Drainage and Utility Symbology Control

2D Plan Nodes

1.  Option 1 - Cell Controlled

In this approach all the level, color, line style and weight of all elements will be set in the cell graphical elements and all settings in the Element Template(s) will be ignored (including levels).

• Level – Set the level assignment of all graphics to the required level(s)
• Color – Set the color assignment of all graphics to their appropriate color number(s) or as an alternative the color assignment(s) may be set to “bylevel” to utilize the color setting of the level assignment.
• Style – Set the style assignment of all graphics to their appropriate styles or as an alternative the style assignment(s) may be set to “bylevel” to utilize the style setting of the level assignment.
• Weight – Set the weight assignment of all graphics to their appropriate weight or as an alternative the weight assignment(s) may be set to “bylevel” to utilize the weight setting of the level assignment.
• Can be placed as Cell = True (Always set this for all DU Cells 2D and 3D)
• Can be placed as Annotation Cell = False (Always set this for all DU Cells 2D and 3D)
• Cell Type = Graphic (Never use a point cell for DU nodes)

2. Option 2 – Element Template Control (Level Only)

In this approach there are two specific requirements:

A.  The level assigned to the graphical elements in the cell MUST be set to the level named DEFAULT. This will force the software to use the element template’s level assignment.

B.  The Cell Type MUST be set to “Graphic” (NEVER use a point cell for DU nodes)

Regarding the color, style, and weight with this Element Template based approach, there are two options:

• Bylevel – If the color, style, and weight of the graphical elements in the cell are set to bylevel, then the level’s properties from the element template assignment will be used. If the Element Template has a color, style, and weight setting, they will always be ignored. In other words, the Element Template ONLY provides the level name assignment to the 2D Plan Node and the level’s properties provide the color, style, and weight settings via bylevel assignment.
• Actual Settings – If the color, style and weight are directly assigned to the graphical elements (not bylevel but actual values), these values will be used directly. Any settings in the Element Template for color, style and weight will be ignored for 2D Plan Nodes.  The Element Template only provides the level name.

In Summary, for 2D Plan Nodes, the Element Template will only be used if the level in the cell is set to Default.  Under no circumstances will an Element Template provide symbology for color, style, and weight for 2D Plan Nodes.  In some instances, it may be desired to mix and match your approach.  For example, set the level of the cell’s graphical elements to Default while setting the color, style, and weight to actual values (not bylevel).  In this case, the level will be set by the element template, but the color, style, and weight will be set by the cell’s graphical element’s settings.

3D DU Nodes

• 3D nodes are handled quite differently than 2D plan Nodes. 3D Nodes ALWAYS use Element Templates for level, color, style, and weight assignments for all graphics.
• Materials for the 3D nodes should be ATTACHED to the individual meshes in the 3D cell models. It is not recommended to “ASSIGN” materials in the cell models because “ASSIGNING” materials associates itself with a particular level that will then be used for all graphics in all models of the cell library that use that level.
• Materials are never determined from an Element Template. (There is an exception to this. In the element template for the bottom 3D cell, it’s worth adding a material. This is used by the code for the extrusion, so that the gap between the top and bottom 3D cells looks correct.)
• Can be placed as Cell = True (Always set this for all DU Cells 2D and 3D)
• Can be placed as Annotation Cell = False (Always set this for all DU Cells 2D and 3D)
• Cell Type = Graphic (Never use a point cell for DU nodes)