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Making certain layers unsnappable


Ken

Question

Just a simple little wish list item...

How can I make a layer UNSNAPPABLE while working on multiple layers that need to remain snappable? It doesn't need to be fully visible -- perhaps half-visible is okay.

I wish for a way to set particular layers unsnappable while being able to snap to all others.

Same for classes I suppose.

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I'm missed most of the other thread, and agree for the need to control that snappabiility controls per layer would be really helpful. I think the best way to handle this would be to have another column in the Nav palette for "Snapability". This would allow for total custom snap control per individual layers, greyed or otherwise. Also, as a short term workaround, have you tried putting the greyed layer you want to not snap in just a top view (assuming the other layers are in Top/Plan)? Since layers in different orientations won't snap to each other, this might provide a semi-efficient short term fix, depending on what kind of 2D/3D info you have on that layer.

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Eric, mike oz has made the same suggestion in the General Discussion thread ( Gray snapping ). I worry that having another parameter for each layer that can be modified for each saved view and each viewport would add a lot of work to setting up files, not to mention adapting legacy files.

Would you and Ken be amenable to Mike's other idea, that gray snappability be a toggled option? If this were implemented, we could get rid of the current Gray/Snap Others layer visibility option, simplifying the growing number of options there, and both Show/Snap Others and Gray Others would snap to gray or not, depending on whether gray snapping is activated or disabled. Or do you think that customizing snappability in the way you suggest is worth the pain of dealing with all the instances of the option we'd have to set up?

Edited by P Retondo
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Eric (no inference whatsoever to or from Eric in the other discussion wink.gif I don't think) -- thanks for suggesting the workaround. While clunky for walls, it's very creative and it's okay for the time being.

I'll definitely use it.

Snappability controls per layer may cause more trouble than it's worth.

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I think it goes back again to the concept and interpretation of "gray" in Vectorworks lingo. Gray evidently has different meaning for different users. Perhaps the name of the visibility state should be replaced with something more descriptive of its effect, instead of implying a color.

Maybe "ghost" layers? But ghost has a mystical/ spiritual/ haunting connotation... crazy.gif

Or "fuzzy" layers? But that could mean soft and cuddly... crazy.gif

How about "haze" or "hazy" layers... crazy.gif

I think the name for the visibility state just need to be different enough that "visible" in Vectorworks would clearly exclude it, yet not describe any particular color, which gray does, and which remains for some to be logically defined as visible or having all the rightful properties of visibility.

So it's almost a concession to users who want to snap to "gray," but by renaming it, it becomes not really a concession. It would be clarification! Of course, "gray" would need to be struck from every menu, every dialogue box, every manual, every VS script, every online reference, everything. No more "gray."

Maybe just semi-visible or half-visible? (you can't half-snap to a half-visible layer!) cool.gif

So my proposal would be:

Active Only (unchanged)

Gray Others (unchanged)

Gray/ Snap All ("all" implies all visible and all semi-visible)

Show Others (unchanged)

Show/ Snap All ("all" implies all visible and all semi-visible)

Show/ Snap Visible ("visible" implies only visible and not semi-visible)

Show/ Snap/ Modify All (unchanged in functionality)

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I'm starting to use Eric's workaround, and it's a lot of work. If no overhaul of "layer options" and command names are planned/desired/considered, then I would only ask for an extra column in the Navigation palette for the layer's isometric state, to show whether it's top/plan or not -- the same little icon that's found in the Layers pull-down menu:

isoboxef2.gif

How else to tell if a layer is top/plan or not?

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