matto

In the Applescript Dictionary for Vectorworks is DoScript() which lets you pass Vectorscript to be run on a file. One of the automator actions lets you write your own Applescript to be included in a workflow, and can therefore include Vectorscript. the draw back at the moment is getting information back from Vectorworks to trigger events in the Script or Workflow. That said the action recorder you mentioned would be a great thing too.

There is a Choose Rating pop up menu at the very bottom of the page. Although i think i got a bit trigger happy rating this a 4.

The simplist option would be to use an invisable record attached to an object in the drawing somewhere. The other option is to make a symbol or group that you can put just out of the way of the drawing as the reference to the user of what each settings style does and attach the record to the named object that discribes the style. Either way your other scripts can then search for the named object, then get the info out of the attached record.

quote: Originally posted by Christiaan: George uses the Vectorworks forum? According to rumors his good friend, wannabe architect, and some time movie star Mr Pitt introduced him to the Vectorworks way. I hear he was even using it to do table layouts for said friends weekend wedding. Of coarse it's just a rumor [ 03-22-2006, 01:06 AM: Message edited by: iboymatt ]

:-) I notice you didn't try and discribe the sound the eyedropper makes when applying settings. Application Volumn control would be a great addititon. As would increased use to sound associated to tools. Even going as far as different clicks for various snaps.

Hey Version 6 was still pretty simple with no plug-in objects as yet or a number of the other features that can get lost in translation. You could try exporting the files as Vectorscript, which v11 or 12 should be able to read without trouble. You might loss saved views doing it that way but i'm not sure on that. It would be worth trying a test file.

While improvements to modelling would certainly be welcome, not sure borrowing from Sketch up is the best tact, VW has a way of working and i think it would be better to see that expanded, as it is well suited to package as a whole. Sketch up is certainly a great fun tool, and well used in our office, the new plug in is a great start but any improvements getting the two to talk is all so a good move. Not sure the article is a great link, it would seem they talked about allot of new features that may or may not see the light of day in AutoCAD but already exist elsewhere. Like a non-realistic renderer that sound some what similar to sketch render in VW or Parissi. It seems AutoDesk want to create the bloated solution that does everything. Personally I'd rather see a kit of tools that work well together.

It sounds like you'll really like the Stacked Layers view new in Version 12.

Rosetta and Virtual PC do to very different things. Virtual PC as it currently runs has to fully emulate a full windows enviroment, therefore doing a whole lot of work. Then translating that code on the fly to PPC code. With Rosetta, the emulation only occurs where the application doesn't have an x86 Binary as part of the application package. All the system runs native, and part of the program that use standard system calls (typically the interface,disk usage) will run native. So the amount of emulation required with vary from Appliaction. I guess we need to see a running machine to tell how VW will go. There are already some new iMacs in the wild. Applications running under Rosetta while still taking a bit of a performance hit should still be far less noticable than that of running under Virtual PC.

This would great, being able to switch Design layer View and the Annotation space would be very useful. I know i find it frustrating that once you go to Design Layer view there is no quick way back to the complete viewport. It would make it good for drawing management in team situations, the Sheets layers and Viewports would make a very intuitive navigation system to someone working on the project.

As noted in a couple of articles at place like Ars Tech, up until tiger Os X rendered the old Quickdraw screen render must faster than it did it's native Quartz Rendering. With Tiger that all changes and Quartz even in software mode renders fastest. So you maybe able to pick up a small difference on a busy screen. The other reason would be if you don't have the option someone is bound to want it. :-)

Not if you have Version 12. Where you have the option to "Force Select" an object that is visable but not selectable. It lives in the contextual menu.

Let's not forget to mention that with Quartz Rendering You have the option for Anti-alasing as well. Which is really nice for screen proofing prints. The Quartz rendering is really nice, but if you are going to use it, it's best to be using Tiger.

The majic you are looking for is. :=GetObjectVariableReal(h1, 1003); Lots of really interesting things can be found out with the GetObjectVariable... group of functions have a look at the list in the Vectorscript reference.

Also you can modify the rounding base in "Units" so you only get multiples of 5. Convert to group should be the last option.

That does seems natural place for it go. Would be really helpful, the visablities option could even list Viewports where the WGR layer is seen.

At a guess your printing to a postscript printer? Alot of postscript printer can't handle the Transparent layer. When you print there should be a vectorworks tab in the printer options dropdown. On there is an option to Raster output. which means VW produces a raster image to be printed allowing the transparent layer info to print right.

The first place to look would be Worksheets, and the database functions of worksheets. Cells in the worksheet can have a function that will give you say "the Linear length of all walls of thickness x in class y on layer z" the formula will look like =function ('criteria') The pop-up menu of the worksheet will give a list of Functions and also a tool to set criteria similar to way Custom Selections Menu Works. From there is Vectorscript which do lots of interesting things, if not covered in the paper manual both should be well covered online version of the Manual.

Viewport Pack from www.panzercad.com Will do what you are after.

Hey in VW12 the new organise palette info saysit allows multi-select items which seems to include a whole tab for sheet layers. I wonder if this lets you select all and modify the page setup of all at the same time? May not be fully what your after but would still speed things up.

Plug-in objects have effectively two parts. Each instance is basicely is a group containing the objects of last time it was created attached to this is a record containing the information that the script uses. There is also a script in your plug-ins folder. if you don't have the script then there is no direct way to edit the PIO, but the object will still appear as last drawn. In your case if you had spotlight and all it's plug in scripts then you could edit those Spotlight objects. On the other hand if you are the only one with your plugin scripts then anyone else will see your objects the same way. The only way to edit is to convert to group and edit by hand.

Alan et al, the free plug-in fails to provide the true function. That is the separation of Data from Representation. The free plug-in you mention manipulates the data, corrupting it (for want of a better word) from what is originally was. Yes there are workarounds, but they are all clearly workarounds not function by design. Given that the new features in 12 seem to further the goal of v11 to separate Data from Representation, 2d workspace rotation would seem to be one of the big next steps in that goal. As for how well Live Sections work in practice i guess we have to wait for the sales rep. to coming knocking on the door to gives us a demo. They certainly look very promissing. [ 10-16-2005, 08:51 PM: Message edited by: iboymatt ]

Yes, Gradients are a resource, you edit them in the Resources Pallette like you would other resources like hatches or symbols. Control click a gradient in the resources pallette, choose edit if you want to tweak all the places you have aready used that gradient. Dulpicate the resource to make a new Gradient based on one you already have. Or make a new resource in the file to start one from scratch. [ 10-10-2005, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: iboymatt ]

quote: Originally posted by Travis: One complaint I often have is the size of the file. If I'm sending it for review (rather than accurate output on the other end) Hey was just reading in Tiger the new print to pdf options can be automator scripts. One of them installed as standard is a compressed PDF which is good for the review prints...

There is a standard Class named "dimension" if you change the pen colour for this class and tick the "use at creation" box then all your dimensions should follow that colour from then on. Matt