1. Select a slab property from the list of available slabs.
2. If desired, specify a relative top of slab offset from the nominal top of footing elevation. This allows the mat foundation assignment to specify a relative offset from the top of footing specified for the mat foundation perimeter and is useful for creating mat foundations of more than one depth.
3. If assigning the mat foundation properties to an entire mat foundation perimeter, click the Whole Mat button. The Mat Foundation Assignment Mode dialog box will disappear and the RAM Modeler will enter Mat Foundation Assignment Whole Mat Mode. Click on a mat foundation and the new assignment will be shown as a hatched pattern, .
4. If assigning the mat foundation properties to a portion of a mat foundation, click the Add button. The Mat Foundation Assignment Mode dialog box will disappear and the RAM Modeler will enter Mat Foundation Assignment Layout Mode.
5. While in Mat Foundation Assignment Layout Mode, you can add a mat foundation assignment by defining a polygon (or polygons) that define areas for the mat foundation assignment(s). This is done by clicking the mouse to define each vertex point and moving the mouse to define each line in the polygon. Polygon lines must be entered consecutively, and must define a proper polygon. To define the first polygon line, point the mouse to the beginning coordinate of the line, click the left mouse button, move the mouse button to the ending coordinate of the line, and click the button again. For each subsequent polygon line move the mouse to the next vertex and click again to define the next polygon line. Repeat until the polygon is closed. Beyond the slab edges, the polygon vertices can be placed at any convenient node. As an alternative to clicking on a node, coordinates can be entered directly using the Keyboard Mode Coordinate Entry command. This is convenient when there is no existing node at the location where the mat foundation polygon vertex is to be placed.

When the polygon definition is complete, the new mat foundation assignment will be made inside the defined polygon. It will be displayed with a hatching pattern where it overlaps a mat foundation perimeter.

The Whole Mat command does not delete any previously defined mat foundation assignment polygons. It "covers" them up with a new polygon that takes precedence. Unwanted polygons should first be deleted, not just "covered up", so that processing speed during analysis is not adversely impacted.