This Client Server article is republished in its entirety from 2003 for reference purposes. It was written for PlantSpace Design Series V8.1 and may not apply to any other version. By Bentley Technical Support Group, Technical Support Analyst, Building and Plant Products, Bentley Corporate Office 22 August 2003
This Client Server article is republished in its entirety from 2003 for reference purposes. It was written for PlantSpace Design Series V8.1 and may not apply to any other version.
By Bentley Technical Support Group, Technical Support Analyst, Building and Plant Products, Bentley Corporate Office 22 August 2003
One of the many new features in PlantSpace Design Series v8.1 is the ability to model valves without operators. In previous versions of PlantSpace Design Series this enhancement would have required that several additional database tables be created and added to the project database. In the newest version, there are two simple steps required to enable the placement of valves without operators:
1) Edit the vlv_no_oper_data.dat data file
2) Load the data file to update the project database
The following example is based on the tutorial project "psdstut," utilizing the delivered pltspace.mdb database and psdesign.s71 specification file. To open this project as shown, you must choose to install the tutorial project during installation of PlantSpace Design Series, and you must have set the units to imperial.
Figure 1: The MicroStation Manager Dialog showing ps_pipe.dgn as the selected design file, and psdstut as the selected project. First, open the project by clicking Start >Programs > PlantSpace Design Series V8> Tutorial > Design Series Modeling. In the MicroStation Manager dialog, set the project to psdstut, select the design file ps_pipe.dgn and click OK (See Figure 1).
As seen in the following demonstration, if a guideline for valve operators is not included in a project specification file, a valve cannot be modeled in Specification Placement mode. Using Specification Placement mode, try to place a valve with the following attributes:
Spec CS150
Standard ANSI
Size 1 4.00000
Type GATE
End Preparation 1 FLANGED
The operator type defaults to either the last selected type or the first type in the operator table in the database. As seen in Figure 2, the operator type is shown in red text. A red entry in the label indicates that the queried database table is not populated with any data relevant to that attribute. When this situation occurs, the OK button will be inactive and you will not be able to place the component. This is consistent behavior with previous versions of PlantSpace Design Series.
Figure 2: The Place Component dialog shows that Placement mode is set to Specifications. The Pipe tool bar shows the location of the Place Valve tool. The Place Valve label shows the Operator attribute "Handwheel" in red text. Figure 3: Contents of the vlv_no_oper_data.dat data file. Because the delivered v8.1 CS150 project specification file lacks a valve operator's guideline for gate valves with a flanged end preparation, no data exists in specification table for the Operator attribute. Therefore the Operator attribute value displays in red text, the OK button remains gray, and you will not be able to model this valve.
In PlantSpace Design Series v8.1, however, the Operator attribute can be eliminated from the label altogether, which will then allow the valve to be modeled. To do this, first locate the data file vlv_no_oper_data.dat, located by default in :\Program Files\Bentley\Home\psdstut\project\dbload\data\pipe\. Open the data file with a text editor such as Notepad (See Figure 3).
Notice the line that reads "Uncomment the following section to allow the following valve types to be placed with no operators as required." This means you can uncomment any or all of the listed valve types to allow them to be placed without an operator.
The characters /* in this file indicate the start of a comment and */ indicate the end of a comment. Any text between these is commented. Uncomment can be accomplished by simply cutting and pasting the valve type text as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: The line for Gate valves has been uncommented by cutting and pasting the text.
Figure 5: The Database Setup and Select Data File dialogs. Figure 6: The Place - Valve label after loading the modified data file vlv_no_oper_data.dat to the database. After editing the file save the changes and exit. Next, open the Database Setup tool by clicking Start > Programs > PlantSpace Design Series V8 >Tutorial >Database Setup. In the Database Setup dialog click the Data File button and then browse for the file vlv_no_oper_data.dat. Select the file and then click OK to load the modified data to the project database (Figure 5).
Figure 5: The Database Setup and Select Data File dialogs.
Figure 6: The Place - Valve label after loading the modified data file vlv_no_oper_data.dat to the database. After editing the file save the changes and exit. Next, open the Database Setup tool by clicking Start > Programs > PlantSpace Design Series V8 >Tutorial >Database Setup. In the Database Setup dialog click the Data File button and then browse for the file vlv_no_oper_data.dat. Select the file and then click OK to load the modified data to the project database (Figure 5).
Return to PlantSpace Design Series and again place the same flanged gate valve. Notice that the Operator attribute no longer appears in the label and the OK button is active, thus allowing the flanged gate valve to be modeled without an operator in Specification Placement mode (Figure 6).
After the No Operator feature has been enabled in your project per the above, modeling in Specification Placement mode can produce one of two results. If no guidelines have been defined for valve operator types in the project specification file, the Operator attribute will not be displayed as shown in Figure 6. If any guidelines for valve operator types have been defined in the project specification file, "no operator" will appear in the operator selection list along with those other types that are defined in the specification. To see an example, model a valve with the following attributes:
End Preparation 1 BUTT WELD
Figure 7: The Place - Valve label showing the list of operator types.
Figure 8: The Specification Maker program displaying the criteria of the guideline GL5: CS150 Valves Operators in the Component Type Valves operators - Spec'd Valves" in the "CS150" Specification in the psdesign.s71 specification file. Notice that for this valve, which has a BUTT WELD end preparation, the Operator attribute appears in the label and the list of operator valve types includes both "hand wheel" and "no operator" (See Figure 7).
For this type of valve, both types now appear in the list because guideline 5 (GL5) in the Valves Operators - Spec'd Valves component for CS150 (in the delivered psdesign.s71 specification file) specifies Handwheel as the Operator type for ANSI Standard GATE Type valves that have BUTT WELD End Preparation. Notice in Figure 8 that there is no guideline that specifies Handwheel as the operator type for ANSI Standard, GATE Type valves that have FLANGED End Preparation.
This article reveals how to easily take advantage of some of the new flexibility in PlantSpace Design Series v8.1. Modification of the vlv_no_oper_data.dat data file, along with new enhancements to Specification Maker allows PlantSpace Design Series v8.1 to be quickly and easily configured to suit the needs of your projects. Modeling valves without operators has never been easier.
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