Pat Stanford

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What is the criteria for your database row? Have you actually edited the information in the Title Block for each layer? It looks like it is still showing the result. Is the title block actually using "My Custom Record" or is the title block linked to a different record format?

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This used to exists. It was a series of commands called Hide and Show. No longer in the base program, but still accessible from Vectorscript. I use the following scripts occasionally. Just go to the Vectorscript Editor, create a new script and paste the text after the colon on each line into a separate script. The part before the colon is the name I usually give the script. The first one is the most important. Can you guess why? UnHide All : Show(All); Hide Selected : Hide(SEL=TRUE); Hide Unselected : Hide (SEL=FALSE);

I think you have to restart VW in order for it to recognize an entirely new tool. I sometimes keep a "dummy" tool installed in my workspace so if I want to try something quick it is already there. The same applies to Plug In Objects (PIOs) and Menu Commands. Once something is in the workspace you can edit it as much as you want, even completely replace the code and it will still work.

There is no way of telling WHY a certain cell might be highlighted, an no way to KNOW if a change in the drawing will result in a change to the data that would require that cell to move. Allowing custom formatting of a cell (or even a row) in a database is a bad idea and will result in a huge number of frustrations and calls to tech support. -100.

Not possible as a straight worksheet that will automatically update. You could do a Vectorscript that could go through the selected objects and store the information in a worksheet, but you would have to rerun the script every time you made a change and needed it to update. Could you possibly attach the records to sub objects so that each object has a single record attached? Then you could set up the criteria to look for the records and use an OR statement to get the values. Or better yet, can you use a single record format and add an extra field to store the data the is currently represented by the separate record formats?

I think if you set the hatches to World scale, they will adjust to remain the same relative size compared to the hatched object regardless of what scale you display them at. If you set the hatches to Page scale, they will always print at the same "real world" or paper size regardless of what scale you use. Try this to see how it works. Create a new drawing. Set the design layer scale to 1/4". Draw a rectangle (relatively large) and apply a Brick hatch (any one will do). Draw a circle and apply the Aluminum hatch. Create a viewport on a sheet layer. Duplicate the viewport and change the scale to 1/8" What I see is the bricks change to be smaller in the 1/8" scale viewport. The aluminum stays the same size but shows less total hatch pattern in the smaller sized circle.

Jim, You are correct about accuracy. In tight spaces it is critical. With PVC fittings they vary by manufacturer, so if you are designing a tight valve box, you will have to specify the exact manufacturer/pipe schedule/etc. if you really make it tight. And if it is something that will be built in the field don't plan on getting sub 1/4" accuracy from someone using a hacksaw. ;-)

It depends on what you are doing. I do a lot of block flow/process flow type diagrams. Scale is always 1:1 and they usually are single layer and fit on a single page. For these types of drawings patterns work great and are really easy to use. For a more complicated drawing needing to display at multiple scales (site plan, building plan, detail), the hatches/tiles are a much better choice. Maybe it would be reasonable to change the order of the Attributes Palette and move the patterns down to a lower position so they don't seem to be the default/preferred choice.

I agree with Jim. I have attached a picture of a system I designed in 3D based on PVC pipe and fittings. In this case the fittings are 1/2", but it should apply just as well to 3"pipe. You probably need to draw the fittings accurately, especially if you are going to have congested areas where fittings will be glued without any "pipe space" between them (with the fitting glued touching each other.) When I did this I worked in a lot in groups. I would put the first fitting at each enc and then make a group out of them and then enter the group to work on the interconnecting pipe and fittings. Pipe Image.PNG

Another possibility is that it is coming in as a 3D polygon rather than a 2D item. You can't then (easily) change it to a different type of 3D object and give it thickness. When you do the DWG import make sure you select the All 2D option.

Could you import each to a different VW file and then reference them together rather than making one large VW file? Trying this at least once could help identify if it is a problem with the size of the file(s) or if it is more likely a lack of memory in VW for handling that much data.

