Notes Management with Databases

Instead of manually typing the text for every callout, keynote and general notes object, text that is used repeatedly—by one or many users—across projects and files can be stored in a tab-delimited text file (referred to as a “database”). The use of a database for storing notes saves time and prevents errors, and standardizes compliant notes usage across files.

There are no limits to the number of databases that can be used for annotating a drawing. The databases can have an unlimited number of notes of any length. After placement, notes can be easily updated if changes are made to a database.

Placing Database Callouts

Callouts with database notes are placed with the extended capabilities of the Callout tool.

 

To place a database callout:

1.	Click the Callout tool from the Basic palette.

2.	Click the Preferences button on the Tool bar.

The Callout Preferences dialog box opens. For more information on the Callout tool, see Inserting Callouts.

3.	Select Get Text from Database; the current database file is displayed as a button.

4.	To select a different database, click the database button.

The standard Open dialog box allows a different database file to be selected. Select the database file, and click Open.

A sample database is located in [VectorWorks]\Plug-Ins\Common\Data\Notes\Callouts.txt

5.

Click OK.

6.	Click in the drawing to place the callout object.

Once the callout leader is drawn, the Notes Manager:Callout dialog box opens automatically, displaying the information from the selected database.

The notes in a selected section are listed by a description. The description normally consists of the first 42 (Windows) or 38 (Macintosh) characters of the note.

 

Parameter	Description
Active Database	Displays the currently selected database file
New	Creates a new, blank database
Choose	Selects a different, existing database. A database from a previous version of VectorWorks can be specified, but it must be converted to the current version format as prompted.
Save As	Saves the current database with a new name
Sections in Database	Lists the note sections; the associated notes in a selected section are displayed in Notes in Database
Add	Adds a new note section; enter the section name in the Enter String dialog box
Remove	Deletes the currently selected section and its associated notes
Edit	Renames the currently selected section; enter the new name in the Enter String dialog box
Notes in Database	Lists the notes associated with the current database section
Add	Opens the Add Note dialog box, for adding a note to the database section
Remove	Deletes the currently selected note(s)
Edit	Opens the Edit Note dialog box, for editing the selected note or its description
Note Text	Displays the note text of the currently selected note; the note text can be edited
Database Filter	Filters the database sections, descriptions, or notes with a search term, to more easily locate a note
Edit	Opens the Edit List: Callout Filters dialog box, to add or edit database filters
Prefs	Sets the automatic save options for the database
Update >	Moves the selected note to the Callout Text list for placement on the drawing
< Update	Replaces the database with the text in the Callout Text list
< Add	Adds the text in the Callout Text list to the database, placing it in the current database section
< Locate	If the selected text in the Callout Text list originated from a database, locates the note’s database, section, and description

7.	To add a note to a selected section, click Add under Notes in Database.

The Add Note dialog box opens. Specify the section, description, and note text.

 

Parameter	Description
Section	Select the associated section for the note
Description	By default, consists of the first 42 (Windows) or 38 (Macintosh) characters of the note text; deselect Use the first 42 characters (Windows) or Use the first 38 characters (Macintosh), and enter a different note description, if desired
Note Text	Type the new note text
Use the first 42 characters (Windows) or Use the first 38 characters (Macintosh)	If the default description is not desired, deselect and enter a new Description

8.	Click OK to add the note to the specified section and return to the Notes Manager:Callout dialog box.

9.	Change the note description by selecting the description and clicking Edit.

The Edit Note dialog box opens. To enter a different note description, deselect Use the first 42 characters (Windows) or Use the first 38 characters (Macintosh), and change the Description. The note text can also be edited, if desired, and the note can be associated with a different section.

10.	Click OK to edit the note description and return to the Notes Manager:Callout dialog box.

11.	The text of a selected note can be edited in Note Text.

12.

To search easily for a note, section, or description, use a filter. Only notes, sections, or descriptions with the specified text are displayed. Select the desired filter from the Database Filter list in the Notes Manager:Callout dialog box. To display all notes, sections, and descriptions, select All Notes. In addition, if no items match a selected filter, all notes are displayed.

13.	To edit the database search filters, select Edit List from the Database Filter list.

The Edit List:Callout Filters dialog box opens. The filters are listed in order.

 

Parameter	Description
Filter list	Lists the search filters in the order they display in the database filter list
Add	Adds a search filter to the list; enter the new term in the Enter String dialog box
Remove	Deletes the currently selected search filter(s)
Edit	Renames the current search filter; enter the new name in the Enter String dialog box
Move Up/Move Down	Changes the filter list order; select the search filter and move it up or down in the list

14.	Click OK to change the search filters and return to the Notes Manager:Callout dialog box.

15.	Changes and additions to the notes database are saved automatically according to the preferences specified. Click Prefs to set these preferences.

