Part and neighbor part properties in drawings

Tekla Structures
Modified: 11 Apr 2025
2025
Tekla Structures

Part and neighbor part properties in drawings

Use the settings in part properties or neighbor part properties to check and change the part or neighbor part properties. In the neighbor part properties, you can also control the visibility and appearance of neighbor part bolts.

To go to part or neighbor part properties:

  • On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties, select the drawing type and navigate to the part or neighbor part properties.
  • In an open drawing, double-click the drawing view frame, and click Part or Neighbor part in the options tree.
  • In an open drawing, double-click the drawing background, and navigate to the part or neighbor part properties.
  • Click a part in an open drawing. If the property pane is not open, double-click the part.
  • In Quick Launch, start typing part properties, and then select Drawing part properties from the list.
  • You can also access the part properties through the drawing property pane object list.

Also see the following support article: Neighboring parts in drawings.

The following table lists all settings on all property levels (drawing, view, object). All part properties do not contain all of the settings listed below.

Option

Description

Save, load and search properties in property pane
  • To load existing properties, select the properties from the list.
  • To save the modified properties, click . You can also save the properties with another name.
  • To search for a property, start typing the property name.
Visibility Click the eye button to activate or deactivate the options.

Inner contours

Show the inner contours of a tube.

Hidden lines

Own hidden lines

With the Hidden lines option you can control whether hidden lines are drawn. It affects both part's own hidden lines and part's hidden lines that are behind other parts. To draw hidden lines in the first place, you need to select Hidden lines.

With the Own hidden lines option you can define whether part's own hidden lines are drawn. Own hidden lines are hidden lines of the part covered by the part itself.

The Hidden lines and Own hidden lines settings affect only the parts for which they have been set.

To draw parts behind neighbor parts using hidden lines, set the advanced option XS_​CONSIDER_​NEIGHBOUR_​PARTS_​IN_​HIDDEN to TRUE.

You can adjust the color and type of the lines in the Representation section.

Reference lines Show reference lines.

On the drawing and view level, you have the following options available for parts:

  • Select the Main part: Beam, Plate or Polygon checkbox to show reference lines in main parts.
  • Select the Sec part: Beam, Plate or Polygon checkbox to show reference lines in secondary parts.

You can adjust the color and type of the lines in the Representation section.

Center line

Show center lines.

Note that the center line is only shown for assembly main parts and not for secondary parts when looking from the cross section direction. If the assembly is viewed from the side, the center line is also shown for secondary parts.

Note that the Symbol offset value affects the size of the center line cross. If the value is 0, the cross is not visible.

On the drawing and view level, you have the following options available for parts:

  • Select the Main part: Beam, Plate or Polygon checkbox to show center lines in main parts.
  • Select the Sec part: Beam, Plate or Polygon checkbox to show center lines in secondary parts.

You can adjust the color and type of the lines in the Representation section.

Orientation mark Show orientation marks.
Connecting side mark Show connecting side marks.
Pop mark Show pop marks defined in NC settings.
Edge chamfers Show edge chamfers.
Fillet edge Show fillet edges.

Representation type

Outline shows parts as solid objects.

Exact shows parts as solid objects. This option also draws the fillet edges and chamfers in the profile cross sections. For some profiles, Outline shows them as well.

Workshop form draws round tube profiles as wrap-around templates. Note that Workshop form can only be used in single part drawings.

Symbol draws parts as lines. Type the symbol offset in Symbol offset.

Symbol with partial profile shows a partial profile of the part. You can also adjust the length of the partial profile (Partial profile length), and the offset of the partial profile from the middle point of the part (Partial profile offset).

Bounding box draws parts as boxes surrounding the actual profiles. Bounding box is a good option to use with complex items with an extrema box containing many polygons that slow down drawings, because Bounding box makes drawings faster.

Base box shows parts as boxes and uses the h and b values from the profile catalog as box dimensions.

Symbol offset

Define the distance of the end points of reference lines and center lines from the end points of the object.

Note that the Symbol offset value affects the size of the center line cross. If the value is 0, the cross is not visible.

Bolt representation

This setting is only available on the drawing and view level for neighbor parts.

The options are:

solid

exact solid

Symbol

Symbol2

Symbol3

DIN symbol

User-defined symbol created in Symbol Editor.

The DIN symbol option corresponds to German standards (DIN). The only DIN symbols you can control are:

  • Symbol 24 for normal workshop bolts
  • Symbol 25 for normal site bolts
  • Symbol 26 for front countersunk site bolts
  • Symbol 27 for back countersunk site bolts
  • Symbol 28 for front countersunk workshop bolts
  • Symbol 29 for back countersunk workshop bolts
  • Symbol 30 for front countersunk holes
  • Symbol 31 for back countersunk holes

Symbol content

This setting is only available on the drawing and view level for neighbor parts.

Select whether to include hole or axis in the symbol.

Neighbor parts

This setting is only available in the drawing and view level properties for neighbor parts.

None does not show neighbor parts.

Connected parts shows all parts connected to the model object.

Connecting parts shows only the parts the model object is connected to.

All components combines the Connected parts and the Connecting parts options.

By extreme shows all parts within the boundaries of the main and secondary part.

Main/Secondary parts

This setting is only available on the drawing and view level for neighbor parts.

Main parts shows only neighbor parts that make the main part of an assembly or a cast unit.

Secondary parts shows only neighbor parts that are secondary parts of an assembly or a cast unit.

Both shows both main and secondary parts.

Skew parts

This setting is only available on the drawing and view level for neighbor parts.

Yes shows skew parts as neighbor parts in the drawing, No does not.

Bolts

This setting is only available on the drawing and view level for neighbor parts.

Yes shows the bolts in the neighbor parts, No does not.

Visible lines

Set the color and type of visible lines. Click the button to select a standard color or a custom color.

Section lines

Set the color and type of the section lines. Click the button to select a standard color or a custom color.

XS_SECTION_LINE_COLOR_RGB overrides the section line color set in the drawing, view, or object level properties.

Hidden lines

Set the color and type of the hidden lines. Click the button to select a standard color or a define a custom color.

Own hidden lines

Set the color and type of the own hidden lines. Click the button to select a standard color or a define a custom color.

Center line

Set the Color and type of the center lines. Click the button to select a standard color or to define a custom color.

XS_CENTER_LINE_TYPE overrides the center line type set in the drawing, view, or object level properties.

Reference lines

Set the color and type of the reference lines. Click the button to select a standard color or to define a custom color.

Bolts: Color

This setting is only available on the drawing and view level for neighbor parts.

Sets the color of the bolts in neighbor parts.

Fill

To add a hatch to outer part faces, use the Part faces area, and to add a hatch to cross sections in section views, use the Sections area.
Type

Define the hatch type to be used. Clicking the ... button next to the list opens a preview of the hatch patterns.

Automatic selects the hatch pattern automatically from the hatch pattern schema files.

None uses no hatch.

Color

Define the color for the fill.

Click the button to select a standard color or to define a custom color.

Background

Define the background color for the fill.

Background color selection is disabled for hardware hatches.

Click the button to select a standard color or to define a custom color.

Background color can be set for automatic hatches, but it has effect only if the automatic hatch is not defined for the material in the hatch pattern schema file.

Scale

Automatic scales and rotates the hatch automatically.

Custom allows you to select the scaling and rotation manually.

Scaling in X direction, Scaling in Y direction Define the scales in the X and Y directions.
Keep ratio of x and y

Retain the relative proportions in the fill.

Angle

The scaling angle rotates the hatch. For example, Angle 0.0 is for horizontal and Angle 90.0 for vertical rotation.

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