GRAPHIC LEGENDS - ANNOTATIONS HUGE PROBLEM!!!

[Shortnort]

I have finally gotten somewhat of a handle on creating Graphic Legends.  However, there is a MAJOR ISSUE that I have encountered:

If you change parameters, such as add a line to the Description Title, offset of dimensions, etc. ALL ANNOTATIONS ARE DELETED!!!

 

After the first time, I put them on a layer just for Graphics Legends, but POOF... Happened again.

 

Is there a way to LOCK the Annotations to prevent this from happening.  As you can see below, dimensioning the many frames is quite time consuming and to have that time destroyed simply by trying to fine tune the looks of the Legend is very maddening.

 

My only thoughts at this time is to create a symbol of each group of annotations to be used as a backup in case of disaster.

 

[cberg]

Make sure to keep a second copy of any data in Graphic Legends Annotation space elsewhere.  Any minor change you make to the data legend layout or style will cause the annotations to disappear. 

 

I submitted as a bug back in February.  I am not sure whether it is actually a bug, or whether that is just how this tool was designed to work.  

[Shortnort]

Thanks.  I sure wish that I had been forwarned by VW of this most CRITICAL FACT.  Hours have been lost redoing the notes. I now make back-up copies of my files on a regular basis.  The autosave sometimes saves at the most inconvenient times.

 

I think creating a symbol for each annotation is the simplest and safest way to catalog.  Additionally, it will speed up the annotation process for similar frames, door types, etc.

 

[cberg]

Does anybody know whether this is a bug or if this is how Graphic Legends are supposed to work?

[Hugues]

 

On 5/12/2023 at 4:04 PM, Shortnort said:

Thanks.  I sure wish that I had been forwarned by VW of this most CRITICAL FACT.  Hours have been lost redoing the notes. I now make back-up copies of my files on a regular basis.  The autosave sometimes saves at the most inconvenient times.

 

I think creating a symbol for each annotation is the simplest and safest way to catalog.  Additionally, it will speed up the annotation process for similar frames, door types, etc.

 

 

Your annotations should NOT be deleted because you added a line to the Description title or because of other minor operations.
If you have a Legend that exhibits this behavior please report it as a bug and send the file to us for investigation.

Annotations are deleted only when fundamentals changed are made to the Legend in such a way that the cells are no longer referencing the objects that were annotated. 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Hugues

[Shortnort]

Thank you for the response, but could you clarify?  I am confused as to what you are saying.

 

Thanks.

 

[Hugues]

2 hours ago, Shortnort said:

Thank you for the response, but could you clarify?  I am confused as to what you are saying.

 

Thanks.

 

Sorry. There was a typo in my previous message:  It should read: Your annotations should NOT be deleted because you added a line to the Description title or because of other minor operations......

 

Does that make sense now?

 

 

 

[Shortnort]

Thank you.  Yes, that makes more sense.  So, If a door or window type is added to the Legend, then none of the annotations should vanish? Mine did on a couple of different occasions, so I am leery of annotating them now.

 

[cberg]

It's pretty easy to replicate this problem.

 

1.  Full Graphic Legend with Annotations.

 

 

2.  I edit the style.

 

 

3.  Adding a rectangle to the Cell Layout does not affect the annotations. 

 

 

 

4.  However changing/editing the label does.  In this instance I wanted to add a title field accessing the acoustic rating of the wall assembly.

 

 

Et voilà!!  Annotations magically disappear!

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by cberg

[Shortnort]

Wow - I love the Partition Types Legend you have there...  Mind sharing how you did it?

 

[Hugues]

@cberg Annotations should not vanish in the situation you described.

It would be really helpful If you could send us a file where you are able to replicate this issue.

[Shortnort]

Any and all files do this... It is apparently a bug. 

 

[Hugues]

43 minutes ago, Shortnort said:

Any and all files do this... It is apparently a bug. 

 

Unfortunately, we are not able to replicate it with our test files. If you could provide a simple file that can be used to replicate the issue that would be very helpful. Thanks.

[Shortnort]

Hugues, here are a few screen shots that demonstrate the problem:

Notice that the 3rd Cell now has no annotations...  I had double clicked the cell to edit annotations and nothing appeared and nothing remained.

