Tags and Tag Folders and Entity Info Solutions

Tag Folder and Tag Naming Process

Purpose: 1. To provide control over the display order of Tag Folders and Tag Names in the Tags Panel, and 2. to control display order of Tags and Folder Names in the Entity Info panel.

Problem 1. The Tag Panel.
Tag Folders are sorted by the first character of the folder name (actually as many alpha-numeric characters as needed). If multiple folder names have the same first character, the second and beyond characters are used for sorting. The folder “Lighting” would precede “Lumber”. I use a seven alpha-numeric code as the beginning of my Tag Folder names.

My solution: Use a lower case alpha character in the first position of the Folder Name.
Now “aLumber” precedes “aLighting” in the folder display order.

Note: the sort order can be changed from “ascending” to “descending” by a click on the up or down arrow above the Name column. I feel the ascending order is a reasonable way to look at a list of categories… If I look for “Concrete”, I would tend to look high in the list, “Windows” is further down the list.

I design retail casework and interiors so my folder names reflect the work I do. I believe this system could be used for any pursuit. Note: I’ve been wrong before. I designate Folders and Sub-Folders in the Tags Panel. I currently have 14 Tag Folders and 51 Tags

An Example:
Folder Name cCSWKb Body (the frame or carcase of a cabinet)
Tag Names
cCSWKb0……………Body (to display Folder Name in Entity info Panel)
cCSWKb1 Body Main
cCSWKb2 Body Other
cCSWKb3 Body Future (used for planning, holds a space in the store)
cCSWKb4 Ledger Support
cCSWKb5 Panel Interior Cover

Folder Name sCTOP Countertops
Tag Names
sCTOPa0 ……Countertops (to display Folder Name in Entity info Panel)
sCTOPa1 Ctop Slab Main
sCTOPa2 Ctop Slab Low
sCTOPa3 Ctop Slab High
sCTOPa4 Ctop Splash
sCTOPa5 Ctop Riser

Tag Names also display in each folder by an alpha-numeric sorting. I like to control display order. Thus within a folder I use a alpha-numeric code in the title of my tag names.

The first position controls the sort of Folders in the “Tags Panel”.
The second through fourth position repeats the Four uppercase code for the Tag Folder.
The fifth and sixth position control the sort of tag names within the Tag Folder.

Problem2: The “Entity Panel” The display of the TagNames in the Entity Panel “pop up” window is not satisfactory. The tag naming convention I laid out brings that pop up under your control.

As you probably know the “Tag Folder Name” are not displayed. The “Tag Names” are jumbled together and displayed in an ascending alpa-numeric sort. I see a big mess.

The schema I show will resolve the dilemma.

The first Tag in each folder is coded ending in 0 (zero). The six character code is followed by a series of “dots” and then the folder name is shown. Below the “folder name tag’ are displayed the tags within that folder. A sorted Tag list by Tag Folder is displayed nicely.

Entity Info Panel “pop up” is as below.

cCSWKb0……….……………Body
cCSWKb1 Body Main
cCSWKb2 Body Other
cCSWKb3 Body Future
cCSWKb4 Ledger Support
cCSWKb5 Panel Interior Cover
sCTOPa0 ……………….Countertops
sCTOPa1 Ctop Slab Main
sCTOPa2 Ctop Slab Low
sCTOPa3 Ctop Slab High
sCTOPa4 Ctop Splash
sCTOPa5 Ctop Riser

The design may look a bit complex at first. However the seven character code is chosen to be able to be adaptable. The idea is to provide for expansion to fit any situation.

In my work I chose to use “Tags” to designate “things or objects”. A cabinet is an object we will have many in quantity and types. They are all still cabinets. The location and function or use will be defined in the Outliner. Spaces with in the store are usually named and tagged as “xAERAa1”. All spaces tagged the same. The spaces are given names in outliner.

An imported architectural plan is also a “thing or object tagged zBLDGa1. Every page of a plan that I import is tagged the same. The Outliner lists the Drawings by title or purpose within a Group “Architect Plans”. I can look at one through the outliner or turn off all plans by collapsing the group and dozens of drawings become One entry in Outliner.

Outliner and Tags in combinations are powerful.

Maybe you could provide a .skp template (or templates). You could have specific templates… but an abstracted version could show the utility of your system to others. Ya gotta make it easy :).

Thanks for the comment. Yes, my writing tends to be a bit wordy.
I will try to put together a workable sample of my workflow.

I too am too wordy in my writing.

Putting a template into people’s hands knocks down at least one barrier.

One problem I have seen occurs when people bring in models that have many tags already. The tags are either using conventions that aren’t needed or have strange and unreadable tags. Is your system useful for sorting messy imported tags?