Hoist Tool Personalization

[Gaspar Potocnik 21]

Hi,

Does anyone know if there is anyway to personalize the Hoist Tool? Some thing I would like to do is:

- Edit Class names on which hoists are place

- Edit colors for the different functions

- Edit the shapes for the different motor types

- Edit the "label Legend"

- Edit the order of the properties window for this tool

Cheers

[Jim Kunzendorf 1]

you can do a little bit of customization in the Tools/Plugins/Plug in manager for instance default class.

The Symbols used for the plugin are stored in the Chain Hoist Symbols.vwx

you find the file in the libraries /Defaults/ Hoist Tools folder

best regards

Jim

[Jim Kunzendorf 1]

you can do a little bit of customization in the Tools/Plugins/Plug in manager for instance default class.

The Symbols used for the plugin are stored in the Chain Hoist Symbols.vwx

you find the file in the libraries /Defaults/ Hoist Tools folder

best regards

Jim

[Rob Books 134]

if you want to adjust the colors, it is best to do that in the classes. the colors are taken from there.

[C. Andrew Dunning 74]

if you want to adjust the colors, it is best to do that in the classes. the colors are taken from there.

Not necessarily. A lot of us use color-coding for things like differentiating production departments and using Classes to control those colors is a hugely unwanted level of complication. In many instances, simply color-coding Symbols is MUCH cleaner...

[Gaspar Potocnik 21]

Completely agree, having classes for colors is a complication when used as you mention.

What about the "Label Legend" any ideas there?

[SamIWas 23]

Not necessarily. A lot of us use color-coding for things like differentiating production departments and using Classes to control those colors is a hugely unwanted level of complication. In many instances, simply color-coding Symbols is MUCH cleaner...

Not sure i'm following you. I would think it would be quite a bit more complicated if, for whatever reason, a department's color had to change and you had to go find every instance of that department's objects, and change the color on them. This would be quite prone to error.

As far as color-coding symbols, how could you not do this with class definitions? I guess I could see if you mean you have 5 different classes to define the parts of a symbol, but you'd have to repeat those five classes for each department.

I, for one, use classes to define the appearance of nearly everything in my drawings.

[C. Andrew Dunning 74]

I would think it would be quite a bit more complicated if, for whatever reason, a department's color had to change and you had to go find every instance of that department's objects, and change the color on them. This would be quite prone to error.

No arguing that...at least, in-general. I use Class attributes to a certain extent when it comes to a lot of non-Symbol geometry for the very reason you cite.

As far as color-coding symbols, how could you not do this with class definitions? I guess I could see if you mean you have 5 different classes to define the parts of a symbol, but you'd have to repeat those five classes for each department.

I definitely could - though, as you recognize, I'd end up needing to add a series of sub/embedded Classes to do this. For my "in-house" rigging tool and Symbols, my intent was to keep things as simple as possible with the tools adding minimal additional Classes. It was much simpler simply to follow a set color-coding system (which is echoed in a rigging Worksheet). Not a big deal seeing that that color coding very rarely changes...

[SamIWas 23]

No arguing that...at least, in-general. I use Class attributes to a certain extent when it comes to a lot of non-Symbol geometry for the very reason you cite.

I definitely could - though, as you recognize, I'd end up needing to add a series of sub/embedded Classes to do this. For my "in-house" rigging tool and Symbols, my intent was to keep things as simple as possible with the tools adding minimal additional Classes. It was much simpler simply to follow a set color-coding system (which is echoed in a rigging Worksheet). Not a big deal seeing that that color coding very rarely changes...

I get that. I guess if it's a lot of different symbols with different attributes, then the class definitions don't really matter as much, because you'd be editing them all anyway.

But when it comes to something like lighting symbols, Every line within them for me is classed so that I can update the look of the entire plot at once (line thickness and fill color) if needed.

Either way, I'm not a fan of a lot of the auto-classing that can't seem to be over-ridden. I try to keep my class structure very neat, and the auto-class names don't jove with that.

[Corgski 1]

I also would love a way to control the default class assignment through the OIP, or at least a way to prefix it. The current way of just arbitrarily classing items messes with my carefully arranged classes and viewports!

