PeterT

Or, if you mean you want to move something already drawn up in the stacking order so it is above another object, just select the object and do a Command-F, or choose Modify/Send/Send to Front, or right click on the object and choose Send/Send to Front.

Now I see I was way off base with my last post. I now realize that CreateResizableLayout is for giving the user control of resizing a dialog on screen. I guess I am back to my original question, can a dialog be set up to resize automatically when a field is hidden? I guess I will look into GetLayoutDialogSize and SetLayoutDialogSize next.

O.K. I think I found the procedures for resizing the dialog, but the documentation is really lacking on this subject, and I can find no examples of a dialog that resizes. After one calls CreateResizableLayout, are you required to use the SetEdgeBinding procedure. If so, is this procedure call in the Dialog Handler routine, and which items should it be used on, the ones before the item being hidden, or the items after? And how is ResizeDialogC passed to the handler? Any pointers welcome.

Thanks Raymond, You made me take another look at my code, and something was not right with my dialogID variable declaration. I had the variable declared twice with slightly different names, once globally, and once in my driver subroutine. By deleting the driver declaration and revising the main declaration name it is now hiding the field as I wanted. I had first settled for just disabling the text, but hiding the field entirly is much better. The next question is whether or not I can make the dialog resize appropriatly when the field is hidden or shown. Is this possible?

Is there a way to hide an editable text field in a Modern Dialog using: ShowItem(dialogID, item, FALSE) I cannot seem to make this work on editable text.

O.K., back on this thread. Thanks for everyone?s input. I have taken some of the ideas given, mixed in my own, and three weeks later, with the help of VectorScript, I have what I want. And I only had to add one class. It still amazes me though, that this wish for a user definable gray layer could not be built into the program as many other users have also requested. The flexibility of VectorWorks is one of its strongest features and it allows for many workarounds. But a workaround is still a workaround. For my purpose, the use of a Viewport for getting what I want s not ideal. Maybe this is not common for anyone else, but I like my drawing to look the same when I am working on it as it does when I print it. So having a gray plan when I print it is a good step, but when I go back into a design layer to work on it, it is black, and that does not work too well for me. The main issue with making a plan gray is that I have both symbols and plugins inserted in the walls. To make these accept color takes a bit of work, whether viewed in a viewport or not. To make the symbols gray I have created a new class called ?Symbols? and have edited each symbol definition to put its component parts into the Symbols class. I also have to set the attributes of these components to use class colors. As I have to do this to a couple hundred symbols, I have written a script to update all my symbols at once. I have then written a script that will toggle the color of the Symbols class between gray and black. For the plugins, as they have their color defined in the parameters of the plugin, I have written an external script which accesses these parameters and toggles the color between gray and black. Next, I have written another script which turns the color of all objects on the Base Plan layer (except symbols or plugins) to gray or black. Finally, I have written the mother script which combines all the other scripts into one. As I wish to make the color change when I choose my sheet, I have created a saved view of the sheet layer, and have attached my script to the saved view such that when I choose the saved view, it goes to the sheet layer, runs the script, and changes the color of my base plan. But if I then go down to a design layer to work on the drawing the Base Plan layer remains gray, just as I want it. I am happy to have exactly what I want in the end. But as everything I want to turn grey just happens to be on the same layer, layer control of the color would just be a lot easier for my setup. Thanks again for helping me brainstorm, but I still hope someday for the original wish to be fufilled.

Never mind, I found it after all: Projection. It does not look like a simple Procedure though.

Does anyone know of a way to set the Layer Projection via VectorScript? I cannot find a procedure in the function reference, nor can I find an ObjectVariableInteger selector in the Appendix.

This should do it. IF ((GetCVis('Guides')) = 0) THEN BEGIN HideClass('guides'); END ELSE ShowClass('guides'); END;

This procedure works on lineweight values in MILS as the Function Reference states. I suspect you have your lineweights set up for mm. To use this procedure, convert your mm lineweights to mils and use these values in your script.

As this would only work on unencrypted plug-ins, after development, you could always encrypt them to avoid inadvertent damage. But your idea of the directive would be better for revisions or updating plug-ins down the road.

O.K. I think I figured it out. PROCEDURE GrayPlugIn; {-------------------------------------------} PROCEDURE MakeItGray(pioh:HANDLE); BEGIN SetRField(pioh,'New Window','Pen ColorR','30584'); SetRField(pioh,'New Window','Pen ColorG','30584'); SetRField(pioh,'New Window','Pen ColorB','30584'); ResetObject(pioh); END; {-------------------------------------------} BEGIN ForEachObject(MakeItGray,((R IN ['New Window'])));? END; RUN(GrayPlugIn);

How would I change the color of a Plug-In Object instance. Class color does not seem to work with inserted Plug-In Objects. I can set up Parameters for the RGB color values in the Plug-In itself, but I do not want them to be available in the info palette. I can Hide them in the Info Palette easily enough, but I do not know how to access these parameters from an external script. Can anyone shed light on this?

