Detail Member Groups

Tool summary :

Automatically details one or more group members that you select from a list.
The list, shown on the selection dialog , includes all group members in your current Job. Group members are created from other members by grouping together those other members using Add Member Group . After selecting a member, you can press the " Settings " button on that dialog to open a window ( Group Member Annotations & Dimensioning ) that controls automatic detailing.
Detail Member Groups creates a single group member detail for each group member that you select. You might, for example, group members together ( Add Member Group ) then use Detail Member Groups to detail a truss.

Also see :

Annotation and Dimensioning Defaults, Group Members (Fabricator Setup)
Group Member Annotations & Dimensioning (opens when you press " Settings " during Detail Member Groups )

page 1 | contents | process > | group member | auto detailing

Step-by-step instructions:

1 . Before detailing:

Use Add Member Group to group members together. Be aware that when you select the " Main member ," the box for " Main view locked to main member " is checked, which means that this member is also the "MAIN VIEW" of the group member.
Use Isolate Group Member to isolate the member group and add views that you want to include on the detail.
Double-click the group member to open the Group Member Edit window. Most options on that window apply when you Detail Member Groups .
Warning: If you have added annotations to an already detailed member group, your annotations will be lost if you detail that group again. An exception to this is views that are added in the Drawing Editor -- they will be retained, but they may be moved to a different location on the detail.

2 . Invoke Detail Member Groups as follows:

Method 1 : At Home , choose Utilities > Process/Detail > Detail Member Groups.

Method 2, 3 & 4 : In Modeling or the Drawing Editor , choose Process > Detail Member Groups (classic) or click the icon, or use a keyboard shortcut . For Ribbon Editor or Keyboard Shortcut Editor in the lightning interface, the Detail Member Groups icon or keyboard shortcut can be found in the ' Process ' command group.

3 . A selection dialog opens. On it is a selection list of all member groups that are in the 3D model. Each member group is identified by its group member piecemark .

GM_101

GM_102

GM_103

Optional: Press the " Settings " button to open the Group Member Annotations and Dimensioning window, which has settings that are saved with the selected drawing(s).

(optional) : Select one or more group members, then press the " Settings " button to open the Group Member Annotations and Dimensioning window for that/those members. Unless you are detailing for the first time, the window will show the settings that you saved when you last opened the window. If you are detailing for the first time, the window will be populated with the Detailing Defaults (Fabricator Setup). Changes you make to the Group Member Annotations and Dimensioning window will be saved when you press " OK " to close the window. Example : You save settings for one group of submaterials and different settings for a different group. When you select both groups of submaterials in Alternative 2, the two groups are detailed differently, based on the different settings that you specified for each group.

Alternative 1 : If you want to detail only one group member, double-click the group member piecemark of that member. Go to step 4 (if applicable) or to step 5.

Alternative 2 : You may, at this point, select or deselect group members that you want to be auto detailed. With one or more group members selected, press the " OK " button at the bottom of the selection dialog. Go to step 4 (if applicable) or to step 5.

Alternative 3 : Press the " Cancel " button to end the Detail Member Groups operation. Do not continue. Be aware, however, that " Cancel " does not cancel a change of " Settings ." Any changes you made to Group Member Annotations and Dimensioning have have already been saved and will be retained.

4 . (if applicable) : If User and Site Options > Drawings > " Always show Annotations and Dimensioning window " is turned on (checked), the Group Member Annotations and Dimensioning window opens, allowing you to review or edit the settings that will be applied to the group members you selected for detailing. Mixed entries to this window are designated in the usual manner. Press the " OK " button to save changes and continue.

5 . A progress bar illustrates the progress of the automatic detailing as it takes place.

5a : When the progress bar reaches 100%, the progress bar window will close automatically if the box is checked ( ) for " Close when done ." If the window does not close automatically, you can close it by checking that same box or by pressing the " OK " button.

6 . Details of the member groups whose piecemarks you selected in step 3 are now a part of your current Job. Please note the following:

Details of member groups are member details. To Open a detail of a member group in the Drawing Editor , you need to select ' Details ' as the file type. The piecemark that identifies the member group detail will then be displayed in the selection list .
Details of the submembers of member groups are not generated when you Detail Member Groups . To detail these submembers, you need to check the box for " Sub-Members " ( ) when you Detail Members .
To Open a detail of a submember that is in a member group, you need to select ' Details ' as the file type and check ( ) the box for " Sub-Members ."
You can use Section View in the Drawing Editor to create new views of the member group. Views created in this way are added to the list of views in member isolation . If you detail that member group again, the views will be remembered, but they may not be placed at the same location.
Group member details can be placed onto detail sheets.
If a group member detail is large, you may want to add it (using Sheet Item Add ) to more than one sheet. The viewport of the sheet items can then be resized or reshaped so that half the group member detail is shown on the one sheet and the other half is shown on the other sheet.
If, after detailing a member group, you later use Change Marks or Rename Project Items to change the piecemarks of submembers of that group member, each piecemarks you change is automatically updated on the group member detail, thus making it unnecessary for you to re-detail that member group again. The group member detail will, however, need to be printed again.