Workspace Editor

[PeterT]

It would be very helpful if there would be a way to view a list of all keyboard shortcut keys assigned to a given workspace, or better yet, a way to print it out for reference.

Although the keys are displayed in the workspace editor, the window is not re- sizable, and tools or menu commands are nested in folders and subfolders, or shown only by clicking the "option" button, etc. It is almost easier to assign keys by just randomly clicking keys until you find one of them that does not give the message "that key is already used by..."

Also, it would be great if there was a way to save changes made to your workspace as you go, while the editor is open. Currently you must click "O.K." to close and save your changes, then open the editor again to continue.

[Guest]

Good suggestions, PeterT. It probably wouldn't be too difficult for the workspace editor to produce some sort of list of commands and the corresponding shortcut keys, since all that information is readily available to the workspace editor. Other people have asked for this feature, and I think it's really just a matter of finding time to do the work in the face of a long list of other requests.

Saving changes to the workspace in the middle of editing is also clearly a valuable capability. The workspace editor actually does quite a bit of work in order to save a workspace in the required format, and so even if there were a Save button, it probably still wouldn't be as fast an operation as you might hope for. I wonder if it wouldn't be more productive to put the work into streamlining the workspace editor's open and closing operations, so that it's easier to jump back and forth between normal VectorWorks use and the workspace editor.

Caleb Strockbine

workspace editor guy

caleb@nemetschek.net

[PeterT]

Hi Caleb,

Thanks for your response. I am all for streamlining the open and close operations, but how can you streamline the "close" operation any more than you could the "save" operation if the document saves everytime you close it?

On another note, when working in VectorWorks using the custom workspace I have created, I have lost the use of the "delete" key on my Macintosh keyboard. The key command still deletes text characters from within a text string, but it will not delete selected graphic objects as it should.

The "clear" command works fine and so does the "cut" command or the keyboard shortcut "command-x", but "delete" does nothing. If I switch my workspace to any of the default workspaces (AEC for example), the "delete" key works fine.

I can find no way to assign or de-assign any tool or command to the "delete" key in the workspace editor or I would assign the "clear" command to it.

How have I lost this function, and how can I get it back without redoing my entire workspace?

[MikeB]

We have 14 Macs with VW and a few people have experienced this same problem, we also dont know how it happened or how to fix it. Any Advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest]

quote:

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I am all for streamlining the open and close operations, but how can you streamline the "close" operation any more than you could the "save" operation if the document saves everytime you close it?

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Because of all the work that takes place in order to save and close a workspace, implementing a Save feature in the workspace editor would be pretty much the same as closing and then re-opening the workspace in terms of the time the operation takes. So, I don't mean to say that we shouldn't add a Save button. I just think it would be more useful to concentrate first on speeding up the open/close operations. Really, I'm all in favor of adding a Save button, and also perhaps changing the label on the "OK" button to something more descriptive, like "Done".

(Note: I can't give a timeframe in which these changes might happen, but it's on the list.)

quote:

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On another note, when working in VectorWorks using the custom workspace I have created, I have lost the use of the "delete" key on my Macintosh keyboard. The key command still deletes text characters from within a text string, but it will not delete selected graphic objects as it should.

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Earlier versions of the workspace editor on the Mac contained a bug that probably caused the behavior you're seeing. The bug was that if you deleted the shortcut for an item in the Misc. Keys pane of the editor (by pressing the Delete key), the delete key became the shortcut for that item.

Our bug database indicates that I fixed this bug in VectorWorks 8.0.1, so if you're using VW 8.0.1 or later and the problem seems to have just started recently, let me know. I just checked my copy of VW 8.5.2, and the bug is definitely not present in that version.

One method that will help determine whether this bug is causing the problem you're seeing is to look for the behavior of something from the Misc. Keys panel when you hit Delete. Does the Delete key cause a change in the state of any of the buttons in the mode bar? (3D cursor tool is good for checking this, as it has 5 out of the 6 possible mode buttons.) Do any of the constraints in the constraint palette change?

To fix a workspace with this problem, open the workspace with the workspace editor and switch to the Misc. Keys pane. Make sure that a shortcut is assigned to each item. If there's an item without a shortcut, then select the contents of the edit field and hit the Delete key to make sure that it's really deleted. Once you delete the offending shortcut, Delete should return to its normal VectorWorks behavior.

If none of this helps, send a copy of the problem workspace and a quick description of the problem to bugsubmit@diehlgraphsoft.com.

Caleb Strockbine

caleb@nemetschek.net

[PeterT]

quote:

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Originally posted by Caleb Strockbine:

The bug was that if you deleted the shortcut for an item in the Misc. Keys pane of the editor (by pressing the Delete key), the delete key became the shortcut for that item.

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Thanks very much, problem gone! You described my situation to the letter. I had indeed re-assigned the third button of the mode bar to something other than "o" (I use "o" to call the offset tool). I did as you suggested, and bingo, my workspace is all better now.

FYI: I am using VW 8.5.2 on Mac OS 9.0.4, but I may well have been using VW 8.0 at the time I modified the workspace originally.

We, "the users", do really appreciate when you guys monitor our issues and provide responses.

Thanks again,

Peter Thayer

[Eric Chenault]

Another wish for the Workspace Editor is a way to copy a menu or a palette from another workspace into the workspace being edited. I have wasted so much time writing out how a palette looks or a menu is arranged in one workspace or add-on package so that I could use it in my personal workspace.