Christiaan

Pretty solid on Dropbox.

I have an enhancement request in for this sort of thing:

We've started using BIM standard file naming protocols, which can make file names somewhat longer than normal and difficult to read in Vectorworks tabs. I was going to ask for them to be truncated so that we see the beginning and end of the file name rather than just the beginning, but Working files include usernames appended to the end, which we don't need to see either. It's the bits in bold we're interested in. PST-Y17912-XX-ZZ-M3-A-Model_christiaan.vwxw PST-Y17912-XX-ZZ-DR-A-Sheets_christiaan.vwxw So perhaps you could adjust the tab file name to show the beginning and the end of a file name, but minus any user name? Or perhaps tab widths could instead be dynamic so as to fit to the entire file name and only reduce in width if the user has multiple tabs open that extend across the screen?

Sometimes, when moving walls around etc., the anchor control point of a Space object will inexplicably move, often to a space adjacent or sometimes even further away, resulting in the boundary being recalculated somewhere else other than the space the user intended. It shouldn't. The anchor control point should have one job: stay where it's put.

Interestingly these pages mention nothing about exporting to real-world coordinates and orientation: http://app-help.vectorworks.net/2020/eng/VW2020_Guide/IFC/Workflow_IFC_export.htm http://app-help.vectorworks.net/2020/eng/VW2020_Guide/IFC/Exporting_IFC_projects.htm

I'm working on my first project where we'll be co-ordinating with the structural engineer via IFC. It's not a BIM project contractually and we haven't produced a BIM execution plan or anything like that, so it's relatively informal, but I'd like to set some protocols in place and give them a heads up on any potential issues. For instance we once received an IFC model from an engineer that wasn't broken down into storeys. It came as one object. So I requested that the model be broken down properly into storeys. I also notice ISO BIM standards require models to be shared via real world co-ordinates, rather than using a local origin. What's the best way to go about this at my end? Does this mean setting up a set of design layer viewports with my model set to real-world co-ordinates? Or a workgroup reference file? Or would it be easier just to ignore this standard and use a local origin point and orientation? Is there anything else worth mentioning to the engineer that will make the process smooth?

Dark mode should have been tested more thoroughly, no doubt about that. Seemed to be a late decision to include it I think.

My experience with v2020 has been pretty solid. Is this with a particular file or all files?

I'd say that's an excellent tutorial for animation in v2019 and one of the best pieces of feedback I've ever seen. I've added it VW bug/enhancement tracking system. Hopefully somebody from VW will comment here.

I'm interested in people's experiences implementing a CDE on Dropbox or similar with a manual folder/filing system. As opposed to dedicated CDE systems. I'm setting up a CDE on Dropbox for a medium sized project and slowly getting my head around the practicalities of manual drawing issue procedures and filing, compliant with BS1192/ISO19650. In the past we've typically used a "Current Issue" folder for latest drawings and generally a "Superseded" for everything else. ISO19650 on the other hand includes: Work in Progress - drawings/data in progress, accessible only to relevant task team/discipline. Shared Folder - verified drawings/data suitable for sharing with other design team members or approved for sharing with the client. Published - co-ordinated drawings/data suitable for use by the wider project team. Archive - for inactive or superseded material from the Published area, in addition to the final signed-off "Construction Record". This works well for data integrity processes but how do we make it straightforward for somebody just looking for the latest drawings? Why have a Work in Progress area on the CDE for each task team/discipline if that area is only accessible by that task team/discipline? How do you deal with file/folder names and revision and suitability (status) codes when using a manual folder process on the likes of Dropbox, which doesn't have the metadata features of a dedicated CDE system?

That did the trick, thanks Pat. That really should be a setting inside Vectorworks. Very strange.

How do I change the format of the date for revisions in my title block (i.e. Revision Data.Date)? I've currently got it set to dd-mm-yyyy but want to change it to yyyy-mm-dd

How do people go about naming their Sheets in accordance with ISO 19650/BS 1192? In the attached examples there are a number of codes before the drawing number and then descriptive text after the drawing number. The only way I can see to make this work is to include all the codes in the Sheet Number and then the descriptive text in the Sheet Title. Is that what you do? The other little issue is this. ISO 19650 requires that no spaces are used in file names, but that means we end up with this kind of thing in our title blocks. Any thoughts?

Got to work this morning and we're finding we can't do anything with any of our Project Sharing files. If we try to edit a Working File we're getting the attached message. Same message in v2019 or v2020, macOS 10.14 or 10.15, which makes me think it's a Dropbox issue. Is anybody else experiencing this? We've had to convert them to standard vwx files to continue working on them for now.

I was having another look at Bluebeam today because we're looking for a cloud-based RFI solution. It's quite incredible how ugly this software is. They've managed to make it look like computing in the 80s. They've even exported this look to their iPad apps. Just compare it to something like PlanGrid by Autodesk. So slick. It's like Nemetschek bought a fixer-upper for $100 million and then never fixed it up. I'd like to see Vectorworks on this list: https://www.plangrid.com/integrations/