Standard Preferences

The Standard Preferences is a dockable control which displays preferences for either Piping, Equipment, CableTray, HVAC or Support components (whichever taskbar is currently active). Two different preference types for available. Plant Associated Items are listed at the top while Component preferences are listed underneath.

Accessed from:

The Tools ribbon group

Note: The Tools group is a set of tools common to the Piping, HVAC and Raceways disciplines.

The title bar of the Standard Preferences control displays the type of Plant/Component preferences listed as shown below:

Note: The settings defined in the Standard Preferences dialog are saved on a project level and not a .dgn level. So if you define certain settings for a Pipeline Trayline or HVAC system such as spec, size etc., these settings are saved to the project for that line. So when you open a new drawing and select an existing Pipeline/Trayline/HVAC system from the list, the settings for that pipeline will display in the dialog.

Setting	Description
Use Spec Defaults	When a component is selected for placement, OpenPlant searches the spec for the requested component record. If more than one match is found, the Spec Record Selection dialog is displayed with a list of components of the same size and type, but of different end conditions, schedules, ratings, etc. When the Use Spec Defaults option is enabled, OpenPlant automatically places the component marked as the default in the specification without displaying the Spec Record Selection dialog. To mark a component as the default selection, Open the OpenPlant Specification Generator application and place a 1 in the Option Code field of the default component's specification record.
Reload Specs	This option will reload the specs folder during the modeling session. So in case the spec has been modified in any way, you are able to reload the spec to include any changes.
Filter Spec On/Off	When on, the component gallery will only show items that are in a specification.
Use Auto Branch Table	When enabled, whenever there is a branching connection in OpenPlant Modeler , the branching component defined in the Branch Table for the specific run and branch size will be placed. The Branch table is populated using the Branch Editor in the OpenPlant Specification Generator included with the OpenPlant Project Administrator install.
Use Auto Elbow Table	When enabled, whenever there is a bend connection in Modeler, the Bend component defined in the Auto Elbow Table for the specific run and branch size will be placed. The AUTO_BEND table is populated using the Auto Elbow editor in the OpenPlant Specification Generator included with the OpenPlant Project Administrator install.
Use Auto Flange Table	When enabled, whenever there is a flange connection in Modeler, the Flange component defined in the Auto Flange Table for the specific run and branch size will be placed. The AUTO_FLANGE table is populated using the Auto Flange editor in the OpenPlant Specification Generator included with the OpenPlant Project Administrator install.
Show Spec Grid	This option is only used when multiple components are defined for a branch size in the Branch Table. In this case the Spec Record Selection dialog displays allowing you to select which branch component to place.
Auto Match	Enable this option when connecting components to existing components in the drawing. This option is similar to the Match Properties option described above, except it will automatically match the properties at you a select an existing component in the drawing to connect to. When you select a component to connect to, the Spec Record Selection dialog will display if there is more than one record in the spec that matches the size and type of the existing component. Select the correct record from the dialog to continue with the placement.
Allow MRULookup	When enabled, this option (Most Recently Used Lookup), will preserve recently used/updated settings in the Standard Preferences, Place Component or other dialogs where the user may change these settings. Note: The option is only applicable for HVAC components at this time. When you place a component, the values in the Place Component dialog will be populated according to the Standard Preferences. When placing a component in non-spec mode, and this option is enabled, then the last placed value will be used.
Import Tag Instances	Lets you import pre-defined Tag Instances from an external file into the current drawing. The following file formats are supported: Excel - .xls, xlsx Access - .mdb, .accdb SQLite - *.db Displays the Import Instances dialog where you can view/select which tag instances to import.
Plant Associated Items	Organized in the upper part of the control. These are relationship preferences (e.g., Pipeline, System, Unit). These preferences are used throughout the application to provide quick component selection for updates, reporting, etc. By default, only the Pipeline preference is listed as a default. Select a value from the drop down list, or you can select New from the list to display the Create Pipeline dialog to define a new pipeline value.
Component Preferences	Organized in the lower section of the control. These are the most common component preferences that define the default values for components to be placed. The following preferences are available: Specification: Select a specification from the drop down list or you can choose the Select Source option which displays the Select Spec Source dialog allowing you to define a new set of specifications to be used. Note: The Specification drop down list is populated from the selected spec source. If you choose to use Bentley AutoPLANT Plant Design Specs for your project, then the specification list will reflect the options in that spec. Note: There is an attribute you can define which allows you to filter the specifications list in relation to the Service defined for the selected pipeline. Click Here for detailed information on how to define this attribute. Nominal Diameter: Sets the default diameter for components placed from the Piping taskbar. Component State: Choose from either Design, For Demolition, or On Hold. Insulation Thickness: Sets the default insulation thickness for Piping components. Enter a value of 0 if no insulation is to be used. Insulation Material: Make a selection from the drop down list if insulation is to be used. Component State: Select either Design, For Demolition or On Hold as the component state. Note: Certain component properties, such as Specification and Nominal Diameter are used to help refine the spec query when you select a piping component to place in the model and can only be edited in this dialog. In the properties pane of the placement dialog, they will display as Read Only. The other properties are common to all components and do not change often. Thus if you define a standard in this dialog, it will apply to all components placed. However, they can still be edited in the placement dialog if desired.

Key-in: STANDARDPREFERENCES SHOWDIALOG