The Bevel Symbol window ( Drawing Editor )

Defaults: For an Add Bevel Symbol operation, the " Angle " is determined by the points you laid out for this bevel symbol. The default " Run " or " Rise " is set per Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Detailing Symbol Settings > " Bevel symbol base dimension ." The default selections for other options on this window are those of the last bevel symbol you added or edited -- see " OK ."

To open this window :

Also see :

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" Copy " " Paste " " Save " " Load " buttons

  • You'll find buttons like these at the top of this window. They apply to all user-editable settings that are on this window. Click here for more information.
  • You can " Copy " ( ) the settings on this window, then change the " Bevel__of " number you are editing using the VCR buttons, then " Paste " ( ) those settings to the newly selected bevel symbol.
  • " Save " ( ) saves a "form" file to the form/bevel folder that is used by your current version of this program. Give the form a name that will help users in other Jobs on your network identify its purpose. " Load " ( ) changes all settings on this window to those settings that are stored in the file that you select.
  • " Paste " and " Load " replace mixed entries to a single field with a single entry. " Copy " and " Save " ignore fields with mixed entries, treating them as if they have no entry or do not exist.

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------ Properties ------

Angle: The positive or negative (-) number of degrees that defines the angle between an imaginary horizontal line through the tip of the tail and the bevel line through the two exact points of the bevel symbol . The first exact point is the tip of the tail; the second exact point is where the tail meets the "triangle."

" Angle " " Rise " " Run "
315 to 45 setup choice calculated
45 to 135 calculated setup choice
135 to 225 setup choice calculated
225 to 315 calculated setup choice

Changing the " Angle " updates the " Rise " and " Run " of the bevel symbol. Initially, the " Angle " that is calculated is based on the points that were located for Add Bevel Symbol . When you change the " Angle ," the second exact point for the bevel symbol is rotated around the first located point, thus causing the bevel symbol to be repositioned.

A ' positive number ' moves the second point (the one near the "triangle") counterclockwise that number of degrees from the imaginary horizontal line drawn through the first point.

A ' negative number ' positions the exact point on the "triangle" clockwise that number of degrees from the imaginary horizontal line drawn through the tip of the tail.

In the above example, the angle reported on both bevel symbols is 45 degrees. However, the angle reported here in the " Angle " field is, in the first case, ' -135 ' degrees.

Angles are reported on the bevel symbol only if the box is checked for " Show bevel angle degrees with bevel symbol " in Detailing Symbol Settings .

Rise: Up to 10 digits may be entered to the rise position on the bevel symbol . Non-numerical entry is also allowed.

When adding a bevel symbol: Add Bevel Symbol enters the Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Detailing Symbol Settings > " Bevel symbol base dimension " if the " Rise " is larger than the " Run ." If the " Run " is longer, the " Rise " is calculated based on the angular relationship between the two exact points on either end of the tail of the bevel symbol.

Editing the " Rise ": Directly entering a " Rise " does not cause the " Run " or " Angle " to be recalculated, nor does it cause the bevel symbol to be redrawn in a different orientation. It affects the label only. To change the " Rise " and cause the bevel symbol to be redrawn correctly, you need to adjust the " Angle ."

Run: Up to 10 digits may be entered here to appear in the run position of the bevel symbol . Non-numerical entry is also allowed.

When adding a bevel symbol: The Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Detailing Symbol Settings > " Bevel symbol base dimension " is applied as the " Run " if the " Run " is larger than the " Rise ." If the " Rise " is longer, then the " Run " is calculated based on the angular relationship between the two exact points on either end of the tail of the bevel symbol.

Editing the " Run ": Directly entering a " Run " does not cause the rise or angle to be recalculated, nor does it cause the bevel symbol to be drawn at a different spatial orientation. It affects the label only. To change the " Run " and cause the bevel symbol to be redrawn correctly, you need to adjust the " Angle ."

Rotation: A positive or negative (-) decimal number of degrees. Rotation is around the tip of the bevel symbol's tail (even if the tail is not shown). The tip of the tail is the first point located during an Add Bevel Symbol operation.

An entry of ' 0 ' (zero) degrees sets the run to be horizontal and the rise to be vertical. ' 0 ' is entered by default for all newly added bevel symbols, even if the last bevel symbol you added or edited had a non-zero " Rotation ."

A ' positive number ' of degrees rotates the bevel symbol counterclockwise.

A ' negative (-) number ' of degrees rotates the bevel symbol clockwise.

