New property pane in drawings

Tekla Structures
2023
Tekla Structures

New property pane in drawings

In Tekla Structures 2023, you will experience a more streamlined way of working in drawing mode as most drawing objects now have a property pane instead of dialog boxes. The property pane is a side pane window, where drawing object properties are accessible in one place. As usual in Tekla Structures, you can customize the drawing property pane separately for each object type to suit your needs.

The drawing property pane provides a consistent user interface with modeling mode, and a modern and powerful method to handle drawing object properties in Tekla Structures. The drawing property pane offers a smooth workflow for creating and modifying drawing objects, for saving and loading drawing object properties, and for copying properties between objects. The drawing property pane also introduces a visual editor for dimension tags, view labels, associative notes, and most mark types.

To learn more, see the drawing property pane video in Highlights of Tekla Structures 2023 > New property pane for intuitive drawing editing.

Supported object types

Now you can use the property pane to view and modify the properties of the following drawing object types:

  • All dimension types: straight dimensions, rebar dimension marks, curved dimensions, radial dimensions, and angle dimensions
  • All annotation types: part marks, bolt marks, weld marks, drawing weld marks, pour object marks, rebar marks, merged rebar marks, surface treatment marks, connection marks, level marks, section marks, detail marks, associative notes, and texts
  • Building objects: parts, bolts, welds, pour breaks, pour objects, rebars, rebar meshes, surface treatment, and reference objects
  • Sketch objects: lines, polylines, arcs, polygons, rectangles, circles, and clouds
  • Grids and grid lines
  • Views. The property pane only allows you to view and modify the properties that are directly related to views. For example, you cannot access the view level object or mark properties through the property pane.

    Note that the drawing view property pane loads from the property file only values for properties that available in the property pane. If you want to load properties for all object types included in the drawing view, double-click the view frame to open the view properties dialog box, and load the needed object properties there.

The following object types are not currently supported in the drawing property pane: symbols, revision marks, DWG/DXF files, images, text files, edge chamfers, drawing links, and hyperlinks.

Note that the names of some properties or property groups might have changed since the old dialog boxes.

Feature summary and main benefits

The new drawing property pane has several benefits compared to the previously used property dialog boxes:

  • The property pane is always up to date. When you select an object in the drawing, the current properties are instantly shown in the property pane.
  • There is less clutter on the screen because there is no need to have separate dialog boxes open as previously.
  • You can easily create drawing objects that are similar to the drawing objects that already exist in the drawing.
  • You can easily check which properties you are about to modify in the property pane. Tekla Structures highlights the changed properties in yellow in the property pane and a check mark appears next to the modified property.
  • You only need to click Modify to change the modified properties.
  • You no longer need to use the Apply button for applying of properties for the next objects of the same type if you have selected the Set default values automatically option. However, you can switch from automatic to manual applying with the Set as default option at any time if you prefer to work that way.
  • It is easy to copy properties from one drawing object to another. You can copy properties between any objects as long as both objects have the same property available. For example, you can copy the text color from a mark to another mark.
  • When you select several objects in a drawing, you can check if the objects have common properties and what the values of the common properties are, and modify the properties, if needed.
  • To make the property pane still easier to navigate, you can set properties to frequently or infrequently used state in Property pane editor, which allows you to decrease the number of properties visible in the property pane, but also quickly see all properties when needed. Then when using the property pane, you can choose to display just frequently used properties or all properties with a single click.
  • The visual editor for view labels, dimension tags, notes, and marks provides a WYSIWYG control over the content. In the preview, you can see the actual attribute values and the representation that you have defined for your content before adding it to the drawing.
  • You can customize the property pane: for example, you can organize the settings as you wish and remove the settings you do not need. You can select separately for each object type which properties you wish to see in the property pane.

How to open the drawing property pane

To open the drawing object properties in the property pane, do one of the following:

  • If the property pane is closed: double-click a drawing object, or click the Properties button in the side pane.
  • If the property pane is open: click a drawing object.
  • Hold down Shift and click a command on the ribbon.
  • Double-click a command on the ribbon.

You can only have one property side pane window open at a time. This means that you can view the properties of only one object type at a time. Previously, when you used the dialog boxes, you could have the dialog boxes of several object types open at the same time, for example, dimension properties and part mark properties. This is not possible with the property pane.

You can float or dock the property pane in the same way as any other side pane window, or drag it around your screen or to your secondary screen, if you have multiple displays.

