Once a plant definition symbol’s plant geometry is established (see Creating Plant Geometry for the Plant Definition), you can add botanical data and other parameters to a plant definition to prescribe the default settings for a specific type of plant.
To add plant data to a plant definition:
Select the plant definition symbol to edit and open the Edit Plant Definition dialog box using one of the following methods:
● To create a new plant definition based on the existing plant definition symbol, select the Create New Plant command from the appropriate menu:
● Designer workspace: AEC > Plants > Create New Plant
● Landmark workspace: Landmark > Create New Plant
Alternatively, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac) on the plant and select Create Plant from Object from the context menu.
● To add data to or edit an existing plant definition, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac) on the plant and select Edit from the context menu. Then click Definition and click OK.
Alternatively, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac) on the plant definition from the Resource Browser and select Edit Definition from the context menu.
● From within the Plant Tool Preferences dialog box or the Plant Settings dialog box, click Edit Plant Definition from any pane to edit the current definition, or click Duplicate from the Definition pane to create a new plant definition based on the selected plant.
The Edit Plant Definition dialog box opens, displaying the selected plant definition symbol. Provide a name for the symbol if needed, and then specify the plant parameters on each pane to define the plant. As the parameters are defined, the preview dynamically displays the plant appearance. Each pane of the plant definition dialog box is described in the following sections.
Although the Plant Tool Preferences dialog box appears similar, preferences set there do not change the plant definition.
To add plant information from the plant database, click Get Plant Data and select the source for the plant data (see Viewing Plant Database Records or Using Plant List Data in Vectorworks Landmark).
Because the plant database runs on an external application, it may take several seconds to open. Once the database is open, leave it running in the background while you work in the Vectorworks program, for faster communication between Vectorworks and the database.
When the default plant parameters have been defined, click OK to close the Edit Plant Definition dialog box. If you accessed the dialog box from the Plant Tool Preferences or Plant Settings dialog box, clicking OK returns you to the original dialog box.
Plant definitions that have a corresponding plant database record automatically update the plant database to match any edits to the plant definition if Update Plant Database with Vectorworks Plant Definition Changes is selected on the Choose Plant Database Location dialog box (see Accessing the Plant Database).
Plant resources can be exported from the Resource Browser or by selecting Export Plant from the plant context menu; see Exporting Custom Resources.
When using workgroup referencing, the plant definitions must exist in the same file as the site model they reference, so that their Z values can be set to the site model surface.
Every pane of the plant definition displays the Plant Symbol Name and previews, allows botanical data to be obtained from the plant database, and provides the option to obtain the 2D and 3D plant geometry from a symbol. The previews update as the plant definition changes.
Click to show/hide the parameters.
Specify the default insertion options for the plant definition on the Insertion Options pane.
If plant data were obtained from the plant database, the plant database values are displayed. Values and settings entered on this pane become the default for the plant definition.
Click to show/hide the parameters.
Click the Schedule pane to specify default plant values for display and reporting.
If plant data were obtained from the plant database, the plant database values are displayed. Values and settings entered on this pane become the default for the plant definition.
Click to show/hide the parameters.
Click the Render pane to specify the 2D plant styles. These effects display in Top/Plan view only; plant shadows do not display in worksheet images. A document preference makes it easy to give plans a uniform appearance by applying a document-wide shadow style to all plants and massing models in a drawing (see Plan Shadows Preferences). Even when a document preference is set, plant definitions can be edited on the Render pane to customize the drawing’s appearance. The outline, massing, and shadow parameters can be toggled for all plants in a document by selecting View > Show > Show or Hide Plant Styles.
Values and settings entered on this pane become the default for the plant definition. These default values can be changed for individual plants.
Click to show/hide the parameters.
Click the Plant Data pane to view the plant database information for the plant.
To add botanical data from the plant database, click Get Plant Data, search the database for the desired plant record, and use the selected plant (see Using a Plant Database Record in a Plant Definition). Alternatively, to add botanical data from a plant list, click Get Plant Data then click Select Plant Data and select a plant (see Using Plant List Data in Vectorworks Landmark).
If you are using a plant list, to change the plant data for the current plant definition without changing the plant list data, click the parameter and click Edit. Enter the new value in the Edit Field dialog box and click OK.
If Update Plant Database with Vectorworks Plant Definition Changes is selected in the Choose Plant Database Location dialog box, the plant database is automatically updated with any changes made on the Plant Data pane. Likewise, if the Update Vectorworks Plant Database command is selected, the database is updated with any changes made on this pane.
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