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Robust Foolproofing


Chris D

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Robust Foolproofing

Vectorworks is a powerful tool and in our 2D drafting workflow I find it much quicker to get things done than, say, AutoCAD.

However, the origins of Vectorworks as MiniCAD betray it, when it comes to mission-critical construction drafting. It's very easy to manipulate any aspect of a drawing with a mouse-click or a keystroke, which means it's very easy to f**k things up too.

One might argue "what does it matter", when you have backups at both file level and drive level - if somebody messes up a drawing, you just retrieve the backup. Well, that's fine if the bungle is obvious, but of no use if the if the error goes unnoticed and the wrong data is issued.

I spend far too much of my time at work being the 'Red Adair' figure...being called in to our various workgroups to troubleshoot problems with Vectorworks files. These problems are always the same....file origins have been moved by accident, drawn objects have been moved by accident, objects are apparently 'missing', or our uniclass system has been polluted with rogue classes.

Vectorworks needs more robust foolproofing, and here's what I propose:

1. Remove shortcut to 'move origin'

Command-9 (on a Mac) should NOT be an default key shortcut to move a file's origin. WHY do you need to move the origin so often that it needs a shortcut? Moving an origin is a big decision and the way VW handles it (badly) means it can have major consequences, particularly for site plans. Putting the shortcut to move a file's origin directly adjacent to keystrokes for more everyday tasks has led to more problems for my office than I have space to recall here.

2. Remove ruler button to 'move origin'

Just like the keystroke, there's a cryptic button in the corner of the on-screen rulers to move the drawing origin. People press these buttons out of curiosity without understanding the consequences. I want to be able to remove this button from the rulers.

3. Preference to disable drag-move and drag-copy

Now that Duplicate is finally enabled by key-toggle (I key) on the Move By Points tool (Shift-M tool), we finally have the equivalent move/copy tools of other CAD programs, which require you to select an object and then perform a move/copy operation. Drag-move and drag-copy are quick and powerful, but I would trade that for the more foolproof stop-and-think method. It's all too easy to move an object when you mean to select it at the moment. You may disagree, that's why I propose it's a preference setting.

4. Nudge disabled by default

Some bright spark always shows our new users this handy little feature called Nudge (shift and cursor keys). Grrr. If you want to move something, move it by the millimeter or snap it into place. Nudge has a use, on say landscape plans, but it gets abused. I would like nudge disabled by default in the the pre-loaded workspaces OR a preference that can disable it without having to edit a workspace.

5. Command History

"What have I just done?" is a very familiar remark from new VW users. Did they just more something by accident? They're not sure...so they carry on drawing for a minute or two, before realizing that they probably DID move something. Of course, without a command history, theres no way to be sure....just keep hitting undo until they think they've put things right.. VW needs a command history for the last 10 or 20 commands, OR a Step Back list like Photoshop.

6. Enable layer-locking

Yep, we've been over this before on these boards, but I still believe it is necessary to add layer locking as a feature. It's all very well having object locking, but all too easy to undo that while editing. Layer locking would allow site survey files to be placed on their own layer and locked in place. Object locking and unlocking on top of this, for the site design, would then have no danger unlocking the entire survey. Yep, I know you can grey-snap layers, but users change the layer-option settings all the time.

7. Class Filter for clipboard-pasting

Clipboard-pasted objects are the main source of class-name contamination of files. Once a job-lot of class names are in a file it's an arduous task to go and prefix them all to group them. We need a firewall for the clipboard that intercepts objects and allows the user to manage the class names of the incoming objects.

8. 'By Class' settings...on by Default

Why do the included template files default to having the 'by class style' settings on the attribute palette turned off? It's laborious to manually set each attribute to 'by class' every time a user starts a new drawing...so hey, guess what...it doesn't happen. Then when they can't manage their class colors in the viewport..they wonder why. Please ensure all template files have 'by class style' set as the default for all attributes.

