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(12.1)
TRAINING GUIDE
PDMS Foundations
TM-1001
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AVEVA Plant (12.1)
PDMS Foundations TM-1001
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AVEVA Plant (12.1)
PDMS Foundations TM-1001
Revision Log
Date Revision Description of Revision Author Reviewed Approved
02/08/2011 0.1 Issued for Review PDMS 12.1 NG
31/08/2011 0.2 Reviewed NG KB
05/09/2011 1.0 Approved for Training PDMS 12.1 NG KB NG
02/12/2011 2.0 Issued with latest copyright footer CF CF
28/02/2012 2.1 Issued for Review PDMS 12.1 SP2 KB
02/03/2012 2.2 Reviewed KB SS
06/03/2012 3.0 Approved for Training PDMS 12.1.SP2 KB SS NG
Updates
In general, all headings containing updated or new material will be highlighted.
Suggestion / Problems
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This manual provides documentation relating to products to which you may not have access or which may
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licence conditions.
Disclaimer
1.1 AVEVA does not warrant that the use of the AVEVA software will be uninterrupted, error-free or free
from viruses.
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losses; loss of anticipated savings; loss of goods; loss of contract; loss of use; loss or corruption of
data or information; any special, indirect, consequential or pure economic loss, costs, damages,
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whether such losses are suffered directly or indirectly, or arise in contract, tort (including negligence)
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the performance of the AVEVA software shall be limited to 100% of the licence fees paid in the year
in which the user's claim is brought.
1.4 Clauses 1.1 to 1.3 shall apply to the fullest extent permissible at law.
1.5 In the event of any conflict between the above clauses and the analogous clauses in the software
licence under which the AVEVA software was purchased, the clauses in the software licence shall
take precedence.
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Copyright
Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in this manual and the associated software, and every part
of it (including source code, object code, any data contained in it, the manual and any other documentation
supplied with it) belongs to, or is validly licensed by, AVEVA Solutions Limited or its subsidiaries.
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transmitted without the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited. Where such permission is
granted, it expressly requires that this copyright notice, and the above disclaimer, is prominently displayed at
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engineer, decompile, copy, or adapt the software. Neither the whole, nor part of the software described in
this publication may be incorporated into any third-party software, product, machine, or system without the
prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited, save as permitted by law. Any such unauthorised
action is strictly prohibited, and may give rise to civil liabilities and criminal prosecution.
The AVEVA software described in this guide is to be installed and operated strictly in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the respective software licences, and in accordance with the relevant User
Documentation.
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shall not be liable for any breach or infringement of a third party's intellectual property rights where such
breach results from a user's modification of the AVEVA software or associated documentation.
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Trademark
AVEVA and Tribon are registered trademarks of AVEVA Solutions Limited or its subsidiaries. Unauthorised
use of the AVEVA or Tribon trademarks is strictly forbidden.
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Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 9
1.1 Aim..................................................................................................................................................... 9
1.2 Objectives ......................................................................................................................................... 9
1.3 Prerequisites .................................................................................................................................... 9
1.4 Course Structure .............................................................................................................................. 9
1.5 Using this guide ............................................................................................................................... 9
2 AVEVA PDMS Fundamentals ................................................................................................................ 11
2.4.6 Primitives .................................................................................................................................. 19
3 User Interface Basics ............................................................................................................................ 23
3.2 Default Screen Layout ................................................................................................................... 27
3.3 Using the Mouse ............................................................................................................................ 27
3.4 Using Menus ................................................................................................................................... 28
3.4.1 Pull-Down Menus ..................................................................................................................... 28
3.4.2 Sub-menus ............................................................................................................................... 29
3.4.3 Pop-up or Right click menus .................................................................................................... 29
3.5 Using Forms ................................................................................................................................... 30
3.5.1 Tabs ......................................................................................................................................... 31
3.5.2 Radio Buttons ........................................................................................................................... 31
3.5.3 Checkboxes.............................................................................................................................. 31
3.5.4 Text Boxes ............................................................................................................................... 31
3.5.5 Options List .............................................................................................................................. 31
3.5.6 Buttons ..................................................................................................................................... 32
3.5.7 Link Labels ............................................................................................................................... 32
3.5.8 Fold-up Panels ......................................................................................................................... 32
3.5.9 Grids ......................................................................................................................................... 32
3.5.10 Form Menus ............................................................................................................................. 33
3.5.11 Actioning Form Inputs .............................................................................................................. 33
3.5.12 Alert Forms ............................................................................................................................... 33
3.5.13 Dockable Forms ....................................................................................................................... 34
3.6 Using Toolbars ............................................................................................................................... 37
3.7 Command Window ......................................................................................................................... 37
3.7.1 Entering Command Syntax ...................................................................................................... 37
3.7.2 Command Window Pop-up Menu ............................................................................................ 38
3.8 Navigating the Databases ............................................................................................................. 39
3.8.1 Design Explorer ........................................................................................................................ 39
3.8.2 History Toolbar ......................................................................................................................... 42
3.9 Deleting Elements from the Databases ....................................................................................... 43
3.9.1 Deleting using Design Explorer ................................................................................................ 44
3.9.2 Deleting using the Main Menu .................................................................................................. 44
3.9.3 Deleting using the Default Toolbar ........................................................................................... 45
3.9.4 Deleting using the Command Window ..................................................................................... 45
3.10 Saving Changes to the Databases Save Work......................................................................... 45
3.11 Updating Databases to Show Other Changes Get Work ........................................................ 46
3.12 Undo and Redo ............................................................................................................................... 46
3.13 Leaving PDMS ................................................................................................................................ 46
3.14 Documentation and Help ............................................................................................................... 47
Exercise 1 ....................................................................................................................................................... 50
4 Displaying Modelled Elements ............................................................................................................. 55
4.1 Building the Drawlist ..................................................................................................................... 55
4.1.1 Populating the Drawlist Form ................................................................................................... 55
4.1.2 Using the Drawlist Form ........................................................................................................... 57
4.1.3 Additional Drawlist Functions ................................................................................................... 62
4.2 Setting the View Limits .................................................................................................................. 63
4.2.1 Using the View Control Buttons ............................................................................................... 64
4.2.2 Using the View Menu ............................................................................................................... 65
4.2.3 Using the 3D View Pop-up Menu ............................................................................................. 65
4.2.4 Using the Element Pop-up Menu ............................................................................................. 65
4.3 Setting the View Direction .............................................................................................................
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4.3.1 Using the View Menu ............................................................................................................... 66
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PDMS Foundations TM-1001
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CHAPTER 1
1 Introduction
AVEVA PDMS is a complex program with different applications that enables discipline designers to create a
3D model of a plant. These applications use common features within the Design module that designers need
to be familiar with before embarking on discipline specific application training.
1.1 Aim
The aim of this training module is to provide the basic knowledge of the common features that provide the
foundations for PDMS Design.
1.2 Objectives
1.3 Prerequisites
Keyboard Skills.
Familiarisation with Microsoft Windows.
Knowledge of Plant Design.
Training will consist of oral and visual presentations, demonstrations and set exercises. Each workstation
will have a training project, populated with model objects. This will be used by the trainees to practice their
methods, and complete the set exercises.
Certain text styles are used to indicate special situations throughout this document, here is a summary;
Menu pull downs and button press actions are indicated by bold dark turquoise text.
Where additional information is presented, or reference is made to other documentation the following
annotation will be used:
Additional information
Refer to other documentation
System prompts will be bold, italicised, and presented in inverted commas i.e. 'Choose function'.
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CHAPTER 2
The AVEVA Plant Design Management System (PDMS) is a multi-discipline 3D modelling system that
allows users to simulate a detailed, full size model of all the significant parts of a process plant.
PDMS enables users to see a full colour shaded representation of the plant model as the design progresses,
adding an unprecedented level of realism to design office techniques.
The model can store an extremely large amount of data referring to position, size, part numbers and
geometric relationships for the various parts of the plant. This model becomes a single source of
engineering data for all of the sections and disciplines involved in a plant design project.
The engineering data is stored in databases. There are different output channels from the databases
through which information can be disseminated, including textual reports, fully annotated and dimensioned
arrangement and detailed drawings, piping and HVAC isometrics as well as interfaces to a variety of
stressing, analysis, detailing and visualisation products.
All the data in a PDMS design model would be of little value without the ability to ensure the quality of the
design information. Indeed, it would be pointless to develop such a large software system if it could not
improve on existing techniques.
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PDMS is divided into a number of functional modules which access the databases for a different purposes.
2.2.1 Design
Design is the graphically driven data input module for the 3D model in PDMS. In this module the plant model
is built and the data stored in one or more databases. The databases contain a three-dimensional
description of all items in the plant. Component selection is provided through specifications that dictate
which catalogue components can be used.
Creation of reports, e.g. MTO, weight, C of G, project pricing, project timing, etc.
Clash detection to find interferences between design elements.
The Design module has a number of discipline applications and sub-applications to assist discipline
designers in building models efficiently. These applications are:
General
Equipment
Pipework
Cable Trays
HVAC Designer
Structures
Cabling System
Additional Design applications are available if they have been installed, e.g. Multi Discipline Supports
and Nuclear. These applications are separately licensed.
2.2.2 Draft
Draft is used to create annotated, dimensioned, arrangement and detail drawings. The annotation can be in
the form of labels attached to design elements or 2D annotation such as drawing notes, drawing frames,
tables, lines, etc.
Annotation attached to a design data element on the drawing will move if the 3D position of the element
changes. Dimensions are projected distances between connecting points (P-Point) in the 3D design. The
dimension itself is calculated automatically and is recalculated every time the drawing is updated. The
design database can be interrogated through the drawing database, but it cannot be changed from within
the Draft module.
2.2.3 Isodraft
Isodraft produces dimensioned symbolic piping and HVAC isometrics for construction and erection purposes
in various formats.
Large plants designed using PDMS are usually broken down into individual areas (either physical areas or
design areas), depending on the size, complexity and configuration of the plant. On a large project, the
System Administrator will first agree with Project and Design Management the breakdown of the PDMS
project into sections which:
Are relevant to the needs of project reporting and control.
Form reasonable design subdivisions with sensible match-lines and design content.
Enable enough designers to work in parallel with simultaneous access to carry out their design tasks.
In much the same way as in a design office (with its section leader, draftspeople, etc.), PDMS has Teams,
the members of which are called Users. These Teams can consist of any number of Users and can be
organised by discipline or physical work areas. The main features of the Admin module include:
Access Control (Teams and Users)
Databases (DBs)
Multiple Databases (MDBs)
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2.2.5 Paragon
Paragon is used to create and modify the component catalogue and specifications stored in a Catalogue
database. The catalogues in PDMS serve a similar purpose to the manufacturers catalogues, which a user
would refer to when using conventional design methods. The PDMS component catalogue is used to specify
the geometry, connection information, obstruction and detailing data of piping, structural, HVAC and cable
tray components.
Paragon is used to construct the component catalogue just as Design is used to construct the design data. It
should be noted that, whereas the design data is specific to a particular design, catalogues and
specifications may be specific to a company but general to a number of projects in that company. For
example, the same catalogue component may also appear in other designs proceeding at the same time.
2.2.6 Propcon
Propcon is used to input and edit data within the Properties database.
The database contains data for materials, e.g. density, Youngs Modulus, expansion coefficients, etc, as well
as component data, e.g. component weight, corrosion allowance, wall thickness, etc.
2.2.7 Lexicon
Lexicon enables the definition of User Definable Attributes (UDA) that may be assigned to PDMS elements
so that additional information may be stored in the databases and extracted into drawings and reports.
Lexicon also enables the definition of User Defined Element Types (UDET) that may be defined to enhance
the engineering terminology in the project and differentiate between types of the base element. For example,
an EQUI element may be designated as an element type of, say, :PUMP or :EXCHANGER.
In addition, Lexicon enables the definition of Status elements for use with Status Controller and Database
Views for use with Report Designer.
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The heart of PDMS consists of a set of hierarchical databases that store the model data. The database
system is called Dabacon and is exclusive to AVEVA. There are several different database types, structured
specifically for plant design data storage and each type of database stores different data.
Generally, multi-discipline projects are executed using discipline specific designers who will use specific
applications in PDMS to construct the model components for their specific discipline. A project, therefore,
may consist of a number of Design databases for each discipline.
When constructing the model, references are made to catalogue; property and user defined attribute data
that is held in different types of databases. As this data is common to all users of each discipline, each user
will refer to a common set of data for the project. These databases are called Reference databases.
In order that each user can see the required design components modelled by other users and refer to the
common catalogue, property and user defined attribute data, the Design and Reference databases are
grouped together into a Multiple Database (MDB).
There may be several MDBs for a project, each defining specific groups of databases, for users with
different tasks to perform.
Databases can be of two types, i.e. Update or Multiwrite and an MDB may contain each type.
Update databases allow only one user at a time to work in the database, creating or modifying data held
within it. This set-up is easy to administer but on a large project will require a large number of databases. In
addition, as only one user at a time can modify the data this may cause a bottleneck on busy project
schedules.
Multiwrite databases allow any number of users to work in the database simultaneously, creating and
modifying data within it. In order to control the modification of the data, a claim list concept is used to avoid
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a last saved scenario for element modification to occur. Claim lists are discussed in more detail later in the
Training Guide.
Each hierarchical database is a tree like structure similar to the hierarchy of directories and sub-directories
used to contain the files on a computer. The topmost data level in all databases is called the WORLD, below
which all other data exists.
Each identifiable item of data is known as a PDMS element. Each element has a number of associated
pieces of information that, together, completely define its properties. These are known aswww.aveva.com
attributes.
In this hierarchical structure all elements are owned by other elements, with the exception of the WORLD.
Elements that are owned by another element, e.g. a ZONE is owned by a SITE, are said to be members of
the owning element, e.g. The ZONE is a member of the SITE.
The vertical link between two elements on adjacent levels of the database hierarchy is defined as an owner-
member relationship. The element on the upper level is the owner of those elements directly below it. The
lower level elements are members of their owning element, e.g. a SITE is the owner of a ZONE and the
ZONE is a member of a SITE.
Each element can have many members, but it can only have one owner. All elements are owned by another
element with the exception of the WORLD.
Each element may only exist in its correct position in the hierarchy, e.g. a ZONE may not be directly owned
by the WORLD, it must be owned by a site.
Every element is identified within the database structure by an automatically allocated reference number
and, optionally, by a user-specified name.
The following sections give descriptions of the main element types in a PDMS Design database. Most of the
element types are abbreviated, usually to the first four letters of the full name, when they are displayed in the
user interface. The abbreviations are shown in parenthesis.
When the database is first built, it is empty except for a single element named the WORLD. Each database
has its own WORLD element as the first element in the hierarchy. The World cannot be deleted or re-
named.
Below the WORLD, the second level of the hierarchy is SITE. A SITE may be considered as a significant
collection of plant, whose size is not necessarily determined by physical area, but by practical
considerations. It may, for example be the whole project, or one part of a large project. There can be as
many SITEs within a PDMS project as required for data organisation.
The next level below a SITE is a ZONE. As with a SITE, a ZONE is not necessarily used to define a physical
area, it is more likely to store similar types of items for easy reference, such as a piping system in one
ZONE, related equipment in another, and so on. There can be as many ZONEs owned by a site as required
for data organisation.
SITE and ZONE elements are common to all disciplines. Below ZONE level the hierarchy is discipline
dependent, i.e. the elements depend on which discipline the user is modelling.
Equipment items are built up in PDMS using elements known as primitives. Each piece of equipment can
comprise any number of primitive shapes positioned in space to represent the equipment item. The
primitives may be owned directly by the EQUI element or by a Sub-Equipment element.
A SUBE is an optional element to sub-divide an EQUI. The SUBE can own primitive elements.
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2.4.6 Primitives
Primitives are the basic building blocks of PDMS. They are used by other disciplines to create catalogue
components. There are many types of primitives; each with its own features which when combined with
other primitives can represent complex shapes.
Examples of primitives are nozzle (NOZZ), box (BOX), cylinder (CYLI), pyramid (PYRA), cone (CONE) and
dish (DISH).
A VOLM is a simplified version of an EQUI element. This allows volumes to be modelled without them
being called Equipment items. A VOLM may directly own any primitive except a NOZZ.
A SVOLM is an optional element, similar to a SUBE, to sub-divide a VOLM. A SVOLM may own any
primitive except a NOZZ.
STRU elements are administrative elements, i.e. they exist to own FRAMEWORK elements, and allow the
plant structures to be sub-divided for ease of modelling and reporting.
