Basic principles of drawings

Building objects
See also Tekla Structures drawings on page 13
1.5 Basic principles of drawings
There are a couple of basic principles in Tekla Structures that you need to understand before
you start creating or modifying drawings:
•
The model is the single source of information for drawings. The drawing is just another
view to the model, usually a 2D view. This ensures that the information in drawings and
reports is always up-to-date.
•
Tekla Structures integrates the drawings with the model.
•
Drawing objects are associated with model objects, and updated when the model
changes.
•
Changing some of the properties requires the recreation of the drawings.
•
If there are several identical parts, cast units or assemblies in the model, Tekla Structures
creates only one drawing.
•
You can modify drawing properties on three levels; drawing, view and object level,
depending on the drawing type and the desired results.
See also Drawings integrated with models on page 18
Drawing associativity on page 20
How drawings are updated on page 19
Different levels of changing drawing properties on page 21
Settings affecting the recreation of drawings on page 315
Drawings integrated with models
Tekla Structures integrates the drawings with the model. A drawing is a window to the model
presenting 3D structures in 2D. The building objects shown in the drawing are model objects
you create in the model. You can change their representation in the drawing but you cannot
change the geometry or the location of the building object, or delete building objects; all
changes to building objects are made in the model. That is why the drawings are always upto-date. For example, dimensions and marks in drawings are always correct. You can filter
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Basic principles of drawings
out parts and bolts in drawings using the filtering tools, or make them invisible by hiding
them.
You can create drawings at any stage of the project. Creating single-part, assembly and cast
unit drawings requires that the model is numbered, so you need to plan and perform the
numbering before creating drawings.
If the model changes, Tekla Structures notifies in the Drawing List that you need to update
the related drawings. You cannot open a drawing that is not up-to-date.
See also Basic principles of drawings on page 18
Numbering the model
Updating drawings when the model changes on page 272
How drawings are updated
When a model changes, the related drawings need to be updated. Tekla Structures takes care
of updating and notifies you if updating is needed.
When you start using a newer version of Tekla Structures, updating drawings created with
the older version may cause problems. We recommend that you complete any drawings
you have started using the older version, or recreate the drawings using your new version
of Tekla Structures.
Updating is necessary, when:
•
The geometry of a model object changes.
•
Some other model object properties, for example, material and class change.
•
Model objects are added or deleted.
•
The number of identical model objects changes.
Tekla Structures automatically updates drawings each time you number the model. If you
have not numbered the model, you are prompted to do so when you create a drawing.
Furthermore, if you have changed the model and go to the Drawing List to open drawings,
Tekla Structures has marked the outdated drawings, and you need to update them before you
can open them.
General arrangement drawings are always updated when you open them if the model has
changed. You do not need to number the model to update general arrangement drawings.
See also Basic principles of drawings on page 18
Updating drawings when the model changes on page 272
Settings affecting the recreation of drawings on page 315
Numbering the model
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Basic principles of drawings
Drawing associativity
Tekla Structures drawings are associative. The objects in the drawing are linked to model
objects, which means that most objects in the drawing are automatically updated when the
model changes. For example, if a model object is resized, dimension points move with the
corresponding object in the drawing, and the dimensions are recalculated. Still you do not
lose any manual changes that you have made in the drawing. This applies to all drawing
types.
Tekla Structures updates the following drawing objects to reflect the changes in the model:
•
Parts
•
Marks
•
Dimensions
•
Welds
•
Views
•
Section marks
•
Detail marks
•
Associative notes
•
Lines and other shapes
•
Tables
Tekla Structures retains the following manual changes made to drawings:
•
Base points of objects; for example, if you drag an object to a new location
•
Object properties; for example, color, font, and line type
See also Basic principles of drawings on page 18
Associativity symbol on page 20
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Basic principles of drawings
Associativity symbol
In drawings, the associativity symbol indicates which drawing objects are associative and
automatically updated. Associativity symbols are shown only when you select a drawing
object, for example, a dimension.
Objects that do not have valid association get a ghost associativity symbol and a question
mark. These symbols are shown constantly, even though the drawing object is not selected.
This makes it easier to find objects that need attention.
The associativity symbols are not shown in printed drawings.
To hide associativity symbols in drawing views, click Tools --> Options -->
Associative Symbol (Shift+A).
See also Drawing associativity on page 20
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Basic principles of drawings
Different levels of changing drawing properties
In Tekla Structures, you can change drawings on different levels, depending on how
permanent and extensive changes are needed.
