Organizing the Drawing

When you begin a drawing project, first develop a layer and class structure, along with a system for assigning items to the appropriate layers and classes. A VectorWorks layer is basically a container that holds items. Layers are comparable to the sheets of vellum that are used for hand-drafting; each item “belongs” to a layer in the same way that a hand-drafted item “belongs” to its vellum sheet. A class, however, is an attribute of an object. Classes span the layers and allow you to control the attributes and visibility of objects across multiple layers. To output specific elements of a drawing quickly and easily, simply select the appropriate layers and classes for display.

VectorWorks also provides ways to save the current drawing display with histories and saved views, and to present final drawings with viewports. Views and histories provide a “slice-of-time” look at the drawing. Histories record views of the drawing in a stack similar to the way Internet browsers do, while saved views store one or more aspects of the current display, such as the view, zoom, and layer and class visibility settings. Viewports are used to display final views of a drawing for client presentation.

Create and manage these structural elements using the Organization dialog box. This dialog box has specialized functions to sort and select its list items; see List Box Functionality.

To use the Organization dialog box:

1.	Select Tools > Organization. Alternatively, click the Classes or Layers button on the View bar, or select Edit View from the Saved Views menu on the View bar.

The Organization dialog box opens.

2.	Select the appropriate tab for the VectorWorks element to be created or edited: Classes, Design Layers, Sheet Layers, Viewports, Saved Views, or References.

3.	From the top of the dialog box, select either Details or Visibilities view.

Generally, the Details view shows the current settings for each element, and enables editing of layer and class visibilities in the drawing area; the Visibilities view enables editing of layer and class visibilities in viewports and in saved views.

4.	Buttons at the bottom of each tab provide creation and management functions. Alternatively, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) on a list item to display a context menu, which has most of the same functions as the tab buttons.

 

Button	Function
Classes tab
New	Click New to open the Class Options (Macintosh) or New Class (Windows) dialog box. See Creating Classes.
Edit	Select a class and click Edit to edit it in the Edit Class(es) dialog box. See Setting Class Properties.
Duplicate	Select a class and click Duplicate to create a copy of it. The name of the duplicate is the same as the original class, with a number added (as in cabinets-2); if the original name ends in a number, the number is incremented by one.
Delete	Select a class and click Delete to open the Delete Class(es) dialog box. Specify what to do with the objects currently assigned to the class(es) being deleted (delete them, or reassign them to another selected class). Click OK to return to the Organization dialog box. VectorWorks moves all objects in the deleted class(es) to the appropriate class, or deletes them, as specified. Note that the Dimension and None classes cannot be deleted. These are default classes in every drawing.
Preview	Displays a preview of the current settings in the drawing area
Design Layers tab
New	Click New to open the New Design Layer dialog box. See Creating Layers.
Edit	Select a layer and click Edit to edit it in the Edit Design Layers dialog box. See Setting Design Layer Properties.
Duplicate	Select a design layer and click Duplicate to create a copy of it. The name of the duplicate is the same as the original layer, with a number added (as in floorplan-2); if the original name ends in a number, the number is incremented by one.
Delete	Select a design layer and click Delete; when prompted, click Yes to confirm the deletion. When a design layer is removed from the drawing, all objects in that layer are also removed. Note that at least one design layer must remain in the drawing.
Preview	Displays a preview of the current settings in the drawing area
Update Reference (on the context menu only)	(Layer import referencing method only) This option is available if a design layer has been imported into this file with workgroup referencing (the name of the referenced layer displays in italics). From the layer’s context menu, select Update Reference to update this file with layer information from the master file. See Workgroup Referencing.
Page Setup	Opens the Page Setup dialog box. See Page Setup.
Sheet Layers tab
New	Click New to open the New Sheet Layer dialog box. See Creating Layers.
Edit	Select a sheet layer and click Edit to edit it in the Edit Sheet Layers dialog box. See Setting Sheet Layer Properties.
Duplicate	Select a sheet layer and click Duplicate to create a copy of it. The name of the duplicate is the same as the original layer, with a number added (as in floorplan-2); if the original name ends in a number, the number is incremented by one.
Delete	Select a sheet layer and click Delete; when prompted, click Yes to confirm the deletion
Preview	Displays a preview of the current settings in the drawing area
Viewports tab
New	Select New to open the Create Viewport dialog box. For sheet layer viewports, see Creating a Sheet Layer Viewport from a Design Layer. For design layer viewports (VectorWorks Design Series required), see Creating a Referenced Design Layer Viewport.
Edit	Select a viewport and then select Edit to edit it in the Properties dialog box. For sheet layer viewports, see Properties of Sheet Layer Viewports. For design layer viewports (VectorWorks Design Series required), see Properties of Design Layer Viewports.
Duplicate	Select a viewport and click Duplicate to create a copy of it. The name of the duplicate is the same as the original viewport, with a number added (as in details-2); if the original name ends in a number, the number is incremented by one. VectorWorks places the duplicate viewport directly on top of the original, in the original sheet layer.
Delete	Select a viewport and click Delete; when prompted, click Yes to confirm the deletion
Preview	Displays a preview of the current settings in the drawing area
Saved Views tab
New	Click New to open the Save View dialog box. See Creating Saved Views.
Edit	Select a saved view and click Edit to edit it in the Edit Saved View dialog box. See Editing Saved Views.
Duplicate	Select a saved view and click Duplicate to create a copy of it. The name of the duplicate is the same as the original view, with a number added (as in deckview-2); if the original name ends in a number, the number is incremented by one.
Delete	Select a saved view and click Delete; when prompted, click Yes to confirm the deletion
References tab
New	Click New to open the Open File dialog box. For layer import references, see Adding and Editing Layer Import References. For design layer viewport references (VectorWorks Design Series required), see Creating a Referenced Design Layer Viewport.
Edit	Select a referenced file and click Edit to open the Edit Reference dialog box. For layer import references, see Adding and Editing Layer Import References. For design layer viewport references (VectorWorks Design Series required), see Creating a Referenced Design Layer Viewport.
Delete	Select a referenced file and click Delete. In the Delete Reference dialog box, specify what to do with the items in the file that are currently referenced. See Deleting References.
Update	Select a referenced file and click Update to update this file with information from the master file. See Updating References.
Settings	Click Settings to open the Reference Settings dialog box. See Setting the Referencing Options.