[Kelzilla1000 0]

Any Ideas due to Corgski's post? :-)

[Sam Jones 41]

- Edit Class names on which hoists are place

Currently you can't

- Edit colors for the different functions

Edit the colors of the classes. Hoist Color-Function

- Edit the shapes for the different motor types

The Hoist PIO imports symbols that are the graphics for the hoists.

You would need to edit the symbols that are placed. For a particular document, edit the symbols in the Resource Palette. If you want to change them for all future documents edit the file "Chain Hoist Symbols.vwx". On a mac that file is located at: HD/Applications/Vectorworks 2016/Libraries/Defaults/Hoist Tools

- Edit the "label Legend"

What do you need to change? Much of what one would edit can be achieved through the "Edit Hoist Data Display..." menu command.

- Edit the order of the properties window for this tool

If by this you mean re-order the OIP, you can't. The Lighting Device is the only object in all of Vectorworks that will allow this safely.

HTH,

Sam

[acdeslx 4]

Regarding editing the label legend:

I'd love to be able to post the "Total Point Load" field as part of a symbol.

I've tried turning on all the options but still haven't been able to get that to work.

Thanks.

Dave

[Sam Jones 41]

You should be able to add the "Total Point Load" to the data display using the "Set Hoist Data Display..." menu command. If you wish to do something other than that, I don't understand. Elaborate.

[Sam Jones 41]

You should be able to add the "Total Point Load" to the data display using the "Set Hoist Data Display..." menu command. If you wish to do something other than that, I don't understand. Elaborate.

[Sam Jones 41]

You should be able to add the "Total Point Load" to the data display using the "Set Hoist Data Display..." menu command. If you wish to do something other than that, I don't understand. Elaborate.

[synapse_gh 0]

I'm sure I'm overlooking something simple, but how on earth do I change the font size for the dimensions that show the distance of each hoist from downstage centre?

[Sam Jones 41]

Select the menu command

Spotlight / Hoists / Set Hoist Number and Dimension Display...

In the resulting dialog, enter the font size.

[rkeith 0]

Is there any way to change the positions of the data? For example, I would like to have the hoist label at the top of the selected symbol.

[Greg P. 0]

Sam Jones,

When I make the Hoist Tool Text large enough to read on my plot it begins to overlap. Is there any way to move the text fields so this doesn't happen.

Kudos on a great tool by the way.

Cheers!

Greg Persinger

[Andrew Davies 88]

I am stumped by this one.

The Hoist Label data for me is far too small. Just can't increase the size of it.

See attached.

Changing Text size (Text>Set Size) has no affect.

Any ideas?

Andrew

[Sam Jones 41]

At the bottom of the Object Info Palette (OIP), there is a button called 'Set Hoist Data Display'. Click on that button and you can set the text for the hoist data. There are separate settings for the labels and the data. There are buttons so you can choose between assigning the new settings to only the selected hoists or all the hoists, and there is a button to set the new settings as a default for new hoists.

HTH,

Sam

[Andrew Davies 88]

Thanks so much Sam

Oddly - I don't have that button at the bottom of the OIP - but I found it on the menu.

Many thanks,

Andrew

[stayathomedad 0]

I would like to be able to change the font and the way the load numbers are rounded. I have some standard fonts that I use for my paperwork and I want my data in those fonts.

 

Also, the fact that the loads are rounded to the hundreths of a kg/lb in my opinion looks bad and is also scientifically inaccurate. Rounding to the hundreths implies accuracy to the hundreths which in show business is laughable. It seems to me that our accuracy should be to the tens digit.

 

Is this comment enough to make this happen some day? Until then, I will turn off the data display and stamp like I always have.

[Sam Jones 41]

 You can change the font the hoists use by selecting the font you want from the Vectorworks "Text" menu.  Hoists will use the text that is selected at the time of placement.  If you want to change the text a hoist or hoists, select them and then select a text from the Vectorworks "Text" menu.

 

As for the rounding of the load display, I'm sure some day that will be user touchable; however when is up in the air.  It isn't just recoding the rounding routine.  I'm sure that Vectorworks is seriously looking at weight as a unit.  Right now weigh is not a unit; it is just text.  Distance is a unit and how that unit is displayed is given a lot of different ways all of which relate back to the unit.  VW needs to do the same thing with weight.  How hoists display the weight fields may not be addressed until the weight unit problem is addressed or abandoned.  I am not a VW employee, so I cannot give you any insight as to when and if this might happen.  

 

Sam