VectorWorks Drawing Structure

A VectorWorks drawing is a container full of drawing objects, to output the needed results, the objects must have various properties defined, such as their geometry, their attributes, their graphical representations (2D/3D/Hybrid) and their behavior (plugins).

To assist in handling the large number of the drawing objects that are typically present in any drawing, VectorWorks offers several features to help organize and display a drawing: design layers, sheet layers, classes, viewports, and views. Create a structured system with these features to make it considerably easier to select, view, and print drawing elements.

Classes

Drawing objects are assigned to classes; a class is an attribute of an object. Classes apply to the entire file and control the visibility of objects. Classes can be set to be visible, invisible, or grayed when they are inactive.

Complex objects, such as symbols or plug-in objects, may contain more than one class; different parts of the object can be hidden or shown. Classes can also be used to assign graphical attributes and textures to objects.

Many plug-in objects that are included with VectorWorks are set with pre-assigned classes. The appropriate classes are created by the Setup commands. The use of auto-classing is determined with the Standard Naming setup command.

Layers and Viewports

A VectorWorks layer is a named container that holds items. VectorWorks uses two types of layers: design layers and sheet layers.

Design layers are used for drawing and modeling the elements of a project.

Sheet layers are created for the presentation of a finalized drawing, and can contain viewports, title blocks, notes, and other annotations.

A viewport, located on a sheet layer, is a particular combination of visible, grayed, and/or hidden design layers and classes.

Layers have certain characteristics that are used when drawing and structuring files:

• Design layers can automatically set default Z-values for objects they contain. They create natural structural divisions within a drawing for objects on different floors or different vertical locations within a floor.
  
• Design layers can be visible, invisible, or grayed. Sheet layers are always set to Active Only.
  
• Design layers, as well as viewports, can be displayed at different drawing scales, for the display of all aspects of a drawing plan from the site model to details.
  
• Design layers, as well as viewports, can have different 3D views. A building can be viewed in Plan view in one viewport and in an elevation or perspective view in another.
  
• Layers can be contained in different files and shared using workgroup referencing.

Drawings set up with the Setup commands contain both design layers and sheet layers with viewports. A project file contains, at a minimum, design layers for every level, as well as a number of viewports on sheet layers.