eric.rktek

You may want to see if they can handle pdf's instead. If they can use those, it will make for a much simpler printer process from VW.

There is one minor problem with the built in Mac "Save as PDF' in the print window. Angled lines print thincker than their straight counterparts. I believe this is because the 'pen' tip that the converter program uses is square and not round. Therefore a line drawn at a 45 deg angle is 1.414+/- times thicker than a straight line with the same width. If you purchase Acrobat and use this to generate your pdf's you shouldn't have this problem. Acrobat uses a round pen 'tip' when converting the linework. It comes down to how much does the lineweight issue bug you.

There is a way to fence stretch lines and polygons (but not rectangles) in VW now. If you use the edit/reshape polygon tool, you can draw a rectangular marquee around points that you want to stretch. Clicking on a point and dragging will strectch them to where you want. It will only stretch the points (handles) on objects that are selected, for single or multiple items. One minor downside compared to Acad is that you can only draw a rect. marquee and not a polygon shaped one. I came across this after using Acad for a couple years and find it handy in a lot of drafting situations.

This stair break issue has appeared before on the Wish List Area. It would be very nice to have the ability to not have to fake the relatively typical situation described in the posts above.

I like the comment of the construction grid. It seems like a very straightforward work around for the present limitations of VW. I'm one to throw out comparisons to other CAD programs, usually related to wishlist items. Microstation has a very nice feature that allowed you to dynamically change your view orientation (and snap grid). You would click (on the proper tool) and drag two points. The first would be an origin, the second would act as a point on the positive X axis. This would allow you to always work in an orthoginal view relative to whatever angled part of the building you are on. It made it so easy to deal with the issues listed above. I think there was a simple double click on the tool that would throw you back into the original orientation. I'm not sure how this affects VW setup/software/code, but it would be a very elegant solution to the issue.

It would be great if VW would not throw me into a design layer after I update my workgroup references. I'm often in a sheet layer, and often in the viewport on that layer and I need to update a referenced background file. When I do, it throws me into a design layer. I have to go back to the sheet layer and enter into the viewport again. It's not the end of the world, but it would sure save time if it keep you in the sheet layer. Thanks.

I have a similar 'lost viewport' problem in one of my files. I use the annotations feature to note my drawings. Every couple times I would come into this one file, I would find that all the design layer data had disappeared. The viewport was still there with my drawing titles, but nothing else. I would check the later and class links, and everything looked okay, but nothing was there. I haven't been able to figure out a pattern (if any) of my actions that would cause the viewport to vanish.

IboyMatt- Quick question, how do you quickly spin the design layer to rotate view (without rotating the actually data in VW)? I've been missing that capability for the longest time. I also share Jan's desire to have VW and get the bugs out as an important point of emphasis. One of the reasons I happily left Autocad was clunky interface, and dealing with corrupt files and lost data on a regular basis. I guess I view all CAD programs as works in progress open to (and in need of) improvement. VW is great, not trying to knock it, not planning on leaving it, but trying to provide feedback to help in the improvement and upgrade cycle.

I have yet one more thought on potential ways to improve referencing. I wonder if it would be benifical to split the Layer Linking feature into two separate commands. One could be for the more 'traditional' use of the tool for linking layers for 3D model views, etc. A second tool could be tweaked to offer more specific linking features for 2D drafting issues. This might allow VW to improve the strengths of both areas without having to try to cram it all into one thing.......

Autocad brings in its reference files as symbols (blocks) but I wonder if that approach will create some issues with the way VW handles its layers, etc. One alternative suggestion is to have a dialog interface with the WGR window that allows for modification of the position of files referenced in. It could have options for rotation, x & y coordinates, mirroing, etc. Ideally it would have the option to shift the origin point with a next click feature. This way, you could address all the layers that come in with the reference file in a holistic approach. One way that layer linking could be improved is to expand on what you see in the info box. It would be nice to have the layer link have the classes and layers on/off/gray controls like viewports. This would make them easier to handle as well. Eric

I guess the best thing I can say is that once you work in a CAD environment where you can easily move, mirror, and rotate reference files, you quickly come to appreciate how important and useful this is. I spent a few years away from VW working in Microstation and then AutoCAD, and appreciate some of the features they had or did better than VW. I am very happy using VW again, but want to provide feedback on areas that I hope can be improved. Having reference files in VW is crucial to our workflow, and I hope that it can continue to be improved. Isn't this what the wish list portion of the Tech Board is for? Thanks.