Visual editor

The new drawing property pane in Tekla Structures 2023 introduces a visual editor for editing drawing annotations, such as dimension tags, view labels, associative notes, and most mark types. You can see the resulting annotation as you create it, which makes the editing of the annotations much easier.

How to use the visual editor

The visual editors in the property pane for various annotation objects have the same basic functionality.

(1) Click the Properties or Values button to show either the property name or the property value in the preview. These buttons are only available when you are modifying an annotation.

(2) The preview of the annotation shows the annotation containers, the elements that you have added in the containers, and the representation that you have defined for the whole annotation or for a single element, such as font styles, frames, or symbols. An annotation container is a box in the editor, where you add the elements. For some mark types, such as detail marks, section marks, and view labels, you can save the contents you have defined for the mark in a property file and load the properties when creating another mark.

(3) Use the New element button to open the element list and select the elements to add in your annotation. Use the New container button to add new containers in section marks, detail marks, or view labels. You can add up to five containers.

  • To add elements in a container, click the container.
  • In most of the visual editors, you can drag elements and containers. In the section mark editor, you can only drag elements inside and between containers. The dimension tag editor only allows you to drag elements inside a container.
  • To delete an element or a container, click the red delete button in the upper-right corner of the element or container.

(4) In section marks, to indicate which end of the cutting line you want to work with, click Start or End.

(5) The % button shows the current zoom level in the preview. You can zoom in or out by scrolling the middle mouse button. Click the % button to zoom to the best fit.

(6) Search box for searching elements. The available elements vary according to the object type.

(7) If you have added the element in your annotation already, it is indicated in the element list with In use.

(8) In dimension tags, you first need to click a tag container to be able to add elements in the tag in the tag editor. When a dimension tag has some content, the container icon changes to . You can also type text directly in dimension tag containers, and the text will be shown as you have written it.

(9) User-defined attributes, template attributes, and custom properties are now listed for selecting, so you no longer have to remember their exact names to type them in.

Examples of visual editors

Part mark editor:

Rebar mark editor:

For details about mark properties and using the mark editor, see Mark properties.

Section mark editor:

For more information about adding section marks and using the section mark editor, see Add and modify section marks in drawings.

Section view label editor:

For details about view properties and using the view label editor, see View properties in drawings. For instructions on creating section views, see Create views in drawings.

Detail mark editor:

For more information about adding detail marks and using the detail mark editor, see Add and modify detail marks in drawings.

Dimension tag editor:

For details about dimension properties, adding dimensions, and using the dimension tag editor, see Add dimensions manually.

Improvements in adding marks and associative notes

When you create a mark or an associative note manually, and the content in the properties is not defined for the object type you have selected in the drawing, a mark or a note with a text element set to "Content undefined" is created. You can then select the mark or note and modify the content and properties in the property pane.

Earlier, manually created marks and associative notes were empty and invisible if they did not have content defined in the properties.

Modify objects in the property pane

Similarly to the model property pane, you can view and modify the properties of one drawing object type at a time in the drawing property pane, or the common properties of several, similar object types.

  1. Double-click a building object, view, associative note, mark, text, dimension, grid, or sketch object.

    The property pane opens, and shows the current properties of the object.

  2. Modify the properties as needed.

    Tekla Structures highlights the modified properties in yellow in the property pane.

  3. If you want to discard some of the changes, click the check marks next to each setting to remove them.

    You can clear the check marks one by one, or select a whole section and all its properties.

    You can use the Select All and Select None switches at the bottom of the property pane to select all the changes or to clear all the changes.

  4. When you are ready with the modifications, click Modify to apply the changes.

    By default, the modified properties become the new current properties. Tekla Structures uses the current properties the next time you create an object of the same type.

    If you want to create an object using the standard values instead of the new current values, load the standard file first.

Note that if you use the contextual toolbar to modify a drawing object, the current properties do not change and are not automatically applied when you create the next object of the same type.

For more information about working with the property pane, see View and modify object properties in the property pane.

Modify the common properties of similar object types

When you select several similar objects in the drawing, the property pane shows the properties that are common for all the selected objects. The properties that different values for different objects have the text Varies, and the number of objects with a particular option selected is indicated next to the property. If there are no common properties, the property pane is empty.

You can modify the common properties in the same way as any other property. Tekla Structures highlights the modified properties in yellow in the property pane, and these properties are applied when you click Modify.

Use the Object type list in the property pane to check which objects you have selected in the drawing and the number of each object type.

For more information about copying properties, see View and modify object properties in the property pane.

To Do this

Check which objects you have selected in the drawing

Click the Object type list button to open the list of the selected objects.

The list shows how many objects you have selected for each object type.