The Database Preferences dialog box opens. Set the desired actions that automatically save database changes by selecting the associated checkbox(es). If no automatic saving is specified, you will be prompted frequently about saving the database.

The Locate and Hide Database options are available when editing a General Notes or Keynote Legend with database.

16.	Click OK to return to the Notes Manager:Callout dialog box.

17.	Once the desired note has been entered or located, select it and click Update > to move it to the Callout Text list.

18.	Click OK. The selected note is used for the callout text.

Editing a Database Callout

The database callout can be edited after placement.

To edit a database callout:

1.	To change the note text, select the callout and click Edit Note in the Object Info palette.

2.	The Notes Manager:Callout dialog box opens. Select a different note as described in Placing Database Callouts, and click OK.

3.	Other callout parameters can be edited in the Object Info palette as for an ordinary callout object. For more information on the Callout tool, see Inserting Callouts.

4.	After placement, a database callout can be converted into an ordinary callout object by deselecting Get Text from Database in the Object Info palette. The callout text can then be edited by clicking Edit Note in the Object Info palette; the database text is not affected.

Placing Database Keynote Legends

Keynote legends can take advantage of a notes database.

 

To place a database keynote legend:

1.	Click the Callout tool from the Basic palette.

2.	Click the Preferences button on the Tool bar.

The Callout Preferences dialog box opens. As described in Placing Keynotes, select Place As Keynote and click OK.

3.	Place the callouts in the drawing area.

4.	Select the keynote legend. In the Object Info palette, click Edit Notes.

5.	The Notes Manager:Keynote List dialog box opens.

6.	If necessary, click Show Database Controls to access the keynote legend database parameters.

The dialog box is divided into two sections, with the database information on the left and the keynote legend information on the right. The buttons in the center of the dialog box move information from the database to the legend and vice-versa.

 

Parameter	Description
Active Database, Sections in Database, Notes in Database, Note Text, Database Filter, and Prefs	Edits the database sections, notes, note text, search filters, and saving preferences as described in Placing Database Callouts
Notes in the Selected Keynote Legend Object	Edits the keynote legend notes and description as described in Placing Keynotes
Update >	Overwrites the selected keynote legend note with the selected database note
< Update	Overwrites the selected database note with the selected keynote legend note
< Add	Adds the selected keynote legend note to the database, placing it in the current database section
Auto-Locate	Automatically locates the database, section, and description of a selected keynote legend note, if the note originated from a database
< Locate	If the selected keynote legend note originated from a database, locates the note’s database, section, and description
Hide Database Controls	Hides the database portion of the keynote legend dialog box

7.	Click OK to change the keynote legend, replacing the notes with database notes.

Placing Database General Notes

General notes can take advantage of a notes database.

 

To place a database general notes object:

1.	Click the General Notes tool from the Dims/Notes tool set.

2.	Click to place the general notes object in the drawing.

The Notes Manager:General Notes dialog box opens.

3.	Click Show Database Controls to access the general notes database parameters.

The dialog box is divided into two sections, with the database information on the left and the general notes information on the right. The buttons in the center of the dialog box move information from the database to the general notes and vice-versa.

 

Parameter	Description
Active Database, Sections in Database, Notes in Database, Note Text, Database Filter, and Prefs	Edits the database sections, notes, note text, search filters, and saving preferences as described in Placing Database Callouts
Notes in the Selected General Notes Object	Edits the general notes and description as described in Placing General Notes
Add >	Adds a database note to the general notes
Update >	Overwrites the selected general note with the selected database note
< Update	Overwrites the selected database note with the selected general note
< Add	Adds the selected general note to the database, placing it in the current database section
Auto-Locate	Automatically locates the database, section, and description of a selected general note, if the note originated from a database
< Locate	If the selected general note originated from a database, locates the note’s database, section, and description
Hide Database Controls	Hides the database portion of the general notes dialog box

4.	The note in the Notes in the Selected General Notes Object list will be placed as a general note. Click OK to place the general note.

Adding Text to a Database

Text objects can be added from the drawing to a selected database. This is convenient for retrieving text from older, converted files for use with the Notes Manager or when adding frequently-used text to a database for easy future insertion as an annotation.

To add drawing text to a database:

1.	Select Text > Add Text to Database.

The Add Text to Database dialog box opens. Specify which text objects to select and indicate in which databases to search for duplicated text.

