gasjar

One of the great, simple, plugins that existed from v11 and we used until v15 was drawing a line from a midpoint. The beauty of this was you simply clicked on 2 points and a line would rubber band from that point in any direction (similar to the division snap would), but then it could generate that line perpendicular to the 2 inputs vector or along the regular angle/snaps from that location. It would also give it the "center" line style automatically. It was an easy 3 point input which I cannot figure out a process that simple. I used this all the time in designing even when no objects existed and construction drawings. Without this, you have to draw the vector (so you can use the perpendicular snap), then draw the line and change its attributes if not selected, and delete the vector its perpendicular to. Many more steps than this old plugin required and 3Xs as frustrating since you could generate them on the fly with no backward steps, one right after the other without the drawbacks of having to draw that vector line and delete it that sets up the centerline. Its such a simple tool and incredibly useful you would think it would take Vectorworks very little effort to recreate it and roll it into the program by comparison to some of the gorilla sized useful tools they have created. The last incarnation of this titled "Centerline from Midpoint" by Tom Kyler on VectorDepot.

Never mind, deleted the preferences and reset them.

Trying to locate, and having difficulty, the setting that determines the line spacing for Callouts. Something, somehow, changed recently (been fine for many years) and the lines of text are overlapping instead of having space. If I ungroup the callout I can then change the line spacing, but this is obviously inconvenient. Thanks

Pat Another thread answered the question with putting a number 1 in the Header field, beautiful simplicity. Now I have another question, when creating my own Worksheet I want to only include the records that are toggled "On Schedule" and eliminate the space I use for other purposes like the 1st floor area, etc... What is the criteria required to do this? do I use the logical IF function on that Field being "True", then show the data of those records?

thanks you've solved all the prior issues ive been trying to work out I would give you an enormous hug for that bit of info. 5 yrs trying to figure that out

Generating a worksheet for Window Daylight and Vent calculations. Summarize the table so all windows that are alike appear as one line item. This ends up summarizes the DLO and VO for the windows which is not what I want to display. I want this schedule to display the DLO and VO for the type of window not the sum of dlo/vo of the windows with that designation. One way I thought about doing this was adding a column that showed the number of windows per line that had that designation and a column that divided the sum of DLO field by the quantity. But I cannot figure out how to get the quantity (count) of the number of symbols with that designation. Ive included screen captures of the table before the sum applied to the first column and after.

Hilarious, noted as a 'greenhorn' in spite of the fact that I've been using Vectorworks since 2003 and computers and computer modelling apps since 1990.

Writing to find out if its possible in either 2010 or 2011 to access the feature sets of an Open Type typeface. We had to upgrade our fonts which are no long PS fonts but OT fonts. In doing so, we no longer have access to typeface benefits like Small Caps, etc... Is access to these type of features within an OT font available in Vectorworks?

Does anyone know how to reference a worksheet in another file with its calculated results not changed. I am trying to reference a window schedule (generated from symbols placed on elevations not the window data from the window tool). Then reference it into another file that has schedules from several files laid out on a single "Schedules" sheet. Every time I try to import it it of course blanks out all info starting from scratch. I tried to create a viewport from the other file in the Schedules file but that resulted in the worksheet appearing empty in the schedules file as well. Thanks in Advance

Ok so my second post was a bit of a tirade, it had been 4 months since the 1st post.

yes, however, I use the wall tool for other things in a 2D manner such as elevation dwgs of mouldings. Rather not have to import those (probably 100 of mouldings and moulding combinations). Plus, graphically I have them already set-up for line weights etc... that I prefer. Addionally, as their legal caveats state, they justifiably have no liability for the use of their products, I'd rather not use something provided by someone who won't accept the liability for the use of those elements provided, so would rather use the ones I know are correct and can stand behind. I think its sort of a nice gesture that they are provided, but without them legally standing behind the accuracy of the dimensions, ratings, etc... I would be a legally liable fool to use them in a set of real contract documents. You hang your hat on what they provide without substantiation and you will hang for it in a court of law when sued. But thats your choice.

I find it humorous that after 4 years of Vectorworks use, I'm still classified as "Greenhorn"

Thanks for the response Mike. I was afraid that was the only way... ugh. Nothing like making the users work for their upgrade. Saves on programming costs I suppose.

