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Data tag question


Boh

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Is there a way to auto assign a data tag to a specific class on insertion? You can do this for other symbols but I can’t see how to do that for data tag styles (or any other styled objects for that matter).

 

For example I have made some custom sanitary fixture tags that I would like to automatically go on to the sanitary fixture class.

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Thanks Nikolay and Mark. I thought of those options however neither are ideal. I always keep the none class as the active class and if possible I try to keep objects inside symbols on the noneclass too..

 

Some more data tag questions however!

 

1, Is it possible to reassign an extg tag in a drawing to a different object? Rather than going back to the data tag tool and searching for the right tag in the RM I would simply like to duplicate an extg tag then attach it to a different object.

 

2.

If I try to attach a tag to an object that doesn’t have the right record format VW will sometimes ask if I want to attach the record  to the object and sometimes it just says I can’t attach the tag. Why is this?
 

3.

Is it possible for a worksheet to list only symbols that have a data tag attached? The scenario is I have a whole bunch of equipment symbols in a drawing. The symbols all have an ‘equipment’ record format attached. However on my sheet I want the equipment worksheet legend to list only the equipment symbols that have an ID data tag attached. I don’t want to reclass untagged symbols or detach records from them if possible. Ideally as soon as a symbol is tagged it will appear in the worksheet. 
 

4.

Are the style/instance parameter settings for “use leader line” buggy? I find the tags often still have a leader line when the use leader line option is unchecked and set to by instance.


Edit:

Additional question:

I can tag symbols with a tag that increments the tag number in order as the tags are added. However I then want to create a legend worksheet of the tagged symbols. The worksheet needs to show the tag number however how do I do this?  The schedule lists record info about the symbols however the tag number is not actually part of the symbol....

 

Thanks for any responses!

 

 

Edited by Boh
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hello @Boh,

 

1) Yes, if the other object meets the requirements to be tagged with the Data Tag tool you should be able to duplicate an existing Data Tag and dag the object using the control point.

 

2) It depends on the Data Tag's formula. If the record format is not the main formula, for example you have IFC or PIO formula too, then the record will be attached.

 

3) I do not think that this is possible for now. You could try making a worksheet with the Data Tags and filtering them by their style.

 

4) Could you send a test file showing this issue? I was not able to reproduce it with simple tests.

 

5) Again, there is no way to extract information for Data Tags from their tagged objects. However, if your worksheet is for Data Tags, you could use the DataTagField formula, which should get the job done for you.

 

Best Regards,
Nikolay Zhelyazkov

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Thanks Nikolay. That has cleared up a few things for me!

 

I have figured out #4. This is a bit confusing and certainly not very intuituve. If the style settings for "Use Leader line" are set to by instance and unchecked this will be overridden if the data tag tool settings in the mode bar have "Use Leader Line" checked and vica versa. In other words it seems that if the style parameter is set by instance it doesn't matter if "Use Leader Line" is checked or not as it will just be set to whatever the default setting is in the data tag tool settings. I guess this is true for all style parameters set to by instance.

 

For #3 & #5, I made a worksheet with criteria by data tag but couldn't figure out how to use the "DataTagField" formula you mentioned to get the field records for the tagged objects. Could you please explain a bit more?

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

@Boh, Yes, this is the correct behavior of by instance parameters. When creating new object with style, it gets its values from the style, if they are set to by style, otherwise it gets the default parameters set in the preferences.

 

About the DataTagField, simply put =DataTagField('<TextObjectValueFromTheLayoutHere>') in a database row and you should get the value of the formula of this text from the data tag. Note that the text value of the field is case sensitive, so you have to put the exact value. Example file attached.

DataTagField example.vwx

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OK thanks again Nikolay. I see how that works now. Still not quite what I'm after however...

 

To get all the tagged objects record info via the tag's DataTagField then each record field would have to have it's own text in the actual tag. I was hoping to be able to add simple single text self incrementing ID tags to objects such as lights and use a worksheet as a legend listing all the info about the lights with the tag ID number.

 

Also is the DataTagField formula new to vw2020 as I couldn't get this to work on 2019?

Edited by Boh
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I think you can do what you want, you just have to put the text into the tag definition in a hidden location. Either use a font color that matches the background, put it behind another filled object, or set the font size to something like 0.1 point so it it not noticeable. 

 

The second and third options will make it harder to remember how to edit it later but may be the best approach.

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Thanks Pat. I did think of doing something like that but probably not worth it just to get incrementing tag numbers. I guess I was hoping that there was some setting I missed. It would be a good feature so that datatags could work with worksheets like keynote callouts work with keynote legends.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello Nikolay,

 

is it possible to format real values?

