Systems

Systems enable meaningful categorization of the different types of entities in plant and marine design. This can be a very high-level categorization or very detailed, as appropriate in each project. For example, all water piping can be arranged into a single System called Water or divided into multiple Systems such as Hot Water, Cold Water, Waste Water, and so on.

In CADMATIC, Systems are COS objects and each System can have its own properties and COS attributes that define its purpose. In general, the System objects are used for the following:

  • To provide a mandatory single-level hierarchy for all model objects.
  • To provide a mandatory higher hierarchy level for the line objects: Pipelines, Cable Trays and Ductlines. Each such object must belong to a System.
  • To provide System-specific process information to objects that belong to the System.
  • To define the default visual appearance (color & shading) of objects that belong to the System.
  • To provide users with a simple way to select objects based on their belonging to Systems.

Model objects and line objects inherit all attributes from the System to which they belong. If the same attributes are directly assigned to the model objects or line objects, then the attribute values inherited from the System are ignored.

About defining systems in projects

Each process-flow medium is usually one System. When defining non-piping Systems, you can have one System or multiple Systems, as appropriate.

We recommend that you use multiple Systems instead of just one whenever there is some practical reason for doing so. This reason can be, for example, the need to have a different visual appearance, the need for more accurate grouping of objects (for example, in visualization or in listings), or the need to use a different value in a System-related attribute. In piping, the System-related attribute can be, for example, default insulation class, layer in AutoCAD® conversion, density of fluid, or material of gaskets. In cabling, it can be, for example, cable's interference class. We do not recommend Systems to be based on geographical distribution.

Service Platforms

One System:

  • Platforms

Several Systems:

  • Beam
  • Grating
  • Platform
  • Railing

Building

One System:

  • Building

Several Systems:

  • Building floor
  • Building column
  • Building wall
  • Building floor support
  • Building roof
  • Building grouting

Cable Trays

One System:

  • Cable Trays

Several Systems:

  • Cable Tray – Instrumentation
  • Cable Tray – Strong current
  • Cable Tray – Lighting