How about LNewObj?

It would be really nice if when you Option Double Clicked a Plug-In object in your drawing, it would open the Plug-In script in the VectorScript Editor. This would be like when you Option Double Click a script in the script palette it opens the VectorScript Editor, or when you Option Double Click a symbol on the drawing it opens the symbol definition for editing. This would be really handy for testing your Plug-Ins as you are developing them. I also posted this on the Wish List, but VectorScript issues don't get much support over there.

It would be really nice if when you Option Double Clicked a Plug-In object in your drawing, it would open the Plug-In script in the VectorScript Editor. This would be like when you Option Double Click a script in the script palette it opens the VectorScript Editor, or when you Option Double Click a symbol on the drawing it opens the symbol definition for editing. This would of course only work on unencrypted Plug-Ins, but I have many of those, and they are the ones I am interesed in editing.

Thanks for the responses, at least. But I find the use of classes for what I am trying to do less than efficient. But maybe I am missing something. I will explain for one thing, that we set up our drawings very simply and have never used classes for what we do. We have never needed to break up all the various items in our drawings into tedious lists of classes. I am not saying that I cannot restructure the system we have been using sucessfully for may years to take advantage of classes, but as this is a wish list, I was just putting in a wish to have better contol over the color of a LAYER. Now, as Pete Retondo said, "since it is not now possible", I am looking into other ways to achieve my goal. If classes are the answer, I am willing to take a shot at it. So here is what I am not getting. I have a layer call Base Plan. I want everything on this layer to turn gray for some sheets, but to disply black on other sheets. I would like this change of color to occur when I choose the Sheet Layer, or when I choose a Saved View of the Sheet Layer. In the Base Plan layer, lets say I have a basic floor plan drawn with the wall tool, with window and door symbols or plug-ins inserted in the walls, and other symbols such as sinks, tubs, showers, toilets, etc. placed around the plan. I have this plan displayed in a Viewport on a sheet layer called "Floor Plan Sheet". Currently the walls are in the none class and the window definitions are in the none class and the windows are inserted in the none class. It would make sense to me that I could in one step, turn the color of the None class to the gray of my choice and my entire plan layer would turn gray. This does not seem to be the case. For one thing when my wall lines are black, I want solid gray fill, when my wall lines are gray, I want solid white fill. My wall line weights are 17 Mil, my symbol line weights are 7 mil or 9 Mil. If I edit the None class in the Organization dialog, and if I set the fill to white and the line to gray, nothing happens, unless I check the " Use at creation" box, but if I do that, and then say yes to the "Use class attributes" dialog, it changes ALL my attributes to something I do not want. Not only that, but it still does not change the color of the symbols. Now I realize I could have better control over the attributes such as lineweights if I put all these items in separate classes, but this seems to be a one way street. Once you change the class attributes, you cannot switch them back without individually editing each item. O.K. so maybe I must forget having the colors of my choice on design layers while I am drafting my plans and will have to settle for only have the colors on the sheet layers when I print the plan. So lets look at that. On my Floor Plan Sheet layer, if I now select the Viewport which displays my Base Plan, click the Classes button on the OIP, and edit the None class, and turn the line color to gray, and exit the dialog, nothing happens, my lines are still black. Now maybe this is because I was mucking around in the classes dialog earlier, but this drives me crazy. I know I did this same thing earlier, and the walls turned gray, but now they are not. And even before, the symbols would not turn gray. It appears that the viewport class overrides only work it the "Use class attributes" box is checked for that class in the organization dialog, is that correct? And if I have a symbol that contains more than one lineweight, and that symbol is all in one class, if I use class attributes I will be limited to one lineweight, is that correct? Although I am an experienced VectorWorks user, I have never really used classes. Using classes seems to enter into a complexity I am not sure I want in my files. Can anyone enlighten me?

We desprately need the ability to set the color of a single layer to a user defined shade of gray. We have been using a work-around in our office since MiniCad 4+ to get our working drawings to look the way we want. The gray layer by Layer Options, or by the Layer Visibility setting is not useable unless the level of grayness can be set by the user. Every printer prints grays differently (Epson vs HP, etc.). Every printer driver prints grays differently (Raster vs PostScript, etc.). Even the type of paper used will affect the shade of gray on output. I have seen may postings on this techboard requesting user control over the shade of gray. For us, and for many other posts that I have read, the gray level arbitrararily set by Nemetschek is too light to use. Color by class does not work since it does not work on symbol instances. A gray wall with black windows and doors does not work for us. We need everything gray. Layer opacity is not an option for many people and is not for us as we do not use quartz imaging for other reasons. A Viewport itself can be colored gray, but the "contents" of a viewport can not be colored separately. Using Layer Colors is the closest thing there is, but it is not so great, as we would like to use color on other layers than our gray layer. Toggling this on and off does not allow us to see the grayed layer and a colored layer at the same time. If we could use a layer color on a single layer, that would be ideal, if we could set the level of a gray layer, that would also be great, If we could set the color of a Layer Link, that would work, if we had an Advanced ViewPort Option to set the color of what is in the ViewPort, that would work. There ar many different ways this could be implemented, pick one. All we want, is to be able to display the contents of a single entire layer at a color chosen by the user. This is ESSENTIAL for framing plan backgrounds among other things. I cannot believe, that in a software as sophisticated and customizable as VectorWorks 12.5 that this feture has not been implemented, and that there is no way that it can be implemented.

