MullinRJ
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Posts posted by MullinRJ
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PLC, You are right, I do know about the arrow keys, but it is not the same and requires that I move a hand to an inconvenient area of the keyboard. I find the old style of panning very comfortable as I keep one hand on the mouse and the other on the left side of the keyboard. I draw and edit LOTS of polygons and change constraints often as I draw, so moving either hand is a major impediment to my work flow. I can pan with just the flick of the wrist. Trying to place the cursor on the drawing window edge is MUCH slower. Also, the pan distance is different for the arrow keys and dragging off the screen. I like that feature too. I think a preference would be aptly suitable here. RJM
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I use the auto-pan feature a lot when drawing, but hitting a 4 pixel wide drawing edge is too tedious for me to call it an improvement. Would it be too much to ask for a preference to control how the document behaves? It is really irksome to see old features disappear as the software "progresses". After 12 years of living with your software I don't want to see ANY of the old features retired. I don't mind new features, but I would like a choice as to whether or not I will adopt them over the old tried and true features I have grown to love.
Thank you,Raymond Mullin
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When I have run Norton Disk Doctor, I have gotten messages for corrupt resourse forks for Font files. I don't know if Norton for the PC checks fonts like it does on the Mac, but if you are on a Mac, try it, it catches lots of potential problems before they become serious.
Raymond Mullin
[ 05-07-2002: Message edited by: MullinRJ ]
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What a wonderful concept, from A 440 to Green. Rummaging through my cranium I dusted off a few latent brain cells to see if I could find the constant of which you speak. Using some elementary physics (it was elementary when I was younger, now it's definitely physics) I laboriously derived the frequency vs. wave length relation, and though it looks quite mundane now, I definitely needed that dusty gray matter of which I spoke. Multiply A 440 by 1.25 x 10^12 and you will get the color Green. (The GREEN CONSTANT = 1,250,000,000,000 - unless you hail from the other side and then it is 1.250.000.000.000)
On a lighter note (pun intended), I too wanted to HEAR a CAD file, and I laughed audibly when I read Joe's first two posts. Thanks Joe, I thoroughly enjoyed that.
Raymond
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Joe, I find your comments very interesting as I have had exactly the opposite experience. In the 12 years I have used this software I have only lost one file, but not while I was working on it. It was one I went back to later, so I always attributed it to a disk error.
MiniCad/VectorWorks has always saved my data without a flaw, which I find quite remarkable when I think of it. It has been so reliable that I don't even keep backups (tape backups, yes; duplicate files, no). I do admit to saving a lot, as I have a twitchy left hand that hits CMD-S often, a habit I picked up working on a Mac-Plus years ago. As you can tell, I work on a Mac (once I went Mac, I never went back), so I cannot speak to the PC side of the equation as it relates to the original question of this post. I do hope your experience is the exception to most VW user's.
Best wishes,Raymond Mullin
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Count me in. I do most of my major processing on text dumps of VW files. Real database links to drawings would be an incredible step forward. Would VW files have to be open to be accessible to the database engine or would it be possible to query closed files as well? If the latter case were possible, I could envision having library folders/directories of VW files at my beck and call, yielding their contents to my programmatic whims, Muahahahahahahaaaa!!! - One can dream, can't one?
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If you can't set the resolution higher, set it lower and then back again. Setting it lower will have the effect of draging everything near the edge of the screen toward the center. You will need to be running VW at the time you do this, or launch it when the screen is in the lower resolution state.
Good luck,Raymond Mullin
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I would find it helpful if there was a VS function to ignore locking, (i.e. - IgnoreObjLck(True); & IgnoreObjLck(False)
. The first command would have the effect of temporarily unlocking all objects to the end of the script, while the latter would return to the normal mode of VW operation. -
With all the boolean preferences you can use a one line script as follows:
SetPref(16, not GetPref(16)); { Black Bkgnd }
This will toggle the current value of the preference to the opposite value. Click on it again, and it toggles back. I use the following a lot
SetPref(9, not GetPref(9)); { ZLT }
to toggle the ZERO LINE THICKNESS preference on and off.
You can find the Preference numbers listed in a table at:
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There used to be a global preference "Show Other Objects While In Groups" in the Vectorworks Preferences menu behind the Display tab. If you find it, make sure it is unchecked.
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Jeremy,The answer you seek is a complicated one. The process is simple, but the experience level needed is high. You will need to export your drawing to another format (EPS, JPEG, TIFF, Photoshop, etc...) and import it into a program that does color conversions. PhotoShop, Pagemaker, Freehand, Illustrator are just a few.
Now comes the hard part. Making the conversion is easy to do, but the results you get are based on the settings of the program making the conversion. These settings need to be adjusted for the type of printing you intend to do and the output will be affected by every variable involved in the printing process, such as, your choice of paper, type of ink, press type, ink coverage, dot gain, undercolor removal, etc... In a nutshell, what you see on the monitor is NOT what you get on paper.
