Applies To
	Product(s):	AutoPIPE
	Version(s):	V8i and higher
	Area:	Import
	Original Author:	Bentley Technical Support Group
	Date Logged & Current Version	June 2015 09.06.02.06

Problem:

After importing a model the pipe wall thickness values were found to be very large compared to the pipe size:

why does this occur and how to avoid it?

Solution:

Let us look at the *.MSG file message that was displayed during the import:

As can be seen in the *.MSG file the  following warning was displayed multiple times:

*** Warning: Extremely Large Thickness May Cause Error

Open the actual *. PCF file that was imported in NotePad, and search for "PIPE":

Note the Call out description = "Item-Code 2"

Now perform a new search in the file for "Item-Code 2", (typically located near the bottom of the file):

Open program Help /  manual:

See section on Mappings - Attributes, note that the wall thickness information in a PCF file format would be located in COMPONENT ATTRIBUTE 4. 

Look back in the actual PCF file for information mapped in COMPONENT ATTRIBUTE 4 = 600-NPA-0300

Therefore, what ever application created this has used Component Attribute 4 for another purpose than what the PCF translator has been set up to handle, The PCF translator will try to read this attribute information as a wall thickness (ex. wall thickness = 600). 

Workaround:

Update program creating the PCF file to correctly export the wall thickness to Component Attribute 4 or manually update the PCF file Attribute 4 data as needed. 

The following enhancement has been logged :

Enhancement 224511 / 590524: PCF Translator: Fetch Pipe wall thickness from Item Code > Description

Update:

PCF translator 1.00.0072 has been updated to read in a wall thickness from the description.  PCF Translator first read all the important data from COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTES like wall thickness from COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 , if COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 is not available then it will read from the component's ITEM-DESCRIPTION, and if that is not available, it will finally read the Material Item-Code description typically located at the bottom of the file. However, once the information has been found then the PCF Translator will not continue searching for a wall thickness in the other locations.

Another point, description wall thickness values must be in a specific format, WT xxx (ex. WT 12.7) or S/xx (S/10) and assumes the same unit system for Wall Thickness as specified for UNITS-CO-ORDS in the PCF file.

Questions and Answers

Given the following PCF information below, answer the Scenario questions. 

PCF Example A

PCF Example B

ISOGEN-FILES         ISOGEN.FLS UNITS-BORE           INCH UNITS-CO-ORDS         MM UNITS-BOLT-LENGTH     INCH UNITS-BOLT-DIA        INCH UNITS-WEIGHT          KGS PIPE     COMPONENT-IDENTIFIER    1     END-POINT    -5000.000    500.000    500.000     42        END-POINT    -2000.000    500.000    500.000     42        FABRICATION-ITEM     INSULATION-SPEC    UNDEFINED     PAINTING-SPEC    UNDEFINED     TRACING-SPEC    UNDEFINED     MISC-SPEC1    5858     MISC-SPEC3    UNDEFINED     MISC-SPEC5    UNDEFINED     PIPING-SPEC    LAM1     WEIGHT    100.513     UCI    {0001388C-0000-0000-743A-A4D4525A3A05}     ITEM-CODE    5358590     ITEM-DESCRIPTION    PIPE .375 EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2     CUT-PIECE-LENGTH    3718.01  MATERIALS ITEM-CODE    5358590     DESCRIPTION    PIPE .500 EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2

ISOGEN-FILES ISOGEN.FLS UNITS-BORE INCH UNITS-CO-ORDS INCH UNITS-WEIGHT LBS UNITS-BOLT-DIA INCH UNITS-BOLT-LENGTH INCH UNITS-WEIGHT-LENGTH FEET PIPE END-POINT        -5000.000    500.000    500.000     42.0000    BW END-POINT        -2000.000    500.000    500.000     42.0000    BW UNIQUE-COMPONENT-IDENTIFIER FAF8FE6C-CB08-40D9-A84E-55778E63A263 FABRICATION-ITEM MATERIAL-IDENTIFIER 1 WEIGHT 100.513 COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 600-EFPC-0300 COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE2 PIPE,EFW,BW PIPING-SPEC L31R COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE1 L31R MATERIALS MATERIAL-IDENTIFIER 1        ITEM-CODE 3        DESCRIPTION PIPE,42",STD/40,EFW,A671 CC60 CL 23 S2,BW        -80 PIPE,EFW,BW        OUTSIDE-DIAMETER 42        WALL-THICKNESS 0.375

Note: Exact models were exported from different programs (ex. Cadworx, AutoDesk Plant 3D) and generated significantly different PCF files, PCF examples A & B above. One can clearly see some similarities of information, but cannot overlook missing / added data. One key note, how the pipe information is linked to the Material details. Example A links pipe to material data using Item-Code, while Example B links pipe to material data using Material-Identifier. Be aware of these differences when reviewing your own PCF file.

Scenario #1: Import Original file

What Wall thickness will the imported pipe have in AutoPIPE?

 Answer: Correct, 0.375 inch

Why?

PCF Example A

a. There was no component-attribute4 data,

b. Item description was not formatted correctly, and therefore the program defaulted the wall thickness to schedule = STD  for that pipe size, from library data equals 0.375 inch.

PCF Example B

a. Component-attribute4 data was not formatted correctly

b. Description has wall thickness incorrectly formatted (STD/40)

Scenario #2: Wall thickness set with Schedule format

Original PCF file has been updated with:

MATERIALS

ITEM-CODE    5358590

    DESCRIPTION    PIPE S/XS EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2

Question: What Wall thickness will the imported pipe have in AutoPIPE?

 Answer: Correct, 0.500 inch

Why?

Because there was no component-attribute4 data, however the description schedule was found to be formatted correctly for a viable schedule pipe size, 

Question: What if the schedule was set to S/10 (note that S/10 is not a typical standard for a 42 inch pipe size)?

Answer: the wall thickness would be 0.375 because it could not find S/10 in the library and therefore defaulted to STD wall thickness which for this size pipe equals 0.375 inches. 

Scenario #3: COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE4 was used for a line number

Original PCF file has been updated with:

COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 600-JHPA-0200
ITEM-DESCRIPTION    PIPE WT 12.7 S/XS EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2

Question: What Wall thickness will the imported pipe have in AutoPIPE?

 Answer: Correct 600 inch

Why?

Although the item-description has wall thickness correctly formatted, recall from information above where once the program finds viable information it stops searching. In this case, COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE4 was present and had data (i.e. 600-JHPA-0200). Therefore it stop searching and setting the wall thickness to 600 inches

Question: what if  "COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 A600-JHPA-0200" was used instead, where the data value started with a letter

Answer: Because COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 started with a letter the program knows that this is not a numerical value and continues to search item description for a valid wall thickness value. Under Item-Description the application found wall thickness correctly formatted and sets it to 0.500 inch (or 12.7mm)

A new enhancement (876955) has been logged to provide a user interface for customization of mapping of component attributes to AutoPIPE properties (ex. component-attribute4 to Line Number).

Workaround: Force application to ignore Attribute 4 information and read Wall thickness from Item description

a. Open PCF file in word editing program ( Notepad++, Ultra Edit, MS word , etc...)

b. Use Find and Replace command

Find "COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 "

Replace "COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 a"

c. Save and import the new file into AutoPIPE using the PCF translator.

Note: a better solution. In this file "COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE4" was used to document the component's Line Number. Therefore, best option would be to modify the setting to import Line Number information into the program. Use Find (COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE4) and Replace (MISC-SPEC1) command to update the PCF file.  When importing the updated file, the program will search for Wall thickness in the Material Item-Code Description line and line number would also be imported instead of ignored. 

Scenario #4: Both Wall thickness and Schedule data are present

Original PCF file has been updated with:

MATERIALS

ITEM-CODE    5358590

    DESCRIPTION    PIPE WT 0.500 S/XS EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2

Question: What Wall thickness will the imported pipe have in AutoPIPE?

 Answer: Correct, 0.500 inch

Why?

Because there was no component-attribute4 data, item description was not formatted correctly, and If both wall thickness and schedule data are present in the description, order doesn't matter, schedule has precedence over wall thickness. Also note that for a 42 inch pipe S/XS wall thickness would actually be 12.7mm. Again, regardless of wall thickness information, schedule data would be read and used first. .

Scenario #5: COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE has a "/" or Space in the Wall thickness setting

Original PCF file has the following:

PIPE
END-POINT -1495.2472 -536.0078 1440.4378 6.0000
END-POINT -1495.2472 -536.0078 1466.7073 6.0000
ITEM-CODE 110-16135
ITEM-DESCRIPTION PIPE, 6", Sch 40, ASTM A53 GR B CARBON STEEL, ERW
COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4     BOMCOLUMN_ISO/Theme_

ITEM-CODE  110-16135
DESCRIPTION  PIPE, 6", Sch 40, ASTM A53 GR B CARBON STEEL, ERW

Question: What Wall thickness will the imported pipe have in AutoPIPE?

 Answer: Wrong, it will not be Sch 40 pipe it will be -nan(ind). why?

Recall the priority of searching for a wall thickness. 

1. Look at COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4

2. If a valid value is not found, then locate ITEM-CODE Description.

3. If a valid value is not found, then locate Component Item-Description.

In the case above, there are 2 mistakes. 

1. The component attribute has "/" in the name. Therefore the application is trying to divide BOMCOLUMN_ISO by Theme_. The results is an integer that AutoPIPE does not understand and thus places NAN in the filed when imported. 

2. "Sch 40" has a space in the format. Open the PCFin.MAP file and review the PIPE SCHEDULE MAPPING table. Is there a mapping format that matches this, I will save you the time looking, Nope. So just add one right? Wrong again!. The Schedule default column is forbidden to have a space character in the name. It must be all one entity / word. 

Avoidance:

If the application creating the PCF file cannot be updated to export a valid PCF file, then the user must perform the following.

1. Find and replace all wall thick settings for SCH 40 with a format already in the PCFin.map file, suggest using S/40

2. Find and replace all COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE settings whose name contains a "/" symbol, suggest replacing with an "_" or "-" 

Ex. 

From: BOMCOLUMN_ISO/Theme_

To: BOMCOLUMN_ISO_Theme_

See Also

PCF Translator FAQ & troubleshooting

Bentley AutoPIPE