Template Vs. Criteria Creation

Chris,
I've done a lot of template development work after doing several years of custom criteria development. There isn't an exact equivalent to the if/then criteria logic, but you can use end conditions quite effectively to choose among options. The horizontal and vertical maximum and minimum constraints sort of add a layer of conditions into the 2 allowable point constraints. Display rules can have a processing time hit so I try to use them as a last resort, but they are really the place that most mimics the if/then logic. There is a temptation to make a single template handle all the options, though it may turn out to be better to switch templates.

It's fairly straightforward, once you get into it, to create the series of end conditions that can select between fill and ditch, for example, and I recently added a choice to draw a retaining wall if a plan view retaining wall line is found. I did watch the Bentley Wiki videos on end conditions, and I have been known to examine the Bentley supplied templates point by point in order to move from criteria logic to template logic.

We have also used the horizontal maximum and minimum constraints to help control how far out the subcut draws when certain elements get close together. It handles the "if point a is beyond point B then" type of condition.

Chris,
I've done a lot of template development work after doing several years of custom criteria development. There isn't an exact equivalent to the if/then criteria logic, but you can use end conditions quite effectively to choose among options. The horizontal and vertical maximum and minimum constraints sort of add a layer of conditions into the 2 allowable point constraints. Display rules can have a processing time hit so I try to use them as a last resort, but they are really the place that most mimics the if/then logic. There is a temptation to make a single template handle all the options, though it may turn out to be better to switch templates.

It's fairly straightforward, once you get into it, to create the series of end conditions that can select between fill and ditch, for example, and I recently added a choice to draw a retaining wall if a plan view retaining wall line is found. I did watch the Bentley Wiki videos on end conditions, and I have been known to examine the Bentley supplied templates point by point in order to move from criteria logic to template logic.

We have also used the horizontal maximum and minimum constraints to help control how far out the subcut draws when certain elements get close together. It handles the "if point a is beyond point B then" type of condition.

Thanks for your comments, Katie. I know that Display rules use the if/then logic, but it is very beneficial to know that they do cause processing problems. The decision point for how we do design within our office hinges on how fast a particular process takes, and the Bentley training does not really address this from what I've seen. What practices do you use to manage the different end conditions, especially when they are laying on top of each other in the template?

Also, could you elaborate on the following:

" I have been known to examine the Bentley supplied templates point by point in order to move from criteria logic to template logic.

We have also used the horizontal maximum and minimum constraints to help control how far out the subcut draws when certain elements get close together. It handles the "if point a is beyond point B then" type of condition."