March 26, 2010 at 20:06Creation of non-standard database elements for nanoCAD SPDS on the example of wall panels (part 3)
We continue to publish about the creation of non-standard elements. The third, final part.
Part one here
Part two here
Any tabular form in nanoCAD SPDS is created using the advanced table editor. An example of a tabular editor with a specification of exterior wall panels is shown in Fig. 10 .
Fig. 10. Table Editor
We will not dwell on the functionality of the editor. Graphical formatting of cells resembles work in Microsoft Office applications. With simple manipulations, a specification form is created with column names and headers. In more detail, the linking of graphic data with the specification should be described. The specification itself in general consists of two components - data and report. The data are the values entered by the user in table editing mode. A report is a conclusion of certain properties from graphic objects attached to a tabular form. For our task, it is necessary to attach wall panels to the specification and display a number of their properties in certain columns of the table. Consider the mechanism for linking graphic data and tabular forms in more detail. In the spreadsheet editor, a report section is created - an area, where the properties of the panels affixed to the drawing will be displayed. This area will be located below the data area, where we describe the column names and the table heading. In fig. 10 it is described by the report template, and the data itself is visible below in the report area. When creating a report section in a table, the report template itself remains empty. When you select the function of linking objects and a table, a form appears calledQuick pick . It is presented in fig. 11 .
Fig. 11. The quick selection window for selecting drawing
objects. The objects of the nanoCAD SPDS database are represented as objects of the Standard Part type. Among all the many, it is necessary to choose this position. In order to clarify exactly which objects fall into the specification, it is possible to limit the scope of the search for objects, as well as filter them by properties. On the contrary, you can select the logical operator from the drop-down list in the Condition column . In fig. 11 this feature is shown for the Name property . After that, in the column Valueoptions found in the drawing will be offered. Thus, nanoCAD SPDS allows you to very flexibly control the search area of objects, their type and properties to communicate with the specification. In our example, all panels that do not contain the designation “B” in the brand name will fall into the specification, since this specification is only for external panels. nanoCAD SPDS allows you to select several types of different objects within one sample. After setting the necessary conditions, you can select another type of object in the same window, as well as save the filtering conditions in the templates.
After assigning the objects, it remains only to distribute the properties of the objects among the specification columns, where they will be displayed in the drawing. To do this, just call the context menu on the desired cell in the report template. In fig. 12A fragment of a menu with a number of wall panel properties attached to a table is shown. For this column, select the project number.
Fig. 12. Selecting properties of attached objects from the context menu
nanoCAD SPDS allows not only flexibly adjusting the tabular form of any complexity, but also displaying arbitrary properties of objects attached to the table by performing preliminary filtering by properties. Further data processing allows you to combine and group specification lines. The statement of the task indicated that identical brands of panels should have a unique design number. This is only possible when grouping strings with the same marks. All the same brands of panels are collected in one line of the specification, after which they can be assigned a single number for the project. It is assigned by the designer after arranging the panels on the plans. In the properties of the report section, the Group and Join function is called . An example of a dialog box for it can be seen in Fig. 13 .
Fig. 13. Grouping and combining data in a table
The principle of operation is very simple. First, the data is sorted by increasing values in column “A”. Column A contains project numbers. Then we group the rows by column “B” without sorting. This is the union of all identical panels in one line, since the “B” column contains the full name of the panel by album. This name is made up of the brand of the panel and the brand of concrete: for example, "N-200 uklev (20)". Here we see another possibility of nanoCAD SPDS - to combine two properties of an object into one value. We also note that in the cells of the nanoCAD SPDS table, whole expressions can be written - both mathematical and logical. For example, when calculating the number of panels belonging to a certain section of a building, only those panels that have the corresponding section number in the properties are summed in the indicated cells. This process is provided by a logical expression. In the total column “Total”, the total number of panels for all sections for this brand is calculated. The remaining columns display other panel properties. On thefig. 14 shows an example specification for exterior wall panels across three sections of a building. The ready-made template contains the maximum number of sections - 15. When placing the specification, unnecessary columns can be hidden. This allows you to apply a single table template for any number of sections.