FRMW elements are used to store structural components in the model. A complex structure can be divided
into logical frameworks. Dividing the structure in this way allows structural modelling, and also reporting, to
be done more efficiently, e.g. by copying a complete FRMW.
A SBFR is an optional element that can own structural components. They are used to further sub-divide
complex projects or for modelling sub-assemblies within a framework.
Structural profiles are represented in PDMS by section (SCTN) elements. Profile sizes are selected using a
section specification that references standard catalogue data for section sizes complying with various
national standards or company standards. Plate elements are represented by Panel (PANE) elements and
curved profiles are modelled using a Generic Section (GENSEC) component.
Pipes may be considered like lines on a flow sheet. They may run between several end connection points
and are usually grouped by a common specification and process.
Branch elements are sections of a pipe, which have known start and finish points. In PDMS the start and
finish points are called the Head and Tail. Heads and tails may be connected to Nozzles, Tees or other
Heads and Tails, depending on the configuration of the pipe, or left open ended.
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A Branch may own a wide variety of components such as Gaskets (GASK), Flanges (FLAN), Elbow (ELBO),
Tees (TEE), Valves (VALV), etc. These form the shape and geometry of the Branch and ultimately the Pipe
itself.
Piping components are selected using Piping Specifications that reference standard catalogue data. For
example, each time a user wants to use a 100mm bore elbow, PDMS always accesses the data for it from
the component catalogue. The data for these elements remains constant no matter how many 100mm bore
elbows are used in the design.
Any element in a PDMS database may be given an explicit name. Names enable the user to identify
elements and to produce meaningful reports from the database. Which elements are named is a matter of
choice, however, in general significant elements, e.g. SITE, ZONE, EQUI, SUBE, PIPE, BRAN, STRU,
FRMW, SBFR, etc. would be named. It is not usual for primitives to be named. The WORLD is named /* and
cannot be renamed.
Element names begin with a forward slash, e.g. /MY_MODEL. Generally, most design items give the
user the opportunity to name them from the element creation form. The user does not have to enter the
forward slash on such forms as it is added automatically when the Return (Enter) key is pressed.
Element names are case sensitive, e.g. /P1001A, /P1001a, /p1001A and /p1001a are all valid, and
different, names.
Element names must not contain spaces. Any character such as forward slash (/), Underscore (_),
hyphen (-), asterisk (*), etc. may be used as separators.
If an element is not explicitly named it receives a system name, e.g. CYLI 2 of EQUI 1 of ZONE 2 of SITE
/MY-MODEL. Internally PDMS does not use names to identify elements but a unique database reference
number so that an element may be re-named at any time. These reference numbers are never re-used if an
element is deleted and are, therefore, remain unique throughout the life of the project. On some forms the
reference number is used in place of the system name and will look something like =23584/2152.
2.6 Units
Internally PDMS stores values in standard SI units, i.e. millimetres, kilogrammes, degrees centigrade,
pascals, etc.
However, the current session units may be set, where applicable, to various metric or imperial units for data
input and output but this does not change the database storage units. The database storage values are
converted to suit the current session units for input and output. The input and output display units may be
changed at any time during the session.
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PDMS uses the right hand rule to express the co-ordinate system
and rotation:
Refer to Chapter 6, Attributes, Positioning and Orientation, for information on the Position and
Orientation attributes.
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CHAPTER 3
PDMS Design may be started by using the Start menu icons or the Desktop icons, providing both options
were selected on installation.
Selecting the Design option displays the PDMS version folder, i.e.
PDMS 12.1.
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Alternatively, for
Username and MDB an
appropriate name may
be entered directly in to
the appropriate textbox.
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Clicking the Retry button returns to the login form so that the
details may be checked and re-entered as required.
The Options frame of the Design login form contains the following three checkbox options:
Integrate Engineering and Schematics if checked, this option enables 2D and 3D data to be used
together.
This option is outside of the scope of this training guide.
Open Read Only if checked, this option opens the project in read only mode such that no
modification to the model may be performed.
Restore Views if checked, this option restores the view contents and multiple views, if used.
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The Options frame of the monitor login form has the same options as the Design login form with the
addition of the following options:
Change Password if checked, this option enables the user to change the Password for the login.
When the Login button is clicked the Change Password form is displayed:
Restore Default Layout if checked, this option restores the PDMS screen layout to the default
screen layout.
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This default layout may be modified to suit individual preferences, e.g. additional forms may displayed in the
layout, forms may be moved and docked and forms may be pinned/unpinned as required. Toolbars may be
moved or docked around the edges of the screen. Some of these features are described later in this
chapter.
After exiting PDMS or changing to a different module, a subsequent return to the Design module will restore
the screen layout as it was left in the previous session.
The mouse guides the graphics pointer around the screen and is also used to select or pick items by using
the mouse buttons. The buttons perform different tasks depending on the type of window, and the position of
the mouse pointer in the window. The appearance of the pointer will change according to the type of display
item that is underneath it.
A three button mouse, preferably with a scroll wheel middle button, is required for PDMS.
There are two techniques used when operating the mouse buttons, Clicking and Dragging.
Clicking - the pointer is positioned over a specific point on the screen. Clicking and releasing a mouse
button picks whatever is displayed at that point on the screen. This technique is generally used for
selecting items in graphical views, operating gadgets on forms and for selecting lines in scrollable lists.
Dragging - the pointer is positioned over a specific point on the screen, the mouse button is clicked and
held down whilst dragging the pointer to another position on the screen. To complete the operation the
button is released at the second position. This technique is mainly used for manipulating the design
model in graphical views, moving forms/toolbars around the screen and for operating sub-menus.
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The functions of each of the three mouse buttons are described below:
Left Mouse Button - The left mouse button is the main button for selecting items. On a graphical view
clicking the left mouse button with the pointer over a design element selects the element. In a sequence
of menus, dragging with the left mouse button activates the command represented by the highlighted
menu option when the button is released. On a form, the effect depends on the type of selections that are
being made, e.g. buttons, radio buttons, check boxes, scrollable lists, fold-up panels, etc.
Middle Mouse Button - The principal use of the middle mouse button in the Design module is to
manipulate the model in the 3D graphical view.
Right Mouse Button - Clicking the right mouse button displays context pop-up menus, where available.
See Chapter 4, Displaying Modelled Elements, for details of using the mouse to manipulate the model in
graphical views.
There are three types of menu in PDMS, Pull-down menus, Sub-menus and Pop-up or Right click menus.
Clicking an item on the menu bar with the left mouse button displays the pull-down menu items:
As the pointer is passed over the menu items they are highlighted in turn. Each menu item has one of three
options that result in different actions when the option is selected:
If, after displaying a pull-down menu, no menu item is required, clicking the left mouse button in a 3D
View will dismiss the pull-down menu.
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Some plain text menu items are toggles, i.e. they turn the
selection On or Off.
3.4.2 Sub-menus
Pop-up menus are context sensitive and are accessed by clicking the right mouse button. The menu options
depend on where the pointer is located at the time of the mouse click. Pop-up menus are available from 3D
Views, Explorers and forms.
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Forms are used to display information, enter data and to modify data.
Forms typically comprise an arrangement of Tabs, Buttons, Text Boxes, Radio Buttons, Checkboxes,
Scrollable Lists, Link Labels, Grids and Fold-up Panels, sometimes collectively referred to as gadgets.
Input to a form is usually via a combination of mouse and keyboard, the mouse being used to select the
appropriate controls and the keyboard to enter the data.
When a form is displayed, settings may be changed, reset to initial values, accepted or cancelled without
applying any changes, depending on the design of the form.
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3.5.1 Tabs
Tabs are used to change to a new page of the form. The current tab is highlighted in a different colour to
the other tabs, e.g. in the example shown the current tab is white whilst the rest are grey.
A tab is selected by placing the pointer over the tab and clicking the left mouse button.
Radio buttons are combined in groups and only permit one selection of the group to be set ON, i.e. the radio
button with the filled dot in the centre.
To set a radio button ON move the pointer over the radio button or associated text and click the left mouse
button. Turning a radio button on will automatically turn the other radio button(s) in the group OFF.
3.5.3 Checkboxes
A checkbox may be either ON, i.e. a checkmark (tick) is displayed in the box, or OFF, i.e. the box has no
checkmark displayed. Checkboxes are not mutually exclusive so any combination of check boxes on a form
may be ON or OFF.
To change the status of a check box, i.e. to set it ON or OFF, move the pointer over the check box or
associated text and click the left mouse button.
Text boxes enable alphanumeric data, e.g. names, dimensions, values, etc, to be entered. A text box will
generally have a label describing, or qualifying, the data required adjacent to it.
To enter data into a text box, move the pointer into the box and click the left mouse button. Key in the
required data using the keyboard or edit any existing entry as necessary. The Backspace key will clear the
box of any content. When complete, acceptance of the input is confirmed the by pressing the Return (or
Enter) key.
When first displaying a form containing text boxes, the first text box on the form will be current and a text
pointer (a vertical bar) will be displayed in the box. A text box often contains a default entry when first
displayed. Some text boxes will accept only text or only numeric data, and entries with the wrong type of
data will not be accepted.
If required for the length of the list, a vertical scroll bar is displayed on the
right hand side of the list.
A horizontal scroll bar may also be displayed along the bottom of the list.
To select an option from an options list, click with the left mouse button on the list or the down arrow to
display the list items.
Moving the pointer up and down the list highlights each list item in turn. To select a list item click the
required selection with the left mouse button.
Some option lists allow only a single selection, i.e. selecting any option deselects all others automatically.
Other lists allow multiple selections, with all selected options highlighted simultaneously. Multiple
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selections, where applicable, are made using standard Windows selection functionality, i.e. the Ctrl and
Shift keys.
To de-select a highlighted option on a multi-item list, click on it again. Repeated clicks toggle a selection on
and off.
3.5.6 Buttons
Buttons may be any size and have either a text label, a sketch (picture) or a solid colour (swatch) within it
that conveys the purpose of the button. Each button usually carries a Tooltip to describe the purpose of the
button.
The button may take direct action when activated, display a form or toggle a setting. When a toggle button is
ON it is shown as pressed. How this is shown depends on the Appearance settings of the Windows
Display Properties.
Buttons are used by moving the pointer over the button and clicking the left mouse button.
Link Labels are text that links one form to another. Link Labels may be active, i.e. the
text is underlined when the pointer is moved over the label, or inactive, i.e. the text is
not underlined when the pointer is moved over the label.
Link labels are used by moving the pointer over an active label and clicking the left
mouse button.
Fold-up Panels are used to extend large forms, i.e. reveal more
options.
Clicking the button opens the panel to reveal the options contained
within it. These options may be any of the other gadgets.
Once unfolded the circle button on the panel header changes to show
two up arrows.
Clicking the button will fold-up the panel, hiding its contents.
3.5.9 Grids
Grid gadgets appear on forms where data is displayed in rows and columns, similar to a spreadsheet. The
grid gadget has the capability of column grouping, column sorting and column filtering; however, the
functionality differs between forms that contain these gadgets. The functionality will be explained in detail
when encountered in this training guide.
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Some forms contain a menu across the top of the form. Form menus
have the same functionality and options as described previously for
pull-down menus.
Most forms include at least one control button which is used to either:
The OK and Apply buttons enter the current form settings as command inputs, however, the OK button also
closes the form whereas the Apply button leaves the form displayed for further input.
The Cancel and Reset buttons cancel any changes made to the settings of the form. Cancel also closes the
form.
Some forms contain more specific types of control buttons, which carry out particular command options
(extensions of the Apply concept); e.g. the Goto, Add and Remove buttons.
Where a form does not contain a Dismiss button a Control form menu item is usually provided. This pull-
down menu will contain a close option which dismisses the form.
Where neither a Dismiss button or Control pull-down menu are provided the form may be dismissed by
clicking the Close button on the top right hand side of the form with the left mouse button. This should only
be done where no other options to dismiss the form are provided.
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Some forms are dockable, i.e. they can be fixed in a particular place on the display. When dockable forms
are initially displayed they will dock at their default position.
This position may be changed by dragging the forms banner with the left mouse button. As the form is
moved, docking icons are displayed to aid the docking process.
When the form is dragged over one of the docking aids, the docking tool previews the docking position using
a shaded area of the display.
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Once the required docking position has been achieved, releasing the left mouse button will dock the form in
the selected position.
If a dockable form is dragged over a previously docked form, additional docking aids for docking the new
form over the previous form are displayed. The additional docking aids work in the same way as previously
described.
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Once a dockable form has been docked, it may also be pinned and unpinned, i.e. hidden or displayed:
Passing the
cursor over the
tab displays the
form which may
be used in the
normal way.
If the screen layout has been modified selecting Settings>Reset Windows Layout from the main menu will
restore the screen to the previous layout in that session.
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Toolbars group together gadgets, e.g. buttons, scrollable list and text boxes, for a particular set of
commands or commands related to common functionality. The gadgets on the toolbars operate in the same
way as described previously for forms.
Toolbars may be selected for display by clicking the right mouse button in
the blank area adjacent to the main menu to display a list of the available
toolbars.
All toolbars may be moved by dragging with the left mouse button as per
standard Windows functionality. The toolbars may be docked around any
edge of the main window and in any configuration.
Most toolbars may be dragged from the main window border into another area of the
screen layout to form a standalone toolbar. In this mode, the shape and configuration of
the toolbar may be modified by dragging its edges.
Toolbars may be customised and new toolbars created, however, this functionality is outside the scope
of this training guide.
The Command Window enables the user to directly interact with the database(s) by entering valid command
syntax to manipulate, create, modify and query any database element. Reports may also be output to the
Command Window.
The Command Window is a dockable form and is displayed/undisplayed by selecting Display > Command
Window from the main menu.
After clicking in the Command Window with the left mouse button, valid command line syntax may be
entered on to the active line. Command line syntax is executed by pressing the Return (Enter) key.
There is no definitive list of command line syntax, however, the Design Reference Manuals, supplied
with PDMS, is a useful reference for Command Syntax.
Previously entered commands may be recalled to the active line by double-clicking the left mouse button on
the required line in the Command Window or by using the up and down arrow cursor keys to step through
previous syntax entries until the appropriate line is found. The active line may be edited before executing the
command(s). Command line syntax is not case sensitive, except for element names.
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Paste this option enables single or multiple lines of text, which has been copied to the clipboard from
any source, to be submitted for processing in the Command Window. This option will execute each line of
the text as a separate command, as if they had been typed into the Command Window. The last line will
not be executed but becomes the active line and must be executed manually by pressing the Return key.
Paste as Macro this option first creates a temporary file containing the copied macro commands and
executes this as a macro. This option enables macro syntax, such as error handling to be used. For a
large number of commands this option gives better performance, e.g. graphics will only be updated at the
end of the macro rather than after each command.
Font Size this option has a sub-menu that allows the font size in the Command Window to be set to
Small, Medium or Large:
Care should be taken when using the Command Window as all commands entered act directly on the
database elements. Some operations available from the forms and menus cannot be replicated in the
Command Window. Conversely, some operations in PDMS can only be performed via the Command
Window.
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Being able to navigate around the databases and the database hierarchy is an essential part of successfully
working with PDMS. The user interface provides an Explorer to facilitate navigation.
There can only be one Current Element at any one time and most
commands, either via the forms and menus or the Command
Window act on the CE.
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As the databases in the current MDB may contain many thousands of elements, the Design Explorer has a
filter that, when activated, restricts the display of elements for other disciplines.
For example, the current user may be a Piping Designer routing and
modelling pipes.
By selecting the Piping option from the pull-down at the top of the
Design Explorer and activating the filter by checking the Filter
checkbox, the Piping elements are left unaffected; however, other
discipline elements are restricted.
The Equipment elements only display the Nozzle (NOZZ) primitives that they own (if any), as the pipe may
need to connect to these elements. All other primitives owned by the equipment are not displayed.
For Structural elements, no elements below the Framework (FRMW) level are displayed.
The other filter options, e.g. Hangers&Supports, Equipment and Structural function in a similar way. The
filters cannot be extended or edited.
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Clicking the Yes button permanently deletes the CE from the database.
Add To My Data This option adds the Current Element to a My Data collection.
Refer to Chapter 7 General Utilities, for details of the My Data functionality.
New Explorer This option creates a new Explorer for the Current Element and below, i.e. all elements
owned by the Current Element.
The New Explorer option has a context sensitive sub-menu, i.e. its options depend on the element type
of the current element. The CE and its owner will always be two of the options, however, significant
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It is possible to copy and paste an element in Design Explorer using Drag & Drop functionality.
