Symbol visiblity problems

[atari2600]

Hi everyone,

I recently started working with VW2008 and have converted our office templates from version 12.5. I just started working on a lighting plan this morning but I have run into a problem. Back when we started using WV11.0 (when viewports were introduced) we had then decided to do our lighting plans in the annotation mode of the viewport, not on the design layer. That way the electrical symbols didn't interfere w/ any of the design layer objects. I now notice, however, that my 2d symbols seem to disappear when I insert them, and the only way I can see them is if I switch the viewport's view from "top/plan" to "top". I am hoping this isn't a legacy symbol thing, for it would be a real pain to redo all our symbols for VW2008 or VW2009.

Anyone have any suggestions or solutions? (And yes, all of the classes are on in the viewport, as well as everywhere else...)

thanks,

Matt

[Ray Libby]

Can you post an example file here?

BTW, I worked for Case in the 80s, say hi to Mark Richardson for me!

[michaelk]

Matt

It sounds like your symbols are 3d only symbols. They may have lost their 2d portion and are no longer hybrid.

If your symbols in 12.5 were both 2d and 3d, just reimport them and replace the current symbols. Or edit the current symbols to have a 2d element.

You might want to try putting your electrical symbols on their own layer and stacking that layer on top of the other layers. It's easier, faster, and much more flexible than using VP annotations.

HTH

Michael

[atari2600]

Ok,

a little development here. I just copied my invisible symbols up to my first floor viewport, and they are visible. The only significant difference between my two floors is I have a design layer viewport (of a pdf) underneath of my basement floor layout, from which I made the sheet layer viewport. So now I think I isolated the problem. It seems to involve design layer viewports, and their visibility. When I turn off the class of the design layer viewport within the basement design layer, the symbols magically reappear in the sheet layer viewport!

is this a bug?

[atari2600]

BTW, I worked for Case in the 80s, say hi to Mark Richardson for me!

Will do

[atari2600]

You might want to try putting your electrical symbols on their own layer and stacking that layer on top of the other layers. It's easier, faster, and much more flexible than using VP annotations.

HTH

Michael

Thanks for the suggestion.

We went through a major template cleaning a few years ago, and tried to minimize & simplify our number of layers and classes. At the time we concluded that electrical planning were more of an "annotation activity" than a design activity. Given that we were going to have a viewport anyway, why not ditch the lighting/electrical layers and simply annotate them with a grayed out plan underneath. I think the group has been rather satisfied w/ the move ever since. Now that there is much more flexibility in the layer stacking, opacity, and appearance on a viewport to viewport basis, we might revisit that decision when we fully upgrade to VW2009.