Practical Structural

Modelling with AECOsim

Building Designer
Daniel Heselwood and Nigel Davies

Exton, Pennsylvania, USA

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Davies_fm_ptg01_i-vi.indd 2 03/24/15 1:53 PM
 Daniel Heselwood
Daniel has extensive experience managing and developing CAD/BIM
systems for large international firms with multiple sites across a
number of different regions to the single-person practices. This breadth
of experience allows him a greater understanding of the most suitable
and effective approaches to technology implementation, project
management and data sharing.
He is a qualified trainer who has worked closely with all disciplines
involved in a construction project: clients, contractors, architects,
structural, services and civil engineers. Daniel also writes a regular
technology column for the RIBA Journal.

Nigel Davies
Nigel is founding director of Evolve (www.evolve-consultancy.com)
and has 20 years’ extensive experience within the AEC industry. He
has unique insight and first-hand understanding of cutting-edge design
and construction data production and exchange practices.
Trained originally in civil and structural engineering, Nigel appreciates
the need for reality-based solutions to aid the project design process.
He has accrued invaluable experience in engineering and architecture
through his work as BIM Manager for notable projects including the
Millennium Dome and the BBC Broadcasting Centre redevelopment.
As a consultant he has provided pivotal services to many high-profile
architects and engineers in the UK, the US, Europe, the Middle East
and Australia.
Nigel regularly presents to major conferences in the US/UK
and features in industry press, writing regular columns on
www.eatyourcad.com and co-hosting international CAD & BIM
Managers Forums. He is also chair of the AEC (UK) CAD & BIM
Protocols initiative, developing off-the-shelf systems, based on British
Standards, for the structuring and exchange of design documentation.

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 Practical Structural Modelling With AECOsim
Building Designer

First Edition

Copyright © 2015 by Bentley Institute Press

Bentley Systems, Incorporated
685 Stockton Drive
Exton, Pennsylvania 19341

www.bentley.com/books

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.

MicroStation and AECOsim Building Designer are registered trademarks of Bentley

Systems, Incorporated.

All other trademarks, brands, company or product names not owned by Bentley
Systems, Incorporated or its subsidiaries are the property of their respective owners,
who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by Bentley
Systems, Incorporated or its subsidiaries.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014951299

ISBN: 978-1934493-40-3

Bentley Institute Press

Bentley Systems, Incorporated
685 Stockton Drive
Exton, PA 19341, USA

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 Contents

Chapter 1: The Principles of AECOsim Building Designer 1

Chapter 2: The Interface 15

Chapter 3: MicroStation Essentials 39

Chapter 4: Floor Manager 71

Chapter 5: Setting Up the Environment 93

Chapter 6: Structural Frames 113

Chapter 7: Modelling Floors 141

Chapter 8: Walls 179

Chapter 9: Foundations 225

Chapter 10: Additional Structural Members 241

Chapter 11: Stairs 275

Chapter 12: Custom Section Sizes 309

Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup Content 319

Chapter 14: Compound Cells 365

Chapter 15: Creating Drawings 391

Chapter 16: Adding Detail and Annotation 433

Chapter 17: Scheduling 471

Chapter 18: Analytical Content 501

Chapter 19: Integrated Structural Modelling 521

Chapter 20: Exchanging Data 547

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 Always-on Learning from Bentley
Institute
Bentley Institute’s broad array of structural analysis and design learning
opportunities enable you to master the capabilities of your AECOsim
software and apply best practices to improve design skills, increase
productivity, and enhance infrastructure quality. From practical, hands-on
virtual classrooms and learning paths to a robust library of content-rich
reference books to global infrastructure communities, our resources empower
you to deliver better projects with greater efficiency.
• AECOsim Building Designer Software Training via the LEARNserver
Available whenever and wherever you need it, the LEARNserver
offers thousands of self-paced lectures and courses filled with skills
refreshers, tips and tricks, and practical examples. Visit learn.bentley.
com to view, personalize, and save learning paths and register for
live and on-demand training courses.
• Infrastructure Design Reference Books
Bentley Institute Press publishes cutting-edge university textbooks
and professional reference works that deliver insight, background,
and theory to global infrastructure communities. Browse our full
lineup of structural analysis and design reference books at
www.bentley.com/books.
• Bentley Communities – Forums, Blogs, and More
Connect, communicate, share, and learn from other structural
analysis and design professionals through forums, wikis, blogs, and
resource libraries. Visit communities.bentley.com to get information
and answers to questions relating to your Bentley products and
product technologies.
For a full list of training resources, visit www.Bentley.com/PSMbooktraining.

vi

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 Chapter 1

The Principles of
AECOsim Building
Designer

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Davies_ch01_ptg01_001-014.indd 2 03/26/15 10:03 AM
 Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the help and support of the
following wonderful human beings:
Jeff Kelly, Program Manager for Authors and Publishing at Bentley Systems,
for asking us back to do another one;
Jeff Ashley, Tom Waltz, Jim Barr, Paul Wagner at Bentley Systems, for helping
make sense of the new features and putting up with our incessant emails;
Stuart Ward at Nightingales Associates for the information, models and
drawings, and Chris Seymour-Smith of Seymour-Smith Architects whose
assistance brokering the deal for the price of a real ale was well worth it.

Dedication
This book is dedicated to our loved ones for putting up with our stresses as
well as their own yet still being proud of our achievements.

About this Book

First and foremost, thank you for buying this book. It will lead you through
the process of creating a structural Building Information Model (BIM) using
Bentley’s AECOsim Building Designer. As with the Practical Architectural
Modelling book, it’s based on our extensive experience using Bentley products,
and on tried and tested training methods that we’ve employed successfully
with many of the industry’s leading structural engineering practices.
There is a certain amount of common ground between this and the previous
architectural volume, although all exercises have been revisited to encompass
structural working methods. New tools that affect the architectural process are
highlighted at the start of the relevant chapter, allowing this to act as an upgrade
handbook for those who already own Practical Architectural Modelling.
As with the previous book, Practical Structural Modelling is arranged in a
logical and progressive manner, providing step-by-step tutorials aimed at
familiarising you with AECOsim Building Designer’s tools and functionality.
Viewed as a whole it will guide a new user through an introduction to

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 AECOsim Building Designer from start to finish, beginning with a structural
grid file and a few 2D plans and sections, constructing parts of a typical
office building frame as you progress, to composing your finished drawings
and producing schedules and other outputs directly from your BIM model.
Individually, each chapter is designed as a stand-alone reference guide for
more experienced users, so if you can’t quite remember how a certain tool
works, you’ll be able to prompt your memory by looking at the relevant
chapter. While we won’t be teaching every setting of every tool, we have
aimed this book at the important aspects of AECOsim Building Designer that
will get you modelling productively, quickly.
Each chapter is broken down in the same way, into small, easily
understandable tasks, covering what the typical designer needs to get
working and authoring structural BIM data using AECOsim Building
Designer. The text begins with an overview of what tools you’ll be using,
and where you’ll find them. You’ll then be presented with a series of short
exercises that give you practical, hands-on experience using the tools. We
appreciate that every project is different, and that every company works
slightly differently, so we’ve tailored the exercises to be as widely applicable
as possible. This book concentrates on giving you the fundamental
knowledge to apply the tools to the situations you may find yourself in
outside of the environment of this book. It focusses on the challenges you
may face when dealing with new BIM methodologies, drawing on our
experience of what works best rather than every possible iteration of settings.
Files are provided for each exercise from Bentley’s website (www.bentley
.com/PSMprojectfiles.) so you’ll be able to work through the steps as many
times as you need. There is a completed version of each exercise, so if you
need a little bit of extra insight, you can go and have a look at what it is
you’re aiming to construct.
Finally, throughout the chapters you’ll find “Administration Tips”. These are
reference notes intended to help the BIM Manager or Project Coordinator set
up the system effectively. They cover the configuration variables relevant to
the tools being taught as well as other advice and best practice approaches to
managing AECOsim Building Designer data for efficient project workflows.

Administration tip
These tips are supplementary to the main body of text, but can be used to help understand the configuration
side of AECOsim Building Designer.

We trust you will find a host of useful information in this book, and that it
will act as your first point of support.
Thank you
Nigel Davies & Daniel Heselwood
Evolve Consultancy

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 The John O’Gaunt Project
To maintain continuity between the Practical Architectural Modelling book
and this one, the project used is the same, the performing arts centre for
the John O’Gaunt Community College in Hungerford, UK designed by
Nightingale Architects Ltd (http://www.nightingaleassociates.com) with
structural engineering by Archibald Shaw (http://www.archibaldshaw.co.uk).
The new facilities offer students an enhanced and interactive learning
environment while promoting collaborative working across the creative arts.
Accommodating three main school departments, the form of the building
makes clear distinction between each one and seeks to locate the acoustically
sensitive spaces away from the surrounding buildings. The teaching spaces
are situated on the south side, making good use of the natural light and
spectacular views across green fields. The windows are split into three levels
to offer varying views during the transition between entering the room and
sitting at a desk during a lesson. At the heart of the school the existing music
block is to be demolished and a new courtyard will be created that will allow
for outside performance and general communal use during lunchtimes.
The project incorporates a biomass boiler system as well as photovoltaic
panels on the roof. In addition, a natural ventilation strategy has allowed the
proposal to achieve an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM Design Stage rating.

John O’Gaunt Community College in

West Berkshire has been designed using
Bentley’s BIM tools

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 About Nightingale Architects Ltd
Nightingale Associates is an international design practice that is shaping
the future of healthcare, education and science environments. Established
in 1989, our focus has always been community wellbeing through design
excellence.
Working as part of IBI Group, Nightingale Associates has instant access to
multi-disciplinary architecture, engineering, consulting and design firms with
more than 2,900 employees in 76 offices around the world. This gives them a
unique opportunity to continually benchmark and share their expertise on a
truly global basis.
Nightingale Associates takes pride in delivering creative and honest architecture.
Recognised as a listening practice, they believe it important to grow professional
relationships, whilst growing new ideas. From feasibility to on-site delivery,
Nightingales Associates successfully guides their clients through rigorous,
quality-assured design methodologies using the latest BIM, CAD and 3D design
and visualisation tools to assist in their decision-making process. Supported
by a research and development service ‘Nightingale THiNK’, teamwork
and collaboration is fostered to deliver buildings that are attractive, highly
functional, efficient, durable and environmentally appropriate.
Nightingale Associates’ successes have been built on achieving client
satisfaction through design excellence. Whatever the project size, type or
procurement, good design really does make a difference.

About Archibald Shaw

The practice of Archibald Shaw was established in 1960 with offices in the
South East of England providing Civil, Structural and Geotechnical services.
The practice is a member of the Association of Consulting Engineers and
operates a system of quality assurance in accordance with the requirements
of BS EN ISO 9001. Whilst the majority of commissions have been within the
UK, the practice has undertaken projects as far afield as the Middle East and
the British Virgin Islands.

Pre-requisites and Assumptions

This book is aimed at both new and more experienced AECOsim Building
Designer users. In order to get the most value out of it, we recommend that
you have a sound knowledge of MicroStation fundamentals and a basic
understanding of Building Information Modelling principles. In particular,
you should be comfortable working with:
• Microsoft Windows
• the MicroStation Task-based interface

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 • the mouse buttons within MicroStation
• AccuDraw and AccuSnap
• creating basic elements (lines, arcs, circles, text and dimensions, etc.)
• element selection
• attaching, controlling and manipulating Reference files
• 3D view controls
• View attributes
• Level Manager and Level Display
• using and creating Cells

Terminology & Conventions

Where possible we have used plain English throughout this book, avoiding
abbreviations as far as is possible. However, with any technical software,
there are certain terms that can be confusing, so the conventions listed below
will help in any sections that may become unclear.
• Because all installations can be on different drives, and to avoid any
complexities of operating system, the full path to the Workspace or
the project folders will not be shown. For Workspace items, the path
will begin at the Workspace folder.
e.g. WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\seed
Paths to the project will begin at the ProjectModelling folder.
e.g. PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\seed
• Tool names are always written in bold using titles exactly as they
appear, regardless of whether capitalisation is grammatically
correct.
e.g. Place Wall or Slab Penetrations or Place Steel Column –
Primary
• Where the tool name is long, extraneous words will be omitted for
readability, maintaining a clear reference to the tool.
e.g. Connect Forms as L rather than Connect Forms as L (Bisector).
e.g. Apply Structural Attributes rather than Apply Structural
Attributes to Slab/Free/Linear Form.
• Menu paths are listed using > to denote a sub-menu.
e.g. Building Designer > Drawing Composition > Place Plan Callout
• When you are required to enter text or change a setting, the required
value will be shown in quotes.
e.g. Set the Structural Finish to “Galvanized”
e.g. Type “1200” in the Height field.

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 In all cases, unless specifically instructed, enter the value exactly as it
is written without the quotes.
• Where Bentley terminology contradicts accepted industry language,
Bentley terminology will use the same capitalisation as in the
product and will be clarified by avoiding shortening the name
wherever possible. Example of this would be:
A “drawing”, meaning a piece of paper vs “Drawing Model”,
meaning a specific type of Model. We will never refer to a Drawing
Model as a mere “Drawing”.
A “wall” is a physical, real world object, but “Wall” refers to a
DataGroup Catalog Item type.
• References to keys are shown bold and surrounded by square
brackets.
e.g. Hit [Enter].
It is presumed that the left (“data”) button of the mouse is to be
used unless specifically noted otherwise.
e.g. “Click to accept” as opposed to “press and hold the right
button”.
• Configuration variables or code are showing in Courier New Font.
• Captions to images are written in italics.

Starting AECOsim Building Designer

AECOsim Building Designer is a BIM authoring software suite which
can be run as a complete integrated solution or as individual discipline-
specific tools. You are not restricted to running only a single product; once
you have started Building Designer from any one of the shortcuts (see
below) you have the option to load additional tools or unload them as you
require. Chapter 2: The Interface covers this in more detail.
Once the product has been installed, shortcuts will be created for:
• AECOsim Building Designer
Starts the full suite of Building Designer tools. All discipline tools
are loaded into the interface.
Note: The base discipline is set to be “Building Designer”. This will
affect the default settings for a number of tools, including which
DataGroup Catalogs are loaded and their associated Levels.
• Architectural Building Designer
Launches the Architectural tools only. The base discipline is set to
“Architecture”.

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 • Electrical Building Designer
Launches the Electrical tools only. The base discipline is set to
“Electrical”.
• Mechanical Building Designer
Launches the Mechanical tools only. The base discipline is set to
“Mechanical”.
• MicroStation Building Designer
Launches AECOsim Building Designer in MicroStation mode,
i.e. without any BIM tools loaded. The base discipline is set to
“MicroStation”.
• Structural Building Designer
Launches the Structural tools only. The base discipline is set to
“Structural”. This is the shortcut you should use throughout this
book to follow the exercises.

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 As well as the main Building Designer products, you are also provided
shortcuts for a number of other utilities:
• Process Controller for Distributed Rendering
Distributed Rendering lets you make use of multiple PCs to render
images, similar to a render farm, but utilising any PC. This book
does not cover the use of Distributed Rendering.
• Documents
Contains Windows Help files for Bentley Building and SpacePlanner.
The Help files can also be accessed inside the products from the
Help menu.

Administration tip
The variable controlling the discipline is BB_DISCIPLINE. This is used in several of the configuration files to
load parts of the product.

You can see an example in Workspace\Projects\BuildingExamples\PracticalModelling.pcf. In the

“Folders” section, there is a %if statement that checks the value of BB_DISCIPLINE and sets the search path
for DataGroup Catalogs accordingly:

%if ($(BB_DISCIPLINE) == “BuildingDesigner”)

  DG_CATALOGS_PATH > $(TFDIR)datagroupcatalogs/datagroupcatalogs_architectural/
  DG_CATALOGS_PATH > $(TFDIR)datagroupcatalogs/datagroupcatalogs_structural/
%endif

The Dataset
This book and the associated exercises are based on the Dataset_GB dataset
and the PracticalModelling project. Both are included in the accompanying
download which also contains installation instructions. You will need to
make sure that everything is installed into its default locations.

Dataset_GB
Dataset_GB is a metric dataset, based on a master unit of millimetres (mm).
While certain countries still use the imperial system, the exercises are all in
metric, chosen for this book due to its utilisation globally as the main system
of measurement. We realise that in your office environment you will no
doubt use a different Bentley dataset relevant to your country, language and
standards, or may even have a custom dataset specifically for your company.
The principles taught throughout the exercises and tutorials in this book apply
equally to any dataset you may use, even if the units of measurement differ.
It is not essential to understand every folder and file of the dataset, but it is
important to know where certain items are stored and how some of these

10

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 components affect the use of the product. The important aspects of the
dataset are:
• cell
Contains all the various types of cells used by Building Designer.
You will find “traditional” MicroStation cell libraries here,
including annotation cells (refer to Chapter 16: Additional Detail &
Annotation) and other content.
This folder also contains .bxc cell libraries, or libraries of
Compound Cells (refer to Chapter 14: Compound Cells). These cells
differ from MicroStation cells because they comprise both 3D and
2D representations of the same object. Typically a Compound Cell
is placed as a 3D object within AECOsim Building Designer and is
resymbolised into a 2D representation when Views are created. This
allows symbolic representations to be used on a drawing to replace a
realistic object in the 3D model. An example might be a fixing detail
that may show more detail (bolts, stiffener plates, etc.) in 3D than
you’d want on a drawing; when the Compound Cell is resymbolised,
you would be left with simplified or stylised shapes, lines and arcs to
represent only the level of detail you need in a plan.
The third type of cell is a .paz, which are saved from PC Studio. Paz
files cannot be created or edited in AECOsim Building Designer. They
are parametric definitions of objects, placed using AECOsim Building
Designer’s DataGroup tools. Unlike .cel and .bxc files, .paz cells
cannot be libraries; they contain only a single object. Just like .bxc
files, Paz cells can have 3D and 2D representations of the same object.
• cpart
Compound Parts are sets, or groups, of related Parts (see below)
used for constructions requiring multiple elements that can all be
placed at the same time. An example would be a cavity wall, where a
footing, foundation, exterior and interior leaves, insulation, air space
and cladding or finishes are all combined to create the component.
• datagroupcatalogs
The DataGroup Catalogs are the “heart” of AECOsim Building
Designer, defining the many different types of intelligent objects
placed during BIM model creation, containing additional
properties – metadata – that define the object’s size, performance,
cost and any other procurement or construction information you
may need to use.
DataGroups are organised into multiple .xml files, each one typically
relating to a specific Catalog type (e.g. Beams: Concrete, Beams:
Steel, PileCaps, Slabs, Stairs, Walls). Normally you would use the
tools inside of AECOsim Building Designer to create and edit

11

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 DataGroup Catalogs rather than edit the .xml files, although this
can be done if you understand how XML syntax works.
• dgnlib
The Design Libraries are used by Building Designer to define
standards within the products. The libraries are named fairly
self-explanatorily: DisplayStyles.dgnlib containing Display Styles,
Levels_Structural-AEC(UK).dgnlib containing the Structural levels
based on the AEC (UK) CAD Protocols.
Typically you would not edit the supplied libraries, but make any
modifications to the project libraries (see below).
• part
Parts define the visual representation of an object: what Level it
is placed on, how it looks in 3D, whether it will use different line
weights in 2D, if it is hatched when cut through or seen in elevation.
Part definitions, which are created and maintained with the Dataset
Explorer dialog box (refer to Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup
Content), include several categories of information including
Definition, Drawing Attributes, Cut Patterns, Centerline Attributes,
Rendering Attributes, Report Components and Drawing Notation.
• seed
Seeds are easier thought of as templates, used when creating new
files. You can edit seeds so that all new files inherit the settings you
need them to have, including units and coordinates as well as default
Reference files you may want attached.
Typically you would not edit the seeds provided in Dataset_GB as
this would affect every new file created for every project in your
office. Instead, you would make your own copy in the project seed
folder (see below) and use that.
Where an exercise requires you to create a new file, you will be
instructed which seedfile to use.

Administration tip
The dataset used is selected by the entry:

TF_DATASETNAME = Dataset_GB

in Workspace\Projects\BuildingExamples\PracticalModelling.pcf.

By default, ABD looks for this dataset in the WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets folder. This is controlled by
the TFDIR variable, set in the product Program Files: config\appl\BuildingDesigner.cfg

Note: System- and Application-level configurations should never be edited. You can overwrite the value at
Site-, Project- or User-level to the value you require.

12

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 The PracticalModelling Project
The PracticalModelling project contains all the necessary files to complete
the exercises, as well as additional dataset material to supplement those in
Dataset_GB. The use of project-level content will be described throughout
this book, as any changes made will always be at a project level. This concept
is important, otherwise you will be making changes across all projects.
In the WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\PracticalModelling project
folder you will find:
• _Resources
Contains the resources necessary to create content for the project.
Sub-folders in ProjectModelling\_Resources\Dataset are similar to
the Dataset_GB folders outlined above.
• DesignModels
All Design Models – the 3D files that make up the complete building
model – are stored in here.
A sub-folder “Ref” provides architectural reference files necessary to
complete the exercises.
• DrawingModels
Drawing Models are used to manage views of the 3D model prior
to adding them to a Sheet. Drawing models can be used for placing
annotation, as well as changing the appearance of the view through
Reference files and View Attributes.
• Extractions
This is the folder used for storing .all files, created from Drawing
Extraction Manager (DEM). DEM is mostly superseded by Building
Views, although there are times when it can be useful, indeed
essential, as when using Structural Drawing Center. Drawing
Extraction Manager is covered in Chapter 18: Drawing Extraction
Manager.
• out
The output folder, used for storing exported files, including DWG,
IFC, PDF prints and structural spreadsheet reports.
• SheetModels
Sheet Models are where the finished drawing is compiled. Sheet
models represent a piece of paper and are constructed by attaching
Drawing Models (2D views of the 3D model), a drawing border and
relevant annotation.

13

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Davies_ch01_ptg01_001-014.indd 14 03/26/15 10:03 AM
 Chapter 2

The Interface

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Davies_ch02_ptg01_015-038.indd 16 03/31/15 10:38 AM
 Windows File Open
(MicroStation Manager)
After starting Structural Building Designer you will be presented with
Windows File Open dialog, formally known as MicroStation Manager.

Figure 02-01: The main MicroStation Windows

File Open dialog

From here you can navigate the project directory structure to open and create
new files. As with other Bentley products you will notice that in the bottom
right-hand corner of the Windows File Open are the Workspace components
options.
User (Figure 02-01 item 1): This pull down allows you to select a User
Configuration File (.ucf) stored in the AECOsim Building Designer
Workspace\Users directory. The UCF points AECOsim Building Designer
to the last selected Project & Interface components. For the purposes of the
contents and exercises of this book you will be using “BuildingDesigner”.
Make sure the User is set to “BuildingDesigner”.
Project (Figure 02-01 item 2): This option allows you to select the Project
Configuration File (.pcf). The PCF controls project-specific settings, including
folders, seedfiles, and which project dataset will be used by AECOsim
Building Designer. This book uses the Dataset_GB as described in Chapter 01:
The Principles of Bentley Building Designer.
Set the Project to “PracticalModelling”.

17

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 Interface (Figure 02-01 item 3): Defines custom interface components that
AECOsim Building Designer will load. For this book you will be using the
default interface.
Leave Interface as “default”.

Inside Aecosim Building Designer

Open PracticalModelling\DesignModels\Ref\PM-x-M3-A-
DynamicViewContainer.dgn. This file contains a 3D MicroStation model
of the John O’Gaunt school project by Nightingale Architects Ltd used
throughout this book.
You will be presented with the interface, which MicroStation users should be
familiar with. AECOsim Building Designer uses exactly the same principles
as MicroStation so it is not difficult to learn. There are new menus, Tasks and
Toolbars which are specific to AECOsim Building Designer, as well as some
additional mouse functionality.

Figure 02-02: The AECOsim Building Designer

Interface

18

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 Menus
Building Designer
The Building Designer menu is split into six sections for easy organisation.

Figure 02-03: The Building Designer menu

The Application section provides you with menus for the AECOsim Building
Designer discipline-specific applications you have loaded, and allows you to
load additional discipline-specific Tasks and utilities.

Figure 02-04: The Application section of the

Building Designer menu

19

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 Exercise 02-01

Loading and unloading additional applications

1. From the Building Designer menu, pick Load Architectural.
2. The Architectural Design Task is loaded. The Architectural menu
expands to show the tools and settings required for architectural
modelling.

Figure 02-05: Loading Architectural adds the

Architectural sub-menus, Architectural Tasks

3. From the bottom of the Building Designer > Architectural menu,

pick Unload Architectural.
The Architectural menus and Tasks are unloaded, returning
AECOsim Building Designer to its default Structural state.
The Drawing section of the Building Designer menu contains submenus for
managing drawings, including the creation of new Designs, Drawings and
Sheets, placing Callouts and composing Building Dynamic Views, as well
as providing access to Drawing Extraction Manager. Refer to Chapter 15:
Creating Drawings for more information and exercises.

Figure 02-06: The Drawing section of

the Building Designer menu

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 The Catalogs section is where the libraries used by AECOsim Building
Designer are managed. It contains the DataGroup System toolbox and tools
for managing and editing DataGroup Catalogs,

Figure 02-07: The Catalogs section

of the Building Designer menu

This toolbox is also located in the Building Designer > Data Task. Refer
specifically to Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup Content for details on the
DataGroup Catalogs and Definitions (the properties used by DataGroup
items), although placement of DataGroup items is dealt with throughout this
book.
Families & Parts are managed in this section too, also covered in Chapter 13:
Creating DataGroup Content.
Verify Configuration checks that all the components necessary to run
AECOsim Building Designer are loaded. If any errors are found they are
reported in the Message Centre for viewing. Under normal circumstances it is
not necessary to invoke Verify Configuration, as AECOsim Building Designer
performs a check at start-up.
The next section controls the use of Floors, the working planes you use to
place building elements.

Figure 02-08: The Floors section of

the Building Designer menu

Floor Selector is used to select and make active floors and reference planes
allowing placement of graphics and modelling to the selected floor.
Use Floor Manager to create the floor planes of your project. This tool
essentially creates ACSs that mimic the floor levels required in the project.
The creation of Floor planes and their selection is dealt with in Chapter 04:
Floor Manager.
The Annotation tools control which annotation cells are used for each type
of DataGroup item, as well as providing easy access to the libraries to allow
customisation of their content.

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 Figure 02-09: The Building Designer
menu’s Annotation tools

The use and editing of Annotation cells is covered in Chapter 16: Additional
Detail & Annotation.
Finally, the Content Creation section of the Building Designer menu provides
access to parametric content creation and tools to back up your dataset.

Figure 02-10: The bottom section of

the Building Designer menu provides
access to additional content creation
tools

PC Studio is an external graphically-based parametric object creation tool. It

is the tool used to create many of the doors and windows within AECOsim
Building Designer, although its use is reasonably advanced and so is not
covered in this book.
Frame Builder is a programmatic content creation tool built into AECOsim
Building Designer. While not as advanced as PC Studio, it can be used to
create reasonably complex parametric objects. It is not covered as part of
this book.

Tasks
The Building Designer Tasks enhance the standard operations offered by
MicroStation and allow you to create, place and manage the intelligent
building elements used by AECOsim Building Designer.

Main

Figure 02-11: The Main Building Designer tools

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 AECOsim Building Designer’s Main toolbox provides the default
MicroStation tools, as well as adding in additional functionality to improve
its ease of use.
Tools from shortcut 0 onwards are specific to the Building Designer Main
toolbox.
Modify Properties of Selected Elements (shortcut 0) opens the DataGroup
Editor for the specific element you select.
The other tools – Drawing, Polygons, Annotation and Create Views, are
repeats of standard tools. Their inclusion in the Main toolbox means that
you do not have to constantly switch from Task to Task to return to basic
MicroStation operations.
The only other modification worth noting is the addition of Building Designer’s
Match Form Attributes and Apply Part in the Change Attributes toolbox.

Figure 02-12: The additional tools in Change Attributes toolbox

The Tasks provided in the Building Designer Task are listed below.

Structural Design
Grids (Shortcut Q) Contains tools for creating column grids.
Steel Framing (W) Contains tools for placing framing structural members.
Steel Bracing (E) Contains tools for placing bracing structural members.
Steel Trusses (R) Place trusses, joists and decks.
Concrete Framing (T) Place concrete columns and beams.
Timber Framing (A) Place timber columns and beams.

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 Structural User Defined Members (S) Place user defined content such as base
plates and ladders.
Edit Framing Elements (D) Edit structural members by adding cutbacks and
joining beams.
Slabs and Foundations (F) Contains tools for placing floor slabs and foundations.
Place Walls (G) Allows placing structural walls and modifications to
structural walls.
Modify/Connect Forms (Z) Tools to connect walls.
Manipulate Features (X) Contains tools for modifying, copying and deleting
Features such as openings in walls and creating cuts, protrusions and
openings on solids.
Vertical Circulation (C) Contains tools for the placement of stairs, railings
and escalators.
Compound Cells (V) contains tools to create, place and manipulate
Compound Cells.

Figure 02-13: The Structural Design Task

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 Structural Import / Export
Structural Import (Q) Tools for importing from other structural design
software in standard structural formats including CIS2, SDNF, IFC and an
importer from other Bentley analysis applications.
Structural Export (W) Tools for exporting to other structural design software
in standard structural formats including CIS2, SDNF, IFC and an importer
from other Bentley analysis applications.
ISM (E) Tools to export and import using Bentley’s Structural Synchronizer.

Figure 02-14: The Structural Import / Export Task

Architectural Modeling
Space Planning (Q) Contains tools for drawing and manipulating Spaces for
room or area planning.
Place Walls (W) Contains tools for placement of walls.
Modify/Connect Walls (E) Modify and connect wall junctions.
Vertical Circulation (R) Contains tools for the placement of stairs, railings
and escalators.
Compound Cells (T) Contains tools to create, place and manipulate
Compound Cells.

Figure 02-15: The Architectural Modeling Task

Data
Data (Q) The main DataGroup tools for managing DataGroup content and
adding instances to your model.

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 Data & Reporting (W) Quantifies your model and generates structural
reporting spreadsheets.

Figure 02-16: The Data Task

Coordination
Contains individual tools in each toolbox for Clash Detection (Q), navigating
to the Previous Clash (W) and the Next Clash (E).

Figure 02-17: The Coordination Task

Form Modeling
The Form Modeling tools provide additional functionality for modelling and
manipulating generic AECOsim Building Designer elements.

Figure 02-18: The Form Modeling Task

Solid Modeling
Contains a cut-down series of MicroStation solid modelling toolboxes.

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 Figure 02-19: The Solid Modeling Task

Visualization
The MicroStation Visualization tools are included to allow the setup of
renderings without having to switch to the MicroStation Tasks.

Figure 02-20: The Visualization Task

Drafting
This is a similar, but reduced, set of the MicroStation V8i Drawing toolboxes.
Notable exclusions are the Text and Dimension tools, provided instead in the
Annotation Task and the Main tools.

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 Figure 02-21: The Drafting Task

Annotation
Expanding the basic MicroStation annotation tools specifically for AECOsim
Building Designer and the DataGroup system.
Place Text (Q) Places Text, Notes, Text Nodes and spell checks.
Edit/Modify (W) The tools for text editing, matching and changing text attributes.
Data Fields (E) Copy, incrementing and updating Data Fields.
Place Dimensions (R) The linear and angular dimensions tools.
Radial Dimensions (T) Place radial dimensions.
Modify Dimensions (A) Contains tools for modifying dimensions.
IDs (S) Place callout notation for Drawing Titles, Doors and Windows and
general DataGroup annotations, as well as placing North Arrows and Coded
Notes.
Symbols (D) Places break lines, revision indicators, level indicators and floor
transitions.
Tags (F) Used to create tags and tagsets.
Labels and Coordinates (G) Labels coordinates, elements and imports/
exports coordinates.
Keynotes (Z) and Keynote Admin (X) Contains tools for placing, listing,
changing, identifying and locating Keynotes.
Mechanical Annotation (C) Tools for placing dimension intersections and
welding symbols.

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 Figure 02-22: The Annotation Task

Drawing Composition
A repeat of the MicroStation Drawing Composition Task.

Figure 02-23: The Drawing Composition Task

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 Drawing Manager
The Drawing Manager Task contains the Drawing Manager (Q) toolbox for
definition and creation of and navigation through Drawing Extractions.

Figure 02-24: The Drawing Manager Task

tip
As in MicroStation V8i you have the ability to Show/Hide tools in Tasks and toolboxes that you do not require
on a regular basis. This can be done by “right-clicking” in the Task bar, Task or toolbox to expose the Show/
Hide options.

Figure 02-25: Right-clicking on a toolbox allows you to turn on/off specific tools

Exercise 02-02

Setting up the interface

For the rest of this book it will be necessary to have certain tools readily
available. Set up your interface as detailed in this exercise for easy access to
many of the required tools.
1. If you do not already have it open, open PracticalModelling\
DesignModels\Ref\PM-x-M3-A-DynamicViewContainer.dgn.
By default, Structural Building Designer will open with The Building
Designer Tasks docked to the left-hand side of the screen, with
Project Explorer pinned next to it.

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 Figure 02-26: The default AECOsim Building Designer Interface

Floor Selector is docked at the bottom:

Figure 02-27: The Floor Selector toolbox

2. Throughout this book you will need to refer to Level Display, so

open that and dock it over the Building Designer Tasks.
3. The Building Primary toolbar is a basic tool required for most
Building Designer functions. It gives you control over Parts as well as
the symbology that will be applied to 3D geometry that you create.
The toolbar will be open by default, but if it’s not, from the Building
Designer > Families & Parts menu, click Primary Toolbar. The
Building Primary toolbar will appear on the screen.

Figure 02-28: The Building Primary toolbar

As with Tasks and other toolbars or toolboxes the Building Primary

toolbar can be docked. Logically it makes sense to dock it to the top
of the screen where the other primary and attribute tools are located.

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 Figure 02-29: The Building Primary Toolbar docked

4. Finally you will need the Drawing Scale tool, where Annotation
Scale and ACSs are controlled. This is opened from the Settings >
Drawing Scale menu.

Figure 02-30: Opening Drawing Scale

from the Settings menu

The Drawing Scale tool will open. Typically, it won’t be necessary

to edit the Working Units, so right-click on the tool and untick
Working Units.

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 Figure 02-31: Turn off Working Units

Dock the Drawing Scale toolbox at the bottom of your screen.

Figure 02-32: The Drawing Scale toolbox docked

The Mouse
AECOsim Building Designer has all the mouse functions that are available
in MicroStation V8i, although the context menus (displayed when you
right-press) are enhanced.

Right-press with any element selected

The context menu will show additional Building Element Info and Modify
Selected Component items.

Figure 02-33: Common additions to Building

Designer’s right-press when any element is
selected

• Modify Selected Component opens the Modify tool relevant to the

selected element. If the element selected has no DataGroup data,

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 the Message Center reports “No DataGroup data found”. More
information on modifying DataGroup items is found throughout the
modelling exercises in later chapters.
• Building Element Info, represented by a large “i” icon, is in addition to
the Properties (or Element Information) at the bottom of the context
menu. This small “i” icon is the one you see in standard MicroStation.

Figure 02-34: The Building Element Info dialog box

The Building Element Info dialog box is designed specifically for

identifying and modifying Building elements.
The DataGroup Data tab shows the properties of an element read
only. Should you need to make changes to any of these values, select
the original element and right-press. Pick the relevant Modify tool
from the pop-up menu.
Identification shows the Part definition – the graphical appearance –
of the element.
Quantities reports the lengths, areas and volumes of the element.
The basic MicroStation attributes are shown in the Attributes tab.
If the element selected has any Features, the Features tab will be
displayed. This allows you to control openings and protrusions. Refer
to Chapter 07: Modelling Floors for further details regarding Features.
If the element has any parametric components, the Parametric tab
will be shown. This contains settings for any parametric geometry. In
the case of a door this would include Height, Width, Frame Depth,
Glass Thickness, etc.
If the element is Compound (i.e. it contains 2D resymbolised
elements and the 3D object) the Drawing Symbols tab will be shown.
Finally, the Perforators tab is shown if the element contains any
elements designed to cut create openings in other elements. Refer
to Chapter 14 Compound Cells.

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 • The standard MicroStation Properties (Element Information) dialog
will display the additional building properties, but you cannot use
it to control parametric geometry (e.g. Door height and width),
Features, Drawing Symbols or Perforators.

Figure 02-35: MicroStation’s Properties at the

bottom of the right-press context menu

Figure 02-36: Element Information

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 • Additionally, element-specific modification tools will be added above
Building Element Info. For example, right-pressing with a Wall
selected:

Figure 02-37: The Wall context menu

Refer to Chapter 8: Walls for full details.

With a Structural Member selected:

Figure 02-38: The Structural Member

context menu

Refer to Chapter 6: Structural Frames.

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 View Attributes
The View Attributes dialog box is expanded in AECOsim Building Designer
to include a section for Building.

Figure 02-39: The View Attributes dialog box

When a Building Dynamic View is created, the Building section expands to

include controls for the appearance of elements in Forward, Cut and Back
views. The General attributes turn on or off representations of AECOsim
Building Designer elements, including the 2D symbol of a 3D Compound
Cell or DataGroup item, and various properties of an element’s Part
definition. The Structural, Mechanical and Architectural tabs allow the
definition of additional Resymbolisation Rules specific to elements created
in those discipline’s tools.

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 Figure 02-40: The Building View Attributes shown in a Building Dynamic View

The Building View Attributes will be covered in detail in Chapter 15:

Creating Drawings.

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 Chapter 3

MicroStation
Essentials

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Davies_ch03_ptg01_039-070.indd 40 04/01/15 11:16 AM
 This chapter is designed to remind and refresh your knowledge of the
MicroStation skills that will be needed to effectively work on 3D project
data using AECOsim Building Designer. Even if you are an experienced
MicroStation user it is essential that, for efficient and accurate working in
3D, you have a good working knowledge and grasp of the tools and process
that AECOsim Building Designer provides.
The exercises in this chapter, and all other exercises in the book, are based on
the Structural “entry point”, so start AECOsim Building Designer using the
Structural Building Designer shortcut.
Create a new file in PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ called PM-x-M3-
S-AccuDraw.dgn. Use the PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\seed\
DesignSeed_structural.dgn seed file.
Open this file.

AccuDraw
AccuDraw is designed for Accurate Drawing in 2D and 3D. The following
exercises are designed to recap the essential functionality of AccuDraw
using the Building Designer > Drafting Task, although you could use the
MicroStation > Drawing Task.
To start AccuDraw you need to use the Toggle AccuDraw button. You’ll find
this on the Primary Tools:

Figure 03-01: Toggle AccuDraw

If AccuDraw is not already running, this will open the AccuDraw dialog box.
If it was already running, it will close it:

Figure 03-02: The AccuDraw dialog

undocked

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 Once you have it open, you still may not be able to enter any shortcuts
without having to first click on the AccuDraw dialogue box. This is
because it expects you to enter Positional Mapping shortcuts (e.g. Q1 to
Place SmartLine, 32 for Move Element).
To activate AccuDraw no matter which tool you have selected, hit [F11].
Note: [Spacebar] will also start AccuDraw, although this does depend if
you have another tool selected at the time.
You may now enter AccuDraw shortcuts.
AccuDraw can be used to enter direct distances, but its real power comes
from the multitude of shortcuts that are built in.
To call up a complete list of available shortcuts, type ?.

Figure 03-03: The AccuDraw’s shortcut

dialog

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 Administration Tip
The location of the AccuDraw shortcuts file is controlled by the MS_ACCUDRAWKEYS configuration variable.

The AccuDraw shortcuts for AECOsim Building Designer are different to those in vanilla MicroStation. All the
basic AccuDraw operations should remain unchanged but, as you may note from figure 03-03, additional
shortcuts have been added, such as HC for HVAC Catalog, RR for Rotate Fitting, which only apply to
Mechanical Building Designer.

Exercise 03-01

Recapping essential AccuDraw commands in 3D

1. Maximise View 1. For this exercise you will be using a single view to
concentrate on using AccuDraw in context with view rotations.
2. From the Building Designer > Drafting Task, choose the Place Block
command (shortcut E 1).

Figure 03-04: The Building Designer Task > Drafting > Place
Block

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 3. With AccuDraw in focus, type “T” to rotate AccuDraw to the Top
view.
4. Type “P” to open the Data Point Keyin.
5. Make sure the keyin value is set to “Absolute (xy=)”.
Enter “0,0,0”.

Figure 03-05: Data Point Keyin

6. Hit [Enter] and the first point of the rectangle will be placed.
7. From here, use AccuDraw as you would in a 2D file and place a
rectangle that is 7000 in the X-direction and 5000 in the Y.
Fit the view if you cannot see your rectangle.

Figure 03-06: The fitted view after placing the

first rectangle

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 Moving elements to the correct Coordinate
If you have placed elements at the wrong coordinates, you can move them by
selecting the Move command (right-press and pick Move).
Select the element you want to move at the origin point you want to use.
Once the element is selected, use the AccuDraw “P” keyin as outlined above.
The element will be moved to the coordinate point you enter.

Checking coordinates
To check a coordinate point, you can use Tentative snap. The coordinate for
any point you tentative onto will be shown in the Message Center.

Figure 03-07: Checking Coordinates

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 Alternatively to show coordinates with AccuSnap, go to the Snaps icon (at
the bottom right of your screen) and select AccuSnap.

Figure 03-08: AccuSnap options

Tick the “Update Statusbar Coordinates” option.

Figure 03-09: Update Statusbar Coordinates

in AccuSnap Settings

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 Now, whenever any point is highlighted by AccuSnap, the coordinate will be
displayed in the Message Center.
8. Rotate View 1 to Isometric.
9. Pick the Place Block command (E 1) again, and snap onto the front
left corner of the rectangle you placed. Click to start placing a new
rectangle at this point.
10. To place vertical elements, rotate AccuDraw to Front, type “F” into
AccuDraw. AccuDraw will rotate to be vertical.

Figure 03-10: Using the AccuDraw F shortcut

to place the next rectangle

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 11. The wall needs to be the same length as the flat rectangle and 5000
high so, at this point, you could enter 7000 in the X and 5000 in
the Y. However, it may be that you do not know the exact length
of previously drawn elements – you might be working on someone
else’s project which is a little more complex than this. To draw the
wall 5000 above the front right corner, use the “O” shortcut:
With the Place Block command still active, AccuSnap over the front
right corner. Type “O” to change AccuDraw’s origin to this location.

Figure 03-11: Resetting AccuDraw’s origin to

the front right corner using “O”

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 12. Move upwards, in the Y-direction of your AccuDraw compass, and
enter “5000”.
13. Click to accept and place the vertical rectangle.

Figure 03-12: The Front Rectangle complete

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 Working to Isometric view can be limiting, and in the case of this exercise,
linework will overlap. So long as you can control AccuDraw, the exact
rotation of the view doesn’t matter. Rotate the view so you can clearly see
what you are working on.

Figure 03-13: Rotate View in the View Controls

Figure 03-14: View 1 after rotation

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 14. To create the back wall, you could just copy the vertical rectangle
to the back, but to continue learning AccuDraw in 3D, and draw
a rectangle exactly the same height, AccuSnap onto the back
left corner.
15. Click to start placing a new rectangle. AccuDraw should still be set
to Front, but if not, type “F”.
16. AccuSnap over the back right corner and type “O” to set
AccuDraw’s origin to that point.
17. Again, you could type the distance 5000 in, but imagining the front
wall was drawn previously by someone else, rather than measuring
it, use SmartLock to draw to the same height:
Move the cursor upwards and hit [Enter] to turn on SmartLock.
AccuSnap to the top of the front wall then click the mouse. Your
back wall will be drawn to the same height.

Figure 03-15: Using SmartLock and AccuSnap to

draw an element the same height as another

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 With “T” for Top, “F” for Front, it’s no surprise that for the Side rotation
the shortcut is “S”. Alternatively, to rotate through all three, you can use “E”
for Cycle.
18. If it is not already active, pick the Place Block command (E 1) again
and AccuSnap onto the back left corner of the rectangles you placed.
Click to start placing a new rectangle.
19. To draw the end walls, you could use “S” for Side, but AccuDraw
is clever enough to work out the “most simplistic” way to draw a
shape between two points.
AccuSnap over the front upper left corner and click to accept.
20.

Figure 03-16: Placing the left-hand side

wall (the exact AccuDraw rotation is not
important)

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 21. Repeat for the right-hand side wall.

Figure 03-17: The completed “walls” of the

“building”

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 Calculator (drawing the roof ridge line)
AccuDraw typically, when used fully, takes away the need for drawing
construction lines. There aren’t many things that you can’t do with
AccuDraw. Drawing a 45º plane to a specific size can be done without
drawing a construction line, although in this instance it is easier to learn
parts of AccuDraw using a construction line:
22. Draw a horizontal line from the top midpoint of the left-hand wall
to the top midpoint of the right-hand wall.

Figure 03-18: Placing the temporary

setting-out line for the roof

To use this as a ridgeline for a 45º pitched roof, the line needs to be
moved up half of the building’s width. The math is easy, 5000÷2, but
to save having to work it out you can use AccuDraw’s calculator to
enter the distance automatically.

Right-press and pick Move. Select the line at one end.

23.
AccuDraw works exactly the same as it does in 2D, so moving
elements shouldn’t be too problematic. The only thing to remember
is the addition of a z-axis. To move elements up or down, rather
than using the Z value, type “F”. AccuDraw rotates to Front.

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 24. Move upwards and type in “5000/2”. As you type the forward
slash (/) the pop-up calculator will open. When you type 2, the result
2500 will be entered into AccuDraw:

Figure 03-19: AccuDraw’s calculator

Hit [Enter] to apply the value.

Click to accept and move the line.

Creating an ACS
To rotate AccuDraw to draw on a different plane, you can use “RA”, Rotate
ACS (Auxiliary Coordinate System). When you use RA, you will be prompted
to set the ACS origin, the direction of the X axis, and the Y axis.
25. Select the Place Block command (E 1).
AccuSnap to the top left corner of the front wall, and type “O” to
26.
set AccuDraw’s origin to this point.

Figure 03-20: Selecting the first point for the new ACS

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 27. Enter “RA” into AccuDraw to begin defining a rotated ACS.
28. Your status bar prompt will read:
Define ACS by Points > Define X axis origin
Click on the point where AccuDraw is set (the top left corner of the
front wall).
29. As you move your cursor, you will see a “temporary” or “dynamic”
AccuDraw compass set to your origin point.