Attached to view: A number designating the view that this bevel symbol is attached to. This applies mainly to member details . For instance, a column detail may have a view of face A, face B and face C. It may also have various section views (Section A-A, Section B-B, Section C-C). All graphical objects that are in a particular view are assigned the same number. The only other type of drawing on which you might find multiple views is a submaterial detail .

Assigning the correct number to an object (line, weld symbol, label, etc.), prevents Shorten and Unshorten problems on submaterial details and member details . Automatically detailed submaterial details and member details are the two Drawing Editor drawing types that can have multiple views.

 

To show a view's number, you can add the X-Y-Z Display to your toolbar. An alternative decoration you can add to display view numbers is the X-Y Dual Show/True Display .

In the Drawing Editor , the X-Y-Z Display shows the view number that the point location target ( ) is over.

Troubleshooting: If you Unshorten a drawing then Shorten , only to find that objects are repositioned in a way that seems wrong, the problem might be that the objects are attached to a view that is not the view that they should be attached to. A good troubleshooting method is to select all of the objects that you believe should be attached to the same view, then right-click ( Menu ) and choose " Edit " on the menu . This will open the Multi-Items Edit window. Look at the " Attached to view " field on that window. If that field is gray (shows no view number), then that field has a mixed entry , indicating that objects in your selection have have two or more different view numbers. Entering the desired view number to the " Attached to view " multi-edit field assigns all objects in your selection that one view number.

View number assignment is fairly random. While view numbers assigned during auto detailing are generally the same as the numbers assigned to views in member isolation (or material isolation's edit views mode ), there are cases where that general one-to-one correspondence will not hold. Also, while the main view of a member detail is almost always view 0, the other views are assigned numbers as they are added, and since the order in which views are added is arbitrary, there is little correspondence between a view's number and its type.

How can objects be assigned wrong view numbers? When a user adds an object to a drawing on which there are multiple views (a member detail or a submaterial detail), it is the responsibility of that user to ensure that the object is attached to the correct view. That sounds like an easy thing to do, but it isn't always so simple. Take, for example, a pointer . When a user adds a pointer using Objects > Pointers > Add , the user does not see the Pointer Edit window and therefore does not see the " Attached to view " entry field. Pointers can also be added using Paste , Paste at Original Location , Paste Repeatedly , Paste Special , Paste to Several , Add Standard Detail , Add Standard Detail to Several , Add Weld Combo , Hole Sym Combo , Label Combo , etc. Each of these tools is a different way for users to add a pointer to a wrong view.

Layer: The drawing layer (any layer given a " Name ") that the bevel symbol you are adding or editing will be drawn on after you press " OK " to close this window. If that layer happens to be hidden (not marked " Show "), the bevel symbol will disappear after the first Redraw .

Defaults: For an Add Bevel Symbol operation, the default selection ( ) made here is the layer selected on the layer selection tool before you began this operation. For an Edit Bevel Symbol operation, the default selection is the layer that the Drawing Editor object is currently on.

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------ Appearance ------

Font: Any font that is listed can be selected for the " Rise " and " Run " characters in the bevel symbol.

Shown here are some of the TrueType fonts that you may have available on your computer. With these fonts, what you see in the Drawing Editor is what you will get on the plotted drawing. For the ' SDS2 ' font, the plotted thickness of the font is set by the " Pen color ."

Be sure to also choose the " Font style " that you want. The " Character height " sets the font size. If you select the ' SDS2 ' font, be aware that the " Pen color " affects the thickness of the font when it is plotted.

Font style: The style (' Bold ' or ' Bold Italic ' or ' Italic ' or ' Regular ') of the selected bevel symbol " Font ." Different fonts may have different styles available to them.

Available font styles are listed alphabetically in the font style list box , and the first style that is listed for a particular font is the style that is selected by default. You may, instead of using the default, prefer to choose ' Regular ', which is generally the most popular style for a particular font. ' Regular ' is the only choice that is available for the ' SDS2 ' font. To adjust the stroke thickness of the ' SDS2 ' font, you can change the " Pen color ."

Also see: " Symbols font " and " Symbols font style " (at Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Detailing > Drawing Presentaton > the " Fonts " tab > ) determine the font and font style that are applied automatically to bevel symbols that are generated during automatic detailing .

Character height: The height (in millimeters) of the lettering that is to appear on the bevel symbol to show the " Rise " and " Run ." This is the actual height of the lettering as it appears on plotted details that have not been rescaled.