Holding down the Ctrl key and the left mouse button on the CE and moving the pointer, a line is
displayed showing the potential location of the copy. Releasing the left mouse button creates a copy
of the CE. The same naming conventions apply as described above.
Selecting Settings>Explorer from the main menu displays the Explorer Settings form.
The form contain check boxes that toggle the following settings:
Auto Collapse Tree If selected, whenever the user changes CE,
any expanded node not containing the selected CE is automatically
collapsed. This applies to all active explorers. This option is
disabled if Expand to CE is not selected.
Expand to CE If selected, this option automatically expands the
tree when the CE changes (if not already expanded).
Hide non-user System Data If selected, this option hides all
System Data elements in the MDB, e.g. ASDFWL, ASSOWL,
APPLDW, TPWL, to which the user does not have write access.
Show TUBI/ROD If selected, this option displays all TUBI and
ROD elements in Design Explorer.
TUBI and ROD elements are Piping and Cable Tray
components respectively. These elements are discussed in
the appropriate discipline training guide.
The Draft Explorer section of the Explorer Settings form is outside the scope of this training guide. See
TM-1002 Drawing Production (Basic) training guide for details of these options.
Elements may be deleted from the databases in several ways. It is important that deleting a database
element will also delete all of the elements in the hierarchy owned by the element.
For example, if a SITE is deleted, all of the ZONEs owned by it will be deleted and any elements, such as
EQUI, STRU, PIPE, etc. owned by the ZONE will also be deleted.
Whichever method is used to delete database elements, except the Command Window, PDMS will always
issue a confirmation message requiring a positive response from the user before deleting the element(s). If
the elements are visible in the 3D View they will be highlighted.
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Clicking the right mouse button in the Design Explorer displays the pop-up menu that
contains a Delete option. Choosing this option displays a confirmation message
naming the CE to be deleted. Clicking the Yes button deletes the element.
CE this option deletes the current element and displays a confirmation message as described above.
Identified this option deletes elements identified in the 3D View. An element is identified by clicking on
it with the left mouse button, which highlights the element in the current highlight colour. Pressing the Esc
key terminates the selection process and displays a confirmation message:
List this option deletes all the elements in the current list. A confirmation message is displayed naming
the list to be deleted. If displayed in the 3D View the elements are highlighted.
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Selecting the All option from the sub-menu deletes all the
members of the current element but does not delete the
current element itself. A confirmation message is displayed
naming the current element whose members will be deleted.
The Default toolbar contains a Delete CE button . Clicking the button with left mouse button deletes the
current element. A confirmation message is displayed, as described in section 3.9.2.
The current element may be deleted using the Command Window using the syntax DELETE <element
type> where <element type> is the element type of the current element, e.g. DELETE ZONE, DELETE
EQUI, DELETE CYLI, etc.
When changes are made to the design model during a PDMS session, the effects of the changes are
applied only to a copy of the design data until the databases are updated. There is no auto-save in PDMS
and, therefore, the databases must be updated explicitly by the user. It is advisable to save work regularly to
avoid losing design changes in the event of an unforeseen problem.
Updating the databases to incorporate the current design changes may be achieved by:
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Design changes made by the user are shown immediately in the working copies of the databases. Design
changes made by other users during your current PDMS session will not be shown in your working copies
unless they are updated explicitly.
All databases to which the user has Read access will be updated by the Get Work operation, whereas
the Save Work operation affects only those databases to which the user has Write access.
Undo and Redo commands are available from the Edit menu on the main menu or from
buttons on the Model Editor toolbar.
It is important to understand that these buttons will only undo or redo database changes,
unless in Model Editor Mode, i.e. if a position or orientation of an element is modified or an
element is added or deleted, these are database changes, whereas, changing the display
colour of an element is not a database change.
There is no limit to the undo or redo within a Design session, however, any Save Work or
Get Work commands issued will clear the undo and redo stacks, i.e. it is not possible to
undo beyond the last Save Work.
Refer to Chapter 8, Introduction to Model Editor, for information on the use of Undo
and Redo in Model Editor Mode.
To leave a PDMS session select Design > Exit from the main menu.
Clicking the Yes button saves the changes and exits PDMS,
clicking the No button doesnt save the changes and exits
PDMS and clicking the Cancel button aborts the exit command.
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Clicking the Yes button exits PDMS and clicking the No button aborts
the exit command.
Clicking the AVEVA Plant Suite 12.1 Help icon in the Start menu icons,
displays the User Documentation 12 Series form.
All product documentation can be accessed by using the form menu system, for example:
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Clicking the desitred entry from the menu system opens a separate window containing the document and
various controls including Contents, Search and Favorites tabs.
A printable PDF version of the document may be obtained by clicling the Printable version link label on the
documentation page.
The document may be navigated by expanding the tree structure in the Contents tab and selecting
appropriate entries or clicking the forward an backwards arrows on the document page .
The Search tab enables the document to be searched for key words.
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Pressing the F1 key whilst in a PDMS module opens a relevant document in a similar window to that show
above, depending on the current module. The Contents, Search and Favorites tabs are available.
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Exercise 1
Entering PDMS
Double click the Plant Design 12.1 desktop icon or select Start > All Programs > AVEVA Plant > Design
> PDMS 12.1SP2 > Design from the Start menu to display the Design login form.
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The Splash Screen is displayed while PDMS is loading. After a short time PDMS is opened with the default
screen layout:
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Many of the forms and menus can be positioned, resized and docked on the screen as required. These
positions will be remembered for the next time the user enters AVEVA PDMS. The windows are moved and
docked using standard windows mouse techniques.
Click the + icon next to Design Worl * in Design Explorer to open up the top level explorer tree.
Click and hold with the left mouse button on the Design Explorer title bar and move the cursor to undock
the form. Note the displayed docking icons. Try docking the Design Explorer in various positions.
Select Display > Members from the main menu to display the Members form. Resize the form by
dragging the edges/corners as required and move it to a suitable location, noting that it is not a dockable
form, i.e. the docking icons are not displayed when it is moved. Click the Control > Close option from
the form menu on the Members form.
Right click in the empty area to the right of the main menu to display the list of available toolbars, noting
the ones that are checked, i.e. displayed. Select the Positioning Control option and note the
appearance of the toolbar, although it is inactive.
Click and hold with the left mouse button over the left hand edge (four vertical dots) to display the
standard Windows move icon. Drag the toolbar onto the 3D graphics view. Try docking different toolbars
around the edges of the display.
Accessing Applications
The default application in Design is the General application. Other Design module applications are
accessed from the main menu.
Click the Design item on the main menu with the left mouse button to display the menu options.
Move the pointer to highlight the Equipment item on the menu and then select by clicking the left
mouse button. The Equipment application is loaded, as indicated by the main window banner.
Note the change in the main menu and toolbars. These are specific items for the Equipment application.
Select other applications from the Design menu and note the changes in the main menu and toolbars.
Ensure the Equipment application is selected. Select Utilities > Training Setup from the main menu to
display the Training Setup form.
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Navigate to the Foundations tab then select the Add TRA SITE checkbox, click the Apply button, then
close the form.
Note that the Design Explorer updates to show the TRA Site. The site is automatically added to the 3D-
view.
With the list open press the P key and highlight the first entry in the list. Press the P key several times
and note that the list steps through the entries whose name begins with P.
Use the Forward and Backwards arrows and their associated history list to navigate in Design Explorer.
Collapse the Design Explorer tree by clicking the icon next to the Design WORL * entry. Select the
Piping entry in the Design Explorer filter options list with the left mouse button and left click the Filter
checkbox to activate it. This will expand the Design Explorer tree.
Double left click the PIPE.ZONE, then pipe2, followed by pipe2-b1. Note that all of the pipe components
are displayed.
Navigate to the the EQUIP.ZONE. Expand the zone hierarchy, then the hierarchy of PUMP1. Note that
only the nozzle elements are displayed as they relate to piping. The Members list can be used to view
the other primitives that make up PUMP1.
Expand the STRUC.ZONE and the TANK2-STRU element. Note that no members are shown below the
FRMW level as no elements relate to piping. The Members list can again be used to view the other
primitives that make up the framework.
Use the Equipment and Structural filters and note the resulting display in the Design Explorer for
different element types.
Hold down the Ctrl key and click and hold down with the left mouse button on PUMP1 in the Design
Explorer. Drag the pointer down the explorer, still holding down the Ctrl key and the left mouse button,
and note the displayed line. When the line is displayed below Copy-of-TANK1, simultaneously release
the Ctrl key and the left mouse button. Note that a copy of PUMP1, named Copy-of-PUMP1 has been
created at the selected position.
Deleting Elements
Make Copy-of-TANK1 the CE. Click on the Delete CE button on the main menu and click the Yes
button on the subsequent confirmation message.
Right click on Copy-(2)-of-TANK1. Select Delete from the pop-up menu and click the Yes button on the
subsequent confirmation message.
Make Copy-of-PUMP1 the CE. Select Delete > CE from the main menu and click the Yes button on the
subsequent confirmation message.
Click the Undo button on the Model Editor Toolbar. The last deletion is undone and the element Copy-
of-PUMP1 is restored to Design Explorer. In the Command Window enter DELETE EQUI and press the
Return key. Note that there is no confirmation message of the deletion.
If the Command Window is not already displayed select Display > Command Window from the
main menu.
Saving Work
Remove the TRA site from the 3D view by typing REM ALL in the Command Window.
Click the Save Work button on the Default Toolbar or select Design > Save Work from the main menu.
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CHAPTER 4
This chapter describes how to view the required model elements; set the view limits and set the viewing
direction.
In order to view the design in a 3D View, the basic things to consider are:
Which elements are required to be viewed, i.e. Building the Drawlist.
Scaling the required elements to fit the 3D View, i.e. Setting the View Limits.
Which direction are the elements to be viewed from, i.e. Setting the View Direction.
PDMS uses the concept of a Drawlist, that is, a list of database elements to be displayed. All elements in the
Drawlist must exist in the databases, i.e. they can be seen in Design Explorer. However, not all database
elements need be in a Drawlist, thus making the Drawlist a very powerful tool for viewing the model.
Before any element can be displayed in a 3D View it must be added to a Drawlist. The Drawlist may consist
of a single element (e.g. an EQUI), a number of items (e.g.an EQUI and some PIPEs), a complete SITE, or
the whole model. When elements are added to a Drawlist, any element that is a member of the added
element, i.e. elements owned by the added element, are also added to the Drawlist. Elements may be
added or removed from a Drawlist at any time during a Design session.
Right clicking on the Pick Object to Hide or Right Click for Drawlist Options button on the left hand
side of the 3D View displays the Drawlist Options pop-up menu. Selecting the Drawlist option displays
the Drawlist form:
Elements may be added and removed from the Drawlist in several ways, as described in the following
sections. If elements are added to the Drawlist, by any method, that are already present in the Drawlist, they
are not added again.
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Elements may be dragged from the Design Explorer and dropped into a 3D View. Clicking an element in the
Design Explorer with the left mouse button, which makes it the CE, and dragging it into a 3D View populates
the Drawlist.
If the CE is a component or primitive the owning element is added to the 3D View. However, if the Ctrl key is
pressed during the drag operation, only the component or primitive will be added to the 3D View.
If the added elements are the first elements to be added to an empty Drawlist, the display zooms to the
limits of the elements. Subsequent additions to the Drawlist do not affect the limits of the display.
The Default Toolbar contains two buttons, one for adding elements
to the Drawlist and one for removing elements.
Add this option adds the CE to the 3D View, with all the elements it owns.
If the CE is a primitive, the owning element is added to the 3D View.
Add Only this option adds only the CE to the 3D View.
Add Connected this option adds the CE and any elements connected to it to the 3D View.
How elements are connected varies depending on the discipline and is outside the scope of this
training guide. Refer to specific discipline training guides for element connectivity.
Add Within Volume this option adds the CE and any elements that are partially or wholly within a
volume box whose size is derived from the extremities of the CE to the 3D View.
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Remove this option removes the CE from the 3D View, with all the elements it owns.
If the CE is a primitive, the owning element is removed from the 3D View.
Remove Only this option removes only the CE from the 3D View.
Highlight this option highlights the CE in the designated highlight colour. Another element needs to be
made the CE before the highlighting is displayed; this is because the designated CE colour is dominant.
Element colours are detailed in Chapter 5 - Working with 3D Views.
Unhighlight this option un-highlights the CE.
Entering ADD CE in the Command Window will add the current element to the Drawlist and the 3D View.
Names may also be used to explicitly add named elements to the Drawlist, e.g. ADD /EQUIP will add the
Zone named /EQUIP while ADD /E1301 /C1101 /D1201 will add all the named elements. The element type
may also be used with the syntax, i.e. ADD ZONE while the CE is the Zone or any member of the Zone will
add the Zone to the Drawlist
Similarly, entering REM CE in the Command Window removes the current element from the Drawlist and the
3D display. The same syntax can be used to remove one or more named elements or the element type.
Entering REM ALL in the Command Window removes every element from the Drawlist and empties the 3D
View.
Whichever method is used to populate the Drawlist, the form updates (refreshes) automatically
providing the Track changes checkbox is checked. If it is not checked the Drawlist will not update with
changes to the Drawlist until the checkbox is checked.
The Drawlist is a re-sizable and dockable form that has many features to help control the Drawlist for a 3D
View. The form has, essentially three areas as described in the following sections.
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The grid entries may be grouped, sorted and filtered to suit the users requirements, as described below.
Grouping
Sorting
The grid data can be sorted alpha-numerically, either ascending (default) or descending, by clicking the
column header with the left mouse button. Once clicked a small icon is displayed in the right hand side of the
column header to indicate ascending and descending. The grid data may only be sorted on one column at a
time.
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Filtering
The required filtering text is entered in the text box adjacent to the operator. Additional filters may be added
by clicking the Add button and following the same process. Once more than one filter is defined the Delete
button is active.
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Clicking with the right mouse button on any element in any of the tab grids displays
the Drawlist pop-up menu which has the following options:
More than one element may be selected from the grid tabs using the Ctrl or
Shift keys in combination with the left mouse button, as in standard Windows
operations.
Navigate To this option navigates to the element, selected in the list, in the Design Explorer, effectively
making it the current element. Where more than one element is selected this option navigates to the first
one in the list.
Hide this option hides the selected element(s) from the 3D View. The elements are not removed from
the Drawlist, only removed from the graphics display. The Show checkbox in the Display Settings area of
the form is unchecked.
Show this option shows the selected elements(s) in the 3D View, if they have been hidden. The Show
checkbox in the Display Settings area of the form is checked.
Remove this option removes the selected element(s) from the Drawlist.
Add to My Data this option adds the selected element(s) to My Data.
Export to Excel this options opens the Save Drawlist to Excel browser, enabling the grid contents to
be saved to a .xls file.
Below the tabs and grid gadgets on the Drawlist form are three buttons that perform the following functions:
This button selects the CE, as shown in Design Explorer, in the selected tab list and
highlights the entry. If the CE is not in the selected tab list then a warning alert form is
displayed.
This button adds the current element, as shown in Design Explorer, to the Drawlist.
This may be a significant element, a component or a primitive.
This button removes the selected row(s) from the Drawlist. The other tabs are updated
automatically. This button is only enabled when one or more rows in any of the tab
grids has been selected.
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When the display settings of a top level element in the Drawlist are modified, all lower level elements
owned by the element are also modified, however, individual primitives may have their display settings
changed from their owners colour by making a selection from the Primitives of <nnnn> tab.
If unchecked, the Show checkbox hides the selected item(s) in the 3D View. Checking the box
displays the object in the 3D View, if hidden.
The Colour button shows the colour of the selected element(s) and displays its colour
name. If more than one element is selected the colour of the first element selected is
shown, although the operation will change the colour of all selected elements.
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Other functions that affect the Drawlist and the visual properties of displayed elements are described in the
following sections.
An object may be hidden, i.e. removed from the display but not
from the Drawlist, by left clicking on the Pick Object to Hide
button and selecting an element in the 3D View.
In a multi-pick sequence, say for defining a limits box graphically, an object requiring to be picked may be
obscured by another element. Left clicking the Pick Object to Hide button sets the graphical view so that
the next 3D object picked will be hidden. This has the effect of temporarily suspending any current multi-pick
sequence and allowing the obscuring object to be picked. This will cause the picked object to be hidden
whereupon the multi-pick sequence will be restored, allowing the user to complete the sequence
Right clicking on the Pick Object to Hide button on the left side of the 3D
View displays the Drawlist Options pop-up menu.
Show Last Hidden Object(s) this option re-shows the object(s) most recently hidden in the current
session, providing they are still in the Drawlist.
