How Template Data is Accessed in the Design Hierarchy

In order to understand how template data is accessed via specific cross-references in the Design database, we will consider what happens when the kickplate template which we are creating is used in the design of a panel.

To use the template, the structural designer will create a Panel Fitting (PFIT) element at the required position on the Panel and will then set the PFIT’s Specification to point to the Design Template.

Note: To make the template accessible to the designer, it must have been included in a Specification in a Steelwork Catalogue database. We will see how to do this later in the exercise. The designer then selects from the specification in the usual way; there is no distinction between a catalogue component and a design template as far as the designer is concerned.

When the Specification Reference of the panel fitting is set to the design template, the TMPL is copied into the PFIT’s members list (that is, an instance of the template is created automatically). The resulting Design hierarchy includes the following:

Consider the following:

• From PFIT level, you can query the properties data held in the DDATs of its TMPL by reference to a pseudo-attribute PROP whose setting is identified by the corresponding short key. For example, to query the X-length (which has the short key LENG), the command is Q PROP LENG. The system navigates down automatically via the TMPL and its DDSE to find the required property. Query > Template Properties lists all such properties.

• From BOX level, you can query the properties data held in the DDATs of its parent TMPL by reference to a pseudo-attribute CDPR (Current template’s Design PRoperty). The system navigates up to the owning TMPL and then down via that template’s DDSE. It is this setting which we used in the expression for the X-length rule in Defining a Template Rule.