CADD Nark

i use an additional display with my laptop and have 2 drawings open... one on the laptop screen and one on the additional screen. when i use the Tape Measure Tool on the additional screen, the little box that follows the cursor and gives the distance doesn't show up on the additional screen... it shows up on the edge of the laptop screen :mad: this is the case with every tool that has that box... :mad: worked fine until SP3... :mad: anyone else have this issue??

the issue of stability in our small office is getting bad... 2 new MacBook Pro laptops... maxed out in RAM... learned the lesson of naming conventions the hard way with 2008... small project files... 6 meg max size... we're power users and have many Apps running, not an option to only have VW running... email... scheduling... spreadsheet... images... VW craps out 3 or 4 times a day at it's worst... at least so far. most of the time it's opening a file when it happens... and 95 percent of the time when trying to Open a 2008 file.

happens to me too on my MacBook Pro... i've tried all kinds of different setting in the Preferences. i think it stems from the "highlight object under cursor"... totally useless problem causing feature.

Update; I reverted to 12.5.3 to do my ceiling grids... opened the document in 2008 and surprise, the fields are there to adjust the start point. but still no fields if i create a new grid in that document... or if I paste the grid into another document.

In previous versions of Architect, the Ceiling Grid tool was wonderful. Put in the grid... use the OI fields to fine tune the grid start point... perfect. In 2008, those OI fields aren't there. There's no easy way to adjust the start point of the grid. The Ceiling Grid Tool places the start point (which is the intersection of grid lines) in the center of the space. However, 99 percent of the time, the center point of the space equals the center of a ceiling tile due to lighting layout. Anyway, in previous versions, I put in my grid and with the OI fields, I simply would add 1/2 the dimension of the tile to each field and the grid would be set. Now, with no fields to make these types of adjustments, I have to either place Loci or draw lines and Move / Offset to get the same result. There may be something I'm missing... I sure hope so... Because not being able to quickly adjust the start point and having to perform 5 or 6 tasks makes the current Ceiling Grid Tool useless.

it seems the VW has a problem with it's own file re-naming if the file is set to save to a subfolder in the same location as the original... IF the original is on a network. since i've change it to autosave to my local drive it seems to autosave just fine.

i didn't change the file name... VW creates and names the backup file, not me. if i delete the backup file, VW will successfully perform the autosave and create and name the file... and the name will be just like i mentioned in my above post... and the next time the autosave tries to execute, it fails with the "(Failure on attempt to open file)".

since upgrading to 2008 SP3, this is driving me crazy. i've renamed all my files and directories and i'm still getting this. one thing i noticed is that in the VW Backup folder, the backups that VW creates include the time and date into the backup file name... my original file is A1_Plan_DrAllentown_10503.vwx and VW names the backup file A1_Plan_DrAllentown_10503-Backup-20080805113643.vwx could that be the source of this extremely annoying error?? can the time and date of the backup be tuned off?? or am i just missing something???

I wasn't clear in my post, sorry. I'm talking about the Bubble type (rounded rect, cloud, etc)... a Circle should be an option. In my experience, here in the U.S., 90% of the keynotes i've seen have been Circles or Ovals... and i have never seen a "Cloud" used. To go with that, 90% of the time i've seen Rectangles used, it has been for demolition. To revisit, the Auto Numbering of Keynotes should be able to be tuned off. this will allow the users to use any numbering scheme. The limitation of 256 characters in Record Fields and Worksheet Cells has hindered us for a long time. I thought Keynotes would be the solution to keep from having to use Text Blocks... Again, sorry for the confusion.

bump

our firm uses a lot of Construction Notes and i'm trying to figure out a way to use either the General Notes / Keynote Tool, text in a Record Field, or cells in a Worksheet to standardize our note and numbering system. The problem i'm running into with the General Notes / Keynote Tool is the automatic numbering doesn't allow the use of a suffix or subset. Plus, the Callout Tool doesn't have "Circle" as a marker type.... in my 15 years in the field, i can't ever recall seeing a "Cloud" as a marker type... Circles and Ovals 98% of the time. Record Fields are limited because the limit is 256 characters.... Worksheet Cells have the same 256 character limit... So, so far i'm stuck with using Text Blocks and my own Symbols that are not linked because of these limits which is a pain. it would be nice if these limits were removed. in the mean time, does anyone know of a workaround for these limitations?