My best advice at this point is to hire or consult with a graphics prepress professional. The money you spend here will be much less than the money you spend doing the job over (and over, and over). The odds of getting it right the first time by guessing are comparable to your odds of winning a lottery by playing one number.
If you like, I will gladly recommend the person I use. Drop me a line and I will connect you.
Best of success,Raymond MullinMullinRJ@aol.com
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I noticed this a few days ago, the clock for this BB is 1 day behind. Anybody check it lately? Unless I am in a time warp, all my time pieces show it to be the 18th of March 2002, yet this post is showing up on the 17th.
Happy St. Paddy's Day (again),Raymond
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David,
Are you using a PC or a Mac? There are some free Gerber viewers on the web for the PC. I use VW on a Mac, but view the Gerber files on an OrangePC card in my Mac running Windows.
The viewer I use is ViewMate and the website is at www.lavenir.com
If you get it installed, I would still like to try a translation for you. It would help me see if I have any glaring holes in my code. So far, I am very happy with the results I am getting, especially being able to use fonts from my system. If you have ever seen Gerber output from a PC CAD system, you will know that it leaves a lot to be desired.
Best wishes,Raymond
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David, In the absence of any viable route to GERBER output from VectorWorks, I have recently written a program to translate VW to GERBER. It is not yet ready for market, but if there is enough demand I would like to publish it.
I am a circuit board designer and have been using PostScript output for film from VW using another translator that I also wrote. But as tolerances tighten and overall dimensions increase, the need for GERBER output is becoming pressingly necessary. So I buckled, and wrote my own. (I think "buckled" is very appropriate here.)
I sent my first files to my board shop for evaluation today, and I am in need of testing my software. It works quite well for files I generate, but then again, it should. I handle most of the basic graphic objects; lines, circles, ovals, arcs, rectangles, polygons, polylines (these are not easy), symbols, and TEXT (my biggest cause of neuropathy and insomnia in the previous month). All objects can be filled, stroked or both (except text, just filled) and Dark or Clear. I do not handle SpreadSheets, imported images or 3D graphics, but HEY!, this is GERBER, I'm just glad I got this far.
If you would like, send me a file and I will translate it for you, or contact me at the address below. If others have an interest in this program, now is a good time to let me know.
Raymond MullinMullinRj@aol.com
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The code got a little garbled. I think it should read like this:
Procedure TurnOffClass;var xpoint, ypoint, dummynum : Real; thisobject, thissubobject : Handle; classname : String;BEGIN dummynum := 123; WHILE NOT GetPickObjectInfo(xpoint, ypoint, thisobject, thissubobject, dummynum) DO GetPt(xpoint,ypoint); IF (thissubobject = NIL) THEN BEGIN ClassName := GetClass(thisobject); HideClass(ClassName); END; IF (thissubobject <> NIL) THEN BEGIN ClassName := GetClass(thissubobject); HideClass(ClassName); END;END;Run(TurnOffClass);
Procedure HideObject;VAR X, Y, dummynum : Real; thisobject, thissubobject : Handle; classname : String;BEGIN DSelectAll; dummynum := 123; WHILE NOT GetPickObjectInfo(xpoint, ypoint, thisobject, thissubobject, dummynum) DO GetPt(X, Y); IF (thissubobject = NIL) THEN SetSelect(thisobject); IF (thissubobject <> NIL) THEN SetSelect(thissubobject); Hide(SEL);END;Run(HideObject);
R Mullin
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I just noticed that all fonts that display a large vertical shift on my system have Bitmap Fonts in the font suitcases along with the TrueType outlines. The bitmaps are used for screen display before the outlines, when they exist. After removing the bitmaps from my font suitcases, and rebooting, the vertical shift diminished but did not go away completely. I am still hoping a font expert will ride over the horizon and shed light on this 'feature'.
Raymond
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This post is to both Gunther Miller (NNA Tech Support) and the rest of the board:
Last week I sent a bug report to NNA on the "TrueType To Polyline" Menu, where it always returns the outline of the plain face regardless of the typeface selected (bold, italic, etc?). I also noticed that the outline was shifted down about 0.02" (for 10 point type, the amount depends on the point size and font), but only for Helvetica & Times typefaces, however, there may be more.
On much further examination, I am now of the belief that Helvetica & Times are displaying incorrectly on screen relative to their bounding boxes, whereas other fonts seem to display correctly (Geneva, Charcoal, Apple Chancery, Sand - just to name a few) and therefore translate to paths without vertical translation. In font terminology, the Ascent and Descent values are wrong.