9. Sheet Layer "Show all used classes" preference

Even experienced users get caught out by this one. They've done the print run and are just checking the hard copies, when they realize that some of the objects from the sheet layer are missing. It's all too easy to switch to a sheet layer and forget to turn all the classes on that you've used for legends and keys. I'd like VW to have a preference that, when enabled, will automatically turn on all the classes used in a sheet layer whenever the layer is made active.

10. Fix the Grid snap constraint

That little grid button on the constraints palette is a pain in the ass. Users THINK it just turns the display grid on and off (which it doesn't), when it is actually toggling the snap-to-grid. I don't know who uses snap-to-grid, probably a minority of VW users, but I'd like the snap-to-grid setting to have a button of it's own, WITHOUT a keystroke in the default workspace. Too many times have users found themselves not concentrating on their snaps and found themselves drawing to a random 3mm grid.

I'm sure others will have foolproofing suggestions of their own to add to this list.

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Chris, I could not agree with you more on items 1 and 2. I'd add to that removing the Move Page tool from the basic toolset.

Moving the origin and/or the page is the cause of many problems and the source of much anguish amongst users. The problem is that most don't understand the consequences of doing so and therefore why they shouldn't do it. Its No. one on my list of stupid things to do (with Vectorworks).

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Chris, most get my approval, but so as to be clear. . .

1. Agreed. i've fallen foul to this.

2. See above.

3. Have to see when i start using 2011

4. NO WAY!! i Love the Nudge-ability of VW and use it constantly for aligning correctly and it beats the hell out of the Tape Measure's inconsistencies and a few other foibles.

5. Definitely! Essential!! Or add to the list of items in the prefs that enable you to determine time delay for highlighting an object. Add a delay for "grab and move" that leaves the snapping as is so you can see the snap points immediately, but a short delay prevents moving the object before a determined time has passed.

6. Not so sure about this one. Leave things as they are for now. Or add a preference choice in big bold letter with an explanation as to what you are letting yourself in for if you leave it as it is now, the default.

7. Yep! A "Would you like too . . . ." Dialogue.

8. Hhhhmmmmm! Maybe . . . .

9. Agreed

10. Agreed

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4. NO WAY!! i Love the Nudge-ability of VW and use it constantly for aligning correctly and it beats the hell out of the Tape Measure's inconsistencies and a few other foibles.

Except the suggestion isn't to take the feature away. It's to have it turned off by default.

It depends what you're working on but using the Nudge can be dangerous tool in certain circumstances (especially for alignment!). That's why it should be off by default. If you want to use it you should be knowledgeable enough to know of it and how to turn it on.

6. Not so sure about this one. Leave things as they are for now.

Why, what's the harm in providing the capability to lock layers?

8. Hhhhmmmmm! Maybe . . . .

I don't understand this. If you want to manually control attributes then you are, by definition, going to manually adjust attributes using the attributes palette. What does it matter if the default is 'by Class'? You're going to adjust it anyway.

If, on the other hand, you use Classes to control attributes then it's an annoyance to have to change it to 'by Class.'

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4. NO WAY!! i Love the Nudge-ability of VW

I don't want to get rid of it, just have it off by default. At the moment you can't even turn it off at all - you can change the keystroke, but you MUST have a keystroke associated with Nudge. No choice in the matter.

Don't forget that the cursor keys + a modifier key combo is used to move between layers - but if you get the wrong modifier key, you nudge an object instead! It's too dangerous to have features like this enabled on default keystrokes which are very similar to other commonly used keystrokes.

I don't mean to sound fascist about these things, but the program should be robustly foolproof by default, with power users free to enable these features if they want them.

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Even better: a NV task force to carry out a complete overhaul of all VW default settings.

Some of them make me laugh, such as being able to easily remember the DWG export settings we want to use because they're the exact opposite of the default settings. Maybe not a good example due to people's different needs but VW has always seemed to me to have a bad choice of default settings throughout.

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4. NO WAY!! i Love the Nudge-ability of VW

I don't mean to sound fascist about these things, but the program should be robustly foolproof by default, with power users free to enable these features if they want them.

