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Global editing of callouts from a database worksheet.


Boh

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There has been various threads about auto updating callouts throughout a file with general agreement that this isn't possible except kind of using a database.

 

As an experiment I've created a "Housekeeping"  worksheet for callouts where I can change the text of a callout/keynote straight from the worksheet. So by summarising the "Text" column I can then edit the text of mulitiple callouts at one time. I'm using a field called 'Callout'.'Text'.

 

I am wondering if anybody has tried this in practice and if there are anybugs? So far it seems to be ok...

 

image.thumb.png.1cacbafe4ce1a04ed703811d4dde4092.png

 

 

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@Boh We use this system extensively and it works fairly well with very few snags. If you alter the 'Callout'.'Text' field from the worksheet for a callout with text that was defined from the database, it will break that reference to the database. This hasn't really been a problem since the database doesn't affect the callouts after they are created...rather the database becomes useful for populating callouts, but not necessarily for maintaining them.

 

When using callouts as keynotes, there is another way to pull in the Keynote ID# that you may not be aware of. You can add a column, pulling in the field 'Callout'.'__Keynote Number'). Note that you cannot change this field from a worksheet, only by reodering the keynote legend. That said it is a useful tool.

 

We actually use this system to build all of our legends in our documents. They are all based on the callouts, not on the objects in the drawing. It has been a great way to streamline our document creation.

 

It should be noted that this workflow will likely become null and void once we get comfortable with data tags, but for the past few years it has worked pretty well.

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Thanks Eric. I wasn't sure if editing the note from the worksheet might cause issues with other callout functionality. As you say losing the database link is not a biggie.

2 hours ago, ericjhberg said:

We actually use this system to build all of our legends in our documents.

Are you not using keynote legends then?

2 hours ago, ericjhberg said:

It should be noted that this workflow will likely become null and void once we get comfortable with data tags, but for the past few years it has worked pretty well.

I haven't used data tags yet but I can see they are a bit of a game changer.

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On 1/28/2019 at 5:39 PM, Boh said:

Are you not using keynote legends then?

 

We do, but mostly they sit off to the side in the background and are used solely for organizing callouts. Occasionally we will use them for basic callout functions, but we primarily use worksheets to organize and build our legends.

 

Edited by ericjhberg
typos
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  • 3 weeks later...
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9 hours ago, Boh said:

i'm not yet using worksheets of callouts for legends (yet) as @ericjhbergis but I am using them for housekeeping which I am finding more and more useful.

 

Via the worksheet I can check the consistency of the notes, font, style format bubble type etc. Recently I just found you can also do a spell check on the worksheet with corrections pushing through onto the actual callouts (you can't do spell check directly on callouts).

 

Attached is my generic housekeeping worksheet and a short demo vid. Many of the fields are two way including the note field so you can edit the callouts directly from the worksheet. You can change the worksheet database worksheet criteria to limit the selection of callouts to a particular layer or class which is sometimes handy.

image.thumb.png.e6c02320a8a96bf2c324cd24804e7a80.png

 

 

Housekeep Worksheet - Callouts.vwx

 

Thanks for posting this - very kind of you.

 

If I duplicate a callout, or insert two using the same text from the database, I see that they each get their own row in the worksheet, rather than there being one row with a count of 2.

 

How do you do batch-updates when you change the text of a note in the database, and want to update all the callouts using this tex?

 

Or is that not intended as a function of this worksheet?

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4 minutes ago, line-weight said:

 

Thanks for posting this - very kind of you.

 

If I duplicate a callout, or insert two using the same text from the database, I see that they each get their own row in the worksheet, rather than there being one row with a count of 2.

 

How do you do batch-updates when you change the text of a note in the database, and want to update all the callouts using this tex?

 

Or is that not intended as a function of this worksheet?

 

Ok - I should have read your posts above first.

 

I now see that you 'summarise' the 'note' column, and changing the text in the worksheet will then change all the callouts sharing the same text in one go.

 

I think this means that if I want to do this, because I have to type it into the field contents bar in the worksheet, I can't use multi-line text (ie. where I press return in between lines) - is that right?

 

Also:

- changing the note text via the worksheet doesn't change the text stored in the database?