My question to the board, has anyone else seen this shift with the Helvetica or Times fonts? (On a lighter note, does anyone else care? I know I can be picky.) If no one has seen this behavior, It may be that my Helvetica and Times fonts are the culprits. They are the TrueType fonts that came with the system (OS 9.0.4).
When using the TextVerticalAlign(2) mode (align on the Baseline of the top line of text), all fonts display properly on the screen, but my problem is more apparent when TextVerticalAlign(1) is employed (align text to the top of the bounding box ? the old fashioned MiniCad way). I have not experimented with the other alignment options (3, 4 & 5).Also, the vertical shift encountered when converting TrueType to paths occurs regardless of the TextVerticalAlign option selected.
Any and all comments will be appreciated. I have included the first twoletters to NNA for your reference.
Raymond Mullin
> Gunther,> Thank you for responding so quickly. Do you know of any work > around to import the shapes of fonts that are >more that the plain > style (bold, italic, etc...)? I would even accept an encrypted script > gladly, if one exists.> > Thanks in advance,> Raymond Mullin> -----------------> Forwarded Message: > > Subj: Re: Bug Submit> Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 1:21:10 PM> From: gunther@nemetschek.net> To: MullinRJ@aol.com> > From: gunther@nemetschek.net (Gunther Miller)> To: MullinRJ@aol.com> > Raymond, although TrueType to Polyline performance has improved > for VectorWorks 9.x, the two items you mentioned are still valid. I've > placed an entry into our bug database regarding each item. The first > item mentioned has been logged as a 'Wish' and the other has been > entered as a bug.> > Thanks for spending the time to report your findings.> > Gunther> > Gunther Miller> Quality Assurance> Nemetschek, N.A.> >> On Wednesday, February 27, 2002, Bug Submit <bugsubmit@nemetschek.net> >> wrote:>> >> ---------->> From: <MullinRJ@aol.com>>> Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 01:32:12 -0500>> To: <bugsubmit@nemetschek.net>>> Subject: Bug Submit>> >> Name: Raymond Mullin>> Email: MullinRJ@aol.com>> OS: Macos9>> Version: 8.5.2, 7.0.3, 6.0.4>> Bug Description: Menu - TrueType To Polyline>> >> Steps: The "TrueType To Polyline" menu option only returns the plain>> face outline of a font. I used several text blocks of the character B,>> each set to a different typeface (Plain, Bold, Italic, Bold-Italic,>> Outline, etc...) and then converted them to polylines. All paths were>> identical and only matched the Plain typeface. I tried Helvetica and Times>> fonts with the same result.>> Also, for a 10 point typeface, the outline is shifted down in the Y>> axis only, by 0.0180556".>> The result is the same in MC 7 & MC 6. Has this been fixed in version>> 9.x?>> >> I am using a Mac G4/500 with OS 9.0.4. I checked, and I do have>> TrueType versions of the fonts loaded in the System Fonts folder, and I am>> also running ATM 4.5.2.>> >> If you would like, I have a small file prepared to send.>> >> Thank you,>> Raymond Mullin
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T/s, I agree, change can be good. And it can also be bad or indifferent. However, the change that broesler started this discussion with concerned a VERY BASIC modality of the program, one that I personally believe should not be jacked with.
There is no reason why NNA cannot add a feature without replacing an existing feature of the program. If they survey enough users I believe they can determine which features, WE the users, consider sacred and which WE don't. Over the years, I have lost more than one feature that I considered sacred to the way I use the program. I prefer not to loose any more, and will continue to use older versions of the program to maintain my peace of mind.
Respectfully,Ray Mullin
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After 12 years of using MiniCad and Vectorworks, the last thing I want to see is changes to the basic interface. Count me out for future upgrades if you continue to redesign key elements of your program.
REMEMBER - You should be designing features your customers (WE) want, not redesigning the basics you think we should have. If you ever change a basic operation of the program, PLEASE add a preference switch so we can return to the tried and true way of doing things.
Ray Mullin
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Chrissy, You're gonna like this! There IS a way to get a HANDLE to all the Worksheets (WS) in an active document. The trick is to get the first (or last) handle of the WS list so you can step through the entire list.
In this approach, I create a dummy WS and get a handle to it. This precludes having to know the name of any WS in your document. Once you have the handle to a new WS (creating it places it at the end of the list), stepping backward through the list is quite easy.
The IF statement is necessary to screen out the WS's since the list also contains objects that are not WS's. (It is left to the reader to determine what objects these might be). I tested this code (with some minor modifications) on VW 8.5.2, so I was not able to run the 'RecalculateWS' command which is new to VW 9, but I was able to determine the number and name of each WS in my drawing.
If you like this method, drop me a line. If you REALLY like it, send money. Happy Recalculating.
