# Why can't I select it? (Vectorworks)



## Taylor Cambas (Oct 24, 2013)

I'm having an issue selecting my fixtures in Vectorworks without force selecting them. I am in the same layer and class that the instruments are in, but unless I click the insertion point or (as I said before) force select them I cannot click on them. Thoughts?


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## thematthewman (Oct 24, 2013)

Make sure that you have the layer not only viewable but also active.


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## bdkdesigns (Oct 25, 2013)

I've noticed a lot of bugs in 2014, one of which Vectorworks is losing orientation with my mouse. Suddenly it thinks my pointer is about 1/2" up and 1/4" to the left. This has happened on my Mac and PC. Closing VW and restarting the program solves that problem.


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## RickR (Oct 25, 2013)

bdkdesigns said:


> I've noticed a lot of bugs in 2014, one of which Vectorworks is losing orientation with my mouse. Suddenly it thinks my pointer is about 1/2" up and 1/4" to the left. This has happened on my Mac and PC. Closing VW and restarting the program solves that problem.



Try posting about bugs over in the VW forum: http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php There is a very active tech support guy making the forums far more useful. 

Most others are finding 2014 more stable than other recent versions.


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## alyx92 (Oct 25, 2013)

Make sure you have "Show, Snap, Modify Others" toggled ON in your classes and layers. You can do this in the navigation pane


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## bdkdesigns (Oct 25, 2013)

I've been calling them left and right. My two biggest complaints are that issue and the new key to instrumentation is horribly unstable. I've gotten used to saving before inserting it to check on inventory counts. They tried passing it off on my computer not being strong enough. Only then I explained that I'm using an AMD 8 core processor, 32 gb or RAM, and a 2gb video card. If that can't handle putting in an instrument key, then they are in big trouble.

Another issue I had was that the amber colors were showing up as green colors in that new instrument key. They never did come up with an answer as to why that was happening. Something happened to the file though because when I started from scratch on a new plot, it worked properly. That plot in particular I ended up starting the day before 2014 ended up being released so it must have had an issue from going from 2013 to 2014. Ironically however it ended up not mattering since our color plotter went down and I ended up having to plot it on our old black and white one. They all ended up being shades of grey anyways.


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## Taylor Cambas (Oct 26, 2013)

My layers were shown/ active/ and able to be worked on. I guess it was just a glitch it seems to be working fine now. Now I need to know how to make a symbol of symbols for a t-3 strip light


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## RickR (Oct 27, 2013)

Do you want a true multi circuit symbol or just a symbol of already made units?

Multi circuit fixtures have never really been workable for me. But then I don't need the full database functions they provide. If you can get away with just a fixture that says its a strip light then jut build the symbol. A symbol can very easily contain other symbols, gather the parts you want, select them and "make symbol". For making "fixtures" check the help or vectorworks.com website for the details of the parts and lighting information records. There are some nice tutorials. It's a bit more complex and depends on what your really want as the end product.

On the selection issue: I've had a few times when I can only select what's on the current layer no matter what my settings were. Not sure why...


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## Taylor Cambas (Oct 29, 2013)

I couldn't even select the objects the the layer I was currently in. I think it was a glitch. I'm gonna have to play with making multi-symbol symbols...Thanks guys


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## RickA (Jun 3, 2017)

Taylor Cambas said:


> I'm having an issue selecting my fixtures in Vectorworks without force selecting them. I am in the same layer and class that the instruments are in, but unless I click the insertion point or (as I said before) force select them I cannot click on them. Thoughts?


I realize this is an ancient post, but I was having the identical problem and ran across this post, which doesn't answer the question. However, I found the answer and am posting it here because I will probably forget and maybe I'll find this post again the next time it happens.

The problem is your Symbol class/layer does not match the instance class/layer and you do not have show/snap others/modify selected. You probably don't want to modify everything which is why you don't have that selected. You can fix the problem by changing either the symbol class/layer or the instance class/layer to match the other. To change the symbol class layer, right click on the symbol in the resource browser and edit the 2D symbol. In the Object Info palette, change the Class/Layer to match what you're using in your drawing. To change the instance, select the instance(s) of the symbol where you use it and then in the OIP change the Class/Layer of the instance to match those used by the symbol. 

What is happening? Since you're using two different Class/Layers for the same object, it's impossible to select it unless you can modify both layers. The only way to do this is to turn on 
"show/snap others/modify" and then you can modify both at once. For some unknown (to me anyway) reason, it will let you select and modify the instance in the instance Class/Layer if you click on exactly the right spot or select it with a bounding box. It's easier to find 'right spots' if you have Draw Beam checked. Again, I don't know why. It's just a quirk of VW.


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