- if I have two notes, each with multiple instances, with different purposes but the same text (even if they have a different 'note description') then using the 'summarise' function is not going to distinguish them.?

 

(Example scenario for the second case above: I have a note that I use for the insulation in a wall that says "50mm insulation board" and another that I use for a roof that says "100mm insulation board". If I change the wall insulation from 50mm to 75mm then I can batch-update all the relevant wall insulation notes. I can do the same if I change the roof insulation from 100mm to 75mm. However, if I've changed them both to 75mm, and then I want to revert *only* the wall insulation notes to 50mm, this is not going to be possible because the worksheet will summarise the wall and roof insulation notes all into one row together)

 

 

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Re multi line text

I think you are correct that you can’t create multi line text from the worksheet side though some of the worksheet experts may prove me wrong. 

 

Re distinguishing between summarised notes. You can summarise by more than one column. So if you also summarise by another field that will distinguish between your wall and roof insulation they will list separately and you can edit them in group batches that way. Summarising the ‘note description’ column as well as the ‘note’ column may serve for this or perhaps these notes are on different sheets, layers or could be placed on different classes or if they are keynotes they are in different keynote legends etc. 

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Also re your question on the database. Again I think you are correct changing the note via the worksheet does not change the linked note in the database. In fact I think Erich made the point that the links could be corrupted though I haven’t found that to be an issue.

 

another feature of worksheets is that if you right click on a row entry header then an option to select the item in the file appears. Very handy for finding that rogue keynote that needs to be deleted so it no longer appears in your keynote legend which could otherwise be difficult to find. (Only works on single unsummaried rows). The worksheet may need updating for this to work. 

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8 minutes ago, Boh said:

Also re your question on the database. Again I think you are correct changing the note via the worksheet does not change the linked note in the database. In fact I think Erich made the point that the links could be corrupted though I haven’t found that to be an issue.

 

As far as I can make out, basically there is no link anyway (although it perhaps somehow 'remembers' where you originally pulled the text from?)

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32 minutes ago, Boh said:

Re multi line text

I think you are correct that you can’t create multi line text from the worksheet side though some of the worksheet experts may prove me wrong.

 

Turns out option-return (on mac at least) lets you type out a multiline text in the cell itself, even though just the first line shows in the cell edit bar at the top.

 

88294800_ScreenShot2019-05-21at10_45_19.thumb.jpg.b7dfc2eb1403228976878f7dda2333ed.jpg

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Cool. I’ll have to work out how to do it on a pc. 

 

Re the link. I think all the link does is when editing a call out ( directly rather via a WS) you can use the link to ‘auto locate’ the note in the database (and then update it if reqd). Again I’m still learning this stuff so someone else may know better. 

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37 minutes ago, Boh said:

Re the link. I think all the link does is when editing a call out ( directly rather via a WS) you can use the link to ‘auto locate’ the note in the database (and then update it if reqd). Again I’m still learning this stuff so someone else may know better. 

 

Oh, do you mean the link between the worksheet and the callout object?

 

I thought you meant the link between an individual callout object's text, and the text in the database.

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Sorry confusion re link - was late last night...

I meant the link between the callout and the notes database . The callout database controls have a "locate" function which would find a callout note in a database. I thought there was an option to "auto-locate' but that doesn't seem to be there anymore. 

image.thumb.png.b8fc302a0ecfe2974281c68154558087.png

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  • 5 weeks later...

We had been struggling with finding a global way of changing callout text also.  This worksheet is very helpful.  Thank you so much for sharing @Boh.  Do you, or anyone else think it would be useful and/or possible to setup a worksheet like this in a master file, and reference it into multiple files?  Could it be setup so that the callouts within each file then update into the master housekeeping worksheet?  For example, a master file with the housekeeping worksheet keeping track of detail callouts.  Then there would be a file with Door Details, and a file with Window Details in it.  Would it be possible for the master housekeeping worksheet to keep track of callouts for both files?  And to follow, would it be able to update one note globally for both files?

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Hi Greentea. I'm glad you are finding the worksheet useful.

 

I haven't referenced worksheets between files before as I tend to try and keep 1 file per project and use project sharing if there is more than one person who needs to work on it.

