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Office Standard for layers and classes


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I am a newbie with VW, since June 2021.  I am still in the process of developing company standards and was hoping that there are ways to accomplish the following (easily):

 

1. Class List/Organization - is there a report that can be printed to document the class structures?

2. Layer List/Organization - is there a report that can be printed to document the layers?

 

I did not find a preformated report that addressed these and quite honestly, I am not sure that I should spend the time developing one if an easy method already exists.

 

Another thing related to layers and classes - is there an easy way to determine if they are empty (have no data in them)? After experimenting with these, I have many what should be unused classes and layers that I would like to purge, but reluctant to do so (just in case they have data in them).

 

 

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If you use the purge command, it will not purge objects, just unused classes and layers.

 

If I understand you correctly, do you only need to know the name of layers and classes in an existing file or list the objects and which layer and class they are in for checking?


Either way, use a Worksheet.  Worksheets can display lists of objects and data in a file.

 

Open Resource Manager

 

Right Click > New Resource in... > Select 'Worksheet'

 

Set the first row as a Database (right click on row, and select 'Database')

 

130742581_Screenshot2021-10-30at12_44_54.thumb.png.8201338743aa54f26170946fa4cd855f.png

 

Set search criteria (e.g. All Objects or a specific type of object)

 

338242544_Screenshot2021-10-30at12_45_46.thumb.png.aa3f4c982361a1764802181b673b26f8.png

 

And in first column heading type

 

=L

 

in second column type

 

=C

 

this will list all objects found by the search and which Layers and Classes they are in in the file.

362248442_Screenshot2021-10-30at12_46_30.thumb.png.460745a4daa41ee8fb5bdac382b57e38.png

=S will list by Symbol Name

=T by Object Type

 

there are loads more besides.

 

you can then summarise by layer and or by class to list only the layers and classes in the file.

 

1121594222_Screenshot2021-10-30at12_47_28.thumb.png.9431dc7ee02f427f6c22446369c40490.png

 

i have a script for exporting a list of classes as a text file.  I am sure one could be written for layers too.  There is a command within the software to list symbols (Tools > Utilities > List Symbols).   However, worksheets are great because they can be exported as excel or csv.

 

if you are looking for class naming standards then Vectorworks ships with American Standards, i.e. AIA and the AEC UK libraries and you will find links to BS1192/ISO19650 libraries amongst my posts, otherwise ping me a PM.  Start with a known convention and add classes to suit.

 

Also consider using mapping tables to convert classes from one convention to another, eg from VW classes to AIA.

 

With regards to Layer naming there are no specific standards for layer naming, although they should be named in accordance with a standard.  The closest convention would be the convention for file naming in BS1192/ISO19650 but imho this is overkill.  It all comes down to which standards you need to comply with when you export a file. There are ways around it but if you want to issue DWG from a layer in accordance with a specific standard then the easiest thing to do is name that layer in that standard. If you don’t then it’s up to you.

 

Stories similarly do not have any specific industry standard, but should be named consistently and defined in the BEP (as Ifc Storey naming standards)

 

and depending which country you are in…

 

there is BS8541 for symbol and object and content naming, and it’s not-yet-released replacement, ISO22014

 

and ISO13567 class naming

 

and the AEC U.K. CAD standards…

 

we advise on standard adoption within vectorworks having been working with many practices In the U.K. for over 20 year and in my experience, the more tied down a standard is the less it will be adhered to, ironically. On the other hand, the looser the standard the more time you spend managing it.

 

One thing that has emerged recently and which is an absolute godsend is the way sheets and titleblock work.

 

if you have to export PDF or DWG in full ISO19660 naming, e.g.

 

ABC-XYZ-XX-00-DR-A-00001,

 

where the sheet number '00001', the important bit as far as most Architects are concerned, is at the end of the file name (blame the person or persons responsible for that frankly ridiculous decision) you can concatenate fields within the sheet to export a file in full ISO19650 naming, while name sheet layers simply as ‘00001’.

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3 hours ago, shorter said:

if you have to export PDF or DWG in full ISO19660 naming, e.g.

 

ABC-XYZ-XX-00-DR-A-00001,

 

where the sheet number '00001', the important bit as far as most Architects are concerned, is at the end of the file name (blame the person or persons responsible for that frankly ridiculous decision)

🤣 Absolutely agree with that naming formatting decision comment.

 

Though these naming conventions and other things were designed with "machine/computer automation" in mind, not humans, so the results can be somewhat bizarre at times.

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Thank you so much!!!  

My first and primary task is to catalog class and layer structures. 

I first considered the ISO layer standard, but my small projects do no warrant such elaborate and lengthy nomenclature.  The layer names are larger than the projects... 

 

Another thing I am struggling with is Construction Document annotations, etc.  Very little is offered, that I could find, for wall types, door types, and for dressing up the details,etc.  Is there a sample file or video out there that could guide me toward an easy and standard method of accomplishing them?

 

Again, thank you for the assistance.  I am in the process of completing 3 small projects (convenience stores) and am getting a little stressed in the details and schedules presentations.

 

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Not sure how you would refer to them in the US, but in the UK, the overall plan at 1:50, is a 'General Arrangement'.

 

BIM = General Arrangement Plans, Sections, Elevations.

 

Detail is 2D, overlaid on the model, in modelspace, and placed on sheets.

 

What do you draw at 1:50 = what you can see on a drawing board = anything less that 1mm separation is not drawn, so no walls with 2 layers of plasterboard and skim coat, etc.

 

You are always best advised to create your own content, in your standards, and not use the data that ships with the software.  This does take time, but the software vendor cannot possibly know what you want, let alone maintain it.

 

Build your own content, and put it somewhere on your server.

 

It will also be a lot more lightweight.

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2 hours ago, shorter said:

You are always best advised to create your own content, in your standards, and not use the data that ships with the software.  This does take time, but the software vendor cannot possibly know what you want, let alone maintain it.

 

Build your own content, and put it somewhere on your server.

Or you could use the vendor provided content if it meets your requirements and convert it to custom (own) content if possible, that will save you some time.

 

Most vendor content is ok for general purposes or if it is meeting some international standard to meet that standard. But it's not uncommon to need something slightly different so the advice to build your own content is definitely a good one. That way you will get to keep "outdated" content as well in case you need to update old drawings according to older standards if required. With relying on vendor content you risk that such content may be removed when it is updated/removed if standards etc. develop further/change.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you  for your input.

 

I finally created a detailed Kitchen Equipment Worksheet that was tremendous!!!

 

The bad news - when I opened my file today - POOF!!!  It is gone and it is nowhere to be found in resources.  Before spending much more time creating another one (my previous one had numerous pull-downs, etc. to simplify input) I was hoping that perhaps it hides somewhere...

Any suggestion is most appreciated.

 

 

Equipment List.jpg

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The worksheets ‘live’ in the Resource Manager. You can also see them listed in the window menu under the name of the file open.

 

create a layer called ‘schedules’ and place them on the layer.

 

If you cannot find it in the RM or in the window menu then it has gone! Go to your backup!

 

recommend you create a file in your ‘Favorites’ and save them there for future use as a template.

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