2.2.3.

3 Master Drawing Catalog

The Master drawing catalog (MDC) is used for creating drawings. It consists of three
different types of items:
saved drawing property settings
rule sets (previously known as wizards)
drawing cloning templates

All contents of the MDC can be localized. Content of the catalog is populated t by looking
for items in the Tekla structures default folder search order i.e. firm folder, project folder,
system folder etc. Cloning templates in the folder defined by environment variable
XS_CLONING_TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY are shown in the catalog also. Default folder is
\environments\<your_environment>\cloning_templates. Users can create their own
content in addition to the content that comes from the environment.
MDC saves its settings into masterCatalog.xml file under model folder. It also creates
<drawingname>.master files that contain the properties dialog settings for each drawing
cloning template, saved setting, and rule set. The *.master files are located in drawings
folder under model.
It is easiest to localize MDC so that you edit the
settings through the MDC user interface. MDC saves
the settings under the model folder. Then copy the
masterCatalog.xml file, the *.master files and the
*.png files from the model folder to the
environment/system or role specific folder. Each
MDC item can contain description and keywords for
efficient searching. For each item in the catalog, it is
recommended that each field in the properties
window of the MDC is filled.

2.2.3.3.1 Applying drawing object level settings through Master Drawing Catalog
You can apply drawing object level settings in the drawings that you create in Master
Drawing Catalog for the saved settings type of master drawings:
Double-click the saved setting you want to use for creating drawings
Click Edit drawing properties
Click Edit settings
Select the filter to be used, the drawing object type and the drawing object
property file to be used
Click OK.
Click Save to save the changes in the saved settings file (property file)
Click OK in the Master Drawing Properties dialog box
Create the drawing(s)
2.2.3.3.2 Preview pictures / thumbnail pictures
It is recommended to create a preview picture for each item in the catalog. Preview pictures
are a great way to make it easier for users to find correct type of drawing settings.
Catalog is able to read most common graphic formats such as png and jpg. Png is
recommended format as it is smaller in size. Catalog creates a thumbnail of the preview
picture which is shown in the thumbnails view. Preview picture should be a pure snapshot
of the drawing that the item creates.

MDC saves the preview picture with name <saved setting name>.png and the thumbnail
with name <saved setting name>.master.png. These files are stored under drawings
folder under model folder. These two files, with the saved setting, should be placed into the
environment so that MDC finds them system or role specific folder.
2.2.3.3.3 Rule sets (wizards)
Use the MDCs rule set creation method for creating new rule sets. Thus it is easy for the
user to modify them if needed. It is recommended to re-create old existing wizards with the
MDC. However, MDC is able to use also old existing wizards.

Select drawing type, set object group and associated master drawing and give rule set
information. The rule sets are saved under models attributes folder with *.xdproc.master
extension.

2.2.3.3.4 Drawing cloning templates

You can show cloning templates in other models in the Master Drawing Catalog and create
drawings using them. Create a master drawing model with finalized A, C and W drawings.
Select the drawings one by one from the drawing list and right click > Add to Master
Drawing Catalog.

See Drawing > Modifying drawing settings > Managing Master Drawing Catalog > Adding
master drawings in Master Drawing Catalog > Adding a cloning template for detailed
instructions.
After saving copy the model with all its sub-folders into location pointed by variable
XS_CLONING_TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY. It can contain several master drawing models.
2.2.3.3.5 Cloning settings
The following objects can be cloned:
Dimensions
Marks for welds added in the drawing
Marks for welds added in the model
Modeling welds are cloned only if XS_INTELLIGENT_CLONING_ALLOWED is
set to TRUE.
Level marks
Revision marks
Annotation objects
Texts
Symbols
Graphical drawing objects (shapes)
Text files
DWG/DXF files
Hyperlinks

See more info about cloning in Drawing > Creating drawings > Cloning drawings and
Drawing > Editing drawings > Associative annotation objects
Lot of the cloning setup is done with environment variables. Check the following variable
settings for cloning:
XS_DRAWING_ALLOW_NEW_SECTIONS_IN_REDIMENSIONING
XS_DRAWING_CHECK_VIEW_FRAME_AFTER_EDIT

