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Lalalalalalalalalalala!! With my hands over my ears!!!!!!

Just wanted to share my frustrations with someone!

Just once it would be so nice to spend so much money and get the specific information I need! Which is never included in the manuals or the training DVDs......With the exception of Steinbergs DAW SX3

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Jonathan,

I am mainly a concrete contractor. Usually I get blueprints that are "close" to what a customer wants. So I bought VWs Architect to draw what the customer wants so as to "not" construct the project to the "close enough" blueprints. Having said that, I drew a simple practice project 48'x24' foundation consisting of a footing that is 48'x24' with one 45' run in the center at 12'. The footing is 1'6" wide and 8" thick(high) on one layer named Mod-Footing. Then on another layer named Mod-Foundation I drew a 4' High x 8" thick(wide) stem wall. I used the wall tool to accomplish both layers.

I then created a report that gave me the name of the walls and the square footage. I then tried to customize a new report named cost worksheet to calculate cubic yards of concrete needed and material cost and also labor cost. I posted a question and several helpful users guided me and to those I am thankful for their help. A very helpful gentleman by the name of Pat Stanford was really helpful as he gave me the exact formulas to enter and the exact cells in which to enter them. Works great. That report takes the information from the "Wall Quantity Report" and calculates the cubic yards needed and the price per yard(which I can change) and also the labor charge per square foot(which I can change). One issue I am having is a separate report for each named layer because footings are charged at a different rate than stem walls or basement walls. Pat instructed me how to create separate reports but I have not been able to do it so my material quantity/cost and labor cost are coming from the information on one report and therefore one rate. Another issue is adding tax rate in % and overrun in % and anything else I would like to add. Pat gave me specific formulas for specific cells to accomplish this task. The manual does not go into the specifics that I need to completely customize a report that suits my needs. I wrote an email to Resolve.ca who puts out the manual for VWs to inquire if the had any tutorials that may help. I can do what Pat instructs me to do but I have yet to see what Pat sees, If you know what I mean? I don't mind research to work through a problem, I do however require specific information to be successful in accomplishing that task. The Manual and the DVD tutorial that came with VW Architect 2009 is not that specific(at least not in the area of customizing/functions of reports or separating them) to guide me through the problem.

My frustration was only that. What a powerful tool a customizable report can be in conjunction with drawing the blueprints. The DVD tutorial has instructions on a report covering plants or the landscaping, which is fine but it doesn't help me. The manual only helps you create a report. I have seen nothing in the manual or the DVD that instructs on "specific formulas" or "specific cells" or how to separate reports from different layers.....that I could find.

I have been trying different things in VWs and MS excel and after a point my brain turns to mush. That's when I fall into frustration. That is the information I am missing!

Wyle

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Wyle,

I have been using VW since version 11

The frustration you feel must be common to others too as it has been with me

Guys like Pat are amazing and are so generous with their time and knowledge

I have complained before and suggested NNA should really provide much more informative manuals and better free training resources

Today I wasted a day attempting to gain information with a site model and even VW Help in my view did not provide in a clear concise manner the information I was after

Sucks as far as I am concerned but just how it is I suppose

It can only be addressed and changed by NNA or third party trainers and manual writers like Jonathon

NNA really should get their act together with this!

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Ozzie,

This is the first, what I call "high end" CAD program I have purchased. I don't know all of it capabilities as it is with me on several programs. i.e. Adobe Photoshop. That program also works in layers. I also have Steinberg Cubase for recording music on a PowerMac in a small recording studio I have. It works great. The Training DVDs that I have for Cubase are great. So far they have shown how to do what I want to do. However Cubase doesn't utilize spreadsheets for anything. Usually when I purchase software I can work my way through it and get the "my"intended use out of it, but in this case the the area of report is almost a pulling your hair out episode! Even on the MS Excel website it's hard to find the specific info in am looking for. Or Excel help. the little avatar ask me what I want to do and I tell it and it does not know what I am talking about....frustrating! Sometimes i am amazed the space shuttle got off the ground due to the lack of specific communication that people naturally have..me included. In my mind it seems to me that CAD software is designed to create blueprints to aid in the "construction" of a desired project. If a CAD program is going to utilize worksheets in a spreadsheet format to give the specific information about materials needed to construct the project then in my world there are different rates,taxes, delivery charges, trash charges, demolition, overrun percentages etc. A host of variables. Without those options in the worksheet I might as well calculate the project manually anyway because the worksheet is not giving an accurate or complete picture of the actual cost. When creating a report in VWs, the "possible columns" are just not there. As I said I want to show my appreciation and give credit to Pat Stanford for creating those columns! They really work great!

