Draw Walls

Form: Draw Walls

Toolbar button:

Use the Draw menu > Draw Walls command to add wall objects to the model. Wall objects are drawn as lines in the datum plane, but are extruded by the program into areas above and below the datum plane with wall property assignments. Wall geometry can be altered such that walls become ramps using the Draw menu > Reshape Object command. 

Click the Draw menu > Draw Walls command to access the floating Draw Walls form that displays the parameters for the wall to be added, including Wall Property Below (choose from previously defined wall properties), Wall Property Above, Wall Height Below and Wall Height Above. The Wall Property Below and Wall Property Above items may not both be set to NONE. There is also an edit box for Plan Offset Normal and a drop-down list for Line Drawing Type (Straight Line, Arc-3 Points, Arc-Center & 2 Points, Multilinear, Bezier, Spline).

If needed, modify the displayed data by selecting from the drop-down lists or by typing directly into the edit boxes. Use the Plan Offset Normal item to locate the wall a certain distance to the left of where it is drawn if a positive value is input, and to the right if a negative value is input.

To place a straight wall object in the model, select Straight Line from the Line Drawing Type drop-down list and click on a grid intersection or at any other location on the datum plane to start the wall; walls can be drawn only on the datum plane, so working in a plan view is usually best. Click again to end the wall or type the length and angle directly into the L,theta edit box that appears in the lower left-hand corner of the display when the mouse is moved and hit the Enter key. Each subsequent click will add another wall object. Arcs and curves may be drawn similarly by selecting one of the options from the Line Drawing Type drop-down list.

To stop drawing walls without exiting the draw mode, double left click at the last end point or hit the Enter key or click the right mouse button. To exit the draw wall mode completely, click on the Select Object button  or hit the Esc key to activate the select mode. Data associated with a wall object can be reviewed and modified by right clicking on the wall to access the Wall Type Area Object Information form.

TIP:  The Draw menu > Reshape Object command or button can be used to convert walls into ramps. Use the “tilt” handles on some of the edges to drag the edge and rotate the wall to create a ramp.