Figure 03-21: The dynamics displayed as

you define the X axis

30. Click on the top right corner of the front wall to set the X axis
direction.
31. Your status bar prompt will read:
Define ACS by Points > Define Y axis
Click anywhere on the roof construction line to set the Y axis
orientation.

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 Figure 03-22: Defining the Y axis

When you click the final point, the ACS Triad (the red, green and blue
arrows) will relocate to the origin you selected for your ACS; AccuDraw will
also be rotated to match.

Figure 03-23: The ACS Triad and AccuDraw relocated

to match the new ACS

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 32. Click on the origin point to start drawing the rectangle for the front
of the roof.
33. Click the other end of the roof construction line to complete the
front of the roof.

Figure 03-24: The completed front plane of

the roof

34. You can now delete the roof construction line.

Saving an ACS
To avoid having to continually use RA to set AccuDraw (or ACS) rotations,
you can save them and call them back up when you need them. To save an
ACS using AccuDraw, you can use the “WA” shortcut for Write to ACS.
For greater control, you can also use the Auxiliary Coordinates dialog box
located in the Primary Tools toolbar.

Figure 03-25: Auxiliary Coordinates in

Primary Tools

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 35. Click on the Auxiliary Coordinates icon to open the Auxiliary
Coordinates dialog box.

Figure 03-26: The Auxiliary Coordinates dialog box

with the delivered default “BASE” ACS

36. The equivalent of RA in the Auxiliary Coordinates dialog is Define

ACS (By Points).

Figure 03-27: Define ACS (By Points)

Click on Copy ACS and name the ACS “FrontRoof”.

Figure 03-28: Saving an ACS and renaming it

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 37. Complete the back plane of the roof using Place Block. You will
note that, because the FrontRoof ACS is activated and AccuDraw
can work out orthogonal rotations, you can place the back plane
without re-orientating either AccuDraw or the ACS.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-x-M3-S-AccuDraw.dgn.

Using ACS Plane & Plane Snap

These two locks control how your snap points work in conjunction with
the ACS and are located in Drawing Settings dialog box covered in Chapter
2-The Interface, exercise 02-02.
Turning ACS Lock on turns both these locks on. Turning ACS Lock off turns
them both off.
ACS Plane lock forces any point you place to be on the current ACS plane.
ACS Plane Snap forces all snap points to be on the current ACS.
You’ll find both locks in the Status Bar > Locks area or from the Tools >
Building Designer Toolbars > Icon Locks menu.

Figure 03-29: The ACS Plans and ACS Plane Snap locks

Figure 03-30: The Icon Locks

toolbox

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 Icon Locks
When this toolbox is open it gives quick access to the following locks:
• Graphic Group Lock ON/OFF
Graphic Groups are an efficient way to manipulate multiple elements.
For example, if you have modelled a part of your design or a detail
that will be repeated a number of times you could make a Group
(Ctrl+G) or Cell of the elements to copy them. Once you have created
a Group or Cell, you no longer have the flexibility to manipulate or
modify any of the elements individually without dropping the Group
or Cell. Graphic Groups is an alternative which, when the Graphic
Group lock is ON, will allow manipulations to be made to the whole
group. When the lock is OFF manipulations can be carried out on
each individual element while still maintaining the Graphic Group.
• ACS Plane
Turning this lock on forces any point onto the active ACS.
In the image below, the ACS is set to the top of the green cuboid.
You can see the ACS Triad displayed at the front top corner. When
you click anywhere in the view, the point is forced to the ACS Plane.
You can see this clearly in View 4 on the right where, as the mouse is
moved, the line is “constrained” to the ACS Plane.

Figure 03-31: ACS Plane lock

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 • ACS Plane Snap
With ACS Plane Snap lock switched on, any snap point is also
projected onto the active ACS. This is extremely useful for tracing
over existing 3D or 2D information. No matter where the existing
information exists in 3D space, your new element will be truly
planar.

Figure 03-32: ACS Plane Snap lock

• Imply Relationship ON/OFF

Typically, two joining walls will have an “implied relationship”
between them. This means, when one wall is moved, the end of the
other wall adjusts itself to suit. Turning the Imply Relationship lock
OFF will cause the walls to remain as they were originally drawn.

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 Figure 03-33: Moving a wall with Imply Relationship on/off: The adjoining wall is adjusted
to suit if Imply Relationships is on; when the lock is off, the wall junction is “broken”

Applying Datagroup Instance Data

to MicroStation Elements
It is not necessary, nor might it be practical, to model everything completely
within AECOsim Building Designer. It is more than likely that most projects
will contain additional information imported from other formats or drawn in
MicroStation.
When you need to apply Building Data to 2D or 3D geometry use the
Building Designer > Data > Apply Instance Data Task (shortcut Q 2).

Figure 03-34: The Apply Instance Data tool

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 Although this tool will not change your elements to be parametric in any
way, it will add non-graphical data, allowing you to report and schedule these
elements as if they were intelligent BIM objects. For scheduling of DataGroup
items, please see Chapter 17: Scheduling.
The tool settings allow you to select the Catalog Type and the specific
Catalog Item for which you want to add the properties.

Figure 03-35: The Add Instance Data tool settings

Use Model Properties adds the Catalog Item data to the active Model
rather than a specific element. This allows you, for example, to create non-
parametric Cells which have metadata attached to them when they are
placed.
Use Fence adds the selected Catalog Item data to all elements within a Fence.
The properties will be displayed and can be modified or added to in the
DataGroup Instance Data dialog before being applied to the element.

Figure 03-36: Setting the DataGroup Instance Data

before adding it to an element

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 Exercise 03-02

Adding DataGroup Data to a 2D element

1. Open the 2D scheme file, PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-
P-S-260_Structure.dgn. Apply the Saved View “Ex03-02” to View 1.
2. From the Building Designer > Data Task pick Add Instance Data.
In the Tool Settings window, set:
Catalog Type to Columns: Steel
Catalog Item to S-G2623-ColumnsSteel.

Figure 03-37: Setting the Catalog Type and Item in the

Add Instance Data Tool Settings

Leave Use Model Properties unticked.

In the DataGroup Instance Data dialog, set the following properties:
Section Name to “203x203x86UC”
Structural Finish to “Galvanized”
ID | Type ID to “C03”

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 3. Click on the Column to add the Instance Data.

Figure 03-38: Select the column cell

Once Instance Data has been added to an element, it will not be possible to
add it again. If you hover over the same column cell again, a “no entry” icon
will be displayed on your cursor. It is possible to edit the data or add more by
selecting the element, right-pressing and picking Modify Selected Component.

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 Figure 03-39: Edit the DataGroup data using
the right-press menu

Editing structural data is covered in Chapter 06: Structural Frames.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\PM-00-P-S-260_Structure.dgn.

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 Apply Part
If you are working with elements imported into, or created in,
MicroStation, they will not resymbolise in a Dynamic View or Drawing
Extraction because they have no Part assigned. To have MicroStation
elements appear differently in Cut or Forward views, use the Apply Part tool
from the Building Designer > Change Attributes Task (shortcut 5 9).

Figure 03-40: The Apply Part Tool

The Tool Settings allow you to define the Family and Part to apply, and
whether you change the symbology of the element as you do so.

Figure 03-41: The Apply Part Tool Settings

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 If Use Active Family and Part is ticked the Family and Part sections in the
dialog box are automatically filled in from the settings in the Building
Primary toolbar.
You can check the Part settings you are intending to use by clicking on the
Open Dataset Explorer to the selected part button.

Figure 03-42: The Open Dataset Explorer to

the selected part button

Refer to Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup Content for details on creating

Parts and their settings.
MicroStation elements will not be affected by the optional tick boxes, as
they do not know what their height or width relate to, but to avoid changing
geometry accidentally you would tick only Apply Part’s Default Symbology
and Apply Part’s Default Level. Unticking everything will apply the Part
information but leave the element exactly as it was drawn.

Exercise 03-03

Applying a Part to a MicroStation element

1. Open PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-M3-S-ApplyPart.dgn.
View 1 shows an isometric view of a main external wall and two
returns flanking an entranceway.
View 4 shows a resymbolised Clip Volume of the walls. The main
wall is shown as required, but the right-hand return is displaying
exactly as they were drawn. This is because it has no Part applied.
2. From the Building Designer > Change Attributes Task, choose Apply
Part (5 9).
Make sure Use Active Family and Part is unticked.
Set Family to “S-G2”, Complete Elements and Part to “S-G2511-
WallsExternalBrick”.

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 Tick Apply Part’s Default Symbology.
Tick Apply Part’s Default Level.
Leave all the other options unticked.
Click on the right-hand return wall in either view. The wall in
View 4 will display unified with the main wall; it will increase in
weight and will be hatched.

Figure 03-43: The right return wall after having a

Part applied

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-M3-S-ApplyPart.dgn.

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 Chapter 4

Floor Manager

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Davies_ch04_ptg01_071-092.indd 72 03/26/15 10:31 AM
 AECOsim Building Designer’s Floor Manager is used to configure floor
planes for the building(s) in your project. If required, sub-planes of a floor can
also be defined to represent structural floor levels, finished floor levels and
suspended ceiling levels that are related to the main floor plane. This allows
a single floor to be edited and all its sub-planes to update automatically.

Configuring Floors
Open the file PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\dgnlib\BB_
FloorMaster.dgnlib.
The Floor planes are configured using the Floor Manager, which is accessed
from the Building Designer > Floor Manager menu.

Figure 04-01: The Building Designer menu

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 Straight out of the box, the Floor Manager dialog box will show a Site and a
building: Building01.

Figure 04-02: The Floor Manager dialog box

The Floor Manager dialog box maintains the floors you create in the BB_
FloorMaster DGN library file (the file you currently have open). While most
modifications in the Floor Manager dialog can be made without opening
this file, certain actions (repositioning the building, for example) require it to
be opened. Therefore when setting up a new building, you should open the
Floor Manager library file.

Administration tip
Each project is different and will need to point to a different BB_FloorMaster.dgnlib file. You can do this by
setting the following configuration variable.

BB_FLOORMASTER_DGN = $(PROJ_DATASET)dgnlib/BB_FloorMaster.dgnlib

PROJ_DATASET is the variable AECOsim Building Designer uses to point to the project resource files.

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 Adding a building
To add a building to the site, you need to have Site selected and use the
Create New Building button.

Figure 04-03: The Create New Building button

With the project, the site or a building selected, the properties of that element
can be entered. This can be used to populate information on titleblocks or
exported as meta-data about the project. See Chapter 22: Exporting Data.

Figure 04-04: The New Building properties

When you have made any changes to the building properties, you will have
the option to Save Edits before they will be applied.
It is important to know that if any of the Drawing Extraction Manager
(DEM) settings are defined, the DEM templates must exist in the BB_
FloorMaster.dgnlib file. Refer to Chapter 18: Drawing Extraction Manager
for details on DEM.

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 Floors
Floors can be created for each building. To create a floor, select the building
and click the Create New Floor button. You must select the building to be
able to add additional floors. If a floor is selected, the Create New Floor
button will be greyed out.

Figure 04-05: The Create New Floor button

A floor will be added to the selected building. The values for Name, Relative
Elev, Elevation and Rotation can be amended as required.
Name The name of the floor. This name appears when creating
plan cuts through the building geometry. It is advisable to
name these as you would like to name the plan drawings.
Relative Elev This is the height of the floor above the site’s ground level.
Elevation This is the height of the floor from the datum point (usually
height above sea level).
Rotation The rotation of the site.
At the bottom of the Floor Manager the option for Single or All Above can
be ticked, so if the elevation value is changed, it adjusts just a single floor or
all the floors above the one you are editing.
The next icon, Create New Floor Reference Plane, is used to create sub-
planes, or “Reference planes”. Reference planes can be used to identify
Structural Slab Levels, Foundation Levels, Mezzanine Levels and other
reference planes which are related to a floor. For example, a Foundation
Level (FN) might be 300mm below the Structural Slab Level (SSL) but would
not need to be a unique floor.
To create a reference plane, you must have the floor you wish to add a
reference plane to selected, then click the Create New Floor Reference Plane
button. If a main floor is not selected, the Create New Floor Reference Plane
button will be greyed out.

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 Figure 04-06: The Create New Floor Reference Plane button

The Relative Elev for a Reference plane is the elevation relative to its main
floor, not to the site.
Once a floor has been created, the fourth button, Create Typical Floors,
can be used. This will become active when a Building is selected. This tool
can be used to create, and group together, multiple floors that use the same
properties as an existing floor.

Figure 04-07: The Create Typical Floors button

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 Figure 04-08: The Create Typical Floor Group dialog box

Typical Floor Group Name This is the name of the Typical Floor Group
and will be displayed in the Floor Manager
with all floors created as a sub-set of the name.
Base Elevation The height of the first created floor.
Number of Floors The number of floors to create.
Typical Floor Height The floor to floor height.
Beginning Floor Name Each floor will be created with this value
prefixed to the name.
Beginning Floor Number This is the numerical value of the first created
floor.
Based on Floor The floor which the typical floors are based
on including the floor’s information and
associated reference planes.

Figure 04-09: A Typical Floor Group

The location of a Building can be moved using the Floor Manager > Relocate
Building tool. While this step won’t affect the use of Floor planes
when modelling, it can be useful to have the approximate location and

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 heights of multiple buildings shown in context. You could even reference
the BB_FloorMaster.dgnlib into a model to aid in understanding floor heights
of a building.
The BB_FloorMaster.dgnlib needs to be opened to relocate a Building.

Figure 04-10: The Relocate Building button

The Relocate Building tool works in the same way as the Move tool. Click
the Relocate Building button, select a point to move from, then select a point
to move to.
The Floor Manager is a tool that generates ACSs. When the Floor plane is
changed using the Floor Selector, a new ACS is applied at the relevant height
and orientation. The centre point of the Floor defines the origin of the ACS
that is created.
The final button in the Floor Manager dialog is the Match button. This sets
the symbology of a new floor, or reference plane, to use the active symbology
(level, colour, linestyle and weight). You cannot use this tool to change the
symbology of a Floor already created.

Exercise 04-01

Create Building
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\dgnlib\BB_
FloorMaster.dgnlib. From the Building Designer drop down menu,
click Floor Manager.
2. Select the default building “Building01”.
3. Click the Delete Floors, Typical Floor, And Reference Planes button.

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 4. In the Floor Manager dialog box, select Site and click the Create
New Building button.
Enter the name “JOG” for the building name.
Complete the Properties of the Building by entering the following
Values.
Address 1 = “Priory Road”
City = “Hungerford”
State = “Berkshire”
Country = “United Kingdom”

Figure 04-11: The JOG building properties

Click on Save Edits to apply the values to the Building.

Exercise 04-02

Create project floors

The John O’Gaunt building has 3 floors. Floors 00 and 01 have additional
Finished Floor levels (FFL) Suspended Ceiling levels (SCL), Foundation
Levels (FN) and Pile Levels (PL).
1. If you create new floors now, they will be created on a level called
A-FLOR.
Change the file’s active symbology to level “S-G22-M-Floors”, the
colour to “2” and the style to “0”. Highlight the JOG building and
click the Match tool.
Now when new floors are created, they will use the active level and
symbology.

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 2. In the Floor Manager dialog box, click the Create New Floor button
to create the Ground Floor.
Edit the Name of the Floor to be “00”.
Change the Elevation of the floor to “129570”. This floor will be
used to represent the Ground Floor’s Structural Slab Level (SSL).

Figure 04-12: The elevation of Floor 00 being amended

3. Make sure the JOG building is highlighted. Create the First Floor by
clicking the Create New Floor button.
Name the Floor “01”.
Change the Relative Elev to “3675”. This will set the Elevation to
be 3675 above Floor 00. This will represent the First Floor’s SSL.
The Elevation should read 133245.00.
4. Again, highlight the JOG building. Create the Second Floor by
clicking the Create New Floor button.
Name the Floor “02”.
Change the Relative Elev to “7250”. The Second Floor SSL represented
by this Floor plane should be at an Elevation of 136820.00.
It will be necessary to adjust floor heights as your project develops.
If you edit a floor it is important to be aware that a choice needs to
be made whether you edit just the one floor, or change the elevation
of all the other floors above. In this exercise, the incorrect Relative
Elevation was entered for Floor 01.
5. Click in the Floor 01 Relative Elev field. Before editing the value,
make sure that Adjust Elevation Options at the bottom of the Floor
Manager dialog box is set to “Single”.

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 Figure 04-13: Editing only a Single floor

Enter the correct Relative Elev of “3575”. Check that your Elevation
value is now 133145.00.
6. Change the file’s active symbology to level “S-G22-M-Floors”, the
colour to “13” and the style to “2”. Highlight the JOG building and
click the Match button.
This floor and any further new floors will now appear in the new
symbology. You cannot change the symbology of a floor level
already created.
7. From the Floor Manager select Floor 00 and click the Create New
Floor Reference Plane button.
Name the Reference plane “00-FFL”.
Change the Relative Elev to “50”. This will represent the Finished
Floor Level, 50mm above the Structural Slab Level represented by
Floor 00. Check that your Elevation value is now 129620.00.
8. From the Floor Manager select Floor 00 and click the Create New
Floor Reference Plane button.
Name the Reference plane “00-SCL”.
Change the Relative Elev to “3000”. 00-SCL is the Ground Floor’s
Suspended Ceiling Level, 3000mm above the SSL. Check that your
Elevation value is now 132570.00.

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 9. From the Floor Manager select Floor 00 and click the Create New
Floor Reference Plane button.
Name the Reference plane “FN”.
Change the Relative Elevation to “-250”. FN is the Foundation
Level. Check that your Elevation value is now 129320.00.
10. From the Floor Manager select Floor 00 and click the Create New
Floor Reference Plane button.
Name the Reference plane “PL”.
Change the Relative Elevation to “-750”. PL is the Pile Level. Check
that your Elevation value is now 128820.00.
11. From the Floor Manager select Floor 01 and click the Create New
Floor Reference Plane button.
Name the Reference plane “01-FFL”.
Change the Relative Elev to “50” to define the First Floor FFL as
50mm above the First Floor SSL. Check that your Elevation value is
now 133195.00.
12. From the Floor Manager select Floor 01 and click the Create New
Floor Reference Plane button.
Name the Reference plane “01-SCL”, the First Floor Suspended
Ceiling Level.
Change the Relative Elev to “3000”. Check that your Elevation
value is now 136145.00.
In the file you will now see all the floors – the green floors 00, 01
and 02 and the purple FN, PL, FFL and SCL reference planes.

Figure 04-14: The completed Floors and Reference Planes

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 Figure 04-15: The green Floors and purple Reference Planes

Exercise 04-03

Rotate project floors

1. The angle of the project grid from the X axis is 40.47º. In Floor
Manager enter this value into each of the Floor and Reference Planes’
Rotation fields. (You do not need to enter the degree symbol.)

Figure 04-16: The Floor Manager dialog box showing the Rotation values

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 2. Click Exit on the Floor Manager dialog box.
Although a Rotation value has been entered for each of the floors, the
appearance of the floors on screen will remain un-rotated. The ACSs that are
created in the next exercise will be rotated correctly.

Exercise 04-04

Relocating project floors

To define the origin of the ACSs created by Floor Manager, the Building
needs to be located accurately. The centre point of the Floors will form the
origin of the ACSs.
1. Continuing in BB_FloorMaster.dgnlib, attach the reference
ProjectModelling\DesignModels\Ref\AR-XX-XX-PL-260_
Structural-Grid.dgn.
Enter a Logical Name of “Grid”.
Use an Orientation of “Coincident”.
2. To align the ACSs correctly with the grid that will be created in
Chapter 05: Setting Up The Environment you will need to reset the
Global Origin of BB_FloorMaster.dgnlib to a consistent point.
Key in “GO=” (or “active origin”).
In your Tool Settings window, make sure Mode is set to Monument
Point.
Enter the Northings and Eastings of your setting out point as shown
in Figure 05-06:

Figure 04-17: The Northings and Eastings for the project

3. Your status bar prompt will now read:

Global Origin > Identify the monument at
433905000.0,167330000.0,0.0 in the design.
This is asking you to pick a point to assign this coordinate value to.
4. Snap onto the intersection of the architect’s grids A and 5.

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 Figure 04-18: The intersection of grid A and 5

5. Click to accept.
The coordinate system will be repositioned to suit this setting out
point.
To confirm that this has worked, check the coordinate point at the
intersection of grids G and 0. This should read:
433932973.1,167373800.8,0.0
Save settings. You must always do this to make the changes to the
6.
Global Origin permanent.
By default, a reference is attached at a z-depth of 0.0. Even though
there is a Floor plane set up for the Ground Floor Structural Slab
Level (at 129570.0), it will be easier to model if the references are at
the same height.
7. Open the References dialog and select the reference.
In the Offset Z field, type in “129570” and press [Enter].
8. In the Floor Manager, select the JOG building and click the Relocate
Building tool.
While viewing the floors in a Top view, use the Center Snap and
select one of the Building’s floors as the point to move from. It does
not matter which shape you select.
9. Using the Intersect Snap, click on the intersection of grid lines A and
5 as the point to relocate the Building to.

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 Figure 04-19: Relocating project floors over
the building grid – the centre of the Floors
is the origin of the ACS

When a floor is selected, the Approx. Length and Approx. Width values
can be edited in the Floor properties. This can serve as a rough guide if you
reference the Floors into a file for the size of the building but as the Floors
can’t be rotated, the process would serve little purpose for the JOG building.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\BB_FloorMaster.04.dgnlib.

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 Using Floors
Once the Floor Manager is set up with the relevant project floors and
reference planes, each time a file is created, the Floor Selector can be used to
set the correct depth to work at. This will create an ACS at the elevation and
rotation defined in Floor Manager.
Open the file PracticalModelling\_Resources\Dataset\Seed\DesignSeed_
Structural.dgn.
The Floor planes are set using the Floor Selector which is accessed from the
Building Designer > Floor Selector menu.

Figure 04-20: The Floor Selector tool on

the Building Designer menu

The Set Active Floor drop-down can be used to set the required Floor.

Figure 04-21: The Floor Selector Set Active

Floor menu

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 The central Floor Selector button opens the Floor Selector dialog box. On
the Floor Selector tool box, where different buildings are configured in the
Floor Manager, different buildings can be set active by selecting the floor and
clicking the Set Active button.

Figure 04-22: The Floor Selector dialog box

The ACS Rotation can be overridden using the Floor Selector > Set ACS
Rotation field. This avoids having to create multiple floors at different
orientations.

Figure 04-23: The Floor Selector’s Set ACS

Rotation feature

The ACS rotation in the active view will be updated to match.

Rotations that have been entered previously can be re-selected from the
dropdown list next to the Floor (ACS) Rotation value.
The final tool in Floor Selector rotates the view to match the currently set
Floor (ACS) Rotation value.

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 Figure 04-24: The Set ACS Rotation drop
down list

Click the Align View with ACS button then select the view you wish to rotate.

Figure 04-25: The view rotated to match the ACS

NOTE: You could use the AccuDraw command RV (Rotate View) to

achieve the same result.
Finally, the Floor Selector has a DEM option. Ticking these boxes creates a
Drawing Extraction Manager definition and Dynamic View in the active file.
(Refer to Chapter 18: Drawing Extraction Manager for full details on DEM
and using this option).

Figure 04-26: The DEM column

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 Exercise 04-05

Selecting the building

1. Create a new 3D file.
2. To set the Building and associated floors, click on the Floor
Selector’s Floor Selector button.

Figure 04-27: The Floor Selector’s Floor

Selector button

In the Floor Selector dialog box, highlight the required Building in

the left-hand pane and click the Set Active button.

Figure 04-28: The Floor Selector dialog box

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 Close the dialog box by clicking the Close button.
3. Once the correct building has been selected, the required floor can
be selected using the Set Active Floor dropdown list.
Double-click Floor “01”.

Figure 04-29: Setting the Active Floor

The Set Active Floor dropdown will show the active Floor plane. If
you have the Drawing Scale tool open as well (refer to Chapter 02:
The Interface) this will now show “01” as the active ACS and the
ACS Lock will be turned on.

Figure 04-30: The Drawing Scale toolbar

showing the Active ACS and ACS lock, on

The ACS will be applied to the currently active view.

Warning!
When a Floor plane is selected, an ACS is created. If Save settings is applied to that drawing, the current
settings for that floor are also saved.
If the Floor is adjusted in the Floor Manager it won’t update automatically in the design file. To get the
correct settings, the floor must be re-selected from the Floor Selector.

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 Chapter 5

Setting Up the
Environment

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Davies_ch05_ptg01_093-112.indd 94 03/26/15 10:04 AM
 When starting any project, BIM-, 3D- or 2D-based, it is critical that the
information falls within a certain area of the DGN file. The “Solids Working
Area” (SWA) is approximately 4.29km around 0,0 for the seed file settings in
the ProjectModelling project.

Figure 05-01: The Solids Working Area relative

to the centre of the design file

This may not seem like a problem, but if the project is drawn to Real World
Coordinates, it will, more than likely, fall outside of the SWA. Elements
drawn outside of the SWA can be inaccurate. That inaccuracy may be small,
but it can lead on to other problems; for example, Drawing Extractions and
Dynamic Views may not generate correctly.

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 Setting the Coordinate System
So that you have accurate elements and your information is set out
coincidentally, it is important to define the coordinate system in your project
seed files. This ensures that all files created for the project will be spatially
coordinated. Spatial coordination is one of the fundamental aspects of BIM
geometry.
Open PracticalModelling\_Resources\Dataset\seed\DesignSeed_Structural.dgn.
Attach the reference ProjectModelling\DesignModels\Ref\AR-XX-XX-
PL-260_Structural-Grid.dgn. This file contains the architect’s competition-
stage grid. It is in the correct spatial location but does not use the correct
Northings and Eastings.
Use the Attachment Settings shown in Figure 05-02.

Figure 05-02: Reference Attachment Settings for

AR-XX-XX-PL-260_Structural_Grid.dgn

To assign the correct coordinates to the project, it is necessary to reset the

Global Origin of the seed file.

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 Administration Warnings!
• Never attempt to reposition the Global Origin on a project unless you are 100% sure what you are doing.
If you are not sure, always seek expert advice.

• Never reposition the Global Origin without first discussing and testing the implications with the rest of
your team and anyone who you wish to exchange CAD files with.

• Always Save Settings after relocating the Global Origin.

• If you agree to reposition the Global Origin, do this in ALL existing project files and the project seed files,
if your project has them. Mixing Global Origins can cause reference attachment problems, errors when
converting to DWG and site co-ordination issues.

Before beginning it is important to check that the architectural grid falls

within the Solids Working Area. This can be done quickly and easily using
the MDL application “SWA” provided with the PracticalModelling project.

Exercise 05-01
1. Key in “mdl load swa”.
2. The message center will read:
SWA loaded
3. Fit View 1.
You should see the extents of the Solids Working Area shown as
a cube. The architect’s grid will fit within it, meaning you will be
accurate when working to this location.

Administration Tip
The search path for MDL applications is controlled in the PracticalModelling.pcf using:

MS_MDLAPPS > $(PROJ_DATASET)mdlapps/

This adds any .mdl files found in the project _Resources\dataset\mdlapps\ folder into the search path so
they can be loaded automatically using the “mdl load” keyin.

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 Figure 05-03: The extents of the Solids
Working Area, with the architect’s grid
shown within

4. Key in “mdl unload swa”.

The Solids Working Area cube will disappear.
5. Fit View 1.
The Global Origin is exactly in the centre of the Solids Working Area. By
default this is labelled 0,0. All you are effectively doing is changing the label
(the Northings and Eastings, or X and Y coordinates) of that point.

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 Exercise 05-02
1. Key in “GO=” (or “active origin”).
To enter a key-in, move your cursor over a blank area of the view
and hit [Enter]. The Key-in window will pop-up on the end of your
cursor.
If you would rather have the Key-in window available as a tool,
right-click on the Primary Toolbar and tick “Key-in”.

Figure 05-04: The right-click menu on the Primary Toolbar

Figure 05-05: The Key-in tool shown on the Primary Toolbar

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 2. In your Tool Settings window, make sure Mode is set to Monument
Point.
Enter the Northings and Eastings of your setting out point as shown
in Figure 05-06:

Figure 05-06: The Northings and Eastings for the project

3. Your status bar prompt will now read:

Global Origin > Identify the monument at
433905000.0,167330000.0,0.0 in the design.
This is asking you to pick a point to assign this coordinate value to.
4. Snap onto the intersection of the architect’s grids A and 5.

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 Figure 05-07: The intersection of grid A and 5

5. Click to accept.
The coordinate system will be repositioned to suit this setting out
point.
To confirm that this has worked, check the coordinate point at the
intersection of grids G and 0. This should read:
433932973.1,167373800.8,0.0
Save settings. You must always do this to make the changes to the
6.
Global Origin permanent.

Administration Tip
When using Global Origins in this way, you should consider attaching references using “Coincident –
World” method to align the global origins. This can be set up to always attach references Coincident World
by default using the configuration variable:
MS_REF_DEFAULTSETTINGS > attachMethod=world

Use > in case you have other values for MS_REF_DEFAULTSETTINGS defined elsewhere.

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 Create a Project ACS
Because this building is rotated to match the real world, the next thing to do is
create an ACS for the project. This will allow you to rotate the views to suit the
project and work orthogonally. It will also allow you to change the coordinate
readout based on a local, site coordinate system should you need to.

Exercise 05-03
1. Open PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\seed\DesignSeed_
Structural.dgn if you do not already have it open.
2. Before you begin, set Annotation Scale to “1:100”.
3. In the Primary Tools > Auxiliary Coordinate dialog, click on Define
ACS (By Points).

Figure 05-08: Define ACS (By Points)

4. You will see a temporary ACS icon appear at your cursor. To define
the ACS you specify three points:
1. The origin
Snap to the intersection of grids A and 5.

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 Figure 05-09: Enter first point @X axis origin

2. The direction of the X axis

Snap to the end of grid 5.

Figure 05-10: Enter second point on X axis

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 3. The direction of the Y axis
Snap to the intersection of grids A and 0.

Figure 05-11: Enter point to define Y axis

4. An “Unnamed” ACS will be created. To save it permanently click

on “Create a new ACS”, which creates a permanent ACS in the
file using the active settings – in this case your “Unnamed” ACS
you have just defined.

Figure 05-12: Create a new ACS

Give the ACS the name “PM-origin”.

So that any new file is created automatically uses this project
ACS, you need to turn on the ACS Lock and set the “PM-origin”
to be active.

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 5. If you do not already have the “Drawing Scale” toolbox open,
go to the Settings > Drawing Scale menu to open it. You will use
this tool constantly throughout the exercises in this book, so it is
a good idea to dock it somewhere.
Turn on “Lock Auxiliary Coordinate System” and select “PM-
origin” from the list.

Figure 05-13: Setting the “PM-origin” ACS to be active

6. Detach the “archgrid” reference, AR-XX-XX-PL-260_

Structural_grid.dgn.
Save Settings.
7.

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 Creating the Grid
Coordinates alone do not guarantee everyone on your project will draw
exactly coincidentally. To do this it is best to create a project grid – which
will be needed anyway for setting out – before commencing any modelling.

Exercise 05-04
1. Create a new file in PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ called PM-x-P-
S-Grid.dgn. Use the seed file you have just edited, PracticalModelling\_
Resources\dataset\seed\DesignSeed_Structural.dgn.
2. Set the Annotation Scale to “1:100”.
3. From the Building Designer Task, start the Structural Design >
Column Grids tool.

Figure 05-14: The Column Grids tool

NOTE: It is not always as quick to use this tool as it is to place

a grid manually, especially with complex building
arrangements, but the benefits include integration with
Floor Manager and Dynamic Views to provide a grid
management system that can vary at each floor and will
automatically generate in section and elevation views.

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 The Column Grids tool can be used to create vertical and horizontal,
radial and circular grid lines. The principle is that you create a
“system” or “systems” that combine to produce the complete
building grid. The tool works in conjunction with the Drawing
Settings (more on this in Chapter 21: Structural Drawing Center) to
define spacings (Distances) between the X Grids (vertical gridlines)
and the Y Grids (horizontal gridlines) and set the symbology of the
gridlines and grid labels. Once defined a grid is placed for each floor
in a separate model which can be referenced, at the correct z-depth,
into your Design Models.

4. Click on Settings to open the Drawing Settings dialog. These settings

are covered fully in Chapter 21: Structural Drawing Center.
Change the Plotted Offset values to “25.0” for Plan and Elevation.

Figure 05-15: The Grid Lines settings for

Plotted Offset in the Drawing Settings
dialog box

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 Any new grids added to your Grid System will use these offsets.
It will not change any gridlines already included in your system.
Therefore, unless you require bubble offsets to be different lengths
on different gridlines, always check and set these values before
creating a system.
Close the Drawing Settings dialog box.
5. Back in the Grid System dialog, create a new Orthogonal Grid by
selecting Add > Orthogonal.

Figure 05-16: The Grid System Settings

dialog showing Add > Orthogonal

A new grid system named “OrthogonalGrid” will be created with

default settings and grids.
Click in the Grid System Settings > Name box and edit the name to
be “PM-x-P-S-Grid”.

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 6. It is possible to create the grids then move and rotate them into
location. However, as the setting out is known, this can be entered
prior to placement.

NOTE: The Column Grids tool does not support shifted Global
Origins. In order to align the grids in the correct spatial
location you need to use the actual offset from the
centre of the design plane, not the correct Northings and
Eastings. This may limit your ability to use this tool in
production.

Enter the following values to create the new grid in the correct
location:
X Offset = “333443.21”
Y Offset = “200323.33”
Rotation = “40.47”

Figure 05-17: The Grid System Settings

The Start Floor and End Floor can be used to apply multiple Grid
Systems to different floors should this be needed. As this Grid
System will apply to all floors, enter 01 in Start Floor and 02 in End
Floor. You may need to click these dropdowns twice to be able to
pick the floors.

7. In the Grid Line Settings area, click Add so there are 15 X Grids
(A – O).
Switch to the Y Grids tab and click Add to make 8 grids (1 – 8).

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 8. Edit the Grid Line Settings to the following Distance values:
X Grids: Y Grids:

A = “0” 1 = “0”
B = “3940” 2 = “1010”
C = “3909” 3 = “1015”
D = “3132” 4 = “1413”
E = “3132” 5 = “3550”
F = “5646” 6 = “2200”
G = “1531” 7 = “4963”
H = “5128” 8 = “1012”
I = “1596”
J = “5519”
K = “3049”
L = “4364”
M = “1753”
N = “2597”
O = “4414”

NOTE: You do not need to click on each line to enter the

Distance value. Simply type the number and hit [Enter].

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 Figure 05-18: Settings for the Column Grids

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 9. Click Create/Update Grid Models.
Individual Models containing the Grid System will be created for
each Floor and Reference Plane.
Save settings.
10.
To ensure that everyone draws in the correct location, over the top
of the project grid, you should attach the relevant Model from PM-
x-P-S-Grid.dgn as a reference when modelling.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-x-P-S-Grid.05.dgn.

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 Chapter 6

Structural Frames

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Davies_ch06_ptg01_113-140.indd 114 03/26/15 10:06 AM
 The Structural Design Task provides tools for placing steel columns and
beams, concrete members and trusses. There is also the ability to place tapered
members, bracing and timber members, as well as modification tools for
coping steel beams, modifying structural attributes and placing custom content.

Figure 06-01: The Structural Design Task

The exercises in this chapter will use an approach of modelling the beams below
a slab and the vertical structural above in a single file. That is, all the structure
related to a specific floor, not the structure that sits between two floors.

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 Placing Structural Members
The tools settings for most of the structural members are identical. Or rather,
they follow identical principles. The default settings may change depending
on which tool you pick and which Catalog Instance you select.

Figure 06-02: The Place Concrete Beam

tool settings, showing the common interface
for placing most structural members

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 The top section is the Catalog Selection where you can select, create or edit
Catalog Items. Creating new Catalog Items from this part of the interface is
covered in Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup Content.
The Preview shows a view of the element you are about to place. You will
notice a red line that represents the placement point you have set. If you do
not wish to see a preview, untick the Preview tickbox.
The Standard Section is where you pick the structural section size.

Figure 06-03: The selection of sections

The down-arrow opens the list of most recently used sections. Unless
you have used these tools before, the list will only contain a default. The
magnifying glass can be used to change the sections file or shape type.
There are many sections files supplied with AECOsim Building Designer,
found in the Dataset’s Data folder. This allows you to use different standards
from around the world as needed. For example, the UK standard sizes are
included in UK.xml; the Danish steel sizes in Dansk Staal.xml; the American
Institute of Steel Construction standard sizes in USAISC21.xml. Each
sections file then contains definitions for the various shapes of structural
member, including I-beams (UBs), channels (PFCs), rectangular shapes,
circular shapes, asymmetric beams, etc. You can have as many sections files
loaded as you want, although you can only place one section from one file at
any one time. You should also be aware that there is no control over which
shape you select for each tool. For example, you could quite happily place an
I-beam (UB) as a concrete column or a solid rectangular steel beam.
Creating additional structural sections is explained in Chapter 12: Custom
Section Sizes.
Section Orientation and Placement Options set how you will place the member.

Figure 06-04: Structural member orientation and

placement options

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 Placement point allows you to select one of 9 “origin” points.
Mirror will mirror the section, meaning that you don’t have to have multiple
section definitions. You can have a single definition and use the mirror and/or
rotation settings to place it in different orientations.
Local offsets reposition the section you are about to place the specified
distances away from the Placement point you have chosen. It does not move
the Placement point. For example, entering Local offsets of 150, -150 will
move the beam shown in Figure 06-05 150mm to the right of the central
placement point (the positive X-direction) and 150mm down (the negative
Y-direction). The preview will update to suit.

Figure 06-05: Adjusting the Local offsets

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 Rotation angle is self-explanatory, except to note that the rotation is always
based on the original DGN file coordinate system and not any active ACS
you may have selected. For example, in Figure 06-06 the view has been set
up to Top rotation using the project’s 01 Floor plane. AccuDraw is rotated
relative to the active ACS, but the column is still rotated to “true North”, the
original DGN file’s Y axis.

Figure 06-06: The relationship of Rotation

angle to the file’s coordinate system

The next option, Interactive, can help you to overcome this. Ticking it allows
you to place a column, and then rotate it manually.
The final settings relate to the trimming of members when they join with
another. This will either be termed “Automatic End Trim” for concrete or
“Automatic Coping” for steel. Automatic Coping can slow your file down,
so in most circumstances we would suggest you leave these options unticked
and only add trimming in when it is needed, i.e. when a connection shows up
incorrectly on a drawing/detail.

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 Exercise 06-01

Placing columns
1. Open the file in PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ called PM-x-P-S-
Grid.dgn.
2. Go to the Building Designer > Floor Manager menu to start Floor
Manager.
If you use the existing Floor plane, by setting Floor Selector to “01”,
the column will be placed from the top of the structural slab, the
SSL, which isn’t quite correct. The columns should start at the top of
steel level below the slab. To make sure this level is correct create a
new Floor Reference Plane.
Go to the Building Designer > Floor Manager menu to start Floor
Manager.
Open the JOG building and highlight floor 01. Click on Create New
Floor Reference Plane.

Figure 06-07: Create New Floor Reference Plane

Enter a Relative elevation of “-150.0”.

Edit the name to be “01-TOS”.
Make sure the Elevation is correct (132995.0).

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 Click Exit.
3. Click the Column Grid tool to open the Grid Systems dialog box.

Figure 06-08: The Column Grid tool

Figure 06-09: The Grid Systems dialog

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 Select Create\Update Grid Models.
The Drawing Centre dialog box opens with the new 01-TOS
grid added.

Figure 06-10: The New Column Grid tool

4. Open the file in PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ called PM-01-

M3-S-Framing.dgn.
In Floor Selector, pick the 01-TOS floor plane.
5. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, pick the Place
Steel Column – Primary tool.

Figure 06-11: The Place Steel Column –

Primary tool

Change the Catalog Instance to be S-G2623-ColumnsSteel.

In the Place Steel Columns – Primary Tool Settings, click on Select
Section.

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 Figure 06-12: Select section

The Structural Sections dialog opens.

First of all, you will need to make sure you have the correct sections
file loaded. You load these from the File > Open menu.
The Sections File Manager, an old MicroStation-style dialog,
controls which sections files are loaded. You should see that there
are already two files listed in the Section Files: area at the bottom of
the dialog: projectshapes.xml and uk.xml.
Alternative sections files are stored in the Workspace\
BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\data folder.
Click Cancel to return to the Structural Sections dialog.
Set Code to “uk”.
Set Type to “I Shapes”.
From the list of available sections, select UC203x203x86 and click
OK. The column will load and will be shown in the Preview of the
Place Steel Columns – Primary Tool Settings.
In Section Orientation, make sure Placement point is set to Center,
center and that Interactive is ticked.
In Placement Options set Place by to Length at end 1 and enter a
length of “3525”.
Check that Automatic Coping is unticked.
6. Window in on the intersection of grid I and 7.
Place the column at this point.
The Interactive option now expects you to define the rotation of the
column, so click on the intersection of grid I and 8, or somewhere
along gridline I.

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 Figure 06-13: Orientating the steel column to the grid

NOTE: Once the first interactive column is placed, you should

find that the Section Orientation > Rotation angle is
set to 130.47º saving you the hassle of placing future
columns interactively.
7. Place another column at grid J7. Continue placing at grids around
the exterior of the building at K7, K8, L8, N8 and O8 and at grids
O1, N1, M4, L1, K1, K3 and K4.
8. In the Place Steel Columns > Section Orientation settings, tick
Interactive and place a column at gridline O6. Rotate the column by
picking a point on gridline 6.
Continue placing columns at the new rotation angle of -139.53° at
grids O5 and O4 and O3.
9. Change the column size to UC203x203x52 keeping the Section
Orientation as it is and leaving Interactive off. Place the internal
columns at grids K5, K6.

Figure 06-14: The first floor columns

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 Exercise 06-02

Placing column using local offsets

Using Local Offsets means the column can be placed at a distance from the
placement point.
1. Continue in file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
Framing.dgn.
In Floor Selector, pick the 01-TOS floor plane.
Zoom in to the area between grid intersections O5-O7.
2. Change the column size to UC203x203x86. Set the Placement point
to be Center, center. Set the rotation angle to be -139.53. Set the
Local offsets to be 1250, 0. Set the Height to be 3525.0.

Figure 06-15: Placing the column using

Local offsets

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 Place the column at the intersection of grid O7.

Figure 06-16: The column placed with Local offsets

from grid O7 placement point

NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-Framing.dgn.

Exercise 06-03

Placing beams
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
FramingBeams.dgn.
In Floor Selector, pick the 01-TOS floor plane.
It will help to have the structure from the ground floor below. Turn
on the “00-Frame” reference, PracticalModelling\DesignModels\
PM-00-M3-S-Framing.dgn.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Modeling Task, pick Place
Steel Beam – Primary.
The Catalog Instance should be set to S-G2613-BeamsSteel.

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 Figure 06-17: The Place Steel Beam – Primary tool

It is not always necessary to browse for the section. If you know the
size, you can type in directly into the Standard Section > Name field.
In this example, type in “UB305X165X54”.

NOTE: You do not need to be case-sensitive when typing in

section sizes.
Leave Placement Options > Place by set to Two points.
Tick the Automatic Coping box and make sure the dropdown is set to
Cope to member connected by AccuSnap. Leave the Flange clearance,
Web clearance and Inside corner at their default values of 0.0. This will
trim the beam exactly to the edge of the column without any clearances.
The first point of the beam will be placed at the junction of the
ground and first floor columns at grid I7. As you hover over the
columns, you will notice a Structural snap appear.

Figure 06-18: Structural snap point at the base of

the first floor column

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 Structural snaps are additional Keypoint snaps which help locate the
placement point of a structural element. They make it easier to locate
particularly the centre of elements where a line or vertex may not
exist, as in this example, shown in Figure 06-18, of snapping to a UC.

administration tip
Structural snaps are enabled and configured in Workspace > Preferences > Building Structural.

Figure 06-19: Building Structural snaps

Click to place the first point of the beam.

Place the end point of the beam at the junction of the ground and
first floor columns at grid I6.

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 Right-click to reset and stop the placement of any more beams.
You will notice that once the beam is placed, the ends will be
automatically coped to the column.

Figure 06-20: Selecting the beam will clearly show that the
placement points extend to the centre of the columns,
but the geometry has been coped to the face

3. Place two more UB305X165X54 beams from grids I6 to J6, and

J6 to J7.
There are times when you may not have the exact setting out you need.
Sometimes it is easier to place the beams then tidy them up afterwards. For
the next steps, place trimming members to the edge of the stair landing and
then trim them to each other.
4. Change the section by clicking on Select section.
In the Structural Sections dialog, set Type to “Channels”.
Highlight PFC200X75X23 and click OK.
Set Placement point to Top, left.
Change Place by to Select path. Normally this option would be used
for placing a beam along a curve or Complex Chain, but it can be used
equally well for placing simple, quick beams along setting out lines.
Turn on Automatic Coping.
Your prompt should read:
Place Steel Beam – Primary > Identify element
Around the edge of the landing you should see two yellow dashed-
dotted lines on the S-Z43-M-Centreline level. Select both lines, one
by one. New structural elements will be placed on the lines as shown
in Figure 06-21.

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 Figure 06-21: The channels have been placed by
Select Path to the edge of the stair landing

5. To trim the two channels together, you could select the shorter beam
and use the grab handles to modify it to meet the longer channel.
Although this will make the ends meet, it won’t trim them, unless
the beams are set to cope to any interfering member. As noted above,
this can cause you problems when you have complex structures,
so instead, pick the Connect Forms as L tool from the Building
Designer > Structural Design Task.

Figure 06-22: The Connect Forms as L tool

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 Select both channels in turn and the ends will be trimmed together.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-FramingBeams.dgn.

There are further tools available for steel framing. The Place Steel
Members Framing Between and the Place Steel Beam - Secondary
tools are for the placing of intermediate steel members between
other structural members.

Figure 06-23: The Place Steel Members Framing

Between tool

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 Figure 06-24: The Place Steel Members Framing
Between dialog

The Preview and Standard Section sections of the dialog are similar to the
Place Steel Beam - Primary tool.
The Section Orientation section contains the option Aligned. Tick this when
the intermediate members need to be placed at an angle (for example, when
modelling a sloping roof).

