Kerry, the best advice I ever got was someone telling me to take control of the program, don't let the program control you.
Here is a quickie out of the Help file to get you started... :-)
Using Layers in Custom Modes
When using Custom modes to create additional drawings, you may find that the Visible Items menu (select
Options ® Visible Items) that is used to control which item types are shown on a drawing does not always give you the control over item visibility that you need since there may be times when you want only some items of an item type to be displayed. To give you more visibility control, use the Layers feature. By combining a Custom mode with Layers you will achieve tight control over what is visible or not visible in a SoftPlan mode.
Important:
· To learn how to use Layers, see Using Layers.
· In addition to the Custom modes, Layers can be added in any SoftPlan mode. For more information on the SoftPlan modes, see the section The Status Bar.
Creating a mechanical drawing is an example where you would use Layers in a Custom mode. To do this:
1. Open the drawing for which you want to create a mechanical drawing.
2. In the Drawing Options, rename a Custom mode to represent the drawing that you are trying to create. For this example, rename Custom 1 mode to Mechanical.
Note:
If you rename a Custom mode in the System Options, whenever you create a new drawing, the renamed mode will already be named to your choice.
3. Select Mechanical mode from the Mode menu located on the right side of the Status bar. The drawing is displayed in Mechanical mode.
4. For this example, the mechanical drawing is to show the HVAC system. Since this drawing will contain shapes and symbols unique to the mechanical drawing, a layer should be used to distinguish them from other shapes and symbols used in other modes of the drawing (e.g., Drawing or Electrical mode).
The layer to be used should be renamed to reflect what is to be added to the layer. To do this:
i. Select Options ® Layer Setup. The Layer Setup table opens.
ii. For this example, rename a layer to HVAC.
iii. If necessary, also use the table to set the color of the items to be added to the layer.
· To learn how to change information in the Layer Setup table, see Setting up a Layer.
5. Use the Visible Items menu (select Options ® Visible Items) to hide the items (shapes, symbols, and so on) that you do not want displayed in the current mode.
· To learn how to use the Visible Items menu to do this, see Visible Items.
6. Use the Visible Items menu to specify the HVAC layer as visible in the current mode.
· For more information, see Making a Layer Visible in the Current Mode.
7. Add the symbols and shapes needed to create the required mechanical drawing. All items you draw will be added to the selected layer.
Note:
Once a custom mode is created, the information you added to that mode can be quickly viewed whenever you select that mode. For example, if you are currently in Drawing mode, but wish to view the mechanical drawing, select Mechanical mode. The normal view of the drawing will disappear and be replaced with the information added in Mechanical mode including the items you have placed in the HVAC layer.
To return once again to Drawing mode, simply select Drawing mode from the Mode menu.
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.Disclaimer: I'm not saying I'm Superman. All I am saying is no one has seen Superman and me in the same room together.<p><p>
Softplan user since 1989