Is there any way to set the level of gray that is printed when you have Grayed a layer? Using a gray layer to display a background plan is great, but what grey is being used? Is it a gray 2, a gray 3, or is it a " medium" gray? Is the grey "correct" for an epson plotter or is it for an HP plotter? Is the grey best for a raster driver, or for a PostScript driver? Since the level of grey that prints is dependent on so many factors, it seems essential that the user be able to choose that level of gray that is correct for the specific situation. When we print a grayed layer on our plotter, and then have it xeroxed at our print bureau, it fades out to nearly invisible. An that is before the construction set sits in the sun for a few months. I would just like Nemetschek's opinion on how we are supposed to use a gray layer for "screened" output without having control over the level of gray.

I did contact HP, but of course they said it was not their problem. So upon further investigation I found it was not a VectorWorks specific problem, and was, in fact, a conflict with MicroSoft Plugins. I suspect this may also be a problem for anyone who installs MS Office 2004 on an Intel Mac and prints to HP printers. Here is the followup email I sent to HP: Mac Support, I have learned that I may have misinformed you on my last email. I had only tested the problem against VectorWorks and MicroSoft Word, and there was no problem on Word, so I assumed the conflict was with VectorWorks only. As it turns out there is a problem with all applications except Microsoft applications. What I have found is that on the Intel Mac there is a folder in the location /Library/Printers/PPD Plugins/ which contains six plugins that bear the MicroSoft logo. These six plugins are named hpColorOptions, hpedgetoedge, hpFinishing, hpImageQuality, hpJobRetention, and hpProofAndPrint. In another folder, in the location /Library/Printers/hp/PDEs/ there are 12 plugins, six of which have the same names as the ones described above. If I Get Info on the six duplicate Microsoft plugins, it tells me they are "PowerPC plugins". I don't know if they were installed by MicroSoft Office 2004, or by the HP Driver installer. But for whatever reason on an Intel Mac, they do not cause any conflict when printing from MicroSoft applications, but they cause problems from any other application. By deleting the six MicroSoft plugins, the printing problem goes away for the non-MicroSoft applications. I have no idea what problems this will now cause with the MicroSoft applications, but for now they seem to be printing fine using the same named HP PDE Plugins. Maybe someone at HP should inform MicroSoft that their duplicate Power PC Plugins are causing problems printing from every other application but their own running on an Intel Mac.

We just got a new Imac Core Duo running Mac OS 10.4.9. To load the HP driver for our HP DesignJet 800PS we had to use the latest HP Driver which is compatible with the Intel Macs. This is HPs Postscript Driver version 10.4.0 316, and PPD version 2.0. Now when we do the "Print" command, in the pull down list of printer options there are 6 lines that say "UNSUPPORTED PDE" with a strikeout line going through each one. These 6 bad lines occur between "Error Handling" and "Color Options". Although they seem to be just extra garbage, if you choose one of them, it crashes VectorWorks. This does not occur using the same driver on the same machine in VW version 11.5.1, nor does it happen doing a print command for the same printer in a different application such as Microsoft Word. The same 6 lines of garbage seem to occur printing to any one of our 3 HP printers from VectorWorks 12.5.0 AND 12.5.1(65397). It does not happen however with a print command to our Epson Stylus C42. It apperars to be a conflict between the HP driver version 10.4 and VectorWorks 12.5 specifically. Has anyone else seen this?

We use Sophos anti-virus with no negative effects. We have never had a virus on our Macs either, but think it is wise to be safe.

How do you GetType of an object inside of a group? I have a line inside of a group. If I enter the group and select the line, the OIP tells me that the selected object is a line. But if I run a vectorscript on this on this line with a GetType function it returns the integer 11 (group), not 1 (line). In other words, a GetType function run on a selected object inside of a group finds the group not the selected object. Is this working as intended, or is there some way around it?

Vectorworks Preferences/Edit/Snap to loci. Uncheck it.

Why is the "Genreral Discussion" area not available in any of the forum choice fields of this message board? This includes the "Search" choice field and the "Jump To" choice field. Since a good number of the topics in this bulletin board are found in the "General Discussion" area, why can I not "Search" the General Discussion area, or "Jump To" the General Discussion area? If you choose to fix this bug, maybe you should fix it for the "Announcments" catagory as well, as it too, is unavailable for choice.