 

Parameter	Description
Add Text Meeting These Criteria	Specifies the criteria for selecting text objects to be added to a database
Selected Text Only	Adds only selected text to the database; when deselected, adds text from all text objects in the file
Layers/Classes	Adds only text from the specified layers and/or classes to the database; when deselected, adds text from text objects in all layers or classes in the file
Exclude Text Already in One of These Databases	Lists the databases in which to search for duplicated text; the text search is case sensitive and the match must be exact. If duplicated text is found, it is not added to the database.
Add	Adds a database to the text search database list
Change	Allows changes to a selected database’s location
Remove	Removes a database from the text search database list

2.	Click OK. If any of the text was not found in the text search database(s), the Notes Manager:Add Text to Database dialog box opens.

3.	The text to be added is listed on the right. As described in Placing Database Keynote Legends, the text can be added to the active database in the desired section. Click OK.

Reconciling Database and Drawing Notes

The Reconcile Notes command handles differences between the database and the notes in the drawing. For example, if database callouts have been placed and the database is edited afterwards, differences must be reconciled.

To reconcile notes:

1.	Select Text > Reconcile Notes.

The Reconcile Notes dialog box opens. Select the note objects to reconcile.

 

Parameter	Description
Callouts with “Get Text from Database” checked	Selects database callouts
Callouts with “Get Text from Database” unchecked	Selects ordinary callouts and keynote callouts
Callouts that used to get their text from a database	Selects callouts that were once database callouts and obtained note text from a database
Callouts that never got their text from a database	Selects callouts that did not obtain note text from a database
General Notes objects	Selects general notes
Layers / Classes	Select the layers and classes with notes to include for reconciliation

2.

Click OK to reconcile the notes. If any of the notes reference databases, the Notes Manager attempts to locate those databases. It searches first in the same folder as the current file; if not found, it searches in the same place relative to the VectorWorks executable. If the databases still cannot be found, the Notes Manager tries to locate them with fully-qualified paths.

Place database files from another user in the same folder as the drawing file so that the Notes Manager can easily locate the databases.

3.	If a database referenced by notes cannot be located, the Cannot Locate Database(s) dialog box opens. For each database that cannot be located, click Browse to specify the database location.

4.	Click OK. Next, the Notes Manager searches the database(s) for the notes.

5.	If one or more notes cannot be located in the database, an alert opens.

If there are no additional database files to be specified, click No and proceed to step 8. If the notes could be located in another database, click Yes to specify the database location.

6.	The Specify Database Search List dialog box opens. Click Add to specify additional databases where the notes are located. Click Remove to delete a selected database from the list. The number of notes which have been located is displayed.

7.

Click OK.

8.	If some notes have still not been located, the Notes Manager:Reconcile Notes dialog box opens.

The dialog box is divided into two sections, with the database information on the left and the notes to be reconciled on the right. The buttons in the center of the dialog box move information from the database to the general notes and vice-versa.

By using the center buttons, reconcile each note manually. As a note is reconciled, it is removed from the list.

 

Parameter	Description
Active Database, Sections in Database, Notes in Database, Note Text, Database Filter, and Prefs	Edits the database sections, notes, note text, search filters, and saving preferences as described in Placing Database Callouts
Notes That Need To Be Reconciled	Displays the description and note text of the notes that have not been reconciled
Update >	Overwrites the selected note to be reconciled with the selected database note
< Update	Overwrites the selected database note with the selected note to be reconciled
< Add	Adds the selected note to be reconciled to the database, placing it in the current database section
Auto-Locate	Automatically tries to locate the database, section, and description of a selected note to be reconciled, if the note originated from a database
< Locate	If the selected note to be reconciled originated from a database, tries to locate the note’s database, section, and description

9.

Click OK.

An alert opens, showing how the notes were reconciled.

Locating Databases on a Network

To use databases efficiently in a multiple-user environment, the database files should be placed on a network. There, they can be accessed concurrently by several users who will then conform to office standards and will not need to retype notes.

Windows users should choose databases by browsing from Network Neighborhood (My Network Places) rather than from mapped drive letters. Otherwise, database references are dependent on drive mapping.

Database changes made by different users are merged automatically.

A conflict could arise if two different users edit the same note in the same database at the same time. If this occurs, the Resolve Note Conflict dialog box opens when closing the Notes Manager dialog box.

On the left, your version of the note displays, and on the right, the other user’s version displays. Select which version of the note to save by selecting Mine is better or The other note is better. Click OK to resolve the conflict.