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

Accessed from:

• Ribbon: Steel > Home > Elements > Column Grids
• Ribbon: Concrete > Home > Elements > Column Grids

Grid systems functionality offers a column grids utility in which a building can have multiple grids. 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.

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 ProStructures. 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

Grid System Settings table

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

Setting	Description
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
X Offset	Sets the grid’s origin offset in the X direction from the active coordinate system’s origin.
Y Offset	Sets the grid’s origin offset in the Y direction from the active coordinate system’s origin.
Rotation	Sets the grid’s rotation from the active coordinate system origin. Positive values rotate the grid counter clockwise.

Grid Lines Settings toolbar

Setting	Description
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.
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.

Setting	Description
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
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.
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. 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.