Systems of Elements
In Advance Design, the systems created within the Project Browser help you organize the model elements by categories. This feature provides easier handling of your model. You can also create other systems containing subsystems, thus building a tree structure of your model, providing easy management.
How to Define the System Level Settings
The system level settings influence the modeling of the vertical and horizontal linear and planar elements.
- Select a system.
- In the system's properties window, Level category, enable the Level option.
- In the Top field enter the superior limit of the system on the Z-axis.
- In the Bottom field enter the inferior limit of the system on the Z-axis.
The units are defined according to the current unit for lengths. See Defining the working units.
The system level settings are defined.
When a system that has the level settings activated is defined as current:
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All the vertical linear elements and vertical planar elements are created between the systems level limits.
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All horizontal linear elements and horizontal planar elements are created at the superior limit of the system level.
Sorting the Systems by ID
During the modeling, the systems numbering may become discontinuous (because of renumbering systems, successive systems creation and/or deletion, changing systems position in the tree structure, etc.). Advance Design provides the option to sort the systems in the Project Browser by their ID.
To access the command, right-click a system in the Project Browser and select Sort from the context menu.
Sorting systems
Items within in a system can be sorted using the following options:
- By Type (then by Id)
- By Type (then by Name)
- By Id
- By Name
Additionally, you can sort items in either Ascending or Descending order. When using this command on a parent system, the sorting changes will apply to all its subsystems.
Example for possible outcomes of Sort command
Controlling Element Display by System
- To hide all the elements of a system: right-click the system and select Hide from the context menu, or double click the system name or icon. The selected system's elements are no longer visible in the graphic area. The icons of the system and the hidden elements are displayed in grey in the Project Browser.
- To display a hidden system: right-click it and select Display or double click its name or icon in the Project Browser. The system's elements are visible in the graphic area.
- To display only the elements of a certain system: right-click it in the Project Browser and select Isolate. The selected system's elements are displayed in the drawing area, while the elements belonging to other systems are hidden. Isolating a system of elements does not affect the loads display.
To display all the elements of the structure and loads (whether a system is isolated or a few systems are hidden), in the Project Browser, select Display all from the context menu of the Model, Structure or any system of elements.
Tip: Notice the system color code:
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Blue: indicates the current system, where the new elements are created.
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Red: helps the user to identify the system that contains an element which is selected in the graphic area (if there is a selection).
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System color code
Selecting Elements by the System They Belong To
To select all the elements of a system:
- In the Project Browser, right-click the system and choose Select from the context menu or,
- In the Project Browser, click the system name and press < Space >.
To select all the elements of several systems:
- Select the systems that contain the elements to select. (Keep the < Ctrl > key pressed to select non-consecutive items; keep the < Shift > key pressed to select a range of consecutive items.)
- Press < Space >, or right-click any of the selected systems and choose Select from the context menu.
Tip: When selecting all the elements of one or more systems, the way described above, the command line displays the number of selected elements and their type:
Information in the Command line