Profile Orientation Mapping Files

Using the Profile Orientation Mapping File you can define how the interface translates a profile from the base product format into the Neutral File format on Export, or from it on Import. Refer to the User Guide for further information of how the Neutral File understands default orientations of certain profiles.

If you define their own catalogue profiles, or modify the supplied ones, and need to transform them into or from the neutral format, this mapping file should be used. In all cases an Orientation mapping file should be available, even if it is empty apart from the first line.

Below is an example file:

AVEVA BOCAD

BRI 2 0 180

BRI 4 1 180

DIN 2 0 180

DIN 4 1 180

EUR 2 0 180

EUR 4 1 180

The first line is the file identification line, described as for the Material or Profile mapping files. The structure of the rest of the mapping file is of a comma or space separated file with four fields per line.

The first two fields provide the identification of the profile for treatment. The first of the identification fields states the steel standard from which the profile is to be taken. The second is the actual profile type (shape) code according to the codes given. Thus, in the example above, you can see that the channels (type 2) and angles (type 4) from the Euronorm, DIN and British Standard catalogues have been identified for special treatment.

The third and fourth fields describe what you want to do with the profile shape. The third is the mirroring flag, which should be set to 1 if the profile is to be reflected about the Y-axis. This will commonly be the case for angle profiles. no mirroring is indicated by a value of 0 in this field.

The last field defines how much additional angular rotation you want to apply to the shape. For example, some catalogues may define the long leg of an unequal angle to be on the horizontal, whereas AVEVA Bocad Steel Interface expects it to be vertical. The rotation angle must be between -180 and +180 degrees.

Note:
Mirroring will change the start and end positions of the linear member. It is therefore advisable that if you can achieve the same result purely by rotation, then the latter is the preferred option. In this way you will avoid confusion in AVEVA Bocad Steel.

If, during the Import or Export process, an entry for a specific profile is not found, no action is taken, and no error message is output as it is assumed that you do not want it to receive special treatment.

The following figure illustrates the effect of each operation on different catalogue representations of an angle profile. We re-emphasise the difference in the handedness of the coordinate systems.