Example: active units is meters. I wish to display certain values in cm, with precision 0.00

It constantly takes the document units, and there seems to be no precision setting available.

 

We are using data tags also as labels for the Spaces. This allows us to edit the Spaces without selecting them. It is a huge speed improvement.

Again, here too we need to coerce precision and units.

 

We really need some units formatting for Data Tags.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hello @_c_,

 

If you are using real field value in the Data Tag formula you should be able to select the units and precision you want it to be displayed with. Keep in mind that the field of the object should be real. There are some objects that have for example length that is a text field.

 

изображение.png

 

Best Regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

 

 

  • Like 2
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  • 9 months later...

@Nikolay Zhelyazkov I need to display volume in both imperial and metric.

 

Is it possible to have a formula in the data tag that converts imperial to metric, and then I can just manually add the marker?

 

If there's an issue with numbers vs text, I could also calc metric area x metric height.

 

Is there a link to data tag formulas / functions in documentation somewhere?

 

Edited by Mark Aceto
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Hi Mark!

 

I don't think the data tag will be able to handle the math from metric to feet & inches.  It might be able to go the other way?   It will depend on wether the data types for the dimensions or area are numeric or string.

 

I've run into a similar problem before.  In this case it was for space objects.  I think I solved it by using a script to write some data based on some space area calculation to one of the user fields and then include that user field in the (at the time, space tag).   If I remember it was calculating occupant load per space based on a local building code.

 

If you have an example you can share I'll see if the script solution will work.

 

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
13 hours ago, Mark Aceto said:

Is there a link to data tag formulas / functions in documentation somewhere?

I don't think so, you can see all the formulas from the Define tag Field dialog.

 

13 hours ago, Mark Aceto said:

 I need to display volume in both imperial and metric.

 

Is it possible to have a formula in the data tag that converts imperial to metric, and then I can just manually add the marker?

- Could you give me some more information about this? If you have a volume field that you would display in 2 different units, you can easily just have 2 formulas in your data tag with different units, as shown below with a volume field of a custom record displayed in cu m and cu ft:

 

image.png

 

If this is not the case, could you give me a test file?

 

Best Regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

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@Nikolay Zhelyazkov I was able to get all of the data into the tag by choosing the correct parameters. The only issue I haven't solved is how to show the thousands separator. Although I have that box checked in Doc / Units, it seems like that only applies to the Dimension tool. How can I set that for numbers in data tags? Is there another more general numbers setting (unrelated to dimensions) somewhere else in VW or Doc preferences?

 

Screen Shot 2020-10-14 at 8.41.56 AM.png

Screen Shot 2020-10-14 at 8.44.56 AM.png

Screen Shot 2020-10-14 at 8.45.02 AM.png

Edited by Mark Aceto
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@Nikolay Zhelyazkov, first of all thank you for Data Tags, what a beauty they have become.

 

I have a number field (kWidgetReal) where I load a glazing area. This now cannot be formatted with the needed units. Is this by design?

Do I have to turn it into a kWidgetAreaDisp? It would be a bit boring, that implies more code only for supporting conversion in data tags.

Thank you.

 

439823185_ScreenShot2020-10-15at03_36_18.thumb.png.87bb8d913cdc5b88c54117580743dbde.png

 

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
On 10/14/2020 at 6:47 PM, Mark Aceto said:

The only issue I haven't solved is how to show the thousands separator.

- There is a precision popup just below the units selection in the Define Tag field dialog. You can choose the thousands separator there for the Data Tag defined units.

 

On 10/14/2020 at 7:13 PM, Mark Aceto said:

also, I would like the Edit Tag Data window to display fields in the same order as the tag display:

- The Edit Tag Data fields are displayed based on the stacking order of the text objects in the Data Tag layout. You can move around the text objects using Right Click->Send to Back/Front/Backward/Forward and adjust your text object position in the Edit Tag Data dialog.

 

On 10/15/2020 at 5:26 AM, _c_ said:

first of all thank you for Data Tags, what a beauty they have become.

 

I have a number field (kWidgetReal) where I load a glazing area. This now cannot be formatted with the needed units. Is this by design?

Do I have to turn it into a kWidgetAreaDisp? It would be a bit boring, that implies more code only for supporting conversion in data tags.

- I am afraid that only dimension/area/volume defined real parameters could have customized units in the Data Tag. You can fill in a VE about that and it would be considered.

 

Best regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

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