dspearman

Your permissions are ok?

In the Place plant tool settings dialog (get to it using the button on the mode bar), select the plant you want to modify using the pull down thumbnails, and click on the "edit current" button. Scheduled size is text. You can enter any text.

The height and spread you are putting on the report is the drawn size. Use the scheduled size instead. This one won't summarize.

If you have them set to auto class (you set this when you define the plant) then you can change their appearance by editing the class definition.

This is perhaps a naive question but why wouldn't you export PDF. The export pdf can respect classes. Illustrator (at least the new version) does PDF really well and given that it is adobe's format, I suspect the earlier version might.

The alert will show up if the file was generated by anything other than an autodesk product. OpenDWG has a way around it but autodesk took them to court because it relied on embedding one of their copywritten words or something like that. It had to be removed. The upshot is that it doesn't mean their is a problem with the file, just that autodesk software wasn't involved so...if it doesn't work don't blame them..

The object in the Xref class is probably a symbol. It contains the entire content of one of the xref files with their layering. Select it and then use the edit symbol command (modify menu) or right click on it and choose the edit option. HTH Dean

If a DWG file has an x-ref that will be imported into vectorworks as a symbol. If you need to edit it you either edit the symbol or convert the symbol to a group. The viewport in this case is a red herring. Focus on the design layers and you will find the symbol... As an aside is you batch import dwg's they will come in as symbols with each file on a vw layer.

You can specify what class the tag is to go into in the plant definition. The script editor will allow you to set a class for new plant objects but you are correct, all plants must go into one class. In my case I use classes to categorize plants as new , existing, or remove so one class doesn't work - nor would any auto-class that is part of the plant definition or tools. The Plant Category (eg tree / shrub / etc) is stored in the plant record and you could use a script to select only plants of a specific category...

There are other tools for turning a PDF's vector data to dwg. I don't know how good they are. Really the question about 'protecting' the integrity of the drawing is one of ethics and liabilities. You do keep records of the drawings you release don't you? I would be more concerned about getting a dwg from a consultant and then having some inaccuracy because, say for instance, a proxy object didn't draw. From a software point of view, exchange of drawings is about fidelity and pdf promises that to a degree we don't currently have. The possibility of someone altering my drawing is about ethics and I don't see ethical concerns being addressed in software - ever.

to set the document default font; deselect everything Use the text menu commands to set your default then place a plant object and the tags should have your new settings. To change the font settings on placed plant objects; Select all of the plant objects and then use the text menu commands. This will change them all.

If you are adjusting the perimiter (hull) then select the Site Model. Run the menu command Modify/Edit Group.. . Draw a 2d polygon to define the limits of the Site Model and exit the Edit Group. When the Site Model updates only the portion within the Poly will draw.

The upgrade to 12.5 is free. I would definitely spend that much money!

How large are the areas you want to cover? How close to them do you want to look? What angle? eg iso or perspective? There are a few options here but depending on scale I might approach it differently?

2) Site Model section can do an alignment along an irregular path. You might need this is you are doing a road profile. It can also do a section with an exagerated vertical axis. This is also needed under some circumstances. Section viewport is linear - much like an architectural section. Section viewport will update with the site model. Site Model Section will not. 3) You have an object in the file named 'Site Model'. Use custom selection (name = 'Site Model') and if not needed, delete it. 4) Major every 10th contour would give you a major at 50.

I guess the point here is that naming is appropriate if their will be one object, selection if the measurement can be volatile (but then why would you be using a worksheet...), and classing where their are multiple objects to be measured. If you just need the area and don't need the value in a worksheet, select the poly or multiple polys and take the value off the object info pallet. Your technique will depend on your workflow and what you need to do with the value. Petri, space and hardscape objects do what you just described but are not in fundamentals.

Name it? Using the data tab of the object info pallet (the big empty field at the top).

Katie, I would agree that you should only use the elevation value to set the elevation of the pad but... and this is a big but.. if you set up a pad and enter a z value you will find that the pad moves up by the z value you set. If you then update the site model you will find that both the z value and the elevation value are influencing the dtm.

I don't know how you would apply a texture to a pad. The texture bed is a different type of site modifier (select a site modifier and look in the object info pallet). It doesn't adjust the slope of the site model but will add a texture area on the proposed 3d model. If you have access to the hardscape objects you can make these function like a texture bed as well. For multiple pads look at the elevations - start elevation and slope. You don't need to cover all of the site with a pad. The spaces between the pads, if large enough will be where the elevations get aligned. You may want to look at this in section to see what you are getting (or with 2d contours, or with 3d triangles etc). The arrow length doesn't matter. The starting point and the direction does. A negative slope goes down a postive slope value goes up. The text label makes it clear what is happening here. If you don't see this text ensure that show slope arrow is on and the font size is large enough to read (this is mostly a problem if you are working at 1:1 rather than at scale). HTH

Use site modifiers as pads to control the grading Use site modifiers as texture beds to show the drive. For complex grading (ie a u shaped drive) use mulitple pads. Make sure that the site model is set to display "3D proposed only" I use the elevation value in pads and not the Z value. If you use both the elevation will be added to the Z value.

The 2d stuff will dissappear if you are in Stack layers mode. Or Create a model layer and on that layer create layer links from the other layers. Set project 2d off for these layer links. Or Create a Viewport with "Project 2D" turned off Are your 'layer links' from other files actually workgroup references?

Could the model be layer links. They would take on the layer z elevations at the time the links were created. If the layer z elevations were reset the layer links would still have the old settings. You would have to unlock the layer links, delete them, and create new ones. Just a theory...

Worksheet on Drawing is inexpensive and does exactly what you want to do. I recommend it highly.

Quite frequently I have used arc by 3 points mode to quickly place an arc over the hardscape or polyline. Then I dimension that. If someone has a better workflow...

This is advice only.... I set the scale (during import) of dwg / dxf to be the scale that I intend to print the drawing at. This seems to cause moset of my font/arrowhead/line weight issues to go away. If the scale appears to be off you need to reset the units of the dwg file during import. You may have to check a known dimension and look at the factor by which this is off to determine what the 'unit' in the dwg file is set to. You can scale it afterwards but I have often found it easier just to reimport into a blank file...