Pat Stanford

On a Mac I have 2018, 19, 20, 21 all installed and running in parallel. Often at the same time. I don't know how your Windows machine will work or which versions of Quicktime are required for VW2012 and 2016.

Thank you Kevin. This is extremely helpful. I will have to review carefully this weekend. Could this be posted to the Dev wiki?

Probably the best list would be the list of possible Criteria would be. https://developer.vectorworks.net/index.php/VS:Search_Criteria#Search_Criteria_Tables The actual worksheet functions are on the page @Boh listed. Not all of the criteria will work or make sense =L for Layer and =C for Class are probably the most useful.

@Boh I missed your post on =L somehow. Sorry about that ;-)

Glad it worked. Custom Modification is completely separate from multiple items selected in the OIP. It is a menu command in the Tools menu in most of the workspaces. It lets's you specify items by Criteria (Layer, class, color, area, perimeter, etc.) and then modify the attributes and settings of the objects working on all the objects at the same time. It takes a little playing to get used to but can be very helpful in situations like this. We are talking about this at the LA VWUG Zoom on Saturday.

Another option, especially if you are SUMmarizing objects would be to add a column with a formula of =L which will give you the Layer Name. You could then use that as part of the SUMmarization to separate the objects on different layers. Both ways can work. It just depends on what you need to do.

Thank you Julian. That should get me started. I guess it is about time for me to relearn event enabled scripts.

I need a high level overview of that it takes to make a PIO Styled. Does it have to be event enabled? Do I need to set a specific Object Parameter? Does VW handle the application of the styled parameters? Or do I have to write that code? Any other pointers? Thanks.

Try closing the file and reopening first. If that does not work, try a Custom Modification with a Type is Dimension and select the Dim style you want to use. Possibly change it to something else and then back in two steps if just reselecting the style does not work.

Yes, you should be able to send them workspace. Or just have them open the Workspaces dialog box and see if they are running a stock workspace (saved in Applications folder) or a custom workspace (saved anywhere else). If it is a custom with a stock name, they should Duplicate it under a different name and then delete the version in the User Folder. That should get them back access to the stock version. They may have really messed up and saved a custom workspace in the Applications folder, but it would have been a manual thing. VW has not done that for a long time.

@P Retondo I completely agree that having a copy of their workspace is a great idea. Especially if you are going to have to do tech support on how they need to accomplish things. I just wanted to make clear that the workspace if only 90% of the issue about seeing what someone on a different version can do with a drawing.

All screen plane objects do not display in non-top/plan viewports. There is an option to "Project Screen Plane Objects", but they end up displaying like layer plane. Definitely best to just place the image in the viewport.

Even if you are using their workspace, you may still have access to PIO settings that they might not have if you don't do the DiableModules thing.

Have you tried just dragging the files into a drawing window? It might avoid the having to specify the file in the dialog box.

I posted a worksheet script a while ago that pulls the text out of a text object.

I just tried a simple test. I put a worksheet image on a design layer and then made a viewport. The viewport did display the worksheet image, so worksheets on design layers can display in viewports. As with everything else, worksheet visibility in viewports depends on class and layer visibility, but it sounds like you have already checked that. You can certainly put a worksheet image either directly on a sheet layer or in the annotations group of a viewport, but you should be able to put the image on the design layer also.

VW can read and write XLSX files. But there is information on each end that will not translate and will end up as static text/numbers. When you export to XLS you loose the live updating of information in databases (or worksheet field with criteria). When you import from XLS you loose any functions that are not in the VW Worksheet (Pivot tables come to mind). But at least you don't have to export as CSV and then import into the other program.

Are you doing marketing drawings for the lamp or the clamp? Will the lamp be the only thing or the primary element in a drawing at 1:4 or larger scale? If not, you are the ONLY person who will ever realize that there is not a bolt/nut there. The model is for communicating the intent. It is not a replication of reality. IMNSHO don't draw that doesn't matter.

@Chad Hamilton HAarchs I agree. In a drawing I did recently I added an extra layer called Title Block Reference just so I could see where the title block (that would eventually be placed on each sheet layer) would be while I was drawing. It is amazing how little things like this can make a huge difference in productivity.

Check the Criteria of the Database row. Worksheet Menus: View Menu: make sure Database Headers is Checked. Right Click in the database header (i.e. 3, not 3.1, 3.2, etc.) and choose Edit Criteria. Make sure the criteria is specifying the layer(s) that you want to count objects on. If you don't specify the layers it may be counting objects in both design layer and sheet layers. I thought that was fixed, but I know that used to happen. If you are counting objects on multiple design layers just add them all in as separate criteria rows. If you are still getting duplicate, then turn off any SUMmarization in any column and then right click on the subrows (I.E. 3.1, 3.2) and Select Object to see if you actually have somehow duplicated objects on top of each other.

Not going to happen in current versions of VW. VW2021 will export to Excel, so you might be able to export and run the pivot table there. In current versions of VW there is nothing similar to Pivot Tables (or lookups). Database rows can not have anything else special done to them.

Yes, the menu commands and tools that you see in the Fundamentals workspace are the one's they have access to. The thing to look out for is that if you use PIOs that are not included in Fundamentals you will be able to edit them (since your license is actually Designer) while they will be "read only" proxy objects for the user on Fundamentals. If you need a "fool proof" (remember they always make a better fool) way to check, you can create a script with just the following line: DisableModules(1); That should make your version think it is Fundamentals and Renderworks only. To undo this you will have to quite and restart VW.

I used to use the Kensingston Expert. And another one that moved the trackball with my thumb. Ended up with tendinitis in my thumb. I also (personal opinion) found that it was harder to control the trackball accurately than a mouse.

Logitech G602 here. It has 10 extra buttons, but I only use the Left/Right/and Mouse Wheel buttons. One at home and one at the office. Needs a USB dongle, but has been quite reliable.

I think this is a large portion of what the new "Materials" addition to VW2021 is about. It allows you to specify the material that an object is made of and the data about that object. One of the pieces of data is the density of the object. So if you draw a beam and make its materials Steel, then you can extract the volume and density to get the weight. Change the material to Concete and the density automatically changes and so does the calculated weight. I know what you are looking for for details to have the material specified in the title block, but that is going to be hard to accomplish. I think you will have better luck using a worksheet that you format to look like the title block and add separately.