[Raked Hanging Position Truss]

@Wesley Burrows you are 100% right. I don't remember having to do that before, but it works. Thanks!

What's interesting is if I do the DLVP with a Lighting Device and then delete it, everything still functions normally.

[Raked Hanging Position Truss]

I used to use this method a lot a few years ago, but since Hanging Positions can rake I haven't used them in some time..However now in VWX2023 I'm trying to do something similar with a 2D/3D symbol and after I create the DLVP and rotate, it throws the hybrid symbol error.

 

I also tried it with truss like I used to just for fun and I get the same error. Has anything changed in recent versions of VWX not allowing this to work?

 

[Datatags for trusses in a hanging position (VW2023)]

Can you share an example file?

[Best practices for responsive files and small files sizes?]

The "Purge" tool is a good start to remove all unused stuff in a file. 

[Insert Symbol Dropdown - Find Symbols With Record Attached in Resource Manager]

Looking to replicate the dropdown menu similar to 'Lighting Device' or 'Truss' that searches all symbols in the Resource Manager with corresponding records attached. For those examples I see that there are 2 plugins (a Point Object and a Tool Object). Does anybody know what functions would point me in the right direction. I found CreateThumbnailPopup but I believe I would need to build that into a dialog instead of using the native symbol dropdown in VWX.

 

Right now I have a working version that prompts a text dropdown where you can select the Symbol name and that is inserted via:

PROCEDURE Symbol(
         symbolName      :STRING;
         pX,pY           :REAL;
         rotationAngle   :REAL);

But I am wanting more of a visible selection menu w/ thumbnails rather than just text.

 

[Search Not Working in Resource Browser VWX 2022]

Ah that was it @Tom W.! Thank you I never noticed that little dropdown there. 

[Search Not Working in Resource Browser VWX 2022]

Whoops, bad example since I can't spell. Still doesn't work with correct spelling. 

[Search Not Working in Resource Browser VWX 2022]

For some reason my search function always returns no results in 2022. Anybody else had this issue?

 

 

[How do I get that "head on twinkle"?]

Won't natively get that out of VWX. All that is done in post, like Photoshop with StarFilter Pro 4. Can also be done in After Effects, Nuke, etc.

 

You can also get a PNG of a starglow and paste the Bitmap over the light on your sheet layers individually and change the colors of it. 

[Disappearing hanging position elements]

No idea. Also having the same problem here

[Insert Symbol as grid/matrix]

Ah that's perfect. Thanks again Josh

[Insert Symbol as grid/matrix]

Thanks for the quick reply Josh, I am always placing Symbols so that makes way more sense. I've tried a few different combinations and either end up with a single symbol per row/column. Seems like I'm missing a simple step but for some reasons I just can't quite see my mistake. 

 

for row := 1 to rows do
  BEGIN
  	for column := 1 to columns do
      BEGIN
      	Symbol(ledTypeName,offsetX,OffsetY,0);
      END
  END

[Insert Symbol as grid/matrix]

Done some digging around and haven't been able to find a way to accomplish something like the Edit>Duplicate Array tool through Vectorscript.

 

Currently I have:

Symbol(ledTypeName,0,0,0);
    

	ledFrame:=FSActLayer;
	GetBBox(ledFrame,p1X,p1Y,p2X,p2Y);
	N1:=3;
	N2:=3;
	IF (ledTypeID<3) THEN 
	BEGIN
		for i := 1  to N1 do 
		BEGIN
			ledFrameDup:= HDuplicate(ledFrame,((p2X-p1X)*i),0);
		END;
		for i := 1  to N2 do 
		BEGIN
			ledFrameDup:= HDuplicate(ledFrame,0,((p2Y-p1Y)*i));
		END;
		
	END
	ELSE 
		BEGIN
			message('SACO');
	END;

 

This gives me my 3 columns across and 3 rows down. I just can't figure out how to loop through and fill in each column.

 

[Hoist Tool 2021 & Up Proper Weight Field & Format]

I have tried to incorporate the VWX21 Hoist Tool but it's just not quite there yet on a technical level. It's great for designs, showing spansets, etc. The fact that I can't easily swap hoist functions and add load weights in the OIP is a bust for me.

 

For the time being I have still been using the legacy tools which can be added back in under Tools>Workspaces>Tools (not to state the obvious but I've ran across quite a few people that didn't know the legacy tools are still in there.)

[Replace Substring of All Symbol Names in Active Layer]

Hey Pat,

 

1.  Do the 12mm symbols already exist or do you need to create them?

• All symbols already exist.

 

2. Are the symbol names all completely consistent? ie. does the 12mm part always occur in the same location (number of character or number of spaces from the beginning of the name)?

• Naming conventions are the same across all pixel pitches. 
  • Video Tile 9mm 2x1
  • Video Tile 12mm 2x1
  • Video Tile 6mm 2x1, etc

 

3. Are you always going to go from the 9mm to the 12mm? Or are there times you would want to go from 12 to 9?  That makes it more complicated as you will need to do more work figuring our how to munge the string as the lengths will change.

