Petri

Couldn't agree more. However, draughting conventions are just draughting conventions. If you have specified insulation and the contractor does not do it, you should be off the hook. Is His or Her Worship really going to instruct the Gentlemen of the Jury to consider the absence of some squiggly lines as Evidence? I don't think so - but if in doubt, use colours or patterns and include a legend. In Finland, we can simply have wall styles in the Spec and tags in the drawings. In case of discrepancy, the Spec is the primary reference, regardless on how you have drawn the wall. No contest.

Different workflow, graphics, tagging, quantity notation, drafting conventions. Drawings are not expected to look like - what would be the word - patronising? No, na?ve. (I should also have mentioned German landscape architects...) Maybe I haven't. The ugly cutesy stuff is so overwhelming.

Would Computers Unlimited by any chance be a part of the famous Chester-Perry Organization? Or maybe Nemetschek is?

I meant that not using my VW consultant's hat. The workflow & overll configuration is something completely different than what at least Finnish & Scandinavian landscape architects are used to and the graphics continue to be non-professional.

Hasn't it? Dear me. I've been under the impression that wall styles can have an insulation component. I've even created such wall styles.

Does it? Goodness me - for over 30 years I've violated established Architectural Standards!

Me too. The more I explore 2008, the better the overall feeling. This despite some unfortunate details. If I'd highlight One Single Big Thing, that'd be view rotation. Finally we are free to work in any coordinate system, without the collapse of registration through a rotated grid or the complexities of opaque constraint definitions or the dangers of rotating objects. (Hey, even I have occasionally rotated the whole b-dy project!) Have I ever mentioned that 90? angles are something of an exception in my world & my design language? No, I'm no Tange, Aalto, Pietil? or Saarinen nor do I aspire to be. I struggle with this - I honestly do: "Hi, I'm Petri and I am a non-Cartesianholic!" Still, every job comes out strangely distorted, warped and transmogrified. Besides, in urban design, landscape architecture and recycling of buildings, right angles are usually wrong angles anyway. (Hated the T-square! Yes, I'm that old.)

I don't think so. Yes. Limited, focused - whichever.

What I've also gathered that the growth is elsewhere - in countries where BIM may well be important sooner rather than later. I assume that Nemetschek knows the marketplace.

Members, rather. But since this obviously isn't an interesting question, so why not the official line, too.

The British Dulux - well, I know something about it. Their colour system is based on the fabulous, perceptive (& very expensive) Munsell scheme. They don't have (or at least admit to have) RGB or CMYK values for their paints. In my understanding, there is no reliable mathematical method to convert Munsell to RGB, even if the ever-so-friendly folks at Dulux would provide the data. Having said that, Adobe has, I believe, Munsell colours in at least some their software. You can get the RGB values and use them as eg. class definitions. There is also some public Munsell-to-RGB calculators on the Net. In the continental market, the omission of the RAL scheme may be another problem, but that is also very expensive & under copyright. Since RAL sells also software, they are unlikely to provide data for any reasonable amount of money. Whatever, the new 24-bit colour scheme makes things a lot easier. Until now, one needed to create gradients (which were only able to be created programmatically to produce single colours, ie. without the actual "gradient") and/or textures. Now it is easy if you know the values. --- A shameless plug: yours truly may sell (through official channels & only in dongled countries) a system that creates colours on demand (class, gradient, texture). I just need the RGB values! So far of the European paint manufacturers only Tikkurila / Kemira has been cooperative.

IFC applies only to the construction industry (AEC). STEP is a generic format/concept; IFC is, I understand, pretty much an adaptation of it to a particular industry. When I last looked, automotive and aircraft industries were, among others, applying STEP.

To existing users, definitely so. But how about prospective users? Those who have discounted VW on this or that particular basis perhaps, but what about AutoCAD-fundamentalists, hard-core MicroStationists or devout followers of the notorious ArchiCAD-cult? In short, how does one "sell" VW to new users? What is compelling right now?

Dear me! When do we get a MacOS PIO? (Sorry, sorry...)

I'd imagine so, too. In the big boys' world it is not, I understand, not at all rare that a system consists of programs written in various languages, calling each other.

If I have interpreted the snippet information about VW's market situation correctly, developed countries (= the EU & Japan + maybe some progressive countries like Australia ) represent one third. USA another third. The third third is the third world, which will any day take over the recalcitrant and luddite-conservative USA. Now, which third - or two thirds, if you like - should, in your opinion, determine the future directions?

Have I read the "New Features" brochure badly? Do we have Persistent Rectangles? Oh happy day! It took only, what, 20 years?

But here's the real low-down: put the blame on Bill, boys! The serfs of Mr. Gates never had ∆x or ∆y, but ?x and ?y. The Greek alphabet is obviously beyond College drop-outs. For the sake of Democracy and Brotherly Love, we have finally achieved the Cuckoo-clock! (Where are the Borgias when you need them?) EDIT I guess I wasn't serious... B-ger.

