Style Manager (Style Properties)

Where can I find this command?

Keyboard:

vaStyleProperties

Icon:

right click [left click]

Toolbar: Tools

Menu:

Shortcut:

How is this dialog organized?
Create a new object style
Delete an object style
Edit object styles
Tabs

The Style Properties dialog box (also called Style Manager dialog box) can be used to edit the style properties of the selected objects and to create new styles for that object. The following commands open the Style Manager for each object type:

Architectural objects:

Wall: vaWallStyles
Curtain Wall: vaCurtainWallStyles
Beam: vaBeamStyles
Column: vaColumnStyles
Door: vaDoorStyles
Window: vaWindowStyles
Opening: vaOpeningStyles
Stair: vaStairStyles
Railing: vaRailingStyles
Slab: vaSlabStyles
Roof: vaRoofStyles
Furniture: vaFurnitureStyles
Element: vaElementStyles

Documentation objects:

Space: vaSpaceStyles
Table: vaTableStyles
Tag: vaTagStyles
Annotation: vaAnnotationStyles
Guide: vaGuideStyles
Opening elevation: vaOpeningElevationStyles
Section Mark: vaSectionStyles
Section View: vaSectionViewStyles
Plan View: vaPlanViewStyles

When you run the vaStyleProperties command, the Style Properties dialog box appears.
This dialog box can be used to edit the style properties of the selected objects.

How is this dialog organized?

The Style properties dialog is divided into the following areas:

Style Properties dialog box, style properties of a window.

1. Toolbar

New: adds new object styles and new component items.
Delete: deletes any object style or object style component after its selection from the top left panel list.
Rename: changes the name of an object style or object style component after its selection from the top left panel list.
Up and Down arrows: change the position of components within an object style.
Option to show or hide the Preview window.
Option to display the object style in Plan or Perspective view in the preview window.

2. Styles list

It shows the list of styles for the objects selected when running the command. Click on the arrow (or triangle) next to the style or component name in order to expand it and see its sub-components.

Door style components

3. Preview window

It shows the object style selected in Plan or Perspective view. The preview can be changed with the mouse, similar to the method used in Rhino views:

Right mouse button: you can rotate the viewpoint to display the model from different points.
Ctrl + Right mouse button: you can zoom in or out to expand or reduce the field of view.
Shift + Right mouse button: you can move the viewpoint parallel to the plane of vision; upwards, downwards, right or left.

The preview allows the selection of the object style components directly on the model displayed. The selected component will be shown in the top left panel list.

4. Style settings

This area shows different settings and information depending on what is selected in the styles list on the top left panel:

When the general object styles folder is selected, this area shows the list of existing object styles. At the bottom of the dialog, the options to create a New Style, Duplicate or Delete an existing one from the list above appear.
When a specific object style or object style component is selected, this area shows the different tabs and properties from where you can edit the parameters of each object style.

Create a new object style

New styles can be created from the following options:

New icon , from the dialog toolbar. It shows two options depending on the object type:

Object style: a new style will be created with the standard parameters.

Grasshopper style: opens the grasshopper style wizard.
New style button : It shows two options depending on the object type:
- Object style: for some object types, it opens the New style wizard, whereas for others it creates a new style with the standard parameters.
- Grasshopper style: opens the grasshopper style wizard.
Context menu: right-click on the object style folder to display the context menu and select New > Object Style or Grasshopper Style.
Duplicate button: after selecting one style from the right panel list.

Styles dialog for the railing object
Style Manager dialog box for the Railing object.

New Style wizard

After clicking on New style... button, a wizard will guide you throughout the process, requesting the parameters of the object style defined in simple steps.

Only the Wall, Column, Door, Window, Stair and Table objects use the wizard to create new styles. Furthermore, some object style parameters can be only defined after the wizard is finished. (i.e. the object style attributes, the glass muntins for doors and windows, the stairs slab thickness, etc.).

The object types that don't use the wizard simply add a new object style at the end of the list, after clicking on the New style button.

Door style wizard.

Delete an object style

An object style can be deleted from different options:

Delete... button: select the object style folder to display the object styles list in the right panel. Select the object style you wish to delete and click on the Delete... button.
Context menu: right-click on the name of the object style you wish to delete and select Delete.
Delete icon : select the name of the object style you wish to delete and click on the delete icon in the dialog toolbar.

Note
Only object styles that are not being used by any existing objects in the model can be deleted.

Edit object styles

To edit an object style, select the object style or object style component and edit its properties in the tabs located in the right box. These tabs and properties can be different depending on the object type or object component.

To edit object styles created from Grasshopper definitions, do right click on the Style name and select Edit... This operation will open the New style Wizard for Grasshopper styles.

Tabs

Attributes

This tab is displayed for all objects that use a dialog box. The tab defines the features (attributes) of each object style and each of its components. The attributes vary depending on the object style they apply to.

Architectural object: Walls, Curtain walls, Beams, Columns, Doors, Windows, Openings, Stairs and Railings:
- General attributes
  - Layer
  - Visibility
  - Material
- Section and projection attributes:
  - Color
  - Linetype
  - Line print width
  - Line print color
  - Pattern
  - Pattern scale
  - Pattern angle
  - Pattern color
Documentation object: Spaces, Tables, Tags, Sections, Section Views and Plan Views:
- General attributes
  - Layer
  - Visibility
  - Text style
  - Dimension style
  - Color
  - Linetype
  - Line print width
  - Line print color
  - Pattern
  - Pattern scale
  - Pattern angle
  - Pattern color

Note
From the Material attribute of the object style, you can assign a different material to each object component. To assign a single material to the whole object, follow the usual procedure in Rhino.

Attributes tab at the wall styles dialog
Attributes tab in the wall styles dialog.

Geometry

All objects except stairs, slabs and roofs have this tab. The geometric values of each object and object component are defined in this tab.
Geometric values for the Wall object:

Height
Thickness (can only be edited for each wall layer)

Geometric values for the Beam and the Column object:

Height
Profile (defines the object shape)
Coating thickness (only for columns)

Geometric values for the Door, the Window and the Opening object:

Profile (defines the object shape)
Sizes (width and depth) for the frame and doorstop
Sizes (width and depth) and opening side for the leaf
Sizes (thickness, extension and depth) for the sill (only for Windows and Openings)

Geometric values for the Railing object components:

Rail component: Ending margins and style. Planar and non-planar joints.
Balusters: Top and bottom margins.

Sizes

This tab is only used for the objects that use profiles to define their shape (columns, doors, windows and openings). This tab is used to define the Sizes (width and height) of the profile used by the object. This option can be used to create different sizes for the same profile.

Blocks

This tab defines the 2D (Plan) and 3D (Model) representations of the object, assigning a block that has been previously created by the user.

This tab only appears for objects that can be created from blocks:

Doors
Windows
Openings
Columns
Furniture objects
Elements
Annotation objects

Construction and Wrapping

Only walls have this tab. This tab is used to define how the wall layers finish at the end caps of a wall, and at their encounter with openings. The construction tab is used to define the wall layers type and function.

Type

Only stairs have this tab. It is used to define the type of stair used, depending on whether the Balanced stair option is activated or not.

Steps

Only stairs have this tab, where the geometric values of the tread and riser slabs can be specified.

Geometric values for the Tread slab:
- Slab thickness
- Nosing
Geometric values for the Riser slab:
- Slab thickness

Division and Infill

Only Curtain walls have these tabs. They are used to define the parameters of the Cell component.