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 Figure 06-25: The Section Orientation Aligned option:
left intermediate members placed without aligned option,
right intermediate members with aligned option

Placement Options contains a pull down list:

Figure 06-26: The Placement Options pull down list

Number of Members evenly spaces the number of beams between the two
members.
Maximum Spacing allows you to enter a distance. The number of
intermediate beams will be placed evenly spaced to the Maximum Spacing
value.
Absolute Spacing places members using the keyed in value. Any remainder
space is left at the end of the support farthest from the pick point used to
identify it.
Ticking End Members will include additional members on the ends of the
selected beams.
Tick Perpendicular to support when the supporting members are different
lengths. This will ensure the framing is placed perpendicular to the first
supporting member.

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 Figure 06-27: The Perpendicular to support option is
unticked on the left and ticked on the right

Exercise 06-04

Place steel framing

1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
FramingIntermediate.dgn.
2. Select the Place Steel Members Framing Between tool from the
Structural Design Task.
From the list of available sections, select UC152x152x23 and click
OK.
In Section Orientation, make sure Placement point is set to Top,
center.
Set Number of members to 4.
Tick End members.
Tick Perpendicular to support.
Leave Automatic Coping ticked.

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 Figure 06-28: The settings for the steel framing

3. Select the first beam along gridline 6. Select the second beam along
gridline 5.

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 Figure 06-29: The placed intermediate framing

NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-FramingIntemediate.
dgn.

Exercise 06-05

Modifying structural elements

1. Open the design file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-
S-Cantilever.dgn.
You will see a series of lime green coloured structural members
forming a cantilever structure across the front of the core.
2. Hover over the long RHS spanning between the two columns and
right-press. Pick Modify Structural Attributes from the context menu
that pops up.

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 Figure 06-30: Pick Modify Structural
Attributes from the right-press
context menu

The Modify Structural Attributes tool settings window that opens

allows you to change aspects of a structural element’s geometry and
non-graphical properties.
The top section of this dialog allows you to replace the Catalog
Instance with an entirely different item. You would use this to
change, for example, a steel beam into a concrete beam, resetting all
the properties or keeping them as they were.

Figure 06-31: Modify Structural Attributes

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 For this exercise, all you are going to do is change the section and
some structural properties, so tick the Section Definition > Section
tick box.
The Section name field does not have an MRU (Most Recently Used)
dropdown like the placement tool does, so you will either need to
click on the Select section magnifying glass to locate the correct
section (Code = UK, Type = Channels) or type in “PFC200X75X23”.
Leave all other options unticked.

Figure 06-32: Redefining a section size in Modify Structural Attributes

Click on Apply to update the section. Note that the tool stays active
until you pick another tool.
3. Now select the four tee beams. Right-press again and pick Modify
Structural Attributes. You could also use either Modify Selected
Component or Modify Instance Data – they will both do the same
thing. Modify Instance Data is a tool that appears on your right-press
context menu whenever you have multiple DataGroup items selected.
This makes selection easier and allows you to filter the selection you
have to edit only a specific type of item or all of them at once.
You should notice that the Modify Structural Attributes tool settings
opens with a new Component Filter section above the Catalog
Selection. This is where you can filter your selection set if needed.
For this exercise, leave the Component Filter set to All as you should
only have steel beams selected.

Figure 06-33: The Component Filter added to Modify

Structural Attributes when more than one element is
selected

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 In the Section Definition area, tick Section and also tick Tapered.
The Name field changes to End 1, and an End 2 field appears
beneath it.
End 1 should already be set to T102X152X14, the current section
used.
In End 2, browse to select, or type in, the Tee “T102X127X14”.
Tick the Fillets option and set them On. This adds fillets to
the corners of the flanges and web of steel members. It is only
recommended to add these if your model is being used for a high
level of detail, normally 1:20 or above.

Figure 06-34: Editing a member to be tapered, and also

adding fillets

Switch to the Properties tab and change the following:

Structural Usage > Structural Function = Load-bearing
Thermal Transmittance > IsExternal = True
StructuralFramingCommon > Structural Finish = Galvanized
Structural Data > Mark = B04
This would normally be used in a steel table on a drawing to
identify the section size.
Structural Data > Grade = S275

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 Figure 06-35: The modified tapered tee beams

Click Apply.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-Cantilever.dgn.

Administration Tip
Even though the Bentley datasets provide many of a country’s standard sections, it is very likely that project
teams will require additional section sizes to those supplied. New sections can be created by editing the
ProjectShapes.xml directly, although XML editing can be problematic if the syntax is not completely
correct. To make creation of new sections easier on a project, a BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\
Data\StructuralShapesTemplate.xls file is delivered.

For instructions to create a custom section, refer to Chapter 12: Custom Section Sizes.

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 Chapter 7

Modelling Floors

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Davies_ch07_ptg01_141-178.indd 142 03/26/15 10:05 AM
 Floors, and specifically slabs, are modelled using the “Place Floor Slab” tool
in the Structural Design > Slabs and Foundations Task in combination with
the Floor planes defined in Chapter 04: Floor Manager.

Figure 07-01: The Place Floor Slab tool

You will need to make sure you have the Floor Selector Toolbox open (refer
to Chapter 04: Floor Manager) to complete the exercises in this chapter.

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 Place Floor Slab
Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-M3-S-Slab.dgn.
Selecting the Place Floor Slab tool opens the Place Slab options dialog. This
works very similarly to the other placement tools, providing choice of items
from the DataGroup Catalogs, setting the geometry of the slab, and adding
non-geometric metadata in the Properties tab.

Figure 07-02: The Place Slab tool settings

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 The first part of the tools settings, “Catalog Selection”, controls the type
of slab to be placed. You can create new object definitions (Catalog Items)
here should you need to. This is dealt with in detail in Chapter 13: Creating
DataGroup Content. In normal circumstances it is only necessary to pick the
existing Catalog Instances by changing the dropdown.

Figure 07-03: Selection of the available

Catalog Instances

Below the Preview, which can be turned on or off by using the Preview tickbox,
are the Placement Options. These control the geometry of the slab, including its
thickness and how it is placed relative to your Floor plane or elements.

Figure 07-04: Slab Placement Options

The Side Options allow you to change the angle of the slab edges. This can
be useful when using the Place Slab tool to place angled slabs, ramps, or even
pad foundations.

Figure 07-05: Slab Side Options

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 Base Offset places a slab higher or lower than the points you draw. For
example, a value of 500 would place the slab 500mm above the points or
elements you use to create the slab.

Figure 07-06: Slab Base Offset

Switching to the Properties tab shows the available DataGroup Definitions

for a Slab-type Catalog Item. When placing a new Slab, you would define
only the properties you knew at that time. They can be edited at any time
during the project’s life, so that as the design progresses the data incorporated
into the objects can be added accordingly.

NOTE: If you require another property which doesn’t exist in this list,
it can be added. This is dealt with in Chapter 13: Creating
DataGroup Content.

Figure 07-07: The Slab Properties tab

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 Exercise 07-01

Place slab by boundary

1. In the Floor Selector tool, click on the Select Active Floor dropdown.
Double-click “00” to set the Active Floor.

Figure 07-08: Setting the active floor from

the Floor Selector dialog

You will notice that a new “00” ACS has been created, and that
the Drawing Scale > Auxiliary Coordinate System has been set and
locked automatically.

Figure 07-09: The ACS is set by Floor Selector

2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Floor Slab tool.
Check the Catalog Instance is set to S-G22-SlabConcreteRC.

Figure 07-10: The Catalog Instance

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 In the Placement Options, set Place From to “Top”. This means the
slab will be placed below the outline you draw.
Set Place By to “Boundary”. Boundary mode expects you to trace
the outline of the slab manually, very similar to drawing a SmartLine
or a Shape.
Enter a Thickness of “250”.

Figure 07-11: Placement Options

Leave the other Placement options as they are.

3. Switch to the Properties tab and enter the following values:
ObjectClassification > Classification | Uniclass = G22 Floors
(Double-click the item in the list for it to select.) The classification
system is one of the universal properties that most BIM tools use to
help identify the object.
Structural Usage > Structural Function = Load-bearing
Slab Properties > Slab Direction = Two way
At this point in the design not a lot else is known about the slab so
the other properties can be left undefined.
Zoom or Window into the column at Grid A1.
4.
The slab will follow the cavity side of the inner block wall
represented by the “third” of the red wall lines, allowing for the
concrete around the bases of the columns.
The first point of the slab needs to be the front corner of the column
thickening represented by the red shape on the “JOINT” level.

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 Figure 07-12: The start point of the slab

5. Begin tracing around the column bases and the outside edge of the
blockwork wall anti-clockwise.
Watch for the points where the slab steps in, at gridlines E and K on
both sides of the building.

Figure 07-13: Working around the column bases

at the step line of the slab at gridline E

If you place an incorrect point, simply enter Ctrl+Z to undo the last
point you placed without interrupting your progress.

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 6. Once you have placed the corner point of the slab at grid A8, right-
click to complete the slab. The slab will be drawn below the ACS to
a thickness of 250mm. If you want to check, the z-depth of the soffit
should be 129320.0.
NOTE: You will need to turn the Lock Auxiliary Coordinate System
off in order to check the z-depth. If you do not turn this lock
off, you will only receive a depth of 0.0 as any snaps are
constrained to the ACS Plane.

Figure 07-14: Turn the ACS Lock off in the Drawing

Settings tool to check true coordinates

There are other slab placement modes which can be employed depending on
the elements you are working with. The next couple of exercises will get you
used to working with these modes.

NOTE: These completed exercises are available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-M3-S-Slab.dgn.

Exercise 07-02

Place slab by shape

1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
SlabOutline.dgn. This file contains a 2D slab outline on level S-G22-
M-Slabs and a series of referenced architectural beams on level
A-G2613-M-BeamsSteel.
For now, turn off the Reference Display of the “arch” reference file.
2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Floor Slab tool.
Change the Placement Options > Place By to Shape.
Enter a Thickness of “150” if it is not already set.
Tick the Delete Constructions box.
3. Click on the red slab outline on level S-G22-M-Slabs. The slab will
be created from the shape and the shape – the construction used to
define the slab – is deleted.
If the slab edge were in a reference it would not be deleted. To keep
the outline, simply untick the Delete Constructions box before
placing the slab.
You will notice that the shape representing an opening in the slab
between grid I6 and K7 is ignored, as is the joint line across the slab
at gridline G.
4. Undo the Place Slab by Shape ready for the next exercise.

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 Exercise 07-03

Place slab by flood

The flood mode acts like pouring a bucket of water into a container. The slab
continues until edges can be identified. It uses any element that it can find, so
in this example it will be necessary to turn the PM-x-P-S-Grid.dgn reference
off before you begin.
1. Using Floor Selector, set the Floor to “01”. A Slab by Flood will
be placed relative to the active ACS, so make sure you have this set
correctly first.
2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Floor Slab tool.
Change the Placement Options > Place By to Flood.
Leave the Allow Holes option ticked.
3. Click somewhere inside of the slab outline to the right-hand end of
the building.

Figure 07-15: Place Slab by Flood

Because Allow Holes is ticked, the slab opening is identified and the
slab is constructed around it. It also accounts for the slab joint line
across the centre of the building.

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 4. At this point you need to watch the prompt. The status bar will read:
Place Slab > Identify Region by Flood / Reset to Finish
You would use the left mouse button to select this or a different
area; the right mouse button finishes the command.
Click to confirm/select the area, then right-click to place the slab.
5. You will note that the outline of the slab has not been deleted. This
is because Flood did not use the complete element to create the slab.
Delete the red outline manually so that it does not affect the view
should you change the Display Style.

Exercise 07-04

Place slab by structural members

1. Turn on the “arch” reference.
2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Floor Slab tool.
Change the Placement Options > Place By to Structural Members.
Change Place From to Bottom as you need the slab sitting above
the beams.
3. The edge of a slab placed in this way will be drawn at the placement
line of the beam. In this example, the slab edge needs to sit a further
114.5mm out. This can be set by using the Side Options > Overhang
setting.
Set Side Options > Overhang to “114.5”.

Figure 07-16: The Overhang setting

4. Select each of the beams in turn. Be careful that you do not miss a
beam or select one twice – you are not given any visual feedback as
to which elements you have selected! If you select a beam twice, all
selections are dropped and you will have to begin again.
5. Once all beams have been selected, right-click to place the slab.

NOTE: These completed exercises are available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-SlabOutline.dgn.

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 Modifying Slabs
Once a slab has been placed, it will more than likely be necessary to modify
it as the design progresses or to add detail, cut voids or otherwise adjust the
properties. There are specific tools provided for certain tasks, such as Insert
Vertex into Slab / Free Form Base in the Building Designer > Form Modelling >
Edit Form Base Task. In practical use, it is not necessary to use these tools as
standard MicroStation modifications work perfectly well.
The next exercise covers the use of these modification tools to edit the slab
for stair cores.

NOTE: If you right-press when hovering over a Slabs, the context pop-up
menu gives you the options to delete, insert and edit vertices.

Figure 07-17: The right-press context

menu for slabs

Exercise 07-05
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
SlabOutline.dgn from Exercise 07-04.
Due to the linework used to create the slabs, there is a certain amount
of overlap at the join. The slab needs to be modified to be correct.
2. Window in to the left side of the overlap and select the left-hand
slab (the one placed by Structural Members).
Click on the grab handle at the base of the slab to begin modifying
the vertex.

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 Figure 07-18: Repositioning the left-hand slab vertex

Modify the location of this vertex so that it sits exactly in line with
the other slab vertex.
3. Window into the right-hand side of the slab joint and click on the
grab handle at the base of the slab.
This time there is no convenient vertex to snap to, so snap to the
intersection point of both slabs and click to accept the modification.

Figure 07-19: Repositioning the right-hand

slab vertex to the intersection of both slabs

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 NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-P-S-SlabOutline.dgn.

Exercise 07-06
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-Slab.
dgn and set the Floor Selector to “01”.
2. Turn on level A-G23-G-Strs in reference “internal” and window in
on the stair core between grids E-F and 6-7.
3. From the Tasks, pick the Building Designer > Main > Modify >
Insert Vertex tool (shortcut 7 7).

Figure 07-20: Insert Vertex

4. Click on the slab edge somewhere between grids E and F

(Figure 07-22, point 1). The exact location is not important.
A vertex will be added into the slab. You now need to identify where
that new vertex will be created, so click on the endpoint of the dashed
stair line in colour 13 on level A-G23-G-Strs (Figure 07-22, point 2).

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 Figure 07-21: Adding the first new vertex into the slab

The new vertex will be placed.

5. Repeat this process, adding in new vertices around the stair core and
landing as shown in Figure 07-23.

Figure 07-22: Insert vertices into the slab edge at points 3 – 6

6. If you need to adjust a vertex rather than insert one, you can do this
by using Element Selection.
Pick Element Selection from the Building Designer > Main toolbox.
Click anywhere on the slab edge to select it.
Grab handles will appear at all vertices and on each face of the slab.
You can use any of these to adjust the geometry to suit.

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 Figure 07-23: Adjusting the slab edge using grab handles

For practice, repeat the exact same process to edit the slab around the stair
core between grids I and J and 6 and 7 and to create the large void at the
East end of the building around the stair core.

Figure 07-24: The points necessary to edit the

slab at grids I-J, 6-7

When editing the slab for the void around the stair core, modify the corner of
the slab at grids O8 to point 1 first. Refer to Figure 07-24.

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 Figure 07-25: The points necessary to create the void
(note that the corner vertex at grid O8 is modified to point 1)

Modifying and adding the vertices is an effective method for edits of this type,
but it will not work when trying to create an opening for the circular stair near
grid K7. You could create this using standard MicroStation tools (Cut Solids by
Curves, for example), but AECOsim Building Designer includes a new tool to
place regular parametric openings, or Penetrations as they are termed.

Exercise 07-07

Place slab penetration

1. Window in on the circular staircase near grid K7.
2. From the Tasks, pick Building Designer > Structural Design > Slabs
and Foundations > Place Wall or Slab Penetrations.

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 Figure 07-26: The Place Wall or Slab Penetrations tool

3. In the Place User Defined Type – Penetrations dialog that opens,

change the Catalog Instance to S-G32-SlabPenetration-Round.
Leave all the Properties as their default settings for now. You
could measure the radius of the stair and set the Radius property
accordingly, but this is not necessary as the Penetration can be
adjusted manually after placement.

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 Figure 07-27: Selecting the Catalog Instance

4. Your status bar prompt will read:

Place user Defined Type - > Identify Host Element or Enter Origin
AccuSnap to the centre of the Shared Cell representing the circular
stair. Click to locate the Penetration.

Figure 07-28: The placement point of the Slab Penetration

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 The status bar prompt does not change, but you are now required to
define the rotation of the Penetration. Click on the end point of one
of the radial tread lines.
The Penetration is placed and cut through the Slab.

Figure 07-29: Defining the rotation of the Penetration

5. To modify the Penetration to the correct radius, use Element

Selection to select the Penetration.
NOTE: It is critical that you select the Penetration, not the Slab.
The best way of doing this is to click on the void cross
rather than the edge of the Penetration.
Grab handles will appear on the Penetration at the centre point and
the point you used to specify the rotation.
Click on the outer grab handle and move it to the edge of the
circular stair.
You will know at this stage whether you have selected the
Penetration or the Slab edge. If you have mistakenly selected the
Slab, you will see a green dashed circle as you move your cursor.
This is the Slab, not the Penetration. If you see this, right-click
to reset the command and reselect the Penetration. Adjusting the
Penetration will automatically update the Slab, but not the other
way around.

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 Figure 07-30: Modifying the Penetration(note that no green
dashed line is seen)

Click to complete the modification.

Figure 07-31: The modified Penetration

NOTE: The completed slab exercises are available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-P-S-Slab.dgn.

The Penetration tool is useful for situations where you have a rectangular
or circular opening to create, and as they are DataGroup items, they can be
reported on (refer to Chapter 17: Scheduling) allowing you to work out, for
example, gross and net volumes of concrete. If you have a more complex or
irregular shape, Place Wall or Slab Penetration cannot be used unless you
have created the specific shape as a parametric PAZ file in PC Studio first. In
normal working conditions this would be impractical and is not covered in
this book. Alternatively, MicroStation tools can be used to create openings –

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 the Building Designer Task includes Solids Modelling, but the Building
Designer Manipulate Features Task also contains Cut Solids by Curves and
Construct opening in a wall/form from a shape or compound cell.
Using the MicroStation Boolean tools or Cut Solids by Curves creates a
Building Feature in the element.

Figure 07-32: Locations of the Solids

modification Tasks

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 NOTE: Using certain tools, Draw on Solid for example, will cause this
warning to appear:

Figure 07-33: Converting parametric Form

warning

Unless you are absolutely sure you want to lose AECOsim Building Designer
functionality, which in most circumstances you would not, click No. This
means that the tool you are using will have to change the element to a basic
MicroStation SmartSolid to be able to perform the modification. Basic
attributes, such as Parts and the BIM Properties, will still be supported, but
you will no longer be able to manipulate the element in the same way.
For example, a Slab will no longer have grab handles on its edges, nor will
you be able to insert vertices.

Exercise 07-08

Using building features

1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
Feature.dgn. You will see grey slabs drawn on level S-G22-M-Slabs
and a red outline on the same level.
2. From the Tasks, pick Building Designer > Structural Design >
Manipulate Features > Cut Solids by Curves. This is exactly the same
tool as MicroStation, and even though it is called “by Curves” you
can use it to cut solids using just about any elements, including lines
and regular shapes.

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 Figure 07-34: The Cut Solids by Curves tool

3. Set the Cut Direction to “Both”.

Set Cut Mode to “Through”.
Check that Split Solid and Keep Profile are not ticked.
Click on the Slab to select it as the element you wish to cut. The Slab
will be highlighted.
Click on the red shape to define that as the cutting element. It will
be highlighted and green cut direction arrows will be displayed.
Click again to confirm the elements. This might seem like an
unnecessary step, but you could select additional cutting elements by
holding Ctrl and clicking on more elements.

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 Finally click a fourth time to complete the steps and create the cut.

Figure 07-35: The completed Cut

The difference between MicroStation and using this tool in AECOsim

Building Designer is that a Building Feature has now been created. Think
of a Building Feature as a “controlling element” created as part of the
Slab – a “feature” of the Slab (that makes some sense, huh?). It can now be
controlled, modified, deleted and even turned off independently of the Slab.
4. Using Element Selection, select the Slab somewhere along the new
edge you just created. The Slab will be highlighted and the Feature
shown as a green dashed shape. Grab handles will appear for the
Feature, but not for the rest of the Slab.

Figure 07-36: The selected Feature

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 If you select the Slab on an edge where the Feature does not exist, it
will be selected normally. Grab handles will appear all around the
Slab but the Feature will not be displayed.
Turn on level S-G23-M-Stairs.
Using the grab handles, modify the Feature so that it aligns with the
cyan line. As you adjust the Feature, the Slab is automatically updated.
5. With the Feature still selected, hover over it and right-press. From
the context menu pick:

Figure 07-37: Building Element Info

on the Slab right-press context menu

6. In the Building Element Info dialog box, switch to the Features tab.
Highlight the User Cut in the Features list.
Untick Active and then click Apply. The Feature will be turned off in
your model.

Figure 07-38: Turning off a Building Feature

Repeat the process to turn it back on: Tick Active and then
click Apply.

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 You may notice there is a Delete button. While it is perfectly reasonable to
delete unwanted Features through the Building Element Info dialog box, it
can be a little inefficient to open it every time you wanted to delete a Feature,
especially if you are working with many elements and Features.
7. Close the Building Element Info dialog box by clicking on the red
cross in the top right-hand corner.
Unselect the Slab.
8. From the Tasks, pick Building Designer > Structural Design >
Manipulate Features > Delete Building Features.

Figure 07-39: The Delete Building Features tool

Click on the Slab somewhere along the new edge of the Feature. The
Slab will be highlighted and the Feature shown as a green dashed
shape.
Click on the Feature again. It will highlight. This step is necessary in
case you have multiple Features in your element.
Click a final time to accept the Feature and delete it.

NOTE: This exercise is available, with the Feature still existing, from
PracticalModelling\_Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-
Feature.dgn.

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 Creating Other Types of Slab
Exercise 07-09

Placing a rib slab

There are times when modelling a flat slab is not enough. The structural tools
provide additional sections that can be used to place accurate floor slabs
when required. This exercise uses the Place Concrete Beam tools to model a
small section of trough or rib slab.
1. Open the design file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-
S-RibSlab.dgn.
2. Change the Floor Selector to floor 01.
3. From the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, pick the Place
Concrete Ell Beam tool.

Figure 07-40: The Place Concrete Ell Beam tool

Check that the Catalog Selection is set to S-G2611-

BeamsReinforcedConcrete.
Click on Select section and change Code to Project.
Change the Type to Concrete Ells and highlight “200x450DP”.
Click OK.

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 In Section Orientation, set Placement point to Top, right and tick
Mirror. It is important to pick the placement point of “Top, right”
as when using the Mirror option, the whole placement is mirrored.
It takes a little getting used to but so long as you check the Preview
to see how the element is going to be placed you can’t really go
wrong.

Figure 07-41: The Place Concrete Beam tool

Make sure Place by is set to Two points and place the beam along
the yellow line on the S-G22-M-Slabs level.
4. Click on Select section and check the Code is set to Project.
Change the Type to Concrete Tees (Tapered).
Highlight “325DP@600” and click OK.
Turn Mirror off and change the Placement point back to
Top, left.

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 Leave all the other settings as they are, and place the concrete rib
along the edge of the beam you have just placed.

Figure 07-42: Placing the first rib

Place 5 ribs in total, stopping just before you reach the right-hand
beam.
5. In the Place Concrete Beam tool settings, click on the down arrow
next to the Standard Section > Name field. This is the “MRU”
list – the Most Recently Used sections. Select the 200x450DP beam.
The settings should be ready for you to place the beam without
any further adjustments, so fill in the gap to complete the beam as
shown in Figure 07-44.

Figure 07-43: The final edge beam

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 Once placed, these elements can be modified, edited and trimmed in
exactly the same as any other structural element.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-RibSlab.dgn.

Exercise 07-10

Placing a composite slab

The structural tools also allow for placement of composite slabs, a concrete
slab on a profiled metal decking.

Figure 07-44: The Place Deck tool

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 Standard profiles can be specified using an “Organization” (e.g. ASC) or
manually by selecting Standard from the Kind dropdown.

Figure 07-45: The Place Deck dialog

The dialog is unique in its design and can be a little hard to understand once
you have become familiar with the typical tool settings layouts.
The Placement tab is arranged in 3 sections: the Steel Deck settings, the Steel
Deck Properties and the optional Concrete Fill settings. The Concrete Fill
settings only become active when the Concrete Fill option is ticked. This
means it is possible to use the same tool for other constructions without
concrete, such as foundation or retaining walls profile.
The Steel Deck section provides:
• DataGroup Type and Instance options to set the catalog selection.
Be aware that unlike all other DataGroup instances, the Steel Deck
types do not store dimensions, meaning that an instance is always
“geometrically independent” and will need to be sized manually
unless an Organization’s profiles are chosen.
• Kind switches between pre-defined Tables, profiles from certain
Organizations (only ASC and VERCO are provided) and manual
entry of Standard and Sine Wave profiles. Unless you are working
with US profiles, it will be necessary to pick Standard in most cases.

When set to Table Organization, Revision and Profile Name are displayed to
select the profile.

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 With Standard or Sine Wave selected, only the Steel Deck Properties are
displayed for manual entry.
Steel Deck Properties is where the geometry of the profile can be modified or
entered.
The optional Concrete Fill section offers choices for the concrete DataGroup
and a unified Composite Deck DataGroup. This allows the steel decking,
concrete and the complete composite deck to be scheduled individually or
jointly as required.
The Properties tab (you’ll need to look at the bottom left of the dialog to see
the tabs) provides the more familiar non-graphical properties.
To place a composite slab:
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
CompositeSlab.dgn. You will see an example of steel beams around
a slab opening. This will be completed with a composite slab.
2. From the Building Designer Tasks > Structural Design > Steel
Trusses, click on the Place Deck tool (shortcut R 5).
In the Steel Deck options, set the following:
DataGroup > Type = Steel Deck (be careful when picking from
this list as there is no filter provided and the Types are not listed
alphabetically)
DataGroup > Instance = Floor Deck
Kind = Standard
3. Enter the following values into the Steel Deck Properties:
Top Width = “142”
Diagonal Width = “31”
This dimension is commonly specified as an angle, so it may be
necessary to calculate this manually when entering values from
profiles not provided in the Tables.
Bot. Width = “119”
Depth = “60”
Thickness = “1.0”
Sheet Width = “1000”
Tick the Model Sheet Width box. This will show the edges of each
sheet of decking.

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 Figure 07-46: The manually defined Steel Deck Properties

Tick the Concrete Fill option to activate the Concrete Fill settings.
4.
Set the Concrete Data Group options as follows:
Type = Slab
Instance = S-G22-SlabConcreteRC
Thickness = “149”
The slab thickness needs to take into account the thickness of the steel
deck profile, so you always need to enter your required thickness –
Steel Deck Properties > Thickness.
Set the Composite Deck Data Group:
Type = Slab
Instance = S-G22-SlabConcreteRC
5. Switch to the Properties tab. Do not get confused with the Steel
Deck Properties (dimensions). This is the second tab found at the
bottom left of the dialog.
Expand the Composite Deck section and set:
Structural Function = Structural
Material = Composite

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 Expand the Steel Deck section and enter:
ID | Type ID = “Kingspan Multideck”
ID | Number = “60-V2”
6. Back in the Placement tab, check that Place By has Structural
Members selected. These options work exactly the same as the
normal Place Slab tool.
Click the Place button to begin creating the composite slab.
The status bar prompt will read:
Deck Tool Place by Structural Member > Pick first Structural
Member
Click on each of the supporting members in turn until all four have
been selected. You need to be careful as there is no visual feedback
as to which members have been chosen.

Figure 07-47: Selecting the supporting members

The status bar prompt will now read:

Deck Tool Place by Structural Member > Pick next Structural
Member, reset to accept place boundary
Right-click to acknowledge that you have selected all the boundary
elements.
AECOsim Building Designer now expects you to define the direction
of the span. The status bar prompt will now read:
Deck Tool Place by Structural Member > Place first point to define
deck extrude direction

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 Click anywhere in the view. The AccuDraw origin displays and a
direction line will extend to your cursor. Use RE to rotate AccuDraw
to match the grids then click again to define the direction of span.

Figure 07-48: Defining the span direction

The composite slab will be generated.

Figure 07-49: The completed composite slab

NOTE: This exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-CompositeSlab.dgn.

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 Considerations for Placing Large
Floor Slabs & Holes
Finally, a word regarding large or complex floor areas. In Exercise 07-02 you
were asked to trace around the slab outline. This building is not particularly
complex or large, but even that task can become cumbersome as you have to
continually zoom in and out to snap to the correct points.
It is often worth splitting large slabs down into smaller areas to aid modelling
and modification. You do not need to worry about joins as, by default, the
Parts used to place floors will unify with each other at the point of creating a
View or Extraction. (Refer to Chapters 13: Creating DataGroup Content and
15: Creating Drawings for more information on unification of Parts.) This is
particularly important in the case of curved slab edges, where you would be
better off keeping the curved part as a completely separate element. Curved
slab edges can be difficult to modify correctly, so it is worth separating them
from the rest of the floor.
Look for convenient areas to split the floor slabs: at the edges of cores, along
natural step lines, or even movement joints or construction joints if you are
required to model them.

Figure 07-50: Natural places to split the first

floor slab

When adding openings or Features, consider the scale of information you

are required to produce as well as the manageability of having many holes
in your Slabs. Do not allow yourself to get bogged down, for example,
creating builders work holes unless you require them to be a part of the
modelled information or quantities. Quite often these holes are better drawn
in a separate file as additional 2D detail referencing Plan View of the floor.
Remember a 200mm x 200mm hole will be an illegible 2mm x 2mm on a
1:100 drawing. In normal situations, model only what you would expect to
show on a 1:100, or 1:50 at a push, General Arrangement drawing.

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 Chapter 8

Walls

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Davies_ch08_ptg01_179-224.indd 180 03/26/15 10:05 AM
 From the early stages of the project and throughout the course of developing
your design you will need to place walls. It may be that in the early stages
you will define your walls as simple forms with no specific data and as the
project progresses you may need to not only include more detailed wall
information but modify and edit the properties of your walls.
Open the file in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder called PM-01-
M3-S-Walls.dgn.
AECOsim Building Designer provides tools in the Building Designer >
Structural Design Task to enable you to do this:

Figure 08-01: The Walls tools in the

Structural Design Task

The Structural Design Task provides tools for the placement and
modification of walls. This chapter will cover the use of these tools in
the course of developing the project design.

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 Place Wall
Walls are modelled using the “Place Walls” tool (keyboard shortcut G 1).

Figure 08-02: The Place Wall tool

When you select the Place Wall tool the Place Wall Tool Settings
window opens. This works in a similar manner to the other placement
tools—such as Place Slab—that you used previously in Chapter 7:
Modelling Floors.

Figure 08-03: The Place Wall Tool

Settings

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 The first part of the Tool Settings, Catalog Selection, allows you to set and
control the type of wall to place. You can create new object definitions
(Catalog Items) here if you need to. Full details of creating new DataGroup
Catalog Items are covered in Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup Content.

Figure 08-04: Selection of the available

Catalog Instances

Preview can be turned on or off by using the Preview tickbox. Below this
are the Placement Options. These will control how the Wall, including its
orientation, is placed in your file.

Figure 08-05: The Wall Placement Options

The Top Options allow you to control how the top of the wall will be
created. You can select either:
Fixed Height, which uses a default Height defined by the DataGroup Item.
You can override this in the Placement Dimensions Height value (see below).
Connect Shapes, which will trim the top of the wall to 2D or 3D shapes in
your model.

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 Connect 3 Pts to define a plane by three points on the fly.
Connect to 2 Pts/View to define a linear plane.

Figure 08-06: The Top Options

Below this, the Placement Options provide values for the basic geometry of
the wall and offsets for the placement line to the side and base of the wall.

Figure 08-07: The Placement Dimension Options

Switching to the Properties tab will show the available DataGroup Definitions
for the Wall. These can be edited before placement, depending on what is
known about the wall, or at any time during the project. This means that as
the design progresses more detailed data can be incorporated into the objects.

Figure 08-08: The Wall Properties tab

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 Exercise 08-01

Placing walls
1. Working in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
Walls.dgn file, use the Floor Selector tool to set Floor “01” active.
In View 1, zoom or window into the lift located between grids I6
and J7.

Figure 08-09: The lift wall between grids I6 and J7

2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Wall tool.
Set the Catalog Instance to “S-G252-WallsInternal”. You will find
this wall in the Catalog Instances > Structural undefined section.

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 Figure 08-10: Selecting the Catalog Instance

In the Placement Options, Linear will be set by default. This means
that the wall you place will be straight. The other options in the
dropdown are Arc or Curve.

Figure 08-11: The Placement Options set to Linear

Check the Orientation is set to “Left”, meaning that the Wall will be
placed to the left-hand side of the placement line you draw.
The lift walls will be placed as a closed square. In Placement Options
tick Close. This will automatically add the final closing wall.
Leave the other Placement Properties as they are.
In Placement Dimensions set a Width of “215”.
Leave the other Placement Dimensions as they are.

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 Figure 08-12: The Close Placement Option

Begin tracing the outline of the lift walls from the 2D plan on level
“A-G252-G-Wallntl”. Start at the bottom left corner and work in an
anti-clockwise direction.

Figure 08-13: The first placement point of the lift walls

You should notice that the base level of the wall is below the
architectural references. This is because the references are attached
at their actual FFL level, 50mm above the structural slab level
defined by Floor 01.
Continue around the plan defining the next three points of the
lift walls.

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 Figure 08-14: The third point of the lift walls

The Place Wall tool will continue, expecting you to place more
points. To Reset and finish the command and place the closed walls
of the lift shaft, ignoring the door, click the right button.

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 Figure 08-15: The completed lift walls

Exercise 08-02

Placing the walls around the stair core

1. Continuing in the same file, PracticalModelling\DesignModels\
PM-01-M3-S-Walls.dgn, window in to the area between gridlines
H6 and J7.
For this exercise it may be easier to rotate View 1 to Top rotation.

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 Figure 08-16: the stair core area

2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Wall tool.
Set the Catalog Instance to “S-G25212-WallsInternalBlock-100mm”.
In the Placement Options, set Orientation to “Right” and make sure
Close is unticked.
The SideOffset option in Placement Dimensions will position your
wall (not the placement points) to the specified distance, left or right.
Change the SideOffset to “37” to the “Right”. This will enable you
to place the wall offset to gridline J.

Figure 08-17: Setting the SideOffset

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 3. Begin placing the wall from the intersection of gridline J and the
purple finishes line on level “A-G252-G-WallIntl” just below gridline
7 (refer to Figure 08-17).
Turn on AccuDraw SmartLock by hitting the [Enter] key to lock the
Y axis.
Complete the wall by clicking on the intersection of gridlines J6 as
shown in Figure 08-18.

Figure 08-18: The second placement point of

the wall at grid J6

Right-click to complete.

Figure 08-19: The completed wall

between grids J6 and J7

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 4. Back in the Place Wall Tool Settings, change the Catalog Instance to
“S-G22512-WallsInternalBlock-140mm”.
Reset SideOffset to “0”.
5. Window to the junction of grid I7 and begin tracing over the
edges of the purple wall starting at Figure 08-21, point 1 in an
anticlockwise direction.

Figure 08-20: The start point of the wall placement

Continue placing the first part of this wall along gridline I to the point
where the wall turns along gridline 6 as shown in Figure 08-21.

Figure 08-21: The endpoint of the first wall

segment

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 Place the next point at the end of the wall on the 2D plan shown in
Figure 08-22.

Figure 08-22: The endpoint of the second wall

segment

Reset (right-click) to complete. The two walls were connected

automatically because Auto Connect is ticked.
Rotate View 1 to Isometric to view the completed walls.

Figure 08-23: The completed wall

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 Modifying Walls
Once walls have been placed it is more than likely that you will need to
modify them as the design develops. The next exercise will guide you through
some of the ways to modify walls.

Exercise 08-03

Modifying walls using grab-handles

1. Continue in the same file, PracticalModelling\DesignModels\
PM-01-M3-S-Walls.dgn.
Using Element Select, click on the wall along gridline 6 created in
the previous exercise, 08-02.
When wall is selected blue grab-handles appear. Moving these
modifies the wall geometry in specific directions.
NOTE: Be very careful how you use this function. If you modify
the width of a wall which is named specifically to a
certain width the actual dimension will end up different
to the Catalog Type, resulting in incorrect schedules or
reports.
Click on the “End Point” grab-handle to select it.

Figure 08-24: Selecting the End Point grab-handle

of the wall

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 2. Move your cursor in the x-direction, towards gridline K, to modify
the wall length. Hit [Enter] to turn on SmartLock and snap to the
end of the wall by the column at grid K6.

Figure 08-25: Modify the wall length to this point

Click to accept the modification.

HUD (Heads Up Display)

Another method of modifying walls is the HUD (Heads Up Display) system.
This uses temporary dimensions which display when a wall, or other
AECOsim Building Designer element, is selected which define the length and
relationship of this wall to other adjoining walls. When in Top view, you click
on one of these dimensions, an edit box appears into which you can enter a
new value.
You can click on the green OK arrow, click in the view or hit [Enter] to apply
your new value.
To cancel the edit, click on the red Cancel cross, right-click to reset or hit the
[Esc] key.

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 Figure 08-26: The HUD edit box

Exercise 08-04

Modifying forms
There are times when the grab-handles will not perform the edit you require.
For example, if you select the wall along gridline I, you will not be able to
extend the end of the wall past the wall on gridline 6; the wall end will keep
trimming back to the intersection.
Using the Modify Form tool you can modify the height and base, the width
or length of a wall. The Modify Form tool is located in the Building Designer
> Structural Design > Modify/Connect Walls Task (keyboard shortcut Z 5).

Figure 08-27: The Modify Form tool

The Modify Form Geometry tool, accessed through the right-press menu
when a wall is selected, performs the same task.

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 Figure 08-28: The Modify Wall Geometry Figure 08-29: The Modify Form Tool
tool on the right-press context menu Settings

1. Rotate View 1 to Isometric and window into the wall on gridline I

between grids 6 and 7.

Figure 08-30: The wall along gridline I

2. In the Building Designer > Modify/Connect Forms Walls task select

Modify Form tool and in the Tool Settings window pick the Extend
a linear Form icon.
Set the Method to “Add Distance”.

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 Figure 08-31: The Modify Form Tool Settings

Leave Distance and Add Form unticked.

Distance allows you to predefine a fixed length. Instead of extending
the Wall, Add Form creates a new Wall of the same parameters from
the end of the existing wall.
3. Select the wall and move the cursor beyond the end of the wall. The
dynamics are slightly different for this tool than the grab-handle
method: instead of the whole wall displaying, you will see an arrow
to represent the extended length of the wall.
Snap onto the end of the wall on the 2D plan as shown in Figure 08-32.

Figure 08-32: The end of the wall in the 2D plan

Click to accept and extend the wall.

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 Figure 08-33: The wall after being extended

The wall junction is no longer trimmed correctly. Although this doesn’t

matter for drawing production, it is a good idea to tidy it up for aesthetic
purposes – and schedules.
The Building Designer > Structural Design > Modify/Connect Walls Task
contains four Connect Forms tools to trim the ends of walls to others.

Figure 08-34: The Connect Forms tools

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 4. Pick the Connect Forms as T tool.

Figure 08-35: The Connect Forms as T tool

The status bar prompt will read:

Connect Forms as T > Select first Form
Select the wall along gridline 6 (Figure 08-36, point 1).
You will be prompted to Select second Form. Click on the wall along
gridline I.
The first wall will be trimmed to the second wall.

Figure 08-36: The first wall connects to

the second wall

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 Compound Walls
The walls that have been used in the exercise so far in this chapter have been
single forms. There are also tools to place multiple walls at the same time
(Compound Walls) or walls based on parametric components. Exercise 08-05
leads you through the process of placing a Compound Wall.

Exercise 08-05

Placing a compound wall

1. In View 1 window into the area around the stair and lift core.

Figure 08-37: The stair and lift core

2. From the Building Designer > Structural Modelling Task pick the
Place Wall tool.
Click the DataGroup Catalog menu and under Composite pick
“S-G257-CurtainWall-NoTopMember-TopSpandrel-3000mm”.

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 Figure 08-38: Selecting the Compound Wall

NOTE: In the Preview window, depending on the order of the

constituent parts, it may be that some are hidden by
others. As it is not possible to rotate the view, you can
change the display mode to either Visible Edge (the
default) or Wireframe. Right-click on the Preview and
select Wireframe from the bottom of the pop-up menu.

Figure 08-39: The difference in Preview between

Visible Edge (left) and Wireframe (right)

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 3. In Placement Options check that you are placing a Linear wall, and
set Orientation to Centre.
Make sure Close is unticked and Auto Connect is ticked.

Figure 08-40: The Placement Options

4. AccuSnap to the midpoint of the cyan rectangle on level

“A-G251:JH1-G-WallExtlCurt” representing the end post of the
curtain wall.
Click to begin placing the wall. Don’t worry that the wall base is
lower than your 2D plan. This is because you are modelling on
Floor “01”, the Structural Slab Level, and the references are attached
at Finished Floor Level.

Figure 08-41: The start point of the compound wall

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 Move towards the right of the building and place the second point
on the right-hand end of the curtain wall in the 2D plan.

Figure 08-42: The end point of the compound wall

Right-click to reset.

The curtain wall element is made up of four separate components, each with
their own Part definition. The components can be edited individually using
the grab-handle method, or together using the Modify Forms tool while
Graphic Group Lock is on. If Graphic Group Lock is off, the components
will act as individual elements regardless of the tool selected.

NOTE: These completed exercises is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-Walls.dgn.

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 Editing Walls
As part of the development process of your project model you may need to
completely edit walls, for example break a wall into two or more segments or
join two walls together to make one.
The Break a Wall and the Join Two Walls tools can be located in the Building
Designer > Structural Design > Modify Connect/Connect Walls Task.

Figure 08-43: The Break Wall and Join Two Walls to make
one wall tools

Exercise 08-06

Break wall

1. Open the design file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-

M3-S-WallsEditing.dgn. Window into the wall on gridline 6,
between grids J and K.

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 Figure 08-44: The wall to break

2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task select Break

a Wall (G 3).

Figure 08-45: To use its full name: The Break a Wall

into 2 independent segments tool

The only option in the Break Wall Tool Settings window is Keep
Graphic Group. When ticked, this will keep the broken wall segments
in the same Graphic Group. This allows them to be moved and
manipulated as a single entity (when Graphic Group Lock is on).
Make sure that Keep Graphic Group is ticked.

Figure 08-46: The Keep Graphic Group

option in the Break Wall Tool Settings

3. As the 2D architectural linework is at a different level to the

structural wall, and this tool will not allow you to snap directly
to the linework, you will need to rotate to Top view and ensure
Intersection snap is selected.

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 Select the wall at the exact position you require the break to start.
For this exercise use the end of the wall opening shown in a purple
multi-line on level “A-G252-G-WallIntl”.

Figure 08-47: The start point of the wall break

Move to the right. A dynamic arrow will be displayed showing you

the direction of the wall break.
Snap to the other end of the wall opening shown in the 2D plan.

Figure 08-48: The end point of the wall break

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 Click to accept and create the break.

Figure 08-49: The completed break

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 Wall Penetrations
In the following exercise you will place an access panel opening to one of the
lift core walls and provide channelling for Monitoring and Control systems.
As explained in Chapter 7: Modelling Floors this could be done using
standard MicroStation tools, but you will use the Place Wall or Slab
Penetrations tool provided in the Building Designer > Structural Design >
Slabs and Foundations Task.

Figure 08-50: The Place Wall or Slab

Penetration tool

The Place User Defined Type - Penetrations Tool Settings are described in
Chapter 07: Modelling Floors.

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 Exercise 08-07

Place wall penetration

1. Continuing in the design file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-
01-M3-S-WallsEditing.dgn, window in to the lift core walls.
Turn off the reference “IntFabric” AR-XX-01-PL-252_Int-Fabric.
dgn for clarity.

Figure 08-51: The lift core walls

2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Slabs and
Foundations Task pick Place Wall or Slab Penetrations tool.
The Place User Defined Type – Penetrations Tool Settings window
will open.
Change the Catalog Instance to “S-G32-WallPenetration-Rectangular”.

Figure 08-52: Selecting the Catalog Instance

In the Property Value window enter “1500” into Base Offset.

Leave all the other properties as their default settings.
3. The status bar prompt will read:
Place User Defined Type: Identify Wall for Placement

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 AccuSnap to the lower left hand corner of the front lift wall (Figure
08-53, point 1). Click to locate the start point of the Penetration.

Figure 08-53: Selecting the wall at the lower

left-hand corner

4. Use AccuDraw to define the offset for the Penetration. Enter “1000”
in the X axis.
The status bar prompt will read:
Place User Defined Type: Accept/Reject – Position
Click to accept the position of the Penetration.
The Penetration will be placed in the wall at a Base Offset height of
1500, 1000 from the edge of the wall.

Figure 08-54: The completed Penetration

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 Exercise 08-08

Features
1. Turn on the level “S-G661-M-Control”.
You will see a brown rectangle at the base of the lift walls,
highlighted in Figure 08-55. You will use this as a profile to create
channelling in the wall.

Figure 08-55: The profile for creating a channel

in the lift wall

2. From the Building Designer > Structural Modelling >

Manipulate Features Task pick the Cut Solids By Curves tool.

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 Figure 08-56: The Cut Solids by Curves tool

3. In the Cut Solids by Curves Tool Settings window, set the following:

Cut Direction to “Forward”

Cut Mode to “Define Depth”

Tick Cut Depth and type “1500” into the field.

Check that Split Solid and Keep Profile are unticked.

Figure 08-57: Cut Solids by Curves tool

settings

4. The status bar prompt will read:

Cut Solids by Curves > Select first solid

Select the wall shown in Figure 08-58.

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 Figure 08-58: The wall to cut

5. The status bar prompt will now read:

Cut Solids by Curves > Select cutting profiles (Ctrl + Data to select
additional target solids)

Select the profile to define it as the cutting element. It will be

highlighted and a green cut direction arrow will be displayed.