Does anyone at Vectorworks read these posts???

was wondering if there was a way to import wall styles from V.11 and have them appear in the list. Also, have added/saved a few walls in a given project but don't understand 2008's structure well enough to understand how to make them generally available to other projects. I apologize for the nuisance of this post but I don't really understand the preference/template/library structures within this program. Seem a bit overly convoluted personally. But then again, Im not a computer tech head either, just a user. Thanks in Advance

Just upgraded to 2008Designer, have a lot of wall definitions in my old V11 software which I use a lot for various reasons. How do I import them and save them into the Wall Styles list? For that matter, how do I add/delete to that list? I've added walls in a given project but they were not added to the generally available list. Thanks.

chstech, I hope delmer's techboard message helped you. I too get frustrated that I can't simply scale graphically one object to another. In other CAD programs this seems to be a desirable feature. In vectorworks its all about the calculator (or equations in fields). Its CAD for math happy people. I have a roof slope symbol for formZ that I simply place on a model and scale it to the model graphically to size it for shaping the roofs to a visual cue. A similar scale function does not exist in Vectorworks. You have to compare numerical dimensions, do the math and watch your number of decimal places to hope it gets perfectly fitted. Often it can create inaccuracies that compound over time with the drawings. The roof tool is nice in vectorworks but seems overly complicated for complex roofs like gambrel roofs or catslides with a gentle curve at the intersection. I still have yet to figure out how to sweep (extrude along a path) a crown molding on the rake and face of an eave. I export to formZ to do 3D detailing studies. As for the metric vs. imperial system... its a similar function. I like the number 1/2 better than .5 Its an expression of ratio preference. Its what you get used to and what is ingrained. In the US we all know what a litre of soda is...we also know what a gallon of milk is...we don't know how they convert to each other. Meter's are a bit easier thanks to American Football (I use the term American loosely all you PC readers out there-just distinguishing from soccer and "Australian" football). But forget about the multiple kilometer, its a scaling thing. (The metric discussion belongs in a different place.) Vectorworks - a love hate relationship.

I too have been looking for a way to eliminate the facet lines from generic solids that are imported into Vectorworks. In my preference locations (both document and Vectorworks), I do not see any setting for eliminating facet lines of object faces at a given breaking angle. this would be extremely helpful.

Yes, I just ended up at this chat for the same reason. The DVD Learning Series says nothing about Alt/ Option either. Useful tip!

'Drive L' (2 partitions) Partition 1 - Old Startup System & Applications Partition 2 - Files 'Drive K'(non-partitioned) New Startup Operating System Drive K is the result of trying to work with a different app that does not like partitioned drives. Once I started up from Drive K, I tried to run Vectorworks from Drive L. I thought it would save me time on preferences, recent files, etc.... Vectorworks however did not cooperate and now I cannot install on the new drive: the beach ball just spins. Is there an uninstaller or something that can be run so that I can install on the new drive.

I have had to reinstall my system onto a second internal drive, the first one was partitioned and a software program I wanted to use does not like partitioned HDs. Anyway, I had planned on leaving all other applications where they were installed on the other HD, but when I tried to run Vectorworks it told me that the dongle could not be found and that I needed to re-install the software. Well, everytime I try to, the installer just spins the beach ball and nothing happens. (It starts and remains at 4 items left to install) How do I fix this issue and get up and running again.

The issue is the wall that separates the spaces is a chase wall that is curved on one side and flat on the other. How do I go about linking one side of the chase wall to the other so the door tool will cut through it. It would be one thing if the wall was circular like an object but it is defined by the shaped voids and is a compound shape.

I would like to know how to approach the use of the wall tool to configure walls which are the result of geometric spaces, i.e. classical designed building. The wall separates 2 shaped rooms (a circular room and a square room for instance) but will have an door opening from one to the other. I was hoping to be able to use the door tool to cut the opening.

???????? (Confusion) I don't understand. Why does it matter whether the values are numeric or text in the record field? The sizes are numeric but the ID and Location fields are Text.

I have created a worksheet, 'Window Schedule', that has all the window info (ie, ID, size [from the record], and calculations for light area and vent area). Now I want to create a separate worksheet, 'Light and Vent', that references 'Window Schedule' to get the info from the calculated columns of light area {'Window Schedule':P4} and vent area {'Window Schedule':P5}. To keep both Worksheets the same size and with the same number of rows, both worksheets are database worksheets that refer to the 'Window Record'.ID and 'Window Record'.Location and both are sorted the same way. Now to get the calculated values from 'Window Schedule':P3 into 'Light and Vent':D3, I am using an IF statement that compares the ID value in 'Light and Vent':A3 to 'Window Schedule':A3. If true, then the cell references 'Window Schedule':P3. If false, then the cell is ERR. In spite of the value that is calculate in 'Window Schedule':P3, the IF-Then always returns ERR. Is this because "Window Schedule':P3 is a formula? If so, how do I get its value into 'Light and Vent':D3? If I put in the following formula in 'Light and Vent':D3 (='Window Schedule':A3), my result is the number in the database header (the number of records) instead of the corresponding value in A3.1, A3.2, A3.3 etc.... Thanks in Advance Greg