P Retondo

Peter, yes, my transom window problem is identical to that with the sliding windows. My major problem, though, has to do with the tools just crashing (see above). Did you experience the kind of bug I describe, where, after you place a window, trying to edit it in the info palette causes it to disappear, and all window and door insertion tools to be disabled? If so, did that problem go away afer receiving the modified PIOs?

Katie, is this true? I've been complaining about this for over a month, including numerous emails with Robert and a person named Kiril - no one has ever mentioned a PIO fix!!

Here's a workaround that, tentatively, seems to be working for me. Every time I insert a new door or window, I quit the program and restart. This seems to stabilize the new object so that it can be edited in the info palette without crashing the door/window tools.

Here's a workaround that, tentatively, seems to be working for me. Every time I insert a new door or window, I quit the program and restart. This seems to stabilize the new object so that it can be edited in the info palette without crashing the door/window tools.

When I place a fresh window in 10.0.1 using the Window tool, I automatically get a transom that can't be eliminated whenever I choose bi-parting casement. That doesn't happen with the old Simple Window 2 tool. This is clearly a bug. I hope that the numerous problems with the new window and door tools have been fixed with the upcoming (?) 10.1 release . . . We'd rather not have new tools that don't work! It causes us to lose a lot of production time. The tool "broke" as I was just using it. The last time I reported this problem, someone had asked if the problem occurs with "On Schedule" unselected. I can now say that it does occur even when "On Schedule" is not selected. All window and door insertion tools cease to work, and any window or door edited in the info palette disappears. I have to quit and restart to restore functionality. This makes using 10.0.1 impossible. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with it on the current project - if I convert the file back to 9.5, all the windows and doors are UN-EDITABLE in the info palette. USERS BEWARE! I am faced with a potential quit and restart every time I use a window or door tool. I have to say that I am extremely disappointed with the quality of the programming and testing of these tools.

Actually, when I place a fresh window in 10.0.1 using the Window tool, I automatically get a transom that can't be eliminated whenever I choose bi-parting casement. That doesn't happen with the old Simple Window 2 tool. This is clearly a bug. I hope that the numerous problems with the new window and door tools have been fixed with the upcoming (?) 10.1 release . . . We'd rather not have new tools that don't work! It causes us to lose a lot of production time. The tool "broke" as I was just using it. The last time I reported this problem, someone had asked if the problem occurs with "On Schedule" unselected. I can now say that it does occur even when "On Schedule" is not selected. All window and door insertion tools cease to work, and any window or door edited in the info palette disappears. I have to quit and restart to restore functionality. This makes using 10.0.1 impossible. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with it on the current project - if I convert the file back to 9.5, all the windows and doors are UN-EDITABLE in the info palette. USERS BEWARE! I am faced with a potential quit and restart every time I use a window or door tool. I have to say that I am extremely disappointed with the quality of the programming and testing of these tools.

In a window converted from VW 9.5.2 to 10.0.1, a transom has appeared above the window and it can't be removed using the info palette. The transom check box is checked and it is grayed out. Assuming this is a bug, should I report this somewhere else in the website?

I'm not sure the lack of this tool is quite so glaring. Are you talking about dividing a polyline into segements of equal length? That's the only operation I'm aware of that would be difficult, if not impossible, given the current software. But I can't picture a need for that kind of calculation . . . As for construction lines, you can draw lines and put them on a non-printing layer. Less convenient than ACAD's feature, and they don't extend to "infinity" either, but isn't the VW method easy enough? [ 02-08-2003, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: P Retondo ]

David, try the Wish List BB - you are asking for some new code to be written, and it would be a useful tool.