The status bar prompt will read:

Cut Solids by Curves > Accept/Reject (Ctrl + Data to select

additional cutting profiles)

Click again and the cut will be generated.

Figure 08-59: The generated cut

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 Click a final time to create the cut.

Figure 08-60: The completed cut

This chase has been created as a Feature. Features can be modified

and controlled independently of the solid to which they belong.
You can learn more about Features and how they can be edited in
Chapter 07: Modelling Floors, Exercise 07-08.

NOTE: The completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-WallsEditing.dgn.

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 Editing Properties
The datasets supplied with AECOsim Building Designer are very
comprehensive but there will be times that you will need to add new Catalog
Items for your project.

Exercise 08-09

Creating and applying a New Wall Type

In the Exercise 08-01 you created the lift walls using the Datagroup Catalog
Instance “S-G252-WallsInternal”. As the design progresses, it may be that
you are now in a position to identify specific wall types.
1. Open the file PM-01-M3-S-WallTypes.dgn from the
PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder.
From the Building Designer > Structural Modelling Task pick the
Place Wall tool.
It is often better to use a “template” DataGroup Item rather than
starting from scratch. In this case, click the DataGroup Catalog
Instance dropdown and pick “S-G25-WallsConcrete” from the
Concrete section.

Figure 08-61: Selecting the Catalog Instance

“S-G25-WallsConcrete”

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 2. Click Save copy of Catalog Item.

Figure 08-62: The Save copy of catalog item

button

The Save As… dialog will display.

Click into the Name field and enter “S-G25-WallsConcreteCore”.
Click OK.

Figure 08-63: The Save As… dialog box

3. Back in the Place Wall Tool Settings window, in Placement

Dimensions enter a Height of “3675”.
Enter a Width of “275”.
Switch to the Properties tab and scroll to Structural Usage >
Structural Function. Click in the Value field and select “Load-
bearing” from the dropdown menu.
Click Save Catalog Item to save your changes.

Figure 08-64: Saving the Catalog Item edits

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 4. Using Element Selection select the four walls of the lift core.

Figure 08-65: Selecting the four lift core walls

5. Right-press and select Modify Selected Component from the pop-up

context menu.

Figure 08-66: Modify Selected Component in

the right-press context menu

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 The Modify Wall Tool Settings will display. Click the Catalog
Selection dropdown and select “S-G25-WallsConcreteCore”.

Figure 08-67: Selecting the new S-G25-

WallsConcreteCore Wall Type

Click the Check All button to apply all the default values as you
change the Wall Type.
Click in the view window to apply the changes.

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 NOTE: The completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-WallTypes.dgn
and the wall type is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\
CompletedExercises\ProjectCatalogs_Structural.xml.

Figure 08-68: The Check All button

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 Match Form
Individually editing walls can be tedious so AECOsim Building Designer
provides tools to make use of the modelling work that you have already done
and apply it to other walls.

Exercise 08-10

Matching the top of an existing wall

1. Open the file in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ called
PM-00-M3-S-MatchWall.dgn.
From the Building Designer > Form Modelling Task pick the Match
Form Properties tool.

Figure 08-69: The Match Form Properties tool

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 The Match Form Properties Tool Settings window will display.

Figure 08-70: The Match Form Properties Tool Settings

The Match dropdown box offers options to match the Top,

Thickness or Direction of a Wall Form. Set this to “Top”.
2. The status bar prompt will read:
Match Top > Identify form to match
Select the Wall already trimmed to the stair landing as highlighted in
Figure 08-71.

Figure 08-71: The wall to match

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 The status bar prompt will change to read:
Match Top > Accept/Reject (Identify form to change)
Click on the wall to the opposite side of the staircase that extends
up past the landings. Once you have clicked on it, the top will be
modified to match the first wall.

Figure 08-72: The second wall selected and shown modified

Right-click to reset and finish.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-M3-S-MatchWall.dgn.

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Davies_ch08_ptg01_179-224.indd 224 03/26/15 10:05 AM
 Chapter 9

Foundations

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Davies_ch09_ptg01_225-240.indd 226 03/26/15 10:05 AM
 AECOsim Building Designer offers tools to create foundations, piles and
pile caps in several different ways. There are specific foundations tools in the
Structural Design > Slabs and Foundations Task.

Figure 09-01: The Slabs and Foundations Task

Depending on your requirements, it is also possible to place footings and

base plates using Compound Cells, although these will not be included in the
DataGroup system. This chapter deals with the Slabs and Foundations tools
for modelling foundations. Additional content can be found in Chapter 14:
Compound Cells.

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 Creating Pad Foundations
Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-FN-M3-S-Foundation.dgn.
Selecting the Place Concrete Piers tool opens the Place Concrete Pier tool
settings dialog. This tool is identical to Place Concrete Column (refer to
Chapter 06: Structural Frames for full details).

Figure 09-02: The Place Concrete Pier

tool settings

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 It is often better to use this tool as opposed to using Compound Cells as the
delivered Compound Cells only exist at certain pre-defined sizes. As insitu
reinforced concrete can be formed at any dimension, the Place Concrete Pier
tool allows manual entry of a pad size in the Standard Section > Name field.

Exercise 09-01

Place concrete pier

1. In the Floor Selector tool, click on the Select Active Floor dropdown.
Double-click “FN” to set the Active Floor to the Foundation level,
250mm below the Ground Floor slab level.

Figure 09-03: Setting the active floor from the

Floor Selector dialog

2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Concrete Pier tool.
Check the Catalog Instance is set to S-212-FoundationsPier.

Figure 09-04: The Catalog Instance

In the Standard Section > Name field, type “1700 × 1700” for the
width (in the X direction) and depth (Y direction) of the pier.
The Section Name dialog will appear. This is the name of the section
that will be created. By default it will be the same as the size you

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 entered in the Name field. It does not need to be identical, but in this
instance, keep it the same. Click OK to save the section.
Check Placement Point is “Center, center”. This will allow you to
snap to the columns to place the pier.
Tick the Interactive option so that you can orientate the pier to
the grid.
Change the Placement Options > Place by to “Length at end 2”.
Placing a pier this way means you will define the top centre point,
and the length will be placed below your point.
Enter a Length of “600.0”.

Figure 09-05: Placement Options

Leave the other Placement options as they are.

3. Switch to the Properties tab and enter the following values:
Materials > Parts Definition > Family = S-G2, Part = S-G21-
Foundations
Structural Usage > Structural Function = Load-bearing
Zoom or Window into the column at Grid A1.
4.
Snap to the base of the column using the Structural Snap point End 1.

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 Figure 09-06: The placement point of the
pier, at the base of the column

To align the pier correctly, the next point needs to be along gridline A.

Figure 09-07: Orientating the pier along

gridline A

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 5. Place another two piers at the bases of the columns on grids B1 and
C1. You will notice that the Rotation Angle is automatically set to
“130.47º”, the angle of the first pier.

Figure 09-08: Placing the 3 piers along gridline 1

Exercise 09-02

Place slab
Where a foundation is a more complex shape, or where angled sides are
needed, the Place Slab tool can be used.
1. Still in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-FN-M3-S-
Foundation.dgn, window in on the double pad between gridlines C5
and C6.
2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Floor Slab tool.
Set the Catalog Instance to S-G22-SlabConcreteRC.
Change the Placement Options > Place From to Bottom. In the case
of a slab with sloped sides, this is important to ensure the slab is the
correct size. The sides will slope away from the outline you draw.
In the case of a slab placed from the bottom, the sides will slope
outwards; the sides of a slab placed from top slope inwards so you
would need to draw the maximum extent of the slope.

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 Change the Placement Options > Place By to Boundary. It would
be easier to pick the shape already drawn to represent the location
of the pad foundation, but a slab placed by shape cannot have
sloped sides.
Set the Thickness to “600”.

Figure 09-09: The Placement Options

Set the Side Options as follows:

Overhang = “0.0”
The slab edge needs to be placed exactly at the points selected.
Side Angle = Angle
Slope = “45.0”
Currently, the slab will be placed at the Active Floor “FN” level, at
129320, or only 250mm, below the ground floor slab level. As the
foundation being drawn is 600 thick it would project above the slab
by 350mm. To place the slab at the correct depth, enter “-600” in
the Base Offset.

Figure 09-10: The Side Options and Base Offset

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 By default, the DataGroup Catalog Instance “S-G22-
SlabConcreteRC” will create a slab using the S-G22-Slab Part.
To show the element being created as a foundation, switch to
the Properties tab and set the Materials > Parts Definition to be
Family = S-G2, Part = S-G21-Foundations.
3. Trace around the yellow outline on level S-G214-M-Pilecaps. The
points will be shown at the FN level. Don’t worry that this appears
wrong, it is merely the points you pick being locked to the current
ACS. The Base Offset will account for the necessary difference in level.

Figure 09-11: Tracing the foundation outline

Once the fourth point has been placed, right-click to complete the
foundation. It will be created at the required depth, 128720, 850mm
below the 2D shape.

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 Figure 09-12: The completed pad
foundation with angled sides

NOTE: These completed exercises are available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-FN-M3-S-Foundation.dgn.

Exercise 09-03

Place concrete piles

1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-PL-M3-
S-PileCap.dgn.
Using Floor Selector, set the Floor to “PL”.
2. In the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, click the Place
Concrete Piles tool.
Set the Standard Section > Name to “RC750”. You can find this in
the uk sections, in the Solid Rounds type.

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 Figure 09-13: The RC750 section

Change the Placement Options > Place By to Length at end 2.

Enter a Length of “5000.0”.
In the Properties tab > Identification, set the ID | Type ID to “P01”.
3. Snap to the centre of the first dashed circle on level S-G21-M-
FoundationsPiles to locate the pile, referenced P01.

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 Figure 09-14: Locating the first pile

Change the Identification > ID | Type ID to “P02” and place the

second pile using the centre of one of the other dashed circles.
Change the Identification > ID | Type ID to “P03” and place the
third pile.

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 Figure 09-15: All 3 piles placed

4. To complete the pile cap, from the Building Designer > Structural
Design Task, click the Place Concrete Piers tool.
Browse for, and select, the section Project section “750-3pile”
shown below:

Figure 09-16: Selecting the pile cap

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 It isn’t possible to place a section of this shape using Placement
point = Center, center as the centre point will not align exactly with
the centre point of the 2D shape. Weird, but that’s just the way it
is. Set the Placement point to Top, center and tick the Interactive
option.
Check the Placement Options are set to:
Place by = Length at end 2
Length = “600”
5. Before placing the pile cap, set the Active Floor to be “FN”.
Place the pier at the midpoint of the widest side of the magenta pile
cap on level S-G21-M-FoundationPad.

Figure 09-17: The placement point of the pier

Click again at the same midpoint to orientate the pier correctly.

Right-click to exit the command.

NOTE: The completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-PL-M3-S-PileCap.dgn.

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Davies_ch09_ptg01_225-240.indd 240 03/26/15 10:05 AM
 Chapter 10

Additional
Structural
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Davies_ch10_ptg01_241-274.indd 242 03/30/15 12:26 PM
 Many of the Structural Design tools work in a similar way. This chapter
identifies additional tools not covered in Chapter 06: Structural Frames and
explains important aspects of their operation.

Adding Bracing
Placing X-Bracing
The Place Steel X-Bracing tool is used to create structural bracing members,
in a crossed configuration, between columns and/or beams.
To place bracing use the Building Designer > Structural Design > Place Steel
X-Bracing tool (keyboard shortcut E4).

Figure 10-01: The Place Steel X-Bracing tool

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 This will show the Place Steel X-Bracing dialog box.

Figure 10-02: The Place Steel X-Bracing dialog box

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 Bracing is placed between two columns.

Figure 10-03: Steel bracing between two columns

Bracing placed using this tool is co-planar and is therefore modelled as four
separate members, split at the intersection. For more accurate modelling, the
members can be adjusted after placement, or the Place Steel Brace tool used
for each bracing member.

Figure 10-04: Showing the split of the cross-bracing

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 The Placement Options allows the placement line of the bracing to be
adjusted to respect standard steel design and construction methods.

Figure 10-05: The Place Steel X-Bracing

Placement Options

Apply WP offset moves the ends of the bracing from the Placement point to
either half the depth or the full depth of the top beam. When selected, you will
be prompted for an additional beam which the bracing will be offset from.

Figure 10-06: The Apply WP offset tick box

If your beams are aligned centre to centre, use 1/2 depth of beam to line up
with the underside of the top member. If you have created your beam so the top
aligns with the Placement point of your columns, use the Depth of beam option.

Figure 10-07: Cross bracing without a WP offset

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 Figure 10-08: Cross bracing with 1/2 depth of
beam selected

Figure 10-09: Cross bracing with Depth of

beam selected

Ticking the Prompt for bottom beam option allows the definition of a beam
to which the cross-bracing is attached.

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 Figure 10-10: Bracing placed without a bottom
beam selected

Figure 10-11: Bracing placed with a bottom

beam selected

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 Exercise 10-01

Creating cross bracing

1. Open the file in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder called
PM-00-M3-S-AdditionalStructuralMembers.dgn.
Window into the middle bay of columns on grids L1 and N1.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Steel Bracing task,
click the Place Steel X-Bracing tool.
Click on Select section and pick the PL10 × 150 section size from
Rectangular Shapes.

Figure 10-12: Structural Section dialog box

showing the PL10 × 150 section size

Ensure the Placement Point is set to Top, center.

Check the rotation angle is set to 0°.
Tick Apply WP offset and choose Depth of beam.
Check Automatic Coping is unticked.
3. The status bar prompt will read:
Place Steel X-Bracing > Select first column to brace
Click on the column on grids L1, Figure 10-17, point 1.

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 You will be prompted to Select second column to brace. Click on the
column at grid intersection N1, Figure 10-17, point 2.
Finally, select the beam joining the two columns, Figure 10-17, point 3.

Figure 10-13: The members to be selected to place

X-Bracing with a WP offset

The cross-bracing will be generated.

Figure 10-14: The completed cross bracing

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 Adding and Editing Coping
In order to trim members to other members, the coping and cutback tools
can be used.
Apply Planar Cutback will trim a beam based on either another beam,
column, or by a user-defined value. The beam length will still be scheduled as
the original distance but will be cut back graphically.
From the Structural Design Task, click the Apply Planar Cutback tool.

Figure 10-15: The Apply Planar Cutback tool

Apply Planar Cutback has two Modes:

Minimum clearance will cut the beam by the Planar cut clearance distance
from the nearest beam.

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 Figure 10-16: A beam cut back by a
Minimum clearance of 5mm from a column

Absolute clearance option allows a beam to be cutback from its placed

location by the distance specified in the Apply Planar Cutback Tool Settings
window.

Figure 10-17: Beam cut back by an

Absolute clearance of 5mm

As long as Constructions are turned on in the View Attributes dialog,

selecting a beam that has been cutback will show the dotted placement line
to indicate the full length of the beam as it will be scheduled.

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 Figure 10-18: A coped beam selected to
show placement line

In order to cope a structural member or collection of structural members to

another structural member, the Update/Edit Cutback tool can be used.

Figure 10-19: The Update/Edit Cutback tool

Figure 10-20: The Update/Edit Cutback Tool

Settings window

Select By Resource File allows the loading of a resource file containing

selection criteria. A resource file is a saved selection. This is standard
MicroStation functionality and therefore isn’t covered in this book.

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 Member Mode defines the selection method for the member that is being cut:
Single/Selection set allows individual members to be selected.
Criteria set loaded from a resource file can be used to automate the
selection of structural members.
Grouped Criteria from a resource file can be used to automate the
selection of structural members.
Batch allows the selection of multiple criteria sets.
All iterates through the entire model and checks all members to see if
they can be cut by overlapping members. This process can be very slow
depending on the size of the model and should be avoided.
Support Mode defines the selection method for the member/members that are
doing the cutting. The options are the same as those in the Member Mode.

Exercise 10-02

Coping a single beam to a column

1. Ensure you still have the file PM-00-M3-S-
AdditionalStructuralMembers.dgn open from the
PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder.
The column on grid intersection K1 and the beam between grids K1
and L1 overlap. To cope this beam back to the face of the column,
the Update\Edit Cutback tool is used.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Edit Framing
Elements Task, click the Update/Edit Cutback tool.
Ensure the Member Mode is set to Single/Selection Set and the
Support Mode is set to Single.
The command line will prompt Update/Edit Cutback > Identify
element.
Select the beam between gridlines K1 and L1, Figure 10-22, point 1.
The command line will prompt Update /Edit Cutback > Click to
accept member for update.
Click a data point to accept the selection.
The command line will prompt Update /Edit Cutback > Select
member to cope /cutback to.
Select the column on grid intersection K1, Figure 10-22, point 2.
The command line will prompt Update /Edit Cutback > Click to
accept member update.
Click a data point to accept the selection.

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 Figure 10-21: The overlapping column and beam
showing which order to select the beams

Figure 10-22: The column cut back to the beam

This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-AdditionalStructuralMembers.dgn.

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 Exercise 10-03

Creating multiple cutbacks, editing cutbacks and deleting

cutbacks
Instead of coping a single beam at a time, the Update/Edit Cutback tool can
be used to cope multiple beams.
1. Open the file in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder called
PM-01-M3-S-TrimStructuralMembers.dgn.
2. From the Building Designer > Data Task, click the DataGroup
Explorer tool to show the DataGroup Explorer.

Figure 10-23: The DataGroup Explorer tool

In the DataGroup Explorer Catalog Types directory list (the

left-hand pane) select Beams: Steel.
Select all the beams in the DataGroup Explorer list box (the
right-hand pane). All of the beams in the file will highlight.

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 Figure 10-24: The DataGroup Explorer dialog showing all
of the Beams: Steel selected and highlighted in the file

3. Right-click any one of the beams in the DataGroup Explorer and

choose Create Selection Set.

Figure 10-25: Creating a selection set in

DataGroup Explorer

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 The Status bar Selection Set area now shows 17 elements selected.

Figure 10-26: The Status bar Select Area showing

17 elements selected

4. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Edit Framing
Elements Task, click the Update/Edit Cutback tool.
In the Update/Edit Cutback Tool Settings window, ensure Member
Mode is set to Single/Selection Set, and ensure Support Mode is
set to All.
Click in the view window. All of the beams will be cut back to the
other structural members they meet.
When the cutbacks are created, occasionally AECOsim Building
Designer will interpret the cutback incorrectly. For example, the
beam on gridline 6 has been coped to the width of the beam on
gridline I shown in Figure 10-27. If necessary, cutbacks can be
deleted using the Remove Cutback tool.

Figure 10-27: A highlighted beam showing an example

of an incorrect cutback

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 5. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Edit Framing
Elements Task, click the Remove Cutback tool.

Figure 10-28: The Remove Cutback tool

6. Select the beam between grid intersections I6 and J6 and click to

accept. The cutbacks will be removed.

Figure 10-29: The cutback removed from the beam

NOTE: The cutback on this beam can be recreated correctly

when the Support Mode is set to Single.
 his completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\
T
CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-TrimStructuralMembers.dgn.

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 Placing a Baseplate
Baseplates can be placed using the Place Content tool. This tool allows
placement of Compound Cells (refer to Chapter 14: Compound Cells), and
parametric cells created in Parametric Cell Studio (The usage of this tool is
not covered by this book).

Figure 10-30: The Place Content (Baseplates,

Ladders, etc.) button

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 Exercise 10-04

Placing base plates

1. Open the file in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder called
PM-FN-M3-S-AdditionalContent.dgn.
From the Floor Selector, choose Floor FN.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Structural User
Defined Members Task, click the Place Content (Baseplates, Ladders,
etc.) tool.
The Place User Defined Type dialog box will show. From the
Instance Data Type dropdown, select Base Plates: Steel.
From the Catalog Type item list, choose S-G26-Baseplate-
WithGrout.

Figure 10-31: The Place User Defined Type dialog

showing the selection of the Instance Data Type and
the required baseplate item

Change the following properties:

Base Offset = “0.0”
Grout Thickness = “25.0”
Unit Height = “20.0”
Unit Length = “350.0”
Unit Width = “350.0”

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 Figure 10-32: The Place User Defined Type Tool
Settings showing the edited properties

3. Ensure you have Keypoint snap selected and snap to the bottom of
column at grid intersection A1.

Figure 10-33: The required location of the baseplate

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 You are then prompted to choose an orientation. Snap to grid
intersection A2.

Figure 10-34: Snapping to the intersection of gridlines A2

to define the orientation of the baseplate

Figure 10-35: The completed base plate and grout

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 NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-FN-M3-S-
AdditionalContent.dgn.

Place Truss
The Place Steel Trusses tool can be used to quickly create several
configurations of common steel trusses.

Figure 10-36: The Place Steel Trusses tool

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 The Steel Truss Modeling Tool Settings requires the choice of Mode to be
selected.

Figure 10-37: Steel Truss Modeling Tool Settings

Place will allow a path to be drawn that the steel truss will follow.
Modify allows the modification of the properties of an existing truss.
Manipulate allows the manipulation of the path used to place a truss.
Import from SDNF file imports a steel truss in SDNF format.
Once a path has been defined, the Steel Truss Program dialog box will show
with six tabs along the top of the dialog box. The tabs allow control of the
members and plates that are used to create the truss.

Figure 10-38: The Steel Truss Program dialog box

Truss Type/Layout configures details for the type of truss, the height, the
number of panels and name of a truss.
Chord Data configures the member sizes for the top and bottom beams
of a truss.

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 Vertical Members configures the vertical members of the truss.
Diagonal Members configures the diagonal members of the truss.
Sub Members configures the properties for any sub members (these are
diagonal members going in the opposite direction of the Diagonal Members).
Gusset Plates configures the properties of the gusset plates that hold the
vertical and diagonal members to the top and bottom chords.

Exercise 10-05

Creating a truss
A walkway to the John O’Gaunt building is required.
1. Open the file in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ called
PM-01-M3-S-Walkway.dgn.
The walkway trusses will be constructed in-line with gridlines 4 and
5 and will extend 8000mm from the right hand edge of the building.

Figure 10-39: How the completed walkway trusses

will look

From the Floor Selector, select Floor 01.

2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Steel Trusses Task,
click the Place Steel Trusses tool.
From the Steel Truss Modelling Tool Settings window, from the
Mode dropdown, choose Place.

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 Figure 10-40: The Steel Truss Modelling Tool Settings
window showing the Mode set to Place

3. Snap to the corner of the slab closest to the intersection of grid lines
O5, then move your cursor in the X direction. Enter a distance of
“8000” in the X axis and click to accept.

Figure 10-41: The first point of the truss placement

line and direction of the truss

4. In the Steel Truss Program dialog box, on the Truss Type/Layout

tab, enter the details below.
Truss Type = Warren Truss
Place by = By Defining bottom chord points
Truss Name/label = “JOD Walkway North”
Number of panels = “6”
Truss depth at end 1 (mu) = 1100
Truss depth at end 2 (mu) = 1100

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 Figure 10-42: The Truss Type/Layout tab highlighting the
required settings

5. Change to the Chord Data tab and click on the Select… button in
the Top Chord Data area.

Figure 10-43: The Chord Data tab showing the section

size Select… button

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 Set Type to Rectangular Shapes and select the 100x150 section size.

Figure 10-44: The Structural Sections dialog box

showing the selection of the section size

Repeat for the Bottom Chord Data Section Size.

In the Vertical Members tab, select the first vertical member (V1).
6.
Tick the box next to Family and choose S-G2.
Change the Part to S-G26-Frame/IsolatedStructuralMembers.

Figure 10-45: Choosing the Family and Part for the first
vertical member

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 Click the Select… button to set the Section Size, and set Type to
Round Tubes. Pick the CHS42.4x3.2 section.
Leave the rest of the settings as they are.

Figure 10-46: Changing the section size of the

vertical member

Select each of the other vertical members in turn and by clicking on

the button in the bottom right of the dialog box, make each one the
same as V 1. You have to click on the button to apply the changes.

Figure 10-47: Setting the other vertical members to be

the same as V 1

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 7. On the Diagonal Members tab repeat the same process used for the
vertical members using the same section size.

Figure 10-48: The Diagonal Members tab showing the member

settings completed

8. On the Gusset Plates tab, select End 1.

Ensure the box is ticked next to Family and change the Family to S-G2.
Change the Part to S-G26-Frame/IsolatedStructuralMember.

Figure 10-49: Setting the Family and Part for the Gusset
Plate at End 1

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 Change the Top and Bottom Thickness to “3”. Leave the rest of the
settings as they are.

Figure 10-50: Changing the Gusset Plate Thickness for the

Top and Bottom

Select each of the other plates in turn and click the Make same as
button and ensure the dropdown has End 1 selected.
9. At the bottom of the dialog box, click the Save button, browse to
PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ and enter the name “PM-01-M3-
S-Walkway.tru” and click Save.
Click the Place button to create the truss.

Figure 10-51: The first truss placed

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 10. On the Structural Design Task > Steel Trusses tool, click the Place
Steel Trusses button.
Snap to the corner of the slab closest to grid intersection O5, move
your cursor in the X direction, and enter a distance of “8000” in the
X axis and click to accept.
Instead of re-entering the settings, click the Open button and browse
to the PracticalModelling\_Resources\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
Walkway.tru file.

Figure 10-52: The Open button to load an existing

truss .tru file

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 Change the name on the Truss Type/Layout tab to “JOD Walkway
South”.
Click Place.

Figure 10-53: The completed walkway trusses

NOTE: This completed exercise is available from PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-A-Walkway.dgn.

The completed truss settings can be found in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-A-Walkway.tru.

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 Chapter 11

Stairs

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Davies_ch11_ptg01_275-308.indd 276 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 AECOsim Building Designer offers enhanced functionality for placing stairs,
escalators and handrails.
The Place Stair tool is found in the Building Designer > Structural Design >
Vertical Circulation Task (keyboard shortcut C 1).

Figure 11-01: The Place Stair tool

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 Place Stair does not use the Tool Settings window; instead clicking on
the tool will open the Stair Placement Settings toolbar. This defines basic
stair types and geometry, as well providing access to the parametrics and
properties to customise a stair. While the Stair Placement Settings toolbar can
be docked, it closes once another tool is selected.

Figure 11-02: The Stair Placement Settings ribbon

bar, shown docked

1. The first menu lists the available Stair Catalog Instances. The menu
width cannot be altered so you will see that some of the longer
names are clipped. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue provided
you keep your Catalog Item names reasonably compact when
defining new stairs.
2. The next button opens the Stair Property Panel. This works very
much like any of the other DataGroup placement dialogs, allowing
you to modify the properties before placement. You will notice that
the stair properties are considerably more comprehensive than other
tools. Don’t worry, it’s not often you will have to edit all of them
unless you are creating bespoke stairs. Remember to consider the
scale and level of detail you are expected to model. So long as the
stair represents the intent at 1:100, or at the most 1:50, many of the
supplied Catalog Items will suffice. If you need to produce contract
deliverables above that scale you may need to take the time to look
at more of the properties or model detailed components manually.

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 Figure 11-03: The Stair Properties panel

3. The third dropdown defines the Stair Configuration, whether it is

a straight flight, quarter or half-turn, etc. In normal modelling we
would advise you to model each flight and the landings separately.
Despite being given many parametric settings, modifying the
relationship of the flight to the landing is fairly limited. The exercises
in the chapter will cover placing stairs both ways to demonstrate the
differences.

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 Figure 11-04: The Stair Configuration options –
for a circular stair you would need to use
the old Stair Maker

4. The fourth sets the Stair Alignment, or its origin point.

5. Field 5 specifies the Width of the flights.
6. The next two fields, Height By and the Height value, specify how
the stair is constrained vertically. You can either specify the height
explicitly using Height (Fixed) and enter a distance, or you can
hand the control over to Floor Selector using the Floor Constrained
option. This option places a stair on the current active Floor plane,
and continues up to the Elevation of the next floor up. If there is
no floor above, you will receive an error. If the floor heights are
edited, the star will also need to be edited and won’t maintain the
relationship once placed.
7. The last but one button allows you to define a Stair Offset to place
stairs a specified distance away from or above/below the origin point.
8. Finally, the Validation button either displays or suppresses warnings
when the stair’s parameters do not comply with the design criteria
you have loaded. The design of staircases is controlled by building
regulations to keep all stairs within safe design constraints. The Stair
Placement Options include a Constraints file to help you keep riser
to going ratios within these limits.

Exercise 11-01

Placing a stair
1. In the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-M3-S-Stair.dgn
apply the Saved View Ex1101 to View 1 and in Floor Selector, set
the floor to “00”.

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 2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design Tasks > Vertical
Circulation, click the Place Stair tool.
NOTE: If you receive any Constraint Warnings up until you place
the stair, click OK to dismiss it. This may occur as you
change the properties.
In the Stair Placement Settings ribbon bar:
Set the Stairs dropdown to be “S-G23-StairConcreteRC”.
Set the Stair Alignment to Center Base.
In the Width field enter a value of “1280”.
In the Height By field, set the dropdown to be Height (Fixed) and
enter a value of “3575”.
3. Click on the Stair PropertyPanel button to open the Stair Properties
Panel.

Figure 11-05: The Stair PropertyPanel button

Set the following properties:

Placement > Riser Actual Number = “25”
In the Constraint - Controls section, click on the Attach Constraint
Definition button and pick “Institutional”. This is an XML file
which can be used to help keep the stair within building control
constraints.

Figure 11-06: Changing the Constraints file to

Institutional

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 It is possible to turn the constraint checking off altogether using the
Validation button in the Stair Placement Settings ribbon bar, but for
now, override the Tread Depth Minimum value by clicking on Edit
Constraint Definition.
Edit the Tread Depth Minimum value to be “220”.

Figure 11-07: Editing the Constraints file

Click on Save Constraint Definition.

Figure 11-08: Saving the Constraints file

Administration tip
There are two variables, BB_STAIRCONSTRAINTPATH & BB_STAIRCONSTRAINTS, which define the .xml
file to use for stair constraints. However, the Stair Constraints files are loaded by the DG_PATH configuration
variable. You can have as many constraints files as you need, but so long as they are in this search path,
they will be loaded by in the Stair Properties Panel.

Continue setting the properties:

Treads > Tread Depth = “250”
Treads > Tread Nosing Profile = “<none>”
Properties > Fire Exit = “True”

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 4. Set the Stair Configuration to be Two Quarter Turn.

Figure 11-09: Setting the Stair Configuration

Check whether the Riser Actual Number has reset itself. It may do
this as you change Stair Configuration as it will automatically try to
adjust to the properties to the optimal settings. If it is 24, enter the
value “25” again.
Set Landings > Landing Thickness = “200”.
5. AccuSnap to the midpoint of the Architect’s purple line on level
A-G23-G-Strs representing riser 01.
Click to begin placing the stair.

Figure 11-10: The first placement point

of the stair

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 Rotate AccuDraw to align with the direction of the staircase. You
can do this using the RC shortcut which rotates AccuDraw to match
the current ACS.
Hit [Enter] to start SmartLock and lock the orientation in the
correct direction.
Click the second point when riser 07 aligns with the plan.

Figure 11-11: The second placement point of

the stair

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 Click the third point below the stair to orientate the second flight
correctly to follow the plan. If you move your cursor to the left you
will be able to place an angled flight. Note that you cannot create an
angle less than 90º.

Figure 11-12: Moving your cursor to the left

will allow an angled flight

The fourth point defines the riser position at the next landing
position. Again, click when the third flight is aligned with the plan.
The turning point should be at riser 15 as shown in Figure 11-12.

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 Figure 11-13: Defining the position of the
second landing

The final fifth point confirms the orientation of the top flight. Again,
you can create an angled flight by moving the cursor away from the
AccuDraw axis. Click when the last flight lines up with the plan.
The exact position is not critical.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-M3-S-Stair.dgn.

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 Once a stair has been placed, its geometry can be modified. Rather than
having to edit the properties (which of course you can do by right-pressing
on the stair and selecting Modify Stair), a selected Stair will have specific edit
handles.
There are three different edit handles, shown in Figure 11-13, to change the
stair direction, move the position of the landing, and for adding or removing
a tread at the “start” or “end” of the landing.

Figure 11-14: The Stair Edit Handles

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 Exercise 11-02

Modifying stair geometry with edit handles

1. Open the design file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-
M3-S-StairEditHandles.dgn. View 1 shows you a stair in plan;
View 2 shows you the same stair in an Illustrated 3D view.
Select the Stair. The edit Handles will be displayed.
2. In View 1, click on the Change Stair Direction handle. This is the
one at the base of the staircase.

Figure 11-15: The Change Stair Direction Edit Handle

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 Click again, anywhere. The stair direction will be reversed and will
be updated in View 2.

Figure 11-16: The stair after its direction has been

changed

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 3. Remove the treads at the landing. Do this by clicking on the – signs,
the Add/Remove Tread At Landing handles.

Figure 11-17: The Add/Remove Tread At Landing Handle

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 Click once to select the handle. Click again to remove the tread.
The Edit Handle will change to a + sign meaning you can now use it
to add a tread. You cannot take any more away.

Figure 11-18: The landing after the tread has been removed

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 Repeat with the other – sign, the Add/Remove Tread At Landing
handle, on the same landing.
4. At this stage the Stair will not be in the correct location. Move the
stair to match the plan.

Figure 11-19: Move the stair to match the plan

5. Finally, click on the Change Tread Distribution handle on the top

landing to rearrange the treads.

Figure 11-20: The Change Tread Distribution

Edit Handle

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 Once selected, move your cursor up the view to align the treads with
the plan. You only need to adjust it by one tread position to match.

Figure 11-21: Re-distributing the treads to

lower the landing and match the plan

The staircase should now be correct.

Figure 11-22: The modified staircase shown in View 2

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 NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-M3-S-StairEditHandles.dgn.
You would modify the slab edge at the top of the Stair to avoid any overlap
of concrete. Although small, this could cause errors in your reporting,
especially if overlapping elements exist throughout your project model.
From working through the above exercises, you will see that there is no way
to edit the edge of a landing separately to the edge of the stair. Producing
a shadow gap, for example, is not possible with an integral staircase and
landings. For more control over stair and landings, you could model the
landings as Slabs and then place single-flight Stairs. The Stair you create in
Exercise 11-03 will not be exactly correct according to the plan, but will
demonstrate how flights can be maintained separately to landings.

Exercise 11-03
Placing a stair with existing landings
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-M3-S-Stair.
dgn and apply Saved View Ex1103 to View 1.
In Floor Selector, set the floor to “00”.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design Task, pick Place
Stair.
In the Stair Placement Settings toolbar, set the Stairs dropdown to
“S-G23-StairConcreteTreadsOnly”. This stair type can be useful for
early stages of a project when the stair composition or support is not
yet known, or for open cantilevered stairs.
Change the Stair Configuration to “Straight Run”.
In the Width field, enter “1100”.
Leave Height By set to “Height (Fixed)” and enter a height value of
“936”. By default, this Stair Type expects a landing to count as a
riser. By entering 936, your Stair will adjust to be only 5 risers high –
the 6th being the hypothetical landing.
Change the Stair Alignment to “Center Base”.

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 Begin placing the Stair by clicking on the centre of the purple riser
01 line on level A-G23-G-Strs.

Figure 11-23: The lower flight placement point

3. Click on Stair PropertyPanel to open the Stair Properties Panel.

Set the following properties:
Placement > Tread Depth = “250”
Placement > Riser Target Height = “156”
Placement > End With Riser = “False” (This will correct the number
of treads by adding one to the top of the flight.)
4. Complete the lower flight by clicking along the purple stair direction
line on level A-G23-G-Strs.

Figure 11-24: Defining the direction of the flight

to complete it

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 5. When placing the lower flight, the height of the stair was entered by
calculating how many risers would be needed to stop one short of
the landing (the landing being the final riser). It is more likely that
you will be working between two known levels, in which case it is
easier to let the Stair tool work out the ideal number.
In the Stair Placement Settings ribbon bar, change the height value
to be “1377”. This is the exact distance between the first and second
landings. Without having to change your Riser Target Height in the
Stair Properties Panel, the Riser Actual Height will be calculated
based on the Stair Height and Riser Actual Number values.
Turn off your ACS Lock, so that the stair can be placed away from
the 00 Floor plane. Begin placing the Stair at the midpoint of right-
hand top edge of the first landing.

Figure 11-25: The placement point of the

second flight

To define the direction of the stair, AccuSnap to the midpoint of the

left-hand top edge of the second landing. You will see as you do this
that there are too many treads; tread 9 overlays the landing.

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 Figure 11-26: Defining the direction

To correct this open the Stair Property Panel and change the
Placement > End With Riser value to “True”.
Snap once more to the second landing and click to accept and place
the middle flight.
6. The final top flight is a little more complicated. You know where the
stair should start, but it needs to finish 50mm above the top of the first
floor slab. You could measure the distance and add 50 to it (which isn’t
all that complicated in this example), but it is easier to use the Stair
Alignment options instead.
In the Stair Placement Settings ribbon bar, click on Stair Alignment
and pick Center Top.

Figure 11-27: Changing the Stair Alignment to

Center Top

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 The preview of the stair in the View will not show that it is attached
to the correct point, but don’t worry, it will sort itself out once you
have the placed the first point.
7. Open the Stair Properties Panel again and check that Begin With
Riser and End With Riser are both set to “True”.
The top of the stair needs to end 50mm above the slab to match the
floor finishes. In reality you could pick the 01 Floor plane, but in
situations where you do not have a plane to use, you can specify an
offset to the top, or bottom, of the Stair.
Enter a value of “50” in Placement > Top Offset. This is the same
as entering an Offset in the Stair Placement Settings’ Stair Offset
button.
8. The first placement point of this, the top flight, needs to be on the
first floor slab in line with the centre of the second landing. To place
this point, rotate View 1 to an orientation where you can clearly see
the landing and the slab edge.

Figure 11-28: View 1 rotated to clearly see

where the top flight will be placed

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 AccuSnap over the midpoint of the right-hand top edge of the
second landing. Set AccuDraw’s origin to this point. An easy way
of achieving this is to hold Ctrl and click the left and right mouse
buttons.
If AccuDraw is not rotated correctly, use RE (Rotate to Element) to
align the compass to the landing.

Figure 11-29: The correct AccuDraw origin

point and rotation

Do not click any mouse buttons at this point, but move your cursor
towards the edge of the first floor slab.
Hit [Enter] to turn on SmartLock so you can only move in the
AccuDraw X axis (identified by the red line). AccuSnap to the edge
of the first floor slab. The exact point is not important.

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 Figure 11-30: With SmartLock on, snap to the
edge of the first floor slab

Enter the AccuDraw shortcut “O” to reset your origin again. Rotate
the AccuDraw compass to Front rotation using “F”, then move
upwards and hit [Enter] to turn on SmartLock.
Snap once more to the edge of the first floor slab.

Figure 11-31: Snapping to the placement point

for the top flight

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 Click to accept. The top of the Stair will be placed at the edge of the
first floor slab.
You do not need to rotate AccuDraw, but AccuSnap again on the
midpoint of the second landing edge (the same point you started at).
The top flight will be orientated correctly. Do not click the mouse.
You will see there are too many treads to fit between the landing
and the slab. This is because you still have a height of 1377 set.
While you are snapped to the landing, AccuDraw will show the
difference between the origin and the snap point.

Figure 11-32: The stair height can be worked

out from AccuDraw

Figure 11-33: Locating the landing of the

second flight of stairs

In the Stair Placement Settings ribbon bar, enter a height value of

“1106”.
Check the Actual Riser Number in the Stair Properties Panel. If it
needs adjusting, make the change to fit the top flight in between the
landing and the first floor slab. A value of “7” will give the most
suitable riser height.

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 Snap once more to the midpoint of the second landing and click to
place the top flight.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-M3-S-Stair.dgn.

Handrails
To complete a Stair, you may want to add handrails. For General
Arrangement work, plans of scales down to 1:100 or 1:50, it is probably not
necessary to add handrails, but for stair elevations and layout drawings, they
may well be essential. AECOsim Building Designer includes a powerful and
extremely simple to use Place Railing tool.
The tool is found in the Building Designer > Structural Modelling > Vertical
Circulation Task.

Figure 11-34: The Place Railing tool

The Place Railing Tool Settings are similar to other DataGroup tools. The top
section is the Catalog Selection which allows you to pick, create new and edit
existing Catalog Instances.
Below the Preview are the Placement Options:
Placement Method offers you the choice of placing the railing along an
existing line/arc string or directly on an existing stair.

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 Placement Side defines which side of the placement line the railing will be
orientated – Right Orientation, Center Orientation or Left Orientation. The
correct setting depends on your handrail layout and the Catalog Instance
Type you select.
Below that, the Rail Construction Settings button opens the Railing
Construction Settings dialog. This allows you to define the component parts
of the railing, including Rails, Posts, Balusters and Ends. Selecting each tab
will highlight the relevant part blue in the preview so you know what you are
editing.

Figure 11-35: The Place Railing dialog box

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 Exercise 11-04

Placing a simple handrail

1. Open the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-M3-S-
StairHandrail.dgn file.
Start the Place Railing tool.
In the Place Railing Tool Settings, pick “S-G34-Handrail-900mm”
from the Catalog Instances dropdown.

Figure 11-36: The Catalog Selection

In Placement Options, set the Placement Method to “Railing By

selecting an existing stair” and Placement Side to “Left Orientation”.

Figure 11-37: The Placement Options

2. Click on the Railing Construction Settings button.

In the Rail Construction Settings > Rails tab, click in the Shape
Name field. Click on the blue arrow that displays. From the menu
that appears, change Code to “Project”, Type to “Solid Rounds” and
pick “Handrail38.1” from the list.
Change Top Offset to “1100” and Side Offset to “38.1”.

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 Figure 11-38: Selecting the handrail Shape Name

3. Switch to the Ends tab and in the Start row:

Click in Cell Name and pick “RailingReturnToWall-Start” from the
dropdown.
Enter a value of “1100” into Base Offset. This is the height the
railing end will be placed above the Stair.
Enter a value of “38.1” into Side Offset to define the distance from
the edge of the Stair to the closest edge of the railing.
In the Part:Family menu, choose the Family “S-G3” and the Part
“S-G3::S-G34-OtherPartsOfFabricElementsHandrailsFrame”.
In the End row:
Click in Cell Name and pick “RailingReturnToWall-End” from the
dropdown.
Enter a value of “1100” into Base Offset.
Enter a value of “38.1” into Side Offset.
In the Part:Family menu, choose the Family “S-G3” and the Part
“S-G3::S-G34-OtherPartsOfFabricElementsHandrailsFrame”.
Click OK.
4. In the Place Railing > Properties tab change the Railing Part
Definition > Family to “S-G3” and the Part to “S-G34-
OtherPartsOfFabricElementsHandrailsFrame”.
5. Select the stair on the outside edge. The handrail will be generated
and placed.

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 Figure 11-39: Selecting the outside edge of the Stair

6. Click the Place Railing tool again and, in the Place Railing Tool
Settings, click on the Save copy of catalog item button.
In the Save As… dialog box, enter a Name of “S-G34-Handrail-
1100mm” and click OK.

Figure 11-40: Saving a copy of the Catalog Item

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 7. Once placed, adjustments can be made to Railings by selecting it and
right-pressing and picking Modify Railing from the context menu.

Figure 11-41: The Modify Railing

option from the right-press context
menu

At the top of the Modify Railing Tool Settings, tick the Catalog
Selection box.
Set the Name dropdown to S-G34-Handrail-1100mm.
Click Apply to set the handrail to the S-G34-Handrail-1100mm
Catalog Item.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-M3-S-StairHandrail.dgn
and ProjectCatalogs_Structural_Railings.xml.
If the railing line needs to be edited before you place the Railing, for example
to add curves around corners, or to stop the handrail short of the end of the
stair, you can use the Extract a railing placement line from a Stair or Railing
tool. You will find this in the Building Designer > Structural Design Task
(shortcut C3).
When you click on a Stair (it has to be a DataGroup parametric Stair) or a
Railing, a Line String is generated. You can then modify this as required to

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 use as a Railing placement line. To use a Line String, change the Placement
Method to “Railing By selecting an existing line/arc string” in the Place
Railing Tool Settings.

Figure 11-42: Use this tool to extract a railing

placement line

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 Chapter 12

Custom Section
Sizes

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Davies_ch12_ptg01_309-318.indd 310 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 Even though the Bentley datasets provide many countries’ standard sections,
it is highly likely that project teams will require additional section sizes to
those supplied.
The Practical Modelling project contains an XML file specifically
for adding custom sections, WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\
PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\data\ProjectShapes.xml.
New sections can be created by editing this ProjectShapes.xml file directly,
although XML editing can be problematic if the syntax is not completely
correct. To make creation of new sections easier, an Excel spreadsheet can
be used to simplify entering the values. A template for converting a sections
XML to XLSX is provided in the WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\
Data folder: StructuralShapesTemplate.xls.
This spreadsheet contains tabs for each shape, with columns pre-defined for
the necessary section properties. On each worksheet there is an image that
acts as a key for entering the correct dimensions.

Figure 12-01: The StructuralShapesTemplate Excel file

Additional columns permit input of structural properties, including weight

per metre (W), cross sectional area (A), section modulus (Sx), etc. Not
all these have to be entered, but reporting may be limited if the W and A
columns are not completed.

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 You cannot create new shapes, only the section types offered by the tabs.
All you have to do is fill in the values and export the spreadsheet to XML
format. You can do that from the Add-Ins tab > Custom Toolbars panel and
pick the AECOsim Building Designer: Export XML Data icon.

Figure 12-02: The Custom Toolbars accessed from

the Add-Ins tab

ADMINISTRATION TIP
The sections files are controlled by the STRUCTURAL_SHAPES configuration variable. The
PracticalModelling.pcf loads the two sections files with the lines:

STRUCTURAL_SHAPES = UK.xml

STRUCTURAL_SHAPES > $(PROJ_DATASET)data/ProjectShapes.xml

at the bottom of the Files section.

You should be aware that any selection of a new structural shapes file will permanently override the
configurations. If you use different sections on different projects it is better to configure the projects
carefully using STRUCTURAL_SHAPES and discourage your users from selecting the sections files
manually. This can help avoid the possibility of using the wrong definitions when people switch projects.

To stop users loading their own sections files, and to reload the correct sections on every restart, lock
the variable:

%lock STRUCTURAL_SHAPES

When creating custom sections it is important to remember that each section

must have a unique name -
e.g. you cannot have a 200x200 in Rectangular Shapes and a 200x200 in
Rectangular Hollows.
If multiple sections files are loaded, only the first section listed will be loaded;
all other duplicate names will be ignored. A warning will be displayed in the
Message Center if duplicate section names are encountered.

