Add automatic dimensions to general arrangement drawings

In the general arrangement drawing General - Dimensioning Properties dialog, you can create part, grid and overall dimensions, and control the way they are created. You can experiment with different combinations of options to achieve different kinds of dimensioning effects.

Dimension GA drawings

On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties > GA drawing.
Load drawing properties that are as close to the ones you need as possible.
Click Dimensioning...
Select the dimensions to create and modify the related settings.
On the Grid tab, adjust the grid dimension and overall dimension creation settings and the positioning of the dimensions.
On the Parts tab, adjust part dimension creation settings and the positioning of the dimensions.
Click OK and create the drawing.

Object groups in dimensioning general arrangement drawings

When dimensioning general arrangement drawings, the term object group refers to objects that have been grouped together for the purpose of dimensioning object groups on different dimension lines.

You can use the object groups (selection filters) that you have created in the model, or create the necessary groups through the Parts tab in the General - Dimensioning Properties dialog using the Object groups button. For example, you might want to create an object group for beams of a certain size.

Dimension object groups on different dimension lines

You can use object groups to specify different objects to be dimensioned on different dimension lines.

On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties > GA drawing.
Click Dimensioning, and go to the Parts tab
Add the desired object groups to dimensioning rules by clicking Add rule and selecting the rule from the list in the Object group column.
If needed, you can create new object groups by clicking Object group. For example, add object group rules for beams of different size.
For each object group, select the Positioning option, the Horizontal position option, and the Vertical position option, depending on the type of the objects in the group.

For example, for beam groups, set Horizontal position to Left side to position the beam dimensions to the left side of the grid.
If needed, in the Tag column, enter the text tags that you want to display for the different object groups in the drawing. For example, enter the size of the beam.

Example

In this example, several beam groups were created, one for each beam size to be dimensioned, then the position for the dimensions in different groups was selected, and tags were added displayed for each group:

Example: Grid and overall dimensions

Here are some examples of what the grid and overall dimensions look like in general arrangement drawings with different settings selected on the Grid tab.


Dimensioning setting	Example

Grid line dimensions = On Overall dimension = On Horizontal = Left Vertical = above
Grid line dimensions = On Overall dimension = Off Horizontal = Left Vertical = above

Example: Maximum leader line length options

Here are some examples of how the dimensions are positioned when you have set values for the Maximum leader line length options Outside dimensions and Inside dimensions on the Parts tab.


Dimensioning setting	Example
A value has been set for Outside dimensions.
A value has been set for Inside dimensions.

Example: Dimension parts partly outside the view

Here is an example of how the parts are dimensioned if you set the option Include parts not entirely in the view to On on the Parts tab of the General - Dimensioning properties dialog.

Example: Limit the number of outside dimensions

Here is an example of what the part dimensions look like when you set 3 as the value for the option Maximum number of outside dimensions on the Parts tab in general arrangement drawing dimensioning properties. Tekla Structures creates three dimensions outside the grid and the fourth inside the grid.

Example: Position part dimensions

Here are some examples of how the part dimensions are positioned in general arrangement drawings with different positioning settings selected on the Parts tab.

In the example below, Positioning is set to Inside grid, which places all dimensions next to or near the grid.

In the example below, Positioning is set to Outside grid, which places all dimensions outside the grid.

In the example below, Horizontal position is set to Left side, which places all dimensions to horizontal parts to the left of the grid.

In the example below, Horizontal position is set to Right side, which places all dimensions to horizontal parts to the right of the grid.

In the example below, Horizontal position is set to Distributed to both sides, which places all dimensions to horizontal parts to the side of the grid nearest the part they are dimensioning.

In the example below, Vertical position is set to Above, which places all dimensions to vertical parts above the grid.

In the example below, Vertical position is set to Below, which places all dimensions to vertical parts under the grid.

In the example below, Vertical position is set to Distributed to both sides, which places all dimensions to vertical parts to the side of the grid nearest the part they are dimensioning.

Example: Dimension anchor bolt plans

Here are some examples of what the dimensions in anchor bolt plans look like in different situations.

First an example of a typical situation, where all columns are located in grid line intersections:

If the column reference point is not located on the grid line, Tekla Structures dimensions the reference point automatically relative to the grid lines. See the example below.

If the column is rotated relative to the drawing, the rotation is also automatically dimensioned. See the example below.

If you set the advanced option XS_ANCHOR_BOLT_PLAN_USE_VIEW_COORDSYS_FOR_BOLT_DIMENSIONS to FALSE and create the drawing, all dimensions are in the drawing coordinate system.