We are working to improve the usability of Microvellum software. Some of our Users have asked for the ability to edit multiple prompt values from the drawing. This boosts the speed at which the program may be used since the prompts do not require separate individual adjustments.

For some time, Microvellum has had the ability to select and edit multiple prompts in the Product List, but not in the drawing. If a design engineer is working on a project, he is often more familiar with the drawing than the product list. The project may be quite large, and it may be a challenge to cross-reference item numbers with their associated walls. As a result, it is often easier to modify prompt values for a certain wall in the drawing where you can visually associate an item number to a wall.

As of build 15.6,  we have added this to the drawing environment and modified the interface to include additional features, such as the inclusion of the specification groups in the product list grid. 

Other Improvements

The screen Edit Additional Prompts contain ALL the prompts, for ALL the products included in the editing process. The screen lists the prompts in alphabetical order to make it easier to find what is needed.

Before it was not possible to edit the Width, Height and Depth prompts as multiple values. It is now possible to edit those fundamental prompts in addition to others.

Tutorial – Edit Multiple Prompts in the Drawing

1. Open the drawing containing the products to edit.
   
2. Click “Modify > Modify Products > Edit Multiple Product Prompts” on the Toolbox palette.
   


Fig. 1





3. This displays the AutoCAD pick box, which you may then use either to select the products individually or by windowing all the item numbers.
   
1. To select individually, click on either the item number block or by clicking on any part of the 3D drawing of that product.
   
2. To window, enter W at the command prompt when asked to “Select the products you want to edit…” and press Enter. You may then use the implied windowing commands commonly available in AutoCAD. Picking a point and dragging to the left initiates a “crossing window selection” method and means that any item number block touched by the window or ‘crossed’ by it will be included in the selection set. Picking a point and dragging to the right initiates a “window selection” method and means that only item numbers completely enclosed within the window will be included in the selection set and the resulting prompts editing interface.
   
4. In the Edit Additional Prompts screen, specify which prompts to display in the interface by selecting them from the checkboxes on the left side of the screen. Those prompts will display in the product grid on the right side of the screen.
   


Fig. 2





5. Click the button named “Show Additional Prompts” and click Yes when asked if you want to continue. This will populate the values to the products that contain those prompts. Any products that do not contain them will be left blank.
   


Fig. 3





6. To edit prompts, select the prompts to edit by clicking and dragging the cursor down across the products to edit to highlight them. Right-click on the selection and select the prompt name to edit. 
   


Fig. 4





7. Enter the new value in the Value box that is displayed and click OK. The new values will be entered for the selected products.
   


Fig. 5





8. Check the box named “Redraw Products on Close” to update the drawing with the prompt revisions. This may take some time, depending on the number of products in your original selection set.
   


Fig. 6


The prompt values are updated to the individual products regardless of whether they are redrawn. Thus, the product list will reflect the new prompt values.

Tutorial – Add and Remove Prompt Columns to the Column List

1. Open the drawing containing the products to edit.
   
2. Click “Modify > Modify Products > Edit Multiple Product Prompts” on the Toolbox palette.
   
3. This displays the AutoCAD pick box, which you may then use either to select the products individually or by windowing all the item numbers.
   
1. To select individually, click on either the item number block or by clicking on any part of the 3D drawing of that product.
   
2. To window, enter W at the command prompt when asked to “Select the products you want to edit…” and press Enter. You may then use the implied windowing commands commonly available in AutoCAD. Picking a point and dragging to the left initiates a “crossing window selection” method and means that any item number block touched by the window or ‘crossed’ by it will be included in the selection set. Picking a point and dragging to the right initiates a “window selection” method and means that only item numbers completely enclosed within the window will be included in the selection set and the resulting prompts editing interface.
   
4. To add a column to the column list, specify the prompts that you want to display the next time the screen is opened. Simply click on the prompt to highlight it, click “Add Selected Prompt,” and click Close.
   


Fig. 7





5. To remove columns from the column list, click on the prompt to highlight it, click “Remove Selected Prompt,” and click Close.
   


Fig. 8