Show All Hidden Objects this option re-shows all objects hidden in the current session, providing they
are still in the Drawlist.
Show Hidden Objects - this option displays the Hidden Objects form that enables the user to select
objects to re-show.
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The Hide option hides the graphical selection from the 3D View.
In order to display items in the 3D View, whether it is a single item, a selection of items or an entire model,
the elements have to be scaled to fit the view. Scaling of the items is performed automatically by PDMS
once the limits of the items to be displayed are known.
The limits of an item, or a selection of items, can be thought of as a box completely encapsulating the
item(s) to be viewed.
There are several ways by which the elements to be viewed can be scaled to fit the 3D View:
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The view limits may be manipulated using some of the View Control buttons on the left hand side of a 3D
View.
Left clicking the Limits CE & Options button sets the view limits to the current element.
Clicking the Zoom to Selection button sets the view limits to the current graphical selection. If there
is no current graphical selection the CE is used as the selection.
Clicking the Walk to Drawlist button sets the view limits and centres the view to the contents of the
Drawlist.
Right clicking the Limits CE & Options button displays a sub-menu. The
following options are applicable to setting the view limits. The other options will be
explained later in this training guide.
Obstruction this option sets the view limits to the elements contained in the Obstruction List. This list is
primarily used for clash detection but may be used for this purpose.
Clipbox this option sets the view limits to the same co-ordinates as the current Clipbox, if defined.
See section 5.8 for information on Clipping.
Explicit - this option displays the Volume Design [1] form.
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Although the model may be viewed form any direction, functionality is provided for setting the viewing
direction to pre-defined and explicit directions and is described in the following sections.
The following options on the View menu relate to setting the view direction:
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Right clicking in any blank area of a 3D View, i.e. the cursor is not over a element, displays the 3D View
pop-up menu. The menu has the same Look, Plan, and Isometric options (and functionality) as those
found under the main View menu.
A direction of n90d, i.e. North 90 Down, is the default viewing direction and is the direction obtained when
selecting Plan > North.
A direction of e45n35d, i.e. East 45 North 35 Down, is the direction obtained when selecting
Isometric > Iso 3.
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Exercise 2
Highlight the equipment item PUMP1 in Design Explorer and click the Add CE to Drawlist button
from the Default Toolbar to add the equipment to the Drawlist.
Right click the EQUIP.ZONE element in Design Explorer to display the Design Explorer pop-up menu.
Select 3D View > Add from the sub-menu to add the ZONE to the Drawlist. Note that only the equipment
element TANK2 has been added to the Drawlist. As the other equipment items owned by the
EQUI.ZONE were already in the Drawlist only the remaining equipment item has been added.
TANK2 cannot be seen in the 3D View as the display limits were set around TANK1. Click the Walk to
Draw List button on the left side of the 3D View. The limits are now set to all of the equipment
elements.
Right click on TANK1 in Design Explorer and select 3D View > Add Connected from the sub-menu. This
will add pipe1-b1 to the 3D View as the pipe is connected to the equipment item.
Right click on TANK2 in Design Explorer and select 3D View > Add Within Volume from the pop-up
menu. This adds pipe2-b1 and some of the Section (SCTN) elements that make up the TANK2 supports
to the 3D View as they are within the volume of the equipment item.
Make the PIPE.ZONE element the Current Element (CE) by left clicking it in Design Explorer and click
the Add CE to drawlist button on the Drawlist form to add the remainder of the pipe branches to the 3D
View.
If the Command Window is not displayed, select Display > Command Line from the main menu.
Make the STRUC.ZONE the CE and in the Command Window enter ADD CE and press the Return
key.
Add the CIVIL.ZONE to the Drawlist using any method.
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CHAPTER 5
The previous chapters have introduced the concept of the 3D View, described how to display model
elements and control the content, view limits and viewing direction of a 3D View.
This chapter describes additional functionality of 3D Views including modes of operation, graphical
selections, multiple, local and clone views, model manipulation, model representation, view clipping, colours
and graphical settings.
Visible items in a 3D View may be grouped together to form a Graphical Selection which are used in a
variety of ways in PDMS.
Items that form a graphical selection are highlighted with a solid green line around the extremities of the
constituent parts of the item(s).
Items may be added to or removed from the current Graphical Selection by:
selecting them individually.
dragging a rectangular fence around items to be selected.
using selection operations to select related groups of items.
Clicking on an item in the 3D View with the left mouse button makes it the CE and creates a new Graphical
Selection containing that one item.
The Ctrl key is used to add or remove items from the graphical selection:
Holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on an unselected item will add it to the current Graphical
Selection.
Holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on a selected item removes it from the current Graphical
Selection.
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A group of items may be selected by using a fence selection which has two selection options:
Wholly Within this option selects items that are entirely contained inside the rectangular boundary of a
fence.
Wholly and Partially Within this option selects both items that are entirely contained inside the
rectangular boundary of a fence, and items that cross the boundary.
The selection may be made by:
Selecting Selection>Select Rectangle from the main menu
and choosing from the sub-menu.
Using the right mouse button to define the fence, see
below.
A fence is defined by clicking in an empty space in the 3D View, i.e. not with the cursor over an item, to
specify one corner of the fence rectangle and then dragging the mouse pointer to the opposite corner of the
rectangle and releasing the mouse button.
Dragging the fence with the left mouse button selects the items in the
fence, depending on the Within setting.
Dragging a fence with the right mouse button displays a pop-up menu
when the mouse button is released.
The within option may be selected from the pop-up menu. The Cancel
option aborts the fence selection process.
Holding down the Ctrl key, while making a fence selection, adds the
selected item(s) to the current Graphical Selection, if the selected item(s)
are not already part of it.
Holding down the Shift key, while making a fence selection, removes the selected item(s) from the current
Graphical Selection, if the selected item(s) are in it.
Clicking in a blank space in the 3D View with the left mouse button clears the Graphical Selection.
If a Graphical Selection has been lost accidentally by clearing the selection or by starting a new selection,
the previous selection can be reinstated by selecting Edit>Re-Select from the main menu.
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The Navigate to Element button on the Utilities toolbar affects the way graphical picking works in
Navigate and EDG modes.
If the function is on, then in Navigate mode, selecting an equipment item will make the selected primitive the
CE, rather than creating a Graphical Selection of the equipment item. It is not possible to create a Graphical
Selection in Navigate mode with the Navigate to Element function on.
Navigate to Element and Model Editor Mode are mutually exclusive. Model Editor Mode cannot be
entered while Navigate to Element is on and the Model Editor button on the Utilities toolbar is greyed out.
Whilst in Model Editor Mode, clicking the Navigate to Element button will exit Model Editor.
Navigate to Element also affects the Navigation Level in the Equipment application.
See TM-1104 Equipment Modelling training guide for details of the Navigation Level options in the
Equipment application.
PDMS provides the ability to view the model in multiple 3D Views; however, the number of views will
probably be limited by the physical size of your display device.
The list shows all of the current 3D Views. The views are numbered
sequentially with the default view being labelled 3D View (1) and
subsequent additional views would be labelled 3D View (2), 3D View (3),
etc. These labels appear on the 3D View window header.
See section 5.10.1 for information on changing these labels.
New views are created by clicking the Create button in the New Views
area of the form. The Settings button displays the Graphics Settings
form whose functionality is described later in this chapter.
Selecting one or more entries in the list activates the Background and
Delete buttons.
Clicking the Delete button deletes all 3D Views highlighted in the list. No
warning or confirmation alerts are given.
3D Views may also be deleted by clicking the Delete button on
the top right of the 3D View Window.
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Right clicking in the grid displays a pop-up menu that contains the
following options:
Select All this option selects all the 3D Views in the grid list.
Background colour - this option displays the Background colour
form, as described earlier.
Delete this option deletes all 3D Views highlighted in the grid list.
All multiple views created in this way use the global Drawlist; therefore,
any changes to the Drawlist contents or display settings will affect the
content of all of the views.
Each 3D View has a full set of view control buttons that apply only to that view. Each view also has its own
prompt area and Status bar.
The default 3D View and any newly created view initially fills the complete 3D View
area so that the window frame cannot be seen.
Left clicking the Restore button on the graphics window reduces the size of all of
the 3D Views so that the window frames are displayed. The views may then be re-
sized and positioned using standard Windows manipulation functionality.
The 3D View windows may also be organised using standard Windows tiling and
selection functionality.
Only one 3D View may be active at any one time. The checkmark denotes the
current view. A view may be made active by clicking anywhere in the view with the
left mouse button. If the view window frames are displayed the active window is
highlighted. The colours and style depend on the Windows display settings.
A 3D View window may be re-sized to completely fill the 3D View area by left
clicking the Maximise button 2D View Window
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Selecting the New Local View of Selection option from the Drawlist Options
pop-up menu creates a Local View of the current graphical selection. This
may be done from any 3D View.
A local view is like any other additional 3D View except that it has its own
Drawlist, containing only those elements that are in the local view.
It is therefore possible to have a number of Drawlists apart from the global Drawlist. Only one Drawlist may
be displayed at one time. If a Drawlist for a 3D View is displayed and another view is made active and the
Drawlist for that view opened, it will replace the previously displayed Drawlist.
Selecting the New Clone View option from the Drawlist Options pop-
up menu creates a Clone View of the current 3D View. This may be
done from any 3D View.
A Clone View uses the same Drawlist as the 3D View it was cloned
from. This may be the global Drawlist or a local Drawlist, depending on
how the original view was created.
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The majority of operations are normally carried out in parallel projection mode with perspective
being reserved for creating realistic screen shots. However, all PDMS functionality will work in
perspective mode.
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A 3D View may be interactively manipulated by zooming, panning, rotating and walking to achieve the
desired view of the displayed items. Each of these modes is used by dragging the middle mouse button or
using the scroll wheel.
The middle mouse button options may be set in a number of ways, as described in the following sections
and may be accessed in the following ways:
Left clicking the following View Control buttons on the left side of a 3D View perform sets the middle
mouse button drag modes:
The function keys that affect the middle mouse button drag mode are:
F2 sets Zoom mode
F3 sets Pan mode
F5 sets Rotate mode
F6 sets Walk mode
Zoom Rectangle mode is not available using the Function Keys.
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The current setting of the middle mouse button drag mode is displayed on the Status bar:
5.6.2 Zoom
Scrolling the wheel forward will zoom in and scrolling the wheel backwards
zooms out.
Zooming with the scroll wheel can be performed in any of the middle mouse
button drag modes; however, it is much coarser than zooming with the middle
mouse button drag.
5.6.3 Pan
Panning enables the contents of the 3D View to be moved across the view in any direction.
With the middle mouse button mode set to Pan, clicking and holding down the middle mouse button
anywhere in the 3D View and moving the cursor in any direction will pan the view. The view will pan in the
opposite direction to the mouse movement and in direct correlation to the amount the cursor is moved.
The 3D View may also be effectively panned by Setting the Centre of Interest. Positioning the cursor
anywhere in the 3D view and clicking the middle mouse button will move the selected point to the centre of
the view, thus effectively panning the view. Thus, the view may be panned in any direction by selectively
picking a point in the view and clicking the middle mouse button.
The view will pan by the distance between the picked point and the centre of the view. Keeping the cursor in
the same location and repeatedly clicking the middle mouse button will keep panning the view.
5.6.4 Rotate
The contents of the 3D View may be rotated around a vertical or horizontal axis running through the centre
of the view. The view may only be rotated around one axis at a time. The rotation may be achieved in two
ways:
Using the middle mouse button - with the middle mouse button mode set to Rotate, clicking and
holding down the middle mouse button anywhere in the 3D View and moving the mouse left or right
across the view will rotate the view contents around the vertical axis. Moving the mouse up or down the
view will rotate the view contents around the horizontal axis.
Using the 3D View Borders selecting View > Settings > Borders from the main menu toggles the
display of rotation sliders at the bottom and right hand side of the 3D View. The rotation sliders may also
be toggled by pressing the F9 function key.
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The sliders are operated by dragging the orientation indicator with left mouse button. Dragging the bottom
slider will rotate the contents of the 3D View around the vertical axis and dragging the right hand slider will
rotate the contents of the 3D View around the horizontal axis.
Using the concept of an eye and a target, PDMS has two modes for rotating in a 3D View:
Model Mode this mode rotates the eye around the target. In actuality it appears as though the model is
rotating; however, it is the eye moving around the target.
Eye Mode this mode rotates the target around the eye. This has a very different effect to that of model
mode and the model can quickly disappear from the 3D View.
The rotation mode may be set by selecting View > Settings > Eye from the main menu.
5.6.5 Walk
Walk through mode enables the eye point move towards or away from the model, and is only available if
the3D View is in Perspective viewing mode.
With the middle mouse button drag mode set to Walk, clicking and holding down the middle mouse button
anywhere in the 3D View and moving the mouse up the screen walks the eye point forward, i.e. towards the
model, and moving the mouse down the screen walks the eye point backwards, i.e. away from the model.
The speed of manipulating the model with the middle mouse button drag options will largely depend on the
amount of data being displayed and the speed of the hardware, particularly the graphics card, being used.
However, the speed of zooming, panning, rotating and walking can be affected in the following ways:
Holding the Ctrl key down while dragging will increase the speed of the operation
Holding down the Shift key while dragging will decrease the speed of the operation
The speed of the Zoom Rectangle function is not affected by the Ctrl or Shift keys.
The speed indication is displayed in the Status bar.
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Selecting any of the Walk To and Zoom To options, either from the View menu or 3D View pop-up menu, or
clicking the Walk To Draw List and Zoom to Selection buttons in the 3D View will set the centre of the
view to the relevant selection.
Selecting View > Set Centre of View from the main menu
or the Set Centre Of View option from the 3D View pop-up
menu displays identical sub-menus, whose options are:
Selection this option centres the view on current
Graphical Selection, if on exists, or the CE if not.
Identify Element - this option centres the view on an
identified element. The element is identified by left
clicking on it in the 3D View.
Selecting an element in this way does not make it
the CE.
Screen Pick - this option allows a position to be
identified in a 3D View to become the centre of view. The
position is picked by left clicking anywhere in the view.
Clicking in the 3D View with the middle mouse button
also performs this operation.
5.8 Clipping
Clipping enables only those parts of the model which fall inside a clipping box or
defined clipping planes to be displayed.
Right clicking on the Clipping & Options button on the left side of a 3D View displays
the Clipping Options pop-up menu that contains the following options:
Enable this option controls whether the whole model or the clipped model is
displayed in a 3D View. Selecting this option toggles clipping on and off, checking
and un-checking the option on the menu. Left clicking the Clipping & Options
button also toggles clipping on and off. The default setting for clipping is off.
Capped when clipping is used, only parts of the model inside the clipping box or planes are displayed.
Where items are intersected by the clipping box or plane, this option enables a coloured cap to be added
to show that the items extend beyond the displayed region. Selecting this option toggles capping on and
off, checking and un-checking the option on the menu. The default setting for capping is off.
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Colour - this option sets the cap colour. The Clip Cap Colour form is displayed from which the cap
colour may be selected.
CE this option sets the limits of the clipbox to the extents of the CE. The Clip CE button on the 3D
View performs the same function.
Owner this option sets the limits of the clipbox to the extents of the owner of the CE.
Limits Box this option sets the clipbox limits to the dimensions of the explicitly defined Limits Box, if
one exists.
Refer to section 4.2.1 for information on explicitly defining a Limits Box.
Pick Limits this option sets the extent of the clipping box to be defined by picking two opposing
corners of a box. The corner positions are defined by graphically picking on the 3D View. Positioning
options are controlled by the Positioning Control Toolbar.
Refer to section 6.2.1 for details of the Positioning Control Toolbar.
Explicit - selecting this option displays the Clipping Box form and activates the Positioning Control
Toolbar.
Planes - as an alternative to the clipbox, up to six individual planes may be defined to clip the model.
The clipping planes feature and the clipbox are mutually exclusive, i.e. enabling one has the effect of
disabling the other and clearing any related forms and aid graphics. Clipping planes may be at any angle,
the direction of the plane considered to point into the area of interest.
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Once the position and direction of the plane are defined it can be
enabled by clicking the Enable plane button. When selected the
button is greyed out and the Disable plane button becomes active.
Thus the plane can be enabled or disabled.
The Reverse button will reverse the direction of the plane and
update the displayed aid arrow and Direction text box.
The location of the plane can be finely adjusted using the gadgets in
the Slide plane out or in area of the form.
The left and right arrow keys move the plane by increments of
50mm.
