Vectorscripts have stopped running

[SamIWas]

I have written a large number of scripts which greatly enhance repetitive actions and increase my productivity by multitudes.

The problem is that a huge number of my scripts have just simply stopped running. They all worked when I wrote them, and for a short while after. But now, they just don't run.

There are no errors, no messages, no nothing, There is no indication that the script runs at all. In fact, I've stuck a message procedure in some of them as the first line, and even that doesn't work. The script simply does not run. This has been occurring more and more lately, so much so that now I would say a majority of them no longer run.

Any ideas what could be happening? It has absolutely destroyed my productivity.

Edited April 22, 2015 by SamIWas

[_c_]

Ciao Sam,

post me please one of the scripts that are not running for you. You can PM me and I will answer you privately.

Are you really running the scripts you mean to? I, for example, maintain multiple folders of my plug-ins for each VW version, but all of them use one singular source as includes. Then:

I use aliases/links to load a whole plug-in folder from an USB stick, the plug-ins files load the includes (text files). The alias to the plug-in folder I place either in Workgroup folder or in a User folder, depending where I am consulting. In this way in a couple of clicks I always have my own stuff running in any office I go to, unregarded their settings.

What sometimes happens, is that I load a wrong folder or I misspell a folder name (such as "Plugins" instead of "Plug-ins").

Then I see the silent failure of all my stuff, like by you, because the plug-ins load, but not the includes.

Did you enable the Compiler mode? I am perhaps redundant now: the enablement of the compiler mode changed since VW 2014. It is now found in Vectorworks Preferences > Session > Run scripts in developer mode.

Let me know how I can help you.

best regards,

orso

[SamIWas]

Hi Orso,

Thank you for your response. Didn't know about the developer mode for scripts, but that didn't fix the issue.

To test something out, I duplicated one of the scripts and added it to my workspace next to the old one (in a sub-folder of the object-context menu). It did not run. I moved it out of its sub-menu and put it at the top level of the object context menu. It ran as expected. Tested with another script, and the same thing happened.

So it would actually seem that it's something to do with my workspace and the sub-menu structure. I hope I can fix this, because I have far too many scripts to not have sub-menus.

Edited May 2, 2015 by SamIWas

[_c_]

Sam it seems that you have a corrupt workspace, please

- activate one of the standard shipped workspaces, be careful that it wasn't overwritten, ever. If you are unsure, we'll post you a clean copy.

- Create a copy of this workspace with a new name

- Add some of your plug-ins nesting them as you need

- activate this new workspace

- try your plug-ins

does it work now?

orso

[_c_]

Sam, by duplicating your scripts, are you doing this in the plug-in manager or in the operative system? I hope I am not being obvious now, but it is important that you duplicate only in the Plug-in manager. This ensures that both universal and local plug-in names are in sync AND, most important, that the count of chars is within the allowance. The name must be less than a certain amount of chars. Extra chars will be ignored. Facit: some plug-ins will seem to be ignored if those first allowed chars are equal.

I don't have access to my computer right now ( stuck since hours in upgrading Mac OS ). Will tell you as soon as possible the allowed count of chars, if someone else won't tell you before.

ciao,

orso

[SamIWas]

Hey Orso,

Yeah, I believe it must be a corrupt workspace of some sort. The sad thing is, I don't ever save and duplicate my workspaces when I upgrade versions (I always rebuild from a stock workspace), and this issue has been happening in the last couple of versions. The scripts will run for a bit, then stop.

I always duplicate scripts within the plugin manager.

I will rebuild it again and see what happens.

Thank you!

-----

EDIT: Apparently "Server Timeout" doesn't mean that the message didn't post....sorry for the duplicates.

Edited May 3, 2015 by SamIWas

[SamIWas]

Hey Orso,

Yeah, I believe it must be a corrupt workspace of some sort. The sad thing is, I don't ever save and duplicate my workspaces when I upgrade versions (I always rebuild from a stock workspace), and this issue has been happening in the last couple of versions. The scripts will run for a bit, then stop.

I always duplicate scripts within the plugin manager.

I will rebuild it again and see what happens.

Thank you!

[SamIWas]

Hey Orso,

Yeah, I believe it must be a corrupt workspace of some sort. The sad thing is, I don't ever save and duplicate my workspaces when I upgrade versions (I always rebuild from a stock workspace), and this issue has been happening in the last couple of versions. The scripts will run for a bit, then stop.

I always duplicate scripts within the plugin manager.

I will rebuild it again and see what happens.

Thank you!

[Matt Panzer]

Hi Sam,

Another thing to consider is the number of menu items in the workspace. If you rebuild you workspace. Maybe do it in chunks and test your script between chunks. I've had other strange issues with plugins after adding a certain number of menu items. Reducing the number of menu items would fix the problem. Not the same problem as you, but since you add a lot of commands, it could be a similar issue.

[C. Andrew Dunning]

Sam -

Echoing what Matt said, there is a REALLY good chance that you don't have problematic scripts or a corrupted WorkSpace - but an over-populated WorkSpace. I've paid the tax on that one several times, chasing what I thought to be bugs in code (and, annoying other developers about their "broken" scripts), only to find that I had passed some sort of undocumented limit in menu items. More often than not, doing some menu "weeding" fixed things. Your mentioning some sort of correlation between command position in the WorkSpace and the command working is the big indicator along these lines.

[SamIWas]

I think you guys are right. It appears that the system just can't handle the number of scripts, or at least the separation of them. That's really disappointing, as I write scripts for nearly everything, and like to keep them neatly organized.

Fixing that, and a revamped keyboard-shortcut system would be at the top of my list.

-----

ARGH...got caught in the bad server loop again!

Edited May 9, 2015 by SamIWas

[SamIWas]

I think you guys are right. It appears that the system just can't handle the number of scripts, or at least the separation of them. That's really disappointing, as I write scripts for nearly everything, and like to keep them neatly organized.

Fixing that, and a revamped keyboard-shortcut system would be at the top of my list.

[SamIWas]

I think you guys are right. It appears that the system just can't handle the number of scripts, or at least the separation of them. That's really disappointing, as I write scripts for nearly everything, and like to keep them neatly organized.

Fixing that, and a revamped keyboard-shortcut system would be at the top of my list.