Editing Symbol/Plug-in objects

[skeyshubber]

Hi,

 

I am designing a custom exterior deer fence.  I've used the Railing/Fence tool to build the basic structure but am wanting to add additional guy wires and other details that aren't options in the railing/fence tool.  To work around this, I've edited my design through the resource manager by editing the 3D component .  After editing it, the new fence is no longer available as a Plug-in through the railing/fence tool.  When I hover over the new fence in the resource browser it is still described as a Symbol/Plug-in, but when I filter to only display Plug-in items its no longer available.  Also, when I right click and use click the 'Edit the Symbol Options' dialogue, I do not have the option to 'Convert to Plug-in Object' but am limited to 'Convert to Group' option.

 

Is there a way to convert this symbol back to a Plug-in so I can use it to plot out my fence?

 

Thanks!

 

VW2019

Edited November 29, 2018 by skeyshubber

[Tim C.]

@skeyshubber when you edited the 3D Component of your Railing/Fence symbol did you add any new objects? That would cause the symbol to no longer be eligible as a plugin object.

 

If that's the case, you should just be able to edit the 3D Component again and delete any objects that were added. The symbol should automatically return to a plugin when you exit (at least it does in the few tests I tried).

 

Hope this helps,

 

Tim

[skeyshubber]

Yes, I added 3 additional lines to the symbol.  

 

Is there no way to convert the new version of the symbol back into a plug in?

 

Thanks,

 

Stephanie

[Tim C.]

@skeyshubber Plugin symbols can only contain the plugin object itself, so the only way to get it back to a plugin is to remove those 3 lines. Unfortunately any custom details you want to add would have to be added as separate objects, outside of the Railing/Fence.

 

The issue is that tools like the Railing/Fence are really only using the settings of the plugin object in the symbol, not its geometry. So when you add other geometry to the symbol, the tool has no way to know how to place it in relation to everything else. It's possible we could find a solution for this in the future but for now your best bet is probably to make completely separate objects.

 

Tim

[skeyshubber]

Ok, thanks for the info!  I'll work with adding my own geometry to the fence after it's creation.