Fig. 14. Example specification of exterior wall panels
After installing the panels and creating the specification, it remains to solve the problem of marking the wall panels and assigning an individual project number to identical panels that have the same brand and concrete class. In our specification, such panels are combined in one line at the position “Title by Album”. The nanoCAD SPDS database has standard markers with which you can display certain properties or assign serial numbers to each object, as well as perform a number of other operations. For our case, we again got a non-standard option, which significantly complicated the development of the marker. The statement of the problem said that in the absence of a project number, the marker should display the name of the panel by album. The customer wished to provide the opportunity to randomly assign project numbers to the designer himself, although this feature could be automated. And for the visual definition of the panel in the drawing, the designer needs to see the name of the panel by album. Recall that this is a combination of the name of the brand and class of concrete. When assigning a number, the marker should display this number without rearranging the marker itself, that is, changing its value dynamically. With the use of logical expressions in the properties of the marker, all this is completely within the power of nanoCAD SPDS. On the With the use of logical expressions in the properties of the marker, all this is completely within the power of nanoCAD SPDS. On the With the use of logical expressions in the properties of the marker, all this is completely within the power of nanoCAD SPDS. On thefig. 15 shows a window with marker attributes.
Fig. 15.
Marker properties window. A marker is assigned to each panel individually. It takes the values of the design number, panel grade and concrete grade. The logical expression assigns the marker the name value for the album (grade and concrete) in the absence of a project number or assigns the number itself when it is assigned to this panel. The converse is also true: if you remove the number, the name of the album is returned, which is very convenient if necessary to change the erroneously assigned numbers. Project numbers are assigned through the panel properties. To select all panels in the drawing according to certain criteria, a filter is used, similar to that shown in Fig. elevenfilter for linking objects and specifications. After assigning numbers, they are dynamically displayed in markers and the corresponding specification line.
Analyzing the results of the work done, we can confidently say that nanoCAD SPDS is able to solve tasks much broader than simple automation of drawing design. As we have seen, you can create a database object, which when set to a drawing is set to arbitrary properties. The designer is clearly presented with all the information about the object, and he can uniquely determine the necessary panel from the database. After installation, there is always the opportunity to change the properties of the panel without redrawing it. Marking contributes to the visual definition of objects in the drawing, since it is impossible to understand the panel brand from a schematic plan view. The specification automatically calculates the number of panels per section and as a whole within one line. It can be dynamically linked to the data in the drawing and will never lose its relevance. On thefig. Figure 16 shows an example of a fragment of a drawing with three affixed panels (indicated by blue) and an editing window for one of them.
Fig. 16. An example of a fragment of a drawing with the placement of panels.
Solving a similar local problem shows that developing your own database can significantly increase the level of automation in a construction company, eliminating the need to purchase expensive specialized software. In turn, this gives a significant gain in productivity and quality of preparation of project documentation.
Alexey Tsvetkov, Tsvetkov@nanocad.ru
Part one here
Part two here
Create BOM
Any tabular form in nanoCAD SPDS is created using the advanced table editor. An example of a tabular editor with a specification of exterior wall panels is shown in Fig. 10 .
Fig. 10. Table Editor
We will not dwell on the functionality of the editor. Graphical formatting of cells resembles work in Microsoft Office applications. With simple manipulations, a specification form is created with column names and headers. In more detail, the linking of graphic data with the specification should be described. The specification itself in general consists of two components - data and report. The data are the values entered by the user in table editing mode. A report is a conclusion of certain properties from graphic objects attached to a tabular form. For our task, it is necessary to attach wall panels to the specification and display a number of their properties in certain columns of the table. Consider the mechanism for linking graphic data and tabular forms in more detail. In the spreadsheet editor, a report section is created - an area, where the properties of the panels affixed to the drawing will be displayed. This area will be located below the data area, where we describe the column names and the table heading. In fig. 10 it is described by the report template, and the data itself is visible below in the report area. When creating a report section in a table, the report template itself remains empty. When you select the function of linking objects and a table, a form appears calledQuick pick . It is presented in fig. 11 .
Fig. 11. The quick selection window for selecting drawing
objects. The objects of the nanoCAD SPDS database are represented as objects of the Standard Part type. Among all the many, it is necessary to choose this position. In order to clarify exactly which objects fall into the specification, it is possible to limit the scope of the search for objects, as well as filter them by properties. On the contrary, you can select the logical operator from the drop-down list in the Condition column . In fig. 11 this feature is shown for the Name property . After that, in the column Valueoptions found in the drawing will be offered. Thus, nanoCAD SPDS allows you to very flexibly control the search area of objects, their type and properties to communicate with the specification. In our example, all panels that do not contain the designation “B” in the brand name will fall into the specification, since this specification is only for external panels. nanoCAD SPDS allows you to select several types of different objects within one sample. After setting the necessary conditions, you can select another type of object in the same window, as well as save the filtering conditions in the templates.
After assigning the objects, it remains only to distribute the properties of the objects among the specification columns, where they will be displayed in the drawing. To do this, just call the context menu on the desired cell in the report template. In fig. 12A fragment of a menu with a number of wall panel properties attached to a table is shown. For this column, select the project number.
