Searching for a Resource

The Resource Manager has a search box to help you quickly locate a resource using keywords.

To locate and use a resource:

  1. From the Resource Manager tool bar, click the disclosure arrow to the left of the search box and select your search options.

  2. Enter a search string and optionally one or more basic Boolean search operators in the search box and press Enter to execute the search. The search locates the string in resource names, tags, and (if Include Records is selected in the search options) records attached to resources.

  3. Vectorworks recognizes Boolean search operators “” (quotation marks), * (search for strings that begin with the characters indicated), AND, NOT, and OR. Boolean operators can be combined, such as combining two strings inside quotation marks with the word OR, to create precise searches.

    The search operators AND, NOT, and OR are case sensitive; they must be entered in all capital letters to function correctly.

    The search box retains and displays the last 10 searches; to clear this list, scroll to the bottom of the list and click Clear Recent Searches.

    Search Example
    Possible Results

    green chair (no quotation marks)

    Results with the search terms green and chair anywhere in the resource name, tags, and optionally record are returned

        green chair

        chair with green stripes

        green hatch with the word chair in the tag

    “green chair” (quotation marks)

    Results with the exact string inside the quotation marks, the word green immediately followed by the word chair, are returned

        green chair

    green c*

    Results with the search term green and any term that begins with the letter c are returned

        green chair

        chair with green stripes

        green couch

        car with green in the tag

    “green c”*

    Results with the word green immediately followed by a word that beings with the letter c are returned

        green chair

        green couch

        green car

    “green c*”

    Results with the exact string inside the quotation marks, the word green immediately followed by the letter c and * (an asterisk), are returned; inside the quotation marks, an asterisk not does behave as a Boolean operator but merely as an asterisk

        green c*

    green AND chair

    AND searches are the default, so the command is not necessary for basic searches; this search returns the same results as searching for green chair.

        green chair

        chair with green stripes

        green hatch with the word chair in the tag

    However, AND can be used with other operators to craft a specific search.

    “green chair” AND table

    Results with the exact string inside the quotation marks, the word green immediately followed by the word chair, AND the word table are returned

        green chair with table in the tag

        combination symbol named “green chair and side table”

    green NOT chair

    Results that contain the first term but do not contain the excluded term are returned

        green couch

        green car

    green OR chair

    Results with at least one of the search terms are returned

        green chair

        green couch

        red chair

  4. Resources that match the search display in the resource viewer pane. Standard context menu commands are available for the resources, or you can drag the resource to another file if desired. Two additional features are available for search results:

    Hold the cursor over a resource to display a tooltip that shows the resource’s name and location.

    Right-click on a resource, and select Select Resource Location from the context menu to select the file that contains the resource in the file browser pane.

Locating a Resource from the Drawing

Use the Locate in Resource Manager command to quickly locate resources displayed in the drawing area. This command does not work for record formats or scripts.

To locate a resource from the drawing:

  1. Right-click on the resource (or object containing a resource, such as a rectangle with a hatch) to be located. Select Locate [resource type] in Resource Manager from the context menu.

  2. The Resource Manager automatically navigates to the resource and selects it.

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Using Resources in Your Drawing

Resource Manager

 

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