gScott

no. it's a great idea but doesn't work enough for real life... too many irreconcilable differences, particularly if you try to network it...

christiaan not only rational, but efficient too, because you spend your time learning all the tricks + quirks + work-arounds. i worked on microstation 95 for 5 years, VW 8.x for 6 years + now 12.x for the last 2.5 years... it makes upgrades more expensive, but all the accumulated new features after these periods of time are worth the cost. and then you need a few more years to learn the tricks... i still feel i'm barely scratching the surface of 12.5! you've just got to learn to ignore the tech frenzy of the bleeding edge maybe 2011?

once you figure your way around the weird interface ArtLantis is ridiculously faster + better than RW... but one of the nice things about RW being built-in is that you can change the model + regenerate the image pretty quickly in VW if you keep the lighting simple. it's a toss-up, though, whether it's worth upgrading RW next time now that i've tried artlantis...

i don't know where this is documented, but i've discovered a very useful trick with the drag-duplicate + duplicate function in VW 12.5. with the VW pref "off-set duplication" checked using the control-drag method duplicate something, say 500mm to the right. now using the duplicate command (ctrl-D for me) subsequent duplications are made with the same offset as the control-drag duplication. to change direction, do a control-drag with a new direction + distance, and subsequent duplicate commands will use this vector. AND if you prefer (like me) for duplicates NOT to be offset then do a control-click duplication with no distance or direction and the subsequent duplicate commands will duplicate in place. maybe this is old hat to you all, but i've learnt this today after 9 years of VW!

gerrit i use both the stack layers + "model" layer link methods; stack layers for section view ports, if i'm not doing any rendering. "model" layer link if i'm rendering and want lights, cameras, people etc. in one place where it can't end up cluttering a VP. the best thing about VW is that you aren't constrained to working in a paradigm that doesn't suit you...

mike thanks for that. unfortunately it's as i thought it would be, and not what i hoped for... it would have been great if you could track back to the original 2D profiles as you can with extrusions, fiddle the 2D, and have the 3D ribs updated on exiting the 2D edit!

mike could you post that as an VW12 file, please i can build the whole thing, but there is no stepping back to the original ribs, i get as far as the 3d nurbs curves...

the only difference is that one way it works, the other way it doesn't. and if it doesn't work slap brackets around it...

CS1 etc... i dived into this one because i use IF a lot and hadn't noticed this weirdness before... in VW 12.5.3 on xp first thing... =IF(B1=0,0,B1) cell says "False" and then the formula changes to "=C1=0" second thing... this boggled me, so i hit F1 for help to find that firefox 3.0 doesn't work with VW 12.5.3 help... AAAAAARGH!!!!! can't get the navigation panel to appear, flip to IE tab and it works fine.... thanks a lot, firefox 3.0! third thing... the 'help' example on the IF function shows a second set of brackets! =IF((B1=0),0,B1) and then it works fine...

ian i work with the windows xp briefcase to work off-line, and for the most part it works ok. the downside is when it works so well that you forget it's even there, are tardy with synch's, and discover that the database has been edited both on the laptop + on the server. then you have to figure out who worked the most after this point + who feels like unthreading the needle, because if you don't, someone's drawing is going to get stuffed next time they touch one of the notes... my only solution is to synch as soon as you can

islandmon, dat some good you smoking ?

paul thanks for publishing that list. it's clear that a lot of bugs are being sorted out, and reading between the numbers, it appears that in that list alone, hundreds aren't... the old lists weren't a lot more than that, but they did note what version the bug was reported in, + in which version it was fixed. e.g. bug.............reported in.........fixed in: ============================================= stair tool........8.0.0.01..........15.5.6.7 doesn't work ============================================= for me the value of having a list would help weigh up the gains to be had by installing an upgrade against the pain of having to re-customise everything to get it all back to how i like to work. in particular, if something really important to me was fixed <> i would jump for it, umlauts? probably not... i'm also impressed with the snippy tone, thanks for helping me stretch my imagination.

