Christiaan

You know how you can click and hold the space bar to activate the Pan Tool until you release it, is there any way to do this with the other tools as well, such as the Zoom Tool?

Ha, I did know that, I just forgot. Thanks Katie. Still, in the name of intuition, I think my wish would be good for new users, learners, etc.. I like the ability to swap from one mode to another (this could be incorporated in the wish above too) .

We want to use a file template with a large number of Layers and Sheet Layers preconfigured. The problem is that it becomes unmanageable, in that when you click on the Layer dropdown menu you're presented with a huge linear list of Layers and Sheet Layers, even to the point of not having them all on the screen. This is especially problematic when the project is small or just starting out. To deal with this issue what about having the ability to group Layers, as classes are? The sorts of groupings we might use, for example, would be along the lines of: - General arrangement plans - Furniture layout plans - M&E layout plans - Floors - Roofs The following wishlist items would probably apply equally to the above wish too: Class structure: selectable sub-group menu http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=67315 Class structure: More than 2 subclasses http://techboard.nemetschek.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=67313

I think the interface to get into the Crop or Annotations of a Viewport is unnecessarily onerous. How about, just like we have an Exit button on right hand side of the Mode Bar to get out of Crop or Annotations, we also have a button to get into Crop and Annotations in the same place (if a Viewport is selected)?

Photoshop has this feature where you can select a Workspace that highlights any new commands added since the last version. Would be quite nice to have this feature in VW.

We used to do it over the network like this but we've found a much more robust method is to use a program like Apple Remote Desktop to propagate the files to each machine. One machine is used as the master (for templates and the symbol library) and then we use ARD to upload these files to all the other machines whenever they're updated.

Check out my screenshot on Wikipedia (from a 20" Cinema Display): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:VectorWorks_12.5_on_Mac_OS_X.png I would say a larger display is one of the most cost effective ways of improving the CAD experience.

Katie, many of things I wanted implemented in VW have been, and many more, I have no complaints there. I didn't mean to get into a discussion about NNA's internal processes. All I'm asking for is a relatively minor improvement of the wishlist forum (and only if it's possible with the current software: UBB.threads). I guess I'm just so impressed by WordPress' implementation, and its ability to inform a userbase and make them feel included in the development process. When I talk about the advantages I guess I'm thinking more in terms of facilitating a better and more informed discussion on this forum than anything else. Thanks for the considered response anyway.

Well, I, for one, certainly wouldn't every wish that every user happened to jot down and pop in an email. I would have hoped NNA was in the business of prioritising design decisions based on desirability (one measure of which is popularity).

Except that there's no way for NNA or VectorWorks users to know which are the most popular ideas. Clearly it's advantageous for NNA to know this, but there's also an advantage for users in that they can adjust their own expectations appropriately.

Indeed. We've hit a brick wall in our office. BIM is never going to be more than "that way that Christiaan does it" (in my office) until we are able to work on a file as a group in an efficient way.

Until the problem is sorted out you might like to save a copy of your Workspace: Vectorworks 12.5.1 > Workspaces > Erich's default workspace Just keep a backup copy of it on your desktop and when VW crashes and trashes your Workspace just overwrite it with your backup. P.S. I can't replicate the problem by the way. Long shot, but I wonder if the problem might be related to your Workspace? Is your Workspace derived from a fresh install of VW 12.5 or is it an old Workspace which you've kept throughout when updating VW?

This wishlist forum is great for getting ideas down in writing and discussing them, but it's extremely difficult to gauge which are the most popular items, and I imagine that this makes it of quite limited use to NNA in terms of prioritising development. The current forum software does allow for rating but it's not very prominent (so people don't use it) and it doesn't do a good job of presenting the most popular items. A good example of how such a forum should work is WordPress' recent implementation, which they call "Ideas": http://wordpress.org/extend/ideas/ Maybe the NNA IT team could work some magic and give us the same level of functionality and usability? Hopefully it might just be a matter of upgrading to UBB.threads 7 and making a few little configuration changes?

Interesting. So essentially the default install is imperial because the "Default.sta" template provided with VW is imperial.

Unfortunately VectorWorks doesn't currently have that capability out of the box. There is, however, an excellent organisation that sells a plugin to do this: http://www.ozcad.com.au/otherproducts/vwaddonsWD.html

Isn't it all dependent on the "Default" template? So for it to launch in metric it would have to change the Default template.

Is that Mac OS X or Windows, or both, Katie?

You might like to try a 3-day intensive course in using Vectorworks BIM too, if possible? The two major hurdles for us and VectorWorks BIM at the moment are one, having more than one person working on the documents efficiently, and two, the problem of the lowest common denominator in terms of skills base (i.e. we can't use VectorWorks in the most sophisticated way possible because most people in the office wouldn't understand how to carry on with a job if the most skilled person dissapears for some reason). I wouldn't have a clue if these are the same main hurdles or not when using Revit.

Don't worry. When Mac OS X 10.5 comes out Vista will look very dated.

NASA sees the light: http://www.space.com/news/070108_moon_metric.html

See also: http://www.nemetschek.net/news/pressreleases/2007/010907.php

Apple, on a number of occasions, has bought whole companies not to crush the competition (although sometimes this might have factored in their decision) but to acquire the software and expertise, often ending in a complete rewrite of the original software. iTunes is one example. Many of their pro apps in the video genre fall into this category too. Maybe some others, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

At the moment when mapping classes you have to do them one by one. What would be quite useful is the ability to select a bunch of classes and essentially move them all into a sub-class with one command. This would allow us to import Autocad drawings and quickly tidy up the classes, moving everything out of the top level, without destroying them.

Yeah my guess is the same, but there's nothing wrong with a little speculation, especially with an aquisition like this one.

"What would be the advantages [be]?" "My guess." "No, I think." "Makes ... sense." These are all speculative comments. You don't sit on the board of NNA and nor do you appear to have any other source of insider information, so, by definition, you are speculating. This whole thread is speculation. That was the point of it. I didn't say you could, but what can be done, and what is often done in situations like this, is to take a look at the source code of a piece of software, along with the people who wrote it, to see how someone else has achieved something and use this knowledge to improve another piece of software.