Ozzie

I bought Archoncad's Essentials and Landscaping manuals and Resolves 3D Modelling Manuals. I also did some online tuition with Jonathon. Training is everything. And gee I have still sssooo much to learn

Pete, Probably get chucked out of here for even suggesting this. Ozcad our distributors here in Australia sell Animation Works an add on for VW. I do not know anything about it at all - but on there website is info and pricing. www.ozcad.com.au Just a thought.

Thom, Are you talking about in the Plant Database Itself? What is a 'proto plant list' Where do you want to 'select the plant list? Where are you doing this?

Can you send me the file and I will have a look - it depends on how you Created your Worksheet originally design@landscapesbydesign.com.au

Tina, After you add a new plant or alter edit in in the Plant Database - do a Find again in Broad Catagory - then File - Create Vectorworks Plant List - should send it to the User Folder as a new or updated text file as per my previous post and that will update the Text File. In other words that is how to keep your Text Files up to date. I know it is a little confusing but think of it like this perhaps - the Text Files are links between the Database and Plant information you can get from the Database so they have to be 'refreshed' when you add/alter/edit a Plant in the Database. Conversely - say in a Plant in VW you discovered in a Worksheet you had a missing entry for Spread for a particular Plant - you would go back into the Database - fix the Spread for that Plant - do a Find in Broad Catagory - File - Create Vectorworks Plant List - back into VW - Recalculate the Worksheet and the revised Spread Data should be fixed.

Try this =('Plant Record'.'Scheduled Size')

Same deal in VW 12.5 Help Seems to me you can

In 2008 do a search in Help for Guides

dmf2442 I would suggest upgrading your software and investing in some training

Jonathon, of course their easier to Edit - right ckick and away you go but switching a Symbol easily?? We can still use the RB but it is not as easy so in my view it is perhaps two three steps forward which is great but also a step back which is not Petri Exactly!! Is there a reason NNA?

I am a VS novice. I use Worksheets and can use them for Quantities, my Plant Legends etc. I have a file of Plant Symbols with two Classes - Plants-New2D and Plants-Text (for my Plant Tags) Is it possible within the seperate Symbols to change the Plant Tags from Plant-Text to Plants-Component-Tag

Dunno - I had to update with SP1 but I think that is how it is supposed to work. You would think though the install would let you know.

In VW 12.5 when Editing a Plant in the Edit Plant Definition we had an ability to change either the 3D or 2D Symbol. In VW 2008 we no longer have this function. I found it very useful as I had defined my Plants so they had all my data attached and would often just use a circle as a symbol when my drawings became too busy. So I converted this file to VW 2008 and dang the only way to replace the Symbol is in Edit Plant mode meaning copy and paste another Symbol in. Why take away a function that is useful and that people use and are used to. Is there a reason? I know now we have new symbols where we can show just the outline by Class but that is not the same. So if I wish to use a circle in some drawings do I have to create a new Class - Plants-Component-Circle and add a Circle to each Symbol to regain a semblance of the function. BTW this was possible in 12.5 anyway. I think unless there is some reason to do this the abilty to swap both the 3D and 2D symbols in 12.5 should not have been removed in 2008 Have others noticed this? In my view it is just going backwards.

Tina, If you have a look in your User Folder in the folder Plant Database you should see several text files Okies - when you are in the database itself and you enter a new plant in GENERAL INFORMATION - Broad Catagory are existing and definable fields - these are where the text files in the User Folder should come from. So enter the new plant giving it a catagory in Broad Catagory - then do a find for that catagory - should give you just the plants in that catagory - then File - Create Vectorworks Plant List - should send it to the User Folder as a new or updated text file HTH

I am from Australia - maybe our version is different Look through the folders in your VW 2008 installation

Well that is either dumb - huh!! Or WHY?

There are different ways to do it Classes can do it - have a Class for your front garden and another for your back garden You can use a 'Location Polyline' - if you can draw a polyline around each area - give each a name in the Data Tab of the OIP and use them to call the info into your Worksheets

Have you tried the ones in VW2008/Libraries/Plants/Plant Objects. There are two files - Plant Object Lines and Plant Objects. If you try one from Plant Objects in a new file you will notice 'fill' Classes which you can change. Dunno why you are crashing though. I put both of these files in my Favorites to use as I want to

I think NNA should answer this - is there a way?

In VW 12 in Edit Plant Definition we could change the 2D or for that matter 3D Symbol we used for a particular Plant. Unless I am missing something in VW 2008 it appears we have LOST this ability. Or am I wrong?

Perhaps a wish list item - an option should be when defining a new plant in VW itself with the OIP - a choice to be able to send that information back to the File Maker Pro database The plant tool in VW 11 was poor - 12.5 better by leaps and bounds - 2008 - for me I have to use it for awhile to see how it interacts with my work flow. The database itself as a stand alone tool - I do Arborist Reports and see potential to utilise information from it for that purpose. Would need though my own copy of File Maker Pro. Makes one wonder about VW and its abilities to interact with external databases as such So what is the go there?

This is exactly as it should be. Sorry, I meant to say "as it is". There is a database, but the Plant Database does not actually access the database. It just creates a bunch of text files they call "the database". The entire system is a sorry excuse for a database. You can open the "actual" database, too, and edit it. Unless you tell VW to regenerate the text files, the plant tool has no idea of your editing efforts. (Mind you, it is very easy to end up with any number of versions of the said text files, but without any idea which version the tool actually uses. My last count was 8 data sets in different locations.) A total dud. Landmark>VW Plants Database gets us to the database The Text files are defined within the Database under GENERAL INFORMATION - Broad Catagory and here you can create your own, or add to the existing Having done that File>Create Vectorworks Plant List creates the new Text File and you can name it again It then lives in your User Folder - in the Plant Database Folder I am still playing with it. Confusing though as within VW with the Plant Tool one can utilise the Text Files and use that info to create new plant definitions or create new plants there that have no relationship to the database via the OIP which are stored elswhere

Katie, My original post above - over here in Oz we think it is a bug. Has it been submitted by Ozcad?

Me too

Katie, Edit>Duplicate Along Path - no Create Path - so you have to use an existing path or draw one This is not as forgiving as the Tool Duplicate Along Path - Create Path mode which I use a lot for brick edging, steppers etc With the Create Path mode if you miss it just hit the Esc key and have another go - great for landscape design. Anyways the tool is still there Funny though two slightly different functions with the same name And it would be bad if VW lost this Create Path functionality Try it with both tools - say you wish to lay 400 by 400 steppers in a freehand type manner within a design with a maximum distance between of 200 mm - Create Path is so much easier to use Sorry to use metrics but I think the USA should get used to it