paul as a user since VW7 i was impressed by the old system DG had where bugs were listed with the version they were fixed in. it was long list + it was mostly filled with 'fixed' items. it really gave the impression that DG was hard at work 'fixing things' the 3 paragraphs you quote makes it sound like SP3 has 5 'fixes', which is rather pathetic for an SP designation. it may be that as VW progresses and 'new' features are constantly added, that the bug list has got out of control and will never be able to be addressed. the ad/PR hacks at NNA may fear that this list being published may indicate to some that VW is not a 'good' application. however, from all the queries we see for REAL information about what has been fixed in each update/SP i think it would be better to be honest and publish a list of fixes. people want the information to know how it will affect their everyday work. to constantly ignore the issue or publish corporate PR puff only gives the impression of a company hiding non-performance. which doesn't fill customers with joy + confidence. i think VW is a great system, but my confidence is eroded by this issue.

rick, 12.5.x is stuffed in this regard if you are using XP + VW12.5.3 or earlier custom Prefs don't work in the default location. if you move or establish your customised Pref set almost anywhere else other than the VW program files location they should work ok. see this thread for more on this saga: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=19701&Number=91904#Post91904 good luck

you need to make one DTM of the existing site. then you need to make 'site modifiers' which represent the proposed levels, these can either be done by using the 'site modifiers' tool, or drawing shapes + 'create objects from polyline' to make 'site modifiers', 'pad' type. you then give the pads heights and make sure that all pads are enclosed by a 'fence' site modifier won't work properly> in addition, pads shouldn't touch each other, even a few mm apart will do; and pads shouldn't touch or overlap the fence... now select the DTM , change the display to 'proposed' and 'update' if you haven't made any mistakes it should reflect the proposed landscape + the object info should tell you the cut + fill data between proposed + existing. whether the numbers bear any correlation to reality is another story + posts here suggest not. if you are using 12.5 and you don't have the 'site modifiers' option in 'create objects from polyline' then read the link if you want to fix it... http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=16918&Number=75868#Post75865 also try the manual + the help

the free "slab object" by patrick higgins does exactly what you want. can be classed separately for 2d view + 3d top sides + bottom, height + thickness of the slab + even rotation of the texture for the sides. fine tool! get it at vectordepot http://www.vectordepot.com/Plugins1.shtml makes you wonder why NNA don't make it themselves, but i suppose they've got jeffrey making fabulous obfuscations and heath-robinson extrapolations. i do love david w's idea of virtual screws, you could fix the cladding to the side of the floor slab, except we use a lot of plastered concrete, so can we have a 'plastered ceiling + edge of the slab tool' for VW 2080? ok, i'll stop now, we have nonsense like jeffrey's every day from our politicians + i get carried away... have fun

is this in 12.5.x? if so, i'm afraid you're stuck with it, the stair tool is pretty dodgy especially when copying or using on multi storey buildings...

definitely agree, please allow this to be changed

the VA profile is very dodgy + leads to these weird space finish problems. i tried moving the physical location of the profile folder with varying success. see this thread: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=9&Number=91904&Searchpage=1&Main=19701&Words=&topic=0&Search=true#Post91876 it seems that 12.5.3 did something weird to the 'write' access to some folders. i've got it working by moving the profile folders out of the "vectorworks" folder.

it could also be a stripped down version like the viewer, without all the add-on stuff, textures, symbols etc etc

doesn't sound right...

try blocking the the VW application with the firewall if you have one. if that solves the problem call NNA, if it doesn't look at your network addresses for duplicates

mike, that sounds almost worth getting VW13 for!!

if you mean, can you tell autocad layers to map to VW classes , taking the names of the imported DWG layers into VW classes ? yes, VW 12 can do it... however, if you mean the kind of function that microstation had as far back as '92, where you could define that autocad layer X would import to class/layer Y? no, VW 12 will not do this.

most important questions 1 do you draw everything on the correct, office standard classes? 2 can i break your kneecaps if you don't? 3 do you make 'saved views' with correct class + layer visibility of every sheet layer / design layer in a file intended for printing? 4 can i break your kneecaps if you don't?