Editing Built-In Plug-Ins

[sle7en7]

How would one go about editing built-in plug-ins in VectorWorks. I want to create couple of custom tools but I want to build on top of the built-in ones. I don't want to mess with inner workings of VW but if I can find the code for the plug-ins then I can just duplicate them and use enhanced versions of it. Take for example the stake tool or any tool. With the stake tool, I want to display the X-coordinate if my symbol is rotated 0 or 180 degrees and Y-coordinate if my symbol is rotated 90 or -90 degrees. I believe there is much need for a tool like this but for any other tool where can I find their codes and how they work with VectorScript library? Thanks, much appreciated.

[Hippocode]

How would one go about editing built-in plug-ins in VectorWorks. I want to create couple of custom tools but I want to build on top of the built-in ones. I don't want to mess with inner workings of VW but if I can find the code for the plug-ins then I can just duplicate them and use enhanced versions of it. Take for example the stake tool or any tool. With the stake tool, I want to display the X-coordinate if my symbol is rotated 0 or 180 degrees and Y-coordinate if my symbol is rotated 90 or -90 degrees. I believe there is much need for a tool like this but for any other tool where can I find their codes and how they work with VectorScript library? Thanks, much appreciated.

A lot of the default shipped tools are made in vectorscript and encrypted.

It's not possible how you want it to be.

What you can do however is create your own object, that creates a subobject you want to extend. This means you will need to duplicate all the params that define this subobject yourself and any additions so you can pass them through. It's not that hard.

For those tools created with the SDK you might have some classes available to ease your pain. But it's still the same story.

It's not open source sadly.

[sle7en7]

Aa, I understand, thanks a lot Hippo. You're talking python classes and objects im guessing? Still a bit hard I think, if you want it to behave like built-in plug-ins. You try to imitate as much as possible right? And in the end, it depends on your ability...

[Hippocode]

Yes the difficulty will depend on how far you want to go in changing or extending the functionality of a plug-in.

It's easy to add something. But changing something will probably force you to recreate the whole thing yourself.

The example you mentioned in your first post sounds easy to do.

Edited August 9, 2015 by hippothamus

[Dieter @ DWorks]

You can do this another way: using those objects in your own. I do this too. For example, I use the table plugin, but I hate those chairs. so I made my own, and I use the built-in table and add my own chairs to it.

[Chad Hamilton HAArchs]

On 8/10/2015 at 3:24 AM, Dieter @ DWorks said:

You can do this another way: using those objects in your own. I do this too. For example, I use the table plugin, but I hate those chairs. so I made my own, and I use the built-in table and add my own chairs to it.

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have some options to have chairs on just one side of the table?  Or make non-square tables?  Many school desks are non-square, and designed to group together in different interesting ways, and no manufacturer offers a VW plugin with parametric options.

[Chad Hamilton HAArchs]

Only option is to model the table from scratch, add chairs and create a symbol.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Chad Hamilton HAarchs
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