Single-part, •
assembly and
cast unit
drawings
On the highest level, you can define drawing properties on drawing level. Some of the
drawing-specific properties that you define in the Drawing Properties dialog box apply
to the whole drawing: protection settings, user-defined attributes for the drawing, detail
view start number/letter, drawing-specific section view settings, some drawing-specific
view attributes, drawing titles and drawing layout settings. On the drawing level, you can
also select the views that you want to create, and set view, dimensioning, building object
and mark settings separately for each view by going further to the View Properties
dialog box for the selected view. For example, you can define that all marks have blue
frame in one view, or that model weld marks are shown in another view. It is very
important to save the view-level properties files in the View Properties dialog box to be
able to connect the desired view properties to the views that you select to create. You
can modify the drawing level properties before you create the drawing and also change
them in the created drawing.
•
You can also change drawing properties on view level by double-clicking a view frame in
an open drawing, which opens the View Properties dialog box. The changes take place
only in the views that you have selected in an open drawing. Settings propagate to all
objects in the selected views.
•
Finally, you can change drawing properties on object level by double-clicking the object
in an open drawing, which opens an object-specific property dialog box. Properties
change for the selected object only. The properties changed on the object level are no
longer affected by any property changes on higher levels.
•
The recommended way of working is to work from top to bottom, from drawing level to
object level. Set your drawing and automatic drawing view properties as close as possible
to what you want by first attempting this on the drawing level. Then modify anything
else that needs to be changed on the view level, and finally, if any further cleanup is
necessary, you can make changes on the individual object level. The modifications made
on the drawing level remain when the drawing is recreated due to a model change. Once
you change properties on the view level you should not go to the drawing level properties
and modify drawing properties there. Once you have change something at one level,
changing something else on the level above may negate the changes you have just made.
General •
arrangement
drawings
On the highest level, you can change drawing properties on drawing level. This is done in
the Drawing Properties dialog box and its subdialog boxes. This way you can change the
properties of all building objects, marks, dimensions, and views in the drawing at the
same time. For example, you can define that all marks have blue frame. You can modify
the drawing properties before you create the drawing and also change them in the
created drawing. Property changes propagate to all views and objects in that drawing,
except new views that you create after the drawing is created.
•
You can also change drawing properties on view level by double-clicking a view frame in
an open drawing, which opens the View Properties dialog box. The changes take place
only in the views that you have selected in an open drawing. Settings propagate to all
objects in the selected views.
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Basic principles of drawings
•
Finally, you can change drawing properties on object level by double-clicking the object
in an open drawing, which opens an object-specific property dialog box. Properties
change for the selected object only. The properties changed on the object level are no
longer affected by any property changes on higher levels.
•
The recommended way of working is to work from top to bottom, from drawing level to
object level. Get your drawing as close as possible to what you want by first attempting
this on the drawing level. Then modify anything else that needs to be changed on the
view level, and finally, if any further cleanup is necessary, you can make changes on the
individual object level. The modifications made on the drawing level remain when the
drawing is recreated due to a model change. Once you change properties on the view
level you should not go to the drawing level properties and modify drawing properties
there. Once you have change something at one level, changing something else on the
level above may negate the changes you have just made.
Detailed object By saving the object property settings and combining them with drawing or view filters and
level properties drawing object types into detailed object level settings, you can also apply the object level
properties on the drawing and view level. Note that detailed object levels properties on
drawing level are available only in general arrangement drawings. Object level settings are a
powerful tool: you can use the same property file for creating drawings and quickly change a
particular property before you create drawings, for example, reinforcement color or mark
frame shape. The object level settings override the property settings in the view and drawing
property dialog boxes. Changes in the object level settings applied on the drawing level are
inherited to the view level if there are no object level settings defined on the view level. If
you apply object level settings on the view level, they override the drawing level settings.
Example The following image illustrates the idea of the three property levels. The frame color and the
workflow shape of the mark are used as an example.
1. You change the mark frame color and shape for the whole drawing on the drawing level.
The changes propagate to the view level and to the object level.
2. You change the mark frame color and shape in the selected views. The changes take
place in the selected views only. The properties do not change in the whole drawing.
Note that if you change the frame color and shape on the drawing level after changing
them on the view level for some of the views, the drawing level changes override the
view level changes in all views. In this case, only view settings are not overridden, for
example, the view scale stays as you have set it for individual views.
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Basic principles of drawings
3. You change the mark frame color and shape in the selected marks. The properties do not
change anywhere else. If you try to change the mark frame color and shape on the view
or drawing level, the properties do not change in the marks that you changed separately.
See also Modifying and saving automatic drawing properties before creating drawings on page 312
Modifying drawing properties of an existing drawing on page 313
Basic principles of drawings on page 18
Modifying view-level drawing properties on page 314
Modifying and saving drawing object properties on page 317
Creating detailed object level settings in a general arrangement drawing on page 318
Example: Applying detailed object level settings on drawing level on page 319
Creating detailed object level settings in cast unit drawings on page 322
Example: Applying detailed object level settings on view level on page 323
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Basic principles of drawings