Ross McLee

Hi, A nice feature from 'another product' that I enjoyed, was the ability to edit values of a block/symbol directly on screen without having to go to the OIP each time. Pressing CTRL and double clicking on the (often) text value would allow you to edit the value in-situ. Without ctrl you would otherwise open the symbol editor. Just a thought ! R

On a similar thread to file name display fields being too small in "open recent files": When CTRL+Tabbing between multiple open files the filename/path displayed in the pop-up is too short to display the full filename/path. If the two files have similar names except for the last few digits they are not easily distinguished when switching. Making the width of the pop-up automatically scale to the file name would be good or truncate the file name where there is commonality between them (e.g. root path) Cheers, R

I have asked this before @Thomas K. Unless I am mistaken it is work in progress for a future update. I'm open to recommendations too. I'm no scripter, but wonder if a script that takes the end node coordinates (socket positions) and redraws the circuit but in reverse order is some how possible to automate. @Conrad Preen is your man here. 😉 R

@Conrad Preen, LOL - Don't be worried! ConnecCAD isn't so much of the learning mountain. More that Vectorworks platform as a whole - it is very different from my AutoCAD past experience (I bet you hear that a lot). Having got used to a way of working, change is always tricky to adopt. The things I struggle with are... Where/what is the link between ConnectCAD and Spotlight? Setting up a workflow and platform environment that works for everyone so that we can work as a team. Sharing files, tools, scripts, symbols. Creating a workspace, shortcuts, menus that we share Crating and sharing a set of device symbols quickly and easily Help files and training videos often don't go into much detail (just concepts) or don't give real life examples I still don't get how to edit a device that I have multiple instances of (e.g. I need to add an extra input to an LCD because I have decided to use a different model) - I have to do it to each one individually (or do it once then copy paste it, then renumber/name them so they are unique). Loudspeakers - I need to keep track of how many and where they go and what speaker channel they are on, but don't really want to draw a few hundred of them Matching devices shown in a schematic and on a layout drawing, assigning them rooms (E.g. on my schematic I know "LCD 58" belongs in the board room, because I am drawing the board room schematic, but when I run Update "Rack Layout" I have LCD 1-100 and I have to remember where each one belongs) - I know you were looking into adding only update selected devices. Keeping drawings tidy and in the right classes (most of the time this is dealt with in ConectCAD but outside that, It can get messy and difficult to maintain I have lots of scripts now which select all ???? and then I make sure they are in the correct class Matching up real world information in schematics and layouts. Installed power and data provision (by the electrical contractor) I still haven't come up with the best way to do that. Synching between Devices and Equipment Items change. sometimes I end up with orphaned Equipment Items because I have renumbered my schematics. Text sizes making them legible on different paper sizes at different scales Putting an LCD on a wall using the Spotlight TV tool uses a symbol for every different size of screen, based on an old LG model. In AutoCAD I created single dynamic block that had a lookup table in it, which had make, model, length, depth, width, VESA mount size and offset. I would simply add a new make and model to my library block and everyone used the same block each time. There wasn't a huge list to choose from. The block had plan, section and elevation (2D) based on the dims in the lookup table. All of these things take time to accommodate and find a way of working. I get that... but if it isn't out of the box and it requires some kind of scripting and extensive knowledge of how VW works then it becomes a bit of a "mountain" 🙂 I appreciate the efforts you; the rest of the VW team; and forum contributors put in to keep the wheels oiled too. I'll be joining the open house next week and look forward to hearing more about where VW is going. As I have mentioned to Tom White, we would be more than happy to get involved in beta testing. Rgds, Ross

@Daniel Dickman ... and the world is a better place or it. CTRL+A....CTRL+- ..... ahhh much better !

Hi @ben59, You could create a report.. Tools...Reports...Create A Report. In the columns selection, Select from "Records" in the first drop down, and choose "hyperlink" in the second drop down. Then select the elements you need to display in your report (I just select all of them) and then delete columns I don't need. Admittedly there is no association between devices and the hyperlinks you have included, but, it is a start i guess. Hope this helps and good luck with this massive learning curve! R

Ah ha ! I have found what you are talking about @markdd. When editing my "Schematics" Saved view I have added the custom tool (ctrl+3) option when editing the script. It has added a snapshot of my current smart cursor settings, and pasted them in the scripting window. It confused me some time back when editing the script that it was empty to start with. And now works a treat ! I have no idea what the script means - but does what I need for now. I would like to switch snap to grid OFF specifically for other design views, but I'll work that bit out later. Grateful for your guidance. R