Here is what then happened when I clicked onto Cell 2:

 

Happens in ALL files that I have worked on.

 

 

[Christopher Rowe]

I am experiencing this problem too. Recalculating the schedule after making a change to a scheduled wall style is either deleting the annotations or relocating and rotating parts of the annotation. 

[Christopher Rowe]

Can also confirm that simply entering the Define Legend Image dialog - without making changes - cause annotations to be erased. Not sure if this is a bug or a "feature"! 

[Shortnort]

 

How can we users have these issues yet corporate VW does not?  It is extremely frustrating and costly for the end users to be faced with what is a definitive bug while corporate seems to just cast us aside.  

[cberg]

They were able to replicate the problems in the test files we sent.  And I think they are working on a fix. 

[Pat Stanford]

3 hours ago, Shortnort said:

How can we users have these issues yet corporate VW does not?  It is extremely frustrating and costly for the end users to be faced with what is a definitive bug while corporate seems to just cast us aside.  

With over 650,000 users, there are going to be lots of people using files and tools/objects in those files differently than they were intended to be used. Some of those uses will cause issues. But the in house testing "knows" how the tool/object is supposed to be used. And while they try to account for other uses, sometimes something gets missed. Until they get a report of the problem and a reproducible sample file, it is impossible to provide a fix. 

 

On 6/27/2023 at 8:11 AM, Hugues said:

Your annotations should NOT be deleted because you added a line to the Description title or because of other minor operations.
If you have a Legend that exhibits this behavior please report it as a bug and send the file to us for investigation.

Annotations are deleted only when fundamentals changed are made to the Legend in such a way that the cells are no longer referencing the objects that were annotated. 

I don't think this is an example of corporate casting you aside but instead a clear definition that what is being seen is NOT what should be happening and a request for help in tracking down the problem.

7 minutes ago, cberg said:

They were able to replicate the problems in the test files we sent.  And I think they are working on a fix.

If they have a reproducible case, then I know they are working on a fix. VW cares deeply about the quality of the software and the user experience and I know from personal experience how hard they try. But unfortunately, any large software product will have bugs and anomalies that will need to be fixed.

[Elite Exhibits]

 

We have experienced a possible source of conflict in the Graphic Legend Layout Constraints

In our case, adding text and a second image caused an issue until we unchecked the Graphic Legend Layout Constraints

for other than Image-1.

 

As these Graphic Legend Layout Constraints are auto applied by VectorWorks, it is assumed that they do NOT conflict with each other. 

 

My 2¢

 

Peter

[Pat Stanford]

@Elite ExhibitsHave you filed a bug report and attached a VW file showing the problem and the steps to make it occur? If not, please do so. It does sounds like a problem, but, again, unless the programmers have a working sample showing the problem, they have to way to diagnose or fix the problem.

[Shortnort]

Thank you, Pat.  I understand the difficulties with new functions.  I suggest that VW issue an alert to users that there are possible bugs with the Graphic Legend and to proceed with caution, perhaps create symbols of the annotations, etc. 

[cberg]

I haven't thoroughly tested my file, but 2023 SP-6 Seems to have fixed many of my issues with disappearing Graphic Legend annotations.  Thank you VW Team for making this a priority.  Will keep exploring the functionality and let you know if I see anything.   

[cberg]

Just an update/clarification.  I don't see this as a problem, but it is something to be aware of. 

 

With 2023 SP-6, if you replace one wall with another wall definition, it will delete the annotations in the associated cell.  For example, in the screenshot below, I deleted the E2 wall and replaced it with a newly defined E3 wall type. All the annotations in that cell disappeared when I refreshed the graphic legend.  The other graphic legend cells were not affected. 

 

On the other hand doing something minor to the wall type does not cause the cell to reset.  Changing the UL value from V348 to U348, did not cause the annotations to disappear.  Editing the thickness of a R3 wall component also did not cause the annotations to disappear.  Which is great. 

 

It is still a good practice, to maintain a seed file with your annotations.  This is not that difficult to do since, walls are often reused from project to project. 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by cberg

[Duncan Gunn]

Whilst we are on the subject, could I please ask why my Types 8 and 9 have no drawing? The missing images are wall types, in my file, and the annotation is in the data section of each of the wall types i.e. all the text you see is in the wall type data tab. Thank you.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Duncan Gunn