Chris, i fully appreciate what you are asking and in no way would suggest that fascism has anything to to with your request("Il Duce" would have been proud of you), but, i learned how to use it. Newbies can learn too. Even i managed to work it out. You will only have to show them how to switch it back on anyway so why not show them how to use it with care and a BIG warning?

:)

Instead i'd prefer to add an Extended History so mistakes can be traced, although i understand some don't make mistakes. :)

Maybe adding a "None" to all the shortcut dropdown menus in this area of the Prefs.

How about a Prefs section added to your Workspace Editor so your Office could change the Shortcuts to make it more difficult to hit by accident, keep a fixed prefs frame under which to operate? As a Lock for the Prefs, i don't know, anything that'll standardise things for individual group/field/company as an "In House Blanket". That way you just install the company Workspace on office machines.

Maybe . . . . .

In the meantime i would prefer bigger issues sorted first, these i can live with.

Edited by AndiACD
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In the meantime i would prefer bigger issues sorted first, these i can live with.

There are undoubtedly bigger single issues, but collectively the issues I have raised cost our company more time and money than anything else, by a large margin.

Newbies can learn too...[snip]....so why not show them how to use it with care and a BIG warning?

In an ideal world we'd train all our users for say, 7 years, before letting them issue any drawings. But even then, I've been on VW for 7 years (after more than 10 years on AutoCAD) and I still make mistakes. I still move objects when I go to select them, I still paste objects forgetting to re-class them first. Most of my mistakes I spot, but some get through. Colleagues with lesser experience are letting more through. This isn't a lack of training...we induct all our users, circulate constant guidance and have refresher seminars, but we can't babysit our users.

It's all very well us tailoring every VW installation too, which we do, but people have their favorite workspaces, which re-introduce rogue shortcuts like the dangerous command-9. Other settings, like nudge, simply can't be turned off.

I still maintain that the product should be robustly foolproof, out of the box, and it is power users who should have to enable the heavy artillery.

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1. Remove shortcut to 'move origin'

Command-9 (on a Mac) should NOT be an default key shortcut to move a file's origin. WHY do you need to move the origin so often that it needs a shortcut? Moving an origin is a big decision and the way VW handles it (badly) means it can have major consequences, particularly for site plans. Putting the shortcut to move a file's origin directly adjacent to keystrokes for more everyday tasks has led to more problems for my office than I have space to recall here.

Just get rid of the move origin! Users shouldn't mess with it. If you check the errors fixed in SP1 for VW2011, you'll see that some bugs came from things too far from the origin. And that's the problem. VW does it's calculations from the origin, and how farther you go, how harder the calculations will become. So put a big fat locus in the drawing so we see the origin, and don't let users be able to shift it.

You can still move the objects if you really need to.

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3. Preference to disable drag-move and drag-copy

Now that Duplicate is finally enabled by key-toggle (I key) on the Move By Points tool (Shift-M tool), we finally have the equivalent move/copy tools of other CAD programs, which require you to select an object and then perform a move/copy operation. Drag-move and drag-copy are quick and powerful, but I would trade that for the more foolproof stop-and-think method. It's all too easy to move an object when you mean to select it at the moment. You may disagree, that's why I propose it's a preference setting.

This is not the fault of Vectorworks. This is totally the one working with it. I must admit that I struggled with it at first, but when you know it, it way too handy, and in a couple of years, I never have duplicated wrong with this one. Just keep your head with it.

But I agree that this could be an option for users that can't draw well with it.

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4. Nudge disabled by default

Some bright spark always shows our new users this handy little feature called Nudge (shift and cursor keys). Grrr. If you want to move something, move it by the millimeter or snap it into place. Nudge has a use, on say landscape plans, but it gets abused. I would like nudge disabled by default in the the pre-loaded workspaces OR a preference that can disable it without having to edit a workspace.

Totally agree with this, way too many users abuse this. You'll just have to know that you can only use it when the position of the object doesn't matter like plants or a coffee table.

