jan15

You need to export to DWG so you can send the file to someone who has a plotter but doesn't have VectorWorks? If that's it, why not instead give them the free VectorWorks Viewer so they can print your MCD file from that? Or print to PDF, and send them the PDF file, which they'll already have software for. If you put the viewports in a Class or on a Layer (whichever one is being mapped to Autocad Layers) called "Defpoints", then Autocad won't print them. It automatically makes the Defpoints layer non-print. But it prints anything shown inside the viewport (anything not on Defpoints layer).

To create and edit a custom dimension style: File > Preferences > Document Preferences > Dimensions tab > Custom You probably have to create a new dimension style, by clicking "New", before the "Edit" button lights up (it won't let you edit the stock styles). The new custom style will be based on the style that was selected when you clicked on "Custom". To post an image on this forum, you have to have a web host and upload the image to it, and then click "Image" in the full reply form, adding the URL of your image. There's free web hosting at http://geocities.yahoo.com/ among others.

SHX fonts can't be used as system fonts. They only work in Autocad. But there are TrueType versions of most of them. Which font in particular are you trying to use?

...and if you add a new font (by dragging the font file into the system's fonts folder), you have to re-start VW in order to use the new font.

You have to set Fill to None when no objects are selected.

Not a dumb question at all. Yes, you did the right thing, and the only other thing you have to do is go into the workspace editor and drag it from the list of tools to a palette so you can select it. I don't know how the program knows it's there, but it does. ESP maybe. You might have to re-start VW after putting the new plug-in in the folder. And thank you, Ryan, if you're still among us. Neither one looks like insulation to me, but one would be great for metal stud walls and the other will come in handy for something. Maybe monorail tracks. And thank you, too, Mike. How did you find this old thread? I can never find any older than a year. I wonder what happened to Delmer. He answered every thread for a little while, very helpful, and then suddenly disappeared.

Only if the hatch is defined with a white background fill. And if it is, you can make a copy of it and remove the background fill from the new hatch definition.

Petri, I've never understand why it should be difficult, and why Mac OS doesn't offer it as standard. The data stream has to be created anyway, and for print spooling purposes the stream is probably saved as a disk file temporarily. It's just a matter of not deleting that file, and cancelling the actual sending of it to the printer. It must be a marketing department decision.

Yes, Hewlett Packard Graphics Language is the standard for creating plot files, in the same way that DWG format is the standard for CAD files, i.e. because of market share. And many CAD users have equated HPGL with PLT in the same way that many equate Autocad with computer-aided design, in a confused semi-understanding that suffices for them but not for VectorWorks users. Autocad assigns the .PLT filename extension to any plot file that it creates, even if it's for an Epson desktop printer. It uses the .PLT extension to designate any stream of printer control codes that can be sent directly to a printer's input port, whether those codes are HPGL-based or not. Often you can create a PLT file intended for one HP model and print it successfully on another model, or even on some non-HP plotters, but not always. I wouldn't want to try creating a PLT file using the HP 650 driver and sending it to an HP 500, for example. On a PC, any application can create a plot file for any printer ? including a Hewlett Packard plotter ? as long as the drivers for that printer are installed so that the operating system recognizes it as a system printer. The user checks "Print to File" (in the Print dialog box) and is prompted for a filename, which can end in .PLT or .PRT or even .XXX if one chooses. The .PLT extension is not automatically added, even for HP plotters, except by Autocad. So you don't need Autocad to create a PLT file. But you might need a PC, if it's true that Mac OS refuses to send the output of a print command to a file instead of directly to the printer. It was traditional at least as far back as the early days of MS-DOS to use the extension .PRT for files containing printer data streams. It was only useful for reminding oneself what type of file it was. Regardless of whether the filename had an extension, you just had to type "Copy filename Lpt1:" in order to send the file to the printer's port. Autocad originated the use of the .PLT extension instead of .PRT, and that's why I said it was Autocad's version.

It does. But you didn't hold down the mouse button. You released it. Then when you pressed it again, to start the drag, you were making another selection. It's unfortunate that you don't have the option to hold down a modifier key to prevent selection, so you can drag without selecting when you want to. Layer in VectorWorks doesn't mean what it means in Autocad. It has the usual English meaning, as in layer cake or paint layers. VW Classes are similar to AC Layers. A VW Layer is like a sheet of clear film on which things are drawn. Many layers can be piled on top of each other, and wherever nothing is drawn on the top layer, you can see through to the layers below. Also, within each Layer, the objects are all layered, and you can control that layering, or stack order, both of the Layers vis-a-vis each other, and of the objects on each layer.

You want to move by remote reference points, which is not available, except by an add-on that you have to buy somewhere. And the reason why the selection set is de-selected, and one object is grabbed instead, is that the one object is the highest one at the location you clicked on to start the drag-move. Both problems arise from the fact that the Select tool is also the Move and Copy tool, a feature which is normally very advantageous and one of VW's best features. In this case you want it to move only, but it thinks you want it to select also; so it selects and then moves, selecting the highest object at the point you clicked on to start the drag. I suggested a while back that NNA could solve both of these deficiencies by making the Alt key force a momentary drag-only mode for the Select tool, i.e. a temporary mode in which the Select tool doesn't select but only drag-moves or drag-copies, whenever the Alt key is held down. But they had other priorities. So you can work around it by grabbing the set of objects at some other point, where there are no other over-lying objects, and moving it a little, and then grabbing it at the intersection point you wanted to use as the start point for the move.

Perhaps you have a "Constrain Angle" that is very close to zero? If so, you can change it to zero, or 30 or 45 (in VectorWorks Preferences).