 

It would be great if the worksheet could be referenced across files as you want. Maybe there is another user out there who could respond?

 

The worksheet can pull data from within symbols so maybe if the callout is in a symbol and the symbol is referenced across files then changes to the callout should push to other files? Not sure but interesting idea...

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  • 2 years later...

Revisiting this thread after the upgrade to the notes manager in vw2021. @ericjhberg I am wondering if you are still using or have further developed your keynote/worksheet legend system?

 

I have been getting a bit bogged with keynote legends and have recently switched to using worksheets for legends.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi again, 

 

I think I should add some more to my post above to explain further.
I cant figure out where the worksheet I pulling the text from. When I click on the database header for Column A / Note the fields are blank and I cant relink it as there is no ' Text option in the records of callouts.  I have the same for Columns C, D, E, F, G, S, T, W, AA, AF and  AG  Please see attached screen grab. 
Ive tried opening it with VWX 2020 and 21 but to no avail. 

Im no expert on this so apologies if I am missing something obvious.

 

One more question if I can be so cheeky, how do you create a custom column in a database row so I can enter my own text alongside database information?


Many thanks in advance. 

 

Joe 

Screenshot 2022-10-14 at 17.24.11.png

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Hi Joe. I’m glad you’re finding that worksheet useful. I’ve used it a lot in the past tho I must say since I made that worksheet there have been some improvements in Vectorworks notes databases that have been really useful for maintaining callout notes across a project file.

 

Im just in the process of upgrading to vw2023 (from 2021) so this week I’ll have another look at the worksheet and see if I can address some of your queries. Cheers. 

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I opened the ‘Housekeep’ worksheet file in both 2022 & 2023 and it *seems* to still work fine.
 

I don’t know if it worked as a round-trip workflow in older versions (I.e. being able to write back to a referenced database file from the worksheet), but I did notice that in 2022 & 2023 it seemed like any changes made to the text of the notes in the worksheet (in the first column) are not written back to a referenced database.

Edited by rDesign
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On 10/15/2022 at 5:24 AM, joestewart4669 said:

I think I should add some more to my post above to explain further.
I cant figure out where the worksheet I pulling the text from. When I click on the database header for Column A / Note the fields are blank and I cant relink it as there is no ' Text option in the records of callouts.  I have the same for Columns C, D, E, F, G, S, T, W, AA, AF and  AG  Please see attached screen grab. 
Ive tried opening it with VWX 2020 and 21 but to no avail. 

Im no expert on this so apologies if I am missing something obvious.

 

One more question if I can be so cheeky, how do you create a custom column in a database row so I can enter my own text alongside database information?

Hi Joe.

 

Having just got vw2023 running I've had a quick look at the Callout Housekeeping worksheet. The worksheet seems to work fine in 2023, I can't find any glitches.

 

In response to your questions:

  • You can't see callout text listed as an option for records as it doesn't show using the standard vw commands. To get this I probably used @Pat Stanford's "Get PIO record field" script on a callout which creates a list of all records for a selected PIO (in this case a callout note). This script will pull records that are not otherwise available. Very helpful for creating these sorts of worksheets. I've attached a vw2023 file that has the script in it along with the housekeep worksheet as per screen shot below. I think this is not available via standard commands as editing the note via the worksheet breaks the callout note's link to the database.
  • To enter your own text in it's own column alongside other PIO database info I think you typically need to add a custom text record to the object(s) you are listing in the worksheet. There maybe a slicker way, if so hopefully somebody reads this and chimes in.
    Some PIO's do have user fields built into the object which you can use but typically you have to add your own. Essentially, you need to have or create a custom record that you attach to the objects. You can attach the records via the data tab of the OIP. Once attached you can call up and edit the data via the worksheet. This can be a bit confusing if you haven't used records in this way before so shout out if you have any queries. The records can be "preloaded" to symbols and styled objects so they have the custom record attached on insertion. The second screen shot below shows a callout with a custom record attached and a worksheet listing both the callout text and my custom additional note attached via the custom record.

image.thumb.png.019d755191ef72c25757495191c5aeca.png

image.thumb.png.e116f1537b8fdeca1187420afcb72ca1.png

 

 

 

 

 

Get PIO Record Fields.vwx

Edited by Boh
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