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Teaser Tuesday - Class and Layer Filters - Vectorworks 2019


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1 hour ago, Jim Wilson said:

Well, you can use the search function on tags manually as well. I dont know if I'd want that filter list at the bottom to be as long as the number of tags id want to make. The Filter system is more designed to be a way of calling up conceptual groups of filtered items by multiple criteria, like items that include more than one similar tag or are in a specific state and have a specific tag, etc. If you just wanted to find things based on a single tag, then i would think the search would be faster than scrolling through a now-50-item Filters list after making a few dozen tags?

Curious about how you are using Tags?

 

My first reaction would be that they would be useful for less obvious or informal grouping. After all, they are effectively hidden data so would be reticent to use them for things that should be obvious to the team. Still can think of a number of uses that fit the bill assuming there aren't better ways coming in further teasers or versions. To me, the informal only approach would have 5-6 tags at most.

 

Still if quicker to type single factor searches it would be even quicker with live filtering (like the drop downs) and auto-complete as you type. Then as you say leave saved filters for when there are multiple factors.  

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3 hours ago, Andy Broomell said:

-Switching to different tab in the Nav Palette and switching back (I'd expect class filter to still be in tact)

2 hours ago, Jim Wilson said:

Right now they stay as you left them in these scenarios, so you can go back and forth without it resetting on you. There was some debate over whether it should ALWAYS reset back to "All Classes/Layers" when you click away and that users might get confused if they have a filter enabled they forgot about, but having it stay the way you last left it seemed overall to be more intuitive and if a user did make that mistake once, they likely won't keep making it once they're used to the interface.

 

I can see wanting it to stay intact through a session so I'm glad to hear this is possible. In my workflow I can see activating all layers/classes associated with a theatre or with the set for example so then I can focus on one or the other and not have to hunt through a long list.

 

Kevin

 

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15 minutes ago, Kevin McAllister said:

I can see wanting it to stay intact through a session so I'm glad to hear this is possible. In my workflow I can see activating all layers/classes associated with a theatre or with the set for example so then I can focus on one or the other and not have to hunt through a long list.

 

Exactly. Even if I hide the venue layer, I still have the 10-100 classes associated with it while trying to work on the set (which is all classed to "SET-" classes).

It'll be great to effectively hide those while I don't need them 🙂

 

So here's a question about filters... Is there an easy way to filter the navigation palette to show all classes containing "SET" but also keep None and Dimension visible? Without adding tags to everything...

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26 minutes ago, Andy Broomell said:

So here's a question about filters... Is there an easy way to filter the navigation palette to show all classes containing "SET" but also keep None and Dimension visible? Without adding tags to everything...

^ Also a good question. I bet you could add a "set" tag to None and Dimension and build a filter that looks for "SET" as text in a name or "set" in a tag. Does the filter setup allow for and/or?

 

KM

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Gota list of all the Qs asked so far so they can be answering personally in the livestream tomorrow! If you have any additional questions, feel free to pop them in here or in the chat/comments on facebook, I'll do my best to address of them as clearly as possible.

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If one has a very disorganised system of layers and classes, one would find this extremely handy. Personally, I don't think I'll ever use this feature. What would have been better is viewport filters where one can control visibilities of different objects in a viewport via parameters.

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I did try and join the on-line QnA last week but was working late and the company I am working with at the moment has Facebook on it blocked list, so was unable to join.

 

Q. Nothing was mentioned in the video or text in your original post to say if “Boolean” search could be used in any of the search fields.

Having the ability to use operators (or modifiers) i.e., AND, NOT and OR and also quotes “”, would just about round off the search capabilities.

The Boolean Search could be incorporated as an option at the end of each line to include another search line and provide this capability graphically.

 

Ps. "Boolean" search capabilities would also allow you to include (None and Dimension) within your search.

 

Q. Also is there a limit to the number of “TAGs” that can be associated to a layer, class... etc?

Edited by axhake
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
On 8/12/2018 at 10:37 PM, Jershaun said:

What would have been better is viewport filters where one can control visibilities of different objects in a viewport via parameters.