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 Exercise 12-01

Preparing a project-specific structuralshapestemplate.xls

1. Copy the template spreadsheet, WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\
Dataset_GB\Data\StructuralShapesTemplate.xls into the project
WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\PracticalModelling\_
Resources\dataset\data folder.
Rename the file “ProjectShapesTemplate.xls” for clarity. Open it
using Excel.
2. Before adding sections, the template needs to be set up with a couple
of basic details: the name of the sections file that AECOsim Building
Designer will use, and the units.
In the Code worksheet, type in:
name = “Project”
isMetric = “true”
It is now possible to begin adding new sections, but you should
remember that a number of custom sections have already been used
in previous chapters. It is important that these, stored in WorkSpace\
Projects\BuildingExamples\PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\
data\ProjectShapes.xml, are not overwritten.
Existing sections can be imported to ensure a complete set of
sections is used.
3. Before any Add-Ins can be run, the macros need to be enabled. If the
Security Warning in Figure 12-03 is shown, simply click the Enable
Content button.

Figure 12-03: Click Enable Content to allow the

AECOsim Building Designer macros to run

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 If the Security Warning does not appear, you will need to check
the macro security settings in the Excel Options. (For details on
how to do this in Excel 2010, refer to http://office.microsoft.com/
en-gb/excel-help/enable-or-disable-macros-in-office-documents-
HA010031071.aspx#BM12.)
4. From the Add-Ins tab > Custom Toolbars panel, click AECOsim
Building Designer: Import XML Data.

Figure 12-04: The Import XML Data button

Browse and open WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\

PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\data\ProjectShapes.xml.
The custom sections contained in that file will be imported into
your spreadsheet.
Switch to the Concrete Tees Tapered worksheet. You will see a
325DP@600 section.

Figure 12-05: The custom Concrete Tees tapered section

5. Save the spreadsheet by clicking on the Add-Ins tab > Custom

Toolbars panel > AECOsimBuilding Designer: Save button.

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 Exercise 12-02

Creating a custom section

Custom rectangular sections can be created “on the fly” from the Structural
placement tools. For example, when placing a concrete column, type in the
required size in the Standard Section > Name field.

Figure 12-06: Entering a custom

rectangular section size

If the section cannot be found in the loaded sections files, you will be
prompted to enter a name to save this new size.

Figure 12-07: Saving a custom

rectangular section

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 However, there are a couple of drawbacks with this quick & simple method:
you cannot control which file the new sections are controlled in, and creating
columns requires you to enter the width × depth, but beams you need to enter
depth × width.
To retain control over the creation of custom sections, and to produce non-
rectangular shapes, it is better to use the spreadsheet:
1. Continuing in the WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\
Data\StructuralShapesTemplate.xls spreadsheet, switch to the
Asymmetrical Beam worksheet.
2. In the name column, enter “300 ASB 153”.
The overall depth is defined in the d column. Enter “310”.
The web thickness, tw = “27”.
Set the width of the bottom flange, b1 = “300”.
Set the thickness of the bottom and top flanges, tf1 and tf2 = “24”.
The width of the top flange, b2 = “190”.
Enter the weight per metre of the section, W as “153”.
Finally define the cross sectional area, A as “194.6”.
NOTE: It is not necessary to enter a cross sectional area unless
you intend to calculate the exact volume of any member.
However, to avoid errors in reports, always enter an area
of “1” if you do not know the actual value.
3. Save the spreadsheet by clicking on the Add-Ins tab > Custom
Toolbars panel > AECOsimBuilding Designer: Save button.
Export the spreadsheet out to XML format from the Add-Ins tab >
Custom Toolbars panel and pick the AECOsim Building Designer:
Export XML Data button.

Figure 12-08: AECOsim Building Designer: Export XML Data

Browse to the WorkSpace\Projects\BuildingExamples\

PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\data\ folder and select
ProjectShapes.xml.
Click Export.
You will be prompted to confirm that you want to replace the
existing file. Click Yes to save the updated XML file.

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 4. The next time AECOsim Building Designer is restarted, the custom
sections will be available to the Structural Design tasks.

Figure 12-09: The custom sections will be available from

the “Project” Code

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\ProjectShapes.xml & ProjectShapesTemplate.xls.

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Davies_ch12_ptg01_309-318.indd 318 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 Chapter 13

Creating
DataGroup Content

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Davies_ch13_ptg01_319-364.indd 320 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 The basic installation and regional datasets provide plenty of country-specific
content to begin using AECOsim Building Designer. As a project progresses
it is most likely that additional items are needed which are not supplied.
This may be something simple, such as a new Part to help differentiate the
appearance of similar elements, or a new Catalog Item – a wall type, a
different type of stair – or new components altogether – a specific pile cap
or steel connection. The tools needed to create and manage many of these
items are explained in this chapter.
Parts can be edited from inside of any file, as the dataset is stored externally
in .xml files.

Parts
Parts are used to specify the graphical appearance of content. A Part
definition determines the symbology of an element at the time it is placed
(i.e. level, colour, line style and weight) as well as the symbology that is used
for elements in a view or extraction.
Parts are controlled from the Dataset Explorer. This can be opened from
the Building Designer > Family & Parts menu, using either Single Parts…,
Compound Parts… or Components. All three open the Dataset Explorer, only
at a different location.

Figure 13-01: The Family & Parts menu

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 The Dataset Explorer lists all the loaded Parts and Components. For details
of the dialog box, refer to Chapter 2: The Interface.

Figure 13-02: The Dataset Explorer

The only button that is active before any edits have been made will be the
Show Active button. Clicking this will search through the catalogs to the active
Part in the Building Primary toolbar and open the Properties dialog box.

Figure 13-03: The Dataset Explorer showing the active Part

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 tip
To open the Dataset Explorer at a specific Part, use the Building Primary toolbar. Select a Family, and
open the Part dropdown. When a Part is highlighted (do not click on it), hitting the [Spacebar] will load
Dataset Explorer, taking you directly to the highlighted Part.

Navigating to the required Parts file is done through the directory tree, the
left-hand pane.

Figure 13-04: The Dataset Explorer directory tree

The Parts > By Families section will list all folders that AECOsim Building
Designer searches for Parts files. Any .xml files in those folders will be shown
once you have clicked on the + sign to expand the folder. Clicking on the +
sign next to an .xml file will list any Family defined in that file.

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 Administration tip
The location of Parts files is specified through the TFDIR_PART configuration variable. This can be set to a
single folder or many. The Dataset system will load all .xml files in these folders, regardless of their names.

By default, the PracticalModelling project adds:

TFDIR_PART < $(PROJ_DATASET)part/

to add a project-specific folder into the start of the default search path. The main Dataset Part\ folder is
already included by the application configurations.

Families are used to organise Parts into logical groups. Families can be
organised in any manner, for example according to construction assembly
(walls, doors, windows), building material (steel, concrete, gypsum board),
specification format (02 Site, 03 Concrete, 04 Masonry), by project phase
(Schematics, Design Development, Construction Documents) or, as is the case
in this dataset, by Uniclass classification.
When a Family is selected in the directory tree, all the Parts contained within
it will be listed in the right-hand pane, the Properties List box.

Figure 13-05: The full list of Parts from the S-G2 Family
shown in the Properties List box

Because each Part has many properties, the contents of the Properties List
box will change depending on the Parts View dropdown menu.

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 Figure 13-06: The Parts View menu

Definition controls the properties for the 3D element.

Drawing Symbology controls the 2D dimensional symbology: how the
element will display when it is either cut through or shown in Forward View.
Cut Patterns is where the fill, hatching or patterning is defined.
Centreline Symbology sets the symbology of the centrelines, and whether the
Part will generate centrelines.
Rendering Properties controls which materials will be applied.
Report Components is now somewhat obsolete, but was where the
reporting formulae used to be calculated for non-graphical metadata. This is
superseded by the DataGroup system.
Drawing Notation controls automated annotation, particularly dimensions
on the 2D element.
Structural and Structural Data are only relevant to structural members and
control default member sizes, placement points, member references (used by
the Resymbolisation rules) and other default structural properties. Again,
certain properties are superseded by the DataGroup system.
Analytical Information controls the structural analysis data, member loads
and releases, and is also only applicable to structural members.

Exercise 13-01

Creating a project-specific part

Creating Parts requires a significant number of properties to be defined.
It is always better to start from an existing Part and copy that first to

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 create a new one. Although this and the following exercises use Walls, the
principles demonstrated will apply for any new Part or DataGroup item.
Only create a new Part when a unique graphical appearance is required.
1. Open PM-01-M3-S-NewDataGroupContent.dgn from the
PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder (although the actual file
does not matter when editing Parts). This file has a Clip Volume set
up in View 2 that will display any changes that are made to Parts
and DataGroups.
From the Building Designer > Families & Parts menu, click on Single
Parts… The Dataset Explorer will open.
The walls shown in View 2 do not have thick enough lines, and for
larger-scale drawings, concrete patterning needs to be added. The
wall is only a generic internal wall (S-G252-WallsInternal), so it will
need to be updated to a more suitable wall type. Before that is done,
though, a new Part needs to be created to produce the required
symbology.
2. In the Dataset Explorer > directory tree, navigate to Parts > By
Families > …Workspace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\part and
expand Structural_parts.xml.
Select the Family “S-G2” and in the Properties List box, then select
the Part “S-G25-WallsConcrete”.
Right-click on the Part and pick Copy from the menu.

Figure 13-07: Copying the “template” Part

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 3. In the Dataset Explorer directory tree, navigate to Parts > By
Families > PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\part\ and expand
Project-Part.xml. There are no Families defined in this file yet, so
none will appear.
With Project-Part.xml selected, right-click in the empty Properties
List box and pick New.

Figure 13-08: Creating a new Family in Project-Part.xml

In the New Family dialog box that opens:

Enter the Family name, “S-G2”. Although this Family already
exists, two Families with the same name can exist, provided they
are in separate .xml files. The Parts from each will be merged in the
Building Primary menu.
In the Description field, type “Project specific complete parts” and
click OK.

Figure 13-09: Entering the Family details

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 The new Family will be created in the Project-Part.xml, and will
display in blue. This is because S-G2 already exists in Structural_
parts.xml.

Figure 13-10: The duplicated S-G2 Families

4. With the new S-G2 Family selected, right-click on the Properties List
box and pick Paste. The Part S-G25-WallsConcrete will be copied
into the new Family.
Even though you can have two identically named Parts in separate
.xml files, when parts are duplicated, only the one higher in the list
will be loaded. This allows the use of the dataset’s standard parts,
and if you need to edit that part, you can copy them to the project
which will override the standard version.
When creating a part to represent a different material, the part
should be renamed.
NOTE: The reason you create the new Part in the project is so
that the central Parts remain unedited. It is more than
likely that these will be set to read-only in a networked
environment, but even if they are not, changing any
existing Part could affect drawings where these have been
used. Always remember to check and coordinate changes
to any Part with the rest of your team.

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 Figure 13-11: The new Part

5. The next step is to edit the other Part properties so that the lift core
walls display as you need them to in any Views and extractions.
Scan along the Properties List box, and edit the following values:
Description = “Walls Concrete”
The Section Level, F&R View Level and Ctr Ln Level should remain
unedited. These control the level that the element using this Part will
be located on in Cut View, Forward or Reflected Views, and the level
for any centrelines.
6. Change the Parts View to “Drawing Symbology”.

Figure 13-12: Changing to the Drawing

Symbology properties

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 These properties control the 2D symbology of elements using this
Part. The Part name and Description will be repeated. There is no
need to edit these.
After this, there are two main sets of columns: those to set the
section (or Cut View) symbology, and those for the Forward and
Reflected View symbologies.

Section symbology:
Section Toggle specifies whether the Part will display differently in
a Cut View than it does in 3D. If this is unticked, the symbology in
the Definition properties will be used. If ticked, the settings from the
Section Level, Section Color, Section Style and Section Weight will
be used. Leave this ticked, and leave the Section symbology settings
as they are.
To unify this Part when it joins another element, tick the Section
Unify Toggle. As described in Chapter 15: Creating Drawings,
unification removes the join lines between two adjacent elements.
In this exercise you can see this in View 2.

Figure 13-13: Unified joins between two walls

A slight complication is that you may want more than one Part
to unify together. Take the example of concrete – all walls, beams,
columns, slabs and stairs will need to unify together on a drawing. To
allow this, the Section Unifier can be selected. This dropdown lists all
available Parts in the same Family (unification can only take place in
the same Family), allowing you to select the Part used to unify.

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 Administration tip
It is common practice, especially for concrete, to define what is called a “unifier”. This Part is not used
for general modelling, but is only selected as the unifier for a series of Parts. This helps manage the Parts
libraries, as it is clear which definition needs to be edited, and there is less confusion over how many Parts
any edits will affect.

In this case, the unifier being used, S-G26-Concrete, does not give
the final appearance needed, so change the Section Unifier to
“* Unify with self *”. This means the Part will only unify with
other elements using the same Part.

Figure 13-14: Setting the unification to only

* Unify with self *

Don’t worry that the column goes blank once * Unify with self * has
been selected. This is how self-unification is displayed in the Section
Unifier column.

F&R symbology:
The final series of columns in this view repeat the same properties
as the Section symbology settings, only for Forward and Reflected
Views. Leave the settings as they are, except for F&R View Unifier
which should be set to * Unify with self *.
7. Change the Parts View to “Cut Patterns”, which is where the
hatching and patterning will be defined.
Once again, the Part name and Description columns are shown to
help you identify which Part is being edited.
Next to that you have Cut Fill Toggle and Cut Fill Color. These
define whether the element will be filled in a Cut View. Ticking this
changes the Section preview above to show how the cut element will
appear. Leave Cut Fill Toggle unticked. If this is unticked, the Cut
Fill Color setting is not used.
NOTE: It is possible to have fills, hatches and patterns in the
same Part definition.
The next series of columns control the Pattern definitions, being
hatching or cell patterns.

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 Tick the Pattern column. The preview will show hatching.
Change the Pattern Type to “Patterning”. At this point, the Section
preview will blank out. This is because no cell has been selected yet.

Figure 13-15: Setting the Part

to pattern using a cell

The other options available are:

• L
 inear Hatching, which will give a single direction hatch. The
angle and spacing is controlled by the Pattern Angle 1 and Pattern
Distance 1 columns. It is worth knowing that these distances are
not affected by Annotation Scale, so you will need a separate Part
if the hatching needs to be shown at different scales.
• C
 ross Hatching, which gives a two directional cross-hatch.
The second hatch is controlled by Pattern Angle 2 and Pattern
Distance 2.
The pattern cell is controlled by the final columns in the Cut
Patterns view.
Click on the Pattern Cell field. A complete list of cells available to
you will be displayed. Scan down the list and select “CONCRT”.

Figure 13-16: Selecting the concrete area pattern

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 The Section preview will now show concrete patterning.
Set the Cell Scale to “1.0”. As with Pattern Distance 1 and 2, this
value is not affected by Annotation Scale.
Leave the Cell Angle, Cell Row Spacing and Cell Col Spacing as
“0.0”. These values rotate the cells. Leave gaps between the rows
and columns respectively. This will give a constant concrete pattern.
Despite only having set the properties for three of the views, the
new Part is complete. There is no need to change the Centreline
Symbology, Rendering Properties as these are suitable being the
same as the original wall Part. Report Components are not being
used. Drawing Notation is best left undefined. It is always better to
manually annotate Views after generation to control the location
of notes and dimensions. Refer to Chapter 16: Adding Detail and
Annotation for more information.
To save the Part and send the changes back to the project dataset for
others to use, click on Commit Changes.

Figure 13-17: The Commit Changes button

Close the Dataset Explorer.

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\Project-Part.xml.

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 Administration tip
Building a set of company standard Family and Parts can be a monotonous task. AECOsim Building
Designer provides a utility to convert the .xml files to an Excel spreadsheet simplifying the procedure. The
utility can be found from the Utilities dropdown > Building Designer Utilities > Convert XML to Excel
Utility . . .

Figure 13-18: The Convert XML to Excel Utility’s location

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 Exercise 13-02

Creating a project-specific catalog instance

Once the Part has been created, a new Wall Type will be needed. The basic
principle of creating a new Wall was demonstrated in Chapter 08: Walls. This
exercise works towards exactly the same goal as Exercise 08-09 but achieves
it using the DataGroup Catalog Editor, which provides more control over
where and how the new Catalog Items and Instances are created.
1. From the Building Designer > DataGroup – Building Components
menu, pick Edit Catalogs…

Figure 13-19: Opening the DataGroup Catalog Editor

The DataGroup Catalog Editor will open.

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 Figure 13-20: The DataGroup Catalog Editor
shown with all Walls displayed

Before you begin, you need to make sure you are editing the correct
catalogs. As AECOsim Building Designer is a multi-disciplinary
tool, there are a lot of catalogs included. To avoid having to trawl
through them all, a filter is provided.
Click on the black triangle next to the Filter button, the Open
Product Filters… button. Do not click on the button itself as this
will turn the filter off and load every catalog.

Figure 13-21: Setting the filter to show only

structural catalogs

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 Make sure that only Structural (ALL) is ticked and click OK.
2. As with creating Parts, it is possible to copy an existing DataGroup
Catalog Instance as a basis for your new Item. Unfortunately this
does not provide any control over which .xml file the new Catalog
Item is created in. To ensure control over the location of the Catalog
Item, create a new Wall from scratch.
In the left-hand pane, the Catalog Items list, right-click on the Walls
Catalog Type. Pick New Catalog Item from the pop-up menu.

Figure 13-22: Creating a New Catalog Item

In the New Catalog Item dialog box that opens, enter a Name of
“S-G252-WallsConcreteLiftCore-200mm”.
Set the Destination file: to be PracticalModelling\_Resources\
dataset\datagroupcatalogs\ProjectCatalogs_Structural.xml.
The list of loaded .xml files is very long, but they are presented
in alphabetical order, making it somewhat easier to locate.
ProjectCatalogs_Structural.cfg is 3/5ths of the way down the list.

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 Figure 13-23: Specifying the XML file where the
new Item will be created

Click OK.
The new wall will list in the Catalog Items list.
3. In the Catalog Instances pane, edit the Values for each Property
below. These will become defaults for each time this Wall Type is
selected to be placed.
Width = “200”. Untick the Editable option.
Height = “3675”.
Structural Function = Load-bearing.
Material = Concrete.
When you click on the Value field to set the Part Definition, a new
dialog will open.

Figure 13-24: Specifying the Part to use

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 This is where you select the Part you created in Exercise 13-01. In
the Family Name dropdown, pick “S-G2”. You will see, despite two
separate S-G2 Families existing, there will only be one displayed in
the list.
In the Part Name dropdown, pick “S-G252-WallsConcrete”. Project
Parts will list at the top before the main DataGroup Parts.
Untick the Editable option for Part Definition.
Untick the Editable option for IsExternal.
Untick the Editable option and Tick the Hidden option for all
WallQuantities.
Classification | Uniclass: in the Uniclass Classifications dialog box,
select “G252 Walls Internal” and click OK.

Figure 13-25: Selecting the Uniclass classification

When all the default properties have been set, click the Save button
to write the changes back to the DataGroup system.

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 Figure 13-26: Click Save to write the changes
back to the DataGroup system

Close the Dataset Explorer.

The DataGroup system is loaded as you launch AECOsim Building
Designer. To force a reload during a session, you can use the Building
Designer > DataGroup – Building Components > Refresh menu.
4. To update the core walls to the new Wall Type, select the four lift
core walls. Right-press and pick Modify Instance Data.

Figure 13-27: Modifying the four lift core walls

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 5. In the Modify Wall dialog box, change the Catalog Instances
dropdown to use “S-G252-WallsConcreteLiftCore-200mm”.
Click on Check All so that all of the properties are changed from
their current settings to the defaults for the new wall type. (The
Part Definition will always be updated, regardless of the Apply/Edit
settings.)

Figure 13-28: Setting the new wall type to

S-G252-WallsConcreteLiftCore-200mm

Click somewhere in a view to accept the changes. The walls will

change symbology and will display as patterned concrete in View 2.

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 Figure 13-29: The updated concrete core walls

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in

PracticalModelling\_Resources\CompletedExercises\
PM-01-M3-S-NewDataGroupContent.dgn and
ProjectCatalogs_Structural.xml.

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 DataGroup Definitions
The properties used in the DataGroup tools are stored as DataGroup
Definitions. At times in your project, it may be necessary to create additional
Definitions, for either project-specific requirements, or generally for the way
your company reports certain items. It is highly recommended to coordinate
any new Definitions across your team or company before creating them. You
do not want to be changing any Definitions and their related Catalog Items
or Annotation Cells without being sure that nothing already produced or,
other projects, will be affected. It is advisable to refer back to your System
Administrator or BIM Manager to ensure that any edits to the DataGroup
Definitions are handled correctly.
The Definition Editor is opened from the Building Designer > DataGroup –
Building Components > Open Definition Editor… menu item.

Figure 13-30: The Open Definition Editor…

menu item

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 Definitions can be organised in any number of .xsd files. They can
additionally be grouped into Property Groups for easier management and
use. Figure 13-30 shows the DataGroup Definition Editor displaying the
expanded Property Groups for Curtain Wall.

Figure 13-31: The DataGroup Definition Editor

The buttons across the top of the DataGroup Definition Editor in the
Definition Editor toolbar create New Definition Files, New Property Groups
and New Property. The Save Changes button writes any changes back to the
DataGroup system.
The left-hand directory pane lists all available Definition files and Properties.
The right-hand property value pane lists the selected property’s values.

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 Exercise 13-03

Creating and using a project-specific definition

1. Keeping the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
NewDataGroupContent.dgn file open, open the DataGroup
Catalog Editor from the Building Designer > DataGroup – Building
Components > Open Definition Editor… menu.
The open file is not important as the Definitions are stored in the
DataGroup system, unrelated to any specific DGN file.
2. From the Definition Editor toolbar, click New Definition File.

Figure 13-32: The New Definition File button

In the New File dialog box that opens, set Directory to

PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\datagroupsystem\. This
should be the first directory in the list, but if it is not clear, hover over
the directory name. A pop-out will appear showing the full path.

Administration tip
The location of Definitions files, and the order in any dialog box, is controlled by the DG_PATH configuration
variable. The PracticalModelling.pcf prepends the default application search path with the project’s _
Resources\dataset\datagroupsystem folder:

DG_PATH < $(PROJ_DATASET)datagroupsystem/

so that the project is always searched before the central Workspace.

In the File name field, type “PROJECT-Definitions”. Definition files

do not have to be unique to a Catalog Item. You can use the same
definition on any number of Catalog Items. In this exercise, you are
creating a single project definitions file, although in practice, you
can store definitions in any number of files.

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 Figure 13-33: Creating the new Definition file

Click OK to create the new PROJECT-Definitions.xsd file in the

PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\datagroupsystem folder.
The file will list in its alphabetical location in the directory pane.
3. There is an option menu available by right-clicking on Definitions.
Right-click on PROJECT-Definitions and pick New Property Group.
Properties do not need to be stored in groups, in fact they can be
stored however you wish; however, it may be easier to identify and
use them later if you keep them organised in logical groups.

Figure 13-34: New Property Group on the

right-click option menu

Name the Property Group “Reinforcement”.

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 4. Right-click on the Reinforcement Property Group and pick New
Property. A New Property will be created and its values listed in the
property value pane.
Enter a Name of “RebarMinimumCover”. This is the value used by
the DataGroup system and cannot contain spaces. It will never be
displayed in the actual dialog boxes.
For Display Name, the name that will be shown in any dialog boxes,
type “Rebar Minimum Cover”.
The Data type is the type of value stored by the Definition.
Commonly used types include:
• Boolean = a true/false value. An example of this might by Gross
Area for a Space.
• Date = a date. You might use this for construction sequencing,
delivery date or a date the item was checked or approved.
• Integer = a whole number, used for properties that require a
certain number of items. An example might be the number
of hinges on a door, or the number of wall ties per metre run
of a wall.
• String = a free text entry.
For this exercise, set Data type to List. This will offer a dropdown
list of potential values, which can be useful for when your project
has a certain number of options, or where people may enter slightly
different (or misspelt) values.
Leave Default value set to “[None]”.
Required should be unticked. If this option is ticked, a value must be
set for this property when placing a Catalog Instance.
Set Extendable to be ticked. This allows people to enter their own
values when placing a Catalog Instance. Leaving this unticked fixes
the list so only the List Value entries can be selected.
In the List Values section enter the following, one on each line. Using
[Enter] or the down arrow will enter the value and take you to the
next line.
25mm
35mm
45mm
50mm

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 Figure 13-35: The complete values for RebarMinimumCover

Click Save Changes.

Close the DataGroup Definition Editor.
5. You have now created new Definitions, but you have not applied
them to any Catalog Items. From the Building Designer >
DataGroup > Building Components menu, pick Edit Catalogs…
Normally, this dialog box shows the Catalog Instances in the right-
hand pane for the selected Catalog Item in the left-hand pane. It can
also show you which Definitions are being used by each Catalog Item.
Click on the Show Catalog Items button to turn off the display of
the Catalogs, and instead show the Definitions being used.

Figure 13-36: The Show Catalog Items button

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 Scan down the Catalog Items list and select Walls. The Definition
files used will list in the right-hand pane.
Right-click on any of the loaded Definition files and pick Attach
Definition.

Figure 13-37: Attaching a definition to the Walls

Catalog Item

In the Attach Definition dialog box that opens, set Definition to

attach to “PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\datagroupsystem\
PROJECT-Definitions.xsd”. This file should be right at the bottom
of the list.
Set the Destination file to be “PracticalModelling\_Resources\
dataset\datagroupcatalogs\ProjectCatalogs_Structural.xml”. This is
the .xml file supplied specifically for custom DataGroup content in
the PracticalModelling project.

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 Figure 13-38: The Attach Definition dialog box settings

Click OK.
The PROJECT-Definitions.xsd file will show at the bottom of the
Definition list.

Figure 13-39: The PROJECT-Definitions.xsd attached

to Wall Catalog Items

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 6. You could add the new Definitions to other Catalog Items at this
point, but for now toggle the display of Definitions off by clicking
on the Show Cataog Items button, Save the edits and close the
Catalog Editor.
7. Once again, select the four lift core walls and right-press to pick
Modify Instance Data.
In the Modify Wall dialog box, click on the DataGroup Refresh button
to reload the changes you have made to the DataGroup system.

Figure 13-40: The DataGroup Refresh button

The PROJECT-Definitions should now be displayed in the

Property list.
Tick the Apply/Edit field for the Rebar Minimum Cover property.
Click in the field and pick “35mm” from the dropdown list of
options.

Figure 13-41: Entering the Rebar Minimum Cover

property value

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 Click somewhere in the views to apply the changes.
If there are any of the Definition properties you need to change at
any time, you can make edits through the Definition Editor and
refresh the DataGroup system. For example, having “PROJECT-
Definitions” listed in the Modify Wall dialog box is not ideal. This
can be changed very quickly:
8. From the Building Designer > DataGroup > Building Components
menu, pick Open Definition Editor…
9. In the DataGroup Definition Editor dialog box, right-click on
PROJECT-Definitions and pick Properties.
In the DataGroup Definition Properties dialog box, edit the Display
name to read “Rebar”.

Figure 13-42: Updating the Display name for the PROJECT-Definitions

Click OK and then Save Changes.

Close the Definition Editor.
10. Now, once the DataGroup system has been refreshed, the Definitions
will display as Rebar, rather than PROJECT-Definitions.

Figure 13-43: The Finishes Definitions shown

when placing a new Wall

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 Be aware, though, that changing a Definition after they have been
used may result in previously entered values being lost.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\ProjectCatalogs_Structural.xml,
PROJECT-Definitions.xsd, PROJECT-DisplayNames.xml and
PROJECT-enumlookups.xml.

Administration tip
Because the Definitions are designed to be “portable” (i.e. you can apply them to any number of Catalog
Items), their definition and storage isn’t quite as straightforward as it may seem.

PROJECT-Definitions.xsd contains only the Property Group and base Property names.

The Display names (what the user sees in dialog boxes) are stored separately in the PROJECT-displaynames
.xml file. You can find this in the PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\DataGroupSystem folder.

The List Values are stored in another separate file, also in the PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\
DataGroupSystem folder, called PROJECT-enumlookups.xml.

Because the DataGroup System writes these values to the first relevant file it finds in the DG_PATH
search path, it is advisable to always set the first folder in the DG_PATH variable to be the project’s
DataGroupSystem folder and provide a blank PROJECT-displaynames.xml and PROJECT-enumlookups.xml.
Otherwise, if you have your central Workspace set to read only, new Definitions will not be saved correctly.
(As an aside, if you leave the central Workspace editable to all users, it is very easy for the DataGroup
System to become disorganised and difficult to use.)

ProjectCatalogs.xml, the Destination file selected in Exercise 13-03, step 6, simply tells the DataGroup
System to load the custom Definitions from PROJECT-Definitions.xsd. This way only certain projects can be
configured to load additional Definitions.

NOTE: Once attached, Definitions will also be available for DataGroup

Annotation Cells. Refer to Chapter16: Additional Detail and
Annotation.

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 Compound Parts
It is possible to define Compound Parts – collections, or groups, of Parts
that can be placed at the same time. Refer to Chapter 8: Walls for details on
placing Compound Parts. New Compound Parts are created in the Dataset
Explorer. To display the existing Compound Parts, open Dataset Explorer
using the Building Designer > Family & Parts > Compound Parts menu item.

Figure 13-44: Opening Dataset Explorer

to view Compound Parts

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 The Compound Parts will list in an identical manner to single Parts.

Figure 13-45: The Dataset Explorer showing

Compound Parts in the Structurall_cparts.xml file

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 Exercise 13-04

Creating a project-specific compound part

Creating a Compound Part follows a slightly different process to single Parts,
as Compound Parts use existing Parts. You configure the Compound Part to
define how the Parts relate to each other and the placement line.
1. With PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-
NewDataGroupContent.dgn still open, pick the Building Designer >
Family & Parts > Compound Parts menu item to open the Dataset
Explorer at Compound Parts. The actual file does not matter when
editing Compound Parts.
2. In the Dataset Explorer directory tree navigate to Compound Parts >
By Families > PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\cpart\ >
Project-CPart.xml.
Select Project-CPart.xml and in the Properties List box, right-click
and pick New.

Figure 13-46: Creating a new Compound

Part Family

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 The New Family dialog will open. Enter a Family name of “S-G25”
and a Description of “Compound walls”.

Figure 13-47: The properties of the new

S-G25 Family

3. Highlight the new Family, S-G25. It will be shown blue as it is a

duplicated Family name.
In the Properties List box, right-click and pick New. The New
Compound Part dialog box will open.
Enter a Name of “S-G251-WallsExternalBrick+Brick-102+100+102-
M3-G2”.
Enter a Description of “102mm brick, 100mm cavity 102mm brick
(low-level)”.

Figure 13-48: The Compound Part Name

and Description

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 4. The Sub Parts section is where the constituent Parts are added and
positioned.
Leaving the Family as “S-G2”, pick “S-G2511-WallsExternalBrick”
from the Part dropdown.

Figure 13-49: Choosing the first Sub Part

Check that H Offset, the horizontal distance away from the

placement line, is set to “0.0”.
Check that Thickness is set to “102.0”.
V Offset, the vertical distance above the placement line, should also
be “0.0”.
Edit the Height field to be “3675”. You must hit [Enter] or [Tab] to
enter the value.
Click on Insert to add the Part.

Figure 13-50: Adding the first Sub Part

5. If you now try to change the Family, Part or dimensions, the

S-G2522-WallsExternalBrick Part will be edited. Instead, click Insert
a second time to add a second Sub Part.
A new Sub Part will be added, using the same values. It will be
automatically shifted by the Thickness of the first Sub Part and will
show in the Preview alongside the first.

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 The H Offset needs to be adjusted to allow for the cavity. Enter an
H Offset value of “202”.

Figure 13-51: The second Sub Part added to

the Compound Part

6. Both walls are created from the same material which means, when
connecting to other walls using the same compound part, they may
join to the wrong wall. In order to ensure walls cleanup correctly,
the Compound Wall Cleanup control can be set.
Select the wall at the top of the list and change the wall cleanup to
Structure [1]. Each Function setting has a priority. The functions at the
top of the menu are more important than the functions at the bottom.

Figure 13-52: The New compound Part dialog box

showing the wall cleanup control being set

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 Select the second wall in the list and change the Wall Cleanup
control to Primary Finish [7].
When compound walls join, the highest priority subparts are joined
first and won’t be broken by subparts with a lower priority.

Figure 13-53: An example wall cleaning up

correctly due to the wall cleanup control

7. A Compound Wall that is defined as “Fixed Height” is not affected

by the Height value in the Place Wall > Placement Dimensions
settings; a Compound Wall will always be placed at the height
defined in its properties.
To place a Compound Part and use the Height setting when placing
the wall, it is necessary to change the way the constituent Parts
operate.
Select the top Part and change the Height Type to Variable Height.
The Height will be reset to 0.00, and the Sample Height will be
redefined as 3675.00.

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 Figure 13-54: Setting the brick skin to be
Variable Height

This skin will now always be placed at the height specified in the
Place Wall tool. It is also possible to place a wall at a relative height.
Highlight the lower Part and change the Height Type to Variable
Height.
Edit the Height value to be “-1200”.

Figure 13-55: Applying a relative height

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 This second skin will now always be placed 1200mm below the
height of the wall (when using the “Fixed Height” option).
8. Lastly, the Main Wall Thickness needs to be set. This relates to the
placement points of the wall.
In this example, the total thickness of both Sub Parts is 302mm.
The value you should enter here depends on how you want the
Compound Part to place. For example, if the Main Wall Thickness
is set to 202, and placement is set to Left of the placement line, the
wall placement will not include the second skin of brick. This will be
placed “outside” of the wall (Figure 13-52a). However, if the Main
Wall Thickness is “302”, the wall thickness will include the second
skin (Figure 13-53).

Figure 13-56: (left) shows the placement line with a Main

Wall Thickness of 202; (right) shows how the placement
is affected by a Main Wall Thickness of 302

In this case, the second skin should be included, so set the Main Wall
Thickness to “302”.
To use the wall, it will be necessary to create a new DataGroup
Item. Refer to Exercise 19-02 above to create this using a Name
of “S-G251-WallsExternalBrick+Brick-102+100+102”. The only
difference is that, in the DataGroup Catalog Editor’s Properties List
box, the Compound Wall Assembly Property needs to be ticked.

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 Figure 13-57: Setting a Catalog Item to be a Compound
Wall Assembly

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\Project-CPart.xml and ProjectCatalogs_Structural.
xml.

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Davies_ch13_ptg01_319-364.indd 364 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 Chapter 14

Compound Cells

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Davies_ch14_ptg01_365-390.indd 366 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 Compound Cells are a more intelligent version of a MicroStation Cell.
They can have multiple display representations for viewing in 3D, plan,
front, back, left, top and bottom. These display representations mean that
a Compound Cell that displays one way in 3D can look totally different in
a 2D view. Take the example of a door, or a light-switch. Both may have 3D
characteristics that you would not want to show in a plan or elevation: the
door handles, the frame and architrave details, or in the case of a light-switch
you would expect it to be a simple symbolic representation, not resembling
a physical switch at all.
Compound Cells, as with parametric DataGroup Items, can be created so
that they automatically cut holes through walls or slabs. In the example of
a louvered grille, it would be necessary for the grille to cut through the wall
into which it was placed. If the grille is created using a Compound Cell, one
or more shapes can be defined as “perforators”, used to create holes.

When to Use Compound Cells

There are many uses for Compound Cells. Aside from simplifying 3D
information when viewed in 2D, giving a higher level of detail in a 3D
model for visualisations but simpler “line” geometry when creating a plan
or section, they also allow the inverse. They enable more “lightweight” 3D
modelling, improving the efficiency of the model, which then provides highly
detailed information in the 2D representation.
Typically speaking, a Compound Cell would be used when parametric
objects are not required. In the early stages of design, and through design
development, it is extremely useful to place parametric content which can
be adjusted and re-sized without needing to be totally replaced. Once the
design is frozen, manufacturer-specific content might be needed. Compound
Cells could now be used. Another example might be repetitive information:
cladding panels on a façade, baseplates or other bespoke fittings.
There is a series of Compound Cell libraries supplied with AECOsim
Building Designer, found in the WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_
GB\cell folder. Structural-specific libraries are located in the sub-folder
cell_structural. A Compound Cell library can be identified by the .bxc file
extension.

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 Using the Compound Cell Manager
To begin, open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-
S-GlazingConnection.dgn.
Compound Cells can only be used in 3D files and can be accessed from
the Building Designer Tasks > Structural Design > Compound Cells Tasks
(keyboard shortcut V).

Figure 14-01: The Compound Cell Task

Compound Cell Manager (V 2) is used to select and place existing

Compound Cells.

Figure 14-02: The Compound Cell Manager tool

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 Figure 14-03: The Compound Cell Manager dialog box

The Compound Cells from the current dataset and any found in the project
search paths will automatically load into the Current Library dropdown list.

Figure 14-04: The Current Library dropdown list

Once a library has been selected, all the available cells will be displayed in the
Compound Cell list box. A preview of the selected Compound Cell will show
in the window to the right of the list.

Administration tip
The location of the Compound Cell libraries is configured using the TFDIR_CELL variable. In order to set a
company standard and project standard, two variables should be entered:

TFDIR_CELL = $(TFDIR)cell/
TFDIR_CELL > $(PROJ_DATASET)cell/
TFDIR is the variable AECOsim Building Designer uses to point to the workspace’s building resource files.
PROJ_DATASET is the variable AECOsim Building Designer uses to point to the project resource files.
For Structural use only, the following config is also defined to include the cell_structural sub-folder:
%if ($(BB_DISCIPLINE) == “Structural”)
TFDIR_CELL > $(TFDIR)cell/cell_structural/
%endif

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 Figure 14-05: The Current Library Compound Cell list and preview of the selected cell

The View menu, under the preview, can be changed between Iso, Top, Front
and Right.

Figure 14-06: The View options

The preview can also be adjusted to show combinations of the 3D elements,

the Plan representation, the Perforators and the Origin.

Figure 14-07: The options for displaying each of the

Compound Cell components in the preview

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 There are four buttons available in the Compound Cell Manager dialog box:
The Edit button shows the Compound Cell Info dialog box and allows the
name, type and description of a Compound Cell to be changed.
• Name Identifies the Compound Cell. When naming
Compound Cells, descriptive names work best.
Codes alone can be confusing, although classification
systems can help to quickly identify groups of a
similar type. In readability terms, “CladdingPanel-
Entrance” or “Cladding-Panel-01” are better than
“01-3575”, although as there could potentially be
many different types of cladding panel, additional
codes can be used to help identify the right panel
easily.
In the UK, object naming conventions have been
adopted to standardise the identification of these
building blocks of a Building Information Model. The
AEC (UK) BIM Standard for Bentley covers naming in
section 8.6. Using this convention, a generic cladding
panel would be named: “G312-Cladding Panel-
M3-G2”. “G312” is the Uniclass classification for
external finishes, immediately identifying the type of
Compound Cell, even to those whose first language is
not English; “CladdingPanel” is the simple description;
“M3” identifies that it is intended for placement as
a 3D model (even though a Compound Cell has 2D
representations, they are based on the 3D cell); “G2”
describes the level of detail in the Compound Cell, G2
meaning “Medium resolution detailed component for
design/construction (e.g. 1:100, 1:50 max)”.
• Type 
This field describes the type of cell, and which levels it
will be placed on. A Compound Cell should normally
be “Grph” (Graphic Cell), meaning that the cell will
be placed on the level(s) on which it was originally
created. The alternative is “Pnt” (Point Cell), which
would be placed on the active level regardless of
which level it was created on.
• Description 
A description can be used to further clarify the
contents of the Compound Cell. When entering a
description, be detailed in the information you enter
to ensure someone else can understand what the
Compound Cell will be used for.
Clicking the Delete button will prompt you to delete the cell from the
Library. Click OK or Cancel as required. It is highly advisable not to delete
content from the supplied libraries.

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 Create… shows the Create Cell dialog box. Refer to Creating Compound
Cells below for full details.
The Place button attaches the Compound Cell to the cursor and shows the
Place Compound Cell Tool Settings window.

Creating Compound Cells

During the design phases of a project, it is highly likely that custom 3D
content will be required. Although there is a wide range of content supplied
with AECOsim Building Designer, the nature of construction projects is that,
even if standard components can be used, they will often be used in unique
combinations. Custom Compound Cells can be used very effectively for
this type of repetitive information, particularly when the size and type of
component has been fixed.
There are four main parts of a Compound Cell: The 3D representation, at
least one 2D representation (usually a Plan view), one or more Perforators,
and an Origin (the point that will be used to place the cell).
The 3D representation is the appearance of your cell in a 3D Design Model.
It is important to consider what your model will be used for. If it will be
used for cutting sections, the level of detail can be quite simple; if used for
visualisations, the level of detail will need to be greater. As noted above, it
is often better to keep the 3D geometry basic and add the detail in the 2D
representations. This helps keep 3D models light and easier to manipulate
and edit.

Figure 14-08: A 3D representation of a

Compound Cell

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 Plan: when producing plans, this is how the Compound Cell will display.
Refer to Chapter 15: Creating Drawings for details on producing Plan Views
and controlling the 2D display of content.

Figure 14-09: The 2D plan representation of

the same Compound Cell

Perforators are the shapes used to create holes in the Form into which a
Compound Cell is placed. Perforators are usually simple shapes, often
extending to the full extent of the 3D elements.

Figure 14-10: The Perforators for the Compound Cell

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 The Origin is the insertion point for the Compound Cell. It is important
to choose an origin that relates to how the Compound Cell will be placed.
Corners and centre points are often best.

Figure 14-11: The insertion point for the

Compound Cell

Exercise 14-01

Creating a compound cell

In this exercise, the project construction details are being finalised. It is
necessary to create a specific glazing connector which includes simple but
precise 3D geometry and detailed representations for elevations and sections.
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-
A-GlazingConnection.dgn.
This file already contains a 3D model representation of
the connection, perforators, the plan, elevation and section
representations.
NOTE: For ease of selection, the various components have been
grouped into Named Groups. Selecting a single element
from each group will cause all the elements to be selected.

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 Figure 14-12: The three groups of elements needed
to define the Compound Cell

When placing a Compound Cell, all of its parts are placed using the
single Origin point. Therefore you must ensure that all of the various
representations are aligned. In the exercise, they already are.
2. From the Building Designer Tasks > Structural Design > Compound
Cells Tasks, pick the Compound Cell Manager tool (V 2).

Figure 14-13: The Compound Cell Manager tool

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 From the Compound Cell Manager dialog box, pick the File > New
Library menu to create a new Compound Cell library.

Figure 14-14: Creating a New Library from the

Compound Cell Manager File menu

Browse to the PracticalModelling\_Resources\Dataset\Cell folder.

Enter the name for your new Compound Cell Library as “PM-
Glazing.bxc” and click Save.
3. Back in the Compound Cell Manager, set the Current Library
dropdown to “PM-Glazing.bxc” if it is not already.

Figure 14-15: The Current Library set to

PM-Glazing.bxc

4. From the Compound Cell Manager dialog box, click Create to show
the Create Cell dialog box.
To aid with selecting the elements, the geometry has been added to
Named Groups.
Using Element Selection, click anywhere on the 3D representation
to select the Group. Use the door panels or glazing frame for easy
selection. Click on the 3D button to add the 3D elements to the
Compound Cell.

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 Figure 14-16: Creating the 3D component of the
Compound Cell

Pick Element Selection again and select the 2D plan representation. Use
an element near to the centre of the model for easy selection. Click on
the Plan button to add the 2D elements to the Compound Cell.

Figure 14-17: Creating the 2D plan component of the

Compound Cell

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 Pick Element Selection a third time and select one of the two dotted
cyan elements. It may be difficult to select these, but they are on a
separate level to the other elements, S-Z81-M-Construction. Click
on the Perforators button to create the perforator from the shape.

Figure 14-18: Adding the Perforators to the Compound Cell

Click the Origin button; click the centre of the long cylinder joining
the two ends of the glazing connection.

Figure 14-19: Setting the Origin to the centre of the cylinder

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 Each of the Identification buttons will show OK next to them and
the origin will show as a blue dot.
5. Click the Create button. In the Compound Cell Info dialog box that
opens, enter the following values:
Name = “S-G34-GlazingConnection-Pilkington-905J-M3-G2”
Description = “Pilkington 905J glazing connector”
Click OK to create the Compound Cell.

Figure 14-20: The Compound Cell Info

dialog box

Figure 14-21: The new Compound Cell

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\PM-Glazing.bxc and PM-01-M3-S-
GlazingConnection.dgn.

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 Placing Compound Cells
Compound Cells can be placed by double-clicking the Compound Cell name
in the Compound Cell Manager list box. This will open the Place Compound
Cell Tool Settings window. This will display different options depending on
whether In Form is ticked or not.

Figure 14-22: The Place Compound Cell Tool

Settings with the In Form option un-ticked

Figure 14-23: The Place Compound Cell dialog

box with the In Form option ticked

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 Current Library is the currently selected Compound Cell library (.bxc) file.
Active Cell is the Compound Cell being placed.
Shared places the Compound Cell as a Shared Cell. A Normal Compound
Cell, similar to a Normal Cell, is a single entity. Placing additional
Compound Cells creates additional entities in the model. Ticking Shared will
place a single entity in the model; any further Compound Cells of the same
name will be “references” of the original. When placing repetitive Compound
Cells, ticking the Shared option will keep the file size down and improve
modelling efficiency.
When a Compound Cell is placed into a Form, ticking Create Relationship
attaches the Compound Cell to the Form. If the Form is moved, the Compound
Cell will move with it. Using Create Relationship will only apply while the
Graphic Group Lock is turned on (Settings > Lock > Graphic Group).
In Form places the Compound Cell as part of an existing Form. To place the
Compound Cell, you must first select a Form to place it in. When In Form is
ticked the Tool Settings change:
• B
 y AA controls the Active Angle. By default a Compound Cell will
place orientated with the longest edge of the Form.
• D
 epth Offset allows the Compound Cell to be relocated within the
Form. The greater the Depth Offset, the further the Compound Cell
is placed in the Form.
• H
 eight Offset raises the Compound Cell from the bottom of the
Form. This is useful when placing windows to adjust the sill height.
• I nsert by allows the choice of placing the Compound Cell by its Cell
Origin (the original origin point created), by Centered Origin (the
centre point of the Compound Cell) or Mirrored Origin (the origin
point mirrored to the opposite side of the Compound Cell).
Flip Back/Front This toggles the cell open option from front to
back or from back to front.

