Create, modify, or delete a grid

When you create a new model, Tekla Structures automatically creates a rectangular grid and a view according to the saved standard properties. If needed, you can later modify the grid properties, or create new rectangular and radial grids. You can modify an existing grid, or delete it. Use the grid properties in the property pane to view and modify the grids.

Create a rectangular grid or a radial grid

You can create both rectangular and radial grids and modify their properties in the property pane.

Select whether to create a rectangular or a radial grid.
- To create a rectangular grid: on the Edit tab, click Grid > Create rectangular grid.
- To create a radial grid: on the Edit tab, click Grid > Create radial grid.
Tekla Structures shows a preview of the grid. You can modify the grid properties in the property pane before inserting the grid. The grid preview changes according to the changes in the property pane.
Pick a point in the model to indicate the origin of the grid, or click the middle mouse button to accept the grid property values in the property pane.
- If you pick an origin point to the grid, the grid is created using the properties in the property pane, and the origin is the location you picked.
- If you click the middle mouse button, the grid is created using the properties in the property pane, and to the origin defined in the property pane.
  
  The coordinates of the origin are shown in the property pane in the Origin section as the X, Y, and Z values.

Note:

When working with very large grids, always having the grid labels visible might slow down Tekla Structures. To hide the grid labels when you zoom in, use the advanced option XS_ADJUST_GRID_LABELS.

Create a radial grid (alternative method)

This is an alternative method to create a radial grid. You can create a radial grid using a component called Radial Grid. Note that the curved grid lines created by the Radial Grid component are not truly curved but straight.

Click the Applications & components button in the side pane to open the Applications & components catalog.
Start typing radial grid in the search box.
Double-click Radial Grid to open the properties dialog box.
Modify the grid properties.

In the coordinate properties
- X defines the location of the curved grid lines and the distance between the grid lines.
  
  The first value is the radius of the innermost curved grid line.
- Y (degrees) defines the location of the straight grid lines and the distance between the grid lines in degrees.
  
  The first value defines how the grid is rotated. The grid is rotated counter-clockwise from the x axis in the current work plane.
Click OK.
Pick a point to indicate the origin of the grid.

The grid is created automatically.

Modify a grid

Double-click an existing grid to modify it.

Ensure that the Select grid selection switch is active.

The Select grid switch is on the Selecting toolbar. The toolbar is by default located at the bottom of the screen.
Double-click a grid line.

Depending on the type of the grid, the Rectangular grid or the Radial grid properties open in the property pane.
Change the grid properties.
Click Modify to apply the changes.

Delete a grid

When you delete an entire grid, ensure that you do not have any other objects selected. Otherwise Tekla Structures only deletes the objects, not the grid.

Ensure that only the Select grid selection switch is active.

The Select grid switch is on the Selecting toolbar. The toolbar is by default located at the bottom of the screen.
Select the grid.
Press Delete.
Confirm that you want to delete the grid.

Grid properties

Use the Rectangular grid or the Radial grid properties in the property pane to view and modify the properties of a grid. To open the properties, double-click the grid. The file name extension of a rectangular grid property file is *.grd. The file name extension of a radial grid property file is *.rgrd.

If you have customized the property pane layout, the list of properties may be different.


Setting	Description
Coordinates	In the Rectangular grid properties: Coordinates of the grid in the x, y, and z directions. X: grid lines vertical to the work plane Y: grid lines horizontal to the work plane Z: elevations in the structure You can enter a maximum of 1024 characters. Use a zero at the start to represent a grid on the 0,0 coordinate and spaces as separators for coordinates. The x and y coordinates are relative, which means that the entries for X and Y are always relative to the previous entry. The Z coordinates are absolute, which means that entries for z are absolute distances from the work plane origin. You can either define the coordinates individually, or you can define several grid lines with equal spacing. Both of the following coordinate entries create three grid lines with the spacing of 4000: `0 4000 4000` `0 2*4000`
Coordinates	In the Radial grid properties: Radial and angular values of the grid lines. Elevations is the value of the grid in z direction. Radial: curved grid lines. If you enter only one value for radius, it must be >0. Angular: straight grid lines. You can enter negative angle values, if needed. Elevations: elevations in the structure Use a zero at the start to represent a grid on the 0,0 coordinate and spaces as separators for coordinates. The Radial and Angular coordinates are relative, which means that the entries are always relative to the previous entry. The Elevations are absolute, which means that entries are absolute distances from the work plane origin. You can either define the coordinates individually, or you can define several grid lines with equal spacing. Both of the following coordinate entries create three grid lines with the spacing of 4000: `0 4000 4000` `0 2*4000`
Labels	In the Rectangular grid properties: Names of the grid lines shown in views. Names in the X box are associated with the grid lines parallel to the y axis and vice versa. The Z box is for the names of levels parallel to the work plane. If you wish, you can leave the label boxes empty.
Labels	In the Radial grid properties: Names of the grid lines shown in views. Names in the Radial box are associated with the curved grid lines. Names in the Angular box are associated with the straight grid lines. The Elevations box is for the names of levels parallel to the work plane. If you wish, you can leave the label boxes empty.
Line extensions	In the Rectangular grid properties: Define how far the grid lines extend in the directions Left/Below and Right/Above.
Line extensions	In the Radial grid properties: Define how far the grid lines extend in the directions Start and End.
Origin	Coordinates of the grid origin in the x, y, and z directions. These values offset the grid from the work plane origin, not from the global model origin.
Magnetic grid plane	In the Rectangular grid properties: Select whether objects are bound to grid lines. If you bind the objects to grid lines, the objects follow if you move the grid line.
Grid color	Use the color picker to pick the grid color.
Label font size and color	Define the label font size. Use the color picker to pick the label color.
UDAs	Click the User-defined attributes button to open the user-defined attributes (UDAs) of the grid. These can be used for customizing drawing grid labels.