Art V

Agree, and if it could use regular expressions too then it would be great.

Yes, then you definitely would need the class and layer mapping. It should be available in all Vectorworks versions imho, especially when you are using dwg imports a lot. This is one of these issues where (little) practical things like this would make a huge difference in convenience for Vectorworks users. If only they would spend some time on collecting all those practical nitty gritty wishes and include them in the next upgrade instead of adding some new bells and whistles.

The class and layer mapping tool is also available in the Landmark module, though in the Dutch version it's a pain to recognize it by the name so it took me a while to figure it out. One thing that may help to reduce the clutter is to assign a prefix for layers of each imported dwg file so that all classes are grouped by the prefix. This should reduce the clutter a lot when you collapse the classes by that class prefix. See my reply above for where to find it. That being said, an easier rename tool might be more convenient if it could use a search and replace to strip the e.g. xref references in the imported layer/class names.

This has been possible for years when doing a dwg import (maybe with exception of Fundamentals). When using the dwg import dialog go to the properties tab (2nd tab) and you will be able to select the "prefix for dxf/dwg layers" and you can set a prefix for the imported AutoCAD drawings. This prefix will be added to the classes. (Hyphen will be inserted automatically between prefix and layer (class) names) Once set it will be used for each import during the Vectorworks session unless you update it for the next import. e.g. if you have to import 3 dwg files you could create the prefixes dwg1, dwg2, dwg3 or anything you like as long as you update the prefix in the dialog first before every import.

Tom, What may help is to right click on the Vectoworks icon and select "run as admin" or open the properties for the icon and select the "run as administrator" in one of the tabs. The reason why the serial number will not register is that without admin rights it cannot pass on the serial number to the appropriate place in the system. I've run into that problem in the past and running the program with admin rights for entering the serial number solved the issue. After that you no longer need the admin rights and can disable it again.

+1 This would give more control over how to move objects etc. which is something I can really use for coordinates positioned items.

+1 too from me for both mdarch's and Tim's (rDesign) suggestions

Because AutoCAD does not support design layers with different heights the way Vectorworks does this means that an object having Z=3' on layer 1 and another object also having Z=3' on layer two with a Z height of 10' will both end up as both having a Z of 3' in AutoCAD instead of 3' and 13' respectively. The only way to solve this is to either put all objects on a single layer at correct height relative to the lowest level. (e.g. move all object from layer 2 to layer 1 and then increase the Z-value with 10' in the object info palette) or to export all design layers as separate dwg files and then correct the Z-values in the AutoCAD software after importing each layer. It would be nice if Vectorworks could automatically add the layer's elevation to the Z value of objects for dwg exports so that it will be possible to export everything in one go without workarounds as described above.

Something else I forgot to mention... AutoCAD does not support multiple design layers having elevations. If you directly export to a dwg file objects are exported at their Z-coordinates relative to the layer they are on. Because AutoCAD does not support design layers with different heights the way Vectorworks does this means that an object having Z=3' on layer 1 and another object also having Z=3' on layer two with a Z height of 10' will both end up as both having a Z of 3' in AutoCAD instead of 3' and 13' respectively. The only way to solve this is to either put all objects on a single layer at correct height relative to the lowest level. (e.g. move all object from layer 2 to layer 1 and then increase the Z-value with 10 in the object info palette) or to export all design layers as separate dwg files and then correct the Z-values in the AutoCAD software after importing each layer. Maybe the export in VW2016 will have improved that it takes care of this automatically, if not I'll create a wish list item for it.

I don't know how it works on Apple machines, but in Windows you can specify the main and secondary screen. Depending on the driver it sometimes gets changed for whatever reason after connecting/disconnecting some monitors/projectors then your windows will end up on the wrong screen or may not be visible at all when you are back on a single screen/monitor. You may want to check your display settings for which screen is defined as main and which as secondary and whether this has changed when you run into this problem. Attaching a secondary monitor may be necessary to put things back to normal when changing the settings.

A saved view is just a collection of classes, layers etc. and their state (visible, grayed, invisible etc.) so you cannot "exit" this. Your possible solution of a "dummy" saved view is probably your only option for returning to a default, or manually set the state of layers and classes etc. I tend to use one or more saved views containing a "base configuration" depending on my needs. AutoCAD has a layer states manager that is basically the same when it comes to on/off/invisible layers and there you cannot exit it either other than by having a default layer state defined or manually changing the state of layers.