PLT is Autocad's version of what is usually called a PRT file. It's the stream of data that is sent from a computer to a printer. Note that it's a printer-specific file, so you can't make such a file without knowing what printer the data is to be sent to. You have to have that printer's software installed as if it were a system printer on your computer. I've been told that Macs can't make PRT files. Based on what Katie said, maybe a PS file is the Mac equivalent. To make a PRT file on a PC, you print as normally, but check the box labelled "Print to File", which sends the stream of data to a file instead of to the printer. Then you can send the PRT file to the person who has that printer, and they can send the data stream directly into their printer without opening an application and doing a print set-up and print command.

Are you using the 3-circle method? (Draw 3 circles, using the 3 dimensions you have as radii of the circles along the positive X-axis. The first two are concentric, the third is centered at the "Center Right" point of the larger of the first two. Then draw a polyline from the first center, to the second, to the intersection of the third circle with the smaller of the first two.) You could draw thousands of triangles that way in less time than it would take to write a script.

Jim, I don't understand how that would help. Wouldn't you still have to select all the diameter & radius dimensions one-by-one? Or eyedropper them all one-by-one, which is the same number of clicks. It sounds like what you need is a quicker way to select all the diameter & radius dimensions. How about if you set Dimension as the active class, and Class Options to Active Only. Then maybe you could select all the diameters & radii with fewer clicks.

Were the Japanese characters created by a system font or by an Autocad proprietary SHX font? If SHX, then VectorWorks would substitute a system font (Truetype or other font in Windows "Fonts" folder) when importing, and the substituted font might be one that doesn't include the Japanese unicode character set. So you would have to tell VectorWorks to substitute a different system font, and make sure it's a unicode font that does include the Japanese character set. It's also possible that the font used to display the Japanese characters in Autocad was a non-unicode Japanese font. That would explain why you see letters and numbers in place of the Japanese characters. I think Autocad didn't support unicode until version 2007. If that's what is happening, and if it's a problem of substituting a system font for an SHX font, then you would have to substitute a non-unicode Japanese system font for the non-unicode Japanese SHX font, and hope that it uses the same code page as the original font. I think that's supposed to be one of the advantages of Unicode ? that it standardizes code pages for all fonts.

Your comment shows a depth of ignorance and depravity found only in people whose names begin with P. It's no wonder the Australians always abuse you. And the Californians, North Carolinians, etc. (just kidding). But seriously: I disagree. I think that's exactly where CAD is headed ? no drawings, only a virtual model, including not only every stud but every nail, pipe, and wire. CAD software would do some of the virtual construction, with options to set the stud spacing and size and to override the default framing pattern in a particular location. Builders would use viewing software that can walk around the model, or crawl around in pipe chases, and show any view at any level of detail, with automatic dimensioning. It would show the quantity of any selected element, in the whole model or in a selected part of it. Moving around in the model would be easier than moving around a Sketchup model is now; but the model would be intelligent and refined ? qualities which you can never aspire to (just kidding). I wouldn't want to guess how soon we'll get there, or whether global warming or nuclear holocaust will kill us all first, but present trends in hardware and software suggest something along those lines. Even now, the only reason to produce 2D drawings is to show builders what we've got in the 3D model. And the only reason we need to do that is that the model isn't complete, as you said. Progress in software and increasing computer literacy rates will soon allow builders to look inside the model, and ongoing increases in the number of gigabytes that can dance on the head of a pin will eventually allow the model to be as detailed as necessary. Of course, in Finland they'll still be building from sketches drawn in the mud with a stick (just kidding).

My mother always said the best thing is to ignore it; that you only encourage pestering by complaining about it. She was talking about me as the pesterer, of course, but I think the point is valid.

Of course, you wouldn't be able to use the SketchUp in your office, since it's free for non-commercial use only. But if you were really contemplating using Autocad LT, you could instead buy BricsCad (which supports Lisp and 3D) for ?114 and save more than enough to buy SketchUp Pro.

All you'd have to do is import the exported file back into an empty file. Then you can see what each sheet looks like. If you want to see what the DWG file would look like when opened in a more limited CAD application, you can download the free viewer from Autodesk, or one of the various other free DWG viewers that replicate Autocad's environment.

I always use Firefox (on Windows), and, as I said, always instant loading. Location certainly could matter, but it's interesting that G Hannigan and I, only 60 miles apart, have opposite experiences. And Ray and Amy, 100 miles apart in Florida, also report opposite experiences in loading speed.

This is a surprise. The VW forum always loads instantly for me. I wonder how many people experience that delay. And why is it different for different people?

Petri, Version 8.5.2 does it the old way ? you only have to hold down Ctrl when starting the drag. wezelboy, I agree that the old way was better. A number of finer points were lost forever when they re-wrote VW for v9.

At one time, long ago, you just had to hold down the Ctrl key when starting to drag, but then it changed to having to hold it down till the drag was finished. Are you doing that?

Mike, it's odd there would be so much emphasis on a small part of the user base. But is Asian/Pacific construction as standardized as North American? Do they build the same way in Mongolia and India and Australia? If not, there might not be a large enough group anywhere to support VW standard components. Maybe we should be comparing the North American user base to Australia alone. How much of that 40% is Australia? It can't be much. Forty percent of 400,000 is 160,000 seats. That would be one seat for every 125 people in Austalia. If VW's popularity is the same in Australia as in North America, that would come to under 7,000 seats, which would explain the high per-seat price of the local add-ons. The North American 25% is 100,000 users who share construction standards. That might be by far the largest such group of users. And it might be even higher if the Asia/Pacific 40% includes a lot of designers of the American-style houses in Japan that I keep hearing about.