Modify the object selection in the Object type list

Hold down Ctrl and click the object types in the list that you want to exclude or include in the selection.

The content of the property pane may change according to your selection.

Select all the objects in the Object type list

Click the Select all button.

Copy object properties from one object to another

You can use the property pane to easily copy properties between any objects as long as both of the objects have the same property available.

  1. In the drawing, select the object from which you want to copy properties.
  2. In the property pane, click Copy properties.
  3. In the drawing, select the objects to which you want to copy properties. You can use area selection to select the objects.

    Tekla Structures highlights the modified properties in yellow in the property pane.

  4. Select or clear the check marks to indicate which properties you want to copy.

    You can clear the check marks one by one, or select a whole section and all its properties.

    Use the Select All and Select None switches at the bottom of the property pane to select all the changes or to clear all the changes. If you use the Select None switch, all check marks will be cleared the next time you start the Copy properties command.

  5. Click Modify to apply the selected changes.

    By default, the modified properties become the new current properties. Tekla Structures uses the current properties the next time you create an object of the same type.

Tip:

To copy properties to multiple objects, double-click the Copy properties button to keep the Copy properties command running. Click Modify after each selected object. The mouse pointer remains in the paintbrush mode until you press Esc or click again.

For more information about copying properties between objects, see Copy properties from another object

Save and load property files

You can save sets of properties as property files, and load these properties later when you create new objects.

  1. Double-click a building object, view, associative note, mark, text, dimension, grid, or sketch object to view the current properties in the property pane.
  2. In the property pane, modify or enter the properties you want to save.
  3. In the box next to the button, enter a name for the new set of properties.
  4. Click to save the properties.

    The set of properties is now saved and added to the list of property files in the current model folder:

  5. When you want to load the properties, select the set of properties from the list.
    • If you select an object in the model and load a property file in the property pane, the properties are loaded immediately, and the values that are different from the currently selected object are highlighted in yellow in the property pane. Click Modify to apply the new values.
    • If you start an object creation command in the drawing and load a property file in the property pane, the properties are used right away and Tekla Structures creates the object using the loaded values.
  6. If you want to make changes to an existing set of properties:
    1. Load the set of properties you want to change.
    2. Modify the properties.
    3. Click .

      Tekla Structures saves the changes in the file shown in the list, overwriting the old set of properties.

    The modified properties become the new current properties. Tekla Structures uses the current properties the next time you create an object of the same type.

    If you want to create an object using the standard values instead of the new current values, load the standard file first.

For more information about saving and loading object properties, see Save and load object properties.

Hide or show a property group

You can hide or show a property group in the property pane.

  1. In the property pane, click the Property pane settings button.

  2. To hide a property group, click next to a group.

    The eye button changes to hidden: and the property group is now hidden in the property pane.

  3. To show the property group again in the property pane, click .

    The eye button changes to visible: , and the property group is now visible in the property pane.

Switch between automatic and manual applying of properties

In the property pane, you can switch between automatic and manual applying of properties. This means that you can select whether only the selected object is modified, or if also the next objects of the same type that you create use the current values.

You can switch between manual and automatic applying of properties at any time in the Property pane settings by selecting the Set default values automatically option. The option is not dependent on the selected object type.

To Do this
Enable automatic applying of properties

Click an object in the drawing, click the Property pane settings button in the property pane, and ensure that the Set default values automatically option is selected. This option is selected by default.

When the Set default values automatically option is selected, Tekla Structures automatically uses the current values for the next objects of the same type.

When you modify the property values of the object, and click Modify, Tekla Structures modifies the object and creates the next object of the same type using the current values.

Enable manual applying of properties

Click an object in the drawing, click the Property pane settings button in the property pane, and ensure that the Set default values automatically option is not selected.

A Set as default button appears at the bottom of the property pane.

When you modify the property values of the object, you can select how to proceed:

  • To modify the selected object only, click Modify.
  • To modify the selected object and to use the current values for the next objects of the same type, click the Set as default button and then click Modify.
  • To use the current values for the next objects of the same type, but not to modify the selected object, click the Set as default button.

When you modify the property pane settings in the Property pane settings menu, the current settings are saved to the PropertyPaneDrawingSettings.xml file. The file is located in the ..\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\UI\PropertyPane\ folder.

If you do not change the settings, the PropertyPaneDrawingSettings.xml file is not created.

If the settings in the PropertyPaneDrawingSettings.xml file is customized, the company administrators can distribute the customized property pane settings to other users in the company.

For details about property pane settings, see View and modify object properties in the property pane.

