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VW CAD management and plug-in quirks


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I am currently managing a set of about 20 plug-in objects for an office of about 20 people. I am wondering how people deal with making updates to plug-in objects/tools (like when there are bugs, etc) and distributing these things so that the current files don't break.

As an example, you can't change the plug-in name and redistribute it because on the client machines, files will open and look for the original name. The plugin objects won't be editable.

Same thing happens if you happen to change the name of a parameter: this is worse because all the existing parameter data gets lost.

What other caveats should a VectorScript programmer watch out for? Do you release "versions" of plug-ins and manually update plug-ins?

I'm in the position now where I made some updates and now all of our custom building section markers and detail tags have lost their data. And since I didn't keep a backup of the old plug-ins, I have no way of going back.

Advice for the future?

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  • 4 weeks later...

In terms of the current files that you have I would recommend using the same version of VW used to create the files and using VW12 for new projects only. I say this because of the exact problem you've encountered. Generally its not a good idea to use new software with mission critical files. As with any new version it should be tested troughly first, and then implemented.

For your files that contain "broken" plug-in obects I would do everything possible to locate your original plug-ins. Perhaps you archived them, or maybe they could be found on a client machine that still has the old version of Vectorworks with the plug-ins intact. Once the plug-ins are replaced the data should appear correctly.

If you insist on using VW12 for these files the following method may work for you.

- Duplicate and backup your "plug-in" folder.

- Use the "Vectorscript plug-in editor" and select the plug-in (lets say its the "Door" object)

- Duplicate the door and append VW12 to the name

- Delete the original plug-in VW12 "Door" object

- Close VW

- Insert your old "Door" or your custom "Door" into the plug-in folder

Now the VW12 plug-in is still availible through the workspace editor and your custom objects should be editable with the data intact. (Thats if you were able to find a backup of the custom plug-ins).

Keep in mind that updates to Vectorworks will likly replace those objects again in the future. The same process would have to be repeated.

In the future try using descript plug-in names. ie w/ your firms initials in front. That way they won't get replaced in the future.

Hope this helps.

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