Importing Vectorworks Spotlight Instrument Data

The Vectorworks Spotlight product provides the ability to import lighting design data. The Vectorworks program is compatible with Lightwright 5 and later, and includes extra functionality to automatically transfer data to and from Lightwright.

Instrument data from an external file can be imported into a Vectorworks Spotlight file. Import settings can be saved.

To import instrument data:

1. Select File > Import > Import Instrument Data.

The Instrument Data Import dialog box opens.

2. Click Browse to search for the file to be imported.

The imported file must consist of tab-delimited text, with the instrument information in the rows and the field information in the columns.

3. Once the file has been selected, choose the Unique ID Field from the list of available fields.

This field will be used as the key field to match imported data to the data in the plot. Normally, select UID (Unique ID) or EID (External ID).

4. After the Unique ID Field has been selected, the list of incoming data fields is displayed in the Incoming Data list on the left, and all available instrument fields are shown in the Record Fields list on the right.

5. To map the incoming data to an instrument field, select a data item from the Incoming Data list, and then select the destination record field on the right. Click Link to link the fields. The linked field moves to the Record Fields list. (To unlink two linked fields, select the field from the Record Fields list and then click Unlink.)

6. Continue mapping fields individually until the desired links have been made. To save time, click AutoLink; this automatically matches fields based on the similarity of their names. Verify that the links were made as intended.

7. To import the data without saving the links, click Import.

Saving the mapping information allows you to skip the process of mapping individual fields when importing similar external files. Once the fields have been mapped appropriately, save the mapping links by clicking Save. Specify the name of the links file, which can then be restored with the Load button.

8. During import, the Vectorworks Spotlight product attempts to match all incoming data to an appropriate instrument. However, if items exist which cannot be matched, these display as orphan instruments at the bottom left of the drawing, outside the page boundary.

The first row of the imported file should contain the field labels. However, if the file to import contains instrument data in the first row, select Import First Record.

To load saved mapping files:

1. Click Browse and select the file to be imported.

2. Click the Load button, and select either a pre-defined mapping file or a saved mapping file. Click Import to open the mapping file and automatically map the fields based on the saved links.

To import instrument data from Lightwright 4, see the Lightwright documentation.

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Automated Import and Export to Lightwright

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