Customize the drawing property pane layout

You can customize the drawing property pane in Property pane editor to better suit your needs. You can select separately for each object type which properties you wish to see in the property pane. With Property pane editor you can show, hide and organize the settings in the property pane.

With the Property pane editor, you can

  • organize properties to a suitable order or to suitable groups
  • remove properties you do not use or need
  • create your own groups for properties that you find relevant
  • add properties to an existing group
  • create nested property groups
  • rename properties or groups
  • save the customized property pane layouts

To open the Property pane editor , click File menu > Settings > Customize > Property pane. The Customize command is also available in the property pane in the Property pane settings menu.

  • In the object list on the left, select the object type whose property pane layout you want to modify. For example, select Straight dimension.
  • The property list in the middle shows all the available properties for each object type. You can add these properties to the property pane layout as regular properties. The properties that are already in use cannot be added for a second time, but you can reorganize them in the property pane layout.
  • The right side of the Property pane editor shows the current layout of the property pane for the selected object type.

The customized property pane layouts are saved to the PropertyTemplates.Drawing.xml file in the ..Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\UI\PropertyTemplates\ folder. If you cannot find the folder, ensure that you are able to view the hidden files and folders on your computer.

Company administrators can distribute the customized drawing property pane layouts to the whole organization, in the same way as customized property pane in modeling mode, customized ribbon, or customized tabs.

For more information about customizing the property pane, see Customize the property pane layout

To Do this
Select the object type whose property pane layout you want to modify

In the object type list on the left, browse through the list or use the Search box to filter content.

Add a new property to the property pane layout

Select a property from the list in the middle and drag it to the property pane layout on the right.

You can drag the property to any group on the property pane.

Add a new group to the property pane layout

In the middle column's Add section, select Empty group, enter a title for the new group, and drag the group template to the property pane layout on the right.

You can create a new group, or insert a new group inside an existing group to create nested groups.

You can reorganize the existing groups by dragging them.

Rename a group or a property

Click and enter a new name for the group or for the property. Press Enter to activate the name.

Alternatively, right-click the group or the property name and select Rename.

Copy a group from one object type to another object type

You can copy groups from one object type to another object type, for example, from one sketch object to another.

  1. From the object type list on the left, select the object type from which you want to copy properties.
  2. In the property pane layout on the right, select the properties you want to copy.

    Use the Ctrl or Shift key to select multiple properties.

  3. Click to copy the selected properties.
  4. From the object type list on the left, select the object type to which you want to copy the properties.
  5. In the Add section, ensure that the Copied properties option is selected.
  6. Drag the Copied properties box from the middle column to the property pane layout on the right.

If you copy nested groups, all the nested groups inside the main group are copied, too.

If you copy properties that are already in use, the copied properties have the text In use in the Content section.

Properties that cannot be added to the selected object type have the text Incompatible in the Content section.

Discard changes Click the Revert all button to discard changes and to revert to the previous save.
Delete a group or a property

Right-click a group or a property, and select Delete.

Remove a single customization

Click the Restore button to remove the customization of a selected object type's property pane.

Alternatively, right-click the selected object type and select Restore to default.

Remove all customizations

Click the Restore all button to remove the customization of all property pane layouts.

Set the default visibility for a single property

By default, some object types have a large number of properties visible in the property pane, and it can be cumbersome to find the needed property among all the properties. To make the property pane less cluttered, you can mark properties as frequently or infrequently used and thus hide the infrequently needed properties.

  1. In the property pane layout on the right, select the property you want to mark as frequently or infrequently used. Use the star to mark it frequently used.

    • Select the star to mark the property frequently used.
    • Clear the star selection to mark the property infrequently used. The property will be hidden in the property pane.
  2. To mark several properties as frequently or infrequently used at one go, use the Ctrl or Shift key to select multiple properties.
This is a new feature in the property pane, and more thoroughly explained in Property pane improvements and in Customize the property pane layout.
Set the default visibility for a property group

You can define whether selected property groups are by default visible or hidden in the property pane.

  1. In the property pane layout on the right, select the property groups you want to hide.
  2. Right-click and select Hide by default.

    The eye button changes to hidden: . The selected property groups are now by default hidden in the property pane.

  3. To have the property groups by default visible again in the property pane, right-click and select Show by default.

    The eye button changes to visible: . The selected property groups are now by default visible in the property pane.

Save the changes

Click the Save all button.

When you return to Tekla Structures, Tekla Structures asks if you wish to reload the changed property pane templates. Click Yes to take the customized property pane layout in use.

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