OpenBuildings™ Designer Help

Grid Systems Manager

Used to set the shape, size, placement, and appearance of all elements and components contained in a grid system.

Accessed from:


  • Ribbon: Building Design > Structural > Place Structural Elements > Grid
  • Floor Selector > Grid Systems Manager


Grid systems functionality offers a column grids utility in which a building can have multiple grids in transient Grid Systems (orthogonal, radial and Sketch grids) applied to specific floors or ranges of floors. The Grid Systems dialog contains settings for adding, copying and removing grids, inserting grid lines, manipulating grid line spacing, rotating grids, and setting grid line symbology and other preferences. Additionally, you can manage Sketch grids in transient working environment mode and create, manipulate sketch grid lines which do not restrict the traditional definition of either orthogonal or radial grid systems.

In addition to creating grids, the Grid Systems functionality can import grid system information originating in external applications such as RAM Structural System, and reconstitute them inside OpenBuildings Designer. Both the ISM import tools (New from ISM Repository and Update from ISM Repository) can be used for this. Also, new grid systems and changes to existing (imported or natively) grid systems can be exported via ISM export tools (Create ISM Repository and Update ISM Repository).

Grid System Settings toolbar

SettingDescription
Add Used to add new grids to the grid system. The new grids can then be manipulated using the available Grid System Settings.
  • Orthogonal – Creates a new orthogonal grid.
  • Radial – Creates a new radial grid.
  • Sketch (2 Axis) – Creates a new 2 axis sketch grid.
  • Sketch (3 Axis) – Creates a new 3 axis sketch grid.
The new grid is added at the end of the grid systems list, and by default are applied to all floors. Similar Grids added in succession will have incremental number prefix added to its definition, e.g. RadialGrid, followed by RadialGrid1 etc.
Duplicate Used to copy existing grids. The copies appear in the row below the selected grid definition.
Modify Used to modify orthogonal and radial grids orientation using the Move and the Rotate tools, accessed using the Modify > Orientation option. For Sketch grids, grid lines should be created before using the Orientation command.
Remove Used to delete existing grids from the grid system list. Selected grid definitions are removed using the Remove or by pressing <Delete>.
Settings Opens the Grid System Settings dialog where default settings for how Grid Systems are presented, labeled and dimensioned are managed.
Import/Export Used to import from and export to Grid Systems definitions through XML for exchanging grid information with your project team.
  • Import Grid(s) from XML
  • Export All Grids to XML
  • Export Selected Grid to XML
CAUTION: Changes made in the Drawing Settings dialog are global. That is, all changes to grid line settings are applied to the active DGN grid system as well as all other DGN grid systems defined in your workspace project. Several of grid line settings can be overridden however.

Grid System Settings table

Used to manipulate grids. Selecting a grid row activates the settings for that grid.

SettingDescription
Name Used to enter a name for the selected grid. The name entered is the name associated with the graphic cell elements which contain the grid graphics.
Type Displays the iconic illustration of the grid type.
  • — Orthogonal
  • — Radial or Sketch
  • — Sketch (2 Axis)
  • — Sketch (3 Axis)
X Offset Sets the grid’s origin offset in the X direction from the active coordinate system’s origin.


Note: X Offset is disabled by default in favor of using the Grid Systems Orientation controls for offsetting grids. If you prefer offsetting grids from here, you can enable it by selecting X Offset on the column header row's right click menu.
Y Offset Sets the grid’s origin offset in the Y direction from the active coordinate system’s origin.


Note: Y Offset is disabled by default in favor of using the Grid Systems Orientation controls for offsetting grids. If you prefer offsetting grids from here, you can enable it by selecting Y Offset on the column header row's right click menu.
Rotation Sets the grid’s rotation from the active coordinate system origin. Positive values rotate the grid counter clockwise.


Building Assigns selected building to Grid System definition from the list of buildings you defined in the Floor Manager where multiple Building definitions are set.
Start Floor Sets the first floor to which the selected grid is applied. Grids can be applied to a range of floors or to a single floor.
End Floor Sets the last floor to which the selected grid is applied. Grids can be applied to a range of floors or to a single floor.

Grid Lines Settings toolbar

SettingDescription
Add Used to add new grid lines to selected grid definition. New grid lines appear at the end of the grid lines table with next incremental Label in Name.
Add/Modify Appears in place of Add for Sketch grid definitions. Opens the Add/Modify Grid Lines toolbar toolbox that is used to create / manipulate Sketch grids.
Duplicate Used to copy existing grid lines. The copies appear in the row below selected grid line in the table. Disabled for Sketch grid definitions.


Duplicate makes a Copy of selected grid line

Duplicated grid lines inherit properties of the selected grid line. The alert message indicates the grid line at the same location, until you amend the Spacing and/or Distance value.
Remove Used to delete existing grid lines from the grid lines table. Selected grid lines are removed using the Remove or by pressing <Delete>.

