Jeremy Best

This is normal behaviour. There are multiple possible explanations so I'll just list one I think most likely: If you (for sake of examination) make the snap grid 10mm, the reference grid the same, then zoom in and deal with objects only 5 times longer/wider than the snap grid, it becomes easy to witness the snapping occurrences and deduce the logic behind them. For example, make a 50mm square with its top left corner on a grid point, grab its edge centre, then slowly drag it rightward with your cursor slightly above the square's edge to avoid object-related snaps. The first move will be 5mm where it first locks to the snap grid. Subsequent movements will add 10mm. 5... 15... 25... When you let go, the square's top left corner will be an increment of 5 away from where it began. 'Where on an object you grab,' is just one of multiple explanations of how your wall spacings may have reached 5mm increments.

I submitted a bug for an aspect of this issue Q1 last year. The aspect is; When copy-pasting Layer Plane text into Sheet Layer, text cannot be resized/reshaped. - The status for this bug says it's still unresolved. I've confirmed this persists in 2017 SP2. Using 2016 SP6, I recreated the specific scenario you've described. At first, I could not get this unadjustable text to occur within a Viewport - I got a message explaining it's going to get converted to a screen plane object and it did, but subsequent attempts did not bring up the message and text was pasted, unadjustable. A faster workaround for pasted text with no resize handles in either Sheet Layer or Sheet Layer Viewport annotations, (note; the OIP values still work): Double-click the text object > select all > deselect object > paste anywhere. Viola! New, functional text.

Try Resetting your Vectorworks Preferences as instructed here: Be sure to back up your User Folder in case you need/want to retain them or if after the issue's gone you want to try reinserting individual files (to regain your settings while ensuring none of them reinstate the issue).

I have experienced this in past versions and have just finished performing methodical testing to verify the conditions that make the Eye Dropper tool switch between pick up attributes to put down attributes for each of these circumstances. Here's what I've confirmed: ISSUE 1 In Vectorworks 2016 SP6 and in Vectorworks 2017 SP2 on EITHER Mac (10.11.5) or Windows (10): Holding the mouse wheel button down while pressing [Ctrl on Windows] or [alt on Mac] then releasing, causes the Eye Dropper tool to switch to the alternate mode, once both are released. This occurs in at least Top/Plan and orthogonal, but I would expect it to occur no matter the view. I believe the connection here (in terms of programming) is that the Ctrl and alt keys are also used to temporarily switch the mode of the Eye Dropper tool. ISSUE 2 In Vectorworks 2016 SP6 and in.vs 2017 SP2 on Windows ONLY: Here are the parameters required to reliably cause the mode to switch as it relates to zooming/panning: WITH the 'Grouping Similar View Changes' ON in Vectorworks Preferences; If you pick up attributes, then zoom or pan *extensively* before OR after putting them down, and then undo twice / until both the placed attributes and the last lot of zooming/panning are undone, the mode switches to 'put-down attributes.' I've confirmed on Windows only that the similar 'Grouping all view changes' preference doesn't cause ISSUE 2 symptoms, only ‘Grouping Similar View Changes’ does, so you can use the prior to prevent this behaviour. I believe the reason this doesn't happen on Mac is because the modifier key used to switch the tool mode (alt on Mac, ctrl on Windows) is not involved in the 'undo' key command; command-z on Mac, Ctrl-Z on Windows. I’ve submitted a bug report covering both the above.

Submitted on behalf of a client. "I have multiple landscape areas containing the same plant mix throughout a site. I would like to add another plant to the mix without changing the attributes of the landscape areas, especially the tags as these are a lot of work to place on the drawing so they are not overlaying other important information. I have found so far the easiest way is to add the plant to one area and use the eyedropper tool to paste the attributes to other areas. the problem seems to be the plugin parameters that contain the updated plan info also contain the tag info and there is no way to isolate these so I can change the mix of plants without moving the tags. Let me know if there is a better way or please consider this for a future upgrade."

Try reviewing this information: http://app-help.vectorworks.net/2017/eng/index.htm#t=VW2017_Guide%2FResourceManager%2FCreating_User_and_Workgroup_Libraries.htm&rhsearch=user libraries&rhhlterm=user libraries&rhsyns=

In the - 6 they cover the following: If you put a numeral at the start of the name for the field or variable in the OIP, it will order be ordered according to that number. The number itself will - by design - be omitted. i.e. Naming (for example) a Real Integer node "1Width" will put it at the top of the OIP. It will appear as "Width" Is that what you were asking how to do?

I have tested for but not experienced this bug using a 2015 MacBook Pro 15" Retina with external monitor via an Apple Mini Display Port to DVI Adapter (Model A1305). But I do know of one other user with this problem, although I do not know their hardware setup. I would be interesting and perhaps useful to identify if it is a hardware-dependant issue. What hardware (computer, adaptor and monitor) are you using?