Okay, here's a strange thing. I place a 3D locus, and in plan view I compare the XYZ coordinates in the info palette to the coordinates in the bar at the top, with the selection cursor snapping to that locus. With the 2D selection tool, this information agrees. With the 3D selection tool, this information does not agree, except for the Z coordinate. This should be impossible. All of this information should agree in every orthogonal view of the object, and the 3D coordinates should never disagree. This is not a working planes issue! VW 10.0.1 Win2K P4 2.0Gh geforce3 ti [ 02-07-2003, 08:20 PM: Message edited by: P Retondo ]

Katie, I sent you a file.

Bruce, I appreciate your point that 2D drafting is a core function for VW users and deserves some attention from NNA.

Sounds like something is out of whack. I've never experienced the problem you described with 9.5.2 or any other version. Win2000, WinXP

Hi Katie, tried that, it still fails to join.

Bruce, I know you are speaking for yourself and not for others, and we are getting a bit off the point of this thread. But, having said that, from where I sit I find the 3D capability extremely useful and efficient, particularly because VW does a decent job of integrating the 3D and 2D interfaces (big room for improvement, I continue to agree and voice support for those points). If you haven't seriously tried designing in 3D and moving from that to 2D working drawings, you should give it a try someday (assuming that you are working in an area where optimizing spatial relationships for functional and aesthetic reasons is important). There is no better way to visualize the result of design decisions from all, not just the orthogonal, points of view.

In Windows Explorer and a lot of programs that emulate it, there is a button for going back to the last "view" of the directory tree, and a button that takes you up one layer in the directory structure. That's what I'm talking about.

Hi Katie, yes, when you are working in a particular view composed of two or more visible layers, the different layers may be separated from each other in the layer list. So it would be great to have a keyboard command to make it faster to switch between the visible layers.

We can use Ctrl + arrow to navigate to the layers above and below the current active layer. It would be great if we had a similar method, like Alt + arrow, to navigate to the adacent visible layers.

I experienced joining two walls where the join was not performed. The wall that should have been extended to a "T" join in "capped join" mode remained the same length on screen, but the info palette and its handles show it to be the correct length. If I use the "remove wall breaks" tool, the extended wall appears at it should had the original join gone correctly. This glitch apparently has to do with an adjacent wall not involved in the join, which overlaps the wall to be extended. Once I clear the other wall away, the join proceeds correctly. I can send you a file which exhibits this bug.

It would be great to have Windows-style "Back" and "Up one level" buttons to help navigate the resource palette.

Yes, I am aware of the palette. What I would like is to be able to more easily apply a wall type from that palette.

Thanks, Katie. It's good to know you're aware of and working on these glitches!

When I create a new wall type and select a Z+/- for that wall, the wall still draws at height = 0. VWA 10.0.1 WinXP P4 2.2G [ 02-05-2003, 01:27 PM: Message edited by: P Retondo ]

When I double click the wall tool, I get a dialog box allowing me to set up a wall. It would be very helpful if within that box, I had the option to select one of the preset wall styles. If wall styles are not available in plain VW, that option could be grayed out. The wall type tool only allows me to draw the currently selected wall style, but to change styles I have to go through another procedure. This interface can be simplified and made much more efficient and accessible. VWA 10.0.1 [ 02-05-2003, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: P Retondo ]

My two cents: I don't use the setup tools, too much like AutoCAD! Too much bureaucracy. I find it much more efficient to create a layer structure from scratch for each project, and to let it evolve as the project moves from schematic through CD's. BTW, it would be VERY helpful if we could more easily update our sheet definitions when we add classes and layers. Could we have an interactive window that shows all the sheets at once, with all the layer and class options for each sheet? As it is, to edit a sheet we have to open the bottom menu item, select the sheet, do the edit, then start all over again for each sheet. Not to mention the time this takes, one forgets which sheets have been edited and which haven't. I think this more intuitive way of handling layer and class structure is more the "MiniCAD Way," and it would be great if we had better tools to support this style of working - as opposed to tools that try to anticipate all the layers and classes you MIGHT want to have, and create all setups at once in the beginning. When flexibility meets inflexibility, I think flexibility wins in the end.