in VectorWorks. 3. If only one of the two applications is loaded, double clicking on either a VW or MC document will try to open the file in the application that is running. It seems to me that when I double click a MiniCad document it ought to open in MiniCad, and when I double click a VectorWorks document it ought to open in VectorWorks, and it ought to do this no matter which application is running and no matter which machine I am on. To work around this we keep aliases of both applications on our desktops and launch documents by dragging them to the appropriate alias. This works fine, it's just a bit of a hassle.

Why not just group the two polygons, then they will be one object, and the Info Palette will correctly display the total perimeter length. ...or is there some reason you need the final object to be of the type "polygon"? Hope this helps, Peter Thayer

It would be very useful to be able to display two different units on a drawing at the same time. In our office, as Architects, there are times when we want to display "Feet and Inches" and "Inches only" on the same drawing. For example, we always display 1'-0" as 12", and cabinet dimensions are always done in "Inches only", but either of these situations might occur a on a sheet where all other dimensions need to be in "Feet and Inches". Right now, the only way to acccomplish this is to select each dimension individually and turn off the value in the Info Palette and over-write it as a leader or trailer. An easy way to facilitate this wish in the program would be to modify the "Layout" tab in the custom dimension dialog. If the user was given the choice of displaying "Secondary Dimension Only", and if you could turn off the default for brackets around the secondary dimension, the problem would be solved. Since the "Units" dialog allows the user to set a different unit for "Secondary" dimensions than for "Primary" dimensions on the same drawing, you could set up a custom dimension standard that would display the secondary dimension only. You could then select any number of dimensions on a drawing and switch their dimension standard in the info palette to this new custom standard and they would all display in "Inches only" while all other dimensions would still display as "Feet and Inches".

You can change the brackets to parentheses for secondary dimensions without ungrouping the dimension. In the Object Info palette, with the dimension selected on the drawing, click the "Sec" button (this button only shows if you have selected a dimension with a dual dimension standard). The palette will now show the values for the secondary dimension, and you will see the brackets in the leader and trailer fields, which you can then change to any characters you want. There does not seem to be any way to change the default value of these fields, however, so you must still manually change these values if you want anything other than brackets. If anyone else knows how to change the default value of these fields, I would also like to know.