Create Assembly + Mstn Parametric Solids Roadmap?

Playing around with U8, I discovered that the new Create Assembly tool does not recognise Parametric Solids.

But, if you include two OBD elements with the PS elements, the CA tool will generate the Assembly.

I think most users would welcome compatibility with Parametric Solids and Cells. It would be good to roadmap this in with the Mstn platform team? At the moment, the Parametric Cell / Functional Component workflow is very restrictive and really only appropriate for a small number of use cases. This results in users having to drop the Cell once inserted... which is what Assemblies are already geared up to do.

Using the toilet block example presented at the January Assemblies SIG, the cubicle partitions, sanitary fittings would be Parametric Cells. So if you wanted to mod the partition thickness for example, you would edit the Parametric Cell's input parameters as currently designed. But the positioning of the grabrails or WC pan relative to each other or to the planning outline (yellow dashed shape on floor) or the partition walls, for example, would very likely need to be tweaked at some point.

You may even want to add a Constraint where required. Adding the Constraint as part of the Parametric Cell creation process is cumbersome as this would require the Constraint to be declared as an input parameter. Otherwise the Constraint will not be available for modification after the P-Cell is placed.

This kind of 'add on on an ad hoc basis' flexibility will be key to keeping Parametric Cells from becoming bloated 'all-in-one' super Cells where the author tries in anticipate all possible variations upfront.

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  • Hi Dominic,

    I don't think this is a Parametric Solids thing - choosing a primitive solid, surface, form, etc., all display the same behavior.  Not until you include at least one "native" OBD element in the selection set does the Create Assembly icon display.  Granted, you always need more than one element to create an Assembly, but yes, it appears at least one of those needs to be an OBD component.  

    At the moment I believe the Assembly Builder and Placement tools will remain unique to OBD and not moving to the Platform level.   However, if you think it's something worth considering please do file a Service Request with the relevant details.  



  • Thanks for pointing that out, Steve.

    I think that the ability to add any Mstn element to Assemblies is very welcome.

    But, it would be good to:

    1. Not need to have to include at least two OBD elements to Create an Assembly. Or any OBD elements at all. This minimum is not aligned with Mstn behaviour which allows a single element to be defined as a Cell. Why two? This is Ctrl-G Orphan Cell behaviour.

    2. Incorporate Constraints. Any Constraints applied to the Mstn elements seem to be stripped out when the Assembly is placed. Apparently, this is a 'voluntary' decision by the Mstn team. Item Types seem to make it through OK which is good.

    3. Placement Point: there should be an option to use the Global Origin 0,0,0 or the active Floor / ACS 0,0,0. I can see this being a big help when adding Assemblies across floors and separate files. Also corrects one of Mstn's Copy + Paste longstanding problems Stuck out tongue winking eye

    4. Placement Point: there should be an option to preserve the PP post-insertion... If PPs are included using the Mstn Parametric Components>Placement Points tool they are preserved. This should align better and avoid UX noise.

    5. Bug with arrayed Parametric Solids. When the Assembly is placed, the array seems to be moved closer to the Placement Point or 0,0,0?

    6. The folder where the Assemblies are stored should be accessible from the Place / Create Assembly dialog. Confusingly, the Assemblies are supposed stored here: C:\ProgramData\Bentley\OpenBuildings CONNECT Edition\Configuration\WorkSpaces\Building_Examples\worksets\BuildingTemplate_UK\Standards\Cell\Backup_Assembly... when Workset level is select. But when you open the .cel file it looks empty.

    7. ??

Reply
  • Thanks for pointing that out, Steve.

    I think that the ability to add any Mstn element to Assemblies is very welcome.

    But, it would be good to:

    1. Not need to have to include at least two OBD elements to Create an Assembly. Or any OBD elements at all. This minimum is not aligned with Mstn behaviour which allows a single element to be defined as a Cell. Why two? This is Ctrl-G Orphan Cell behaviour.

    2. Incorporate Constraints. Any Constraints applied to the Mstn elements seem to be stripped out when the Assembly is placed. Apparently, this is a 'voluntary' decision by the Mstn team. Item Types seem to make it through OK which is good.

    3. Placement Point: there should be an option to use the Global Origin 0,0,0 or the active Floor / ACS 0,0,0. I can see this being a big help when adding Assemblies across floors and separate files. Also corrects one of Mstn's Copy + Paste longstanding problems Stuck out tongue winking eye

    4. Placement Point: there should be an option to preserve the PP post-insertion... If PPs are included using the Mstn Parametric Components>Placement Points tool they are preserved. This should align better and avoid UX noise.

    5. Bug with arrayed Parametric Solids. When the Assembly is placed, the array seems to be moved closer to the Placement Point or 0,0,0?

    6. The folder where the Assemblies are stored should be accessible from the Place / Create Assembly dialog. Confusingly, the Assemblies are supposed stored here: C:\ProgramData\Bentley\OpenBuildings CONNECT Edition\Configuration\WorkSpaces\Building_Examples\worksets\BuildingTemplate_UK\Standards\Cell\Backup_Assembly... when Workset level is select. But when you open the .cel file it looks empty.

    7. ??

Children
  • I note there is small enhancement to allow the user to change the Placement Point for Assemblies.

    I hope that this is only an interim solution. Placement Points for Assemblies should leverage the same Placement Point tech at platform level.

    Having to manually change the PP everytime is for the birds. The PPs should be predefined like Mstn 16.1.

    Manual (re)definition everytime is super error prone as the user will mis-snap and you get all kinds of problems and unwanted variations. Worse, it takes time and fatigue to zoom in etc to place the PP properly... slowing everything down and making your wrist hurt even more!

    It would be good to correct and build on Mstn 16.1 in Update 10?