Jump to content
  • 9

Class upgrades: Groups / Drag + Drop Org / Live Search /


Tom Klaber

Question

We are almost there with the hierarchical class display, but we need to take this a couple of steps further.

 

There need to be true class 'Groups" - the problem with the hierarchical display is that it that the prefix becomes the group name - so if you want to maintain naming conventions you end up with many groups that only have 1 class in them.   There should be true class Folders.  These folders would automatically apply the folder prefix name to a class.  So I could just name a class Anno and then drag it to the RCP 'Folder" and then it would automatically take on the name RCP-Anno.   These folders should be able to have attributes that, like styles, can be applied to all classes in the folder as desired.  Lastly - and I have argued for this before - these groups should be able to be hierarchical as far as their draw order.  There should be an option that can be turned on for a Class Group to always appear above or below the other groups.  There would need to be a similar display there is with layer - where you can see stack order of the groups if you turn this on - but this would allow for annotations and dimensions to always be on top and never accidentally covered by objects.  Floor patterns and slabs could always be set to below so that all displayed objects always sit on top.  It would be a huge help.  I have seen offices that break this stuff up into layers for this reason - but it becomes cumbersome to edit. 

 

As mentioned above - drag and drop reorganizing for classes would be great (once there are folders to drag them into.)

 

Lastly - there needs to be a live search - a good one - that allows you to type class names and it will narrow the class list down as you type.  This input should be available everywhere - and on right click - anywhere there is a class selection (and layer selection for that matter) there should be live search.   Once your document has 80+ classes - even if you know the name - it can be frustrating to search through the list - especially in hierarchical view which for some reason makes it harder to find what you are looking for.

 

 

Link to comment

9 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

Situation - I start modelling and classing objects as I go along. As the model progresses I want to turn some classes off to hide certain elements, but there are so many classes I need to turn off, its a pain turning individual ones of to hide what I want.

 

Solution - Create a group class and drag the classes I need to turn off into it, allowing me to just turn of one class and being able to organise classes quickly and with ease.

 

I know you can create groups by labelling with a - in between, but after creating 20 classes and going to each one to rename is completely tedious and daft to me, when something so simple like what I have suggested could be done.

 

Apologies if there is already a way to do something like this, and if there is please tell me.

 

Cheers

 

Link to comment
  • 0
On 02.02.2018 at 2:56 PM, zoomer said:

A global "Find and Replace" Tool for all kind of Texts and Names in VW

was often wished for. Like C4D has or some localized versions of VW.

... and How can I replace the properties of an object the Screen Plan to Layer Plan in Object Info palette if the selected objects are in groups without ungrouping?

Link to comment
  • 0
On 2/2/2018 at 11:28 PM, Mark666 said:

Situation - I start modelling and classing objects as I go along. As the model progresses I want to turn some classes off to hide certain elements, but there are so many classes I need to turn off, its a pain turning individual ones of to hide what I want.

 

Solution - Create a group class and drag the classes I need to turn off into it, allowing me to just turn of one class and being able to organise classes quickly and with ease.

 

I know you can create groups by labelling with a - in between, but after creating 20 classes and going to each one to rename is completely tedious and daft to me, when something so simple like what I have suggested could be done.

 

Apologies if there is already a way to do something like this, and if there is please tell me.

 

Cheers

 

Under "tools" menu there is a rename classes tool. You can add a prefix or replace certain text in many different classes in one go. You can add a prefix with a "-" to create a hierarchical class naming structure. Ideally however, if you are doing similar projects using the same classes you would create a template file with classes already created instead of creating them as you go. This is fairly standard practice.

 

Your suggestion of having a group class - a class in which groups are placed so that you can control visibilities of the variously classed objects contained within the group in one go is another option however it does mean that in order to see the objects contained within the group both the object and group class need to be set to visible. I've used this technique and it is o.k. however it can get confusing for another user trying to work with your file as occasionally they wil lbe stumped as to why certain objects aren't visible even though their class is set to visible - not realising of course that these objects are in a group class which is turned off.

Edited by Boh
Link to comment
  • 0

Hi and thanks for the answer.

 

Ive had a look at the rename classes tool and it doesn't work for me. I seem to be unable to merge classes to a group class using a prefix without retaining the original class names, they simply merge to one class. If you understand what I mean.

 

The projects I work on are relatively small and bespoke so I often don't always have the same classes as they are created as I go along which is why the drag and drop method would be so simple and more usable than the tool mentioned which still takes some planning and is a bit convoluted.

 

I definitely understand that it gets confusing when there are grouped objects with different classes, I get this often, but since my projects are never really that big, its easily sorted. I would much rather this trade of so I could easily drag and drop classes around in the organization box, hence the name of this box.

 

Cheers

 

Link to comment
  • 0

Agreed with this wish a thousand percent, but came here to add a much simpler wish - how about direct-editing of class and layer names in the Navigation palette / window? 

 

It could be via a shift-click or something, but when cleaning up naming, it would be a huge improvement over all the right-click-edit-click into name field process....

 

 

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
Answer this question...

×   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...