Workgroup Folders

In a workgroup environment, create folders on the network to hold custom content files that are shared by coworkers. These files might contain content that will be used by all users (such as templates, symbols, or hatches). Or they might contain custom content specific to different projects. Each VectorWorks Design Series user can then designate the appropriate workgroup folders in the VectorWorks Preferences, so that the custom content will be available in VectorWorks.

When VectorWorks presents data in the interface, it includes content from the user and workgroup folders as well as the content it ships with. For example, select Modify > Hatch to edit a hatch; the Hatches dialog box shows all default hatches from your VectorWorks, user, and workgroup folders.

A file in the user folder takes precedence if a file name is repeated in any of the folders. For example, if both of the following files exist, only the content from the user folder shows in VectorWorks.

[User]\Libraries\Defaults\Walls\Wall Styles Imperial.vwx

[Workgroup]\Libraries\Defaults\Walls\Wall Styles Imperial.vwx

To create workgroup folders:

1.	Select Tools > Options > VectorWorks Preferences, and then click the User Folders tab.

 

Parameter	Description
User Data and Preferences Folder	Specifies the folder that contains VectorWorks preferences, log files, workspaces, and any personal content you create. This might be a folder on the local computer, or on a USB drive or network drive; this allows you to run VectorWorks from any computer.
Choose	Click Choose to change the user data folder. VectorWorks must be restarted if you change the location of the user data. See User Data and Preferences Folder for details.
Explore (Windows) or Reveal in Finder (Macintosh)	To look at the contents of the current folder, click Explore (to open Windows Explorer) or click Reveal in Finder (to open Macintosh Finder)
Workgroup and Project Folders	Specifies the folders where VectorWorks will look for additional content, such as shared project files and workgroup reference files. This might be a shared folder on a network drive, or a project-specific folder on the local computer. Folders are searched in order from the top of the list to bottom; if multiple files with the same name are found, only the first version of the file is shown in the program. To change the position of a folder, click in the # column and drag the folder up or down in the list.
Add	Opens a dialog box to select a folder to add to the list
Remove	Deletes the selected folder from the list
Explore (Windows) or Reveal in Finder (Macintosh)	Displays the contents of the selected folder in either Windows Explorer or Macintosh Finder

2.	To add content, create a subfolder that matches the standard VectorWorks subfolder for that type of data (Libraries, Plug-ins, Settings, Standards, Templates, or Workspaces). If necessary, create additional subfolders within those folders.

Do not modify the Plant Database subfolder, if present. Place custom plant symbols in one of the plant library subfolders (in the Libraries\Defaults folder).

3.	Place the custom file in the folder. For example, to add custom hatches to the default content in VectorWorks, add the file of custom hatches to the folder Libraries\Defaults\Attributes - Hatches.