Jump to content

Plant reference data base ?


Viper x

Recommended Posts

I agree 100% and then some. I considered my options long and hard before finally deciding to go ahead with Landmark - Vectorworks 8.5 was working just fine, thankyou - and am now regretting my decision. I could have bought a standalone, fully customizable plant database (say Horticopia or Plantmaster) for much less money, headaches and hairloss (from pulling it out). I really really hope that NNA will address these problems very soon (and I will be very annoyed if I have to fork out more money for a future release just to get what I just paid for - a functional plant database).

Link to comment
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Yes, jean-marc, you could have purchased a standalone database, but it wouldn't be automatically integrated with Plant Definitions in your Catalog the way the PRD is. Please send me explicit changes you'd like to see in the categories (i.e. tell me which combination ranges you'd like to see) and we'll work them in as categories for future versions of VWL.

Link to comment

True enough, there are definite advantages to having the plant reference list linked to the plant catalogue. However, the fact remains that a key function of the program does not work properly, and I may very well have to go out and purchase a plant database anyway.

My primary concerns are with the Soils, Water, and Light Ranges. If you cannot revise the program to accept multiple value selections, then you will need combination values.

In terms of soils, you should include the following catagories : 1) sand; 2)loam (rather than "sandy loam" and "clay loam"); 3) clay; 4) organic 5) sand, loam; 6) sand, loam, clay; 7) sand, loam, clay, organic; 8) loam, clay. Including "well-drained" and "light" soils would be helpful if I could perform multiple value selections. Since I can't, these values, in my opinion, are for the most part not of much use, as soil type must take priority.

In terms of Water (or "soil moisture levels"), the values should include: 1) dry, 2)intermediate 3) moist 4) wet 5) dry, intermediate 6) dry, intermediate, moist 7)dry, intermediate, moist, wet; 8)wet, moist 9) wet, moist, intermediate.

In terms of Light, you mostly have all the right values, except that you need to insert "partial" shade" in the "sun to shade" value. Otherwise, plants that are assigned this value will not show up via the custom filter (using "includes") if the site for which one is preparing a plant list is partially shaded.

I should also point out that there are also problems with the Plant Zone catagory. It is useless to input values such as "4 to 7". If I live in zone 6 and do a custom search for plants suited to that zone, only those plants with the actual number 6 will appear. In order for this catagory to work in a search, you need to spell out each zone number. So, "4 to 7" should read "4, 5, 6, 7".

The fact that I can't input multiple values also causes problems for catagores such as "landscape use" and "tolerances", as previously discussed. And with these catagories, combination values are not as effective, as the possible combinations depend on individual plant species, and are endless.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...