We want to bring the same UI there, to font lists (especially on the Windows side) and a few other places as well. I think there were some other mentions of viewports being searchable, but feel free to post any other locations that would benefit from this search system.
 

On 8/13/2018 at 3:20 AM, axhake said:

Nothing was mentioned in the video or text in your original post to say if “Boolean” search could be used in any of the search fields.

Having the ability to use operators (or modifiers) i.e., AND, NOT and OR and also quotes “”, would just about round off the search capabilities.

The Boolean Search could be incorporated as an option at the end of each line to include another search line and provide this capability graphically.

It does not, we kept this box much simpler. Ideally, Filters would be used for the AND/OR functionality with this new UI. However, I expect lots of feedback when it goes live and we all get to hammer away at it to see what it does well and what it could do better.
 

On 8/13/2018 at 3:20 AM, axhake said:

Also is there a limit to the number of “TAGs” that can be associated to a layer, class... etc?

I do not know of a hard limit, in a test here I was able to get to 50 and was not stopped. I didn't try more than that. The way the UI for managing them is built, it looks like it could handle quite a lot.

Also, the video if anyone didn't catch it on FB:
 

(If you mute it, it's like i'm trying to cast a spell with my hands!)

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Yes!!! Fantastic job!

These improvements are equally important to very organized workers, as well as to those dealing with very disorganized coworkers. This is getting me excited for 2019's "Quality first" agenda.

Could it be possible the notes tool has received similar improvements? 🙏🤞

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
21 hours ago, markdd said:

Can tags be used when sorting criteria for Data Visualisation in Sheet Layer Viewports? For instance, any object in a class tagged "xyz" display with the following attributes.....

It doesn't look like it, however I agree it should. I'll pop in a request now. It looks like it doesnt appear in the Criteria picker for reports or custom selection either, which I think are linked to that.

 

On 8/17/2018 at 4:34 AM, herbieherb said:

Are the tags accessible in tables and scripts?

It was confirmed that you could both get and set tags in scripting, not sure about worksheets.

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41 minutes ago, Jim Wilson said:

It was confirmed that you could both get and set tags in scripting, not sure about worksheets.

 

Woul'd be great if it does. I already missed the accessibility of the tags we can set in the VW2018 resource-browser. No chance to get this attribute in a worksheet.

 

I also definitely want to use these tags in the select similar tool.

Edited by herbieherb
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
5 hours ago, Andrew Davies said:

But since then - and when working in VWX - I am beginning to see what a fantastically useful this feature would be.

 


I have become immediately addicted to it, especially when (as I very often do) navigating through files that I did not create personally.

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Is it intentional that you can't select a group of classes that includes the top level name when your class list is set to display using hierarchical display and assign a tag to them? It works fine when I turn off hierarchical display. I also would have thought I could select a top level name and assign tags to everything within that hierarchy much like I can turn everything with it off or grey it by just selecting the top level name. This is a bit inconsistent with the existing interface.

 

Kevin

 

Edited by Kevin McAllister
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
12 hours ago, Kevin McAllister said:

Is it intentional that you can't select a group of classes that includes the top level name when your class list is set to display using hierarchical display and assign a tag to them? It works fine when I turn off hierarchical display. I also would have thought I could select a top level name and assign tags to everything within that hierarchy much like I can turn everything with it off or grey it by just selecting the top level name. This is a bit inconsistent with the existing interface.

 

Kevin

 

The behavior of the Assign Tags command is consistent with the behavior of other existing menu commands (Edit, Duplicate and Delete).

 

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
1 minute ago, Jonathan Pickup said:

Have i missed something? I was trying to create a filter to show all classes except for classes starting with “Detail”


This should be possible, yes. Tools > Organization, select the Classes tab then Manage Filters near the top right. Create a New one, then Class Name > Start With > Detail should do it, with Any for the rest of the options to ignore tags and visibility.

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