Thanks for this @markdd As a new user I am finding this forum very helpful. And I am getting to grips with some of the basics. I will explore the custom tools stuff shortly. My biggest frustration with VW so far however, is the expected level of user customisation (and with it, a strong understanding of scripting) to accomplish relatively simple tasks which would (should) otherwise be simple features of an amazing core product. I just want to draw, quickly and efficiently. I don't want to become an expert programmer or the IT/CAD platform manager for my office. I'll be listening intently during the Open Day to see where VW is heading over the next few years! Thanks again, R

Hi all, I am getting used to using save views and love them! On a similar thread to a feature request I put in a while back regarding viewport layer visibility in saved views.... Are there any plans to include snap settings as one of the elements that is saved within in a saved view? For example, jumping between a layout view and ConnectCAD schematic can be a bit cumbersome having to switch from grid snap only on and most, if not all others on each time. There have been a few occasions where a non-grid snap has caused problems in schematic view - but thank goodness for snap to grid tool to bring it back in line (ctrl+ - ) Cheers, R

Hi all, I am getting used to using save views and love them! On a similar thread to a feature request I put in a while back regarding viewport layer visibility in saved views.... Are there any plans to include snap settings as one of the elements that is saved within in a saved view? For example,jumping between a layout view and ConnectCAD schematic can be a bit cumbersome having to switch from grid snap only on and most, if not all others on each time. There have been a few occasions where a non-grid snap has caused problems in schematic view - but thank goodness for snap to grid tool to bring it back in line (ctrl+ - ) Cheers, R

So, coming from an AutoCAD background where I used to create all my 2D schematics and layout drawing for AV systems (now using ConnectCAD for that). I was used to having a ToolPalette which we, as a team, shared. It was always there regardless of which file was opened. I would create block definitions of various objects (all 2D but with visibility states of top, side and front elevations if needed) in a single library file. The team would just click and insert the symbols. If I edited the tool palette with more symbols they would see them the next time they started ACAD. The limitation was that I had to be careful as the last one exiting ACAD would be the last to save to the XML index file it was based on. So updates to the tool palette were coordinated at the end of the day so I would be the last one to exit and save. I'd like to be able to have a "tool palette" for the team that has all my handy scripts in it (and as others become familiar with scripting their's too). Available regardless of which file is open. Without the need for importing into the current file or opening a separate folder manually. At the moment with the current file I have open "My Palette" appears on my desktop as a handy tool bar. I have saved the same scripts folder to our template file so any new files will get the same. But that will become out of date instantly if I come up with a new script in this current project file and forget to export it to the template file. May be I'm doing this completely the wrong way ?...

I think I need to have a good think about how to distribute my scripts to be our team scripts anyway. "Favourite" is one thing but it would be better to have them as shared, in a workgroup file/template. Thanks again, R

Thanks @Conrad Preen. On a similar note. Is there any way to change the way the numbering is formatted regarding a space or no space between the preceding device name text? Our house style would be to have a space, and I notice that if a space already exists the formatting is kept, otherwise the (new) number is appended on the end of the text. Cheers, R

Hi, I have created a number of very simple custom selection scripts to help me edit devices within a ConnectCAD schematic in bulk based on the selection criteria (thanks @Pat Stanford for staring me on that path!) I wanted to use the same scripts in another existing project so I exported them from one file to the other using the export function within resource manager. I store my scripts in a resource folder called "My Palette". After the export, the scripts didn't appear in My Palette on my desktop. Closing and reopening the file the palette was refreshed as needed. Have I missed a step in the export process? i there a refresh palettes 'button I didn't press?... or is this a small bug? Attached are two screen shots showing the contents of the palette on my desktop and within resource manager next to it, they were out of sync then in sync 'after' reopening the file. Feedback always appreciated, R

I'll look into this today - Thank you @Jesse Cogswell

UPDATE: The ENTER button on the numeric pad works ! s So I will be using that.