• It will change, my plan was to do a PullDownMenu with all of the options that store it to a String.
• The clunky idea I had was to substring out the original symbol name ([1]Video [2]Tile [3]9mm [4]2x1) and swap the [3] string for the new pixel pitch. Then Concat them all back together. 

 

4. Would you be willing to consider renaming all of the 9mm symbols to 09mm so that the changing part of the string is always the same length?

• That would not be a problem.

 

Clearly very new to scripting so if changing the entire approach would be a better option and you'd have a direction to point me in I can do some digging. Maybe storing all sets of options to different arrays and swapping between those?

 

array06[Video Tile 6mm 2x1, Video Tile 6mm 2x2]

array09[Video Tile 9mm 2x1, Video Tile 9mm 2x2]

array12[Video Tile 12mm 2x1, Video Tile 12mm 2x2]

 

swap(array06[1], array09[1]) ? 

 

Thanks so much.

 

[Replace Substring of All Symbol Names in Active Layer]

Yes Batch Rename works great, I just need to replicate it via script as part of a larger project (plugin) I'm working on. 

 

Edit: Actually I lied, I think Batch Rename just renames the symbols in the Resource Browser. I need it to actually replace the symbols and their attached records.

[Replace Substring of All Symbol Names in Active Layer]

Been digging around but haven't found the best way to accomplish this, wondering if anybody has an idea.

 

Basic goal: Find a replace style symbol swap, but only swapping part of the symbol name.

 

i.e:

OriginalSymbol = Video Tile 9mm 2x3

NewSymbol = Video Tile 12mm 2x3

 

However the "2x3" could be any range of variables, I just need to swap the "mm" type (which are all symbols in the resource browser).

 

My original thought was to SubString each symbol and then Concat them back together but am having trouble with the exact syntax. Working off the script below. Thanks!

 

PROCEDURE ReplaceSymbols;
{ 03 Jun 2017 - Raymond J Mullin. }
CONST
	NewSymName = '9mm';
VAR
	NewSymDefH :Handle;
	
	function SwapSym(H :Handle) :Boolean;
	{ swap symbol instance H with NewSymDefH }
	Begin
		if (GetTypeN(H) = 15) then
		
			SetHDef(H, NewSymDefH);	{ swap Symbol Definitions }
	End;


BEGIN
	NewSymDefH := GetObject(NewSymName);		{ Handle to new symbol name }
	if (NewSymDefH <> nil) then
		ForEachObjectInLayer(SwapSym, 2, 0, 4)	{ Selected, Shallow, Editable Layers }
	else AlrtDialog(concat('Symbol "', NewSymName, '" does not exist. Check spelling.')); 
END;

Run(ReplaceSymbols);

 

[Total Truss System Weight]

Using Data Tags.

 

Formula would be: #Light Position Obj#.#TotalHungWeight#

[VWX Project Share Issue | Local DropBox Folder Not Up-ToDate]

Anybody had the attached issue when committing & releasing? I am unable to commit or release any layers I've edited.

 

"Operating could not be completed because of the Priject File in the local Dropbox folder is not up to date". 

 

I've tried restarting and re-syncing dropbox. As well as creating new working files and committing them with no luck. 

[Quick access to units]

Brilliant, thanks. Would there be anyway to select a Saved Preset Unit Setting? I don't see that anywhere in the VS Docs. If not this is plenty to get the job done. 

 

Thanks!

[Quick access to units]

@michaelk digging up an old one here... I don't see that attachment anywhere. Any chance somebody has a units switcher script?

[Worksheet Math Functions Not Working]

Ah, that sorta actually makes sense. Thanks as always Pat!

[Worksheet Math Functions Not Working]

For some reason simple math isn't working in my worksheets when referencing database values.

 

If I try to manually add cells together it works fine. Example attached, issue is on the "Sub-Total" column (F3).

 

WorksheetMath.vwx

[Editing a Hanging Position Issue]

Can you attach the file by chance?

[Counting Symbols in Viewports and Categorizing them]

Good work so far, worksheets will change your life.

 

Quote

First question: Is there a way to make the database formula reference a cell in the worksheet so that I can put the room name at the top of the worksheet and have the sections 'Room' populate from that?  My goal is to easily see what room the the worksheet is referencing as well as have the ability to easily change it without changing it in the database formula.

You can reference other cells with =A2 or =Value(A2)

 

Quote

Second Question: Is there a way to group fields together to create a phrase.  For instance, I'd like to create a phrase "9'x 16' Truss Screen with Dress Kit" from the 'Stock169' 'Dress Kit' 'Screen Support' Video screen fields

"Grouping fields" would be called "Summarize Items". There isn't a great way to change a name. You could do a replace string, but I don't think that's a good approach. Typically what I do on fields that I don't like the name of is copy them all over to a "User Field" record and change them there. So copy over "Stock169' 'Dress Kit" to User Field 1 and change them all to something nicer "9'x 16' Truss Screen with Dress Kit".

 

I always have to do that with lighting fixture modes since VWX pulls in the GDTF files with the stupid .lit extension. So I'll change "m1_48ch.lit" to "Mode 1 (48CH)".