Properties of Sheet Layer Viewports

Viewport Parameters

Once it has been created, the properties of the sheet layer viewport can be edited in the Object Info palette.

Viewports have a fill and pen style of None.

 

Parameter	Description
Object Position Locator	Specifies the point on the viewport’s bounding box that is to be positioned by the X and Y values; click on a different location to change the point
X / Y	Specifies the absolute position of the viewport’s bounding box along the X axis and Y axis, based on the point specified in the object position locator
Rotation	Sets the viewport rotation; if the viewport was created from a rotated plan view (Design Series required), this parameter can be used to reset the viewport to the world coordinate system
Crop	Indicates whether the selected viewport has been cropped (see Cropping Sheet Layer Viewports)
Update	Click to update the viewport to reflect any changes that have occurred since the viewport was created or last updated (see Status of a Sheet Layer Viewport)
Layers	Specifies which design layers are visible in the viewport and allows changes to some of the layer properties in the viewport; see Changing the Layer Properties of Sheet Layer Viewports
Project 2D Objects	Select to display 2D objects in a viewport with a view other than Top/Plan
Classes	Specifies which classes are visible in the viewport and allows changes to some of the class properties in the viewport, including changes to the properties for crop and annotation objects. Class visibilities can be overridden for a selected viewport; see Changing the Class Properties of Sheet Layer Viewports.
Scale	Specifies the viewport scale relative to the page; select a scale or choose Custom and enter the scale value in Custom Scale
Custom Scale	When a custom scale is selected, enter the scale value
View	Specifies the orientation of the design layer shown in the viewport; select a cardinal view or choose Custom and specify the view by clicking Set View
Set View	When a custom view is selected, click Set View to open the 3D Rotation dialog box for the entry of custom view parameters (see Rotating Precisely for more information)
Background/Foreground Render	Specifies the render mode(s) for the viewport. Select a background mode and specify the settings, if any. For a composite effect, also select an optional foreground mode and specify any settings (Wireframe, Sketch, Hidden Line, or Dashed Hidden Line are the only render modes available for foreground rendering). RenderWorks is required for certain render modes. OpenGL, Hidden Line, Dashed Hidden Line, Final Shaded Polygon, Artistic RenderWorks, Custom Radiosity, and Custom RenderWorks enable the render settings to be specified.
Render Settings	Certain render modes require parameters to be set; click to specify (see Line Render Options for Hidden Line Render settings, Rendering with VectorWorks for OpenGL and shaded polygon settings, Artistic RenderWorks Options for Artistic RenderWorks settings, Custom RenderWorks Options for Custom RenderWorks settings, and Radiosity for information on rendering with radiosity)
RW Background (RenderWorks required)	Select a RenderWorks background from either the default resources or the current file’s resources to use as a background for the viewport; see VectorWorks Fundamentals Default Resources
Projection	Select the projection type for the viewport (see Projection)
Perspective Type	For Perspective projection, select the type of perspective, or choose Custom and specify the perspective distance
Perspective Dist	For custom perspectives, enter the perspective distance
Lighting Options	Click to change the ambient light parameters described in Setting Lighting Options. By default, a viewport’s ambient light is set according to the ambient light settings of the first visible design layer in the viewport. If there are no visible layers, then the ambient light is set to on, with a color of white and a brightness of 35% (similar to the default ambient lighting for a design layer).
Advanced Properties	Opens the Advanced Viewport Properties dialog box; see Advanced Sheet Layer Viewport Properties

Advanced Sheet Layer Viewport Properties

To access additional viewport parameters, click Advanced Properties from the Object Info palette of a selected viewport.

The Advanced Viewport Properties dialog box opens. These settings affect the viewport display only, and do not change the original design layer(s).

 

Parameter	Description
Line Weight Scale	Enter a value larger than 1.0 to increase the viewport line weights, or a value below 1.0 (but larger than 0) to decrease the line weights
Marker Scale	Enter a value larger than 1.0 to increase the viewport marker size, or a value below 1.0 (but larger than 0) to decrease the marker size
Dashed Line Scale	Enter a value larger than 1.0 to increase the length and spacing of viewport dash segments, or a value below 1.0 (but larger than 0) to decrease the length and spacing of dashed line segments
Hatch Line Scale	Enter a value larger than 1.0 to increase the spacing between viewport hatch lines, or a value below 1.0 (but larger than 0) to decrease the spacing between hatch lines
Text Scale	Enter a value larger than 1.0 to increase the text size in viewports, or a value below 1.0 (but larger than 0) to decrease the text size; only associated viewport text is affected
Show Wall Components	Displays or hides wall components in Top/Plan view, regardless of the document preferences wall component display setting (see Display Preferences)
Render Gray Layers Transparent	Design layers with a visibility set to “Gray” are rendered as transparent, similar to the transparent effect achieved with the Stack Layers command in the Design Series (see Stacking Layers)
Black and white only	Changes all colors in the viewport to black or white; this is useful for displaying two viewport copies on the same sheet layer, with one in color and the other in black and white. However, if the document preferences display setting is black and white, viewports will also display as black and white.
Adjust Flipped Text	Re-orients rotated and flipped text in the viewport so that it is always readable (regardless of the VectorWorks flipped text preference; see Display Preferences)
Preview	Displays the viewport with a preview of the advanced settings

Status of a Sheet Layer Viewport

The status of a sheet layer viewport is indicated visually.

 

Viewport Status	Description
Normal	A normal, up-to-date viewport displays with rectangular handles when selected
Out of date	When the objects in a viewport have changed since the viewport was created or last updated, the viewport becomes out of date. An out-of-date viewport is displayed with a red and white outline.
Empty	A viewport is displayed as a red “X” when the associated design layer contains no objects or the objects are hidden, or when the associated design layer is set to “invisible”