Ray MullinMullinRJ@aol.com
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PROCEDURE RecalcAllWS;CONST aWorkSheet = 18;VAR WSHnd, hndDummyWS :Handle;
BEGIN { Get handle to a Dummy Worksheet which gives you a handle in the WS list } hndDummyWS := CreateWS ('DummyWS', 1, 1); { New to VW9 }
WSHnd := hndDummyWS; { save to temporary variable } while (WSHnd<>nil) do { Traverse the WS List } begin if (GetType(WSHnd)=aWorkSheet) then RecalculateWS(WSHnd); { New to VW9 } WSHnd := PrevObj(WSHnd); { Next Obj on WS List } end;
DelObject(hndDummyWS); { delete when done }END;Run(RecalcAllWS);
******
If you need to step through WS's in VW8.5.2 or earlier, replace :
hndDummyWS := CreateWS ('DummyWS', 1, 1); { New to VW9}
with :
NewSprdSheet ('DummyWS', 1, 1, 1, 1, false, false); hndDummyWS := GetObject('DummyWS');
RecalculateWS() won't work in these versions, but you may have other things to do to your WS's.
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I love this BB except for the fact that it removes indentation for posted code. If you would like me to email the code (w/ indentation), drop me a line at MullinRJ@aol.com and I'll send it over.
Raymond
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If all you want to do is perform a function on a GROUP, and you don't care how deeply nested it is, you can use the ForEachObjInLayer procedure.
PROCEDURE ForEachObjectInLayer (actionProc : PROCEDURE;? ? objOptions :INTEGER;? ? travOptions :INTEGER;? ? layerOptions :INTEGER);
with procedure calls reading something like this:
Procedure actionProc(H :Handle); Begin if (ObjType(H)=11) then begin { Do something to GROUP here } end; End; ForEachObjectInLayer(actionProc, 0, 1, 0);
The Online Function Reference can be found at:http://www.nemetschek.net/support/custom/vscript/functionref/VSFunctionReference.html
IF you would like to have more control of object processing, the following recursive routine can be used. Recursion is fun, especially if you have lots of RAM, but who doesn't these days?
PROCEDURE Recurse;CONST aGroup = 11;VAR Level :Integer; ObjHnd :Handle;
Procedure StepIn (ObjHnd :Handle; var Level :Integer); { Step through each Obj in a Group } Begin Level := Level + 1; { counter is not necessary, but can be used for debug }
{ Do stuff to entire GROUP object here, if desired }
ObjHnd := FInGroup(ObjHnd); { Get handle to First Obj in GROUP } while (ObjHnd<>nil) do { Step through each Obj in GROUP } begin if (GetType(ObjHnd)= aGroup) then StepIn(ObjHnd, Level) { Enter nested GROUP and continue } else begin
{ Do stuff to non-GROUP objects here, if desired } { these are the non-GROUP objects that are in the group }
end; { if } ObjHnd := NextObj(ObjHnd); { Next Obj in GROUP } end; { while }
Level := Level - 1; { Decrement on exit } End;
BEGIN Level := 0; ObjHnd := FActLayer; while (ObjHnd<>nil) do { Step through each Obj on Active Layer } begin if (GetType(ObjHnd)= aGroup) then StepIn(ObjHnd, Level) { now enter the group and continue } else begin { Do stuff to non-GROUP objects here, if desired } { these are the non-GROUP objects that are on the Active Layer } end; ObjHnd := NextObj(ObjHnd); { Next Obj on Active Layer } end;
if (Level<>0) then SysBeep; { Something went wrong }END;Run (Recurse);
Have fun,Ray Mullin
[ 01-08-2002: Message edited by: MullinRJ ]
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Chris,In the default workspace, the top left icon of the Constraint Palette is the Snap-To-Grid constraint (4 dots with grid lines going through them). It toggles the Snap-To-Grid feature. The keyboard shortcut is the "A" key. Pressing the "A" key twice quickly (or double clicking the icon) will bring up the Set Grid dialog box. Hope this helps.
Raymond Mullin
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Have you tried making the graphic a symbol? If not, select the graphic and choose Create Symbol from the Organize menu. Then you can place the symbol twice in your drawing, once on each side of the sign. If you need to edit the graphic/symbol, the changes will appear in both instances in your drawing.
Good luck,Raymond Mullin
line equations
in General Discussion
Posted
Not easily, but possible. You would have to plot (X, Y) points in a range of function values and connect the dots with short line segments. 3D functions would be exceptionally difficult.
There are many math programs that do this function well. If you have a Mac, it ships with a Demo version of "Graphing Calculator" which is pretty astounding. It hadles 2D, 3D and even parametric equations. If you want to have an interactive calculator in VectorWorks, you have a lot of programming ahead of you.
Best wishes,Raymond Mullin