Hull and Outfitting

User Grid Systems

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User Grid Systems

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Last UpdatedNov 14, 2025
6 minute read

The User Grid Systems utility creates project wide and local rectangular and radial grids in Outfitting Design. Grids are related to design areas and some will be project wide, whilst others would be local to a building/room. Grids are particularly important for the layout of structures and for relating piping to them.

The Grid Utility is available from the Utilities menu by selecting Utilities > User Grid Systems to display the User Grid Systems window.

Grid Systems	A scrollable list of grid systems from which a specific grid system is selected.
Displaying grid system	Features a Hide option which allows you to hide the grid system currently displayed in the view. The hidden grid system can be re-displayed by clicking the Display option at the bottom of the window.
Display	The options available in the frame allow you to label the grid in the view in various ways: Axes only; Gridline IDs; Spacings; and Coordinates.
Select display axes	Displays either the Plant Grid Axes window for a rectangular grid or the Radial Grid Axes window for a radial grid. Both windows are used to select which planes are drawn for the current grid system.
	For a rectangular grid:
	The offsets for each plane are set by selecting the appropriate checkbox and choosing an option from the drop-down list. The default is the first grid line defined in each axis.
	For a radial grid:
	The offset for the display plane through the Z axis is set by selecting an option from the drop-down list. The default is the first grid line defined in the Z axis.
Set View Limits to Grid	Allows you to set the view limits to the grid extents. The option is only active when the grid is displayed.
Display option	Displays the selected grid system in the graphical view.
Display menu	Allows you to display any picked position in coordinates relative to the currently selected grid.

Selecting Display > Picked position in grid coords activates the pick, which uses the standard position toolbar so any element, ppoint, graphic, can be picked.

The picked position is displayed in both world and grid coordinates.

Create menu

Gives options for displaying either the Reference 3D Rectangular Grid or Reference 3D Radial Grid windows. These allow you to create new grid systems, which can then be saved to the database as Grid Systems.

To create a 3D Rectangular Grid, select Create > 3D Rectangular Grid.

The Reference 3D Rectangular Grid creation/modification window displays:

The grid is in 3 dimensions rather than the 2 used in aid constructs, however, a 2 dimensional grid can be achieved by setting a single Z axis gridline with 0mm offset.

With the Options tab selected, the following are available:

Display	Features four options for selecting how the grid is labelled in the view: Axis only; Gridline IDs; Spacings and Coordinates.
X Axis, Y Axis and Z Axis	In these frames, the axes can be labelled by placing an entry in the Label box.
	The gridline IDs and Offsets are entered in the appropriate columns.
Autofill	Displays the Autofill Rectangular Grid System window which gives a set of default values in the X Axis, Y Axis and Z Axis panels.

Offsets can be negative or positive relative to the grid origin. IDs can be numeric or alphabetic, ascending or descending (to give the effect of increasing offset to W and S).

Clicking OK populates the Reference 3D Rectangular Grid window with the set of defaults.

Set View Limits to Grid	Allows you to set the view limits to the grid extents. The option is only active when the grid is displayed.
Preview	Displays the new or modified grid system graphically.
Name	A suitable name for the new grid system can be entered in this field.
Save	Saves the created grid system to the database.
Position & Orientation	With this tab selected, grid position and orientation gadgets are available, which operate in the same way as for aid constructs.

To create a 3D Radial Grid, select Create > 3D Radial Grid, the Reference 3D Radial Grid multi-function window displays:

The grid is in 3 dimensions rather than the 2 used in aid constructs (a 2 dimensional grid can be achieved by setting a single Z axis gridline with 0mm offset).

The Reference 3D Radial Grid window is similar to the Reference 3D Plant Grid window except that the X Axis and Y Axis frames are replaced by Angles and Radii frames respectively. IDs are entered for the gridlines, with corresponding Angles, Radii and Offsets entered in the appropriate columns.

Autofill

Displays the Autofill Radial Grid System window which offers a set of default values in the Angles, Radii and Z Axis panels.

Z Axis offsets can be negative or positive relative to the grid origin. IDs can be numeric or alphabetic, with angles ascending or descending (to give the effect of increasing clockwise).

Clicking OK populates the Reference 3D Radial Grid window with the set of defaults.

The Set View Limits to Grid, Preview and Save options, together with the Name textbox and Position & Orientation tab on the Reference 3D Radial Grid window all operate in a similar manner to the equivalent functions on the Reference 3D Rectangular Grid window.

Modify menu

Gives the option of modifying the selected grid system.

To modify a particular grid system, select it in the Grid Systems scrollable list and select Modify > Selected Grid System.

The appropriate Reference 3D Grid multifunction window displays, which is used to modify the selected grid system. The modified grid system can then be saved to the database in the usual manner.

Delete menu

Gives the option of deleting the selected grid system and removing its graphics from the display.

Rectangular grid displayed with axes only, planes through grid origin, X and Y planes off, Z plane on: