markj

This kinda ties in with my previous thread re. accidentally duplicating objects, - it would be nice to be able to turn off the shortcut keys. You just have to hit 'ctrl' '5' every now & again to put yourself back into 'top/plan' view.

Thanks for the input, I think the script/alert idea is the most practical solution - I'll get on the case! Mark

It is a problem because sometimes the ctrl key gets accidentally pressed (at the wrong time) maybe instead of the shift key, say if you wanted to move & constrain. The object then gets duplicated without being noticed. We dont use offset duplication, as dupe & move (ctrl D & Ctrl M) suits the way we work. We use custom tools to draw many of the common objects on a drawing, these also write records to a worksheet, which get counted & costed. Therefore you see one object, but get the cost for two! Not the end of the world of course, but it would be nice to be able to disable it.......

Select an object, & with the mouse still on the object, hold down the ctrl key & move (drag) the object - thats what I want to eliminate. I cant actually find the shortcut to remove it! Mark

A simple question, to which I hope there is a simple answer! Is there a way of disabling the 'duplicate object' shortcut, ie. hitting the ctrl button (on a pc)? We have a system which counts objects on the drawing & if the ctrl key is accidentally pressed at the wrong time (easy to do), you end up with more objects than you think, and a false count. Thanks Mark

Thanks for looking! - The 'Export Worksheet' & 'Import Data' into Excel is longwinded & a pain, especially if there are several worksheets on the drawing. It is so much easier to simply copy & paste the data direct. I guess I'll have to copy & paste into notepad and then copy & paste from there into the excel sheet, (which sort of defeats the object of our rather nifty CAD/Excel system!). Thanks again Mark

Here is another mystifying anomaly with vw2008; I have some custom made tools which draw objects, and then write a record into a worksheet to create an object count/item list. The bit that does this is;- setrecord(LnewObj,rfs); SetRfield(Lnewobj,rfs,'Item Code','POST/TS/W'); SetRfield(Lnewobj,rfs,'Description','Tall Post-Square, Wood'); SetRfield(Lnewobj,rfs,'Material','Wood'); The thing all works fine (& always has done!)and fills out the worksheet properly. The problem arises when I try & export the data. When I copy the columns from the worksheet & paste them into an excel spreadsheet, I get an extra blank line between each line of data, which messes up the excel calculation. To make sure it is not an excel problem, I paste the worksheet columns into a word document - you get the same double line spacing. If I paste into notepad it works fine, with no extra lines. Incidentally the 'Export Data' function works OK, and writes a notepad document correctly also. Pasting into a google spreadsheet also produce the double line spacing. This problem only seems to happen with vw2008 on a PC. It was OK with v12.5, and doesn't cause any problems with a mac. Any ideas where the problem lies? Thanks Mark

Would it be possible to simply replace the v2008 callout tool in the plugin folder with the old one from v12?? - or is that too simple?! Thanks Mark

In v12 I could set the default class for the callout tool by using the 'properties' option in the plugin editor. The callout tool seems to have changed in v2008 & I cannot find it in the plugin editor to set the class. - Any sugestions how I can do this? thanks Mark

In v12 I could set the default class for the callout tool by using the 'properties' option in the plugin editor. The callout tool seems to have changed in v2008 & I cannot find it in the plugin editor to set the class. - Any sugestions how I can do this? thanks Mark

Thats it! - I knew it was simple. When working in 2D it is easy to hit a shortcut key & accidentally switch view without noticing, hence some 'strange behaviour'. Thanks again Mark

Heres a question - I'm not sure if it has come up before; On some drawings a 'group' will show up in the object info window with it's x & y dimensions and it's location, and on others it doesn't show any info at all. There must be a simple preference option somewhere, but I can't find it! I am using v12.5. - any ideas? Thanks Mark

Thanks, yes. 'Hperim(etc...' does the trick! The next problem is I want to draw a wall type object along the polyline. ie. a double polyline with a hatch fill. The polyline/wall also needs to be drawn from its left or right side & not the centreline.

Thanks, Yes, the perimeter is equal to the length of the line. So with the Schematic Pipe example, what lines/procedure do I need to add to calculate its total length?

Heres a question loosely linked to a thread posted a couple of months ago; I need to create a path type PIO, and can base it on the VW example (Schematic Pipe). The problem is that I need to be able to count the total length of the line/pipe. The pipe example draws a polyline, & as far as I can see, the object info box for a polyline doesn't show it's overall length (the wall tool is the same), so therefore it cannot easily be calculated by VW. The polyline object info box does however return the perimeter of the line, which, being a line with very little thickness, is the same as its length. What I want to be able to do is to draw a polyline as per the sample Schematic Pipe Tool, and return its total length. This will then be counted onto a worksheet. - Any ideas? It seems odd that there is no ability to count the total length of a wall with VW. Thanks Mark

Thanks, still no luck. Could you let me have an email address, & I will send some screenshots of the script editor etc. It is a very simple script, so it shouldn't be too hard to find! Thanks Mark

