Setting References to Sub-equipments

The vessel ends for the equipment represented by our template will be defined in the design by setting specification references which point to other templates based on appropriate sub-equipments. For the purpose of this exercise, we will use some existing ends which are supplied as part of the sample project. In practice, you would usually have designed this yourself using the same methods as for the overall equipment, and would have included them in your catalogue specifications.

When instanced in a design, the resulting selection route would be as follows:

Each Valid Value (VVALUE) under the data element stores a reference to a Specification Component (SPCO) which has its Template Reference (TMPR) pointing to a TMPL representing a specific vessel end (as illustrated for the default setting).

The Sub-Equipment (SUBE) elements shown in the hierarchy are created under the Equipment automatically when the properties are set for the design template instance.

The equipment template which we are creating in the exercise will have two possible design types (that is, two valid values) for each end: the ’closed end’ will have either a dished end or a flanged end; the ‘open end’ will have either a dished end or a conical end.

Note: Because the rules which define the vessel end types will not be run until the template is instanced in a design, you will not be able to see the complete vessel while you are working in the Design Templates application. It is important, therefore, that you set the rules very carefully.

Exercise continues:

1. Navigate to /Vessel-Main-Body and select Modify > Property Definitions to show the Define Template Properties form again.

   Define the property for the first end as follows:

   Description	Closed End
   Key	CEND
   Definition	Sub Element Ref
   Data Type	Sub Ref (set automatically)
   Default	(We will come back to this a little later)

   We will restrict the settings for this property to a choice between two end configurations. The Values option is set automatically (since a range of references would be meaningless), so click on to display the Set Valid Values form. The data which you must enter into the List of Valid Values field are the names of the SPCOs which point to the required end types. If you can remember them, you can type the names in directly; otherwise, you can navigate to them using the Members list and use the Add CE button to copy their names into the text pane. We will use the latter method.

   The Members list can be displayed using Display > Members from the top menu bar

   Because we are working in the Design database and the specifications are stored in the Catalogue database, you will not see the required data in the current Members list. We must navigate to the relevant Specification World (SPWL), which was included in the sample data. In the text-box at the top of the Members list, enter /ADV/SUBE/SPWL and press Enter to navigate to the named element.

   

   Navigate down the specification hierarchy in the following sequence:

   SPEC/ADV/SUBE/VESSELS

   SELE/ADV/SUBE/VESS/CONNECTIONS

   SELE/ADV/SUBE/VESS/DISHENDS/1

   SPCO/EXAMPLE/SUBE/VESS/DishedEnd/1

   

   This will be the first entry in our valid values list, so click the Add CE button on the Set Valid Values form.

   Navigate up two levels (to .../CONNECTIONS) and then:

   SELE/ADV/SUBE/VESS/FLGENDS/1

   SPCO/EXAMPLE/SUBE/VESS/FlangedEnd/1

   Click Add CE again to make this the second valid end type.

   We must next assign the rules defining the position and orientation of this vessel end, so do not click OK yet.

2. The end types which we will be using have all been defined in the catalogue such that the origin is at the center of the face which adjoins the vessel and the Y direction points away from the vessel. For example, for the dished end:

   

   Note: When you design sub-equipment templates such as these, it is important to maintain strict naming, positioning and orientation conventions, otherwise you will cause confusion when your templates are used in a design.

   On the Set Valid Values form, click the Rule Definition button.

   On the Associated Rule Definition form, enter:

   Description	Position
   Purpose	Sub-Equipment Reference (set automatically)
   Attribute	Sub-Equipment Position

   We want to position the origin of this sub-equipment at the midpoint of one end of our vessel body. Instead of calculating this position, we will refer to the locally-named design point which we placed here for just this purpose in Adding Design Points. We will use the second Design Point for the closed end, so enter the Associated Rule as:

   AT LNID /Datum-Point-2 of TMPL 1 of EQUIP

   Click Include to add this into the Rules Defined list.

   Define the next rule using the following settings:

   Description	Orientation
   Purpose	Sub-Equipment Reference (set automatically)
   Attribute	Sub-Equipment Orientation

   Enter the Associated Rule as:

   Y is S and Z is U

   and include this in the list.

   OK the Associated Rule Definition form, then OK the Set Valid Values form.

3. We will now set the Default on the Define Template Properties form. Set this to the SPCO for the dished end, namely /EXAMPLE/SUBE/VESS/DishedEnd/1. You can either type this in directly, or redisplay the Set Valid Values form temporarily and use a copy/paste operation.

   Include the property in the dataset list.

4. Repeat Steps 1 through 3 to achieve the following settings.

   Define Template Properties form:

   Description	Open End
   Key	OEND
   Definition	Sub Element Ref
   Data Type	Sub Ref
   Default	/EXAMPLE/SUBE/VESS/ConedEnd/1

   Set Valid Values form:

   /EXAMPLE/SUBE/VESS/ConedEnd/1

   /EXAMPLE/SUBE/VESS/FlangedEnd/1

   Associated Rule Definition form:

   Position	AT LNID /Datum-Point-1 of TMPL 1 of EQUIP
   Orientation	Y is N and Z is U

   (The latter is the default orientation, so you could leave this rule unset. It is, however, good practice to set such rules explicitly to avoid any uncertainty.)

   At this point, your defined template properties should be:

   

We will pause here to see how the rules which we have just defined for positioning and orientating the sub-equipment templates are stored in the Design database.