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Robert, Is there a way to update the date stamp? I would like to be able to use this to track when sheets are printed (as opposed to issued). While it is quick to drag and drop the data stamp, I can't expect my team to remember to do this every time they print. I feel like I have a chance at getting them up update it. Thanks.

Katie, My initial enthusiasm has dimmed. I think I remember why we don't use the Modify>Hatch tool. When you place a hatch that way it isn't really a hatch, but a group. This is not good for file size. It is also sort of unsatisfactory from a pure CAD beauty standpoint. Can you confirm/clarify?

Thanks Katie--that seems to control things better than I was previously able to. One question--I did a quick check and it seems that using the Modify>Hatch tool sets the pattern in a polygon that is not update if the hatch definition is edited after the hatch is set in the polygon. Awful sentence. Sorry. But is that right? I want to confirm that the hatches are not going to change unexpectedly after I have set them. thanks much,

Okay, but how? I can not find a way to control hatches so that I can set the pattern differently in each room. I need to control where the joint are. Do you have a way of doing this?

So I have learned that the best way to get help here is to pose a problem and ask how other people out there have solved it. I need to draw 12x24 floor tiles in a running bond in my lobbies on several floors and in several different rooms. What is the easiest way to do this? I have tried just drawing lines and it is slow and difficult to edit. thanks much

I use a lot of workgroup reference files and have never had this problem exporting--the WGRs always go along. One of the nice things about the way VW WGRs work, I thought. What setting are you using when you export?

Still, an autoupdating date would be an really handy thing to have--maybe not for the main date but off in the corner to keep track of drawings. I think it is a wish list item already.

We deal with title blocks by making it a symbol that is inserted into each sheet layer. The symbol is set up in the project symbols file. It is referenced into the various drawing files. This is handy because we can update all of the titleblocks for a project at one time. An important thing to keep in mind with VW is that page layouts are organized around 0,0. We have found that organizing our design and sheet layers and title blocks around the 0,0 point is very helpful.

Works also for viewports, symbols and probably other stuff too.

As someone who uses many references I would like to bump this wish. I am perfectly happy to have a WGR with a lost link show up differently just in the Workgroup Reference window. But to have to cycle through as many as 6 or 7 references to track down if something has moved is maddening.

We are dealing with some old files that were recently brought into VW 12.5.1. I don't know what they were drawn in, probably VW 10. There are four layers: three at 1:48 and one at 1:1. The 1:48 layers have a different origin point from the 1:1 layer. Is it normal to have different origin points on different layers? It seems like a terrible thing. Currently we are just trying to get these drawing functional so we can finish out the project--they don't have to be an organizational work of art. Understanding this origin thing would be a big help.

Matt D, I think you are talking about the mode bar? Although on my Apple machine nothing is embedded at the top right but rather the top left. The mode bar is where you can select add vertex or subtract vertex, for example. I don't know of a way to get things out of the mode bar, but you can rotate through the options using the U key. Like the tab key for the data display bar.

Yes, what I finally got to work was: Isolate the spaces on a separate layer in each plan drawing, reference just those space layers into a new document. No problem with creating the report. I am not sure how it was finding old versions of the spaces--which is why I was saying it was a persistence of memory problem. The things the worksheet was finding are no longer in the documents--they have been updated. It is a bit of extra work to set up but I am okay with a functional work around.

I am trying to set up a simple worksheet to list the areas of rooms in the building I am working on. Each room in the building is defined with a VW Space with name, number and so on filled in. Then the floor plans are all referenced into a new file. In that file I create a report to get a simple database of room name, room number and actual area. All good so far. Very excited by this convenience in VW--I don't need the info but it seems like a quick way to gather it for a consultant. However, when I run the report it seems to be pulling up old information--for example some of the rooms have old numbers from several weeks ago. I purge my files often and created this composite file new today--so how is it finding old info? Does anyone have any suggestions about how to get around this or why it might be happening?

Thanks Christiaan, you give me some hope. In the past we have had database issues (probably just not understanding well enough) that have lead to not being able to sort. Maybe what I mean is organize rather than sort--numeric order. and jwouellette we have a 30 person office that we are dragging kicking and screaming into the present. The concept of WGR is enough of a stretch for the old timers. (We being the CAD standards person and me the link to the webboard.)

So is it possible to set up a partial worksheet? I have, for example, door tags with records of the door number. There is no other information associated with them but I would like to reference the tags into a worksheet that would then be filled out with door information. I realize that this is not the way VW is intended to be used but we are slowly adding various VW elements into our practice, which is still basically drafting on a computer. I suppose a custom worksheet that can't be sorted is my only option? (or one that I will copy in and out of Excel to sort) thanks for any ideas.

Excellent--I was beginning to suspect that was the issue. Thanks much for your help!

I will try to post an image. You can see in the door swings that the dashed line is the same in both viewports. What I need is 6 dashes in 1/8th and 6 dashes in 1/4th. So a larger dash factor in the 1/4" viewport.

Katie, I tired what you suggested. The dashed line scale is set to 1 When I duplicate and rescale the viewport it gets smaller and the dash scale changes in the viewport. Should I be changing the dashed line scale to make up for the change in scale from drawing to viewport? thanks

I have plans drawn at 1/8" = 1'-0" which are then referenced into detail sheets. In those sheets the viewports are set to 1/4" = 1'-0". The dashed lines are changing scale from the original to the detail drawing. They are much smaller at a larger scale. Is there any way to manage this so that dashed lines will be consistent?

I have to agree with atari2600 about the right click menus. More situational commands would be great. I have just learned here that this is editable so I am going to explore that next. And Katie I totally agree about lock unlock shortcuts--essential for me. Also, back when I was in AutoCad I refused to change the defaults--for exactly the reason that Atari2600 describes. But the keying in in ACad is more flexible than keyboard shortcuts. In VW there is a limit to the number of reasonable shortcuts one can have --just because there is a limited combinations of keys. This has led me to believe that customization is the way to go. If I want to get the most done two-handed, one hand on the mouse one on the keyboard, I have to change some things around. Just me.

takesh h My favorite keyboard updates are esc for the 2D selection (I think X is default? This I find annoying because one cannot get out of a text field easly) and ` or tilda for the mode bar. These were given to me by a VW guru and they speed me up a great deal. These, with tab are the keys that let you change inputs or modes or get you back to the arrow. I like the fact that they have similar functions and are all in the same part of the keyboard. Being in the upper left they are also easy to hit accurately without looking. Have fun customizing! And be sure to save a copy of your workspace--I keep one on a memory stick in case I have to use a different computer.

One of my colleagues want to be able to do this--does any one know how in VW or of a plug in that does this? (Yes, we all know how to make a copy and open it or open and save as. This is more specific.)

Thank you Pete! This has been a low lying annoyance and I haven't been able to track it down. Clearly I have been hitting y by accident. Nice to have one problem solved.

Thanks Katie, but I think I wasn't clear enough. What is turning off is the whole SmartCursor Cue--so I do not get little tags saying "object" or "center" or whatever. Just a little dot appears. I have looked around and can't find a short cut for this feature--which is in VectorWorks Preferences.