We typically design using several different fluid types such as hot water, warm water, cold water, ice waters, steam, condensate, etc.. The insulation used differs in both thickness and material according the media and the size of the pipe. For example, warm water may have Pardoc as the insulation material with a thickness of 55mm for a DN80 pipe or 60mm for a DN100 pipe, while cold water may have Kaiplex as insulation material with a thickness of 19 mm for a DN80 pipe or 25mm for a DN100 pipe.
While we've been able to create custom manufacturers catalogs for the required fluid type that sets the pipe diameter as well as insulation material and thickness, we cannot seem to get the assignment for the Insulation/Lining Part Name property to work. We have modified the matching catalog XML mapping file for our manufacturers MDB database file, but the typical lines that we use for other attributes do not work for setting the Part. <Property definition="InsulationSymbology" name="InsulationSymbology/@PartName" value="PartName" dbname="InsulationPart"/>
The InsulationSymbology.xsd and Properties.xsd DataGroup definition files are implemented as shared schemas among multiple component types. Unfortunately this prevents the properties they contain from using default values on a per-component basis, which is why you cannot set pre-defined values for properties such as Insulation/Lining Part Name.
In current versions of AECOsim Bulding Designer, the best alternatives are to either pre-populate an MRU list or link to an MDB database via a UDL:
Both of these method will require that you select the desired insulation property values during placement, but they would at least provide a list you can choose from rather than having to manually type in the values.
Defect# 245006 was filed to address the way insulation properties are currently handled on a shared component basis, which is tentatively schedule to be resolved in a future release of AECOsim Building Designer.
http://communities.bentley.com/products/building/building_analysis___design/w/building_analysis_and_design__wiki/10910.creating-a-custom-manufacturer-s-catalog-for-plumbing-components