The following are steps for inserting a Block Shape in the Design World, which is a specific type of object in IRM, distinctive from previously covered drawing object types. A separate dedicated topic covers its properties in detail, while this topic demonstrates only creation and placement in a Design World Area.
Click on the Create Block Shape option in the Design World toolbox
The dialog displays a list of image files categorized for different types of Design World objects, as well as its preview of how it's going to be displayed in Design World. Selecting an image from the list enables the Save button, while click on it closes the dialog and displays the selected Block Shape in the Design World.
Additional features of the dialog:
The list of Categories displayed on the left of the list of Blocks enables the user to view specific sets of Blocks for different types of Design World objects. For example, a very convenient category is CAD Blocks, which refers to Blocks that are created as a part of CAD file import.
Note: Other Categories are for special purposes and are included in this dialog for the sake of completeness and as an alternate way for the user to "pencil in" Equipment or Locations for visualization purposes, if desired. However, Planet does not recommend that approach. Usually, a better practice is to add actual Equipment objects with the appropriate "Design" lifecycle stage set.
The selected Block Shape can be scaled by changing the Scale value in the appropriate text box in the top-left corner of the dialog.
In case the user doesn't find the appropriate Block Shape, this dialog allows to upload a new image from which IRM can create a Block. This is enabled by click on the + button in the top right corner of the dialog, which opens the standard browser File upload dialog.
Click anywhere in the Design World to set the position of the new Block Shape object.
In addition to inserting Block Shapes in the Design World, IRM supports additional actions for Block Shapes by way of context menu options:
View and edit Block Shape Properties (opens Style tab in the Block Shape Properties dialog, which is the same as the Decorative Drawing Object Properties dialog)
Additional notes about Blocks, Block Shapes, Images and Assets
In order not to confuse the objects mentioned above, it is necessary to review their basic properties and differences between them:
Object Type
Description
Block
A template/stencil for making Block Shape objects and for drawing Location, Maintenance Hole, and Equipment objects. A Block itself never appears directly in the Design World, or anywhere outside of the list of Blocks.
Block Shape
All instances of a Block Shape placed in the Design World references an associated Block definition.
Asset
An object that contains the actual byte array of an image file or other binary object and metadata about the content.
Image
This is a type of geometry object in IRM (along with Line, Text, etc.), which is based on a single image file (.png, .jpg, etc.) that has been imported and stored as an Asset in IRM. Note that the same Asset can underlie multiple Images and Blocks.
If a Block Shape is saved under e.g. Equipment Blocks Category in the Block Shape Properties dialog, this means it will be available for any Equipment Type to select it as a Block Shape to represent it in the Design World. This is done in the Appearance tab in the Equipment Type Properties dialog.
That tab looks the same as the Block Shape Properties dialog, with a few different details, like the different categorization, as displayed in the screenshot below:
In addition to the Appearance tab, Assets that are selected by default to be shown in the Elevation image galleries for that Type are also shown in the Appearance accordion section in the General tab of the Equipment Type Properties dialog:
Different varieties of supported Assets :
Equipment Type Elevation Texture - added via the Appearance tab in the Equipment Type Properties dialog, which basically displays a list of Block Shapes, similarly as the Block Shape creation dialog introduced at the beginning of this section
Category Elevation Texture Assets - added also via the Appearance tab, but in the Category Properties dialog, and only for child Categories of the Equipment "By Function" Category. This tab looks and works the same as for the Equipment Type Properties dialog.
