Project folder structure

The project folder contains all the files and folders in the project. At the top level, each block has its own folder, and additionally there are folders for various settings, Hull databases, and norms.

The following rules are valid for the project path:

  • Only ASCII characters are allowed.

  • Spaces are not allowed.

  • The following characters are not allowed: ' ^ # & $ , ~

  • The full project path must be unique; there cannot be two projects for which the full path only differs in casing (H:\HullProjects\Project1 and H:\HullProjects\project1, for example).

Blockname folders | a folder | ncgdb folder | norms folder | var folder |

Blockname folders

Each block has its own folder, named after the blockname (102, for example). A block folder contains the block's data such as views, drawings, sketches, and production data.

The subfolders include:

2d – Contains the 2D-drawings. These drawings do not have automatic relation to the 3D construction. Each view type is stored in its own subfolder:

  • boven – top view drawings
  • dwars – frame view drawings
  • haaks – perpendicular view drawings
  • zij – side view drawings
  • overig – other drawings

3d – Contains the 3D-drawings. Each view type is stored in its own subfolder:

  • boven – top view drawings
  • dwars – frame view drawings
  • haaks – perpendicular view drawings
  • zij – side view drawings
  • overig – other drawings

3dparts – Most 3D models are stored here by default. These models are created by the hull server, and they are in line with the latest changes in the database.

3dshow – Contains the isometric drawings created by the 3D-Show application. There are subfolders for the different types of drawings: hid for hidden, sha for shaded, and so on.

cgf – Contains the Outfitting model files (.cgfx).

pi – Production files are stored here by default: .dxf files, robot files, profile sketches, and reports.

sheet – Contains the sheet drawings. The sheet drawings are linked to the drawings in the 2d, 3d, 3dshow, and shell subfolders.

shell – Contains the shell drawings, each view type in its own subfolder:

  • boven – top view drawings
  • dwars – frame view drawings
  • haaks – perpendicular view drawings
  • zij – side view drawings
  • overig – other drawings

var – Contains all the files that are related to block-specific settings. Most of the settings are stored in the varia.var file.

a folder

Contains the db0.1config configuration file.

ncgdb folder

The ncgdb folder contains all the database files and folders related to construction databases, hull lines, and the shape and logistical database files. This folder also contains the como files for each block, which store most construction input actions, and the lock files (.sem, .lck) which prevent files from being opened by more that one application at the same time.

When an HDX project is converted to be used in the COS environment, the information in the var\seclist, varseclist.dat and norms\sectiongroup.dat) are combined into the projectinfo.xml located in this folder.

The subfolders are as follows:

  • a – Contains the attribute database files, the logistical database files, and the weld database files. Respectively: db0a<blockname>, db0l<blockname>, db0w<blockname>.
  • c – Contains the circle database files, db0c<blockname>.
  • cmexp – Contains the cm and gr database files.
  • p – Contains the construction database files, pk database files, relation database files, and the relation reference database files. Respectively, db0p<blockname>, db0pk<blockname>, db0r<blockname>, and db0rr<blockname>.
  • s – Contains the hull line database, and the shape files for Hull Viewer models (.hmv). The HL subfolder contains an additional folder for each hull line.
  • v – Contains files with Hull version information for each block. When an HDX project is converted to be used in the COS environment, the norms are converted if the database version in ncgdb/v/bnrversion.dat is <20.2.

norms folder

Contains one or more norms folders. Additionally, the norms folder contains most of the user-defined settings, and the project setup data needed for a project to run.

norms – Contains the files needed to create and present production information. Several norms folders can exist, but each block group can only have one norms folder. See Norms for more information about norms.

cvar – Contains global project settings and files. These are used for the whole project and are independent of the location's own norms folder. This folder is synchronized through the Hdx system whenever a norm set is sent from a project owner to participants.

lvar – Contains the local settings and files, that is, those which are only used in this location. These apply to all the norms folders, but are not synchronized through the HDX system.

var folder

The var folder contains settings and files related to the general project settings and administration.

When an HDX project is converted to be used in the COS environment, the information in the seclist and seclist.dat files (along with the norms\sectiongroup.dat) are combined into ncgdb\projectinfo.xml. In addition, the files seclist and seclist.dat (along with the norms\sectiongroup.dat) are renamed to seclist.classic and seclist.dat.classic.