Opening styles
right click
[left click]
The opening style defines the Opening features. You can define the following parameters in each Opening style: Name, Attributes, Shape (geometry) and Custom blocks.
Opening styles are defined by an Opening Frame component that can be added or deleted at any time.
Different parts and components of an opening:
- 1: Opening profile
- 2:
Opening Frame
After running the vaOpeningStyles command, the opening Style Manager dialog box will appear. All opening styles are created and edited from this dialog.
Style Manager dialog box for the opening object
New opening style:
You can create new styles and duplicate existing ones from the different options in the opening Style Manager.
Delete an opening style:
You can delete opening styles from the opening Style Manager dialog box. You can only delete those styles that are not being used by any existing opening in the model.
- Use the vaStyleProperties command, then select an opening and press Enter, or
- Right click on
,
then select an opening and press Enter, or - Select an opening and open the context menu by pressing the right mouse button for a while then select Opening > Style Properties, or
- Press Alt, Shift or Ctrl then double click on an opening object.
Edit an opening style:
Select the opening style or the opening component item from the top left panel and edit their different parameters from the tabs that appear in the right panel.
Add an opening component:
- Context menu: right-click on the opening style name to open the context menu and select New > "Component item".
- New icon
: select the opening style and click on the New icon from the dialog toolbar. Select New > "Component item".
Delete components: use the context menu (right-click on the component
you wish to delete and select Delete) or the Delete button 
.
Attributes
Attributes define the features of each opening style and its components for display and print purposes. The valid attributes are:
- General: Layer, Visibility and Material
- Projection: Color, Linetype, Line print width and Line print color
- Section: Color, Linetype, Line print width, Line print color, Pattern, Pattern scale, Pattern angle and Pattern color
Shape
The opening shape (or rough opening) is defined by a profile. VisualARQ offers a library with predefined parametric profiles: Rectangular, Circular, 90� Arc, Gothic, etc.
Customized shape profiles can also be used to define Openings.
To add a customized profile, draw a closed and flat curve and convert it into
a profile using the vaProfileFromCurve command
.
Once the custom profile has been created, it will appear at the end of the list of preset parametric profiles library.
The resulting profile is not parametric, so it can only be used with the dimensions and proportions of the original drawing.
Sizes
The parameters corresponding to the sizes of an opening will depend on the type of profile selected.
Different sizes can be specified for the same opening style.
The sizes can also be specified at any time when inserting the opening from the insert dialog box by choosing the Sizes > Other option in the Profile section of this panel.
Opening components
Frame
The opening styles can have a frame.
To add a frame to an opening, in the Opening styles list, right click on the
Opening name then choose New > Opening
frame.
To delete the frame from the opening, in the Opening styles list, right click on the
Opening frame name and choose Delete.
The frame Width and Depth values can be edited. In addition, the Adjust depth to wall thickness option can be enabled.
Opening from custom blocks
The opening styles can be created with 2D and 3D blocks that define their representation in the plan and model views, respectively.
To create a custom opening style, assign a profile (which defines the shape of the rough opening on the wall), a
2D block (which defines the plan representation) and a 3D block (which defines the model representation).
Steps:
- Create a custom profile: Draw a closed and flat curve and convert
it into a profile using the vaProfileFromCurve command
.
Once the custom profile has been created, it will appear at the end of the list of the preset parametric profiles library.
The resulting profile is not parametric, so it can only be used with the dimensions and proportions of the original drawing. - Create the 2D and 3D blocks: Create the 3D model and draw the 2D representation from it. Then, create two blocks from them with the Block command (Edit menu > Block > Create Block Definition).
- Create the new Opening style: Once you have created the profile and the 2D/3D blocks, press the
New style button in the Style Manager dialog box. Use the wizard displayed to assign a custom profile to the style.
Skip the steps where the opening style parameters are defined by pressing the Next button until the custom block definition dialog box is displayed.
Select the checkbox that enables the options to use custom blocks for the model and plan views in the Custom blocks dialog box. Once they have been enabled, select the 3D and 2D blocks in the drop-down menu to define the opening style representation in those views.
Before creating the blocks (2D/3D), make sure that the objects you wish to convert in VisualARQ openings are aligned with the universal X, Y and Z axes (WCS).
Once you have aligned the objects with the WCS, choose the lower center point of your geometry as the insertion point when creating the block.
This will guarantee that the orientation of the opening is correct.
Opening creation, block definition
When 3D and 2D blocks are used to define the representation of a custom style, the Sizes and Frame parameters do not have an effect on the appearance of the style created. Custom styles are NOT parametric: their appearance (size, proportion, level of detail) depends on the block drawing used to define them.
VisualARQ can also create hybrid opening styles, replacing only the plan view (with a 2D block) and using the model view of a parametric style or vice versa.
The representation that does not use a block must be defined with style parameters (Sizes and Frame), as in any standard opening style.