Figure 14-24: The Flip Back/Front button

Flip Side/Side This option allows toggling the cell open direction
from one side to the other.

Figure 14-25: The Flip Side/Side button

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 When placing a Compound Cell, ticking Mirror will mirror the cell in its
usual direction.
By AA: the same as the In Form option.
Tilt allows the Compound Cell to be tilted around the Z axis as it is placed.
Make Openings will create an opening in any Forms the Compound Cell
is placed within or near. The Perforator is used to define the opening size.
Make Openings uses the Sense Distance to define how close to the Perforator
Forms have to be to be cut.
Place Level controls the level that the Compound Cell is placed on.
• A
 bsolute places the Compound Cell on the same level it was
created on.
• R
 elative doesn’t really apply any longer. It was used for placing cells
when levels were numerical. Unless Level Numbers are explicitly
defined, it is not always possible to guarantee which levels a
Compound Cell will be placed on if you use this option.
Dynamics controls which representation shows when placing a Compound
Cell. Choose either None (to show no preview), 3D to show the 3D
representation or 2D to show the 2D plan representation.
True Scale is essential if you are working with content created in files with
different working units. When ticked it places the cell at the true converted
size; when unticked it places it using the original size.
Scale allows each of the X, Y and Z axis to be scaled. When the Lock symbol
is on, all scales will change when another scale is changed.

Exercise 14-02

Placing compound cells

1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-
S-Facade.dgn.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Design > Compound Cells
Task, click the Compound Cell Manager button (V 2).
From the Current Library dropdown, select “PM-Glazing.bxc”.
Double-click “S-G34-GlazingConnector-Pilkington-905J-M3-G2” in
the list of Compound Cells.
In the Place Compound Cell Tool Settings window:
Create Relationship should be ticked.
Tick the Make Openings option and enter a Sense Distance of “20”.

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 Figure 14-26: The Place Compound Cell dialog box settings

3. Snap on the end structural snap point of the higher plate. Set the
AccuDraw origin to this point (hint: use Ctrl + Tentative).
Rotate AccuDraw so that the orientation matches the plate and
it is flat.
Lock the axis using SmartLock and move towards the column. Enter
“30” in AccuDraw’s X axis.

Figure 14-27: Setting AccuDraw’s origin and moving 30mm

towards the column to define the origin of the Compound Cell

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 Click to place the origin of the Compound Cell.
The next click will define the rotation of the Compound Cell. Move
towards the AccuDraw Y axis and click again. The Compound Cell
will be placed.

Figure 14-28: The Compound Cell placed into the facade

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-Facade.dgn.

Multiview Compound Cells

Compound Cell Manager offers the choice of a 3D representation and 2D
plan representation. Additional representations can be added for other views
including Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Left and Right. It is possible to edit a
Compound Cell definition directly within a .bxc library. You would probably
want to do this if you are editing a Compound Cell so that you do not need
to add additional representations to every instance of the cell.
The additional representations are called Drawing Symbols and can be viewed
by right-pressing on a Compound Cell and choosing Building Element Info.
In the Building Element Info dialog box, select Drawing Symbols.

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 Figure 14-29: The Drawing Symbols tab of the
Building Element Info dialog box

By clicking the Add button, settings for the Front, Right, Back, Left, Top and
Bottom Drawing Symbols will show.

Figure 14-30: The Drawing Symbols tab and buttons

after additional representations have been added

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 The Add option appends additional Drawing Symbol definitions to a
Compound Cell. Clicking Add again will add a custom definition called
“Unnamed”.
Click Delete to remove a selected Drawing Symbol.
Clicking Properties will show the Drawing Symbols Properties dialog box.

Figure 14-31: The Drawing Symbol

Properties dialog box

• A
 ctive will apply the additional representation when the model
is shown in a Building View. If unchecked, the geometry won’t be
loaded.
• V
 isible will show the additional representation when the model is
shown in a Building View. If unchecked, the geometry is still loaded
but not visible.
• D
 ouble Sided will repeat the Display Symbols on the opposite side
of a Compound Cell without having to add all six representations.
For example, if applied a Double Sided Display Symbol is applied to
the Front the same representation will also be used in Back.
Clicking Rot-X, Rot-Y or Rot-Z will rotate the Drawing Symbol about the
relevant axis.
If the additional symbol wasn’t placed relative to the original Compound
Cell, clicking Pick Origin will allow you to choose where the origin point
should be located.
Pick Embedded allows the elements to be used for the Drawing Symbol to be
selected on-screen.

Exercise 14-03

Adding additional view representations to compound cells

1. Open the file PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\cell\PM-
GlazingMultiView.bxc. You will need to change the Files of type
dropdown to “All files (*.*)” to see the .bxc files.

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 NOTE: For ease of selection, the elements that make up the
Drawing Symbols have been grouped into a Group.
Selecting a single element will cause all the elements to
be selected.
2. Right-press on the “S-G34-GlazingConnection-Pilkington-905J-
M3-G2” Compound Cell and select Building Element Info.
Click the Drawing Symbols tab.
Click the Add button to show a Drawing Symbol for each
standard view.

Figure 14-32: The Building Element Info dialog

box showing Drawing Symbols for all views

3. Select the Right view and click Pick Embedded.

Click on the side section representation from the screen then click
another point to accept the selection.
NOTE: The tool pointer will not show the usual selection cursor
but a small crosshair. This will still allow you to select an
element.

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 Figure 14-33: The side section representation

The Building Element Info dialog box will remove the cross for each
view representation that is added to a compound cell in the Ref
column.

Figure 14-34: The Drawing Symbols showing a

Plan and Right symbol in the Compound Cell

4. Select the Front view and click Pick Embedded.

Click on the front elevation representation from the screen then
click another point to accept the selection.

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 Figure 14-35: The front elevation representation

5. Click Apply on the Building Element Info dialog box to apply the
changes.
Now when a Building View is created parallel to either the right or
front plane of the Compound Cell, the Drawing Symbol will be used
in exactly the same way as a Compound Cell is re-symbolised in a
Plan View.

Figure 14-36: An Elevation View showing the “Front”

Drawing Symbol

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_Resources\

CompletedExercises\PM-GlazingMultiView.bxc.

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Davies_ch14_ptg01_365-390.indd 390 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 Chapter 15

Creating Drawings

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Davies_ch15_ptg01_391-432.indd 392 03/26/15 10:07 AM
 Creating drawings from the 3D model is one of the key principles of a BIM
production environment. The ability to model the project in a coordinated
manner in three dimensions and then be safe in the knowledge that the
drawings produced from it are spatially correct provides great benefit.
When design changes are made, the 3D elements can be changed only once
and those changes will be reflected on any drawing where that element is
shown. It is important to bear in mind that this “automated” workflow BIM
authoring tools, such as AECOsim Building Designer, provided do not negate
the need for detailed checking and coordination reviews.

A note about terminology used in this chapter

The terms used by Bentley for the various files used in the drawing creation
process can be very confusing. Throughout this chapter we will need to refer
to these files as well as using everyday design and construction terms. In
addition to the notes in Chapter 01: Principles, the table below defines the
terms used in this chapter.

Term Definition
design The process of developing a project.
Design Model A Bentley Design Model – used for the creation of the
basic BIM elements. Can be 2D or 3D.
DGN file A Bentley .dgn file. A DGN file can contain any number
of Design, Drawing or Sheet models.
drawing A print containing project design information.
Drawing Model A Bentley Drawing Model – used for the setup of
Views created from the Design Models and for adding
annotation.
Sheet The visual outline surrounding the data in a Sheet Model
defining the limits used to create the drawing.
Sheet File A DGN file specifically for the creation of drawings.
In these exercises it contains both a Design Model and
a Sheet Model.
Sheet Model A Bentley Sheet Model – used to set up the Views,
references, borders and annotation needed to produce
a drawing.

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 File structure
The diagram, Figure 15-01, shows the file structure recommended to produce
drawings from your BIM model.
The 3D model will be made up of a series of 3D Design Files (1).
The relevant files are referenced into a single “Container” file (2). This is the
location from where the Dynamic Views (3) are created. While it is possible
to create Dynamic Views directly in the 3D Design File, from other Saved
Views or even from a Sheet Model, using a Container file allows you to
manage the Views more easily (you do not need to keep jumping between
references), and it avoids any problems with people removing or adding
references to the working files.
When the Dynamic Views are created, a Drawing Model file (4) is also. You
could create these within the Container file, but as these may need to be edited,
or issued to external consultants, it is better to keep them as separate files.
The Drawing Models are then referenced into the Design Model of a Sheet
File (5). This is necessary to provide DWG compatibility. As it is unlikely that
any project contains only 3D data, 2D Model data (7) can also be referenced
into here if necessary.
The Design Model is re-referenced into the Sheet Model of the same Sheet
File, producing “Paperspace” and “Modelspace”. The drawing Border (6) is
also referenced so that the office details, project information and drawing
titles can be added and a printed drawing produced.
These principles will be clarified as you progress through the exercises in this
chapter.

Figure 15-01: The recommended file structure for

the creation of a drawing in AECOsim Building
Designer

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 Additionally, some companies use an “Arrangement” file to compile all the
references prior to adding to the Sheet File. Figure 15-02 shows the difference
this makes to the drawing composition.

Figure 15-02: The composition of a typical drawing

with an Arrangement file (8) added

Open the file PM-x-M3-S-DynamicViewContainer.dgn in the

PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder.

Dynamic Views
The basis of creating drawings in AECOsim Building Designer are Dynamic
Views. Dynamic Views are 2- or 3-dimensional views of the 3D model.
AECOsim Building Designer handles the resymbolisation of the elements so
that they can appear more as you would expect on a drawing than in the
3D model. This includes hiding information you might not want to see,
setting specific line weights, adding hatching or shading, replacing 3D cells
with more suitable 2D representations and much more.
Once Dynamic Views have been created, they can be referenced as a normal file
and used to produce your drawings. You might want to add annotation, turn
levels on or off or change symbology settings on a drawing-by-drawing basis,
allowing you to realise the expectations of a Building Information Modelling
system – using the base information multiple times, avoiding re-working and
increasing the re-use of your data. This is done using Drawing Models.

To Create a Dynamic View

There are several ways of creating a Dynamic View. In normal circumstances
you would always use the Callout tools as these give you most flexibility,
and create the necessary Drawing and/or Sheet Models automatically. The
alternative methods, covered below, can be used when you have specific
projections you want to create.

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 The Callout tools are located in the Main Building toolbar or in the Building
Designer > Drawing Composition Task.

Figure 15-03: The Callout tools

There is a separate tool for Place Plan Callout, Place Section Callout, Place
Elevation Callout, Place Detail Callout and Create Floor Plan View. The first
four tools are all available in vanilla MicroStation; the last tool is specific
to Bentley AECOsim Building Designer and ties in with Floor Manager to
create single or multiple floor plans. All you have to do is rotate the model to
a point where it is easy to see the area you wish to create a View from. For a
plan view this might be the Front rotation; for a section it might be Top.
The Place Callout Tool Settings windows offer you minimal options. Before
you place the Callout you will need to select a Drawing Seed from the
dropdown. The Drawing Seed controls the settings of the Dynamic View.

Figure 15-04: The Place Plan Callout Drawing

Seed – the other tools are similar

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 Administration Tips
The Drawing Seeds are a very important concept to understand, although it may not be immediately clear
where to configure certain parts.
The seed dgnlib where Drawing Seeds are stored is defined by the variable STF_DRAWINGSEED_LIBLIST
for Structural AECOsim Building Designer and MS_DRAWINGSEED_LIBLIST for MicroStation. By default,
MS_DRAWINGSEED_LIBLIST includes STF_DRAWINGSEED_LIBLIST. In the Dataset_US and Dataset_
GB datasets this is the WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_xx\dgnlib\DrawingSeed_
Structural.dgnlib file.
The PracticalModelling project has been configured to point to a project-specific Drawing Seed:
STF_DRAWINGSEED_LIBLIST = $(PROJ_DATASET)dgnlib/DrawingSeed_Structural.dgnlib
which is found in the PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\dgnlib\ folder. This dgnlib
contains a series of Saved Views and Models which are copied when defining a new View. For each Saved
View there will be at least one corresponding Drawing Model, typically a Sheet Model as well.

Figure 15-05: The Saved Views and their corresponding

Models in DrawingSeed_Structural.dgnlib

You can create new Drawing Seeds in this, or preferably a company dgnlib. To do this, create a View of the
type you need – only Plans will display in the Place Plan Callout tool Drawing Seed dropdown, Elevations
in Place Elevation Callout, etc. The location of your marker is not important as that will be redefined by the
user – but do not select a seed. You must create the Drawing Model in the same dgnlib file (using the process
outlined in Exercise 15-01).

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 Note that you will need to add your dgnlib to the MS_SAVEDVIEW_EXCLUDELIBS configuration variable to
make sure your seeds are not displayed in the Saved Views dialog box.

Saved View seeds

The Saved View seed in your Drawing Seed dgnlib is where the View Attributes are defined. You would
set which element types display, the Building settings and rules, as well as specifying which Display Styles
to use for the Forward and Cut planes.
Additionally you will need to set some of the View Properties which appear in the Element Information
window. To access these you right-click on the Saved View and pick Properties.

Figure 15-06: Selecting a Saved View’s Properties

The Properties include important General settings including:

Discipline works in conjunction with Project Explorer to filter only Views relevant to a specific disci-
pline. There is a new modifier that can be added to a Link Filter to make use of this. For example, to list
only Structural Plan Views in Project Explorer, use the Filter “View:Plan((Discipline:Structural)”.
Purpose is another setting that works with Project Explorer. As an example, to list only Structural Drawing
Models intended for Floor Plans, use the Filter “Model:Drawing(Discipline:Structural,Purpose:
”Floor Plan”)”.
Detailing Symbol Style specified the callouts that will be used. If your company has specific drawing
standards, you can create a new Detailing Symbol Style in any dgnlib within the MS_DGNLIBLIST search
path. (If you create custom cells for the Style, you will need to point MS_DETAILINGSYMBOLS_CELLLIST to
the correct library.) Once set in the Saved View Properties, this value cannot be changed in the Callout tools.

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 Saved View seeds continued

Figure 15-07: The important Saved View Properties to ensure

the Views list in Project Explorer and use the correct Detailing Symbol Style

Drawing Model seeds

The Drawing Model seed (and the Sheet Model seed) is where you configure the required reference file
settings. This is where you could specify specific levels to be on or off by default or override View Attributes
on certain references should you need to. You may also need to change the Visible Edge setting if your way
of working requires cached (fixed) views rather than immediately updating if the 3D model is changed.

Figure 15-08: Changing the reference setting for Visible Edges to “Cached”

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 With a Drawing Seed selected, the Detailing Symbol Style will be greyed
out as this is defined in the seed. There is also an option to Create Drawing,
which will create a Drawing Model automatically, and the Annotation Scale
lock. Annotation Scale re-sizes the Callout based on the active Annotation
Scale. Typically these would both be on.

Creating Plans
Exercise 15-01

Creating a plan by place plan callout

1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-
DynamicViewContainer.dgn and rotate View 1 to Front View.
In the Drawing Scale toolbar, make sure Annotation Scale Lock is on
and that Annotation Scale is set to “1:100”.

Figure 15-09: Annotation Scale

In Floor Selector, pick Floor “00”. This will help place the Callout at
the correct depth.
2. From the Building Designer > Main-Building Task, pick the Place
Plan Callout tool.

Figure 15-10: The Place Plan Callout tool

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 In the Place Plan Callout Tool Settings window, set Drawing Seed to
“S-Plan-SectionName”.
Check that the Create Drawing option is ticked and that Annotation
Scale Lock is on.

Figure 15-11: Setting the Place Plan Callout options

Set your AccuDraw origin somewhere on the left-hand side of the

grid (the exact position isn’t important), refer to Figure 15-12,
point 1 and rotate the compass to match your view using the
V shortcut.
Move up in the Y-direction and enter “750”. Click in the view to
place the first end of the Callout.

Figure 15-12: Defining the height of the plan

At this stage, AccuDraw may rotate itself back to the original design
file axes. If that happens, type V again to ensure the Callout is
orthogonal to the building.

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 Tip
You can create a stepped section by holding down the Ctrl button while placing a Callout. Each time
you click while holding the Ctrl key, a step will be created.

Click again on the right-hand side of the building to place the

second endpoint of the Callout. Again, AccuDraw may rotate itself
back to the original design file axes. If that happens, type V again to
ensure the Callout is orthogonal to the building.
Move down in the Y-direction and type in “2500”. Click in the
view to define the Forward View distance – how far the plan will
see. Anything beyond this third point will be omitted from the Plan
View. The Plan Callout will be placed.

Figure 15-13: Defining the Forward View distance

3. The Create Drawing dialog box will open. This is where the name
of the View, the locations and scales of the Drawing Model and the
Sheet Model are defined.
Name is the name of the Dynamic View you will create. Remember
that you will need to refer to these views many times throughout
the life of a project so a standard method of naming files is always
preferable. In this case, type in “PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor”.
The Drawing Seed, View Type, Discipline and Purpose are
predefined in the Drawing Seed and the Saved View seed and cannot
be edited. These are used by Project Explorer to organise the Views
and make them easier to identify.

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 Figure 15-14: The Name of the Dynamic View

While the actual location of your Drawing Models isn’t all that
important as Project Explorer will search all files in the project and
list all Views it finds in any of them, you need to consider whether
multiple people will need to access the Drawing Models. You
cannot, for example, have two people adding annotation to two
Drawing Models stored in the same DGN file. For this reason we
recommend creating each Drawing Model in a separate file.
In the second section of the Create Drawing dialog box, tick the box
to the left of the Filename field. The default name that is automatically
entered will be exactly the same as the active DGN file you are in.
It is critical that you do not use this name. If you do, the reference
attachment in the new Drawing File you are about to create will
reference itself, not the correct file where the Saved View is stored.
To select an alternative name, click on the Create New Drawing File
button to the right of the Filename field.

Figure 15-15: Creating a new file for the storage of the

Drawing Model

In the Create Drawing Model Destination File dialog that opens,

check you have been taken to the correct folder: PracticalModelling\
DrawingModels. This should be the case.
Type in a File name of “PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor”. This is the same
as the Dynamic View that is being created. While this principle of
matching the naming isn’t essential for AECOsim Building Designer
to work properly, it makes it easier to identify which Saved Views
and Drawing Model files relate to each other.

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 Figure 15-16: Naming the Drawing Model file the
same as the Dynamic View

Click Save. You will be returned to the Create Drawing dialog box,
where the new Filename will now be set.
Check that the Annotation Scale is set to “1:100”. It should be as
this is defined in the Drawing Seed “S-Plan-SectionName”.
The Create Drawing options also allow you to automatically create
a Sheet Model at the same time. While this can increase speed, it will
mean that the Sheet File created won’t be composed in a manner that
will allow you to produce a DWG file as expected. As most projects
end up needing to be referenced and used in AutoCAD at some point,
it is fairly important that your files are set up in a way that can be
used in AutoCAD. For now, untick the Create Sheet Model option; a
Sheet File will be created and composed manually later.
The final option, Open Model, when ticked will take you from
your active DGN file into the newly created Drawing Model. Make
sure Open Model is ticked so that you can check the Plan View and
Drawing Model have both generated correctly.

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 Figure 15-17: Create Sheet Model is unticked, Open Model is ticked

Click OK to create the View and Drawing Model.

4. The Drawing Model file, PracticalModelling\DrawingModels\
PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor.dgn, will open.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor.dgn.

Create Floor Plan View

An alternative way of creating Plan Views is to use the Create Floor Plan
View tool, located in the Building Designer > Main-Building Task.

Figure 15-18: The Create Floor Plan

View tool

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 This tool offers three methods of creating Plan Views:

Figure 15-19: The three methods of creating

a Plan View

Floor Plan User Defined (Figure 15-19, 1) can be used to create a Plan View
at a specific elevation. You would enter a z-depth in the Plan Cut Elevation
field, and then specify the View Range. The View Range menu allows you to
define the extents of the Saved View by either the Model Range (AECOsim
Building Designer calculates the values based on the modelled elements) or
User Defined. The View Range is specified in elevation values, not distances,
which can be quite difficult numerically. Also, as there is no visual feedback,
it is often better to just set the Plan Cut Elevation level then adjust the others
once the View has been created.
Floor Plan By Floor (Figure 15-19, 2) links the creation of the Saved View
to Floor Selector. Instead of entering a Plan Cut Elevation, the Tool Settings
change to offer a Floor Selector dropdown to define the elevation level. The
View Range will now include a Drawing Template option. It is important to
pick this option to get the correct Back, Cut and Forward settings.
The third method, Floor Plan By Floor Set (Figure 15-19, 3), allows you to
select multiple Floor planes from Floor Selector by ticking in the Create Plan
column.
The added advantage to this method is that the Source dropdown can be
changed if you have a Revit-generated i-model or IFC model attached to use
their floor definitions.

Administration Tip
The View Range used by the Create Floor Plan View tool is defined in the View Seed (located by default
in the DrawingSeed_Structural.dgnlib), not Floor Manager. Floor Manager defines the elevation of the Floor
plane only. The View Range can be defined in the View Attributes of the View Seed. See Building View
Attributes below for full details.

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 Figure 15-20: The Floor Plan by Floor
Set Tool Settings

Once the floors have been selected, the Tool Settings window changes
to confirm the floors and their Elevation, Forward, Cut and Back levels.
It is possible to override the values here, but again, this can be difficult
numerically as there is no graphical feedback. Overridden values are
shown in blue.

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 Figure 15-21: The Create Floor Plan Tool Settings
showing selected floors prior to creating

You can insert floors manually by clicking on the Insert Row button. You
then have to enter the Name (the default is “Floor”) and the Elevation,
Forward, Cut and Back values manually.
Clicking on Insert From Selected Shapes creates a new entry by prompting
you to select a shape in your model. A “ByShape” entry is created using the
z-depth of the shape to set the Elevation and Cut values. Forward and Back
need to be entered manually. Note that the shape is deleted.

The Building View Attributes

A Building View, the term used for a Saved View generated by AECOsim
Building Designer, contains more settings than a standard MicroStation
View. The View Attributes dialog box is modified accordingly to allow these
additions to be controlled.
View Attributes is opened from the usual MicroStation location, the first tool
in the View toolbox or by typing Ctrl+B.

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 Figure 15-22: The View Attributes tool

The Building View Attributes is rather large. If you are working on a

reduced size screen (anything smaller than full HD resolution, 1080) it is not
recommended to use the pop-down button but to open the View Attributes
dialog fully.
The first addition, included in base MicroStation, is the Markers attribute.
This sets whether the Callout Markers are displayed in the view, and if so,
which types.

Figure 15-23: The Markers attribute

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 When this View Attribute is on, a Marker is displayed at each Callout.
Hovering over any Callout opens a “Mini toolbar” to navigate between
Drawings, Sheets and Design Models relevant to the Callout. It will also
allow you to perform other tasks, such as apply the Saved View, clip the
active model using the Callout settings, turn Markers on/off individually
(which isn’t possible in View Attributes), reference in the Sheet in true space,
and add the Saved View to another Drawing or Sheet Model. As this is base
MicroStation functionality, for more information on how this works, refer to
the MicroStation Help documentation.

Figure 15-24: The Marker Mini toolbar

There is a Building panel added in below View Setup. This area controls the
specifics of a Building View.
Below that, the Clip Volume Settings defines which Display Style is applied to
the Cut, Forward, Back and Outside. This works in the same way as it does
in MicroStation. The Building options override, and enhance, the Display
Style settings.

The View Attributes

Building Panel
The Building panel in View Attributes only displays when a View shown
is a Building View. If the View is a normal Model view or a Saved View,
an option to Promote View will be available, along with the selection of a
Saved View Seed. This allows you to create Building Views using the normal
MicroStation Clip Volume tools if you prefer and promote the View later.

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 Figure 15-25: Building Panel – Promote View

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 The Building panel contains four tabs: General, Structural, Mechanical and
Architectural, each with discipline-specific applications.

Figure 15-26: The Building panel of

View Attributes

General
The General tab contains settings for how the Forward, Cut and Back
Views display.
One of the most important settings, Drawing Symbols controls whether
DataGroup Items and Compound Cells display as true 3D elements or as
2D symbols.
The Unify option controls whether unification takes place on junctions.
Typically this option would be ticked, otherwise unwanted lines will appear,
for example, at corners of walls.

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 Figure 15-27: With the Unify option off on the left, the
junctions of the walls are shown as modelled

Apply Patterns turns the hatching or fill on or off. Normally this would be
on, but you might turn it off should you use the View at a large scale when
hatching can blend together resulting in an unclear drawing.
The angle of hatching is defined in the Part definition (refer to Chapter 13:
Creating DataGroup Content). In certain instances, this can cause
undesirable results. Ticking Align Hatch to Forms bases the pattern angle on
each individual element rather than the DGN file axes. The result is still not
always ideal as the angle depends on the direction of the wall. If hatching is
vital for your details, it is sometimes better to pattern and hatch the drawings
manually. Refer to Chapter 16: Adding Detail and Annotation.
Generate Centerlines (and the related Connect Centerlines option) adds
centrelines to elements. Centrelines will only be added to elements that use
a Part where the Ctr Ln Toggle has been enabled.
The Sensitive Distance, available in the Forward and Back planes, is very
useful for picking up elements and openings which do not fall exactly in the
Cut Plane. For example, with a series of openings in a wall it may not be
possible to show them all, which you may need to do to be able to dimension
them properly without creating a complex stepped Callout. Setting a
Sensitive Distance will treat any openings within that distance in front of the
Cut plane (the Forward Sensitive Distance) or behind the Cut plane (the Back
Sensitive Distance) as if they were cut through.
Apply Reflection “flips” the View. This setting is on by default in
Architectural AECOsim Building Designer in the Reflected Ceiling Saved
View seed.
The Show Modified Forms selector can be used to highlight changes that
have occurred to the model by ticking the Highlight Changes box and
applying the chosen symbology.

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 Figure 15-28: Show Modified Forms

When there are one or more grid systems defined in a project using the Grid
System tool, you can automatically generate grid system graphics in the
Dynamic View using the Show Grid System option. Tick this to automatically
generate the grid system annotations in Dynamic View references attached to
a Drawing Model.

Architectural
This tab controls the rules for annotation and resymbolisation of
architectural elements. The rules list in a very similar manner to the
Structural tab which is explained in more detail.

Structural & Mechanical

The Structural and Mechanical tabs list and apply resymbolisation rules
to a View.
Traditionally, structural steelwork and ductwork is drawn as a single
line rather than the true width of the member. This was to allow quicker
modification on the drawing board when changes were made by scratching
the line out with a razor blade. The principle is still applied to engineering
drawings, even those generated in a BIM environment, and this is where the
resymbolisation rules are needed.
AECOsim Building Designer’s structural resymbolisation rules go further
than single-line representations. They can also be used to add annotation to
a member, reducing the potential for mistakes.
Structural rules are added by default when creating a view with a structural
saved view seed but can also be added manually to a view by clicking on the
green plus sign, the Attach New Rule button.

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 Figure 15-29: Attaching a new structural rule to
the View Attributes

The Drawing Rules dialog opens which contains all the available
resymbolisation rules.

Figure 15-30: The Drawing Rules dialog box

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 At the top of the Drawing Rules dialog, the Based On dropdown allows you
to specify specific elements to resymbolise, avoiding too many unnecessary
changes to your View. Options available include “Part and Family” (the
usual option to use, allowing you to specify Parts) as well as Criteria Sets or
individual Selections. (For more details on selection and Criteria Sets, refer
to the Bentley Help files.)
In the Rule Name list box, you would select the rule to apply. The rules
naming can be quite confusing, although once you understand it, the
selection becomes clear. The rule selected in Figure 15-31 breaks down
as follows:
• A
 fter the discipline code (S-) and the Uniclass classification code
(G262) the third part of the rule name (BeamSteel) defines which
element type the rule should be applied to.
• T
 he next part (GA) explains which drawing type or View the rule
should be used in. GA typically refers to a larger scale plan, a
“General Arrangement” drawing.
• T
 he final part of the rule name (SectionName) specifies what
annotation will be displayed. In this case, the member size, the
section name, will be added.

The final setting to be aware of is Tolerance angle – perpendicular to section.

This provides further control over angled members in your view. As the
structural rules break down into mainly “footprint” rules (applied to an
element viewed along its axis – e.g. a column in plan) and “top/side” rules
(applied to an element shown parallel to the view – e.g. a beam in plan),
it may be that you need to apply two different rules to the same Part. By
specifying the Tolerance angle, you can apply a rule to only elements that fall
within that range of angles. In this case, the setting of “0” means that this
rule will only be applied to elements that are exactly perpendicular to the
view – perfectly vertical columns.
The Add to View button adds the rule to a View.

View Seed View Attributes

A very important addition to View Attributes occurs only in View Seeds.
The View Seeds supplied in the country-specific Datasets are located
in the Workspace\BuildingDatasets\. . .\dgnlib\ folder, starting with
“DrawingSeed. . .”. For example, the structural seed is DrawingSeed_
Structural.dgnlib. When configuring a View Seed, the View Attributes are
expanded to provide options for Plan View creation.

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 Figure 15-31: The View Seed Options in
View Attributes

The General tab contains options for all Callout placement:

The Detailing Symbol Style dropdown lists all available Detailing Symbol
Styles.
Discipline and Purpose are used by Project Explorer to group relevant files in
a multi-disciplinary project.
The additional Building Designer tab provides View Range presets.

Figure 15-32: The Building Designer View

Seed Options

For each of the Saved View planes, Forward, Cut and Back, there is an
Offset field to reposition the plane relative to the floor selected in the Floor
dropdown.

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 With the values set as shown in Figure 15-32, the View Range for Create
Floor Plan View would be as follows:
The Cut plane would be located 1000 above the Active Floor. If this was
Floor “01” (133145.0) the Cut plane would be at 134145.0.
The Forward plane would extend 500 below the Active Floor. Again, using
Floor “01” (133145.0) as an example, the Forward plane would end at
132645.0.
The Back plane ends exactly on the Next Floor. Using Floor “01” (133145)
the next floor up is “02” (136820.0), so the Back plane would extend to
136820.0.
These View Attributes are only defaults. They can be overridden at any time
in the Create Floor Plan View Tool Settings.

Figure 15-33: The Create Floor Plan View tool and Tool Settings
showing the relationship to the View Seed Options

Exercise 15-02

Updating a saved view

If a Saved View is modified in any way after it has been generated, it is
necessary to Update Saved View Settings to permanently save the changes.
13. Continuing in PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-
S-DynamicViewContainer.dgn, apply the Saved View PM-00-
P-S-GroundFloor to View 1.
While the View has been generated according to the Drawing Seed
settings, it needs to be adjusted slightly to show the foundations and
ground beams correctly.

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 Figure 15-34: A close-up of the “as-created”
PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor Saved View

14. Open the View Attributes and in the Clip Volume Settings, change
the Forward Display Style to Forward (Show Hidden Edges).

Figure 15-35: Changing the Saved View Clip

Volume Settings

The view will update to display the hidden foundations and ground
beams.

Figure 15-36: A close-up of the modified PM-00-

P-S-GroundFloor Saved View

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 At this point, the change has been made only to the active view; it
has not been saved back to the Saved View. If the view were to be
applied again, the hidden detail would not be shown.
15. In the Saved Views dialog box, highlight the PM-00-P-S-
GroundFloor Saved View and click on Update Saved View Settings.

Figure 15-37: Saving the changes (Update Saved

View Settings) for PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor

In the Tool Settings window, check that the correct Saved View is
selected (it should be) and make sure that Update Camera Position
is unticked.

Figure 15-38: Update Camera Position

should be unticked

This means that the Saved View will remain in the same location as
when it was created. If this option is ticked, the Saved View will be
updated based on what is seen in the active view.
Click in the view to accept the changes.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-x-M3-S-
DynamicViewContainer.dgn.

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 Setting up the Sheet
So far, you have learned to place Callouts in your model and configure the
Saved Views to display the View Attributes needed. The final steps to creating
a drawing are to compose the Sheet Model ready for printing.

Using Level Overrides

It is common practice to produce monochrome and colour drawings by
using Level Overrides. Typically a company would draw their elements in
a set colour, usually selected to help identify the material type onscreen,
then use Level Overrides to set the required levels to colour 0, or black, on
the final print. This method allows flexibility not offered by the printing
Monochrome, Grayscale and Colour options alone, and is less restrictive and
easier to manage than using complex Pen Tables.
To use Level Overrides with Saved Views, there is a small additional process
to go through to allow their use.

Exercise 15-03

Preparing the drawing model for level overrides

1. Open the Drawing Model created in Exercise 15-01,
PracticalModelling\DrawingModels\PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor.dgn.
The elements will be displayed in the colours specified by their Part
definitions.
2. Open the References dialog and highlight the Saved View
reference “PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor” from PM-x-M3-S-
DynamicViewContainer.dgn.
Firstly, to ensure that the Saved View has been updated to match
the changes made in Exercise 15-02, right-click on the reference and
pick Update From Saved View. The hidden lines should now display.
3. View Attributes for References can be set independently from
the active file, which offers a very flexible solution. Click on Set
Reference Presentation to open the reference’s View Attributes.

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 Figure 15-39: The Set Reference Presentation button

The Reference Presentation dialog will open. This controls the View
Attributes for the reference attachment, independently of the active
file. In the Presentation panel, turn on Level Overrides and click OK.

Figure 15-40: Setting the Reference Presentation

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 Close the Reference dialog. The overrides will now display.

Figure 15-41: The Drawing Model showing the

reference with Level Overrides on

4. Create a new file in the PracticalModelling\SheetModels\ folder

using the PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\seed\SheetSeed_
ISO.dgn seed file.
Name the drawing PM-S-010.dgn.

Administration Tip
The PracticalModelling seedfile SheetSeed_ISO.dgn has been adapted slightly from the Bentley-supplied
datasets. It has an additional Design Model so that conversions to DWG format will work correctly.

The Sheet Model ISO A1 Border has also been pre-configured for the building to fit well on the sheet at
1:100. This has been done in the seed by re-referencing the Design Model into the Sheet Model at a Scale
of 1:100 and a Live Nest Depth of 99 to ensure any nested references display. The reference was then
moved and rotated to fit onto the sheet so that once a reference is attached into the Design Model it will be
positioned correctly in the Sheet Model. Finally the reference attachment was clipped to the rectangle on
the non-plotting level “S-Z8-M-NonPlot”. (Note: this level is turned off.)

It is highly recommended that, when working using the method of setting up sheets, the project seeds are
set up prior to drawing production to make it easier for your users.

5. Open the file. You will be presented with a Sheet in View 1 named
ISO A1 Border.
In the View Groups toolbar in the bottom left of your window,
change the View Group dropdown to Design Views.

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 Figure 15-42: Opening the drawing’s
Design Model

The Design Model will open.

6. Open Project Explorer and make sure the Link Set selected is
“Building”.
Browse to Drawing Models > Structural > General Arrangements
where you should see PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor.dgn. (If you do not
see it, check under Drawing Models > All Drawings.)

Figure 15-43: The PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor.

dgn Drawing Model in Project Explorer

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 Click and drag PM-00-P-S-GroundFloor.dgn into View 1 to attach it
as a reference.
You will be prompted in the Attach Source File window to select the
Attachment Method for the Drawing Model you are referencing.
Leave it set to the default of “Recommended”.

Figure 15-44: The Attach Source File

window

Click OK.
7. Return to the Sheet Model using the ISO A1 Border Views View
Group.

Figure 15-45: Opening the ISO A1

Border sheet

You may need to position the reference using the move and rotate
tools from the reference manager or right-pressing on the reference
to choose from the pop out menu.
8. Should you now need to display any levels in colour, all you have to
do is use Level manager in the normal way to turn the Override for
those levels off. For example, to display only the external walls in
colour, open Level Manager.
In the tree view on the left, highlight the reference “PM-00-P-S-
GroundFloor” and turn off the colour overrides for levels “S-G2522-
M-WallsInternalBlock-Cut” and “S-G252-M-WallsInternal-Cut”.
NOTE: When turning levels off in a Sheet Model, to maintain
compatibility with DWG you should use Global Display
rather than Level Display.

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 Figure 15-46: The completed drawing showing
colour and monochrome information

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-S-010.dgn.

Visible Edge Quality

The Visible Edges of a Dynamic View can be controlled in the Drawing
Model using the reference Visible Edge settings.

Figure 15-47: The reference Visible Edge settings

Normally, when a Drawing Model is used, any changes to the model reflect
instantly in the Saved View. For example, if a new wall is added, it will
show immediately in the Saved View and related Drawing Model. There are
times when the modelling work being undertaken is being carried out at the
same time as a drawing issue. If that is the case, changes to the model could

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 detrimentally affect the workflow. In these cases it would be beneficial to
allow the modelling work to continue without changing the Drawing Models
and drawings. This can be achieved by changing the Visible Edges option to
Cached. This “fixes” the View to the state when it was generated. It will also
speed up navigation between files as no regeneration of views is carried out;
in fact no modelling updates will be shown on the drawings at all. When
the updates need to be shown, the Visible Edge setting can be set back to
Dynamic.
It is possible to switch the Visible Edge setting using keyins, which makes it
possible to use Batch Processer to reset multiple files:
REFERENCE VISIBLEEDGES ALLMODELS CACHED sets the Visible
Edge option of all the references in the file to Cached. i.e. No changes to the
model will be shown in the Drawing Models.
REFERENCE VISIBLEEDGES ALLMODELS DYNAMIC sets the Visible
Edge option of all the references in the file to Dynamic. i.e. Any updates to
the model will automatically reflect in the Drawing Models.
REFERENCE VISIBLEEDGES ALLMODELS SYNCHRONIZECACHE
reloads all the references in the file which have their Visible Edge option
set to Cached. This will update the Views to reflect the current state of the
model, but will not continue to update automatically.
The settings for Visible Edges can be adjusted using the Visible Edge Settings.
These work the same as the Visible Edge settings have always worked in
MicroStation. For more details refer to Bentley documentation and Help file.

Figure 15-48: The Visible Edge Settings

button

To avoid issues with view resolution, and to ensure accuracy to 5mm (in
a file with Master Units of mm), the Method should be set to “Exact”, the
Accuracy “To Tolerance” and Tolerance to “5.0”.
5mm should be adequate in a BIM model intended for use at 1:50 scale.

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 Place Drawing Title
To aid navigation using Project Explorer, it is possible to place Drawing
Titles. (These are added automatically if placing a Drawing Model directly
into a Sheet Model.) A Drawing Title defines the area that should be
displayed and requires a description name to be typed.

Exercise 15-04

Placing a drawing title

1. Open the Sheet File PM-S-110.dgn from PracticalModelling\
SheetModels\.
2. From the Building Designer > Drawing Composition > Place
Sheet Annotation Task, choose the Place Drawing Title that has a
navigation link tool. This toolbox will only be available in a Sheet
Model.

Figure 15-49: Place Drawing Title…

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 In the Place Drawing Title Tool Settings, check that the Detailing
Symbol Style is set to “Building Section”.
Enter a Name of “Ground Floor Plan”.

Figure 15-50: The Place Drawing Title Tool Settings

The status bar prompt will read:

Place Drawing Title > Define first corner of drawing title
The tool requires you to define the area of the view that will relate
to the Drawing Title. Click in the view towards the bottom left of
the ground floor plan, then click again towards the top right.

Figure 15-51: Defining the area of the Drawing Title

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 The status bar prompt will read:
Place Drawing Title > Place symbol
Click a third time to place the Drawing Title.
Right-click to complete.
3. Window into the Drawing Title. It will not be correct, as the scale
factor and drawing number cannot be calculated.
Double-click on the Scale.

Figure 15-52: Double-click on the Scale

In the Text Editor change the text to “1:100”. Click anywhere in the
view window to accept the edit.
Double-click on the Drawing Number.

Figure 15-53: Double-click on the Drawing Number

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 In the Text Editor change the text to “PM-S-110”.
Fit the view.
4. Open any other file. For example, PracticalModelling\
DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-DynamicViewContainer.dgn.
5. In Project Explorer, navigate to Sheets > Drawing Titles. If you
cannot see any Drawing Titles, right-click and select Refresh.

Figure 15-54: Refreshing the Drawing Titles

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 6. Right-click on the PM-S-110 and pick “Open”.

Figure 15-55: Opening a Drawing Title

PM-S-110.dgn will be opened and the View maximised to fit the

area you defined for the Ground Floor Plan.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-S-110.dgn.

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 Chapter 16

Adding Detail
and Annotation

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 Chapter 15: Creating Drawings explained how the Structural version of
AECOsim Building Designer adds to the standard tools for annotating
drawings and creating details with a resymbolisation system, allowing
extracted views to be optimised for structural engineering output. It is
possible to produce traditional single-line “stick” drawings, which were
originally produced to simplify structural layouts so that any re-work on
a drawing board meant only scratching one line out rather than many. At
the same time, automatic annotation can be added to structural members
to avoid the long, manual task of calling up member sizes or marks. The
Dynamic View templates include a series of pre-loaded Structural Drawing
Rules, but more can be added, deleted, or custom rules created at any time.
Being able to modify and apply these is fundamental to producing structural
drawings in AECOsim Building Designer.

Resymbolization Rules
Resymbolisation rules can be accessed and managed from any Dynamic View,
an extracted Drawing Model or from the Building Designer > Structural >
Drawing Rules Manager menu.

Figure 16-01: Drawing Rules Manager accessed

from the Building Designer menu

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 The Drawing Resymbolization Rules Manager lists all the available
resymbolisation rules, and allows the creation of new rules, duplication,
editing and deletion of existing rules.

Administration Tips
Default Structural Drawing Rules are stored as a text file, structural.rul, in the Workspace\
BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\rules\ folder. The configuration variable that controls this is:

STFFILE_DRAWINGRULES = $(STF_DATASET)rules/Structural.rul

This variable is defined in the application-level file, C:\Program Files (x86)\Bentley\

AECOsimBuildingDesigner V8i SS4\AECOsimBuildingDesigner\config\appl\
BuildingDisciplines.cfg.

The controls for creating new rules and copying or editing existing rules are
the same as all these options use the Edit Drawing Resymbolization Rules
dialog box.

Figure 16-02: The Edit Drawing Resymbolization

Rules dialog box

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 The top section of the dialog box contains the details of the rule: the Rule
name, Description and Rule type. There are four allowable rule types:

Figure 16-03: The Rule types allowed in the Edit

Drawing Resymbolization Rule dialog box

Top/Side Resymbolization changes the appearance of, and adds annotation

to, a structural element when viewed from “edge-on”. Typically this would
apply to a beam in plan or elevation, or a column in elevation. When this is
selected, the Single Line Graphics, Double Line Graphics, and Labels tabs
display (see below).
Footprint Resymbolization can be used to affect the appearance of, and add
annotation to, a structural element when it is perpendicular to the Callout.
This would normally be used for columns in plan or beams in section. When
this is selected, the Footprint Graphics and Labels tabs display.
Top/Side Annotation is similar to Top/Side Resymbolization, but only offers
the option to include centrelines and annotation. Changing the appearance
of the member is not possible. When this is selected, the Centerlines and
Labels tabs display.
Footprint Annotation is similar to Footprint Resymbolization but allows
centrelines and annotation only. When this is selected, the Centerlines and
Labels tabs display.

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 The following settings and options are available from each of the dialog
box’s tabs:

Single line graphics

Figure 16-04: The Single Line Graphics settings

If Display single line is ticked, any structural member that meets the rule
Criteria will be resymbolised according to the Symbology and Hidden Edge
Symbology settings.
The Setback distance in plot value controls the gap between the end of the
member and its support to maintain visual clarity. The value is the actual
plotted distance in master units. A value of 1.0mm will produce a gap of
100mm on a 1:100 scale Dynamic View.

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 Figure 16-05: The Setback distance in plot value
allows for gaps at the end of members

Offset single vertical (Vertical brace offset) will move a member away from
its original location for clarity.

Figure 16-06: A bracing member with Offset single

vertical (Vertical brace offset) on

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 Double line graphics

Figure 16-07: The Double Line Graphics settings

If Display double line is ticked, any structural member that meets the rule
Criteria will be resymbolised according to the Symbology and Hidden Edge
Symbology settings. The double line “widget” will be displayed at the position
defined by Double line position and at a length defined by Double line length.

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 Figure 16-08: Double line resymbolisation, with Double
line length of 100 (top) and 25 (bottom)

Labels

Figure 16-09: The Labels settings

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 The Labels tab is the main area of control for structural annotation. Any
number of annotations can be defined in a single rule. The example in Figure
16-08 shows the settings for annotating a member with its Section name.
For each annotation that needs to be added to a member, the attribute in
the left hand column needs to be selected and the Display label for selected
attribute ticked. Each label then uses exactly the same settings:
Label position defines how far along the member the annotation will appear,
either as a % of member length or an explicit Distance from end 1 or Distance
from end 2. End 1 and end 2 depend on the placement points of the beam.
Label offset can be Above or Below the member line at the distance entered
in the x text height field. The final distance, as with Setback distance in plot,
is the plotted distance, and is based on the Text Parameters. For example,
a Label offset distance of 0.5 with a text Height of 2.5mm will place the
annotation 1.25mm from the member.
The Text Style selected can be overridden by the Height, Width, Font and
Justification tick boxes.
The Symbology settings define which Level, Color, Style and Weight the
annotation will be use.

Footprint graphics

Figure 16-10: The Footprint Graphics settings

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 If the Rule type is Footprint Resymbolization, any cut member that meets
the rule Criteria will display in the Symbology and Hidden Edge Symbology
settings.
The Resymbolize with cell option allows the selection of a standard cell for
all cut members. This is particularly useful for small columns in plan that
may otherwise appear as a blob.

Figure 16-11: When the Resymbolize with cell option

is ticked, the Cell name and Cell X scale and
Cell Y scale can be entered

Labels
The Footprint Resymbolization Labels are pretty much identical to the
other Labels settings. The only difference is the addition of a Label position
dropdown to select the orientation of the label and its associated Angle and
Distance away from the member.
An additional Leader line tickbox is also provided to point to the specific
member a label has been generated from.