Well, now that I am a little tired of venting I think I will slip back into VW land and practice in an attempt to separate worksheets to separate layers!

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Here is one for ya!

I Clicked Vectorworks Help then Clicked "Index" Then "W" Then "Worksheets command" I get a title "Using Worksheets". I read the page and at the bottom it says "For more information on spreadsheet cells and database rows, see "Worksheet Rows". Now I am assuming that the help files are in alphabetical order. As the world would have it "Worksheet Rows" is not listed anywhere! It is also a link and my cursor turns into that cute little finger pointer and I click and ......wait for it! ..............Nothing!

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Hey Wyle,

Might be something wrong with your help files. I have a section called "worksheet rows". Not sure about windows installation, but you might want to go into vWorks folder>VWHelp and try opening index.html. There are also user guides pdf's in here inside Additional Documentation.

As for learning how to get the most out of this feature, I have 2 words for you: Bone-headed Determination. That's how I (and probably Pat) learned.

If you want to learn total control, I suggest you forgo Create Report and build your own from scratch...like from a blank worksheet. Start simply and go step-wise, adding columns and formula as you go and experimenting along the way. For what you're trying to do, you'll need to know how to add some custom columns and you'll need to learn how to write and edit criteria, functions and formulae. The basic information is in the help files.

It's a lot like learning a language.The few words you've learned so far is a great start, and now you need to understand the syntax, grammar and structure. I think Create Report is a kind of short-cut through this learning curve that serves most people pretty well. But it wasn't created with concrete contractors (or cabinet makers) in mind...we have to learn how to create the "options in the worksheet" that we need to get the job done.

After you start to get it, you should investigate how attached records interact with database worksheets.This can bring another level of control. You'll want to have a look at the section on records in the user guide at that point.

Give yourself some time and just keep at it. When you reach the goal you'll have an extemely powerful tool, and you can say good-bye to manual calculation.

What you want is totally do-able, and learnable from the documentation.I know this for a fact. I do all the material take-offs, shopping lists, labor estimates and so on for a 7 man cabinet shop with worksheets I built some 8 years ago.

Best o' luck,

Charles

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Wyle,

Thanks for the kind words.

What you need to look at for separating out your worksheet by layers is to add more criteria to the database row.

Select the header row of the database and click and hold in the row header (i.e 4, not 4.1, 4.2 etc) You will get a pop down menu. One of the options will be to Edit Database Criteria. Select it.

Once you have the criteria dialog box open, click the + button to add more criteria. Try and put in a criteria of Layer is Your Foundation Layer. This should limit the items found to just the objects on that layer.

HTH

Pat

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Pat you are most welcome, you have helped me and I turn around and help others in someway from what I have learned. I believe you and other helpful people in here are great!

In an attempt to separate the report to one for each layer... as instructed I clicked the database header(the row with the diamond to the left) then "edit criteria" and a warning window pops up and says "This Criteria is invalid. You must edit the vectorscript representation of the criteria using the worksheet formula bar". So I tried to enter MOD-FOUNDATION in the formula bar in various ways. Didn't happen

Terry

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=DATABASE(((T=WALL) | (T=ROUNDWALL)) & (L='MOD-FOUNDATION'))

T=WALL includes wall objects

T=ROUNDWALL includes round wall objects

The | (vertical bar) between them is a logical OR, so that gives you objects that are either walls or round walls.

L='MOD-FOUNDATION' gives you objects that are on the Mod-Foundation layer

The & (ampersand) between them is a logical AND, so it will only return objects that match both sides of the &.

Take a close look at the parentheses. For a complicated formula they need to match properly to give the correct response.

There needs to be one set of parens around each criteria.

There needs to be one set of parens around each group of criteria.

so We need a set around the wall criteria, and set around the roundwall criteria. We then need a set around the logical OR.

We then need a set around the Layer criteria and then a set around the combination of the OR criteria AND the Layer criteria.

Pat

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Pat,

That worked great! Many Thanks! So now if I understand the process properly I can create a report for each layer and type in the layers name and it will only report on the objects associated to that layer. As long as my logical or and logical and the parentheses oar in the correct formation. when I am practicing with these reports Vectorworks will just crash..totally gone from the screen.

Again Pat, Thanks I am on my way with the great help you have been.

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