Thanks for the update @Conrad Preen. Does the tool also update the device name / Equipment Item name linkage? E.g. Device "Box A" in Room 1 will remain in room 1 even when the device name changes name to "Box B"? Cheers, R

Hi Guys, Nice feature request... When defining a socket on a device, could it include a default circuit type?... "curved, chamfered, polyline arrow etc" This would speed up having to change between types when connecting some devices which are more suited to being remote and needing an arrow, to those situated next to each other which would be best served with a line. Just a thought! Cheers, Ross

Hi, I realise there is an overhead in doing this, but.. When VW needs to do some number crunching and it is going to take a whil (a big purge for example) it would be good to get some sort of on screen indication that VW is working on it and not crashed. The import DWG process for example shows the number of objects and progress on importing those.. that would be really good. Thanks, R

Hi again, Another feature request! Would it be possible to create viewports from a schematic layer by selecting the items you want to include in the viewport and click create viewport (I have a shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+V). This would be instead of having to create a rectangle and then using that as the crop border. It may require a degree of crop 'margin' )say one or two grid squares or may be a %age of the length/width to give some space around the objects being cropped nicely, and the viewport laying on the sheet layer centred 🙂 But this would speed things up nicely !! Thanks as always, R

Hi, Feature request, improvement Can the Recent file list be extended to allow for long file names to be viewed and/or hover over to show the full file name and perhaps the last part of a truncated path. We use file revision numbers at the end, so it is possible to accidentally open the wrong revision of a file if more than one version has been opened recently. To make it even better (stealing from other apps that do the same). A right click gives you the option to open the folder that a recent file is stored in! Low hanging fruit? 🙂 ! Cheers, R

Hi @Conrad P (and Co), I had a look at the help file but wanted to get a bit more detail on how the renumbering command works. https://app-help.vectorworks.net/2021/eng/index.htm#t=VW2021_Guide%2FConnectCAD%2FRenumbering_devices_and_sockets.htm I have a schematic (on multiple layers) which is getting pretty large and complex, and I am conscious that devices may no longer be numbered properly/uniquely so that they can be accounted for in a bill of quantities type report. If you could describe how this script works and what it modifies (device name description etc) it may help to understand if it is going to do what I hope to achieve or some ay near 🙂 Thanks as always, R

Hi, An observation (and a request for advice!): My workstation isn't the most powerful (and I admit is due for an upgrade soon, but with 16GB RAM and a reasonable graphics card it copes well). I have an 80Mb VW (2021) file which has primarily 2D content (including ConnectCAD schematics etc). It is broken down into multiple design layers some of which contain viewports to a single reference file which has multiple DWG's imported into it (imported to separate layers (level 00, Level01, level 02 of my building) - They are my backgrounds from the architect, on to which I put my content over on a separate design layer. On starting up VW2021 I am using 8 out of my 16Gb RAM with a further 1Gb added when I open the file ... I can work all day in schematics etc and performance is OK. If I start showing other design layers the RAM usage goes up (no surprise there)... If I show all layers simultaneously I go over my 16Gb max and start using paging files/virtual RAM which is really poor performance. BUT.. if I then hide all the layers the RAM usage remains the same (ready to be displayed for later I guess). But at 16+GB the performance is dreadful (barely workable). Is there any way I can 'flush out the RAM'? or is there a setting somewhere to manage my memory usage, layer display etc? Thanks, R

Hi, Feedback on login pop up window on startup to VW and licensing mechanism: As a relatively small firm we ned to manage our licenses carefully. The login screen/pop-up is often our only window on to what the license status is. Since we don't sit within the same office (all working from home these days) it can be a pain to chase round to see who is in or out of VW... Make it clear whether you are borrowing or taking an active license from the server (3 buttons BORROW, LOGIN, QUIT) When borrowing only allow users to select up to the maximum number of days allocated (poll the server first to determine the length Show how many licenses are available (before clicking to continue) Hide all the other information in a separate pop-up window (with an options button to access) Being able to notify other users that a license is needed if we have run out - that would be great! Receive notification when a license has been released and is now available Open to abuse perhaps, but being able to forcefully reclaim a borrowed license when a user is offline/unavailable (if someone is off sick or laptop is unable to connect to network) If upgrade/update process remains the same being able to update the software without using up a license at the time would be good. I.e run the update without a license, ("an update is available...." is shown at login screen) Just some thoughts... Cheers, Ross

hahahah... just don't stop swimming - you'll drown like sharks! 🙂 The URL field would be user entered and manually edited. So no need for you guys to maintain. I have a similar auto google search cell in my spreadsheets which creates a google search it concatenates the make and model into a search string URL too. Works a treat! just an idea😉 R