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Spotlight Numbering


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6 minutes ago, scottmoore said:

Can someone point me in the right direction in how to use the new numbering tool in Spotlight 2109?  I am apparently far to dense to figure it out! 

 

You  have to select the items you want to number,   open the numbering dialog,  then check the boxes in the "use" field list on the left.   Then for each item you check,  you have to highlight it (turns blue) and adjust your numbering options.    I've caught myself numerous times having the wrong (usually unchecked) field selected to modify the options and can't figure out WTF it didn't work.   

 

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Edited by Wesley Burrows
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5 hours ago, jcogdell said:

Also you can save your numbering settings as a template to reuse in other documents and it can be used on any object in Spotlight that has a data record, such as trusses, hoists etc.

 

I did notice that and it’s certainly a much more useful tool. I do miss the ability to see all of your numbering selections displayed at one time, but that is certainly not a huge deal at all. Just what I am used to I suppose. 

 

Much appreciated. 

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  • 2 months later...
9 minutes ago, Greg MacPherson said:

My numbering issue is that when I try to auto-number unit numbers the program starts with whatever number I left off with instead of 1 (which is what I entered on the numbering tab). Thoughts.?

 

 

You might double check that you have unit number highlighted blue on the left column when you enter "1".    I've had the wrong field auto-highlighted, or inadvertently bumped the selected up to the wrong field bone me numerous times.   It's pretty easy to do the way that tool is laid out. 

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Previous versions of Vectorworks seemed to kano what field I was editing when I placed a checkmark next to the field. This version apparently needs the checkmark AND the highlight. Which really should have nothing to do with the underlying problem, that even when I asked the program to start numbering with "1" it would start with the the next number in the queue. The program put the number in the correct field, it was just always the wrong number.

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27 minutes ago, Greg MacPherson said:

Previous versions of Vectorworks seemed to kano what field I was editing when I placed a checkmark next to the field. This version apparently needs the checkmark AND the highlight. Which really should have nothing to do with the underlying problem, that even when I asked the program to start numbering with "1" it would start with the the next number in the queue. The program put the number in the correct field, it was just always the wrong number.

 

They Made the new tool 100000% more usefull than the last one. 

 

However maybe an improvement would be if you could hide the record fields that you do not want to use in your specific setting. Then it will easier to see what you are doing. But you will still have to click on a field before you can fill it. 

 

 

 

 

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33 minutes ago, Greg MacPherson said:

This version apparently needs the checkmark AND the highlight. 

This is because you can check mark multiple fields. So then is logical that you have to highlight which one of the field you have to edit. 

 

But it agreed some improvements could be suggested to make it easier to recognize which field is highlighted at the moment you open the windows. 

 

Also so now that I am used to the way it works I now intuitively highlight my desired field before I start filling it. 

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Just to see. I just highlighted the Channel field and left the Unit # field checked, then asked it to number from the left to right. The result was that the Channel fields didn't change but the Unit fields increased by 2. So the first unit now has a Unit # of 3, the second unit a Unit # of 4, etc. You have to admit, it's confusing to have to check AND highlight the field you want to enter data to.

 

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9 minutes ago, Greg MacPherson said:

Just to see. I just highlighted the Channel field and left the Unit # field checked, then asked it to number from the left to right. The result was that the Channel fields didn't change but the Unit fields increased by 2. So the first unit now has a Unit # of 3, the second unit a Unit # of 4, etc. You have to admit, it's confusing to have to check AND highlight the field you want to enter data to.

 

 

Sorry this really does not happen to me. Once the fields are set right it does what I want. 

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I have to say, I just use Joshua Benghiat's Savvy Sequencer (https://www.benghiatlighting.com/software/products/savvy-sequencer), a vastly powerful tool which numbers any type of object, whether there's a record or not. One can, as one will, screw up the choices often enough, but once used a few times it's my go-to tool for all sequential numbering, whether Spotlight or chairs or circles and squares.

Edited by mjm
grammatical clarity
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My process is to 1) highlight,  2) check mark 3) make adjustments. The new numbering system works well, but I do miss being able to see everything I was doing at one time as we did previously. 

 

The challenge for the developers is including all the all the various options for “numbering options” and “numbering directions” in the GUI. Some of those options are fairly wordy and require a lot of screen space. Not sure there is a good way to rectify that and still allow users to understand what they are trying to do and still include all that functionality. 

 

One of these days days when I have time to stop and just work on VW skills I am going to integrate Joshua’s and Sam’s tools into my workflow. At this point that might have to be retirement though.....

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Truth be told, as I am an abysmal typist, these kinds of tools are a huge help.I also am a big fan of the straight forward 'number position' tick box in the spotlight tool position PIO. Savvy Sequencer comes into play (all too often) when positions are non-linear.

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Useful things I've found while stumbling my way through numbering things:

 

  • Set it to manual, and you don't have to have your fixtures highlighted and selected in the right order in advance.
  • While manually numbering, you can tab through and modify fields for the next click, the same way you would while drawing.
  • You can use the prefix to input addresses in GrandMA friendly format (eg: prefix is [universe.] then the address increments)
  • Same prefixing can help with multi-instance fixtures.

Maybe some of that comes in handy for you?

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  • 1 month later...

I’ve not thought enough about this to really make a recommendation to the engineers, but perhaps when one checks a box, it should automatically highlight as well, assuming this is the next item you would want to modify. If  you simply clicked on the item text and not the check mark it would highlight the selected item allowing for modifications as needed for any item. 

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