I beg to differ... Whatever you change in the plant definition, seems to reset tag settings of an instance to whatever Mr. NNA has chosen, unless you have document-specific preferences. The new plant tool may be among the worst PIOs in VW's history. Then again, I may be wrong. So far I've only tried to use it as a normal (but non-US -user) would. (Except that I peeked - no, one cannot change the tool preferences.)

Don't we all do the bulk of our renderings in Design Layers? AFAIK, 3D & rendering are design tools; viewports are a printing vehicle.

None of my business, but isn't this a bit paranoid? You are increasing the system overheads considerably for what I think is rather pointless. VW works slower, the network has (unnecessary) load. I can't even remember when VW or OS X last crashed. Regards, Marvin

I realise that not all PIOs can be programmed with VectorScript and of course I don't even care. However, default values of parameters (including choices of pop-up lists and radio buttons) should be editable by users; same applies to OI labels (alternative names). Eg. the Plant tool is a disaster in its assumptions. Why can't there be a VSO "front end" which would use something akin to the $INCLUDE instruction of VS to invoke the "vwtool" or whatever the clever bit might be called? As PIOs get more complex, I anticipate that we'll see even more of these user-unfriendly thingies. (I seem to recall a statement by Robert Anderson some years ago, saying that all future plug-ins would be written with VectorScript; the huge advancements of VS since VW 9 are a testimony of some sort.)

Tool preferences? Unfortunately, they are document-specific, but perhaps could be a part of the template. The Plant tool is an SDK-based add-on (not VectorScript), so one can't (to the utter frustration of yours truly) change the defaults of the tool itself.

OK - there is indeed a FileMaker Pro -database (FMP from this on), but the Plant tool does not access the database. Instead, the database generates a set of text files which, incidentally, are called "the database" in the Help. While it is now in some ways easier to edit, add and delete plants, after any such operation one obviously has to (to quote Help) "create" "the database" again. One has to ask why at all and, especially, why like this? FileMaker is perfectly capable of handling SQL queries from other programs. Unless I'm proven wrong on this (and whatever I find in further investigations), I'm quite disappointed - but not at all surprised. EDIT One more thing: the Data Sheet in FMP is so cleverly designed that it can't easily be printed anywhere outside the U.S. of A. : it is too wide to fit on an A4 of the famous Any Printer of MacOS.

Just for information. The list in the VS documentation is incomplete. 1: VectorWorks 2008: 2: VectorWorks 2008:Plug-Ins: 3: VectorWorks 2008:Plug-Ins:Data: 4: VectorWorks 2008:Workspaces: 5: VectorWorks 2008:Plug-Ins: 7: VectorWorks 2008:Templates: 8: VectorWorks 2008:Standards: 9: VectorWorks 2008:VWHelp: 10: VectorWorks 2008:Plug-Ins:Dictionaries: 11: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Objects-Metric: 12: Users:username:Library:Application Support:VectorWorks:2008: 13: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries: 14: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults: 15: VectorWorks 2008:Settings: 17: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Objects-Metric: 20: VectorWorks 2008:Plug-Ins:Common:Data: 100: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:RenderWorks - Textures: 101: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Cabinet - Handles: 102: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Door - Hardware: 103: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Attributes - Gradients: 104: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Hardscape - Hatches: 105: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Attributes - Hatches: 106: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Attributes - Image Fills: 107: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Plants: 108: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Toilet Stall - Fixtures: 109: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:RenderWorks - Backgrounds: 110: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Seating Layout - Symbols: 111: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Tile - Symbols: 112: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Human Figure - Textures: 113: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Walls: 114: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Stairs: 115: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Drawing Border - Title Blocks: 116: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Section - Markers: 117: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Repetitive Unit: 118: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Door - Custom Leaves: 119: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Lighting Instrument - Gobos: 120: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Reports~Schedules: 121: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Lighting Instrument - Symbols: 124: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Plants - Hatches: 125: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Repetitive Unit:Flooring~Decking: 126: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Repetitive Unit:Framing: 127: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Repetitive Unit:Masonry Units: 128: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Repetitive Unit:Miscellaneous: 129: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Repetitive Unit:Roofing: 130: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Repetitive Unit:Siding: 131: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Walls - Hatches: 132: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Walls - Textures: 133: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Window - Custom Shutters: 134: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Sketch Styles: 135: VectorWorks 2008:Plant Database: 136: VectorWorks 2008:Plant Database:VW Plants: 137: VectorWorks 2008:Libraries:Defaults:Color Palettes: It would of course be nice to have a path to the user's Plug-ins -folder. It's not nice to check for Mac/Windows & add a string to path 12. I notice that we have plenty of free numbers. -- Not that anyone needing these could not figure them out, but now it's done for you.