importing plant database

[Earthworker]

when i try to import the plant database that i have on cd the program only recognizes that i have 2 records.

when i veiw the cd in filemaker pro i have like 1124 different plant records.

how come vw doesnt retrieve all of my plants from the disk?

i want to replace the default plants with the ones on my disk.

very frustrating indeed. not

[Robert Anderson]

This gets to the heart of what a "plant" is in Vectorworks LandMark. A Plant is an object that keeps together 5 things in a single package. Those things are:

-A 2D representation of the plant;

-A 3D representation of the plant (optional);

-A set of plant data (species, etc.);

-A placement method (geometric placement, spread);

-A "style" (graphical treatment);

The first three items in the list are combined and managed in the PLANT DEFINITION. This definition works very much like a symbol definition, in that in your symbol library there is a "master" plant of a given type that, if you change it, all the plants of that type will be changed. You create these Plant Definitions using the EDIT PLANT CATALOG... command. In this command, you associate a 2D look (based on a 2D symbol), a 3D look, and a record from the Plant Reference Database to make a Plant Definition.

You use the PLANT REFERENCE DATABASE... command to review and edit your plant data records once you have imported them into the proper VectorWorks Landmark format. When you are speaking of your 1124 records from Filemaker Pro I suspect you are talking about only this one aspect of the plant. Once you have formatted this data in the proper Tab-delimited order, it can be used by the Plant Reference Data command (and by extension the Plant definintions). You can use the VWL Plant Database Utility to format this file to the proper form for VWL. See the topic "Importing Plant Database Files" in your online help for more information on this.

The plant definitions in the active document are collectively referred to as the PLANT CATALOG. The plant catalog is a collection of Plant Objects stored as symbols. These symbols are located in the symbol folder System Folder:~PlantCatalog: Once you've set up a document with your desired Plant Catalog, all you have to do to start a new project is to import the System Folder from your already-setup document into your new document, then you're ready to go. See the topic "Moving Plant Data between Projects" in your online help.

Because a plant is an object, it behaves as an object does regarding its main colors. The backmost fillable object in a 2D plant symbol (usually the first circle or polygon used to draw the plant) is treated specially by the Plant object. The Plant allows you to "fill" your plant with any kind of fill from the Attributes Palette, so you can give your plant a pattern, a special color, or even an image fill as you like. For more information on the use of your own 2D symbols as the basis for Plant definitions, see the topic "Plant Catalog Symbols" in your on-line help.

The PLACE PLANT TOOL gives you control over your plants' placements and previews the plant geometry as you go. The plants that you see as choices when you select the "settings" button in the Place Plant Tool are those plants in the active document's plant catalog. The first time you use the tool, if the plant catalog has not been used, it automatically sets up the catalog with some "generic" plants, so you can begin using the tool right away. You can place plants and do your design even with generic plants, because the Place Plant Tool has a mode (called "pickup/putdown") that lets you replace any plant placement with any other plant, while preserving the geometry of the placement. Each plant of a given type can be drawn with a different spread. When you first select a plant as the active plant for the place plant tool, the default spread for that plant definition is used.

Lastly, there are many options for altering the appearance of placed plants using the SET PLANT STYLE... command. You can change the plant appearances in the following ways:

-alter the style and size of the "tick" that you use for the plant center;

-randomly rotate plants in a cluster;

-unify the appearance of clustered plants with a single outline;

-make plants appear "grayed" and transparent so you can see ground planting beneath them;

-give plants a "shadow" with any of several graphical fills;

-make plants appear "sketched" or hand-drawn;

Because some of these "styling" commands can be time-consuming to compute and draw, there is the option to turn it on or off for all plants using the SHOW OR HIDE PLANT STYLES command, which will toggle plant styles on or off.

I know this is a very long answer to your apparently simple question, but the way you were approaching the terminology made me feel that a small "orientation" might be in order. HTH

[Earthworker]

okay i figured out how to replace all of the plants, it was simply an issue with sorting and showing all records and then saving it to a file.

now how do i export this info back to vectorworks so it recognizes the new plants.

i tried the place plant tool and it is still using the default plant list.

thanks in advance.