Add associative notes in drawings

You can add associative notes in an open drawing. Associative notes are extra marks that contain additional information about the object they are attached to. Associative notes are intelligent, and updated according to the changes made in the related object in the model. You can add associative notes to building objects in drawings, such as parts, bolts, reinforcement, surface treatments, edge chamfers, reference objects, pour breaks, and pour objects. You can add multiple notes to one object, whereas you can only add one mark to one object.

In an open drawing, on the Annotations tab, click Note. Then hold down Shift and select one of the available commands:
- With applied values: Add an associative note using the current associative note properties at the position that you pick. The selected Leader line option is also applied.
- With leader line: Add an associative note with a leader line at the position that you pick. This command applies the current associative note properties, except for the Leader line option, which is predefined and cannot be changed.
- Without leader line: Add an associative note without a leader line at the position that you pick. This command applies the current associative note properties, except for the Leader line option, which is predefined and cannot be changed.
- Along line: Add an associative note using the orientation and angle that you specify, at the position you pick. This command applies the current associative note properties, except for the Leader line option, which is predefined and cannot be changed.
Alternatively, you can select the Add associative note command from the drawing property pane object list or from the context menu, or enter the command in Quick Launch. For these methods, the With applied values command is used by default, which means that the Leader line option defined in the current associative note properties is used.
You can load predefined note properties and search for properties:
In Object type, select the building object type.
This defines the building object to which you attach the note.
In the visual note editor:
- Select a note container, click the New element button to open the element list, and select the element to add in your note container. You can also click the editor background first and then click the New element button .
  The available elements vary according to the selected building object type.
- You can also search for elements. If you do not find a hidden attribute in the list, you can type the name of the attribute in the search box and press Enter to add it.
- To delete an element, click the red delete button in the upper-right corner of the element. You can also click the element, and press Delete on the keyboard.
- You can drag elements and element containers to another location.
- 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 best fit.

Modify the note properties.


Setting	Description
Font color, Font, Font height	Change the font color, type, and height. To change the font properties for the whole note, click the editor background. To change the font properties for a single element, click the element in the editor. Clicking ... gives more font choices. You can use a standard color or a custom RGB color.
Frame, Frame color	Add frame around the whole note (Outer frame) or its elements (Inner frame), and define the frame type and color. The Inner frame setting is enabled only when you have selected an element or an inner frame in the visual editor. You can also add a frame from the element list by clicking and selecting Frame. You can use a standard color or a custom RGB color.
Units, Format	If appropriate, change the unit and format. These properties are only available for elements indicating length or diameter.
Background	Select Opaque to hide the part of the drawing that is covered by the note. Select Transparent to show the part of the drawing that is covered by the note so that the line work is visible, for example.
Leader line, Arrow, Arrow height, Arrow length	Select the leader line type and define the desired leader line arrow properties. The Leader line options are: No leader line Leader line Along line Note that the selected Leader line option is applied only when you use the Add associative note with applied values command. Other associative note commands use predefined leader line values. You can also change the arrow type, arrow height, and arrow length of the leader line.
Alignment	Select one of the alignment options: Left Center Right Leader line
Rotation	Modify the rotation of the note by entering a new rotation angle.
Placing method	To place the note exactly in the position that you pick and keep it there, select Fixed. Free allows Tekla Structures to search for the first suitable location for the note. When you use the option Fixed, the mark stays where it is even though you update the drawing, whereas with Free, Tekla Structures tries to find the optimal place for the note. For more information about placing, see "Placement properties for marks, dimensions, notes, texts and symbols".
Position	Define the areas where Tekla Structures searches for a position to place the note.
Distances	Define the distances and the search margin. Distance s is the empty margin that you want to leave around the note. Distance d min is the minimum distance of the note from the part. Distance d max is the maximum distance of the note from the part. Note that if you use high values for Distance s and Distance d min, the note placement does not work properly.

Pick the necessary points depending on the associative note command that you selected:
- With applied values: Pick a point on the building object where you want to associate the note. Then pick one or more points depending on the selected leader line option.
- With leader line: Pick a point on the building object where you want to associate the note and then pick a position for the note.
- Without leader line: Pick a point on the building object where you want to associate the note and then pick a position for the note.
- Along line: Pick a point on the building object where you want to associate the note. Then pick a point to indicate the orientation and angle for the note. Finally, pick a position for the note.
Tekla Structures adds the associative note.

To add another note, continue picking. To stop adding notes, press Esc.

See below for some examples of associative notes. The one on the left is With leader line, the one in the middle No leader line, and the one on the right Along line.

Tip:

For edge chamfers and other hard-to-see items, it is easier to use the context menu command Add associative note because then you do not have to select the object again after selecting the command.

What happens if note content is not defined

When the note content in the properties is not defined for the object type you have selected in the drawing, the result depends on the setting of the advanced option XS_SHOW_EMPTY_MARKS. This user-specific advanced option is located in the Drawing properties category of the Advanced options dialog.

If you set XS_SHOW_EMPTY_MARKS to TRUE (default):

Tekla Structures creates the notes that have no content with the "Content not defined" text.
The following status bar message is displayed: "Marks without content have been created. Use XS_SHOW_EMPTY_MARKS to control this."
You can double-click the note and add the content in the property pane.

If you set XS_SHOW_EMPTY_MARKS to FALSE:

Tekla Structures creates the notes that have no content and selects these empty notes in the drawing.
The following status bar message is displayed: "Invisible marks without content have been created – Add elements to mark content and click Modify."
The property pane opens immediately indicating in the visual editor that the content is not defined, and you can add the desired content.

Modify associative notes

To modify the note properties, click the note. If the property pane is not open, double-click the note. If you want to modify several notes, hold down Ctrl and click the notes.
Click the Properties or Values button to show either the property name or the property value in the note editor view. These buttons are only available when you edit an existing note.
Modify the properties.
If you have selected several notes, the properties that have different values have the text Varies. You can select another value from the list.
Click Modify to apply the changes in all selected notes.

Delete unnecessary associative notes

To delete a note, select the note and press Delete on the keyboard, or right-click and select Delete. You can also delete notes by using Drawing content manager, where you can narrow your note selection by selecting certain drawing views, areas, or multiple notes.