dspearman

Roger, It's ok to class the placed plant object as plants. My comment was that with container objects (eg the placed plant object that as objects within it that are classed in different classes than the container) you should be avoiding setting the class visibilities to 'Active Only'. A normal mode for working would be to set it to 'show/snap/modify others' and to grey those you want greyed or to turn off those you want turned off using the orgainization dialog or the navigation pallet. Classes are very powerful and I wouldn't want to see you not using them.

I would suspect that the placed plant object is in the none class and all of the objects within the placed plant object (think of it as a container) are in component classes. If you can't see the placed plant object you can't see anything inside of it. If you can't see the things inside of it (even if you can see the object) you won't see the things inside it. Active only have very limited application as a Vectorworks setting.

Try =Count The plant worksheet counts the contents of a field in the plant record which calculates the number of plants in the placed plant object If you simply want to count the number of symbols matching a criteria you can simply use '=Count'

Viper, My comments were restricted to one tool that just had a major redesign. This was the question that was asked and I was answering it. To assume that this is the extent of the improvements to an extensive and broad program would be both short sighted and unfair.

As you have discovered control of plant tags is somewhat limited in 2008. In 2009 you have the control you are looking for, as the attachment point, end marker, and shoulder are configurable. You can also change the angle of the text.

The biggest improvement to the place plant tool is the tag improvements. You now have dramatically more control over how and where the plant tag and leader are drawn. I seem to be getting more speed but not dramatically so. I haven't had an issue with the 2d plant rendering at all...

I suspect the problem is that they are using an old version of Acrobat or Adobe Reader that doesn't support Open Type. The newer versions seem to work for me.

In that case just select the stake objects and use the Text menu (Text > Size >) to make the adjustment.

Select an objects and look in the Object Info Pallet. Select all of the stakes and from the Object info Pallet change the label to description / elevation.

Sorry but that's the way it works. An alternative is to class the 'outline' of the individual plant and turn '2d plant rendering on' with the plant set to have some outline. Then if you turn the 'outline' class off you will see a massed plan with the interior linework and the fills.

In the plant definition there is an check box (on the 2d rendering tab) to enable 2d rendering on placement. If this is off the plant won't render until you check the box on the object info pallet. You can place and edit all your plants, when done, select them and check the box.

I would suggest making the file (or your plant library file) a favorite in the resource browser. To place a plant double click on the icon in the resource browser. This will make the Place Plant tool active with the plant definition you double clicked current. I used to do the default content thing but switched to this method in VW 2008 and prefer it. Plant definitions in the current document can still be accessed from the pull down list or the tool settings button in the mode bar.

A number of plant symbols are found in the Plant Objects file. This is found in Vectorworks 2008/Libraries/Plants/Plant Objects.vwx

Also try the polyline with the arc (fillet) vertex setting. Make sure that the arc radius is set to 0 and vw will just pick something it thinks is appropriate. With a little practice you can get really good at this.

Preview can read PDF 1.5 (Acrobat 8) but writes PDF 1.3

Is the placed plant object in the 'none' class?

It might be worth looking at the .csv file in excel or bbedit or some other text editor to see what is going on. It may be a formating issue with the csv file. Something like remove the top line and it works...

If the dxf file has 3d points you are already set. These points would be the shot locations and heights. Simply import the dxf file, select the 3d points (probably 3d loci) and run the command Create Site Model.. Alternatively, Since you have the location data, open it in excel, make sure the columns are of a known order (here we use ID,Northing,Easting,Elevation,Comments), Save the excel file as a comma separated values file and import that file using the Import Survey File... command. This will place one stake object for each of your data points. After the command is run the only objects selected will be the new stake objects. Having said that I am able to get this file directly off the instrument, in this format and if you can manage that...you only have to 'Import Survey File...'

If mass overlapping plants (in the render tab of the plant definition) is checked you will get exactly the result you are getting now. Try UNCHECKING it and see if the problem goes away. Also ensure all classes are turned on. If the colour fill is part of an object (still in the plant object) that has a class, and this has its visibility turned off or to grey, you will get the result you have now. If turning all classes on solves the problem you may have to experiment a little to find out what class is the one you need to turn on. If you are using plants from the Plant Object file that comes with Landmark 2008 the class would be 'Plants-Component-Canopy' or "Plants-Component-Colour Fill'

VW 12 and 2008 work on power pc systems. Rosetta is an apple technology for running power pc code on intel processors. You don't have it because you are running on a power pc processor - hence it is not needed. You can either upgrade VW or downgrade your system - both options are available.

Since you have designer look at Landmark's Hardscape tool.

In 12.x the 3d symbol has to be in a vectorworks file located in the folder Library/Defaults/Plants.. The library folder I am referring to is in the vectorworks program folder. I don't have the full path with me but the names are fairly self explanatory once you get this far and it is in the manual. In vw 2008 this is much simpler. Simple select the plant object, right click on it and choose Edit. Select the 3d graphics, and place the image prop. Exit and you are done.

There are versions of PDF. VW 2008 uses the latest and greatest. (1.5?) Mac os pdf uses the oldest and most compatible. (1.3?) Adobe reader 8 is a free download...

I don't think you can do this and have it stay live with classes. That being said, you could achieve that functionality with a Site Model and a Site Model Snapshot. These could be classed or on different layers. First set the site model to one of the display parameter (eg minor contours no lineweight) and create a snapshot. That snapshot will update with the Site Model but retain the settings in place at the time the snapshot is created. After the snapshot is created select the Site Model and set the graphic properties to what ever you would normally use.

Plant definitions have had a category field for a long time. This is not new in 2008. To do the schedule you have to set up the criteria in your plant schedule worksheet to 'sort' the plants according to this field. The worksheet included in the Plant Objects file is set up this way and can serve as a model. That being said you have to ensure that the plants have the correct values in the Category field and that all the categories you use will be reported on the worksheet. Do this in the plant definition. Similarly you could limit the plant schedule worksheet to report by class, or by layer. That being said I wouldn't recommend using class to set the Category when you already have a way to set it as it would just complicate the drawing process. I might use class to set the phase and use classes like 'Plants-Phase 1' etc.