Plug-in elements in none class?

[Kristen]

I have two drawings which use many of the same symbols. I set the "none" class to a red pen. In one drawing, only objects which show "none" in the OIP turn red. In the other, some plug-in symbols (the same ones used in the other drawing) also turn red. Only some room names turn red, although all are on the same class (NOT none) and all are assigned to use class attributes. What controls the association with the "none" class, and how can I get ALL of my symbols to behave according to the class assigned to them in the OIP?

[Guest]

There are some PIO's that have a preset class as well as components of the none class.

When you click on an object - symbol, PIO, or otherwise, the OIP will tell you the class and layer that object belongs to.

Basically the none class is where alot of your objects go that do not have a preset class assignment. There are other objects - like rectanlge, circle, etc., that will be placed in the current active class.

The easiest way to put everything you want in the none class after you've drawn things, is to select them all and move the class drop down box in the OIP to "None".

You can edit PIO's to have them assigned to the none class by going to Organize>Scripts>Create Plug-in. Here you can edit the class of certain PIo's. Select the PIO, click on Properties and type in the class name in "Default Class". You can also change the class a symbol uses by going to Tool>Utilities and selecting "Set Default Symbol Class". This will change all symbols in the drawing to the class set by this command.

There is also a symbol library in the Object Libraries Folder in the VW folder called "NON-CLASS". This has the same symbols as the other library files, however they do not have a class setting assigned to them. They are automatically assinged the "None" class.

[Dan Kessler]

Katie,

What's the easiest way to change a PIO's attributes? For example, I want to use the "Drawing Label" PIO, but I want it to use the classes' attributes that it's on (line color, weight etc.). It seems like the only way for me to have the label to use the classes' attributes is to ungroup it. This, of course, means I lose all of it's editing capabilities.

[Guest]

If the drawing label is in it's own class, then you can set the attributes of that class and have it apply to that PIO.

If you are using the symbol, edit the symbol and change it there.

If you want to change it permanately, you should do it this mentioned method -

You can edit PIO's to have them assigned to the none class by going to Organize>Scripts>Create Plug-in. Here you can edit the class of certain PIo's. Select the PIO, click on Properties and type in the class name in "Default Class".

[Dan Kessler]

Katie, I'm having a hard time with this. If I have a class set up with a color of blue, and I move a drawing label into the class, the drawing label stays white. Even if I select the label and change it's attributes to use the classes, it still stays white. What am I doing wrong?

[Guest]

Are you changing the pen or the solid fill to blue in the class attributes?

If it's the pen, what OS and version of VW are you using?

[Dan Kessler]

Everything in the attributes palette is set to use the class attributes. In other words, all of the attribute fields show the little "hooked arrow". The object is definitely on a class set to use a blue pen color.

It doesn't make a difference what color I change the class pen color to, the drawing label stays white (on a black background, that is.)

I am using VW 10.0.1, Mac OS X 10.2.3, and a PowerBook G4 800.

[Kristen]

This is pretty much the problem that I'm having. My room names (created using the room name tool) are on their own class, which is set up with the class attributes I want them to retain. The problem is that some of them do not show the class attributes. They show the attributes of the "none" class.

I see that if I ungroup the room names, the elements in them are in the none class. But I don't understand why some of them behave the way I want them to, and follow the class attributes of my "room name" class, while others do not.

I'm using VW 9.5.2 on Mac OS 9.1.

[Guest]

Kristen,

Can you check the ones that are not showing the correct colors by clicking on one of them, go to the OIP and check the class they are in.

Are they saying they are in the none class, or the class you set them to ?

Dan,

I am looking into your problem. This might be one of the issues with using a black screen.

[Kristen]

OK, now I'm really confused... I just changed the color of the "none" class, so that I could locate the problem room names-- and they all behaved as they're supposed to, keeping the color of the room name class. And I haven't changed anything in the file! Weird. Today, it's my PIO showers which changed color with the "none" class. And they were OK before.

[Alexandre Villares]

I like to think about these class experiences you are describing in terms of container and content.

VectorWorks allows many container objects like symbols, groups and Plug-In Objects (PIOs for short) to have a different class from the objects inside them.

The class of the container object can always be changed using the Object Info Palette (OI Palette).

The (container) class of a symbol the first time it is inserted depends on it's Insertion Options, it might take the active class (an option called Default...), the 'None' class or some other pre-set class. Then the class of each object inside a Symbol, its content, can be changed by editing it (editing the symbol definition).

When you create a group by grouping some objects, the container group is always automatically set to the 'None' class, and if you try to change it through the OI Palette you might be asked about changing the contents' class or not.

The Plug-in Objects also have a sort of insertion option (actually at the Propreties... settings) called default class, like Katie was telling earlier on this thread, and they can also, after inserted, have their 'container' class changed at the OI Palette.

But the class of the objects inside a PIO depend on its code. Many PIOs have some or all of its internal parts set to the 'None' class.

Many PIOs like the Stair or Window can have parts (specially some 3D parts) set to a certain class (i.e. Step Finnish: Style-1; Trim and Sill 1: None; Glazing: Syle-Glazing 1) using parameters at the OI Palette.

Other PIOs, like some annotative markers I've made, can put their content on the same class as the 'container'.

Yet, if you set a PIO (the container) to a class with the Use at Creation option, that can have an effect on its graphic attributes even if its parts are set to the 'None' or to another class... This is never the case with symbols, the container class has no influence at all on its contents' graphic attributes.

And then, if you set the 'None' class with Use at Creation, it's attributes are very likely to appear at strange places.

HTH

[ 01-07-2003, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Alexandre B A Villares ]