What about setting up a sheet layer with the paper rotated 90 degrees and bring in what you need in viewports also rotated. The worksheet might still be facing "screen north", but on the printed page it will appear sideways. This is pure speculation as I have not actually tried this. The PDF option is a good one also. Or maybe put the worksheet on a layer and then use a viewport that is rotated to display it where it is needed. Or maybe something entirely different.

No one wants to be the bearer of bad news ;-) Can't do it directly, so no one told you anything. It may be possible using a combination of Applescript and Vectorscript. Pat

Kevin, You can't do this directly with Vectorscript, but I think you can probably manage to do it with Applescript or a combination of Applescript/Vectorscript. Easiest is probably to start with an Applescript and embed a Vectorscript to call up the Export SL command. Then use GUI scripting to click the buttons necessary to make the whole thing work. You can probably even make it enter a file name for you. If this is something you are still interested in, let me know and I will see if I can pull some of the pieces together for you. Regards, Pat

What does it say when you go to the Vectorworks menu, About Vectorworks? Under Licences Products it should say Designer. If it does not then you are probably using a license for a lesser product. Call Customer Service and they should be able to help you.

I think there is a work around where you can group the viewport and then copy/paste the group between files. I have not tested this morning.

Another possibility is to make your own record format and attach it to the objects in the database section of the worksheet. You can then manually enter whatever data you want in those cells.

The main thing you are missing is the age of the function. GetBBox has been around forever (I think literally. I believe it was in the first version of MiniPascal). GetViewMatrix is much newer, coming some time since it was converted to Vectorscript. Newer in this case means that NV has learned what makes the functions/procedures easier/better for them to use internally and that flows down to all of us. Luckily, they also understand that changing the definitions of procedures that are used in scripts who know how old will break many things and cause howls of outrage sot they have not done that (much) yet.

If you are working on a Mac and have multiple desktop, VW may have opened a modal dialog box on one of the other desktops. Try switching them and see if you can find it.

Clip cube settings are included in Saved Views. Not quite the same as multiple clip cubes on a single design layer, but useful.

By SUMming a worksheet database (select a row in the database and then drag the SUM tile to the proper column header), you "collapse" all of the database items with the same value into a single row. If you then change that row, all of the items that have been SUMmmed together will change. Thinking about this you probably don't even need to use a PIO, but could use a symbol with Link Text to Record. Try this in a new blank file. Create a new record called MyRecord. Give it two fields Call them Tag and Note. Create a symbol consisting of just a loci. Create a block of text that will be the placeholder for your note. Select the symbol and the text. Choose Link Text to Record and then select your Record and the Note field. Put five instances of the symbol on the drawing. Select three of them and set the TAG field to A. Select the other two and set the TAG field to B. Create a worksheet with a database row. Use a criteria or Record = MyRecord. Columns should be set to MyRecord.TAG and MyRecord.Note. You should end up with 5 rows in the database. Select one of those rows and drag the SUM tile to the TAG column header. You should now have two rows, one showing a TAG of A and one showing a TAG of B. Select the NOTE cell in either row and enter some text. The text should appear on the drawing for all of the symbols with that TAG. See the manual on Link Text to Record for more information.

You could do this fairly easily with a PIO with two fields and a worksheet. One field (the note) is displayed on the drawing as the body of the PIO. The second field is used for sorting/summing purposes in the worksheet. You could use any "tag" you wanted in this field. The Worksheet is set up to SUM on the Tag field. This will give you one row for each of the PIOs with that tag. When you edit the Note field in the worksheet all of the PIOS with that tag will update. If you need to change a note from one type to another, just use the OIP to change the TAG of the note to the one you need. Way less than 2 months of programming to make this work ;-)

What would be great is the ability to show/hide objects on the design layer through the viewport and the changes only applied to that particular viewport. This ability would surely cut down on the number of classes required right? Doesn't work. Will never work. Don't even ask. Purist in a class. Sorry.