our firm uses a lot of Construction Notes and i'm trying to figure out a way to use either the General Notes / Keynote Tool, text in a Record Field, or cells in a Worksheet to standardize our note and numbering system. The problem i'm running into with the General Notes / Keynote Tool is the automatic numbering doesn't allow the use of a suffix or subset. Plus, the Callout Tool doesn't have "Circle" as a marker type.... Record Fields are limited because the limit is 256 characters.... Worksheet Cells have the same 256 character limit... So, so far i'm stuck with using Text Blocks and my own Symbols that are not linked because of these limits which is a pain. Does anyone know of a workaround for these limitations?

VW 12.0.1 G5 / 10.4.3

i'm sure i'm missing something... i have a floor plan with walls, doors, and windows... i'm trying to use the plan for the base in my reflected ceiling plan. so i turn of my window classess and i'm left with a broken wall... do i have to draw lines in place of the windows on my RCP? what is everyone else doing?

perhaps...

The Mac can follow an alias to a folder or file... but VW 12 won't. I've tried what you suggested and it won't follow it. however, if i File | Open it will follow the alias to the folder/file just fine.

Thanks all for pointing it out.

I manage 25 Macs (OS X.4) that connect to a Windows 2003 server. As a long time user in this environment, I have our standard Template reside on the Network and place an alias in the Templates folder to link to our ?VectorWorks Default.mcd?. This has worked well since MiniCad 5 all the way through VectorWorks 11.5 but doesn?t work with VectorWorks 12. When I set it up like I?ve stated, VW 12 tries to open the Alias instead of following the Alias to the original resulting in ?Unrecognizable File Type?. Is there a work around? I would hate to have to touch every machine everytime an update is made.

to be able to Divide a line, a chord, or arc into specified equal divisions. it wouldn't have to manipulate the original... i would be pleased with it placing a Locus at the division points.

this happens to me if switch from a sheet layer to design layer using the layer pulldown... i go back to the sheet layer and and the classes for the viewports have been turned off. i was freakin' out until i found out about the classes being turned off.

Katie, i recently upgraded 20 Macs to OS X.3.9 running VW 11.5... and only 1 machine has this problem. our machines are setup with different accounts. when the shift key for multiple selction and option key for crossing stops working for one account, i log off and log in as a different user and everything works fine.... i log back in as the user with the problem and it will fix the problem about half the time. you mention to repair permissions which i have done and it works.... for about 15 minutes. i can restart the machine and it works.... for about 15 minutes.... basically, VW is not usable for that account. what's strange is that there is no problem for other accounts on that machine. another thing is that there was no problem at all for the first week the machine was in use.... then all of a sudden...

my .cents; the HP 500 is the worst choice for a plotter any one could make.... why?? because it dosen't understand universal plotter/printer laguages without a software RIP specificaly for this plotter.... it has no spolling ability.... memory is very limited.... we had to use one a while back using OS 9 w/ VW 9 and the HP driver sucked so bad, an independant machine had to be used as a print server because of the driver crippling the machines with it's processor demands and crashes. the company paid like $4k for this piece of junk!!!!! for $2k more, a new 1050 could be had and all plotter issues go away. the time i spent testing and troubleshooting easily surpassed $2k. ah, the nightmares of OS 9 and an HP 500. get yourself up to OS X.... download and install Gimpprint....ghostscript.... and kiss your HP 500 woes goodbye. better yet, just dump the HP 500.

if you care to see, go to my Rendering page (click me) enjoy.

Artlantis is all i use for rendering. i'm using VW 9.5.1 with Artlantis 4.0.4 and export my models (have been as large as 50 megs) with no problem. as mentioned, be sure to update the plug-in AND the workspace. also, be sure to update the QD3D component (available on the Abvent website).

i've found that the tape measure tool is almost useless due to it being so inaccurate. there is an exception- it seems the accuracy depends on two things; the scale of the layer combined with the percentage of Zoom. on an 1/8 scale layer, i have to be zoomed in to at least 100 percent for an accurate measure. even then, it may take a time or two. since time is money, i quit using it and just pull a dimension.... but i zoom on the points to make sure it snaps (which in some cases it's way off).