Creating a new element plan

Tools: Layout Catalog

To create a new entry in the layout catalog, you must generate an element plan and assign an element type to this element plan. Then add a sheet to this element plan. You can simply drag the views and sections, table, legend and title block to this sheet in the overview window. Finally, define anchors to position the elements exactly.

If you want to add a sheet to an existing element plan or a layout element to an existing sheet, select the relevant element plan or sheet in the tree structure and proceed as described.
You can also copy existing layout elements.

To create a new element plan

1. Click Element Plan on the toolbar at the top.

   The program adds a new entry to the end of the tree structure. This entry is initially marked as incorrect. The program does not automatically assign an element type to the new entry. Consequently, the Element types tab opens in the Properties palette on the right side.

   

   Incorrect definitions of layout elements are indicated by the error icon in the tree structure. Pointing to an incorrect layout element in the tree structure displays a ToolTip with a short description of the error(s).

   To get an overview of all the errors in the active element plan, click Error List on the toolbar at the top. The program displays a separate window that lists all incorrect layout elements in a tree structure, providing detailed information on the individual errors.

   You can also open the Error list when you quit the layout catalog and a message appears announcing that there are errors.

2. Assign at least one element type from the Precast slab, Precast wall, Precast element or Structural precast elements group to the new entry. You cannot assign different precast element types (for example, wall and slab) to the same entry.

   Depending on the selection, the element plan is given the icon of the corresponding element.

3. Define the other parameters of the element plan in the individual tabs.
4. Click Sheet on the toolbar at the top.

   The program adds a new entry to the current element plan and displays the sheet in the overview window.

5. Go to the Properties palette on the right side, enter the Name and define the border size, border definition and scale.
6. Click Label style on the toolbar at the top, drag the rectangle serving as a placeholder to the sheet in the overview window and click to place this rectangle.

   Label styles are always aligned horizontally.

   In order to provide a better overview, the selected element is centered and written in the rectangle used as a placeholder in the following sequence: File no./Entry no. (Select path). For very small placeholders, the text will be in short form, with the path selection order: file-no./entry-no.. S, O and P stand here for Standard, Office and Project.

7. Go to the Properties palette on the right side and enter a Name for the label style. In addition, decide whether the label style can overlap other layout elements and select the label style for the title block or for the heading of a view.
   

   You can select layout elements like the label style and legend by specifying the path, file number and number of the entry. If this area is closed, the selected setting is displayed here.

   Select path:

   Specifies the path for the label style or legend. You can choose between Default and Office.

   File no. / Entry no.:

   Specifies the numbers of the file and entry of the title block or the heading of a view created as a label style at a scale of 1:1 in Allplan, or specifies the numbers of the file and entry of the legend created in Allplan.

   Note: If the element plan displays individual wall layers only, you can control the contents of the label style or legend using the Layer number of precast element attribute in the Precast elements category.

8. Click Table on the toolbar at the top, drag the rectangle serving as a placeholder to the sheet in the overview window and click to place this rectangle.

   Tables are always aligned horizontally. All elements in the precast element are listed, regardless of the layer status.

9. Define the parameters of the table on the tabs the Properties palette on the right side.
10. Click Legend on the toolbar at the top, drag the rectangle serving as a placeholder to the sheet in the overview window and click to place this rectangle.

    Legends are always aligned horizontally. All elements in the precast element are listed, regardless of the layer status.

    In order to provide a better overview, the selected element is centered and written in the rectangle used as a placeholder in the following sequence: File no./Entry no. (Select path). For very small placeholders, the text will be in short form, with the path selection order: file-no./entry-no.. S, O and P stand here for Standard, Office and Project.

11. Go to the Properties palette on the right side, enter a name, select the legend and define the maximum height and width of the legend.
    

    You can specify the maximum height and width of the legend in [mm]. This defined area is reserved for the legend when the element plan is created. If the legend requires less space, the remaining space is empty.

    If, for example, you add reinforcement later, the legend is enlarged up to the maximum size. If the legend exceeds the space reserved, the legend is resized (font size is reduced) and, if necessary, divided into several columns.

    Note that you cannot use the same legends as in the placing drawing as the element plan uses the local mark numbers for reinforcing bars and meshes. If necessary, modify the existing legends. Instead of the Number of meshes/bars, Weight of meshes/bars and Mark number of meshes/bars attributes of the Engineering area, use the Number of meshes/bars in element plan, Weight of meshes/bars in element plan and Mark number of meshes/bars in element plan attributes of the Precast concrete elements area. Do not use the Sum up option when you create the legend!

    Tip: You can use the Legend layout element to create a reinforcement schedule consisting of a single sheet. Define a separate sheet and specify the maximum height and width by entering the size of the sheet.

12. Click View - parallel projection, View - isometric view or Section on the toolbar at the top, drag the rectangle serving as a placeholder to the sheet in the overview window and click to place this rectangle.
13. Define the parameters for the views and sections on the tabs in the Properties palette on the right side.

    In order to provide a better overview for sections, the defined Start of section and the Section depth are now written directly in the individual placeholder. The corresponding text is removed for very small cells.

14. Click Associative view - parallel projection on the toolbar at the top, drag the rectangle serving as a placeholder to the sheet in the overview window and click to place this rectangle.
15. Define the parameters of the reinforcement view on the tabs in the Properties palette on the right side.
16. Click Anchor on the toolbar at the top to position the layout elements relative to the edge of the sheet or relative to each other.

    You can specify different distances between the views and sections and, if you want, between the table, legend, title block and the views and sections too. For the views and sections, you can use the enclosing min-max-box of the outline including all dimension lines created automatically (outer border; represented by a continuous line) or the enclosing min-max-box of the outline without dimension lines (inner border; represented by a dashed line).

17. Point to a corner or to the middle of an edge of the sheet or of a layout element.

    A small rectangle appears there.

18. Drag an anchor to a corner or the middle of a different edge until this corner or edge is also marked. Then release the mouse button again.

    Note: A sheet can contain only one element that is not anchored. All the other elements must be anchored to the sheet or to each other. When you anchor views and sections to each other and select the Align component option, only one anchor can point to the element that is aligned to the other element. However, several anchors can originate in any layout element.

19. Specify the X displacement or Y displacement in the palette in the Properties area on the right side. The program automatically proposes a value of 10 mm, which you can change. This value defines the actual displacement for output, regardless of the reference scale.
20. Select the Align component option for anchors between views and sections. When it is active, the aligned rectangle assumes the dimensions of the initial rectangle in the direction of the alignment. Furthermore, the viewing directions you can define for the aligned rectangle are reduced to appropriate ones. A rotation is no longer possible.
    You cannot use the Align component option in conjunction with isometric views.
21. You can adjust the rectangles to the actual dimensions used in the element plan later.
    

    When you move the mouse to an edge or corner of a rectangle displayed, the cursor changes and you can change the dimensions of the relevant rectangle by pressing and holding down the left mouse button while dragging. This way, you can adjust the dimensions of the rectangles so that they roughly match those of the actual elements placed in the element plan later.

22. You can use Save current layout to a single file to save the element plan to any folder. To retrieve the element plan saved, click Import layout from a single file.