Fig. 12. Selecting properties of attached objects from the context menu
nanoCAD SPDS allows not only flexibly adjusting the tabular form of any complexity, but also displaying arbitrary properties of objects attached to the table by performing preliminary filtering by properties. Further data processing allows you to combine and group specification lines. The statement of the task indicated that identical brands of panels should have a unique design number. This is only possible when grouping strings with the same marks. All the same brands of panels are collected in one line of the specification, after which they can be assigned a single number for the project. It is assigned by the designer after arranging the panels on the plans. In the properties of the report section, the Group and Join function is called . An example of a dialog box for it can be seen in Fig. 13 .
Fig. 13. Grouping and combining data in a table
The principle of operation is very simple. First, the data is sorted by increasing values in column “A”. Column A contains project numbers. Then we group the rows by column “B” without sorting. This is the union of all identical panels in one line, since the “B” column contains the full name of the panel by album. This name is made up of the brand of the panel and the brand of concrete: for example, "N-200 uklev (20)". Here we see another possibility of nanoCAD SPDS - to combine two properties of an object into one value. We also note that in the cells of the nanoCAD SPDS table, whole expressions can be written - both mathematical and logical. For example, when calculating the number of panels belonging to a certain section of a building, only those panels that have the corresponding section number in the properties are summed in the indicated cells. This process is provided by a logical expression. In the total column “Total”, the total number of panels for all sections for this brand is calculated. The remaining columns display other panel properties. On thefig. 14 shows an example specification for exterior wall panels across three sections of a building. The ready-made template contains the maximum number of sections - 15. When placing the specification, unnecessary columns can be hidden. This allows you to apply a single table template for any number of sections.
Fig. 14. Example specification of exterior wall panels
Marking panels in a drawing
After installing the panels and creating the specification, it remains to solve the problem of marking the wall panels and assigning an individual project number to identical panels that have the same brand and concrete class. In our specification, such panels are combined in one line at the position “Title by Album”. The nanoCAD SPDS database has standard markers with which you can display certain properties or assign serial numbers to each object, as well as perform a number of other operations. For our case, we again got a non-standard option, which significantly complicated the development of the marker. The statement of the problem said that in the absence of a project number, the marker should display the name of the panel by album. The customer wished to provide the opportunity to randomly assign project numbers to the designer himself, although this feature could be automated. And for the visual definition of the panel in the drawing, the designer needs to see the name of the panel by album. Recall that this is a combination of the name of the brand and class of concrete. When assigning a number, the marker should display this number without rearranging the marker itself, that is, changing its value dynamically. With the use of logical expressions in the properties of the marker, all this is completely within the power of nanoCAD SPDS. On the With the use of logical expressions in the properties of the marker, all this is completely within the power of nanoCAD SPDS. On the With the use of logical expressions in the properties of the marker, all this is completely within the power of nanoCAD SPDS. On thefig. 15 shows a window with marker attributes.
Fig. 15.
Marker properties window. A marker is assigned to each panel individually. It takes the values of the design number, panel grade and concrete grade. The logical expression assigns the marker the name value for the album (grade and concrete) in the absence of a project number or assigns the number itself when it is assigned to this panel. The converse is also true: if you remove the number, the name of the album is returned, which is very convenient if necessary to change the erroneously assigned numbers. Project numbers are assigned through the panel properties. To select all panels in the drawing according to certain criteria, a filter is used, similar to that shown in Fig. elevenfilter for linking objects and specifications. After assigning numbers, they are dynamically displayed in markers and the corresponding specification line.
Summary
Analyzing the results of the work done, we can confidently say that nanoCAD SPDS is able to solve tasks much broader than simple automation of drawing design. As we have seen, you can create a database object, which when set to a drawing is set to arbitrary properties. The designer is clearly presented with all the information about the object, and he can uniquely determine the necessary panel from the database. After installation, there is always the opportunity to change the properties of the panel without redrawing it. Marking contributes to the visual definition of objects in the drawing, since it is impossible to understand the panel brand from a schematic plan view. The specification automatically calculates the number of panels per section and as a whole within one line. It can be dynamically linked to the data in the drawing and will never lose its relevance. On thefig. Figure 16 shows an example of a fragment of a drawing with three affixed panels (indicated by blue) and an editing window for one of them.
Fig. 16. An example of a fragment of a drawing with the placement of panels.
Solving a similar local problem shows that developing your own database can significantly increase the level of automation in a construction company, eliminating the need to purchase expensive specialized software. In turn, this gives a significant gain in productivity and quality of preparation of project documentation.
Alexey Tsvetkov, Tsvetkov@nanocad.ru