An explicit value may be entered in the text box. A +ve value will
move the plane in the direction of the aid arrow, i.e. in, and a ve
value will move the plane in the opposite direction of the aid arrow,
i.e. out.
Dragging the slider with the left mouse button moves the plane in
the indicated direction, i.e. In or Out, by the value displayed in the
text box.
The Tools form menu has the following options:
Derive 6 planes from grid lines - this option displays the Clip
from Grid form that enables the clip plane to be derived from
grid lines.
Derive 6 planes from clip box - this option uses the clipbox to
define the six planes, e.g. following Clip CE and the manually
adjusted.
Clear all clip planes - this option displays a confirmation alert
form for removal of all clip plane data.
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The View menu contains the following options in addition to those described earlier:
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Selecting Settings > Graphics from the main menu displays the Graphics Settings form. The form
contains six tabs from which the majority of graphics settings can be made, including many that have been
described earlier. Each tab is described in the following sections.
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CE this button sets the colour of the current element in a 3D View. This colour overrides any other
colour that may be set for the element.
Active this button sets the colour of elements associated with the CE, e.g. if an equipment primitive is
the CE then all other primitives owned by that equipment will be displayed in the active colour.
Visible this button sets the colour of all other elements in the 3D View other than the CE and those
elements with the active colour. This setting is only applied if Auto Colour rules are inactive.
Aids this button sets the colour of the graphical aids used in PDMS.
Highlight this button sets the highlight feedback colour, e.g. for highlighting elements to be deleted.
Auto Colours are a set of rules that define the colours for different elements in a 3D View, e.g. pipe
systems may be displayed in different colours according to the fluid code or equipment in different areas
shown in different colours.
Auto Colours are toggled on and off using the Auto Colour checkbox on the tab. The Dynamic Auto
Colour checkbox controls the re-evaluation of an elements colour if the attribute that the colour is dependant
on is modified. If enabled the colour will be changed dynamically if the attribute is changed and if disabled
the colour will change when the element is next added to a Drawlist. Both of these settings are checked by
default.
The Auto Colour Rules button displays the Auto Colour Rules form, from which Auto Colour rules may be
created, deleted and modified.
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The Holes Drawn checkbox controls how negative elements are displayed in the 3D Views. PDMS does not
fundamentally change the solid primitives from which items are created but modifies them with negative
primitives that cut the solid primitives.
The display of the negative primitives is controlled by the Holes Drawn checkbox. If disabled, any negative
elements are displayed as black lines in a shaded view. If enabled, the negative primitives cut the primitives
to show the holes.
The Insulation options list controls the display of insulation on Pipework, if any, as
defined in the catalogue.
The default setting is Off. Selecting Solid will display the insulation as a solid colour,
however, a degree of translucency may be applied to the insulation, i.e. the pipe will
be seen through the insulation, by selecting an appropriate percentage value from
the options list.
The default setting is Off. Selecting Solid will display any obstruction volume as a
solid element; however, a degree of translucency may be applied to the obstruction
volume by selecting an appropriate percentage value from the options list.
The Arc Tolerance value controls the representation of certain curves as polygon segments or faceting
planes. The smaller the arc tolerance, the smoother the curve drawn, however, on very large models this
may be an overhead on graphical performance.
The arc tolerance value may be set by entering a number in the text box. The default setting is 10 (mm) and
the minimum setting is 0.1 (mm).
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The Graphics Settings form has a row of buttons along the bottom of the form that are applicable to all
tabs. The buttons have the following functions:
The Load button loads Graphics Settings from a previously saved file.
The Save button saves the current Graphics Settings to a file.
The OK button applies the form settings and dismisses the form.
The Cancel button cancels any changes made and dismisses the form.
The Apply button applies the form settings.
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Exercise 3
Select the New Local View of Selection option from the Drawlist Options pop-up menu to create 3D
View(3) that contains TANK2, pipe1-b2 and pipe2-b1.
Select the New Clone View option from the Drawlist Options pop-up menu to create 3D View(4) that
is a clone of 3D View(3).
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Select Window > Tile Vertically from the main menu to display all four view. The layout should look
something like this:
Manipulating 3D Views
Delete 3D Views 2, 3 and 4 and maximise 3D View(1). Remove the CIVILS.ZONE from the Drawlist and
set the view direction to Iso3.
Select View > Middle Button Drag > Zoom Rectangle from the main menu. Drag a rectangle around
TANK1 in the 3D View by clicking and holding the middle mouse button to the bottom left of the element
and, keeping the middle mouse button held down, moving the pointer to the top right of the element. A
rectangle will be rubber banded from the first point. Release the middle mouse button and the display
will zoom to the rectangle limits.
Click the Middle mouse button: Zoom In/Out button on the left side of the 3D View. Click and hold
down the middle mouse button and move the pointer down the screen to zoom out. Move the pointer up
the screen to zoom in. Rotate the scroll wheel in each direction and note that this has the same zoom
effect, although the scroll wheel zoom is coarser.
Right click in a blank area of the 3D View to display the pop-up menu and select the Middle Button
Drag > Pan option. Note the change from Zoom to Pan in the Status area at the bottom left of the 3D
View. Click and hold down the middle mouse button and move the pointer around the screen, noting the
panning effect on the model.
Click the middle mouse button with the pointer away from the centre of the 3D View to set the centre of
interest, noting the panning effect of this action. Click the middle mouse button several times with the
pointer in the same place to pan the view in the same direction. Click the Walk to Draw List button to re-
centre the displayed elements.
Click the Middle mouse button: Rotate button on the left side of the 3D View, click and hold down
the middle mouse button and move the pointer left and right across the screen to rotate the displayed
elements around a vertical axis in the centre of the view. Release the middle mouse button and repeat
the action but this time move the pointer up and down the screen to rotate the displayed elements around
a horizontal axis.
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Press the F7 function key to set Eye in the Status area and repeat the rotate actions noting the difference
from the Model setting. Press the F7 function key again to return to the Model setting.
Press the F9 function key to display the rotation sliders on the bottom and right-hand side of the 3D View.
Click and hold the left mouse button on the bottom slider and move the slider left and right to rotate the
displayed elements around a vertical axis. Repeat the action with the right-hand slider, moving the
pointer up and down to rotate the displayed elements around a horizontal axis. Press the F9 function key
again to remove the sliders.
Press the F4 function key to set the view projection mode to Perspective, noting the change in the
Status area. Select View > Middle Button Drag > Walk from the main menu to set Walk mode. Click
and hold down the middle mouse button and move the pointer up the screen to walk the eye point
forward. Move the pointer down the screen to walk the eye point backwards. Press the F4 function key
to set the view projection mode to Parallel.
Click the Walk to Draw List button and set the view direction to Iso 3. Click on TANK2 in the 3D View to
make it the Graphical Selection and select View > Set Centre of View > Selection from the main
menu. Note that the view adjusts to move the equipment item at the centre of the view. Press the F5
function key to set Rotate mode and rotate the displayed elements, noting that the centre of rotation is
TANK2. Left click anywhere in a blank area of the 3D View to remove the Graphical Selection.
Click the Navigate to Element button on the Utilities Toolbar to activate it. Select Set Centre of
View > Identify Element from the 3D View pop-up menu and select any primitive on the PUMP1
equipment item. Rotate the model and note the rotation centre.
Select Set Centre of View > Screen Pick from the 3D View pop-up menu and left click anywhere in
the 3D View. Note that the pointer location when the mouse button was clicked has moved to the centre
of the view. Rotate the displayed elements.
Clipping
Click the Walk to Draw List button and set the view direction to Iso3. Make PUMP1 the CE and right
click on the Limits CE & Options button on the left side of the 3D View and select the Explicit option
from the pop-up menu to display the Volume form. Select the Select > CE option from the form menu,
click the Apply button and then the Dismiss button. This has set the Limits Box to PUMP1. Zoom out
the 3D View.
Right click the Clipping & Options button on the left side of the 3D View and select the Limits Box
option from the pop-up menu. Note that PUMP1 is the only element displayed as all others have been
clipped.
Right click the Clipping & Options button again, noting that the Enable option on the pop-up menu is
checked, i.e. active. Select the Enable option to un-clip the 3D View and note the effect on the
displayed elements.
Click the Walk to Draw List button and right click the Clipping & Options button again and select the
Explicit option from the pop-up menu to display the Clipping Box form. Enter the following values in
the form:
Xlength 1778
Ylength 1556
Zlength 3550
East 2711
North 7000
Up 3350
Click the Apply button on the Clipping Box form and note that the 3D View has been clipped to TANK2
and some small part of its support steelwork. Click the Dismiss button on the form.
Right click the Clipping & Options button again and select the Planesoption from the pop-up menu to
display the Clipping Planes form. Select Tools > Derive 6 planes from clipbox from the form menu.
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Six independent clipping plans have now been derived. Clip Plane 1 is shown by default in the 3D View
and its Position and Direction information is displayed on the form.
Press the F8 function key to display the elements in wireline mode and note the displayed aid vector
arrow which is normal to the clip plane. On the Clipping Planes form; open the Define clipping plane
options list and select 6 from the list. Note that the aid vector arrow is now shown for Clip Plane 6. Press
the F8 function button again toggle back to shaded mode.
Right click the Clipping & Options button again and select the Colour option from the pop-up menu to
display the Clip Cap Colour form. Select Green from the form palette and click the Dismiss button on
the form. Right click the Clipping & Options button again and select the Capped option from the pop-up
menu to activate capping.
On the planes Clip form, with Clip Plane 6 as the current clipping plane, in the Slide plane out or in
area of the form, enter 500 in the Slide by text box and press the Return key, noting that Clip Plane 6
has slid inwards by 500mm and capped the clipped cylinder in green.
Select 3 from the Define clipping plane options list and use the left and right arrow buttons each side
Nudge out or in label to adjust Clip Plane 3.
Select 1 from the Define clipping plane options list and enter E 45 N in the Direction textbox, press the
Return key and click the Apply changes button. Note that Clip Plane 1 has changed direction and
affected the clipping. Left click and hold on the Out/In slider and move it to adjust Clip Plane 1.
Click the Close button on the planes Clip form. Right click the Clipping & Options button again and
select the Enable option from the pop-up menu to disable clipping.
Graphics Settings
Click the Walk to Draw List button and set the view direction to Iso3. Select Settings > Graphics
from the main menu to display the Graphics Settings form.
Click on the Colour tab to make it current and click the Navigate to Element button to toggle it on.
Zoom in to PUMP1 and left click on the cylinder that forms part of the pump motor. Note that the cylinder
is now coloured yellow, the default CE colour, as shown in the Colour tab, but the rest of the primitives
that make up the equipment are coloured orangered, the default Active colour, as shown on the Colour
tab.
Click the CE colour button on the Graphics Settings form to display the Current Element Colour form.
Click on the brightred button, in the top right corner, to set the colour and click the Dismiss button on
the Current Element Colour form. Click the Apply button on the Graphics Settings form and note that
the cylinder is now coloured brightred.
Click the Auto Colour checkbox on the Graphics Settings form to uncheck it, i.e. toggle the setting off,
and note that the Dynamic Auto Colour checkbox is greyed out. Click the Visible colour button to
display the Visible Element Colour form and select any colour. Click the Dismiss button on the form
and then click the Apply button on the Graphics Settings form. To make this change to the displayed
elements they must be removed from the Drawlist and added back to it. Right click on the TRA.SITE in
Design Explorer and select 3D View > Remove from the pop-up menu. Add back the PIPE.ZONE,
EQUIP.ZONE and STRUC.ZONE separately to the Drawlist and note that all elements are displayed in
the new Visible colour.
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Click the Auto Colour checkbox on the Graphics Settings form to check it, i.e. toggle the setting on.
Remove all elements from the Drawlist and add back the PIPE.ZONE, EQUIP.ZONE and STRUC.ZONE
and note that they all now use the Auto Colour Rules, i.e. each type of element, equipment, pipes and
structural components, are different colours.
Click on the Representation tab to make it current. Click the Tube checkbox to uncheck it and click the
Centreline checkbox to check it. Click the Apply button and note the change in representation of the
piping elements, i.e. the only the pipe centrelines are drawn and valves have a schematic
representation. Changes the settings back and click the Apply button again to change the
representation.
Zoom in to the top of one of the TANK2 support columns where the horizontal beams connect. Note the
black lines and circles that represent negative extrusion that cut-back the steel beams and make holes in
the columns for bolted joints. Click the Holes drawn checkbox to check it and click the Apply button.
Note that the black lines and circles representing the negatives have disappeared and that the negatives
have cut the steelwork.
Zoom in further to the holes in the top of the column and note that the holes are faceted. Enter 1 in the
Arc Tolerance textbox and click the Apply button. Note that the holes in the column are now more
round in appearance.
Zoom out from the column and zoom in on one of the valves in the model. Open the Obstruction options
list, select the 50% option and click the Apply button. Note that semi-translucent shapes have appeared
around parts of the valve. These represent the obstruction volumes for, say, hand wheel access, valve
stem rise, etc. and are used for clash detection. Select the Off option from the Obstruction options list
and click the Apply button to remove the obstruction volumes from the display.
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CHAPTER 6
Every PDMS element has a fixed set of properties know as its attributes. Some attributes are common
throughout the large range of elements, some are applicable to many elements and some are unique to one
type of element.
For some element attributes, appropriate values are set by the creation or modification of the element when
modelling, whilst others may be set or entered by the user via the User Interface.
Attribute Description
RefNo The unique database reference number.
Name The explicit element name or system generated element name.
Type The type of element. May be displayed as the abbreviated name.
May be set to True (locked) or False (unlocked). If locked, the element may not be
Lock
modified or deleted.
Owner The name of the elements owning element.
Purpose This attribute may be set if the element has a specific purpose.
The position of the elements origin with respect to its owners origin. All primitives have
Position WRT an origin. The values of the coordinates are expressed in the current session units.
Owner
See Appendix A for details of PDMS Primitives.
The orientation of the components axis system with respect to its owners axis system.
Orientation
WRT Owner See section 2.7 for an explanation of axis systems.
PDMS can produce different representations of an item, depending on how it has been
modelled and the representation levels used. The Level attribute is expressed as a range
Level
of levels; however, only one display level (for certain element types) may be displayed at
one time.
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The Obstruction attribute is used to declare whether an element may be considered solid
Obstruction or not. Obstruction values may be set to 2 (Hard), 1 (Soft) or 0 (No obstruction).
This attribute is used in clash detection purposes.
Diameter The diameter of the cylinder in the current session units.
Height The height of the cylinder in the current session units.
Template repeat reference. This is an advanced attribute applicable to primitives used
Tmrref
with a repeat function in templates.
Repeat Count. This is an advanced attribute applicable to primitives used with a repeat
RepCount
function in templates.
Only the Diameter and Height attributes describe the geometry of the cylinder. Other primitives will
have specific attributes that describe their geometry.
For a list of element attributes, see the Data Model Reference Manual supplied with PDMS.
In addition to the standard set of attributes that all PDMS elements have, they also have a set of derived
attributes known as Pseudo Attributes. The number of pseudo attributes varies depending on the element
type. Pseudo attributes may be queried and used in expressions, say in reports, in the same way as fixed
attributes. Examples of pseudo attributes are:
Brweight Branch weight (in kg).
Clle centreline length (of branch).
Gcof Gross centre of gravity (position).
Ncof Nett centre of gravity (position).
Gwei - Gross weight (in kg).
Nwei Nett weight (in kg).
Cutl cut length (of structural profile).
Tctl true cut length (of structural profile).
For a list of pseudo attributes, see the Data Model Reference Manual supplied with PDMS.
In addition to the standard element attributes and pseudo attributes, PDMS enables additional User Defined
Attributes (UDA) to be assigned to one or more elements. The Lexicon module is used to create, modify and
assign a UDA, a task which is normally performed by the System or Project Administrator.
A UDA is just like any other attribute but may be specific to the company or the particular project. The setting
of the UDA is normally made manually by the user, although it may have a default value.
UDAs are prefixed by a colon which differentiates them from standard attributes. For example:
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When working with PDMS there are numerous occasions when one or more attributes of a database
element are required to be known, whether it be a standard attribute, a pseudo attribute or a UDA. PDMS
provides two ways to query an elements attributes.
A Filter button is also displayed at the top right of the form. This
allows users to see if any filters have been applied to the
attributes displayed.
Right clicking in the grid displays the Attributes from pop-up menu. Some of the
options are greyed out depending on the attribute the cursor was on when the
right click was made.
This option has a sub-menu that displays the available elements that the
WRT attributes can be set to. The contents of the sub-menu vary
depending on the element displayed in the Attributes form.