Font dependencies: This applies to whatever font is selected as the bevel symbol " Font ," regardless of whether that font is a TrueType font or the ' SDS2 ' font.

Tails shown: or .

If this box is checked ( ), the tail (complete bevel line) is shown on the bevel symbol .

If the box is not checked ( ), the tail is not shown on the bevel symbol.

Breakable: or . This applies when the box is checked for the setup option " Break bevel lines at label interference ." If that setup option is turned off (not checked), then the bevel lines are never broken, no matter what choice you make here.

Breakable
 Breakable

If this box is checked ( ) and Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Detailing > Dimension Settings > the " General " tab > " Break bevel lines at label interference " is checked, the bevel line breaks (is made invisible) where it crosses a label (for which " Breaks lines " is checked) or dimension label (for which " Breaks lines " is checked).

If the box is not checked ( ), the line is continuous through any labels or dimension labels it crosses.

Defaults: " Breakable " is checked by default, regardless of the choice in setup and regardless of whether or not the bevel symbol is added by the user or generated by auto detailing.

Double sided: or .

If this box is checked ( ), the bevel symbol is drawn on both sides of the bevel line.

If the box is not checked ( ), the symbol is drawn on only one side of the bevel line, so that the "run" is horizontal.

Flip symbol: or .

If this box is checked ( ), the bevel symbol (triangle) flips to the opposite side of the bevel line when you press " OK ." Tip : Another way to flip a bevel symbol is to drag the symbol (the triangle part, not the tail) to the opposite side of the bevel line in Select Items mode.

If the box is not checked ( ), the symbol is drawn on the side of the bevel line that it is usually drawn on.

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Pen color: 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 . No button is pressed if you are editing multiple bevel symbols that are drawn using different pens. The " Bevel pen color " in Drawing Presentation sets the color that is applied during auto detailing of members or submaterials.

The selected button sets the printing pen number (and on-screen display color) of the bevel symbol. Line Weights sets the thickness of each pen number.

For a TrueType font, the " Pen color " affects the display color of the text while you are in the Drawing Editor , but does not affect the plotted appearance of the " Font " so long as all pens in Line Weights are set to print in black. By default, all pens in Line Weights are set to print in black.

For the ' SDS2 ' Font, the pen color sets the stroke weight (thickness) of the " Rise " and " Run " characters. Line Weights assigns a particular thickness to each " Pen color ."

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For when you edit one bevel symbol and multiple bevel symbols are in the drawing :

Bevel _ of __ (not applicable to Add or multi-edit) : The number of the one bevel symbol you are editing and the total count of all bevel symbols in your current drawing. You can use the VCR buttons to select a different bevel symbol and edit it while still on this window. When a bevel symbol on a shown layer is selected, it is displayed in green. The selected bevel symbol must be on a shown layer for it to be shown.

VCR buttons (first-previous-next-last) for selecting a bevel to edit.

Note: If you change to one bevel symbol, then select a different bevel number, the first bevel symbol remains changed even if you press " Cancel " on this window.

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To close this window :

   

"OK" (or the Enter key) closes this window and completes the Bevel Symbol Add or Bevel Symbol Edit or Bevel Symbol Edit (multiple) operation.

Defaults: When you press " OK ," the settings on this window -- except mixed entries , " Angle ," " Rotation ," " Rise " and " Run " -- become the default settings for the next bevel symbol you Add during this session of the Drawing Editor . Even if all you do is double-click a bevel symbol and press " OK " without making any changes on this window, this window's settings become the defaults for the next-added bevel symbol (see " Defaults ").

Note: After making changes to this window and pressing " OK ," you can still undo your changes by using Revert or Undo . If you Save to make your changes permanent, you can no longer Revert , but you can still Undo .

"Cancel" (or the Esc key or the button) closes this window without saving any of the changes you have made. " Cancel " only cancels the changes made to the bevel symbol whose number is currently selected as the " Bevel _ of __ ."

Defaults: The settings on this window do not become the defaults for new bevel symbols if you press " Cancel " to close this window (unless you used " Bevel _ of __ ").

Tip 1: If you used " Bevel _ of __ " to edit more than one bevel symbol, then Undo (after you close this window) does undo all changes made using this window.

Tip 2: If you double-click a bevel symbol just to review it and don't want to set the defaults for to-be-added bevel symbols, the best way to close this window is to press " Cancel. "

"Reset" undoes changes made to the bevel whose number is currently selected as the " Bevel _ of __ ." The window remains open.

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