Custom Section Markers

[Asemblance]

Hi All,

Having a bit of an issue with Section Markers at the moment.

 

Basically I would like to create some custom Section Markers for the practice (none of the default ones are appropriate for our use right now).

 

I kind of hoped this would be as simple as duplicating a section marker in the files resource library, and then selecting this from the drop down menu. However it only seems to display markers which are present in Vectorworks Libraries - Default - Section Markers. Here they are, in all their glory:

 

 

Now, my question is (and this probably displays my fundamental lack of understanding in how resources are managed in vwx) - If I go into this 'Section Markers.vwx' file, and add more symbols to it (i.e. duplicate SectMkr-1 with a new name and edit), will this work?

- Should I touch any of the 'default' files with resources in - or is this a bad idea?

- Will it work?

- Will it show up in my drop down boxes when using Section Markers?

- Will it work on my colleagues system?

 

Also I know people have spoken about Workgroups in relation to this sort of thing before. I don't really understand what they are properly, or how they work. If anyone can point me to a good thread explaining the use of them, and whether a Workgroup folder would be useful in this instance, please shout out!

 

Thanks, A

[Pat Stanford]

TLDR- You can store VW files with custom resources in three locations. User overrides Workgroup overrides Application. Files with same name lower in the search order are ignored, so you can delete items while still being able to access from the applications folder. Restart required to get new files or file edits recognized as default content.

 

Custom Section Markers are possible. Editing the file you specified is one way to get them, but probably not the best way. Let's discuss some background information to determine what you want to do.

 

A number of VW tools, including the Section Marker use what is know as Default Content to provide configuration choices. You can turn off the Default Content in the VW preferences, but it will make the program much less usable.

 

Default Content is looked for in three locations. The highest priority is in the User Folder, then in the Workgroup Folder, and finally in the Application Folder. In all cases, the content is looked for in the Libraries/Defaults and then in the different sub-folders for the different resource types.

 

The Default Content is stored as resources in standard Vectorworks files. If you put a .vwx file into the appropriate Defaults folder and restart VW, the resources will be available the next time you try to use that tool. If you have a file with the same name in the User/Workgroup/Application path, VW will by default use the User version over the others and the Workgroup version over the Application version.

 

If you Export a rescue to a Default Content file, a restart is not required. If you edit a default content file (to either add or delete resources), a restart of VW is required to have the changes recognized.

 

You would normally want to put any new content you create into either the Workgroup (if you want to be able to share with others, or if you want different content for different projects) or the User folder (if you only want this for yourself). There is always a risk that if you edit the Application folder and need to reinstall VW (or if an update changes those files), that you will lose your content. Workgroup/Project folders (and a custom location for your user folder) can be set in the User Folders tab of the Vectorworks Preferences. See the VW Help for the default location of the User folder on Mac and Windows.

 

My recommendation is to create a new file in the desired folder path for the User/Workgroup and put your custom symbols there. If you mix your customs in with the VW supplied defaults, you will have a harder time in the future doing updates.

 

If there is default content you don't want to see, copy the file from the Application Folder to the User or Workgroup folder. Edit that file to delete the symbols you don't want. Restart VW and you should not see those options any longer, but there are still available in the Application folder if you need them. Alternatively, you can put a custom file with all of your resources in the correct path and then either compress (ZIP) or delete the file in the Applications folder. If you delete and you find you need that content, you will need to reinstall VW.

 

 

 

 

[Asemblance]

Wow Thanks Pat, that is far and away the clearest explanation of the way Vectorworks deals with this kind of library information that I have seen to date!

 

I think from what you have said that it is time to bite the bullet and get the practice into using a Workgroup..

 

@JimWI don't know if its possible to get this explanation stickied somewhere? Sure others may find it useful too.

[rgcn]

Thanks for the clear explanation  Pat, this is very helpful.

 

Rob

 

[Frank Schnater]

Great explanation, which triggered me to make work of workgroups and custom markers.

Which brings me to this question: I like to adapt a section-marker to my needs. So I created a custom section-marker in the file ‘Section Markers’ in my workgroup folder.
Question: how do I move the position of the text? is this possible? Now the text is positioned at ‘0,0’, which means the section-line, which starts at 0,0, is always cutting through the text. I can put a white shape in my symbol to cover the first part of this line, but what I’d rather do is move the text to a different position, next to the marker instead of on top of it.

Tia,

Frank Schnater