The WRT setting affexts all attributes that have a WRT setting.
See sections 6.2 and 6.3 respectively for an explanation of position
and orientation attributes.
Display P-Points this option toggles the display of Ppoint data for elements that own Ppoints.
Track CE this option toggles Check CE on and off. The checkmark is displayed when on.
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Categorised/Alphabetical this option displays the grid in categorised mode or alphabetical mode. The
system defines the category that each attribute belongs to.
Expand Nodes this option expands all nodes, i.e. any attributes or categories with the icon next to
them.
Collapse Nodes this option collapses all nodes, i.e. any attributes or categories with the icon next to
them.
Modify Category Filters this option displays a form that enables categories of attributes to be
displayed or hidden. This applies in both Categorised and Alphabetical mode.
Clicking the Filter button at the top of the Attributes form will also display
the category filter form.
The type of button displayed will vary depending on whether or not a filter
has been applied to the displayed attributes.
Manage Category Filters this option displays the Manage Category Filters by Element Type form
and is used to control how category filters are implemented.
Display Standard Attributes this option toggles the display of standard PDMS element attributes on
and off.
Display UDAs this option toggles the display of User Defined Attributes on and off.
See section 6.1.2 for details of User Defined Attributes.
Display Pseudo Attributes this option toggles the display of Pseudo Attributes on and off.
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Columns this option has a sub-menu the enables the attributes Description and/or Data Type to be
added as columns in the grid.
Settings this option has a sub-menu that enables the display of attributes whose value is Nulref, i.e.
null reference, and/or is unset, to be supressed.
Export to Excel this option displays the Save As browser that enables the grid to be saved as a .xls
file.
Print Preview this option opens the standard Windows print preview form, enabling the grid to be
printed.
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Attributes may also be modified using the Command Window, however, this is not recommended for
inexperienced PDMS users.
6.2 Positioning
Many PDMS elements have a Position attribute, e.g. SITE, ZONE, EQUI, SUBE, STRU, PANE, Primitives,
etc.
Positions in PDMS are expressed in terms of 3D co-ordinates, i.e. X, Y and Z. As PDMS assigns cardinal
directions to these three axes, i.e. X is East, Y is North and Z is Up, positions are often expressed in terms
E, N, U rather than X,Y,Z.
The Position attribute gives the elements position with respect to its owner, however, where the elements
owner does not have a Position attribute, the position is given with respect to its owners owner. For
example, a PANE is owned by a FRMW, however, a FRMW does not have a Position attribute; therefore,
the PANEs position is given with respect to the FRMWs owner, a STRU, which does have a Position
attribute.
Positions may be queried with respect to any other elements in the Attributes form, as described previously,
or to any other element that has a Position attribute by entering Q POS WRT <element name> or <element
type> in the Command Window. For example, Q POS WRT /E1301 will give the position with respect to the
origin of element /E1301 or Q POS WRT SITE will give the position with respect to the elements owning
Site.
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Frequently the position is required with respect to the World origin. Entering Q POS WRT /* will give this
position.
Forms that create or modify elements often enable the position to be expressed with respect to other
elements although the Position attribute always gives the value with respect to its owner, no matter how it
was derived. In other cases forms only allow positions to be expressed with respect to their owner or the
World.
In EDG mode, positions may be picked using other elements in the graphics display. Whenever this is
applicable the Positioning Control toolbar is activated.
The Positioning Control toolbar enables the user to specify how cursor picks are interpreted as positions,
using a combination of Pick Type and Pick Method.
The Positioning Control toolbar is only active when applications are in Event Driven Graphics (EDG)
mode.
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The Positioning Control Method determines how the position will be derived from subsequent cursor
picks.
Snap - Selects the snap point nearest to the cursor pick point. This means nearest start, end or other
valid snap point on a SCTN.
Distance -applies the offset value entered in the textbox adjacent to the Method pull-down. For example
a +ve value of 500 derives a point 500 mm from the nearest snap point, measured towards the cursor
position, whereas, a ve value of 500 derives a point 500 mm from the nearest snap point, measured
away from the cursor position.
Mid-Point - derives the mid-point between two snap points along a linear item.
Fraction - subdivides the distance between two snap points into a specified number of parts, entered in
the textbox adjacent to Method pull-down. The derived position is the fractional position closest to the
cursor pick.
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Proportion - derives the point whose proportional position between two snap points has been entered in
the textbox adjacent to the Method pull-down. For example, a value of 0.25 gives a point 25% along the
line joining the first snap point to the second snap point.
Intersect requires two picked lines (any directional items) or three planes and then derives their
intersection point.
Cursor - places the derived point exactly where the cursor picks on the element.
6.2.2 Positioning Explicitly
Elements may be positioned explicitly (i.e. at the specified co-ordinates) using a variety of methods.
An explicit position may be defined by entering values in the appropriate text boxes. The text boxes only
allow East, North and Up values. West, South, or Down co-ordinates must be expressed as a negative
value in the corresponding E,N,U textbox.
Selecting Position > Explicitly (AT) from the main menu, in any of
the Design applications, will open the Explicit Position form.
The wrt (with respect to) textbox can be used to identify an element
whose coordinate system is to be used for the Position data.
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The Select form menu options change the focus of the form, i.e. if a new CE is
selected in Design Explorer, selecting the CE or Owner option displays the position of
the CE or its owner, respectively, on the form.
The Pick and Pick Owner options prompts for an item to be picked and the selected
item or its owners position, respectively, is displayed on the form.
Picking a position with the Positioning Control Toolbar in conjunction with the Explicit Position form
open automatically populates the coordinate textboxes.
When the form is opened or a new element selected, a bounding box is placed around the extremities of
the element to be moved, whether it is displayed or not. On entering new co-ordinates the bounding box is
moved to the new location as a preview of the changes to be made. An axis aid is also displayed at the
Datum point showing the cardinal directions.
Clicking the Apply button on the form moves the element to the specified location. Clicking the Dismiss
button removes the bounding box and dismisses the form.
An explicit position may also be specified by using the AT syntax in the Command Window, e.g. AT E 5000
N 4500 U 2975 positions the element at specified coordinates.
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Elements may be positioned relatively, i.e. from their current position by a specified direction and distance,
using different methods.
The offsets from the current position are defined by entering the required
distances in the East/West, North/South and Up/Down textboxes, using
the option buttons to set the appropriate direction in each case.
If required, the Lock checkboxes may be used to fix the current position
along any axis. The default offsets 0, 0, 0 represent the current position of
the element.
The wrt (with respect to) textbox can be used to identify an element whose co-ordinate system is to be used
for the Position data A different element may be selected for relative position by using the pull-down at the
top of the form:
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Clicking the Apply button on the form moves the element(s) by the specified offsets. The aids are still
displayed showing the new position if the Apply button was to be clicked again. Clicking the Dismiss button
removes the aids and dismisses the form.
In addition to these methods of positioning elements, the Design applications have other
functionality to move, drag and perform planar moves affect an elements position. Similarly, the
Model Editor enables elements to be moved graphically.
Relative positioning may also be specified by using the BY syntax in the Command Window, e.g. BY E 1500
N 2200 U 945 moves the element by the specified offsets in the specified direction. Only one or two offsets
and directions need to be specified, e.g. BY D 1250 or BY W 750 D 1000.
6.3 Orientation
Many PDMS elements have an Orientation attribute, e.g. SITE, ZONE, EQUI, SUBE, STRU, PANE,
Primitives, etc.
Orientation in PDMS is expressed in terms of axes direction, e.g. Y is N and Z is U, meaning that the
elements Y axis is pointing North and the elements Z axis is pointing Up. Only two axes need to be stated as
the third axis direction is know because it conforms to the right hand rule, i.e. in this case X is E.
Axis directions do not have to follow Cardinal directions, they can include one or more angles and directions,
e.g. Y is N 45 E, meaning that the Y direction is North 45 East or Y is N 45 E 30 U, meaning that the Y
direction is North 45 East 30 Up are both valid directions. Any direction can be expressed in PDMS using
this syntax.
Elements that have a rotation attribute have, essentially, their own axis system which is known as the frame
of reference. For example, the Z axis for a cylinder (CYLI) primitive is along the length of the cylinder. If the
Z axis is Up with respect to its owner, the cylinder is orientated in an upright position. In order to place the
cylinder horizontally, say with its Z axis pointing in an East/West direction, the orientation of the cylinder
would need to be expressed as Y is N and Z is E (and X is D)
As with positioning, orientation is given with respect to its owner and the same rules apply for owning
elements that do not have an orientation attribute.
Orientations may be queried with respect to any other element that has a frame of reference by entering Q
ORI WRT <element name> or <element type> in the Command Window. For example, Q ORI WRT
/E1301 will give the orientation with respect to the element /E1301s frame of reference, or Q ORI WRT
SITE will give the orientation with respect to the elements owning Sites frame of reference.
Frequently the orientation is required with respect to the World frame of reference. Entering Q ORI WRT /*
will give this orientation.
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An axes aid can be placed on the CE by clicking the Display Axes on CE button on the Utilities
Toolbar or selecting Query > Axes from the main menu. Both options also display the Define Axes form.
The axes are displayed at the origin of the CE and are labelled X, Y, Z, i.e.
the local frame of reference. The Cardinal Directions checkbox toggles
between the local frame of reference and the Worlds Cardinal directions.
The Label checkbox toggles the display of a label that shows the CE name.
The Size textbox enables the size of the axes aid to be set. The default is
500mm.
The Close form menu has two options that close the form. The Retain axes option
leaves the axes aid displayed and the Remove axes option removes it from the
display.
The Select form menu options places the axes on the selected item, i.e. if a new CE
is selected in Design Explorer, selecting the CE or Owner option displays the axes
aid on the new CE or its owner, respectively.
The Pick and Pick Owner options prompts for an item to be picked and the axes aid
is displayed on the picked item or its owners respectively.
The World Axes symbol is displayed in the bottom left hand corner of the 3D View in which it was invoked.
The symbol displays the World E (X), N (Y) and Z (U) directions, rotates to maintain the World directions
when the viewing direction is changed, remains a constant size when the 3D View is zoomed and always
overlays 3D View graphics.
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The Design applications have an Orientate form, displayed by selecting Orientate > Axes from the main
menu, via which an elements that have an Orientation attribute may be re-orientated by modifying its axes
directions.
On opening the form or a new element selected, a bounding box is placed around the extremities of the
element and an axes aid placed at the elements origin, whether the element is displayed or not. On entering
a new direction for one of the axis, the bounding box is re-orientated to the new orientation.
Clicking the Apply button re-orientates the element but retains the bounding box and axes aid. Clicking the
Dismiss button removes the aids and dismisses the form.
Rotating elements using the Appware in PDMS is carried using a Rotation Axis, the position and direction of
which are set by the user.
Refer to Chapter 8, Introduction to Model Editor, for details of graphical rotation of elements.
Selecting Orientate > Rotate from the main menu displays the Rotate form.
The origin of the Rotation Axis may be re-positioned using the Rotate form menus.
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This form enables the way cursor picks are interpreted when a position is
picked in a graphical view.
The Pick Options setting specify how a pick along a linear item is to be
interpreted as a position. The choices are:
Snap (default) The position will be at whichever end of the item is
nearest to the cursor. The textbox next to this option is not applicable in
the current context.
Proportional a proportion, between 0 and 1, is entered in the adjacent
textbox. The derived position will be at this proportion of the items
length from the end nearest to the cursor.
Distance a distance is entered in the adjacent textbox. The derived
position will be at this distance from the end nearest to the cursor
towards the cursor position A negative distance will give a position
beyond the end.
Exact - The position will be exactly at the picked point.
The Pick Qualifier setting specifies how many picks will be used to identify the position, and how a single
position is to be constructed from multiple picks. The choices are:
Single pick - the position will be as determined by the Pick Options setting for a single pick.
Mid-point of two picks - each of two picks will be interpreted as determined by the Pick Options
setting and then the mid-point of the two will be constructed to give the final position.
Centroid of multi-picks - each of two or more picks will be interpreted as determined by the Pick
Options setting and then the centroid of the points will be constructed to give the final position.
Pressing the Esc key terminates the picking.
Any modified cursor defaults will remain in force for all subsequent picking operations until they are
reset.
The derived position will be at the intersection of the two items or,
if they do not actually intersect, at a point on the first picked
item which corresponds to the projection of the second item onto
the first.
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The menu and submenu options enable any combination of the following types of directional item:
Element - this option prompts the user to pick any element which has its principal axis pointing through
or towards the required position.
Design Point - this option prompts the user to pick any design point, which is aligned through or towards
the required position.
Pline - this option prompts the user to pick any Pline which is aligned through or towards the required
position.
Edge - this option prompts the user to pick any PANE edge which is aligned through or towards the
required position.
If the Rotation axis position is set using one of the methods described above, the Rotate form automatically
updates the co-ordinate information. The co-ordinates may be edited or set manually by entering values in
the appropriate axis textbox.
Having positioned the Rotation Axis, its direction may be set by entering a direction in the Direction textbox.
If necessary, the wrt (with respect to) textbox may be used to identify the element whose axis system is to
be used as the reference.
The required rotation angle is entered in the Angle () textbox. The entry may be positive or negative
depending on the rotation direction required.
A different element may be selected for rotation position by using the pull-down at the top of the form.
Clicking the Apply button on the Rotate form rotates the selected element(s). Clicking the Apply button
again will rotate the element(s) again.
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Exercise 4
The SITE TRA.SITE has been deleted and the SITE TRA.SITE.MESS added to the databases and
displayed in the 3D view. The site has been modified to introduce some design errors. These design errors
may be grouped into three categories:
Size errors - some primitives have one of their size attributes incorrectly set. The task is to identify which
attribute is wrong and correct its value.
Positional errors - equipment items are incorrectly positioned or primitives are incorrectly positioned
within the equipment. The task is to correctly position the equipment and the primitives.
Orientation errors - equipment items or primitives within an equipment are incorrectly orientated. The
task is to correctly orientate equipment and primitives. Note: All equipment and primitives should be
orientated on an orthogonal axis.
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The following is a list of the Design errors for each piece of Equipment:
TANK1
The equipment Orientation should be Y is North and Z is Up with respect to the World.
CYLI1 the Position should be at Up 1500 with respect to its owner.
BOX1 the Ylength attribute should be 2850.
TANK2
CONE1 the Dtop attribute should be 1500.
CYLI1 the East position should be 2600 with respect to the World.
PYRA2 the North position should be 0 with respect to its owner.
PYRA1 the Up position should be the same as Pyramid 2.
NOZZ TANK2-N2 the nozzle must be re-orientated by 90.
PUMP1
The equipment Up position should be 350 with respect to the World.
The drive shaft cylinder, CYLI1, must be re-orientated by 90.
DISH2- must be connected to the motor cylinder.
TANK1 Corrections
Select Design > Equipment... from the main menu to enter the Equipment application.
Make TANK1 the CE in Design Explorer. Select Orientate > Axes from the main menu to display the
Orientate form. Note that the wrt textbox shows /*, i.e. the orientation is expressed with respect to (wrt)
the World (/*). Change the Y setting from E 45 N to N and press the Return key. Note that the bounding
box rotates. Also note that X changes to E and Z changes to U, i.e. the orientation of the equipment is Y
is N and Z is U. Click the Apply button to rotate the equipment and then the Dismiss button.
Expand the TANK1 element in Design Explorer and make CYLI1 the CE. Select Position > Explicitly
(AT) from the main menu to display the Explicit Position form. Note that the position is expressed
with respect to the World. Enter owner in the wrt textbox and press the Return key. Note that the wrt
textbox has changed to /TANK1, i.e. the owner of the cylinder, and the co-ordinates have changed to
express the position with respect to the equipment. Enter 1500 in the Up text box and press the Return
key. Note that the bounding box has changed position to the new location. Click the Apply button to re-
position the cylinder and then click the Dismiss button.
Make BOX1 of TANK1 the CE. Select Modify > Attributes... from the main menu to display the Modify
Attributes form. Note that the Ylength attribute value is currently 6000. Left click on the Ylength entry
in the form grid to display the Ylength textbox at the bottom of the form. Enter a value of 2850 in the
Ylength textbox and press the Return key. Note that the Ylength value has been updated on the form
to the entered value and the box has changed length. Dismiss the form by clicking the close button in
the top right hand corner of the form.
TANK2 Corrections
Make CONE1 of TANK2 the CE. Select Modify > Attributes from the main menu to display the
Modify Attributes form. Note that the Dtop attribute value is currently 4000. Left click the Dtop entry in
the form grid to display the Dtop textbox at the bottom of the form. Enter a value of 1500 in the Dtop
textbox and press the Return key. Note that the Dtop value has been updated on the form to the
entered value and the cone has changed shape. Dismiss the form by clicking the close button in the top
right hand corner of the form.