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5. Command History

"What have I just done?" is a very familiar remark from new VW users. Did they just more something by accident? They're not sure...so they carry on drawing for a minute or two, before realizing that they probably DID move something. Of course, without a command history, theres no way to be sure....just keep hitting undo until they think they've put things right.. VW needs a command history for the last 10 or 20 commands, OR a Step Back list like Photoshop.

Completely agree with this one. I do not have the problem that I don't know what I did, but when I did it. I draw so fast sometimes and want to return to a certain action and then you don't know how many times you need to go back. So a list would be handy.

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7. Class Filter for clipboard-pasting

Clipboard-pasted objects are the main source of class-name contamination of files. Once a job-lot of class names are in a file it's an arduous task to go and prefix them all to group them. We need a firewall for the clipboard that intercepts objects and allows the user to manage the class names of the incoming objects.

Force the users to only get things from the library. We do it that way here. And if they don't find what they need, they'll have to request it. One of the first rules when I learn the program is that they can't copy past from other files!

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9. Sheet Layer "Show all used classes" preference

Even experienced users get caught out by this one. They've done the print run and are just checking the hard copies, when they realize that some of the objects from the sheet layer are missing. It's all too easy to switch to a sheet layer and forget to turn all the classes on that you've used for legends and keys. I'd like VW to have a preference that, when enabled, will automatically turn on all the classes used in a sheet layer whenever the layer is made active.

Sheet layers should always show all classes. What's the purpose of drawing things you don't want to print on sheet layers? They represent the paper you want to print on.

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10. Fix the Grid snap constraint

That little grid button on the constraints palette is a pain in the ass. Users THINK it just turns the display grid on and off (which it doesn't), when it is actually toggling the snap-to-grid. I don't know who uses snap-to-grid, probably a minority of VW users, but I'd like the snap-to-grid setting to have a button of it's own, WITHOUT a keystroke in the default workspace. Too many times have users found themselves not concentrating on their snaps and found themselves drawing to a random 3mm grid.

Just get away with the grid! Make a pio that represents a grid, then users can use that to draw, let it be in the guides class and there will be no problem.

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7.

Force the users to only get things from the library. We do it that way here. And if they don't find what they need, they'll have to request it. One of the first rules when I learn the program is that they can't copy past from other files!

This is a miserable way of looking at human/computer interaction. Computer interfaces should be designed to adapt to us, not the other way round.

As a solution to our current predicament your suggestion is fine (I teach this too) but as a conscious interface decision going forward it's awful.

What you're effectively suggesting is that instead of making copy and paste more powerful and adaptive to us, we should instead "force" people to adapt to a weak form of copy and paste (by not using it, no less) that isn't really suited to the CAD software they're using.

It's a form of deceit. Copy and paste is an important, well known concept in modern software. You're actually suggesting tricking the user into believing this useful facility is available only to pull the carpet from under their feet by telling them they cant use it.

What would you rather have:

1. Copy and paste with a warning label about when you can and cannot use it (status quo)

2. Copy and paste only within files, with a preference option to turn on the ability to copy and paste from other files (an active form of your suggestion)

3. Copy and paste that allows you to map any foreign classes on the fly (which can be turned off if you so wish)

What I really like about 3, apart from being immensely useful in various situations, is that it makes the overhead of copying and pasting from other files immediately apparent and may actually encourage people to use the library instead.

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It's all very well us tailoring every VW installation too, which we do, but people have their favorite workspaces, which re-introduce rogue shortcuts like the dangerous command-9. Other settings, like nudge, simply can't be turned off.

I still maintain that the product should be robustly foolproof, out of the box, and it is power users who should have to enable the heavy artillery.

i'm still not knocking head on the suggestion to add enable/disable buttons, but i would prefer the need to disable rather than enable being the default. i've never felt the need to modify the prefs with the WE so i don't know how viable this could be, but wouldn't this be a solution whilst waiting for future adoption of this particular request?

Also, if the inclusion of shortcuts like Cmd+9 is a problem i'm not sure a simple App wide default mod would solve this . . . . . . .

