Enable Typing Floor and Wall Dimensions within the Attribute Editor

Context

By default, floor and wall dimensions are set when the end user completes the task Create Floor and Walls. The application provides a default of 6 feet for the floor width, floor length, and wall height.

However, you can configure the task Create Floor and Walls to respect floor width, floor length, and wall height dimensions stored within the Underground Structure feature class. In other words, if the Underground Structure already has its dimensions saved as attributes, Diagram Manager defaults to using those dimensions.

This enhancement provides an easier method to set structure dimensions, as they are drawn from stored attributes instead of the end user having to re-type them (or accidentally accepting the incorrect defaults).

In summary, to enable this functionality:

Add new field model names to the geodatabase.
Add new fields to the Underground Structure feature class.
Assign the field model names to the new fields.

Create Structure Dimension Field Model Names

Create the field model names STRUCTUREFLOORLENGTH, STRUCTUREFLOORWIDTH, and STRUCTUREWALLHEIGHT. To do so, follow these sub-steps:

In ArcCatalog > Catalog Tree, right-click your database and choose Properties.
Click the Domains tab, if necessary.
Scroll down the list of domains until you find the Electric Field Model Name domain, then click it once to highlight.
At the bottom of the dialog, under Coded Values, scroll down to the bottom of the list until you find the first empty row.
Type STRUCTUREFLOORLENGTH for both the Code and the Description.
Repeat with STRUCTUREFLOORWIDTH and STRUCTUREWALLHEIGHT.

TIP: The fields do not accept a copy/paste. It looks like they do, but when you click OK, it clears them out. However, you can paste the model name in full, delete the last letter (in this case, “H” or “T”), then re-type it.
Click Apply, then OK to close the dialog.

Create Structure Dimension Attribute Fields

In the Underground Structure feature class, create new fields to store the structure dimensions. To do so, follow these steps:

In ArcCatalog > Catalog Tree, locate the Underground Structure feature class.
Right-click the Underground Structure feature class, then choose Properties.
On the Fields tab, add the fields:
- FloorLength - Double
- FloorWidth - Double
- WallHeight - Double
Click Apply, then click OK to close the dialog.

Assign Structure Dimension Field Model Names

Assign the new field model names to the new fields you just created in the Underground Structure feature class. To do so, follow these steps:

In ArcCatalog > Catalog tree, locate the Underground Structure feature class.
Right-click the Underground Structure feature class, then choose ArcFM Properties Manager.
On the Field Model Names tab, assign the field model names:
- FloorLength: STRUCTUREFLOORLENGTH
- FloorWidth: STRUCTUREFLOORWIDTH
- WallHeight: STRUCTUREWALLHEIGHT
Click Apply, then click OK to close the dialog.

End User Experience with Structure Dimensions

With this configuration complete, the Diagram Manager respects the values found in the Attribute Editor.

For example, imagine an end user inputs the length, width, and height into the Attribute Editor:

When they Launch Underground Facility Diagram Manager, those values are pre-populated for the floor and walls:

Keep the following in mind:

End users can still personally change the dimensions in Diagram Manager.
If the end users sketches a structure with null values in the Attribute Editor, Diagram Manager reverts to the last dimensions that were used in a diagram.
After saving the floor and walls, if the user returns to the Configure and Create pane, the dimensions are grayed out and display “0” for length, width, and height.