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Make CYLI1 of TANK2 the CE. Select Position > Explicitly (AT) from the main menu to display the
Explicit Position form. Note that the position is expressed with respect to the /TANK1. Enter world in
the wrt textbox and press the Return key. The coordinates will change to be with respect to the World.
Enter a value of 2600 in the East textbox and press the Return key. Note that the bounding box has
changed position to the new location. Click the Apply button to re-position the cylinder and then click the
Dismiss button.
Make PYRA2 of TANK2 the CE. Select Position > Explicitly (AT) from the main menu to display the
Explicit Position form. Note that the position is expressed with respect to the World. Enter /TANK2 in
the wrt textbox and press the Return key. Note that the co-ordinates change to be expressed with
respect to TANK2, i.e. the owner. Enter 0 in the North text box and press the Return key. Click the
Apply button to re-position the pyramid and then click the Dismiss button.
With PYRA2 still as the CE, Select Query > Attributes from the main menu to display the Attributes
form. Note that the Position Z value is 625, i.e. Up 625. Check the Track CE checkbox, if not already
checked, to toggle the option on. Graphically select, or select from Design Explorer, PYRA1 of TANK2
to make it the CE. Note that the Attributes form now displays the attributes for PYRA1. Note that the
Position Z value is -875, i.e. Down 875. Therefore, PYRA1 needs to be moved up by 875+625 = 1500.
Dismiss the Attributes form.
Select Position > Relatively (BY) from the main menu to display the Position By form. Enter a value
of 1500 in the Up textbox and press the Return key. Note that the new position for the element is
displayed. Click the Apply button to re-position the pyramid and then click the Dismiss button to
remove the form.
Make NOZZ TANK2-n2 the CE. Select Orientate > Rotate from the main menu to display the Rotate
form. Select Cursor > Element from the form menu and graphically pick the nozzle. Note that the
rotation axis is displayed at the origin of the nozzle and the rotation axis origin co-ordinates and
direction, with respect to itself, are displayed on the Rotate form. Change the Rotation Axis direction to
Up by entering U in the textbox and pressing the Return key. Note that the graphical aid is now pointing
in the Up direction and the 0/90/180/270 text aids are showing the direction of positive rotation. Enter a
value of -90 in the Angle textbox and press the Return key. Click the Apply button to rotate the nozzle.
Note that the nozzle has rotated to the correct position, i.e. it now mates with the flange on the
connecting pipe. Click the Dismiss button to remove the form.
PUMP1 Corrections
Make PUMP1 the CE. Select Position > Explicitly (AT) from the main menu to display the Explicit
Position form. Note that the position is expressed with respect to the /TANK2. Enter world in the wrt
textbox and press the Return key. The co-ordinates will change to be with respect to the World. Enter a
value of 350 in the Up textbox and press the Return key. Note that the bounding box has changed
position to the new location. Click the Apply button to re-position the pump and then click the Dismiss
button.
Zoom in to the pump. Make CYLI PUMP1-CYL2 the CE in Design Explorer. Select
Orientate > Rotate from the main menu to display the Rotate form. Select Cursor > Design Point
from the form menu. Click and hold down the left mouse button on the CYLI and note that the element is
outlined in white and three dots are displayed, one at each end and one in the centre of the cylinder.
These are the cylinders Ppoints.
Move the pointer over the central dot and note that the pointer display changes as it is moved over the
dot and the Ppoints identity is displayed in the secondary prompt area at the bottom of the screen.
When the pointer has changed, release the left mouse button to display the rotation axis at the centre of
the cylinder. Enter N in the Direction textbox and press the Return key to change the rotation axis
direction. The Angle textbox should still have -90 displayed. If not, enter a value of 90 in the Angle
textbox. Click the Apply button to rotate the cylinder and then click the Dismiss button.
Zoom out and locate DISH PUMP1-DISH2 and make it the CE in Design Explorer. The dish needs to be
placed at the end of CYLI PUMP1-CYL5 of the pump to complete the representation of the pump motor.
Manipulate the displayed elements such that PUMP1-DISH2 and PUMP1-CYL5 can both be viewed as
closely as possible.
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Select Position > Relatively (BY) from the main menu to display the Position By form. On the
Positioning Control Toolbar select Ppoint from the Pick Type options list and Snap from the Pick
Method options list. Click and hold down the left mouse button on PUMP1-DISH2 and move the pointer
over the centre of the flat face of the dish to highlight a Ppoint. When the pointer display changes,
release the mouse button. Note that a Measure Distance Start text aid is displayed at the Ppoint
location. Click and hold down the left mouse button on CYLI PUMP1-CYL5 and move the pointer over
the centre of the cylinder face closest to the dish to highlight a Ppoint. When the pointer display
changes, release the mouse button. Note that a New Position text aid is displayed at the Ppoint
location and an aid line, showing the measured distance is shown from the dish Ppoint to the cylinder
Ppoint. Also note that measured value has been placed in the relevant text box on the Position By
from, i.e. West 4567. Click the Apply button to re-position DISH PUMP1-DISH2. Click the Dismiss
button on the form.
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CHAPTER 7
7 General Utilities
This chapter describes various general utilities that are useful when working with PDMS.
Other Utilities, i.e. Groups, Search Utility and User Grid Systems are detailed TM-1003 Design Utilities
training Guide.
7.1 Lists
Lists are a temporary collection of elements on which operations can be performed that affect all the
members of the list. There can be many lists, although only one list can be current at any one time. Lists are
not saved at the end of a Design session although the data may be saved to file and restored in a future
Design session.
A name for the list is entered in the Description text box. Clicking the OK button will create the list and add
the name to the List pull-downs on the form and the Default toolbar. This is now the current list. The name of
the list should be meaningful and ideally should indicate something about the lists content.
The format of the list may be selected from the Format pull-down at the bottom of
the form. The list can be displayed with the element Name only, the element
Description only or a concatenation of Name + Description.
Having created the list, selecting Add from the form menu again gives the following
options:
CE this option adds the CE to the list.
CE Members this option adds the members of the CE to the list.
Identified this option enables items to be picked from a 3D View by left clicking them. When the
selection is finished, pressing the Esc key adds the selected elements to the list.
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Selection - this option displays the Add to List form that enables a search of the databases to be
performed, using different methods, to find elements to add to the list.
Whichever method is chosen to select the items to add to the list, the selected items will appear in grid of the
Lists/Collections form.
The contents of the list, once populated, may be modified by adding additional items or removing items from
the list.
The Remove pull-down on the form menu has similar options to the Add menu
described previously but with the following additions:
from List this option removes the element highlighted in the list from the list.
All this option removes all elements from the list.
The elements in the list may be highlighted in the graphical view by checking the Highlight check box at the
top of the form.
PDMS commands may be directly applied to the list by entering valid PDMS syntax in the text box at the
bottom of the form and clicking the Action button. It is recommended that this option is used only if the user
has a good understanding of PDMS syntax, otherwise use the list in conjunction with the applicable forms
from the appware.
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7.2 My Data
The My Data utility may be used to generate collections of database elements that need to be worked on.
Each time the My Data form is opened, in any of the modules that use it, i.e. Draft, Design, Spooler, etc, the
data collections generated will be displayed. This enables elements to be easily transferred between these
modules.
For example, if Design elements are added to My Data, then the user switches to the Draft module, the
same data would be seen.
Selecting Display > My Data from the main menu displays the My
Data form. The form is re-sizeable and dockable.
A new collection may also be created by selecting the New Collection link label at the bottom of the pane.
Elements that are displayed in the upper pane may be placed into
a collection by dragging and dropping them into an existing
collection in the upper pane.
The elements will no longer be displayed in the top pane but may
be viewed in the Contents panel by clicking on the collection.
The Remove Selected link label at the bottom of the pane will
remove any element that is highlighted in the pane from the My
Data list.
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Right clicking on an element or a collection in the upper pane grid highlights the
entry and displays a pop-up menu that has the following options:
Remove from My Data this option removes the highlighted element or
collection from My Data.
Resolve Inconsistency An inconsistency occurs when elements referred
to in My Data, either individually or within a collection, are deleted by
another user in a separate session and a Get Work is performed.
3D View - this option displays a sub-menu that with Add, Add Connected, Add Within Volume,
Remove, Highlight and Unhighlight options that function as previously described for the Design
Explorer pop-up menu.
Datal Listing this option displays the Datal Listings Options form, from which a database listing for
the highlighted element or collection can be written, either to a file or to the Command Window.
Find referred elements- this option displays the MyData Reference Extender form that shows
connected elements or catalogue references for an element or all of the elements in a collection.
Right clicking in a blank area of the upper pane list displays a pop-up menu.
The New collection option creates a new collection and the Arrange By
sub-menu allows the entries to be sorted alpha-numerically by Name or
Type. This may also be achieved by clicking on the column headers.
Right clicking on an element in the Contents panel list highlights the entry and
displays a pop-up menu with the following options:
Remove selected from Collection this option deletes the highlighted
option from the collection. Multiple selections can be made form the grid
prior to right clicking. All selected elements will be removed from the
collection if this option is used.
Navigate To this option navigates in the Design Explorer to the item
selected in the grid. If there are multiple selections this option is greyed out
on the sub-menu.
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The remaining options on this sub-menu are the same as previously described for the upper pane pop-up
menu.
Right clicking in a blank area of the Contents panel list displays a pop-up menu.
The Select All option selects all of the elements in the collection and the
Arrange By sub-menu allows the entries to be sorted alpha-numerically by
Name, Type and DB. This may also be achieved by clicking on the column
headers.
7.3 Measuring
PDMS provides utilities for measuring linear distances and angles for elements displayed in a 3D view.
Measure Distance and Measure Angle are available from the Utilities toolbar.
Alternatively, selecting Query > Measure Distance and Query > Measure Angle from the main menu.
Both measuring utilities are used in conjunction with the Positioning Control toolbar.
In the following example pumps P1501A and P1501B have been added to the 3D view.
Which point is picked for the start of the measure operation depends on
the settings of the Positioning Control toolbar.
However, if a steelwork section (SCTN) element is selected and the same settings used, the measure
distance start point may be the start, end, or nearest snap point, depending on the pick position.
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When the second point is selected an aid line is drawn between the picked points and aid text graphic
displays the true distance between the points. The distance is displayed in the Measure form in the
Distance textbox. The true direction between the picked start and end points is displayed in the Direction
textbox.
The cardinal direction offsets between the two picked points are displayed in the Relative offset X, Y and Z
textboxes.
The direction and relative offsets are expressed, by default, with respect to the World coordinate system.
They may be expressed in terms of another frame of reference by entering a named element, CE, Owner or
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Once a measure distance task is performed, the form will remain active, enabling other distances to be
measured, until the Dismiss button is clicked.
The graphics in the 3D view may also be used to derive points for measuring. Selecting pick type Graphics
on the Positioning Control toolbar enables the graphics to be used with any of the pick methods.
Clicking and holding the left mouse button over an element in the 3D view highlights the edges of the
element and displays a graphics cursor. Moving the cursor over the element(s) changes the cursor shape
depending on what is below the cursor at the time, for example a surface, a corner or an edge.
In the following example the STRU /PIPERACK has been added to the 3D view.
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Once the root point of the angle has been picked the
prompt changes to Measure angle first point (Snap)
Snap:.
The first point for the measured angle may then be picked
in the 3D view.
Once the first angle measure point has been picked the
prompt changes to Measure angle second point (Snap)
Snap:.
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In addition to the Save and Restore View functionality available from the View menu, refer to section 5.9,
3D Views can be saved and restored with additional information including:
View direction.
Drawlist members.
Visual properties.
Clip box details.
Clicking the Yes button saves the current view with the
selected name, overwriting the previous view. Clicking the
No button cancels the save.
Restoring saved views may be achieved in three ways using the buttons on the Save & Restore View form
toolbar.
Restore Current View if there are existing elements in the current 3D view, the Drawlist is emptied
and the Drawlist contents and view settings from the selected saved view are restored.
Add to Drawlist - The Drawlist content of the selected saved view is added to the Drawlist of the
current view. The view settings, i.e. direction, scale, etc., are not changed to the saved view settings.
Replace Drawlist - The Drawlist content of the selected saved view replaces the Drawlist of the
current view. The view settings, i.e. direction, scale, etc., are not changed to the saved view settings.
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Saved views may be deleted using the buttons on the Save & Restore View toolbar:
Delete Saved View this option deletes the saved view named in the Save Name option list. A
confirmation message is displayed:
Clicking the Yes button deletes the named saved view. Clicking the No button aborts the deletion.
Delete All Saved Views- this option deletes all saved views. A confirmation message is displayed:
Clicking the Yes button deletes all named saved views. Clicking the No button aborts the deletion.
Where Multiwrite databases are used, the modification of elements in the databases is controlled by the use
of Claimlists which, essentially, stops an element being owned by more than one user at a time and avoids
conflicting data being written to the databases by sequential saves by different users.
Multiwrite databases have a claim mode that is set when the database is created:
If the claim mode is Explicit the element must be claimed before it can be worked on.
If the claim mode is Implicit when a user starts to modify an element it is automatically claimed. In this
mode an element may also be claimed explicitly.
The name of each user is displayed along side the significant elements and the names are added to the
Claim List options list so that an individual user Claim List may also be selected.
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Elements are claimed and unclaimed using the form menu options.
Control
Update - Updates the list. The list is automatically updated when it is displayed and the Active
Claimlist is updated when elements are claimed using the form, however, in other cases the list may
not show all claimed elements unless this option is used.
Close - Closes the form.
Claim / Unclaim
The Unclaim menu is only active when there are members in the Active Claimlist.
CE - Claims and unclaims the CE and all the elements below it.
CE Members - Claims or unclaims the members of the CE and all the members below it, but not the
CE.
CE only - Claims or unclaims the CE only and not any hierarchy below it. This can be used, for
example, to change an attribute such as a description which will not affect any elements below the CE.
CE Members only - Claims or unclaims each member of the CE only and not the hierarchy below.
Pick - Enables items to be claimed and unclaimed by graphically picking them in a 3D View.
List - This option has a sub-menu that displays the available lists. Selecting a list claims or unclaims all
of the elements in the selected list.
Colour
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Databases
MDB - Displays all of the claimed elements in the databases in the MDB.
DBs - The sub-menu displays all databases in the MDB. Selecting a database from the sub-menu list
displays all claimed elements in that database.
The numbers of pages are displayed on the left hand side of the form header. The and buttons page
down and up respectively.
Elements must be unclaimed before other users can access them. Other users must do a Getwork before
they can see the changes. Elements that have been claimed and modified cannot be unclaimed until a
Save Work is performed.
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Exercise 5
This exercise uses model elements in AREA01 of the training model. To aid clarity, the SITE
TRA.SITE.MESS will first be deleted from the database.
Select Utilities > Training Setup from the main menu to display the Training Setup form.
Select the Foundations tab then click the Delete TRA and MESS Sites checkbox.
Lists
Empty the Drawlist and add the following SITEs to the 3D view:
SITE-EQUIPMENT-AREA01
SITE-CIVIL-AREA01
SITE-PIPING-AREA01
SITE-STRUCTURAL-AREA01
Set the view direction to Iso3 and click the Walk to Drawlist button.
Select Utilities > Lists from the main menu to display the List/Collections form. Select Add > List
from the form menu to display the Create List form. Enter EQUIPMENT in the Description textbox,
press the Return key and then click the OK button. Note that the description now appears in the List
options list on the List/Collections form.
Make the zone ZONE-EQUIPMENT-AREA01 the CE and on the List/Collections form select Add > CE
Members from the form menu. The equipment elements have now been added to the list. Check the
Highlight checkbox and note that the equipment elements are displayed in the 3D View in the highlight
colour. Uncheck the Highlight checkbox.
Left click on C1101 in the list grid. Select Remove > from List from the form menu. C1101 has now
been removed from the list. Check the Highlight checkbox again and note that C1101 is not highlighted.
Make the ZONE ZONE-PIPING-AREA01 the CE. Select Add > List from the form menu to display the
Create List form. Enter PIPE_100 in the Description textbox, press the Return key and then click the
OK button.
Select Add > Selection from the form menu to display the Add to List form. In the Selection textbox
enter BRAN and in the with Rule textbox enter HBOR EQ 100. This specifies to add only Branch
elements with an Hbore (Head Bore) attribute equal to 100mm. Click the for Element radio button and
enter CE in the adjacent textbox and then click the Apply button. The pipe branches that meet the
criteria are added to the list, Click the Dismiss button.