Did you import an original CAD file (i.e. dwg file) or could it be a PDF file that has been converted to CAD (dwg)? If the latter it could explain the low quality of the contents, the text etc. Assuming it is a dwg file, another option could be that the dwg file contained objects not supported in an older dwg format and as a result got converted into basic objects. If the viewres setting was low this may have affected the conversion resolution as well depending on the objects and the originating CAD software.

Yes contact me too please, I might not be your intended target audience but it looks like it may still be useful for me so I'm definitely interested in trying it out.

Yes, your ODBC source and drivers need to be 64-bit as well to make them work with 64-bit Vectorworks if I remember correctly from another thread.

As someone commented in the general discussion forum, the U key toggles only from left to right through the options. It would be nice if holding the shift key while pressing U would make the toggle go in the reverse direction, i.e. from right to left.

Not that I have noticed. In quite a few programs using shift reverses the direction, e.g. tab moves forward and shift-tab moves backward. It would be nice if shift-U would toggle in the reverse direction. I'll put a wish list request for that.

For me it works to put viewports in a class of their own (e.g. viewports) with the line attribute set to none if needed. I avoid using the none class like the plague :-) There is a wish list request to link class visibility etc. to design layers, not sure if you "me-too'd" it, if not it may help to give a "me too" reply to the request to increase the chance of this being implemented.

For me it works to put viewports in a class of their own (e.g. viewports) with the line attribute set to none if needed. I avoid using the none class like the plague :-) There is a wish list request to link class visibility etc. to design layers, not sure if you "me-too'd" it, if not it may help to give a "me too" reply to the request to increase the chance of this being implemented.

At least for the Dutch version the menus are identical to the English version for the same items. So at times I "only" need to count the menus and items, e.g. third menu from the left, second item from the top. :-) In the long run this is a bit frustrating though.

It would be nice if Vectorworks could import/export text styles from/to dwg files. Font substitution in the case of e.g. SHX fonts is not an issue for me, as long as text styles remain attached to the text objects. Currently it is not feasible to use Vectorworks for projects that require pre-defined text styles as it is too much work to assign text styles afterwards in the exported dwg files. If the text styles would remain attached to the text objects it would be much simpler to fix this in a dwg based program (AutoCAD, Bricscad, Draftsight etc.)

Michael is right, Vectorworks imports in top/plan view. If you want to import a 2d view of e.g. a side of a building into 3D you will have to get it in top/plan view on a Layer Plane and then do a 3D rotate to get it in the proper plane and then move it into the right position.

You could still work that way if you want, but from my experience that is not really necessary. Something that is important is to find out on beforehand if there are any requirements that need to be met for the dwg file when it comes to layer (class) naming, fonts used, line weights, templates, line style names etc. It really depends on what kind of drawing you are creating. Due to the kind of drawings I often make I tend to export the sheet layers to dwg files, that way it makes no difference whether I am using multiple design layers, as long as the classes do match the required dwg layers. Vectorworks exports the dwg file in 1:1 regardless of the scale used in the design layers or sheet layer viewports. There will always be some items that do not translate 1:1 into AutoCAD items. One thing that is a good thing to do is to put dimensions as annotations in the viewport for anything larger than A3 size, that often works out better than having dimensions on the design layer. The downside is that this is a bit more cumbersome when dimensions need to be updated if the drawing itself changes quite a bit. Maybe it helps if you have a few typical samples we could look at.

It would be really nice if a proper 4-way crossing would be available in Vectorworks, similar to the already existing T-crossing. Now I have to resort to putting two T-crossings on top of each other or create a custom road part which has less flexibility for updating the road width.

It would be nice if e.g. the straight road segments would stay connected with e.g. bends and T-crossings when these get moved. For example, if a T-crossing at the end of a vertical or horizontal road gets moved in- or outward the road needs to be manually shortened or extended at the moment. Ideally this should happen automatically. Maybe geometric constraints could be updated to specify which road end should always stay connect with which bend, crossing or whatever road part is specified.

+1 I have the same issue and this would be useful to have