Grid Lines Settings table

Used to manipulate grid lines. Selecting a grid line row activates the settings for that grid line.

SettingDescription
Horizontal (U) | Vertical (V) tabs Enabled when orthographic grids are selected from the Grid Line Settings table.


Rectangular grid tabs - U and V Axes

Circular Grids | Radial Grids tabs Enabled when radial grids are selected from the Grid Line Settings table.


Radial grid tabs - U and V Axes

Axis 1 (U) | Axis 2 (V) | Axis 3 (W) tabs Enabled when Sketch grids are selected from the Grid Line Settings table.


Axis 3 (W) tab appears for Sketch (3 Axis) Grids

Name Used to enter the grid line label for the selected grid line. Follows the default Grid Labels scheme set in the Grid System Settings dialog.
Spacing Enabled on the Horizontal(U), Vertical(V) and Circular Grids tabs. Displays and sets the distance or angle between the selected grid line and the preceding grid line on the grid lines table. Accumulated distances or angles (measured from the grid origin) are calculated and displayed in the adjacent Distance column.


Distance Enabled on the Horizontal(U)/Vertical(V) tabs. Displays and sets the distance between the selected grid line and the grid origin. Values entered here override the Spacing value for the selected grid line only.


Radius Enabled on the Circular Grids tab only.
Angle Increment Enabled on the Radial Grids tab only. Sets the angle incremental value from previous grid line.
Angle (degrees) Enabled on the Radial Grids tab only. Displays and sets the angle between the selected grid line and the grid origin axis. Values entered here override the Spacing value for the selected grid line only. Positive values rotate grid lines counter clockwise.


Min Extents Select the intersecting grid line to determine the smallest extent for the grid line being changed. The value is set by selecting an option from the options available in the drop-down.
Max Extents Select the intersecting grid line to determine the maximum permissible extent for the grid line being changed. The value is set by selecting an option from the options available in the drop-down.

The options under Min Extents are always smaller than the options in Max Extents. When set the option put in the step value of the uniformly spaced grids. In both Extents settings the line and the label are moved.

Label Override Used to override the label position set in the Grid System Settings dialog. Select from one of the available options on the drop-down list.
  • None – No label override is applied.
  • Top – Applies the label to the top label position only regardless of the settings defined in the Grid System Settings dialog.
  • Bottom – Applies the label to the bottom label position only regardless of the settings defined in the Grid System Settings dialog.
  • Both – Applies the label to the both label position regardless of the settings defined in the Grid System Settings dialog.
  • Default – Applies the settings defined in the Grid System Settings dialog which can be any combination of the label positions highlighted above.
In the case of Sketch grids, the Label Override options are:
  • None – No label override is applied.
  • Start Label – Applies the labels to at the Start of the sketched segment.
  • End Label – Applies the labels to at the Start of the sketched segment.
  • Both – Applies the labels to at the Start and the End position of the sketched segment.
Minor Indicates the type of grid line the selected grid line is. Check to set it to Minor. Unchecked grid lines indicate default Major.

The primary grid line in a grid usually uniformly spaced relative to other grid lines. A secondary grid line within a grid used for locating columns which are exceptions to an otherwise uniform, regular grid layout or pattern are set as Minor.

Previews, Create Grids/Models

Used to preview the grid systems graphics.

SettingDescription
Preview The option list displays Building Name > Floor(s). Selects a floor for which to display its defined grids.
  • Preview Panel — Displays the grids defined for the selected floor. Grid lines, grid bubbles and labels are displayed. Selected grids are displayed in red. Deselected grids are displayed in green.
Tip: Use Floor Manager to define and manipulate floor definitions.
Grid Preview Used to preview the grid line graphics. Displays the selected grid system, including grid lines, grid bubbles and labels. Selected grid lines are displayed in red. Deselected grid lines are displayed in green.
OK Used to save all changes. Closes the dialog.
Cancel Used to delete all changes. Opens a warning dialog: "Changes to the Grid Systems(s) have not been saved. Do you want to save before proceeding?"
Create/Update Grid Models Used to create and update the DGN models containing the grid systems. A DGN model is created for each floor. On it, the grids defined for that floor are included.Also saves the changes made to the grid systems.
Note: When grid system models are created, the file specified by the configuration variable MS_DESIGNMODELSEED is used as the seed file. The model specified by configuration variable MS_DESIGNMODELSEEDNAME is used as the seed model. If these configurations can not be resolved (do not exist), the active model is used as the seed model for the grid system models. If the MS_DESIGNMODELSEED /MS_DESIGNMODELSEEDNAME configured design seed model is used (not the active model) the contents of the seed model are copied. This includes existing elements, ACS definitions, reference attachments, etc.
Key-in: COLUMNGRID SYSTEM
Tip: To ensure grid systems stability, it is recommended that you save your grid systems changes before exiting OpenBuildings Designer or opening a different DGN file. If this scenario is encountered, a warning dialog is provided to save or discard changes if you try to open a different DGN while the Grid Systems dialog is open.