A quick Viewport Hassle.... Whenever I am in a sheet file (and in the sheet layer) and I refresh my referenced files it always throws me into one of the many design layers in the file. It also throws my view out when I am in the annotation part of a viewport and refresh. It would be greatly preferred if I could refresh while in the viewport, and go right on editing my notes for the particular drawing. Instead I have to switch back to the sheet layer, enter the viewport, and zoom back into where I was before. Thanks.

As an example, I find it very useful to have a building plan referenced into my elevation file to ensure accurate layout when drafting. Now, in order to have my plan in the proper orientation for the various elevations, it needs to be rotated into different positions. Mirroring the plan is sometimes required as well. The same setup requirements are true for drafting sections. I understand that you can accomplish this through the layer links. But to name names, moving and positioning reference files is much easier to deal with in AutoCad and Microstation. I'm not saying these are better programs, but that this is one particular area where they handle something more effectively than VW, and I hope that it is an area where there can be improvements. Thanks

I know you can use the layer linking tool to move and rotate reference files, but this really seems like a time consuming work around. At least compared to the way some of the other CAD packages out there are able to handle moving reference files around. I'd like to request 'better' reference file moving in the future from VW. Thanks.

I have another wish list item regarding the stair tool. It would be very helpful if there were the additional functionality of being able to specify either rails that can be set to extend past the ends of the stair, or the added functionality of guardrails AND handrails being able to be show in this tool. Thanks.

I just starting tackling some RCP's with the ceiling grid tool for the first time. It's pretty handy, but I'm wondering if there is any way to shift the grid (besides changing it's hor & vert spacing). Basically, I'd like to be able to adjust the start point of the grid if it were a hatch. I didn't see any mention of this capability in the reference manual.

Katie, Thanks for the tip. I try to stay away from classes whenever possible because I feel they can create some overly complex files for multiple people to work on. There are also a lot of times that I'm less streamlined and don't want to make a bunch of different scripts for different items. I just want to grab an object and make that become my current attribute settings. It seems like this could be a natural addition to the eyedropper tool. There could be a button in the menu bar that let you pick up the attributes of something and set the attributes palette in addition to its typical use.

Is there any way to select a certain object, and make its attributes become the 'defaults' for objects that you draw from that point forward? This might be more of a magic wand wish list thing. Thanks, Eric

Katie, Thanks for the help. I'll be more carefully with that control key in the future. Eric

Katie, I'm sure I'm not hitting the number keypad off to the side of my keyboard. Is there any way holding down control, or option or something will throw on the Number Lock function or somethnig similiar when I am typing in numbers across the top of the keyboard and send me into a 3D view that way? Thanks, Eric

I seem to accidentally keep sending my drawing (layer) into a 3D view instead of top plan on a fairly regular basis. I haven't been able to pin down the keystroke combo that is causing this to happen. Can Tech support shed any light on what might be causing this? I am not using the number pad on the right of my keyboard when this happens. It seems to occur when I am moving faster using the option/command/space bar/ changing tools back and forth. Thanks for the help. Eric Mac G4 V11

I'd really appreciate the ability to relocate referenced layer info instead of using layers links. It would be great to have a dialog box in the Workgroup Reference window that could have a key in x & y value for an offset of the layer(s) origin, with a handy next mouse click type feature similiar to the symbol insertion feature. It would also be great if there could be another window that could track a rotation angle as well. Thanks, Eric

Is there any way to use the eyedropper (or any other tool) to quickly change the 2D display controls for symbols in walls? I tend to forget to set the Wall Line Multiplier to the appropriate percentage before I start putting all my doors and windows in. I'd love to be able to seta default or override for the entire drawing instead of having to select each window or door one at a time, and scroll through to select the info. Thanks, Eric

Is there any way for a user to tweak a drawing callout marker if I need a slightly different one than the supplied options for elevations, sections, etc? I have set up a symbol with my linked text, but would really like to have the ease of the '2D Scale Factor' built in as well as entering info on the front pane of the Info Palette. Thanks, Eric

I have been using the revised V11 stair tool, and really appreciate the ability to shift the stair break location dynamically. Is there anyway to have the break occur so that the lower half of the stair is hidden instead of the standard way of the upper half of the stair hidden above the break line? I want to hide the bottom part of a stair that should disappear below floor and walls of an upper plan without having to draw a polygon or some other masking technique. Thanks, Eric