Custom Dimensions

[Bruce Kieffer]

Is there a simple way to get a custom dimension standard to appear in all of my drawings? Is there a way to get to them in the resource browser? VW 2010

[Pat Stanford]

If you are not using a template file, you should start. Put the custom dimension standard in the template and you will have it in every file created based on the template.

[Bruce Kieffer]

I agree with the template, but I'd rather have it in my resource browser so I can get to it there.

[Bruce Kieffer]

One person suggested this:

"Add a drawing with your standards, such as custom dimensions to your symbol folder (resource browser) and make it a favorite".

I'm yet to figure out how to add the drawing to my symbol folder.

Edited December 10, 2010 by Bruce Kieffer

[Kevin McAllister]

Bruce,

You can cut and paste a custom dimension from one one document to another and then delete it. When you paste, the custom dimension style associated with the pasted dimension is imported into the destination file. Unfortunately you still need to go into the document preferences and select it as the default for the file.

Kevin

[Pat Stanford]

Favorites are not associated with a symbol folder. I think the intention was similar to Kevin's idea. If you add a file with the dimension standard you want to your favorites you can then open the file very quickly and copy/paste the dimension (and therefore the dimension standard) into the active file.

To add a Favorite, go the the downward pointing black triangle (Disclosure Triangle) at the top right of the Resource Browser and choose Add Favorite. Navigate to the file you want and click OK. To open the file, use the top Pull Down menu in the Resource Browser.

[go2greece]

hello,

we created a VW file with all our officestandards, such as hatches, images, walls, standard details and finaly our settings for dimensions. we created a dimensonchain with this settings in our drawing and made a >create symbol of this dimenson.

this >officestandards< are added in the resource browser >>>browse drawing. you can make this also a favourite in your default drawing.

if you need the settings of your dimensions (officestandards) you place a simbol of your dimensonin your drawing. done

peter

[Farookey]

Hello,

I have searched everywhere, and cannot seem to find the default dimension standards outside of the Vectorworks interface. There is no documentation (that I've seen) that directs me to where this can be. The reason I would like to know this is so that I can add our office standard dimension styles to it and make it available to all staff. Seeing that it is document based, I wouldn't think that it can be found in my user folder, which leaves the application folder, but I see nothing there. Can someone please let me know if they are aware of where this could be, or if they know 100% that this is no way editable?

We are starting to use Vectorworks 2011 at work, and my aim is to have the office standard dimensions available to everyone. For the time being I have been doing as above and created a symbol with the relevant dims to bring in the custom standards into drawings. This symbol is in a file placed in the favorites folder of our office standard workgroup.

This works, but only partially; the text style does not travel with the information, and I have to manually go into Document Preferences and allocate a text style to those particular dimension standards. Also, on drawing a dimension from scratch using the imported dim standard, the dimension string is blank, until I add the text style through document preferences. Is this how it is supposed to be?

I have already created my office standard template (as default.sta) with the relevant custom dimensions, with the preferred text styles, and this seems to be working fine.

Any information on this would be helpful...

Thanks

[Pat Stanford]

Dimensions standards are only saved in the file. The best you can do is put it in the template which you have already done.

You could also store a file somewhere with the standard so you can import it from there if someone starts a file not from the template.

[VincentCuclair]

That is a good Wishlist item!

[Farookey]

You could also store a file somewhere with the standard so you can import it from there if someone starts a file not from the template.

Hi again Pat,

Yes, I have already done that as well. I have placed the file with the symbol that has in the dimension standards in the favorites folder of the workgroup, so it is available to everyone. However, the issue arrises with the text style not coming in with the standard and has to be manually allocated through Document prefs. In this file I have also included the text style used, if it needs to be imported as well. I have actually gone a little step further, and created a file in the workgroup/library/defaults/text styles folder which consists of the office standard text styles and overrides the default VW ones. Thus allowing users to to choose ONLY from the office standard text styles.

:-)