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Great idea for a list...

1. Remove shortcut to 'move origin'

Command-9 (on a Mac) should NOT be an default key shortcut to move a file's origin. WHY do you need to move the origin so often that it needs a shortcut? Moving an origin is a big decision and the way VW handles it (badly) means it can have major consequences, particularly for site plans. Putting the shortcut to move a file's origin directly adjacent to keystrokes for more everyday tasks has led to more problems for my office than I have space to recall here.

2. Remove ruler button to 'move origin'

Just like the keystroke, there's a cryptic button in the corner of the on-screen rulers to move the drawing origin. People press these buttons out of curiosity without understanding the consequences. I want to be able to remove this button from the rulers.

Agreed. But have there been any improvements in origin moves? I haven't tried it for several versions because it was such a bucket of hurt.

3. Preference to disable drag-move and drag-copy

Now that Duplicate is finally enabled by key-toggle (I key) on the Move By Points tool (Shift-M tool), we finally have the equivalent move/copy tools of other CAD programs, which require you to select an object and then perform a move/copy operation. Drag-move and drag-copy are quick and powerful, but I would trade that for the more foolproof stop-and-think method. It's all too easy to move an object when you mean to select it at the moment. You may disagree, that's why I propose it's a preference setting.

Interesting... Are you thinking of a non-drag mode on the selection tool or a preference? (I would vote for a mode.)

4. Nudge disabled by default

Some bright spark always shows our new users this handy little feature called Nudge (shift and cursor keys). Grrr. If you want to move something, move it by the millimeter or snap it into place. Nudge has a use, on say landscape plans, but it gets abused. I would like nudge disabled by default in the the pre-loaded workspaces OR a preference that can disable it without having to edit a workspace.

10. Fix the Grid snap constraint

That little grid button on the constraints palette is a pain in the ass. Users THINK it just turns the display grid on and off (which it doesn't), when it is actually toggling the snap-to-grid. I don't know who uses snap-to-grid, probably a minority of VW users, but I'd like the snap-to-grid setting to have a button of it's own, WITHOUT a keystroke in the default workspace. Too many times have users found themselves not concentrating on their snaps and found themselves drawing to a random 3mm grid.

I strongly disagree about this. These two features are quite powerful when used together. While I think a couple changes in defaults would be helpful, I don't agree that Nudge should be disabled or the Grid Snap should be trashed. (btw, I'm the one who uses the snap-to-grid - every day!)

I do agree that Snap to Grid should be OFF by default. Even more important - I think most problems with the snap to grid would be avoided if the default snap distance wasn't 1/8", but something much bigger and more useful.

5. Command History

"What have I just done?" is a very familiar remark from new VW users. Did they just more something by accident? They're not sure...so they carry on drawing for a minute or two, before realizing that they probably DID move something. Of course, without a command history, theres no way to be sure....just keep hitting undo until they think they've put things right.. VW needs a command history for the last 10 or 20 commands, OR a Step Back list like Photoshop.

GREAT idea.

mk

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Great idea for a list...

4. Nudge disabled by default

10. Fix the Grid snap constraint

I strongly disagree about this. These two features are quite powerful when used together. While I think a couple changes in defaults would be helpful, I don't agree that Nudge should be disabled or the Grid Snap should be trashed. (btw, I'm the one who uses the snap-to-grid - every day!)

I do agree that Snap to Grid should be OFF by default. Even more important - I think most problems with the snap to grid would be avoided if the default snap distance wasn't 1/8", but something much bigger and more useful.

GREAT idea.

mk

Thanx michaelk, i was begining to think i was on my own with this one.

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AndiACD,

I agree with you also

There should be an ability for cad managers to set up their own workspaces and control all the preferences they wish to as offices standards for their situations and Chris D and others MUST be listened to

Cad managers should be the bosses and in charge

Leave things mainly as they are but give them administrator rights to control what they need to to run their offices safely and productively

This is not a game - it is business

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