Figure 16-12: The Label position options for a

Footprint Resymbolization rule

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 Center lines

Figure 16-13: The Center Lines settings

If Display center line is ticked, centre lines will be generated for the member.
The length of the centre lines can be extended by entering a value in the
Extension length in plot field. Again, this distance is a physical length on the
final drawing in file units.
NOTE: It is easy to check which rule has been applied to a member
simply by hovering over the element. The pop-up information that
appears shows the active rule.

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 Figure 16-14: The Drawing Rule flyover information

Exercise 16-01

Managing the rules in a dynamic view

As with all Dynamic Views, it is possible to edit the View Attributes from
either the original composition model (where the Saved View was created) or
from the Drawing Model.
A simple steelwork Drawing Model has been created to demonstrate the
typical resymbolisation provided by the out-of-the-box templates.
16. Open the Container Model PM-x-M3-S-DynamicViewContainer.
dgn from the PracticalModelling\DesignModels folder.
To the left of the building you should see Markers identifying the
View locations. Hover over the Marker for PM-01-P-S-Layout.dgn
until the Mini Toolbar appears on-screen.

Figure 16-15: The PM-01-P-S-Layout marker

and Mini Toolbar

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 Click on Open Target. You will be taken into PracticalModelling\
DrawingModels\PM-01-P-S-Layout.dgn.

Figure 16-16: Open Target on the Mini Toolbar

allows navigation directly to a Drawing Model

The Drawing Model shows the resymbolised beams and columns

with annotation.
17. Open the References dialog box, highlight the PM-01-P-S-Layout
reference and click on Set Reference Presentation.

Figure 16-17: Opening the Reference Presentation

dialog box

In the Building section of the Reference Presentation dialog box,

switch to the Structural tab. You will see the list of Rules loaded into
the View.

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 Highlight S-G2613-BeamSteel-GA-SectionName and untick the
Active box. This will deactivate that rule, and no longer resymbolise
the view accordingly.

Figure 16-18: Deactivating a Structural Rule

Click OK to apply the changes without saving them back to the

original Saved View.

Figure 16-19: Steel beams resymbolised by the

rule (left) and as modelled (right)

NOTE: It is only possible to resymbolise an element once. The order

of the rules can be adjusted by the Move Up and Move Down
arrows in the Structural tab. (Refer to Figure 16-17.)

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 18. Re-activate the rule:
Open the References dialog box, highlight the PM-01-P-S-Layout
reference and click on Set Reference Presentation.
Switch to the Structural tab.
Highlight S-G2613-BeamSteel-GA-SectionName and tick the
Active box.
Click OK to apply the changes without saving them back to the
original Saved View.

Exercise 16-02

Creating and applying a rule

You will notice that the column annotation is not rotated correctly for the
plan. This is because the default rule rotates the text by 90º. To appear
correctly for the building orientation it will need to be adjusted.
While editing the delivered rules is perfectly possible (for example, you might
want to adjust all the fonts to match your office house style), it is better to
create a duplicate.
19. Open the References dialog box, highlight the PM-01-P-S-Layout
reference and click on Set Reference Presentation.
Switch to the Structural tab.
You will note there are three instances of the S-G262-Columns-GA-
SectionName loaded. Each has a different Critera – the Family and
Part to which the rule applies – which allows you to control the
resymbolisation of different elements independently using a single rule.
Highlight the lower rule, applied to S-G2/S-G2623-ColumnsSteel,
and click the Modify Rule button.

Figure 16-20: Modifying a rule

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 The Apply Drawing Rules dialog box will open. This is the box
where you control which Part is resymbolised by the rule.
20. Scan down the list of Rule Names until S-G262-Columns-GA-
SectionName is visible. It should automatically be highlighted by the
previous step.
Click Copy Rule.

Figure 16-21: Selecting and copying a rule

21. The Edit Drawing Resymbolization Rule dialog box will open.
Set the Rule Name = “PM-S-G262-Columns-GA-SectionName”.
Switch to the Labels tab and in the Angle field, enter a value of “85.47”.

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 Figure 16-22: The Edit Drawing Resymbolzation
Rule dialog box showing the two edited values

Click OK to save the new rule.

22. Back in the Apply Drawing Rules dialog box, make sure the new
rule, PM-S-G262-Columns-GA-SectionName, is highlighted and
click Update.

Figure 16-23: Updating (replacing) a structural rule

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 The Reference Presentation dialog box will now show the new rule
applied to the original Criteria. You need to make these changes
permanent, so click Accept Changes and then Push to Saved View.

Figure 16-24: Writing the changes permanently back

to the Saved View

The reference will update to display the column annotation at the

new angle. This might look a little weird at the moment as the text
is now almost vertical, but once the view is rotated orthogonally, the
text will appear at 45º.
23. To see the “correct” appearance of text when the building will be
rotated on a sheet, set the Active Floor to 01. You may receive a
message saying “This command is only valid in 3D”, but ignore it –
the important aspect, the creation of the ACS “01” and turning the
ACS Lock on, will still happen.
Rotate the View to be Unrotated and the annotation will look more
suitable.

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 Figure 16-25: Once the view is rotated, the column
annotation looks correct

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-P-S-Layout.dgn and
PracticalModelling\_Resources\CompletedExercises\Structural.rul.

Creating a Detail
Exercise 16-03

Using place detail callout

It is possible to create Detail Callouts in Design, Drawing or Sheet Models.
The location will often be determined by the most convenient point of
reference as you work through the process of drawing your projects. This
exercise places a Callout on a pre-existing architectural plan in a Sheet
Model to create a structural detail, although the principle would be the same
for a Drawing Model. If you add a Detail Callout directly on a 3D model, the
only difference would be that you would need to select the Floor plane and
adjust the Dynamic View Cut plane to view the desired floor.

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 24. Open the drawing PM-S-011.dgn from the PracticalModelling\
SheetModels folder and Window or Zoom in to the column at the
intersections of gridlines J and 6.

Figure 16-26: The column at grid J6 shown in context

25. From the Building Designer > Main-Building Task, pick the Place
Detail Callout tool.

Figure 16-27: The Place Detail Callout tool

In the Place Detail Callout Tool Settings window, set Drawing Seed
to “S-Detail-SectionName”.
Make sure Height selection is set to “From View”. This will create
the detail at the same height as the View you are seeing in the Sheet
Model. The other options are:
• From Model which will use the full height of the original 3D model.
• User Defined which allows you to enter a specific z-depth for the
Detail View.

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 Check that the Create Drawing option is ticked and that Annotation
Scale Lock is on.
Select Draw Rectangle.

Figure 16-28: The Place Detail Callout options

Set AccuDraw’s Origin to the intersection of grid J 6 by snapping to

that point and entering the AccuDraw shortcut “O”.
Move your cursor in the -Y direction and enter “5”. Move in the
-X direction and enter “5”. Click to place the first point of the
Callout (Figure 16-28, 1).
Move in the Y direction and enter “10”. Move in the X direction
and enter “10”. Click to place the second point of the Callout
(Figure 16-28, 2).

Figure 16-29: Placing the Detail Callout

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 The third point when placing a Detail Callout is the location of the
callout bubble. You need to check first that SmartLock is not still
on in AccuDraw. If it is, you will not be able to position the bubble
correctly, so click on the X and Y or use the AccuDraw shortcuts
“X” and “Y” to unlock the axes.

Figure 16-30: Unlocking the AccuDraw

X and Y axes

Click a third time in a clear area somewhere to the left and above
the Callout.
Additional mouse clicks will extend the callout leader line. For now,
keep the leader a single line by right-clicking to reset.
The Callout and bubble will be placed.
26. The Create Drawing dialog box will open.
In the Name field, type “PM-00-D-S-ColumnDetail”.
The Drawing Seed, View Type, Discipline and Purpose are
predefined by the Drawing Seed and View Seed as explained in
Chapter 15: Creating Drawings.

Figure 16-31: The Name of the Detail View

In the second section of the Create Drawing dialog box, change the
Annotation Scale to “1:10”.
Tick the Filename option.
Click the Create New Drawing Button.

Figure 16-32: Creating a new file for the

Drawing Model

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 In the Create Drawing Model Destination File dialog, check that the
folder is correct: PracticalModelling\DrawingModels.
Type in the File Name of “PM-00-D-S-ColumnDetail” and click
Save. You will be returned to the Create Drawing dialog. The new
Filename is now set.
In the bottom section of Create Drawing dialog, untick Create
Sheet Model.
Make sure Open Model is ticked.

Figure 16-33: You are not creating a Sheet Model, but want the Drawing Model
to open after creation

Click OK to create the View and Drawing Model.

27. The Drawing Model file PracticalModelling\DrawingModels\
PM-00-D-S-ColumnDetail.dgn will open.

Figure 16-34: The column detail in the Drawing Model

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 Adding Detail to a Drawing Model
Additional detail can be added using the Building Designer > Drafting Task.
This is very similar to MicroStation’s Drawing Task, offering Lines, Shapes,
Circles, Arcs, Curves, Points and Hatching, as well as Cells and Measuring
tools.
Dimensions, text, keynotes and symbols can be added using the Building
Designer > Annotation Task. Although tools are available for standard
drawing symbols, including North arrows, breaklines, and revision
indicators, some of which are covered below, your company will more
than likely have a library of standard cells for these purposes. Always
use your company standard symbols in preference to AECOsim Building
Designer’s tools.

Exercise 16-04

Adding detail to a drawing model

28. If you do not already have it active, open the Drawing Model file
PracticalModelling\DrawingModels\PM-00-D-S-ColumnDetail.dgn.
29. The first task is to add hatching to the walls. To set the correct
symbology for the hatching, pick the “S-Z74-H-Hatch” level in the
Level dropdown.

Figure 16-35: Setting the Active Level to S-Z74-H-Hatch

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 From Building Designer > Drafting Task, pick the Crosshatch Area tool.

Figure 16-36: The Crosshatch Area tool

In the Crosshatch Area Tool Settings window select the Points icon.
You cannot use Element or Flood methods as you are working on a
clipped view of a solid model. Solid elements cannot be hatched, and
were you to use flood, the hatching would extend beyond the clipping.

Figure 16-37: The Crosshatch Area tool settings

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 In Spacing enter “25”. Provided the Spacing lock symbol is closed,
the second Spacing value will automatically be set to “25” as well.
Check the Angle is set to “45”. The Angle lock will fix the second
Angle value to a perpendicular value of “-45”.
“Associative Pattern” and “Snappable Pattern” should both be
ticked.
30. Using AccuSnap, trace around the outlines of the three blockwork
walls. You may need to be careful at the clipped ends as there is no
snap point available to use.
Right click to finish the command and create the crosshatch.

Figure 16-38: The completed blockwork hatching

As the hatching was placed associatively, any modifications to the

walls should not affect the hatching. It should be updated to suit,
even across reference files.

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 Adding Annotation
If you are experienced with the tools MicroStation V8i provides for text
and dimensions the steps in the following exercise will be very familiar to
you. However when placing text and dimensions in the Drawing Model,
remember that it is likely that this detail could be used in a number of Sheet
Models and at a variety of scales. Therefore it is important that Annotation
Scale Lock is on to allow text and dimensions to be resized as required.

Exercise 16-05

Adding text and dimensions to the drawing model

31. Continue in or open the file PracticalModelling\DrawingModels\
PM-00-D-S-ColumnDetail.dgn.
32. Set the active level to be “S-Z22-T-Annotation”.
33. From the Building Designer > Annotation Task, pick the Place Note
tool (shortcut Q 2). This is also available from the Main-Building >
Annotation tools.

Figure 16-39: The Place Note tool in the Annotation Task

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 In the Place Note Tool Settings window, set the Text Style to be
“ArialNarrow-2.5mm”.
Set the Dimension Style to “ArialNarrow-2.5mm-Con-Slash”.
Annotation Scale Lock should be set to on by default.

Figure 16-40: Setting the Text and Dimension Styles

Click the black Expand arrow in the bottom right-hand corner of

the dialog to reveal the additional tool settings.
Change the Start At setting to “Terminator”.
Tick the Association tickbox.

Figure 16-41: Setting the Start At and Association options

Leave all other settings as default.

34. In the Text Editor – Word Processor window type in “FOR
COLUMN CLADDING DETAILS REFER TO ARCHITECTS
DRAWINGS”.
To begin placing the note, snap to the top right-hand corner of the
column cladding (Figure 16-41, 1). By snapping to a physical point,

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 the note will be associated to the column. Should it later move, the
arrow will as well.

Figure 16-42: Placing the Note

Click a second time towards the top right of the detail to place the
text (Figure 16-41, 2).
Right-click to reset.
35. Fit the view, and click on the text to select it.
Four circular, green grab handles will display at each corner of the
text. Click on the bottom right-hand grab handle and move your
cursor to the left. The text will begin wrapping into multiple lines.

Figure 16-43: Fitting the text to suit the detail

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 When the text reads:
FOR COLUMN CLADDING DETAILS REFER TO
ARCHITECTS DRAWINGS
click once more to accept the wrapping.
Fit the View once more.
36. From the Building Designer > Annotation Task, pick the Dimension
Linear tool (shortcut R 2). You can also find this tool in the Main-
Building > Annotation tools.

Figure 16-44: The Dimension Linear tool

In the Linear Dimensioning Tool Settings window, pick

“ArialNarrow-2.5mm-Con-Slash” from Style dropdown.
Annotation Scale Lock should be ticked.
Leave all other settings as their defaults.

Figure 16-45: Setting the Linear Dimension’s Style

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 37. Use AccuSnap to locate the start of the dimension at the left-hand
edge of the vertical wall (Figure 16-45, 1). You can use the hatch
element for easier placement.
The second point should be the right-hand edge of the vertical wall
(Figure 16-45, 2).
Locate the dimension line with a third point, above the detail. The
exact position is not important (Figure 16-45, 3).
The fourth point should locate the gridline (Figure 16-45, 4). Don’t
worry that the dimension text overlaps at the moment—you can
modify that once the string is complete.
The final point should be on the top right-hand corner of the
column casing (Figure 16-45, 5).

Figure 16-46: The dimension placement points

Right-click to complete the dimension string.

38. Dimension the other walls and modify the dimension locations to
set the detail out as shown in Figure 16-46.

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 Figure 16-47: The completed dimensions

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-00-D-S-ColumnDetail.dgn.

Exercise 16-06

Adding annotation to a sheet

Annotation is not restricted to Design or Drawing Models but can be
included on Sheet Model where appropriate.
39. Open the file PracticalModelling\SheetModels\PM-S-011.dgn and
Window or Zoom in to the area around the column at grid J 6.

Figure 16-48: The column at grid J 6

Set the active level to “S-Z132-T-RevisionAnnotation”.

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 40. From Building Designer > Annotation Task, pick Place Revision
Indicator tool (D 2).

Figure 16-49: Place Revision Indicator tool

The only option in the Place Revision Indicator tool

settings window is for setting the revision reference that
will be displayed in the symbol. Type “A”.

Figure 16-50: The revision code

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 41. The status bar prompt will read:
Place Revision Indicator > Enter First point of cloud
Click in the View, close to the Detail Callout, to place the first point
of the revision cloud. Continue clicking around the column to form
a cloud shape.

Figure 16-51: Forming the revision cloud shape

Once you are close to the start point of the cloud, the shape will
automatically find the first point and close itself. Click one last time
to complete the shape.
The revision symbol will now appear on the cursor for placement.
Click in the View to position the revision symbol and end the
command.

Figure 16-52: Revision indicator completed

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 Alternatively the Place Revision Indicator symbol can be placed
without a cloud shape. This is done by right-clicking immediately
following the first placement point.
42. Fit the View, and then Window or Zoom in to the top right of the
drawing, near the Notes column (see Figure 16-53).
Change the active level to “S-Z411-M-North”.
43. From the Building Designer > Annotation Task, pick the Place North
Arrow tool.

Figure 16-53: The Place North Arrow tool

Click in the View, to the left of the Notes column, to place the
North Arrow.

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 The next point will define the orientation of North. Instead of
defining it by eye, switch your focus to AccuDraw (use the Function
Key F11, [Spacebar] or click on AccuDraw).

Figure 16-54: Orientating the North Arrow

In AccuDraw’s Angle field, type “90 – 40.47”. The Pop-up

Calculator will work out the angle of North based on the project’s
rotation. You can hit [Enter] at this point to lock the Angle, although
it is not strictly necessary.

Figure 16-55: AccuDraw’s Pop-up Calculator

Click again to the right and above the North Arrow to define the
orientation.
Right-click to complete the command.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-S-011.dgn.

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Davies_ch16_ptg01_433-470.indd 470 03/26/15 10:08 AM
 Chapter 17

Scheduling

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 Using a traditional design process, a significant amount of time can be taken
up scheduling and checking information from drawings. This is an area where
errors can easily be made and inconsistencies may occur. A major benefit of
Building Information Modelling is that schedules can be produced as a by-
product of the intelligence included in the 3D objects. Using the tools available
in AECOsim Building Designer, the time needed to produce accurate schedules
can be dramatically reduced. Any modifications to the project design will also
be reflected in the output with little or no additional work required.

The Structural Reporting Spreadsheet

Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-Scheduling.dgn.
Structural information can be scheduled using the Structural Report
Spreadsheet which can be accessed from the Building Designer > Data >
Data & Reporting Task.

Figure 17-01: The Data & Reporting Task

The Structural Report Spreadsheet (shortcut W 2) tool is used to create

the report.

Figure 17-02: The Structural Report

Spreadsheet tool

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 User Tip
AECOsim Building Designer schedules are not currently compatible with Microsoft Office 2013 and therefore
Microsoft Office 2010 must be installed. Where two versions are installed, opening Excel 2010 will force
AECOsim Building Designer to use that version.

Microsoft Excel will open a blank spreadsheet. Macros are used within
the spreadsheet to calculate the information from the model so a security
warning will display asking if you would like to enable them. Click Enable
Content.

Figure 17-03: Microsoft Excel’s Enable Content

warning

In Excel, the Add-Ins tab > Structural Quantity Report dropdown, there are
3 options:
Begin Quantity Report This will produce a report of all structural
members.

Figure 17-04: The Structural Quantity Report menu

Create selection set from Selecting a range of beams using the spreadsheet
spreadsheet range and clicking this tool will select them in
AECOsim Building Designer.

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 Update STR model If you edit the values in the spreadsheet and click this
from spreadsheet tool, it will push those changes back to the model.
Structural elements can be added, removed
or simply edited.
The schedule that is generated is shown in Figure 17-05.

Figure 17-05: An example of the structural members

being reported

There are ten tabs along the bottom of the worksheet which are used to
access additional information about the structural members.

Figure 17-06: The Structural Report Spreadsheet tabs

Report 
Lists each of the structural members and their associated
properties. Each of the properties has an Excel comment to
give more information about what the column is displaying.
Hover over the red corner to show any comment.

Figure 17-07: An Excel comment explaining

the column

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 Summary This is a summary of each of the different
member sizes, the quantity, the total length and
total weight of those members.
WeightClassDefinitions This allows you to split your members based on
their weight, into 5 separate worksheets (Class1 – 5).
In the Start and End fields, enter the minimum
and maximum weights.
Class1 - 5 A summary of all of the members that are within
your minimum and maximum weight class values.
TemporaryWorksheet This is a temporary spreadsheet to record the
information imported from AECOsim Building
Designer. The contents of this page should not be
edited.
Overall Center of Mass This tab allows an identification mark to be
added to each of the members indicating their
centre of mass. In order for this feature to work,
a weight needs to be added on the Report tab for
each member.

The Structural Report Spreadsheet can be edited to change a section size, add
additional beams or remove beams and the information pushed back into
your model.

Administration Tip
The Structural Report Spreadsheet template file location is configured using the STFDIR_QUANTIFYXLS
variable:
STFDIR_QUANTIFYXLS < $(TFDIR)Macro/Structural/

Where $(TFDIR) is the standard dataset.

AECOsim Building Designer will search this path for the file called STF Quantity ReportV8.xls

Exercise 17-01

Scheduling using the structural report spreadsheet

1. Ensure you still have the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\
PM-x-M3-S-Scheduling.dgn open.
2. If you have Excel 2013 installed as your primary version, start Excel
2010 from the Windows Start menu.
3. Back in AECOsim Building Designer, click the Structural Report
Spreadsheet tool in the Building Designer > Data > Data &
Reporting Task.

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 Once the spreadsheet has opened in Excel, click the Ribbon’s
Add-Ins tab > Menu Commands panel > Structural Quantity
Report dropdown and choose Begin Quantity Report.
The spreadsheet should now contain 437 rows.
4. Select all the rows of data in the Report worksheet.
In the Data tab > Sort & Filter group, click the Sort button.
Set the Sort By value to Part (column I). The Order should be A to Z.
Click Add Level. Set the Then by value to Section Name at Start
(column J).
Click Add Level again. Set the Then by value to Length (column M).
Click OK to reorder the report into member type and length order.

Figure 17-08: The Sort order in Excel

5. Go to File > Save As and save a copy of the spreadsheet in the

PracticalModelling\out\ folder as PM-x-M3-S-StructuralReport.xlsx.
It is important that you do not simply Save the spreadsheet or it will
overwrite the STF Quantity ReportV8.xls template.

Exercise 17-02

Editing the structural report spreadsheet

1. Continuing in PracticalModelling\out\PM-x-M3-S-StructuralReport.
xlsx, locate the S-G2613-BeamSteel UB203X102x23 with a length
of 903.90 in the Report worksheet.

Figure 17-09: The beam to be edited

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 Change the Section Name at Start to “UB305X165X54”.
2. Back in AECOsim Building Designer, Activate the PM-01-M3-
S-DynamicViewFirst.dgn reference.
NOTE: It is only possible to edit members that are active in the
file using this method. Any members in references will not
be updated, although no message will be given to warn
you of this.
3. From Excel’s Add-Ins tab > Menu Commands group > Structural
Quantity Report dropdown, choose Update STR Model from
Spreadsheet to push your changes back to your model.
You will be prompted with the Select a range dialog box.

Figure 17-10: The select a range dialog box

Using your cursor, select the row that you have edited. The easiest
way to do this is to click on the row number. This will select the
complete row.

Figure 17-11: Selecting the edited beam

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 Click OK on the dialog box and you will be prompted about the
number of changes.

Figure 17-12: The dialog confirming the number

of changed members

This is a standard warning to ensure you have checked that no

changes have been made to the model in the meantime. In this case
no one else is working on the project, so click OK.
4. In AECOsim Building Designer, open the DataGroup Explorer from
Building Designer Tasks > Data > DataGroup Explorer tool.
Select the Beams: Steel Catalog Type.
When the members have loaded, pan across to the Length (mm)
column and click on the header to list all the members in length order.
The edited beam should be third down in the list. You will see that
it now has a Section Name of UB305X165X54.

Figure 17-13: The beam has been edited to be a new size

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 5. Release the lock on the PM-01-M3-S-DynamicViewFirst.dgn
reference.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-x-M3-S-StructuralReport.xlsx
and PM-01-M3-S-DynamicViewFirst.dgn.

Using the Datagroup

Explorer to Schedule
The information in an AECOsim Building Designer model can also be
scheduled using the DataGroup Explorer, which can be accessed from the
Building Designer > Data > Data Task.

Figure 17-14: The Data Task

The DataGroup Explorer (shortcut Q 4) is used to review DataGroup

Instances, modify the DataGroup information and prepare and export
DataGroup schedules.

Figure 17-15: The DataGroup Explorer tool

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 This can also be opened from the Building Designer > DataGroup - Building
Components > Open DataGroup Explorer… menu.

Figure 17-16: The DataGroup Explorer dialog box

The left pane of the DataGroup Explorer shows the Catalog Types.
A Catalog Type is a building component such as a beam, column or slab.
The Catalog Filter above the Catalog Types is used to filter the list of
Catalog Types.

Figure 17-17: The DataGroup Explorer filter list

• Show All shows all the available Catalog Types in the dataset and
whether there are elements of this type in the drawing file or not.
• Show Used shows only the Catalog Types that are used in the
current design file and visible references.
• Show Only Selection Set shows only the Catalog Types of the
elements that are currently selected in the model.

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 When a Catalog Type is selected, the elements in the design file of that type
will display in the list box on the right-hand side of the DataGroup Explorer.

Figure 17-18: The DataGroup Explorer showing

instances of steel beams

The list box displays the properties of the Catalog Instances in columns which
can be turned on or off, and repositioned. These layouts can be saved as Schedule
Layouts to list the required information in the correct order ready for export.
Saved Schedule Layouts are shown beneath the relevant Catalog Type in the
left-hand Catalog Types list.

Figure 17-19: A pre-defined Slab Schedule layout

showing the column headings

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 Columns can be removed by right-clicking the column heading and choosing
Remove or by simply dragging them off of the DataGroup Explorer.

Figure 17-20: The right-click menu’s

Remove option

Columns can be added by right-clicking any of the columns and choosing

Field Chooser.

Figure 17-21: The right-click menu’s Field

Chooser option

This opens the Field Chooser dialog box.

Figure 17-22: The Field Chooser dialog box

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 To add a column into the DataGroup Explorer, drag and drop from the Field
Chooser into the required column location. A pair of red arrows indicates
where the column will be positioned.

Figure 17-23: A field being dragged from the Field

Chooser to the DataGroup Explorer

Once the required fields have been chosen, the Schedule Layout can be saved
for future use. To save a configuration click the Schedules dropdown and
choose Save As.

Figure 17-24: The Save Schedule Layout

As dialog box

A Layout name must be entered to identify the Schedule Layout.

The Destination file is the XML file which will be used to store the
configuration. Typically you would expect to save these layouts into your
project.

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 Administration Tip
The location of the XML file that contains the schedule layouts is configured using the DG_SCHEDULE_
LAYOUT_PATH variable. In order to set a company standard and project standard, two variables should be
entered:
DG_SCHEDULE_LAYOUT_PATH < $(PROJ_DATASET)DataGroupLayouts/
DG_SCHEDULE_LAYOUT_PATH > $(TFDIR)DataGroupLayouts/

The project location should be listed before the central Workspace so that any project Schedule Layouts are
found first.

It is not necessary to store a Schedule Layout for each Catalog Type in separate XML files. For convenience
it may be better to save them all into a single ProjectSchedules.xml. The exact method used for storing your
Schedule Layouts is not important as all .xml files from these search paths will be loaded.

Exercise 17-03

Creating a beam schedule layout

1. Continue in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-
S-Scheduling.dgn file.
NOTE: The DataGroup Explorer will list any DataGroup Items
from all visible references. It is good practice to create
a Container file for scheduling with no elements, only
references.
It is likely that your company already has templates for schedules,
probably in Excel, or perhaps a database format. The first task when
setting up a DataGroup Schedule Layout is to match the columns of
your company spreadsheet. This exercise uses an Excel template.
Using Excel, open the file: PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\
DataGroupLayouts\PM-x-SH-S-MemberTemplate.xlsx.
2. From the Building Designer > Data > Data Task, click the
DataGroup Explorer tool.

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 In the Catalog Types list, right-click on Beams: Steel and choose
New from the menu.

Figure 17-25: Creating a new custom Schedule Layout

Enter the Layout name “PM-x-SH-S-Beams”. Do not click OK yet

as there is no Destination file in the project to save the Schedule
Layout into.
In the Save Schedule Layout As dialog box, click the Create a New
DataGroup System File button.

Figure 17-26: The Create a New DataGroup

System File button

Browse to the PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\

datagrouplayouts folder. Enter the File name for the XML file as
“Project-Schedules.xml” and click Open.
Back in the Save Schedule Layout As dialog box, click OK to create
the Schedule Layout.

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 3. In the DataGroup Explorer, select the PM-x-SH-S-Beams Schedule
Layout. Use the right-click menu to Remove any headings not shown
in the spreadsheet and add those that are necessary from the Field
Chooser. Your DataGroup Explorer columns should be set as shown
below:
File
Section Name
Length
Unit Weight
Net Volume (Modeled)

Figure 17-27: The re-organised DataGroup Explorer columns

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\Project-Schedules.xml.

Exporting Schedules
Once a Schedule Layout has been created, the data can be exported to
Excel, CSV, Text and XML formats. This is done from the Data menu of the
DataGroup Explorer. Pick Export > Excel / Text / CSV or XML as required.

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 Figure 17-28: The DataGroup Explorer export options

Picking the Excel option will open Microsoft Excel with the selected layout
information extracted. (Microsoft Excel must be installed to use this option.)
Once Excel has been opened, you will need to use Save As to keep the
schedule.

Figure 17-29: The exported Microsoft Excel

spreadsheet

If Text, CSV or XML is picked the Export dialog box will open. From here,
a folder and filename can be specified to which to save the schedule.
By default, sizes will be exported with the units appended to the end of
the dimension value. This can make it difficult to perform mathematical
calculations, for example summing totals, in Excel should you need to. The
units can be removed by clicking the DataGroup Explorer > Data menu and
choosing Working Unit format > Numeric > Sub Units or Master Units.

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 Configuring a Spreadsheet Template
Rather than exporting to a blank spreadsheet, it is possible to choose an
existing Microsoft Excel file as a spreadsheet template. This means you can
produce schedules with company logos and formatting.
To assign a spreadsheet as a template, select the required Schedule Layout
from the DataGroup Explorer, right-click and choose Properties.

Figure 17-30: Opening the properties of a

Schedule Layout using the right-click menu

The spreadsheet is set in the Properties > Template tab.

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 Figure 17-31: The Properties dialog box for
the current schedule layout

• Excel Template specifies the full path and name of the Excel file that
will be used to save the Schedule. It does not have to be an Excel
template (.xltx), but can be any spreadsheet. You can use the . . .
button to browse for a spreadsheet.
The exported information is written directly into the spreadsheet
you select. To ensure you do not overwrite the template it is a good
idea to set this spreadsheet to read only. This will force you to create
a separate spreadsheet using Save As.
• The Insertion Start Cell is the cell where the first DataGroup
property will be written. This allows for logos, headings and other
notes to exist in the template spreadsheet.
• If Fit columns to text size is ticked, the spreadsheet columns will be
resized to the match the data.
• If Update Pivot Tables on Export is ticked, any Pivot Tables in the
spreadsheet that refer back to the exported data will be refreshed at
the same time.

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 Exercise 17-04

Configuring the excel template

1. Continue in the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-
S-Scheduling.dgn.
From the Building Designer > Data > Data Task, click the
DataGroup Explorer tool.
2. In the Catalog Types list, expand Beams: Steel and select the
PM-x-SH-S-Beams Schedule Layout. Right-click and choose
Properties from the menu that displays.
Switch to the Template tab.
Click the Excel Template > Browse button (. . .).

Figure 17-32: Browsing for the Excel

template

Select PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\datagrouplayouts\
PM-x-SH-S-MemberTemplate.xlsx.
Back in the Template tab click the Edit button to open the template
in Excel. Note that the first cell that should be used for the exported
data is B5.

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 Figure 17-33: The start cell for inserting the
schedule data

In the Insertion Start Cell, type “B5”.

Figure 17-34: The Insertion Start Cell

value completed

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 Fit columns to text size and Update Pivot Tables on Export should
be unticked.
Click OK to save the changes.
3. From the DataGroup Explorer > Data menu, choose Working Unit
format > Numeric > Master Units to remove the mm from the
export values.
4. From the DataGroup Explorer > Data menu, click Export > Excel.
The beam data will be written to the Excel template, starting at
cell B5.

Figure 17-35: The exported Microsoft Excel

spreadsheet

5. In Excel, go to the File > Save As menu and save the spreadsheet
in the PracticalModelling\out\ folder, with a name of PM-x-SH-S-
BeamSchedule-01.xlsx.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-x-SH-S-BeamSchedule-01
.xlsx.

A Note about Additional Calculations in Excel

In many cases there will be a need to perform calculations on exported
schedules. You cannot, however, add formulae to the exported schedules
directly as they would be overwritten each time you export from the

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 DataGroup Explorer. In these cases, you could create two Worksheets in your
Excel template:
44. “Report” is where you will export the values from DataGroup
Explorer.
45. “Summary” will summarise the number of each members and the
total weight and length.
As an example, in the template, the summary worksheet calculates the totals
for each member. This is done by referring the Summary table’s formulae
back to the values listed in the Report worksheet.

Figure 17-36: The Summary worksheet of the

template schedule

Once you have the two worksheets defined, you can get as complex with
Excel as you need, safe in the knowledge that every time you export from
the DataGroup Explorer, you’ll only overwrite the Report and not the
summaries.
For more information about Microsoft Excel Worksheets and formulas, refer
to the Microsoft Excel Help files.

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 Exercise 17-05

Using an exported report to produce a table of

member references
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-
S-DynamicViewFirst.dgn.
2. From the Building Designer > Data > Data Task, click the
DataGroup Explorer tool.
From the list of building elements, select Beams: Steel.
Right-click on Beams: Steel and choose New.
Enter a Layout name of “PM-01-SH-S-Key”.
Ensure the Destination file is still set as PracticalModelling\_
Resources\dataset\datagrouplayouts\Project-Schedules.xml and
click OK.
In the DataGroup Explorer, select the PM-01-SH-S-Key schedule
layout. Remove all the columns except ID | Type ID and Section
Name. (Note: you can drag the columns off the dialog box to
remove them quicker.)

Figure 17-37: The PM-01-SH-S-Key

schedule layout

From the Data dropdown > Export, click Excel.

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 3. In the spreadsheet, select columns A and B.

Figure 17-38: Columns A and B selected

From Excel’s Ribbon’s Data tab > Sort & Filter panel, click
Advanced.

Figure 17-39: The Advanced filter button

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 You may receive a warning at this point explaining that Excel
cannot determine which row contains header information. You need
to the first option, “If you want the first row of the selection or list
used as labels and not as data, click OK” so click OK.
The Advanced Filter dialog will show. Tick Unique Records Only
and click OK.
You will be left with a unique set of sections and their references.
(Excel simply hides the rows where there are duplicated entries).
4. Change the headings to “Reference” and “Section Size”.
Expand both columns so that the text fits completely inside the cells.
You can do this by double-clicking on the dividing line between each
column header.

Figure 17-40: The filtered list of sections

Save the spreadsheet as PracticalModelling\out\PM-01-SH-

S-Key.xlsx.
5. To copy the section table back into a drawing:
Open the file PracticalModelling\SheetModels\PM-S-111.dgn.
Select the cells to copy, right-click and choose Copy.

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 Figure 17-41: Copying the contents of the Excel table

Right-press in the drawing area and pick Paste from Clipboard.

Figure 17-42: The right-press

menu showing the Paste from
Clipboard tool

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 In the Paste OLE Object Tool Settings window, set Paste as: to Link.
This will link the table in the DGN file to the Excel spreadsheet. If
any changes are then made to the spreadsheet, they will be shown in
the drawing.
Set Method: to By Size. This sets the table to be the actual size of
the spreadsheet, keeping the text size sensible. Of course, you could
format the spreadsheet in any way you require, to match company
fonts for example.

Figure 17-43: The Paste OLE Object settings

Click a point in the drawing’s Notes column to place the table.

Once placed, you can use the normal MicroStation Move, Scale and
Rotate commands to locate the schedule exactly where you want it.
By default, the table may display shaded. To change the appearance
so it displays and prints correctly, use Element Information
(Properties) to change the Extended > Display Style value to
Wireframe.

Figure 17-44: The completed schedule

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 You will notice that there are two entries for B01 in the table:
UB201 × 102 × 23 and UB305 × 165 × 54. This is due to the edit that was
made in Exercise 17-02 where the beam of length 903.90mm was changed
to be a UB305 × 165 × 54. It should have had its ID | Type ID changed to
B03 to match at the same time and so is now incorrect. This is a common
mistake that can occur when producing structural steelwork drawings using
a member reference, but using a table in this manner can help pick up and
remove errors that might not be spotted manually.

NOTE: The completed spreadsheet is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-SH-S-Key.xlsx.

The completed drawing is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-S-111.dgn.

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 Chapter 18

Analytical Content

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 The structural analysis tools allow you to apply structural attributes to
structural members, forms and slabs in preparation for exporting your model
to analysis software. Analytical elements are added to structural members
automatically when place if the Analytical Features are loaded, but can also
be added to a structural member later as and when required.

Structural Analysis
Open the file in the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder called PM-01-
M3-S-StructuralAnalysis.dgn.
The Structural Analysis tools will not be loaded by default. To load them,
ensure that the Building Designer dropdown > Structural > Analytical
Features menu is ticked.

Figure 18-01: Loading the Analytical Features

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 Once Analytical Features has been ticked, the Structural Analysis Task will be
added to the Building Designer Tasks.

Figure 18-02: The Structural Analysis Task

Analytical Members
The Analytical Members tools are used to add analytical properties to
physical members and can be found on the Building Designer Tasks >
Structural Analysis > Analytical Members toolbox (shortcut Q).

Figure 18-03: The Analytical Members Task

Add analytical members

Analytical properties are applied to existing structural members using the
Add Analytical Member tool (shortcut Q 1).

Figure 18-04: The Add Analytical Member tool

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 This will show the Add Analytical Member options in the Tool Settings
window.

Figure 18-05: The Add analytical Member Tool Settings

Analytical Line Location Allows the analytical line to be placed using

the At Placement Points or At Centroid.
Type Allows the choice of whether the member is
a Beam or Truss. In the case of a column, the
tool will automatically assign it as a column.
End Releases Enables the Releases – End 1 (i) and Releases –
End 2 (i) section where the releases’ axes and
rotational axes can be ticked.
To apply the analytical properties, select the member and click to accept.
To indicate a member has analytical properties, a numbered line will be
added to the physical member. Each end of the physical member will have a
node marker and display a node number.

Figure 18-06: The analytical markers and numbers

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 The member and node numbers will automatically be incremented as new
analytical elements are added.

Remove analytical member

The analytical properties can be removed using the Remove Analytical
Member tool (Q 2).

Figure 18-07: The Remove Analytical Member tool

Select the member with analytical properties then click again to remove the
properties. The analytical members can also be removed by selecting any of
the analytical components and using the [Delete] key on your keyboard; all
analytical elements will be removed from each structural member.

Modify analytical member

The analytical properties can be modified using the Modify Analytical
Member tool (Q 3).

Figure 18-08: The Modify Analytical Member tool

Figure 18-09: The modify Analytical Member dialog box

This tool is identical to Add Analytical Data, allowing changes to be made to

the Label, Type and Releases of an analytical element.

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 Renaming analytical members
The analytical member can be renamed using the Rename Analytical Member
tool (Q 4).

Figure 18-10: The Rename Analytical Member tool

Figure 18-11: The Rename Analytical Member Tool Settings

Prefix Any value entered in the Prefix field will be prepended to the
selected analytical member(s).
ID 
The analytical member’s number will be changed to the value
should in the ID field. AECOsim Building Designer will
automatically increment the number each time a member is
selected, although this can be reset at any time. It is not possible
to renumber a member to be the same as an existing member.
To apply a name, enter any Prefix if required, enter the new starting ID
number and select the members in the required order to rename them.

Add structural attributes to slab/free/linear form

Analytical properties can be applied to Slabs, Free Forms and Linear Forms
using the Apply Structural Attributes to Slab/Free/Linear Form tool (Q 5). This
tool can also be found in the Building Designer Tasks > Form Modeling >
Manipulate Features Toolbox (A 6). The Analytical tab (see below) will only
display if Analytical Features are loaded.

Figure 18-12: The Apply Structural Attributes to Slab/Free/

Linear Form tool

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 This will show the Apply Structural Attributes to Slab/Free/Linear Form
Tool Settings.

Figure 18-13: The General tab of the Apply Structural

Attributes to Slab/Free/Linear Form Tool Settings

The Tool Settings has two tabs, General and Analytical.

The General tab allows basic properties to be added.
The Analytical tab allows the designation between Floor or Wall, the
Justification and the Stroking Tolerance to be applied.
To apply the analytical properties, select a Slab Form, Free Form or Linear
Form and click to accept. A slab will now have analytical nodes added at
each corner. When applying to a curved part of a slab or hole, the stroking
distance will be used to facet the curve. (AECOsim Building Designer limits
the number of nodes to 127 per plate or hole.)

Exercise 18-01

Adding analytical data to members

1. Continue in the same file, PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-
01-M3-S-StructuralAnalysis.dgn.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Analysis > Analytical
Members, click the Add Analytical Member tool (Q 1).
Select the beam closest to grid line 5.

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 Figure 18-14: The beam closest to grid line 5

Click to accept the selected beam.

3. Select the beam that spans from the middle of the previous beam.

Figure 18-15: The middle beam

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 Click to accept the beam.
4. Continue to add analytical data to the remainder of the beams
and columns.
Notice on the completed model, the beam closest to grid line 2
hasn’t been split into two sections because the supporting member
had been made analytical first.

Figure 18-16: All members with analytical data added

5. To split this beam, i.e. add a node, use the Insert Node tool (E 2)
from the Building Designer > Structural Analysis > Analytical Nodal
Loads Task.

Figure 18-17: The Insert Node tool

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 Select the existing node on the end of the secondary beam, where it
intersects with the beam closest to grid line 2.

Figure 18-18: Selecting the node at the intersection of the two beams

Notice the beam is now split into two separate analytical members.

Figure 18-19: The two separate analytical beams

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 Exercise 18-02

Exporting to analysis formats

While an analysis model can be built using AECOsim Building Designer,
it will need to be exported to another format so that it can be analysed by
structural design software. AECOsim Building Designer provides direct links
to four file formats:
OasysGSA (.gwb)
RAM Structural System (.rss)
SFrame (.tel)
STAAD.Pro (.std)
This exercise uses STAAD.Pro as an example.
1. Continuing in the same file, PracticalModelling\DesignModels\
PM-01-M3-S-StructuralAnalysis, click on Building Designer Tasks >
Structural Import / Export > Analysis Export (Q 4).

Figure 18-20: The Analysis Export tool

2. In the Export to Analysis Program dialog box change the Analysis

program to export to dropdown to STAAD.Pro.

Figure 18-21: Selecting STAAD.Pro to export analysis tool

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 3. Ensure that Use default analysis file name (DGN file name +
analysis extension) is ticked to output to the PracticalModelling\
DesignModels folder with the same name as the file.

Figure 18-22: Exporting using the same file name with the
correct analysis extension added

Click the Export button. The analysis file will be created as

PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-StructuralAnalysis.
std and the results shown in the STAAD.Pro File area, below the
File name.
NOTE: These completed exercises are available in PracticalModelling\_
Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-StructuralAnalysis.
dgn and PracticalModelling\_Resources\CompletedExercises\
PM-01-M3-S-StructuralAnalysis.std.

Exercise 18-03

Importing from analysis

The process of importing and working with analysis models is relatively
straightforward. What needs to be understood when bringing an analytical
model into a typical DGN environment is that it is rare for the analytical
model to be constructed in a manner suitable to a reference-based workflow.
An analytical model will either be constructed as a complete unit or as
individual parts of the frame – a single frame or truss, for example. It is
also likely that the analytical model will be constructed to a local grid and
orthogonally rather than site coordinates. That means, although a DGN
model constructed as references can be exported successfully to analysis, it
is highly unlikely that the model can be “round-tripped”, or at least not in a
format conducive to team file-sharing. The alternative option is to build the
physical DGN model as a single file, which may not be practical nor possible
in a larger project, or instead, and perhaps a better approach, use the analysis
model as a reference in itself, used as a background when updating the
physical DGN references.

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 This exercise uses a simple example to demonstrate how an imported analysis
model can be utilised in a physical modelling environment.
1. The first step is to import the model in to a DGN file. Open
PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-AnalysisImport.dgn.
2. Click on Building Designer Tasks > Structural Import/Export >
Analysis Import (W 4).

Figure 18-23: The Analysis Import button

The Import From Analysis Program dialog box will open.

Figure 18-24: The Import From Analysis Program dialog box

It is possible to import four file formats:

OasysGSA (.gwb)
RAM Structural System (.rss)
SFrame (.tel)
STAAD.Pro (.std)
The tabs will vary depending on which format is selected.
Set the Analysis program to import from: dropdown to SFrame.

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 Figure 18-25: Setting the file format for import

In the File tab > SFrame File options, click on the browse button (…)
to select PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-Analysis.tel.

Figure 18-26: Browsing for the import file

Analysis packages often use different member size formats

than AECOsim Building Designer. SFrame uses the format
“Depth Width Weight Type” which will not be understood by
AECOsim Building Designer which uses the more common
“TypeDepth × Width × Weight” format. e.g. a UB203 × 203 × 86 in
AECOsim Building Designer will be listed as 203 203 86 UC in an
SFrame file. Pre-defined conversion files are provided in the Dataset
Data folder.
To enable automatic translation during import, set the Section
Mapping dropdown to Use Mapping File.

Figure 18-27: Browsing for the import file

A Section Mapping File: field will appear. Click on the browse

button (…) to select WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\
Data\Str2telUK.txt.
3. Switch to the Import Options tab. These settings define the
DataGroup Instances to be used for each type of structural member.
Set the Type and Instance as shown in Figure 18-105.

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 Figure 18-28: The Bentley Structural Data import options
showing the required Type, Instance and Default section
name settings

The Default section name is used for any member whose size
does not exist in AECOsim Building Designer. It is recommended
that a section size is selected that is not used so they can easily be
identified, and corrected, later.
Set Default section name: to UB305X127X37.
4. In the Roundtripping Options tab, set the Revision tracking:
dropdown to Do not use Design History.

Figure 18-29: Revision tracking specifies whether or not

to use Design History

Click Import.
5. The analysis file will be processed. Once processing is complete, the
Update Design Results dialog will display, summarising the imported
members. If the file is being roundtripped, members may be listed
as Changed or Deleted. In this example, as the file is being imported
for the first time, they will all list as New Member.

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 Figure 18-30: The Update Design Results dialog showing
the imported New Members

Click the Update button. The members will be created.

Figure 18-31: The imported frame

The analytical model is modelled in a different location to the

physical model. It is orthogonal and close to the design file origin.
When referencing this file, PM-x-M3-S-AnalysisImport.dgn, it will
need to be repositioned and rotated to suit the orientation of the rest
of the building.

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 6. Open PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-00-M3-S-ISM.dgn.
This already has PM-x-M3-S-AnalysisImport.dgn referenced in and
relocated. The Level Overrides have also been adjusted to be clear
which members are being compared.
7. In the References dialog box, turn on the Display for the PM-x-M3-
S-AnalysisImport.dgn reference file.
The members imported from the analysis model will be displayed
in grey. It should be immediately obvious that additional bracing
members have been added between grids 6 - 7.
8. Using Element Select, click and drag between point 1 and 2
(Figure 18-110) to select the bracing members.