Left click on branch 150-A-3/B1 in the List/Collections form and note that it is now the CE in Design
Explorer. In the Command Window enter Q HBOR and press the Return key. The answer Hbore
100mm is displayed.
Create a new list named PIPE_150 and add to it Branches with an Hbore greater or equal to 150mm.
The expression HBOR GE 150 should be used.
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Click the Dismiss button on the Add to List form and then select Control>Close from the
List/Collections form menu. Open the Active List options list and note the three lists that may be
selected.
My Data
Empty the Drawlist so there is nothing displayed in the 3D View.
Select Display > My Data from the main menu to display the My Data form. Expand ZONE-PIPING-
AREA01 and 100-B-1 in the Design Explorer. Click and hold down the left mouse button on branch 100-
B-1/B1 and drag and drop it into the upper pane on the My Data form. The element name is now
displayed in on the form. Add 100-B-1/B2 and 100-B-1/B3 to the My Data form in the same way.
Click the New Collection link label on the My Data form to create a new collection that is displayed in
the upper pane. Right click on the New Collection in the upper pane, select Rename from the pop-up
menu and enter Branches as the name for the collection.
Drag and drop the branches, one by one, from the upper panel into the Branches collection. Left click
on the Branches collection and open the Contents fold-up panel and note that the three Branch
elements are now in the Branches collection.
Drag and drop all of the Branch elements from Pipe 100-B-2 from Design Explorer directly into the
Branch collection in the upper pane. Note that these elements are now displayed in the Contents fold-
up panel.
Create a new collection named Equipment. With this collection highlighted in the upper pane, drag and
drop the EQUI items in ZONE-EQUIPMENT-AREA01 from Design Explorer directly into the Contents
fold-up panel. Note that these items are added to the new Equipment collection.
Left click the Equipment collection in the upper pane and select Add to 3D View from the Actions fold-
up panel. All EQUI items in the collection have been added to the Drawlist and are displayed in the 3D
View.
Right click on the Branches collection in the upper pane and select 3D View > Add from the pop-up
menu. Select Highlight in the Actions fold-up panel and note all the piping elements have been
highlighted. Select Unhighlight from the Actions fold-up panel to un-highlight the piping elements.
Create a collection for the steelwork in ZONE-STRUCTURAL-AREA01 and add it to the 3D View.
Click the Close button on the My Data form header to dismiss the form.
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CHAPTER 8
This chapter introduces the use of the Model Editor for the graphical re-positioning and re-orientation of
selected elements.
Model Editor is a mode of operation in Design that enables selected elements to be re-positioned and re-
orientated graphically using the mouse pointer.
Model Editor Mode may be toggled on and off by clicking the Model Editor button on the Model Editor
toolbar or selecting Edit > Model Editor from the main menu. When in Model Editor Mode, the prompt in the
primary prompt area reads Modify:.
Model Editor may be used to manipulate Graphical Selections, consisting of either a single item or groups of
items.
See section 5.2 for details of Graphical Selections.
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The following section gives an overview of Model Editor operations. Details of each operation are given later
in this training guide.
8.2.1 Movement
A Graphical Selection is moved using linear or planar handles on the Locator Handle. Dragging a linear or
planar handle with the mouse pointer moves the current Graphical Selection. The movement is made in
steps, the size of which is controlled by the Linear Increment. This allows the Graphical Selection to be
positioned accurately in relation to its original position.
The Graphical Selection can be moved until it is aligned with another item in the display by using Locator
Handles or by dragging with Feature Highlighting mode switched on.
8.2.2 Rotation
The Graphical Selection is rotated using a Rotation handle. The selection rotates in angular steps as it is
dragged with the mouse pointer, the amount of rotation is controlled by the Rotation Increment. This allows
the Graphical Selection to be rotated accurately from its original orientation.
The Graphical Selection can be rotated until an axis of the Locator Handle is aligned with another item in the
display by using Locator Handles or by dragging with Feature Highlighting switched on.
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8.2.3 Alignment
The target points and lines are called Features. The origin
of the Locator Handle is the reference datum for aligning
the Graphical Selection.
The Locator Handle can be moved or rotated independently of the Graphical Selection. This allows a datum
to be set for movement and alignment operations, or to set an axis of rotation about which the Graphical
Selection can be rotated.
8.2.5 Feedback
Movement and rotation feedback for freehand operations is displayed both in the 3D View and on the status
bar. This allows both world position and displacement from the starting position to be shown.
The distance values are output in the current session units and style.
If feature alignment is in use, feedback is given on features as the mouse pointer passes over them, and
graphical feedback is provided to help achieve the correct alignment in a 3D model.
The Locator Handle provides functions for positioning the Graphical Selection constrained in a given
direction or in a plane. However, it is sometimes necessary to specify a new position without any constraints
applied to movement of the Graphical Selection.
An unconstrained position can be specified by typing world co-ordinates into a form, by typing a 3D offset
from the current Location Handle position, or by snapping to a Point feature. These functions are provided
from a right click pop-up menu on the Locator Handle.
Undo and Redo functions in Model Editor Mode allow stepping backwards or forwards through one or more
movement or rotation operations. Undo and Redo operate on a sequence of direct graphical manipulation
operations in the Model Editor.
Undo/Redo operations can also take place outside of Model Editor Mode. If the Undo operation involves
moving into or out of Model Editing mode, then the switch into that mode happens automatically, and the
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Model Editor button and menu option reflect the change. The selection set and handle appropriate to the
editing operation that was being used will also be restored.
8.2.8 Performance
The speed of interactive selection and dragging operations is dependent on both the specification of the
hardware being used, and on the complexity of the model displayed in the 3D View. Generally, it is
advisable to minimise the size and complexity of the displayed model in order to obtain good interactive
feedback from the system.
The Selection menu on the main menu bar contains commands for setting properties of the Locator Handle
and the Graphical Selection.
The Selection menu on the main menu bar has the following options:
Feature Highlighting this option toggles feature highlighting on and off. In
Model Editor Mode, pressing the F key will also toggle feature highlighting on or
off.
Set Handle Colour this option displays a sub-menu where by which the colour of the Locator Handle
may be chosen from a limited set of colours.
Drag Image this option has a sub-menu that enables the style of visual feedback when a dragging
operation using the Locator Handles to be determined. The sub-menu options are Solid, Translucent
and Wireline.
Select Rectangle this option has a sub-menu that enables the Wholly Within or Wholly and Partially
Within options to be set when creating a Graphical Selection with a Fence selection.
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The Locator Handle provides three ways to move or rotate a Graphical Selection:
Dragging the linear, planar or rotation handles freehand with the mouse pointer.
Aligning with points, Ppoints, Plines or straight lines (edges) on other displayed items.
Typing in offset distance or angular displacement values.
8.4.1 Aligning the Graphical Selection with points or lines on other displayed items
When aligning a Graphical Selection with other plant items in the displayed model, Feature Identification
Mode is entered, i.e. the mouse pointer is sensitive to finding features on the Design graphics.
Features are points, straight lines (edges), Ppoints or Plines. Points are located at vertices on the model,
such as the corner of a box, and at the mid-point of lines. Lines are straight edges on the model (Design Aid
graphics cannot be used as a feature).
Feature Identification Mode is toggled on and off by selecting Selection > Feature Highlighting from the
main menu, or by pressing the F key when the mouse pointer is over a 3D View, and the Model Editor is
active.
Some operations turn on Feature Identification Mode temporarily to allow a feature to be picked,
e.g. Edit > Move Selection > Snap To Point. Once the required feature is identified, the mode reverts to its
state before the command was actioned.
If the target location for a drag operation is outside of the 3D view, the mouse pointer can be moved to an
edge of the view, where the view will pan automatically up, down, left or right according to the 3D view edge
that the mouse pointer hits. The mouse pointer must move in order for the panning to continue. This may
necessitate the user making a small movement of the pointer near to the view edge to keep the pan
operation going.
This technique for panning the view is appropriate for locating a target position that is just out of view.
The Linear Movement handle allows the movement of the Graphical Selection to be constrained in the
direction of the linear handle axis. The size of each step of the movement is defined by the current
Movement Increment.
To initiate a linear drag, click and hold the left mouse button over
one of the linear movement handles. With the left button still held,
moving the mouse drags the Graphical Selection constrained in the
selected direction.
If the movement increment is small relative to the magnification of the 3D view, it can be difficult to move the
mouse freehand to a precise displacement from the Locator Handle's original position.
Fine control over positioning can be achieved by dragging with a linear handle so that it is close to the
required position then, while continuing to hold down the mouse button, press the plus (+) or minus (-) key
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on the numeric keypad. This moves the Graphical Selection by one movement increment in the direction of
the linear handle if + is pressed, or in the opposite direction if - is pressed.
Using the cursor arrow keys in this way moves the Graphical Selection by 0.1 of the current movement
increment for each press of the key.
8.4.3.2 Feedback
Right clicking on a linear drag handle displays a pop-up menu with the following
options:
A +ve value will move the Graphical Selection in the positive axis
direction and a ve value will move the Graphical Selection in the
negative axis direction.
Clicking the Preview button shows the affect of the entered value and clicking the OK button moves the
Graphical Selection.
Align with Feature - this option allows the Graphical Selection to be positioned in relation to another
object on the screen but forces the Graphical Selection to move along the selected axis. Linear drag can
align with a point feature or a line feature.
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Snap to Point - this option allows the Graphical Selection to be moved to a Point feature. The
Graphical Selection is not constrained to move along the direction of the Linear Handle.
Move Handle this option has a sub-menu that enables the Locator Handle to be moved independently
of the Graphical Selection, thus changing the datum for the next operation on the Graphical Selection.
The Enter Value, Align with Feature and Snap to Point sub-menu
options function in the same way as described for moving the Graphical
Selection except they move the entire Locator Handle.
Each of the planar movement handles constrains the drag operation such that the Graphical Selection
moves only in the plane of the selected handle. The handle moves in steps determined by the current
Movement Increment setting.
To initiate a planar drag, click and hold the left mouse button over
one of the planar movement handles. With the left button still held,
moving the mouse drags the Graphical Selection constrained in the
selected plane.
8.4.4.1 Feedback
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Right clicking on a planar drag handle displays a pop-up menu with the following
options:
+ve values move the Graphical Selection in the positive relevant axis
direction and ve values move the Graphical Selection in the
negative relevant axis direction.
Clicking the Preview button shows the affect of the entered values and clicking the OK button moves the
Graphical Selection.
Align with Feature - this option allows the Graphical Selection to be positioned in relation to another
object on the screen but forces the Graphical Selection to move only in the selected plane. Planar drag
can align with a point feature or a line feature.
Snap to Point - this option allows the Graphical Selection to be moved to a Point feature. The
Graphical Selection is not constrained to move in the plane of the Planar Handle.
Move Handle this option has a sub-menu that enables the Locator Handle to be moved independently
of the Graphical Selection, thus changing the datum for the next operation on the Graphical Selection.
The Enter Value, Align with Feature and Snap to Point sub-menu
options function in the same way as described for moving the Graphical
Selection except they move the entire Locator handle.
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The rotation handles allows the Graphical Selection to be rotated around the relevant axis using the current
Angular Increment to control the angular step size.
To initiate a rotational drag, click and hold the left mouse button over one
of the Rotation Movement Handles. With the left button still held, moving
the mouse rotates the Graphical Selection around the selected axis.
As the mouse moves over a Rotation Randle, the pointer symbol changes
to the rotation drag symbol, and half of the Rotation Handle arc changes to
show two arrows
8.4.5.1 Feedback
Right clicking on a rotation handle displays a pop-up menu with the following
options:
Enter Values - this option displays the Rotate Selection about X/Y/Z form:
Clicking the Preview button shows the affect of the entered value and clicking the OK button rotates the
Graphical Selection.
Orient to Point - this option allows the Graphical Selection to be orientated in relation to another
object on the screen but forces the Graphical Selection to rotate only around the selected axis. Rotational
drag can align with a point feature or a line feature.
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Align with Direction - this option allows the Graphical Selection to be rotated to align with the
direction of a plane through a selected feature.
Align with - this option displays the Enter Direction for X/Y/Z Axis form:
Any direction for the specified axis may be entered in the standard
direction format.
Clicking the Preview button shows the affect of the entered value and clicking the OK button rotates the
Graphical Selection.
Rotate handle this option has a sub-menu that enables the Locator Handle to be rotated independently
of the Graphical Selection, thus changing the frame of reference for the next operation on the Graphical
Selection.
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The Enter Value, Orient to Point, Align with Direction and Align
with sub-menu options function in the same way as described for moving
the Graphical Selection except they rotate the entire Locator Handle.
The To World option aligns the Locator Handle with the World co-ordinate
system, without rotating the Graphical Selection. The Locator Handle Y axis
points North, and the Z axis points Up.
A Locator Handle can be moved independently of the Graphical Selection from the pop-up menus, as
describe previously, allowing a datum position to be set for subsequent move operations, or an axis of
rotation to be set for subsequent rotation operations.
The Locator Handle may be also be dragged independently of the Graphical Selection. Selecting a linear,
planar or rotation handle by clicking and holding with the left mouse button down, and then pressing the H
key on the keyboard, detaches the Locator Handle from the Graphical Selection. The H key can be used to
toggle between moving the Locator Handle on its own, and moving the Graphical Selection with the Locator
Handle.
The Edit menu on the main menu bar works in conjunction with Model Editor Mode.
Most of the options are similar or are the same as those available from other buttons
or via the pop-up menus from the Locator Handles.
Model Editor this option toggles Model Editor Mode on and off. If on, a check
mark appears next to the menu entry.
Undo and Redo these options Undo or Redo Model Editor actions. These
options are only active when Model Editor Mode is on.
Re-Select this option re-selects the previous Graphical Selection, if any. This option is only active if
Model Editor Mode is on.
The sub-menu has the following options for moving the Graphical Selection:
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Set 3D Position - this option displays the Set Position of Selection form.
Snap to Point - this option enables the Graphical Selection to be positioned at a selected position
relative to another object in the 3D View. The Locator Handle may be snapped to a point on another
object, thus moving the selection.
The sub-menu has the following options for rotating the Graphical Selection:
To World this option re-orientates the Locator Handle and the Graphical Selection such that the Y
axis of the Locator Handle points in the World North direction and the Z axis points in the World Up
direction.
About X, About Y and About Z these options display the Rotate Selection about X/Y/Z
form, depending on the axis selected.
Entering a value in any of the textbox rotates the Graphical
Selection and the Locator Handle around the specified axis.
The options on this sub-menu are the same as for the Move Selection sub-menu
described above, except that they apply to the Locator Handle only.
The options on this sub-menu are the same as for the Rotate Selection sub-menu
described above, except that they apply to the Locator Handle only.
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Exercise 6
This exercise corrects the errors on the SITE TRA.MESS.SITE, as carried out in Exercise 4, except that
position and orientation errors will be corrected using the Model Editor.
Clear the Drawlist, then select Utilities > Training Setup from the main menu to display the Training
Setup form.
Select the Foundations tab, then click the Delete TRA.SITE and add MESS Site checkbox.
TANK1 Corrections
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Move the pointer over the centre of the base box until
the top surface Ppoint is located and the cylinder snaps
to the point. Click the Ppoint to re-position the cylinder.
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TANK2 Corrections
Modify the Dtop attribute of CONE1 of TANK2 to 1500 using the Modify Attributes form as described
previously.
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PUMP1 Corrections
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APPENDIX A
Key dimensions for a range of common primitives are outlined in the pages that follow. Some P-Points have
been omitted for clarity.
Box (BOX)
Cylinder (CYLI)
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Cone (CONE)
Snout (SNOU)
Pyramid (PYRA)
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Dish (DISH)
If the knuckle radius is 0 then the dish is represented as a segment of a sphere. If the knuckle radius
is greater than 0 then the dish is represented as a partial ellipsoid, generally used to represent a
torispherical end to a vessel.
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Only an Xtshear and Ybshear are shown in this example, however, Xtshear, Ytshear, Xbshear and
Ybshear may be set in any combination to obtain the required results. The values for these
attributes may be +ve or ve.
Extrusion (EXTR)
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Nozzle (NOZZ)
Although a nozzle is classed as a primitive, it is unlike the other primitives in that its geometry is determined
in Paragon as part of a catalogue component. Nozzles of different types and geometry may be constructed
in Paragon to suit the requirements of the Piping Specification.
The specific nozzle type is referenced from Paragon using the Specification Reference (Spref) attribute.
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