If you give the .vwx file a new name (by using Save As... or by renaming it), the .xml file associated with it will change, too. However, Lightwright will still be reading and writing to the original .xml file.

Example:

If the .vwx file is named Hello.vwx, then by default the .xml file will be Hello.xml

You start Lightwright and choose Hello.xml, so Vectorworks and Lightwright are using Hello.xml to exchange data with each other.

If you use Save As... in Vectorworks or simply rename the Hello.vwx file to Goodbye.vwx, then Vectorworks will use a new file named Goodbye.xml.

However, Lightwright will still be using Hello.xml. As a result, the two programs cannot exchange data with each other.

If you want to save multiple backup copies of your .lw5 files, use File/Save a Backup instead of File/Save As. Save A Backup makes a new copy of the .lw5 file, with an optional timestamp as part of the filename (see Preferences), without renaming the .lw5 file you are working on and without disturbing the Data Exchange .xml file.

When you delete a light in Vectorworks but don’t make any other changes afterwards, a bug in the way Vectorworks sometimes writes data to the .xml file can keep Lightwright from responding to changes made in Vectorworks. Version 5.0.23 or later of Lightwright works around this bug.

Lightwright stores the location of the .xml file relative to the location of the .lw5 file. If you move the .vwx and .xml file to a different place, then Lightwright may not be able to find the .xml file anymore.

If the Lightwright and Vectorworks files disagree with each other, do a “Complete Export on Exit” in Vectorworks and then switch to Lightwright. If Lightwright does not automatically reconcile the two files, it means VW and LW are looking at different .xml files or the .xml file is corrupted. Re-select the appropriate .xml file in Lightwright, or delete it entirely and start Data Exchange over again.

On the Mac, if the name of the folder containing the Data Exchange .xml file contains a backslash (\), or if any of the folders containing that folder have backslashes in their names, Vectorworks will not be able to communicate with Lightwright. This is a limitation of Vectorworks.

There is a bug in VW 2011 that can cause Vectorworks to crash if your drawing file contains a lighting device within a symbol (for instance, accidentally inserting a lighting device instead of a plain symbol in your symbol key, then making of symbol of the key). SP2 of VW2011 should fix this bug.

Vectorworks doesn’t support case sensitivity in HFS file systems. If case sensitivity is turned on, it can cause all kinds of problems, including not being able to read/write files on these systems. This includes local hard drives formatted for HFS as well as network servers. Be sure you do NOT have case sensitivity enabled for these systems.

If you rework a plot from one show to make a plot for a new show, and you are starting the new show using the previous show’s Lightwright file, RESET ALL HIGHLIGHTS & CLEAR ALL HISTORY in the Lightwright file before beginning work on the new show. Because Vectorworks UID’s are not guaranteed to be unique, if you add a new light to the plot and it’s UID happens to match an old deleted light in the Lightwright file, Lightwright will restore the deleted light, which can cause all kinds of chaos.

If you are using VW2011 prior to Service Pack 3 and the name of the .vwx file (and therefore the .xml file) has any “unusual” characters in them (such as ƒ or ˆ or π or å or é or ß), Vectorworks will fail to fill the .xml file when you do a “Full Export on Exit”. This same problem happens if any folder that the .xml file is inside of has unusual characters in it. For instance, if your .vwx file is “Normal.vwx” and the .xml file is named “Normal.xml”, but those files are inside a folder named “Normal ƒ”, the .xml will NOT be filled.

VW2011 (and maybe others) will not fill the .xml file with instrument data when you ask it for a “full export on exit” if your .vwx and .xml files aren’t on the same hard drive as the Vectorworks program. Under most circumstances, that means Data Exchange WILL NOT WORK if your .vwx file is on a network drive, flash drive, or external hard drive.

Using Undo in Vectorworks 2011 (and maybe others) will NOT undo changes made by Lightwright via Data Exchange. So if you change a channel# in Lightwright, then switch to VW and Refresh Instruments to get the channel# and then use Undo, the channel # will not revert.

As with all software, there are some bugs in Vectorworks 2011 - here are some I’ve reported to Nemetschek Vectorworks. Most of these bugs are fixed in VW2012 or later. If these bugs are causing problems for you, please contact NV and ask them to fix them. They prioritize bug fixes based partly on how many users are affected, so the more people they hear from, the more likely things are to be fixed. Vectorworks tech support can be reached by phone at 443-542-0411, or via email at tech@vectorworks.net

Data Exchange is generally pretty reliable, but there are some things that can cause it to screw up. Some are bugs, others are things you may not have realized were important.

In Lightwright, if you add more than one accessory to a worksheet row and then switch to VW2011 (and maybe others) and Refresh Instruments, all of the (static) accessories will be correctly added to the light. However, when you click back on Lightwright, all but one of the  accessories will be missing in Lightwright! This also means that the next time you refresh instruments, you’ll only have one accessory on your drawing.

If you use Option+Drag to duplicate a light in Vectorworks and then refresh instruments, any changes that Lightwright made to the light you duplicated (and it’s copy) will not be processed. You’ll need to do a “full export on exit” in order to straighten things out again.

Renaming a Vectorworks lighting position doesn’t change the position name on it’s lights, you have to do it manually.

Mirroring a boom or similar position with lights on it tends to flip the original version of the boom.

Selecting a light and any accessories attached to it, then dragging them, the accessories move further than the light. The same thing happens with multi-circuit lights (striplights).

Do NOT use the Vectorworks option to save the .xml file to a Custom Location. If this option is used and the custom location becomes unavailable, Data Exchange will stop working, but there won’t be any warning from either Vectorworks or Lightwright. Always keep related .vwx, .xml, and .lw5 files in the same folder at all times.