Automatic Creation of Polygons

[Technoflash]

Hi Guys

Does anyone know how to stop VW automatically creating polygons while drawing a shape using the line tool. I want to be able to draw a shape and then manually compose it into a polygon. At present I have to keep decomposing the geometry as I go..very irritating

[Ray Libby]

Sounds like you are using the 2D Polygon Tool, not the Line Tool. The Line Tool will do what you want.

[islandmon]

Instead of 'Compose' ... use 'Combine into Surface'

[Technoflash]

Hi Ray

Actually I am using the line tool. I draw a line of "x" length. I draw another line connected to the end of the first line of "y" length and bamm..I now have a polygon with two sides. This is not very helpfull as polygons are a pain to reshape. I then decompose the polygon and continue to draw lines. At various times VW tries to create a polygon again and so it goes. All I want to do is finish, in this case the profile of a handrail stanchion, before I then compose it and extrude.

By the way Ray, I notice that your computer setup is very similar to mine. Are you experiencing any stability problems? I have little problem like graphics disappearing at different zoom levels or the screen not updating until I change zoom levels. I have also had problems in the past creating site models

[Technoflash]

Hi Islandmon

Hah?...how does that stop VW turning a group of lines into a polygon automatically? Or are you suggesting that overall I use "combine into surface" instead of "Compose"?. I'm always keen to learn a better way of using VW, could you please explian your point further.

[Ray Libby]

I haven't ever seen that behavior from the line tool, so I'm not sure what the solution is. That is the way the 2D Polygon tool works though. How many click does it take to create the 2 lines? Do you have to click to end the first line, then click again to start the second?

My computer has been rock solid except for the initial 11.5 update. What video drivers are you using?

[Technoflash]

Hi Ray

Really, your VW doesn't do that?. I started with VW 10 and it has always automatically created polys from 2 or more lines created by the line tool. I found it very irritating and still do. My vendor said I just had to get over it because I should be now drawing everything as a polygon, it's the new drawing philosophy. If for example I wanted to draw a square using single lines intead of the rectangle tool. After I create the second side of the square VW will turn those two lines into a polygon automatically. Sometimes it is a bit random and it may do the creation after the third line is drawn but I can bet that I wont make it all the way round before VW creates a polygon for me. Another example of this behaviour would be the case where you have say two single lines at 30? to each other and not intersecting. You use the connect/combine tool to trim/intersect the two lines and...bammm one two sided polygon is created.

My video driver is 6.14.10.6693. This is taken from the N'vidia info under the display properties tab. I'll check for updates...good point

[ErichR]

Can anyone recreate this anomaly?

[ 04-19-2005, 07:56 PM: Message edited by: ErichR ]

[alanmac]

No sorry Technoflash just tried it on my Windows copy of 10.5 and no way does the line tool (shortcut on keyboard - the number 2) does it do any form of automatic polygon creation. Sure you are not using one of the the polygon line tools (keyboard shortcut the number 8 or number 5)

I've just drawn about twenty lines, making up various shapes, squares, rectangles and they stay as just lines.

Alan

[ 04-19-2005, 08:00 PM: Message edited by: alanmac ]

[mike m oz]

Technoflash - check that you aren't using the Polyline Tool rather than the Line Tool.

[klaus]

Technoflash - sounds like you have got a bit of a problem with your version of VW .... I have just tried to recreate your problem and can't .... also I have never come accross anything similar

regards

Klaus

[jan15]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Technoflash:

.... My vendor said I just had to get over it because I should be now drawing everything as a polygon, it's the new drawing philosophy. ...

---

Sounds like a special NZ version, with a modified Line tool created by your vendor. Maybe the original Line tool is still there and you just have to add it to your workspace.

Personally, I've been drawing everything as polygons ever since MiniCad 6, using the Polyline, Rectangle, and Reshape tools, and the Add Surface and Clip Surface commands. Those work just fine; I don't see why they had to alter the Line tool.

[Delmer]

Even if this is a product of specialization, I would still expect there to be a setting similar to the Connect/Combine Tool where you could set it via the submenu at the top left of the work screen.

To me it sounds like an installation foul-up and the rep is acting like he too can see the emperor's new clothes. Or maybe that doesn't happen in NZ.

[Martin]

I tend to agree with Delmer. Since when does a vendor dictate how one uses a program. You might want to do a full re-install to verify that the program isn't fouled

[Technoflash]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I do know the difference between the line tool and the polyline tool and the polygon tool and yes, I was using the line tool (2). I took Martin's advice and did a complete reinstall. Not as easy as it seems. I still had VW10.5 and 11.0 and..11.0.1 installed. I nuked them all. Windows could not automatically uninstall VW11.0 because uninstall.log seemed to be corrupt. This left bits of the program lurking around. I eventually had to go through the registry manually and delete all keys and data referenced to Vectorworks and Nemetschek. The upshot is that the program seems to be behaving normally now.

[Delmer]

Techno, make up something that has a possibility of being valid but isn't and ask your vendor about just for fun.

[Technoflash]

Hi Delmer

It does seem a little off the wall I admit but it actually was happening. I have had the strangest problems with VW ever since I purchased it. It makes you start to doubt your own sanity.My advice is not to have previous versions of VW on your machine after you update. I had to because I had 10.5 files that would not open in 11.0-11.5 (this can't happen by the way either). I ended up with 4 versions all installed. I think this must have caused the problem because now VW is as stable as it has ever been. Previously it would crash 4 or 5 times a day and quite often take out the operating system in the process, requiring a hard reboot. It got to the stage a couple of weeks back where I was seriously considering ditching VW altogether. Archicad was looking really good :-)

"Techno, make up something that has a possibility of being valid but isn't and ask your vendor about just for fun".

You're a sick man :-)