Main Operating Principles

When shapes are dragged from a stencil and dropped onto the diagram, a corresponding element will, if possible, be automatically created in the database. This process is known as Define. In some cases the Define operation will not take place until shapes are connected. It is also possible to manually Define and Undefine items.

The application supports the Dabacon session concept with Save Work / Get Work functions. In the Save Work function, the diagram document is also saved together with all pending DB changes in the session. To make sure there is consistency between diagram documents and the database items, certain procedures have been introduced, for instance when the user chooses Save As on a diagram, it is required that Save Work has first been executed.

The schematic data is organized in two parallel hierarchies. The main hierarchy is the Group Hierarchy, which works more or less like a folder structure where schematic items can be organized according to customer preferences. There is also a secondary System Hierarchy, which represents the design systems within the project. Diagrams contains functions for the user to control in which Schematic Group new items will be placed. Items will also be organized into the system structure according to the system reference attribute.

The database also maintains references between schematic items and the diagram drawings that they are represented on. This allows the user to, for example, find and open all diagrams where a certain pipeline is depicted.