Hi Charles, Thanks for the help - well, it sort of works.....sort of, sometimes. The script doesn't always run every time from the tool pallette where I have put it. When it does the symbol appears as required, but the object info doesn't always show the pop-up selection box. When it does, changing the pop-up selection to a different symbol, doesn't affect the instance on screen, although I can redraw it with the alternative symbol in place. I am not exactly sure where the trouble lies, but it is veery satisfying to click the check script button & see 'script compiled successfully' come up - so I must be making some headway! Mark

I have created some simple scripts which will draw various objects, I now want to be able to add a symbol to the object. I need to be able to do this via the oject info box, which I presume will be set up with the parameters menu. The aim is to allow me to choose one symbol from a pop-up list of several. My problem is, is how to reference all the bits together. What variables do I need to decalare? Am I right in thinking that I need to use an "IF THEN ELSE" procedure to allow me to choose which particular symbol I will use from the pop-up list. Incidentally, the most useful publication I have found so far has been the Minipascal manual from V6 minicad. - Surely there is an opening here for a simply written Vectorscript primer, with loads examples to modify. Vectorworks is a breeze to use, and the ability to create custom scripts/tools etc. makes it very useful. Unfortunately we are not all computer programmers, so sussing this bit out is a bit of an uphill struggle! Anyway, any help on how to achieve the above would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks Mark

Hi, I need to be able to create a PIO which will be repeated many times on a drawing. The basic shape is a rectangle with 3 other narrow rectangles attatched to it which will form the walls to a 3 sided 'box'. The objects will need to be individually edited so that I can give each one a choice of descriptions, specs, etc. which will be controlled from the object info palette. The basic dimensions will also be editable. The Description text and a dimension will then show up on the object itself. I then hope to attatch some record fields to these objects such as cost, material, supplier, and get a worksheet to do some sums and give a total cost etc. I am assuming that I will attatch the record field to the description text on the objects, as although many may look similar, it is the text bit that defines them individually. All this is a bit further down the line yet! I would be happy to get the basic bit of creating the objects sussed first. The script that I have managed to work out so far is;.... Procedure Draw VAR Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X,Click2Y:REAL; BEGIN GetLine(Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X,Click2Y); Rect(Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X+520,Click2Y); Rect(Click2X,Click2Y,Click2X+520,Click2Y-18); Rect(Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X+520,Click1Y+18); Rect(Click1X+520,Click2Y-18,Click2X+520+18,Click1Y+18); END; Run(Draw); ....this actually works sort of OK, but obviously will let me draw boxes from a vertical datum line only, and to the right only - I need to be able to generate the main rectangle (say length x 520) and then the 3 narrow rectangles relative to it, with three clicks; the first two to define one side (length) in any direction, and the third to set the width (at 520) and to indicate which side of the first line the object will be drawn. - Quite simple I'm sure, if a little difficult to describe! A better script to use as a starting point would be the 'rotated rectangle' tool in the basic tool pallette - but how do you get at the script!?! Anyway, The above is as far as I have managed to get without going nuts, and as I am a total knownort regarding programming, any help would be greatly appreciated. Mark

More help required! - I have so far managed to get minicad6 (minipascal) to draw a rectangle something like I want, ie: Procedure Draw VAR Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X,Click2Y:REAL; BEGIN GetLine(Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X,Click2Y); Rect(Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X+520,Click2Y); Rect(Click2X,Click2Y,Click2X+520,Click2Y-18); Rect(Click1X,Click1Y,Click2X+520,Click1Y+18); Rect(Click1X+520,Click2Y-18,Click2X+520+18,Click1Y+18); END; Run(Draw); This will draw a rectangle one side of which is dragged along a line, the width being set at 520mm. There are also some other rectangles to 3 sides which constitute the sides to the box. I need to be able to do this in Vectorscript, but cant get it to work as a line, rectangle, or point object. What I need to be able to do is drag a line (vertically, horizontally, or other) which creates one side (length) of the rectangle, the other side (width) is then dragged out, but will default at say 520mm. It can't really be that difficult, but I am floundering! The nearest thing I can find to modify is a tool which will drag a rectangle out from a centre line. I can modify this to draw half of the rectangle but this is not really satisfactory. I am sure this question has been asked a million time already; but how can I learn the basics? - Is there anyone who can offer a bit of online tutorial?? Thanks Mark

Thanks for that, I'll give it a go. Incidentally, I have minicad at home (v6) which uses minipascal, is this similar to vectorscript? I'll let you know how I get on! Mark

Hi there, I need to be able to create a library of plug in objects. These will be basically two concentric rectangles which represent the plan view of a box with a fixed wall thickness. I need to be able to create a library of these, which will have different names, and database/record attatched to them. Ultimately I will create hybrid symbols/PIOs from these as I create the elevation views. My question is how do I best do this? - The 'boxes' will need to be repeated on the drawing, and some will need to be resized, but still retain the attatched database. Where do I create the library - at the moment I have a drawing file with them all on and saved as symbols - converting them to PIOs would presumeably allow the resizing. is this the best way? and how do access them as PIOs? When the objects are resized, I need to be able to keep the wall thickness (ie not resize that part of it). I would imagine this could be done with a Vectorscript - but I am a complete beginner here, so If someone could point me in the right direction......Thanks, Mark