XS_DRAWING_UPDATE_VIEW_PLACING
XS_FIX_FRAME_OF_FIXED_MODELVIEW
XS_HIGHLIGHT_ASSOCIATIVE_DIMENSION_CHANGES
XS_INTELLIGENCE_DELETE_RIGHT_ANGLE_DIMENSIONS
XS_INTELLIGENCE_DO_NOT_REMOVE_OBSOLETE_VIEWS
XS_INTELLIGENCE_MAX_PART_COUNT
XS_INTELLIGENCE_MAX_PLANE_COUNT
XS_INTELLIGENCE_MAX_RULE_COUNT
XS_INTELLIGENT_DRAWING_ALLOWED
XS_INTELLIGENT_MESSAGES_ALLOWED
XS_INTELLIGENT_UPDATE_ADD_DIMENSIONS
XS_INTELLIGENCE_PREFER_PARTCUTS_FOR_SECTIONVIEW_IN_CU
XS_INTELLIGENT_CLONING_ALLOWED
XS_INTELLIGENT_CLONING_ADD_DIMENSIONS
XS_RECREATE_MARKS_IN_INTELLIGENT_CLONING
XS_RECREATE_UNMODIFIED_DRAWINGS

2.2.3.3.6 Folder structure in MDC

MDC provides a way to classify different types of drawings into folders. Users can create
their own folders, but it is recommended that some kind of folder structure is created in the
environment. Folder structure is stored in the masterCatalog.xml file.
See also Drawing > Modifying drawing settings > Managing Master Drawing Catalog
2.2.3.3.7 Steps to MDC localization in brief
Create all saved settings and rule sets you want in a TS model, if you create new
rule sets, use MDC rule set creation wizard instead of old wizard text files
Create a preview picture for each saved setting and rule set. Do this by creating a
sample drawing with each setting and rule set and using the Create Preview
Image command in Tools menu (drawing editor). Images in png-format.
Open MDC in the model
Use the Edit properties command for each saved setting and rule set. Enter
name, description, keywords and path to the preview picture you created.
Add drawing cloning templates into MDC. Do this by first creating the drawing,
then using the Create Preview Image command to create a preview image and
then adding the drawing to the MDC by using contextual menu command Add to
Master drawing catalog in Drawing list
Create the folder structure in the Folder view of MDC. Add individual master
drawings to folders with the Add to command in the context menu of each master
drawing.
Copy masterCatalog.xml file from the model folder into environment folder.
Environment folder points directly to the environment, for example Finland, not its
sub-folders.
Copy *.master and *.png files from drawings and attributes folders to the
corresponding folders in environment

If you created new saved settings, rule sets (*.xdproc files, located in attributes
folder under model), or object groups for rule sets, copy them to the environment
folder
If you created drawing cloning templates, copy the model in to the folder defined
by XS_CLONING_TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY

2.2.3.4 Cloning template models

You can show cloning templates in other models in the Master Drawing Catalog and create
drawings using them. These models containing cloning template are called Cloning
template models and they are located in cloning_templates folder under your
environment. You can have several different cloning template models for different kinds and
types of drawings. The cloning template models are most useful when single part,
assembly or cast unit drawings with lot of manual editing of similar objects are produced
from project to project hollow core slabs, beams, columns, trusses etc. Create example
parts and finalized drawings of them. Make then the drawings to cloning templates as
shown in previous chapter.
To use cloning templates from other models:
In the Master Drawing Catalog, click the Select models where Cloning templates
are collected button to open the Models Containing Master Drawings dialog box.

To use cloning templates in other models, click Add model and browse to the
desired model.

Click OK.
The selected model appears in the list

and the cloning templates from that model are displayed in MDC

The cloning template model information is written into the masterCatalog.xml file in
ForeignModels section:

Empty the folder path and save the file into your system folder. All cloning template models
in location defined by the environment variable XS_CLONING_TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY
are shown in the catalog. Default folder is \<your_environment>\cloning_templates.
Note! You can use only cloning template type of master drawings from other models,
not other types of master drawings.

2.2.3.4.1.1 View-specific dimension cloning

You can clone the dimensions separately for the selected view only. With this feature, you
can, for example, create automatic dimensions in the front view and clone the dimensions
in section and end view. The feature related to dimension creation in the View Properties
dialog box has been renamed to Dimension creation method in this view and the option to
select to clone the dimension in a specific view is Clone. Other options are Automatically
and Do not create. To clone the view dimensions:
Double-click the view frame to open the View Properties dialog box
Select Dimension creation method > Clone on the Attributes 2 tab
Save the settings
The dimension cloning options in the Clone Drawing dialog box affect all views, whereas
with "Dimension creation method in this view" in the View Properties dialog box you can set
the dimension creation method for the selected view only. Selecting Clone as the
dimension creation method overwrites the dimension cloning option selected from the
Dimensions list box in the Clone Drawing dialog box. Examples of different combinations of
selections:
If you select Dimension > Ignore, the dimensions will be cloned only for those
views that have Dimension creation method in this view set to Clone.
If you select Dimension > Clone, the dimensions will be cloned for all views.
If you select Dimension > Create, the dimensions will be created for all views
except for those that have Dimension creation method in this view set to Do not
create.