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Rename multiple classes


Uli

Question

Maybe I overlooked it but is there a simple way to rename  multiple classes e.g.

Door_123_green

Door_123_red

Door_123_black

to

Building-Door-123-green

Building-Door-123-red

Building-Door-123-black

 

With the class and layer mapping I was not able to achieve this or is that the right tool for that job? Than I have to take a closer look.

 

 

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5 hours ago, Art V said:

Can't you send some of those German programmers to the US? :)

 

 

 

I don't think that would be necessary.

From time to time VW buys and integrates some features from localized developments.

Like it did with Curtain Wall, new Handrail, Stair, ...

 

So could be "Find and Replace" too.

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12 minutes ago, Alan Woodwell said:

Dang, I ask a Dumb question Again, Why are all these wonderful things not consolidated into one program?????

Are the politics or the cash outlay too difficult to resolve????

 

I think it is a good question.

 

There are reasons why e.g. the german/swiss/austrian Door and Window Tools are quite different than the US counterpart.

And I think many of the US customers would not be quite happy with it (like with the Stair Tool ?)

 

The developers of the localized versions earn money with the localization development. VW DE is a bit more expensive.

If there would be no feature differences - just term translation, support and some library adaptions - I am not sure if many

would be willing to pay the extra price.

So it could be a reason to not sell every feature available, at least for a few years. (like Handrail Tool ?)

(Or like oceanian WinDoor ?)

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Upon further thinking I guess it would be hard for a lot of these plugins to cater for the world as each country has specific code and terminology to contend with not to mention the language barrier.

I understand that many Plugins have been incorporated into VW after due consideration so things are not all black and white.

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1 hour ago, Alan Woodwell said:

Upon further thinking I guess it would be hard for a lot of these plugins to cater for the world as each country has specific code and terminology to contend with not to mention the language barrier.

I understand that many Plugins have been incorporated into VW after due consideration so things are not all black and white.

For some plugins it may be hard as they are catering for country/region specific for codes etc., however for more generic plugins like the find and replace for class names it should not be that hard as the underlying code is the same for all VW versions so it would only require some translation of dialogue text. (Please correct me if I am wrong about that)

 

Even then... for those working at an international level (vs just local/national) it would be really nice if (Nemetschek) Vectorworks could convince the local distributors adding the extra tools etc. to do this in a way that they could be easily translated into English (or other languages) for the dialogue texts and to make them available for purchase for those in other countries/regions so that people can comply with the local standards using the same tools as their local users.

 

One of the reasons I went from the local version of VW to the English (US International) version is that it was getting aggravating to communicate and share files with the local translations etc. getting in the way while the locally added things were of limited use for me as either I didn't really need them or couldn't really use them as the other party could not use it either because it was not available to them. I understand the business side to add extra value to local versions other than just a translation to make it worthwhile to pay for the extra cost involved with the localization, but in some cases it also has its drawbacks if generic/basic tools are not shared across all language versions. For tools catering to local standards etc. it is less of an issue, but as said above it would be nice if others could purchase them if needed so that they can work more smoothly with local users.

Edited by Art V
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

I personally suspect these differences between localizations are holdovers from a time when the international community of users were not as interconnected as they are now. In 1995 it was likely not going to be noticed if a software package in a different language in a different country had a few dozen more or less features than one purchased from a different distributor. Now, especially now that we encourage more communication, it becomes immediately obvious.

I am sure there are a plethora of complex reasons why this is still the practice, but I believe that it would be in everyone's best interest for plugins developed by distributors to be given serious and timely consideration for inclusion in the core product.

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I used to be able to do this in older Vectorworks versions. There is a plug-in on Vectordepot that is called PrefixClasses. I used it on VW 2009, but now in 2016 & 2017 it is disabled. My surveyor would send me a survey file that had 30 or more classes. I would import that file into a new blank document, and with that plug-in, simply give all those classes a prefix of "survey". Now all those 30 or more classes would collapse neatly into the single class heading of "survey". I would then import the survey, and its newly renamed classes, into my project file

 

For me, upgrading Vectorworks to current versions, is taking away tools that I use, and adding things I don't need. Very frustrating.

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@JimWnow that this topic was revived, is there any indication of the edit class names tool/dialog as shown above is going to be implemented in the US/International version of VW (and possibly localized versions too)? And then something similar for layer names as well (not trying to be greedy here, as class renaming is probably a bigger issue, but it should not be that difficult to adapt it for layers as well)

 

It's one of those nice little things that are very useful to have.

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  • Marionette Maven

For the time being, you can use this Marionette Menu Command in 2018 to prefix your classes. It will prompt you for the prefix you would like for your classes.

Instructions on how to create a Marionette Menu Command are included in the post. VW 2018 is required.

 

I would suggest trying this on a test file before using it on any working file you have. The action is undo-able, but use at your own risk.

 

https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/files/file/103-prefix-classes/

 

EDIT: Special note on this.

Currently Marionette Menu Commands will bring Marionette classes in with them, so you may have extra classes after running this command. I am entering a bug to try to fix this.

 

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15 hours ago, Marissa Farrell said:

For the time being, you can use this Marionette Menu Command in 2018 to prefix your classes. It will prompt you for the prefix you would like for your classes.

Thanks for the  marionette solution but I would actually need a full search and replace across a whole lot of classes at times not just a prefix.  The above listed find and replace tool for class renaming would be sufficient for my needs and even better if it works for layers too and it is already available, hence my question.

 

In my case I always add prefixes for imported dwg files, but sometimes I need to change just the prefix, sometimes parts of the rest of the class name (e.g. strip/rename project or location specific parts, or if e.g. Phase3 in a class names needs to changes to Phase4 etc.).

 

And it would be almost heaven if this find/replace could be invoked when duplicating an entire series of classes (e.g. all 15 Phase3 classes to be duplicated for an e.g Phase5 and then at the same time rename Phase3 to Phase5 in one go).

 

It is something I run into quite often as things get added and added and changed and changed again all the time and often for a whole range of classes. (e.g. Scope A becomes Scope C, or split into Scope C and Scope D and I need to adjust/duplicate class names to reflect the changes (or when it gets reverted back and some classes need to be merged back into the previous configuration).

 

So a good and flexible find/replace for class and layer names would be quite useful. I guess there are more people who have similar situations/needs.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
16 hours ago, Art V said:

@JimWnow that this topic was revived, is there any indication of the edit class names tool/dialog as shown above is going to be implemented in the US/International version of VW (and possibly localized versions too)? And then something similar for layer names as well (not trying to be greedy here, as class renaming is probably a bigger issue, but it should not be that difficult to adapt it for layers as well)

 

It's one of those nice little things that are very useful to have.


I have not been cleared to discuss any specifics related to the next version yet, apologies.

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