Figure 18-32: Selecting the new bracing members

Right-press and pick Copy from the context menu.

Click any point in the view to set the origin point for the copy.
Click again in exactly the same place to copy the bracing through
from the reference into the same location in the active file.
9. Turn the Display off for the PM-x-M3-S-AnalysisImport.dgn
reference file. The completed changes will be as shown in
Figure 18-33.

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 Figure 18-33: The completed changes

NOTE: These completed exercises are available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-x-M3-S-AnalysisImport.dgn and
PM-00-M3-S-ISM.dgn.

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Davies_ch18_ptg01_501-520.indd 520 03/26/15 10:08 AM
 Chapter 19

Integrated
Structural
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Davies_ch19_ptg01_521-546.indd 522 03/26/15 10:08 AM
 In a structural design workflow, it is not simply a matter of modelling the
structural elements of a project. To produce a complete design, the analytical
design needs to be delivered, which is often created using totally disparate
software and tools. Beyond that, documentation and detailing needs to
be produced from a combination of these disconnected sources, while
maintaining a unified dataset. The Integrated Structural Modelling aspect
of AECOsim provides a system whereby these elements can be coordinated
and brought together using the most suitable tools.
This chapter deals with the aspects of Integrated Structural Modelling
related to the physical modelling and analytical design of a structural project,
utilising Bentley Structural Synchronizer to link the physical design model
produced through the exercises in this book with an analytical design model
produced using RAM SS. The integration could just as easily include a steel
detailing/fabrication model using ProStructures, ProSteel, STAAD.Pro or
Autodesk Revit.

Using Structural Synchronizer

Structural Synchronizer is available as a free download from:
www.bentley.com/StructuralSynchronizer.
Once the product has been installed, shortcuts will be created in Bentley
Engineering for Structural Synchronizer V8i (SELECTseries 4), including:
• ISM Editor V8i
Launches the stand-alone ISM Editor. This is a tool that is not
intended to replace the main authoring tools, but can provide a tool
to edit ISM Repositories in a tabular form.
• ISM Revision Manager V8i
Provides a stand-alone tool for managing Design History of ISM
Repositories.
• ISM Viewer V8i
Launches the ISM Viewer.

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 Figure 19-01: The Windows Start menu showing the
Structural Synchronizer tools

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 In normal circumstances it is not necessary to start these programs from
the Start menu. They can instead be launched as and when needed from
inside AECOsim Building Designer. The Building Designer > Structural
Import/Export Task includes the ISM toolbox for creating and importing
.ism.dgn files.

Figure 19-02: The ISM toolbox in the Structural

Import/Export Task

Exercise 19-01

Exporting an ISM
It is always better when exporting to analysis models that the project
is close to the centre of the design plane without a relocated Global
Origin. The file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-
IntegratedStructuralModelling.dgn has been predefined for exactly
this purpose.
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-
IntegratedStructuralModelling.dgn.
From the Building Designer > Structural Import/Export > ISM
toolbox, click on Create ISM Repository (shortcut E 1). An ISM
Repository is a single file which contains the various components
of the structural model, including members, loads, storeys, etc.

Figure 19-03: The Create ISM Repository tool

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 2. The Export. . . dialog will open.

Figure 19-04: ISM Export. . . dialog box

From the Settings menu, tick Reference Files to ensure that all
references are also included in the export.
In the main window, check that Map DataGroup Instance is
selected. If it is, you will see the Type, Instance and Ism Use columns
in the right-hand pane. The window will be populated with the
available DataGroup Types from the active model. The Ism Use
values should be set automatically.
Click on the Set Default Material tab and enter the following values:
Steel: = “S275”
Concrete: = “C35”
This is only a default for members that do not have a grade set.
Click Export.
The ISM repository file, PM-x-M3-S-IntegratedStructuralModelling
.ism.dgn will be created in the same folder as the original DGN,
PracticalModelling\DesignModels\.
To view the model, it can be opened using AECOsim Building Designer or
ISM Editor V8i.

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 When the physical model is updated, the ISM Repository does not need to
be recreated. It is possible to only re-publish the changes using Update ISM
Repository (E 3).

Figure 19-05: Update ISM Repository

Exercise 19-02

Updating a model from an ism

To successfully round-trip a model – that is to build it, export it out to
analysis via ISM, and re-import the modifications – the elements to be
updated need to reside in the active file. With a large-scale project, this
may not always be possible, especially if the benefits of MicroStation
referencing is to be realised. However, it is not necessary to always create an
ISM Repository from the complete model. Portions of the model, a specific
component or region, can be exported instead, maintaining the full benefits
of referencing and integrating the potential of ISM.
1. Open PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-ISM.dgn.
This model of the first floor structure has previously been exported
to an ISM Repository and analysed in separate analytical software.
During the design process, it has been necessary to increase the section
size of several beams, from 178 × 102 × 19UB to 203 × 102 × 23.
2. From the Building Designer > Structural Import/Export Task, pick
the Update from ISM Repository tool.

Figure 19-06: Update from ISM Repository

Structural Synchronizer will launch and automatically open the

PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-01-M3-S-ISM.ism.dgn
Repository file. If it doesn’t, open it manually from the File >
Open menu.
The Settings menu provides control over specific aspects of the
import, including Revision Tracking (Design History), whether
members are automatically coped and Section Mapping for software
where the section size notation may differ.

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 Figure 19-07: The Settings menu on the Import. . .
dialog box

From this dropdown, select Revision Tracking and Automatic

Coping > Cope Imported Model. These options will now display on
the menu with ticks.
Click Import.
The Design History dialog will open. Ignore this for the moment.
When the Select Building window opens, make sure it is set to JOG
and click OK.
A progress bar showing Process Linear Members. . . will display.
When this completes, Structural Synchronizer will open showing the
edited members in the Objects pane.

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 Figure 19-08: Modified members will display in
Structural Synchronizer

Tick the top Curve Member. The member’s properties will display
3.
in the Properties pane below the Objects and highlight in the View
window.

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 Figure 19-09: The Properties of modified members showing
the Old Value and New Value

Tick all the Curve Members.

Click Accept.

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 Figure 19-10: Accepting the changes to the modified members

Individual modifications can also be accepted or rejected using the

Change column.
Untick the Curve Members.
Tick the Story row. The Properties pane will display the changes that
have been made. The Reference Elevation has changed by a multiple
of 1000, from 0.0001296m to 0.1296m. This is probably due to the
AECOsim Building Designer model being constructed in millimetres,
but the analytical model being edited in meters.

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 To avoid any changes to this, click on Undecided in the Story row and
change the value to Rejected.

Figure 19-11: Rejecting the modifications to the 00 Story

4. At the bottom of the screen, click Update Application to process the

changes in the DGN.

Figure 19-12: Update the model using the Update Application button

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 When the Select Building window opens, make sure it is set to JOG
and click OK.
The model will process and the changes will display in Design
History.

Figure 19-13: The updated model highlighting the modified members

NOTE: This completed exercises is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-01-M3-S-ISM.dgn.

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 Using Structural Drawing Center
The use of ISM models goes further, as the Structural Drawing Center can
be utilised to produce drawings directly from an imported ISM. This level
of integration means that project documentation can become almost a fully
automated process directly from a single ISM model. Although Structural
Drawing Center would typically be used following the import of an ISM
model, it can also be used with standard DGN models.

NOTE: Structural Drawing Center works only with Drawing Extractions,

not Dynamic Views.
Structural Drawing Center is opened from the Building Designer > Drawing
Extraction Manager > Structural Drawing Center menu or from the Building
Designer > Drawing Manager > Open Structural Drawing Center Task
(shortcut Q 6).

Figure 19-14: Opening Structural Drawing Center

The Drawing Center dialog box provides all the necessary settings to define
structural drawings, some of which are used outside of Structural Drawing
Center by other tools.
Any drawings that have been created will display in the main window.

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 Figure 19-15: The Drawing Center dialog box

Double-clicking on a drawing will open that Model. To return to the Design

Model, use the button on the far right, Open Home Structural Model. (This
will be greyed out if you are already in the main Design Model.)

Figure 19-16: Return to the main Model by using Open Home Structural Model

Administration tip
The Home Model is defined automatically when working with Integrated Structural Models. It can be
changed, should the need arise, in Project Explorer.

In the Models > Structural folder there is a Design Model (Home Model) Link. By right-clicking
on this and picking Link Properties, the file used as a Home Model can be edited.

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 Figure 19-17: Editing the Design model (Home Model)
Link in Project Explorer

The Drawing Types dropdown allows you to filter the list of drawings.
Choosing Plans would display only the plan drawings in the Structural
Drawing Center main window.

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 Figure 19-18: Filtering the Drawing Types list

Drawing Rules Manager opens the Drawing Resymbolization Rules Manager

dialog box. For full details refer to Chapters 15: Creating Drawings and
Chapter 16: Adding Detail and Annotation.

Figure 19-19: The Drawing Rules Manager button

The next button, Open Drawing Settings, controls the main automation
settings for all aspects of drawing creation and other tools in Structural
AECOsim Building Designer.

Figure 19-20: The Open Drawing Settings button

Drawing Settings provides 9 tabs, each controlling a specific aspect of

AECOsim Building Designer drawings. In most instances these settings will
be defined adequately out of the box and should only need to be altered
when customising content for your house style.

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 Administration tip
The Drawing Settings are defined in an XML file loaded by the STRFILE_DRAWINGSETTINGSXML
configuration variable. Out of the box this points to the dataset’s Setting\DrawingSettings.xml file.

Figure 19-21: The Drawing Settings dialog box

Grid Lines controls the Families and Parts, Styles and sizes of grid lines
generated by the Column Grid Tool (refer to Chapter 05: Setting Up The
Environment).
Elevation Levels is used when generating Framing Elevations to define the
settings of the elevation markers.
Project Explorer controls whether automatic entries are made for Project
Explorer when creating drawings.

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 Templates is the most important for generating drawings with Structural
Drawing Center. It allows you to select which Drawing Extraction templates
are used. These templates must exist within the active model. Refer to
Exercise 19-03 below for full instructions.
Slabs controls the cells used and their sizes for slabs included in generated
drawings.
Reinforcement specifies the cells, labels and formatting for rebar annotation.
The three Schedules tabs, Steel Column Schedules, Concrete Column
Schedules and Schedule Layout, define the cells, annotation styles, Families
and Parts and layout options for schedules produced by the Structural
Drawing Center.
Full details of all settings are available in the product Help files.
The last two sets of tools, Create Grid System Models, Create Framing
Elevations, Create Framing Plans, Create Steel Column Schedules, Create
Foundation Plans and Create Concrete Column Schedule, create the various
types of drawings and schedules.

Figure 19-22: The drawing and schedule creation buttons

Exercise 19-03

Creating drawings with structural drawing center

To use the automated drawing creation tools, the Drawing Extraction
templates must exist in the active model. You could create these in your
DesignSeed_structural.dgn, although this would mean you would have a
series of unused templates in the majority of your files. Instead, you can
import the templates as and when required.
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-
StructuralDrawingCenter.dgn.
2. Open Drawing Extraction Manager from the Building Designer
Tasks > Drawing Manager > Opens the Drawing Manager dialog.

Figure 19-23: Opening Drawing Extraction Manager

In the Drawing Extraction Manager dialog box, click on Import

Drawing Definitions.

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 Figure 19-24: The Import Drawing Definitions button

Browse to WorkSpace\BuildingDatasets\Dataset_GB\seed\DEM_
templates\ and select DEM_Templates_Structural_Analytical.dgn.
Click Open.
In the Sections to Import dialog, select all available Drawing
Definitions and click Import.

Figure 19-25: Selecting all Drawing Definitions for import

The templates will be loaded into your active file. It is now possible
to produce structural drawings from an imported model.
A second building is being proposed on the site for which a quick
model has been produced and received as an ISM. A series of review
drawings are required to evaluate the proposed building. Structural
Drawing Center can be used to produce these drawings quickly.

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 3. To import an ISM model, go to Building Designer Tasks > Structural
Import/Export > New from ISM Repository tool.

Figure 19-26: The New from ISM Repository tool

In the Import dialog box, go to File > Open and

select PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-
StructuralDrawingCenter.ism.dgn.
Check the Structural Type settings are as follows:
Concrete > Beam > Type = Concrete Beam, Instance = S-G2611-
BeamsReinforcedConcrete
Concrete > Column > Type = Concrete Column, Instance =
S-G2621-ColumnsReinforcedConcrete
Concrete > Wall > Type = Wall, Instance = S-G25-WallsConcrete
Concrete > Slab > Type = Slab, Instance = S-G22-SlabConcreteRC
Steel > Beam > Type = Steel Beam, Instance = S-G2613-BeamsSteel
Steel > Column > Type = Steel Column, Instance = S-G2623-
ColumnsSteel
Steel > Vertical Brace > Type = Steel Vertical Brace, Instance =
S-G26-BracingSteel
None > Slab > Type = Slab, Instance = S-G22-SlabConcreteRC
Click Import.
In the Select Building dialog box, tick the Use Model Name option
to ensure that the floors created by the ISM are stored in a separate
building in Floor manager to the existing JOG project.

Figure 19-27: Importing the floor definitions from an ISM

When the Update Design Results dialog box opens, click Update.

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 Figure 19-28: The imported model

4. Open Structural Drawing Center from Building Designer > Drawing

Manager > Open Structural Drawing Center Task (Q 6).
Click on the Create Framing Plans button.

Figure 19-29: Click on Create Framing Plans to generate floor plans

The plans will be generated and list in the main window.

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 Figure 19-30: The list of generated plans

As well as plans and elevations, Structural Drawing Center can also

be used to create column schedules.
5. Click on the Open Drawing Settings button.
In the Drawing Settings dialog box, switch to the Concrete Column
Schedules tab.
Untick the Location Marks option.

Figure 19-31: Turning off the Location Marks

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 If this option is on, a series of start and end points is added to the
column schedule. This isn’t necessary for this schedule.
Save the Drawing Settings from File > Save.
In Structural Drawing Center, click the Create Concrete Column
Schedule button.

Figure 19-32: The Create Concrete Column Schedule button

The schedule will be generated and added to the list.

6. Double-click Concrete Column Schedule Report.dgn in Structural
Drawing Center. The schedule will be opened.

Figure 19-33: The generated Create Concrete Column Schedule

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 The schedule contains Column Marks taken from the members’
Mark property.

Figure 19-34: The Column Marks

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 Elevations are included from Floor Manager.

Figure 19-35: Floor Manager and elevation markers

Additional data, including reinforcement quantities, is also included

if the ISM contains that information.
To return to the Home Model, click the Home button.

Figure 19-36: The Home button

NOTE: This completed exercises is available in PracticalModelling\_

Resources\CompletedExercises\PM-x-M3-S-
StructuralDrawingCenter.dgn.

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 Chapter 20

Exchanging Data

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Davies_ch20_ptg01_547-584.indd 548 03/26/15 10:08 AM
 Collaborative Modelling
Building Information Modelling (BIM) can be carried out in isolation
within a single office, although more benefits are realised if the project is
approached collaboratively. BIM in simple terms is about nothing more
than co-ordinating data from multiple sources so that the right information
is made available to the right people, at the right time. In normal project
workflows, information should be checked, approved and issued in a very
traditional way – just because the information is “BIM”, it doesn’t mean
that the information is automatically correct. Checks need to include not just
technical co-ordination as would be expected of a drawing issue, but should
also include metadata and geometric checks of the model.
Rather than being dictatorial in the approach to BIM deliverables and
the choice of software platforms, the more savvy clients, contractors and
designers are now requiring minimum expectations of data formatting. Of
course this raises challenges with the interoperability of data, and what can
be exchanged between platforms. This chapter deals with some of those
issues specifically with using data from other platforms and exporting to
them from AECOsim Building Designer. While it is not possible to give
definitive answers for every potential project scenario, this advice is intended
to help guide you and make you more aware of what is, and isn’t, possible.

The Project BIM Execution Plan

A BIM Execution Plan (BEP) can be used to specify the methods and
protocols of BIM data production for any given project. In the UK this
is now a mandatory requirement on all projects adhering to PAS1192-
2:2013 (the UK standard specification for information management for the
capital/delivery phase of construction projects using Building Information
Modelling). Even if this standard is not being followed, a BEP can be used
effectively on any BIM project to outline how the information will be
produced, structured, coordinated and issued between the parties involved on
the project. It should “address as a minimum the following key items”:
• Project Information
Details of the project, number of buildings, size, location, division of
the work and schedule.
• Roles & Responsibilities
Contact details of each participant and any unique project
challenges related to BIM, whether that be design conditions or
related to the knowledge and understanding of the parties involved.

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 • Co-ordinate location and setting-out
This is a critical part of a BIM project as data needs to be fully
coincidental without having to move or rotate references. Chapter
05: Setting Up The Environment covers the recommended process
to ensure that DGN models align with true coordinates yet remain
within the accurate Solids Working Area.

Administration tip
To work in the same spatial location using AECOsim Building Designer and Revit, set up the coordinates
using the methods explained in Chapter 05: Setting Up The Environment, and ensure the Revit model uses
Shared Coordinates.

• BIM Uses
This should define the purposes of your BIM deliverables so that
there is no ambiguity over what the data is intended to be used
for and what it isn’t. e.g. is it for design development, geometric
coordination, time scheduling (4D), cost analysis (5D), procurement,
energy analysis, clash detection / resolution, etc.
The intended BIM use of the model may make a difference to how it
is constructed. For example, a standard structural model would not be
built to allow for construction sequencing. It is unlikely that individual
slab pours would be modelled, nor would exact location of column
splices; that is something the contractor or the fabricator might define.
• Level of Model Development Matrix
It is important to identify what information is to be produced at
each stage and who is responsible for that data.
Agree what Level of Detail (LOD), the graphical appearance, you
expect the model to include. Typically the model would only include
enough detail for a general arrangement level (1:100, 1:50 at most).
Additional detail would then be added using stand-alone detail
models or by a more traditional 2D workflow. Refer to Chapter 16:
Additional Detail and Annotation.
Alongside the graphical detail included in the model, decisions should
be made with regard to the level of information (LOI) provided. The
matrix or schedule should include what metadata (properties) will
be provided at which stage. For example, when will be steel grade
be confirmed? Will the area of reinforcement be included on slab
forms, and if so, when? As the project progresses through design
development, the information and understanding of the project will
become better defined. Once the design is frozen, specifications can
be linked to the model and more metadata completed.

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 As a rule of thumb, all projects should be modelled to a minimum
level of detail, at least 3-dimensionally. The detail can be added in
the 2D representation (refer to Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup
Content and Chapter 14: Compound Cells). Using the example
of a column, the difference in needs becomes clear. A model
constructed for general arrangement drawing production, clash
detection and even scheduling and procurement does not need
exact representations of the columns. Provided the construction
information can be produced from the model, the column object
itself can be a simplistic representation. However, for fabrication or
visualisation, the additional detail would be needed.

Figure 20-01: Two representations of the same beam junction:

on the left, the junction modelled to a minimum level of detail,
dimensionally accurate with information added as metadata for
scheduling; on the right, the fabrication model showing detail of
fillets, welds, endplates and bolts

While it is possible to create models detailed enough for fabrication,

it is not recommended to take this approach. Instead, treat the main
model and any other specific requirements as separate processes, almost
the same as you would for external data exchange. Issue the model to
be used as a coordinated reference model for fabrication or rendering.
• Common Data Environment and Standards
How the information is exchanged and how issued data will be
accessed can vary greatly from project to project, from simple
email distribution through to implementation of ProjectWise to
control workflows and statuses. Whatever system is used, details
should be provided in the project BIM Execution Plan. Clarify
the communication protocols, formats to be used, along with the
frequency and form of data exchange.
The BIM standard used in the project and any deviation from that
standard. This will include file naming, object naming and may need
to go into as much detail as the coordination of names between
AECOsim Building Designer’s DataGroup Definitions (refer to
Chapter 13: Creating DataGroup Content) and Revit’s Parameters.

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 • Validation checks
Before sharing or publishing models or drawings, perform validation
checks on the information you are receiving and sending, as well as
design reviews and technical approvals. Check that the models co-exist
in the same coincident space, that all information can be seen and
interrogated as expected, that levels exist and are displaying properly
both in the 3D model and in any Views that have been created, all
unnecessary references are detached and all files are compressed.
• Software platform(s)
Defines BIM software to be utilised and how interoperability issues
will be addressed. This should not be limited to “BIM authoring tools”
(including AECOsim Building Designer) but should also take into
account collaboration software (e.g. Navigator) or analytical products
(e.g. Hevacomp). It is important to remember that certain aspects
of AECOsim Building Designer elements will not be backwards-
compatible with the previous V8i Building products, which in turn
may not be fully backwards-compatible with XM, V8 2004 and earlier
releases. Always test file exchange between each software platform to
fully appreciate the challenges you may face and work out a solution
or workaround for resolving any compatibility issues.
• File formats
A list of the data formats you can work with. It is important to
make the distinction between formats you can accept and formats
you can deliver. For example, as a Revit user on a Bentley-based
project, you could publish the i-dgn format, but you will not be able
to import or link it.
• Data segregation
Addressing such issues as reference files, Revit Worksets and model
organisation will help enable multi-discipline, multi-user access and
project phasing as well as ownership of project BIM data.
A free BEP template developed on actual projects is available from
www.Evolve-Consultancy.com “Project BIM Execution Plan Template”.

Collaborative Exchange with Other

AECOsim Building Designer Users
When sharing data directly from companies using AECOsim Building
Designer, many of the difficulties associated with information exchange
and translation are removed. One thing to consider is the exchange of the
“resources”; the DataGroups, Part definitions, levels, used by each party. It
will not be possible to create correct Views or extractions without the Parts
that have been used. It is sensible to agree the Parts before modelling takes

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 place, using either a common bespoke dataset or one of the Bentley country-
specific datasets to avoid any possible complications.
Use the Building Designer > Family & Parts > Verify Part & Family menu
item to check that all Parts are valid. If this tool reports any errors, views
or extractions created using those Parts will not display correctly.

Exercise 20-01

Adding another Part XML to your project dataset

You have received a Parts.xml file from the architect which contains
additional Parts not included in Dataset_GB. You will need to use their parts
in order to utilise their architectural components within your own views and
drawings. You do not need to quit AECOsim Building Designer in order to
load the new Parts.
1. Open any .dgn file. It does not matter which, as you will not be
editing the information in any way.
From the Building Designer > Families & Parts menu, pick Single
Parts to open the Dataset Explorer.

Figure 20-02: Opening the Dataset Explorer

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 2. In the Dataset Explorer, navigate to Parts > By Families and
click on the + sign next to the project Parts folder to display all
the .xml files loaded from that location. The folder you need is
PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\part.
If you cannot see the full path of the folder, hover your mouse over
it; the full location will pop up as shown in Figure 20-03.

Figure 20-03: The project Parts folder

You will see there is one XML file pre-loaded: Project-Part.xml.

3. In Windows, copy the file PracticalModelling\ _Resources\
CompletedExercises\Project-Part-Architectural.xml into the
PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\part folder.

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 Figure 20-04: Copying the Project-Part-Architectural.xml into
PracticalModelling\_Resources\dataset\part

4. Back in Dataset Explorer, you will still see only Project-Part.xml.

To load the new XML file, pick the Building Designer > Families &
Parts > Refresh menu.

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 Figure 20-05: Refreshing the dataset

The Project-Part-Architectural.xml file will be displayed in the

project folders.

Figure 20-06: The new XML file loaded into the dataset

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 5. To check the Parts are correctly defined, navigate to Parts > By
Families > Project-Part-Architectural.xml > A-G2. In the Parts list,
two of the architectural Parts use a “Non Existent Level”. In this
case these levels will be created anyway, although the symbology
may not be as intended. For example, the By Level attributes will
be set to white, style to 0 and weight to 0. At this point it would be
advisable to contact the architects and ask them to either adhere to
the available levels or issue their dgnlib with the additional levels to
correspond to the Parts.

Figure 20-07: The Dataset Explorer showing non-existent levels

Collaborative Exchange with Other BIM

Authoring Tools
For projects where all parties are not using AECOsim Building Designer, an
agreement will need to be reached as to which formats can be exchanged.
The requirements for information exchange and the communication of non-
graphical metadata on a project can vary greatly. From a strategic viewpoint,
it is important to understand clearly what formats you are capable of
delivering, and why and when you would want to. This should be clearly
defined in the project BIM Execution Plan.

Importing formats into AECOsim

Building Designer
DWG
Autodesk’s DWG should be the “lowest common denominator” of choice for
geometry exchange. It provides a fairly robust means of translating geometry
between two disparate BIM authoring tools. While it doesn’t necessarily

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 handle the metadata, the first question you should ask is, “Do I need the
metadata anyway?” Take the example of using a mechanical engineering
consultant’s model: do you need to know the types of brackets and fixings
used in the ventilation ducts, whether egg crate grilles or double deflection
grilles are used, or is it enough to know that the ducting runs will have
enough clearance to miss beams? It is easy to overcomplicate BIM protocols
by trying to successfully exchange data you wouldn’t normally use or need.

DGN
Care should be taken testing the suitability of DGN data from other BIM
authoring tools. Even if the software is capable of exporting the V8 DGN
format, be wary of how it creates SmartSolids – they may be a collection of
triangulated surfaces grouped as a SmartSolid rather than a true SmartSolid.
In many cases it may be that DWG exchange is more robust, although
detailed testing should be carried out.

I-DGN
The plug-in to export i-models from Revit can be used, producing smaller,
more manageable files, which are perfectly suited for referencing &
interrogation. Testing has shown the files to be approximately 30% of the
size of a DGN, and 10% the size of the same DWG. The geometry and
metadata contained within the cells created by the i-model publication, while
not immediately obvious, can be interrogated fully through MicroStation’s
Item Browser, providing full read-only interoperability with non-graphical
attributes.
i-models can also be referenced using the standard “MicroStation DGN Files
(*.dgn)” option.

Exercise 20-02
Interrogating an I-Model
1. Open the file PracticalModelling\DesignModels\rac_basic_sample_
project.i.dgn and rotate to Right Isometric view.
Window or zoom in to the main staircase at the right-hand side of
the building towards the front.

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 Figure 20-08: The main staircase

2. From the Primary Tools toolbox, click on Items. The Items dialog
box will open. All non-graphical items that can be interrogated will
be listed in the Active panel.

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 Figure 20-09: The Items tool in Primary Tools, and
the Items dialog box

3. Click on the staircase to select it. The selected element will be loaded
into the Items Properties panel, below the Active panel.
All properties that can be understood by the Items system are
displayed. All items are read-only, so they cannot be edited.

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 Figure 20-10: The Items dialog showing the selected
staircase

4. In the Items > Active panel, expand <Selection> (1), right-click on

the selected stair and choose Locate in Hierarchy from the context
menu.

Figure 20-11: The Locate in Hierarchy menu

The stair will be located in the main list of stairs items.

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 Figure 20-12: The same stair located in the Active list

5. Click on the next stair in the Active list to select it. Click on the
Zoom icon at the top of the Items dialog.

Figure 20-13: Zooming into the next stair

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 The stair will be fitted in the view window. As you select other items,
they will automatically zoom to the view window until you click
again on Zoom to deactivate it.
Click on Isolate. All other elements will be hidden from view so
that only the selected stair displays. As you select other items they
will also be isolated until you click again on Isolate to deactivate it.
Leaving Isolate on without Zoom is not recommended as the view
will appear blank.

Figure 20-14: Isolating the stair

Click again on Zoom and Isolate to deactivate them.

6. Select all three staircases in the Active list. If the Details dialog box
is not already open, click on the Show Details button at the top of
the Items dialog box.

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 Figure 20-15: Selecting the stairs and showing
their details

The stairs will be displayed in the Details dialog.

Figure 20-16: The Details dialog showing the three selected stairs

From here, it is possible to report on the Items by exporting the

details to Excel. Refer to Chapter 17: Scheduling for further
information.

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 CIS/2
If steel frames are being imported from another BIM authoring tool, be it
analysis, fabrication or even from an architectural design, CIS/2 (CIMsteel
Integration Standard) format can be used. Specifically designed for steel
projects, CIS/2 can be used for exchange of a structural frame where elements
need to be edited rather than just reviewed.
Revit users will require a Subscription App, downloadable from the Autodesk
Subscription site. A valid account will be required to access this download.
(http://subscription.autodesk.com/sp/servlet/download/item?siteID=
11564774&id=21616726). CIS/2 only exports steel members from Revit;
the rest of the frame will need to be exported using DWG or IFC.
Importing CIS/2 files is available through the Building Designer Tasks >
Structural Import / Export > Import CIS/2 File (shortcut W 1).

Figure 20-17: Import CIS/2 File in Structural Import/Export

A browser window opens allowing you to select a CIS/2 file (.stp).

Once Open is clicked, the CIS/2 Import dialog box will be displayed.

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 Figure 20-18: The CIS/2 Import dialog box

A Log file will be generated at the same time as the file import. There is
an opportunity to redefine the name and location of this file if required,
although it is recommended to leave this matching the import file name.
Should any errors occur they will be reported in this file.
To be able to import a CIS/2 file successfully it is necessary to provide
mapping details for the various structural element types. The Family and
Part for the five structural element types listed in the Mapping section of the
dialog need to be assigned, using the dropdown lists (refer to Figure 20-18
above).
Below the Family and Part mappings is the Mapping Section. Clicking the
Select button will open the Mapping Sections dialog box.

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 The Section Names listed in the Mapping Sections dialog box relate to the
imported members and may need to be matched with the available sections in
AECOsim Building Designer. Any matches are shown in blue; items displayed
in red need to be matched. This is achieved by either clicking on the Mapping
Name and typing the correct value or right-clicking the Mapping Name and
picking Select Map Name. The latter option activates the Structural Sections
dialog box from which the correct section can be selected.

Figure 20-19: Mapping the imported Section Names to an

available Mapping Names

Note that a section of the same size may not exist at all in the available
sections files. If that is the case it may be necessary to load additional sections
files or create the section size manually before import. Refer to Chapter 12:
Custom Section Sizes for details on how to create new sections.

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 Once all the Sections are matched the import can continue. Clicking OK on
all the dialog boxes will begin the import process and a progress bar will be
displayed. The model will be imported and any errors will be displayed and
saved into the log file. The imported elements will be live in the active file.

IFC

IFC files can be large compared to DWG & DGN – in tests, around 4x larger
than DWG and up to 6x larger than DGN. An IFC optimiser is provided
from the Utilities > Building Designer Utilities > IFC Optimization Utility. . .
menu but can also be set to run automatically when exporting an IFC file
(refer to Exercise 20-04 below).
Although IFC files can be used to exchange geometry and metadata, due to
the ambiguous nature of the IFC specification and its interpretation within
BIM authoring tools the results can vary depending on which tools are being
used to either export or import the IFC. For best results, always follow the
basic guidelines below:
• Always confirm coordinate locations prior to beginning modelling.
• Consider the composition of your model, breaking down into
references wherever possible to facilitate more efficient management
of data and exchange of smaller portions or zones of a project.
• Plan your exchange requirements and reasons for exchange. Agree
the required Level of Detail (graphics) and Level of Information
(metadata) prior to exchange.
• Use a Project BIM Execution Plan to record the requirements,
expectations and exchange limitations.
• IFC should never be used as the de facto standard. Always research,
review and test the most suitable exchange formats.
e.g. For iterative geometry-only design (exchanging models between
architects and engineers) DGN/DWG is usually adequate and more
reliable.
e.g. For clash detection or scheduling (into NavisWorks) use NWC/
NWD.
e.g. For steel exchange use CIS2.
• Where IFC is required, for design coordination and review, files
should be exchanged in IFC 2x3 (*.ifc) Coordination View 2.0.
• Autodesk Revit users should ensure their mapping of elements
for IFC exchange for both import and export is correct to ensure
reliable exchange.
• For exchange with Graphisoft ArchiCAD, import should be done
using the Graphisoft add-in available here: http://www.graphisoft
.com/downloads/interoperability.html. Supporting documentation is

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 also available from this link. This add-in fixes a number of known
issues with IFC file transfer with Graphisoft ArchiCAD files into
Autodesk Revit and it is imperative that this is used to avoid known
issues. In particular this resolved the following – IFC GUIDS, Grids,
Load-bearing slabs and Renovation status.
For export, the latest IFC Exporter for Revit should be used. These
are available here: http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/RVT/List/
Search?query=IFC+Export+2014&facet=&collection=&sort=
dateUpdated%2Cdesc.
• Layers should be exported in line with the relevant country
standards (e.g. AIA / NCADS, BS 1192:2007, etc). Whilst Autodesk
Revit doesn’t specifically use layers whilst modelling, these are
required by other software for IFC exchange. Layers are determined
in the DWG settings and the correct settings should be selected
before IFC export.
• Models should be exported from Autodesk Revit with only the
relevant information switched on. Only export the minimum
required for collaborative purposes.
e.g. For architectural exchange, switch off additional Building
Stories created for structural steelwork levels. These ‘additional’
levels can be switched off by un-ticking the ‘Building Story’ box
in the models section/elevation. (Note: this is only available in
Autodesk Revit 2013 and above.)
• Optimise all IFC 2x3 files prior to exchange. If access to AECOsim
Building Designer’s IFC Optimization Utility is not possible,
Solibri IFC Optimizer provides a free alternative. This is available
from http://www.solibri.com/solibri-ifc-optimizer.html. This will
optimize the files and create a vastly reduced file size before files are
exchanged.
• Models should be reviewed before exchange in an independent IFC
viewer. The following viewers can be used to review IFC models:
Constructivity Model Viewer (PC only): http://www.constructivity.
com/cmviewer.htm
DDS-CAD Viewer (PC only): http://www.dds-cad.net/downloads/
dds-cad-open-bim-viewer/
Solibri Model Viewer: http://www.solibri.com/solibri-model-viewer.
html
Tekla BIMsight (PC only): http://www.teklabimsight.com
xBIM Xplorer (PC only): http://xbim.codeplex.com/releases
IFC files can also be referenced into AECOsim Building Designer.

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 Figure 20-20 Selecting IFC files for referencing

Exporting Formats from AECOsim Building

Designer
DWG
As with importing formats, Autodesk’s DWG should be the “lowest common
denominator” of choice for geometry. MicroStation’s export to DWG can
give excellent results.
The only additional point that needs to be made with regard to exporting
AECOsim Building Designer 3D data is to be aware of the additional
Building Products options in the Save As DWG/DXF Options > General tab.

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 Figure 20-21: The Building Products options in the Save As
DWG/DXF Options dialog box

Create Blocks From Building Parts and Create Block Names From Building
Family & Part are used to create and name blocks for use in AutoCAD. For
example, with these options on, a wall placed using Family “S-G2”, Part
“S-G2513-WallsExternalConcrete” is translated to a block called “S-G2
S-G2513-WallsExternalConcrete”. The DataGroup Catalog item used has no
effect on this conversion or naming. In normal circumstances make sure these
two options are ticked.

DGN
DGN should be first choice for exchanging data with any Bentley products as
you do not need to do any additional work and the metadata is self-contained.
For exchange with other BIM tools, while DGN format might be able to
be imported, it is highly recommended to compare the results against other
formats. For example, Autodesk Revit does not handle DGN anywhere near
as successfully as DWG, and cannot Acquire Coordinates from a DGN.
For collaborative review, Autodesk NavisWorks supports V8 DGN, although
Autodesk’s recommendation is to use the NavisWorks NWC/NWD format.
This is only possible on a PC where NavisWorks is installed.

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 Bentley Navigator is Bentley’s comparative solution. While Navigator can
read DGN and DWG files directly, the recommended approach is to convert
to Bentley’s .i.dgn format, which is more compact and portable. A plug-in
is available from Bentley for all Revit products to export to .i.dgn format.
The resultant files are very simplistic, although the geometry is accurate (all
elements convert as cells).The data and member information is built into the
cell name, providing simple “intelligence” and identification. The plug-in is
available on Bentley’s website: http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Free+Software/
imodel+plugin+revit.htm.

I-DGN
Exporting your model to i-model format is a simple, easy process and
should be considered where a lightweight, read-only model is required.
Co-ordinating a project using Bentley Navigator is an ideal example.
While it is possible to publish an i-model from Revit, it is not possible to
import an i.dgn file into Revit.
i-models are created from the File > Publish i-model. . . menu item.

Figure 20-22: The Publish i-model. . . menu item

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 Exercise 20-03

Publishing an i-model
1. Open the PM-x-M3-S-DynamicViewContainer.dgn file from the
PracticalModelling\DesignModels\ folder.
From the File menu, pick Publish i-model. . .
In the Publish i-model(s) dialog box, there are two panels: Package
Settings and Publish Settings. The first deals with the .i.dgn file itself,
and whether separate i-models will be created for each reference or
whether they will be packaged into a single file. The second panel
provides a few optional settings for how the models are published.

Figure 20-23: The Publish i-model(s) dialog box

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 2. In the Package Settings panel, tick Create a single package. This will
create one .i.dgn file of all the references.
The Package name and Protection options will become active.
Leave the Package name as “PM-x-M3-S-DynamicViewContainer”.
Click on the Browse icon to specify a folder where the i-model will
be created. Navigate to BuildingExamples\PracticalModelling\out\.
Note: there is no configuration variable for the location of published
i-models. Unless the folder is chosen .i.dgn files will be created in the
same folder as the original .dgn file.

Figure 20-24: Browsing to the out folder

Protection can be used to restrict access to the i-model. You can

specify settings for Everyone, or enter a Password which will be
needed to open or view the i-model. Alternatively, a digital signature
certificate can be used.
Leave Protection set to “Everyone”.
In the Rights options, make sure “Export” and “Print” are ticked.
This will allow anyone who opens the .i.dgn file to export it to
additional formats and print.
The Expires option can be used to set a time limit on the i-model’s use.

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 Leave Expires unticked.
The final option in the Package Settings panel is Remove intermediate
files after creating package. When creating a single package, .i.dgn
files are still created for all the references in the same location as
the original .dgn files. It may seem that these are extraneous to your
needs, but when re-publishing an existing i-model, a check can be
carried out to only re-publish i-models from DGN files that have
been updated. Creating and maintaining these additional .i.dgn files
can speed up the publication process of large models.
For now, tick Remove intermediate files after creating package.

Figure 20-25: The final Package Settings

3. In the Publish Settings panel, set the following options:

Cache Visible Edges for 3D Attachments should be ticked. This will
“lock” any Views to Cached mode so that they are not regenerated
each time a file is opened. This can speed up the publication time
and gives a fixed state of issue that does not dynamically update.
Retain Cached Visible Edges Even if Out Of Date should be ticked.
Similar to the above option, this copies the cached views into the
i-model. This provides a fixed state of issue although the views may
not represent the same state as the 3D model.
Filter Design History should be ticked. This reduces file size by
filtering out Design History. Only untick this if you prefer to send all
details of changes with the published i-model.
Publish Linked Design Files should be unticked. Ticking this option
will include any additional files linked from within the model,
including Sheet files, Drawings and other content. Be aware that
ticking this option can increase the number of files dramatically.
Republish All i-models should be unticked. When publishing a
model for the second time, a check is carried out on the status

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 of the .i.dgn file against its original .dgn file. If they are the same
the file will be skipped. Ticking this box republishes every file and
ensures that everything reflects the current state of the model.

Figure 20-26: The Publish Settings panel

4. It is possible to save the Publish i-model(s) settings for recall at a

later date. You can use the Save, Save As and Open buttons across
the top should you need to. In this exercise the settings will not be
used again, so just click on Publish.
NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_
CompletedExercises\PM-x-M3-S-DynamicViewContainer.i.dgn.

CIS/2
CIS/2 can be used successfully for the export of steel members from
AECOsim Building Designer to products that support this format. In many
cases, similar results will be achieved using IFC format (see below) which can
also support non-steel members in the same file. With any conversion using
files of this nature, it is important to appreciate the recipient’s requirements
of the format, especially in regard to member sizes and to define a mapping
file to convert the naming conventions.
CIS/2 is an alternative format for exchanging data between AECOsim Building
Designer and structural analysis software or fabricators as CIS/2 offers the
ability to exchange analysis, design (physical) or manufacturing models.

SDNF
SDNF (Steel Detailing Neutral File) is a steel exchange that offers positive
results as well. The principle of an SDNF is similar to a CIS/2 file, although
the information is much simpler, and typically only contains coordinate
values, rotation and section sizes. Where the exchange of only physical
elements is needed, SDNF can offer good results, although care should be
taken to check that placement lines and orientation exchange an import
correctly between the two systems.

IFC
IFC can provide robust results, although the file can be almost twice as large
as a DWG if no optimisation is carried out. Testing of specific situations is
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 important to ascertain the suitability of IFC as an exchange format, and use
of an independent viewer is highly recommended to check the results.

Exercise 20-04

Publishing to IFC
1. Open the PracticalModelling\DesignModels\PM-x-M3-S-
DynamicViewContainer.dgn file.
From the File menu, pick Export > IFC. . .
The IFC Export dialog box will be displayed. This comprises two
tabs, Output and Author. Most of the IFC Author options are text
fields to help identify the contents of the exported .ifc file and are
not essential to the final result.

Figure 20-27: The IFC Export dialog box

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 2. In the Output tab, set Model View Definition to “IFC 2x3
Coordination View 2.0”. This specifies the version of IFC to use,
with 2x3 being the latest supported version. The second option
displays Facilities Management Handover which enables the Output
Options to create a COBie Spreadsheet and i-model.

Administration TIP
The Facilities Management Handover and COBie options will only be available if IFC_PROJECT is set to 2.

Zip IFC File should be unticked. This creates a Zip file of the .ifc
file, but will slow down the generation of the IFC file. If you need
the file zipped, zip it manually after export.
Mapping Options are split into two sections: one for Map
DataGroup Types And Properties and the second for Map Family/
Parts. Each DataGroup type or Part that has been used needs to be
mapped to an IFC element in order for the IFC file to be fully usable.
Clicking the Map button for Map DataGroup Types And Properties.
The Map DataGroup Types and Properties to IFC dialog box opens.

Figure 20-28: The Map DataGroup Types and Properties to

IFC Dialog box

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 All of the delivered DataGroup Catalogs are already defined. Any additional
Catalog Items that have been created manually should also be mapped
correctly, as items inherit the Catalog mapping by default.
It is possible to make manual selections for the IFC mappings by either Class
or the Catalog Items’ Property Mapping by selecting the appropriate tabs.
3. Scroll down the Class Mapping list to Columns: Concrete.
Click on the + sign to expand the list and view all Catalog Items.
S-G215-FoundationsPiles inherits the Catalog mapping of
IfcColumnType. There is a specific IFC class for foundations, so to
set this appropriately, click on the IFC Mapping for the S-G215-
FoundationsPiles which is currently set to IfcColumnType: column
(inherited).
The IFC 2x3 Entities Classifications dropdown box will display.
In the search field, type “pile”.
The list of IFC entities will be filtered to show only those
containing “pile”.
Click on IfcPile.

Figure 20-29: Mapping the S-G215-FoundationsPIle Catalog item to IfcPile

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 The IFC Mapping value will be changed and will be displayed in
blue to show that it has not yet been saved.
Before saving any new mappings it is important to check the Save
To: option in the top right-hand corner of the dialog box. This
provides two options, Project (the default) or Dataset. Dataset
will write the changes back to the main Dataset, so unless you are
completely sure that your changes should be applied to all projects,
leave this set to Project.
Click Save.

Administration TIP
The IFC mappings are stored in an IFC_Mapping_overrides.xml file located using the IFCDIR_
SETTING and IFC_PROJECT_SETTING configuration variables. The old variable for IFC settings, IFC_
SETTING is no longer used.

IFCDIR_SETTING points to the dataset’s Setting folder by default and is used if Save To: is set to
Dataset.

IFC_PROJECT_SETTING points to the project’s dataset\setting folder and is used when the Save
To: option is Project.

The second Map button for Map Family/Parts opens the Map
Custom Building Designer dataset to IFC dataset dialog box. It
should not be necessary to map individual Parts to IFC classes as the
DataGroup Catalogs will handle the mapping. Use this option only
if non-DataGroup Forms have been used in your project. To learn
about these mapping settings, refer to Chapter 20 of the Practical
Architectural Modelling with AECOsim Building Designer book.
Spatial Structure at the bottom of the IFC Export dialog box is used
4. 
to assign an IfcBuildingStorey mapping to the Floor manager floors.
By default, a “best fit” level will be assigned based on reference
models’ z-values. Depending on how the model is structured, this
may need to be edited manually.
Click the Assign button.
The Assign Models to Spatial Containment dialog box will display.
The only file that has not been set correctly should be PM-02-M3-S-
DynamicViewRoof.dgn.
Click on the value in the Floor column, currently Best fit: 01.
Select 02 from the dropdown. The value will be applied to the Floor
column and displayed blue to highlight that the mappings have not
yet been saved.

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 Figure 20-30: Assigning a manual Floor to a referenced model

Click Save to apply the mapping, then Close to close the dialog box.
5. Back in the Building Designer IFC Export dialog box, switch to the
Author tab. This is where details of the project and the editor can be
included.
Complete the fields for IFC Author and Organization with your
name and organisation’s details.
6. Click Export.
A browser window will open to confirm the location and name of
the exported IFC file. Check that it is set to the PracticalModelling\
out\ folder and click Save.

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 Administration TIP
IFC configuration variables worth noting include:

IFC_CRASH_RECOVERY which is set to 1 in the PracticalModelling.pcf. This creates a temporary file when
exporting to IFC. Should an IFC export crash, this temporary file is used to start the export from the point it
crashed, in theory saving time.

IFC_VERSION can be used to set the default schema. In the PracticalModelling.pcf this is set to 2x3.

TFDIR_IFC sets the default location for exported and imported IFC files. This is set in PracticalModelling.pcf
to $(_USTN_OUT).

Figure 20-31: The exported IFC model viewed in Solibri Model

Viewer: note the organisation of the entities in the Model Tree,
grouped by Building, Floor and IFC entity

NOTE: This completed exercise is available in PracticalModelling\_

CompletedExercises\PM-x-M3-S-DynamicViewContainer.ifc.

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 The suitability of results when exchanging models between disciplines
depends greatly on the need. Before progressing too far into the design stages,
it is critical to outline a scope of requirements and identify exactly how
much intelligence needs to be available to each discipline. For example, the
architect and structural engineer is highly concerned about the location of the
HVAC system (the geometry), but it is not likely they will need airflow and
performance data to be contained in their copy of the model.
If these criteria can be realistically defined then successful exchange is
possible without the need to work on the same platform.

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