Automatic bolt settings in drawings

XS_MIN_DISTANCE_FOR_CONNECTING_SIDE_MARK
Indicating part orientation on page 497
Part and neighbor part properties in drawings on page 568
7.17 Automatic bolt settings in drawings
Bolts are connecting objects that fasten parts or assemblies or attach to them. There are
several ways to display bolts in drawings.
See also Setting automatic bolt properties in drawings on page 503
Creating user-defined bolt symbols on page 504
Example: Bolt representations on page 504
Bolt content and appearance properties in drawings on page 571
Part and neighbor part properties in drawings on page 568
Setting automatic bolt properties in drawings
You can define what is shown in bolts and how the bolts are shown.
To define the automatic bolt content and appearance settings before creating the drawing:
1. Click Drawings & Reports --> Drawing Settings and select the drawing type.
2. Load the properties that you want to change.
3. Single-part, assembly and cast unit drawings: Click View creation, select the view and
the properties that you want to change, and click View properties.
4. Click Bolts.
5. On the Content tab, select the bolt representation, bolt symbol content, and the visibility
of bolts in main parts.
For assembly and cast unit drawings, you can also set the visibility of bolts in secondary
parts and sub-assemblies.
6. On the Appearance tab, select the color of the bolts.
7. Single-part, assembly and cast unit drawings: Click Save to save the view properties.
8. Click OK.
9. Click Save to save the drawing properties, then click OK and create the drawing.
See also Automatic bolt settings in drawings on page 503
Bolt content and appearance properties in drawings on page 571
Example: Bolt representations on page 504
Modifying drawing settings
503
Automatic bolt settings in drawings
Creating user-defined bolt symbols
You can create your own bolt symbols and use them in drawings. You only need to create
bolt symbols if you need different bolt symbols than the ones that you can find in Tekla
Structures.
To create bolt symbols in the Symbol Editor and take them into use in your drawing:
1. Save the symbol file ud_bolts.sym in the symbol folder (usually the folder..
\Tekla Structures\<version>\environments\common\symbols\).
2. Open Microsoft Notepad, or any text editor.
3. Create a text file consisting of lines in three columns:
•
The first column contains the bolt assembly standard.
•
The second contains the bolt diameter.
•
The third column contains the name of the symbol file and the symbol number,
separated with the @ character.
Example of file contents:
7990 24 ud_bolts@1
7990 25 ud_bolts@2
Tekla Structures uses the user-defined symbol for bolts in drawings that have the
standard and diameter you define in this text file.
4. Save the file with the name bolt_symbol_table.txt.
5. Set the name of the file as a value for the advanced option
XS_USER_DEFINED_BOLT_SYMBOL_TABLE in Tools --> Options --> Advanced
Options --> Marking: Bolts as follows:
set
XS_USER_DEFINED_BOLT_SYMBOL_TABLE=bolt_symbol_table.txt
You can also enter a full path to the bolt definition file. Without the path Tekla
Structures searches for the file in the model, firm, project, and system directories.
6. To use your own bolt symbol, select Bolt --> Content --> Solid/Symbol --> Userdefined symbol in the drawing view properties dialog box.
See also Automatic bolt settings in drawings on page 503
Modifying drawing settings
504
Automatic bolt settings in drawings
Example: Bolt representations
There are several representation options available for displaying bolts in drawings. You can
select the options from the Solid/symbol list. Here are some examples of different selections.
Setting
Example
Solid
Exact Solid
Symbol
Symbol 2
Symbol 3
Modifying drawing settings
505
Automatic bolt settings in drawings