Hole requests

Hole requests store the information that is needed for making a hole in a model object that has been created in another software program ("peer application") and imported to Plant Modeller:

• Hole type.
• Hole properties: shape, dimensions, location and orientation.
• Reference to the target object.
• Reference to a possible "trigger object" such as a pipe or a door that creates the need to make the hole.
• Status of the request. This can be, for example, that the request has or has not been sent to the peer application.

• Hole requests
• About Hole Request objects
• Properties of Hole Request
• Activate Hole Requests
• Retarget hole requests

About Hole Request objects

Hole requests are objects whose COS object type (obt) is "Hole Request". Their properties can be viewed in the Miscellaneous section of the Properties pane or the Object properties dialog.

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In addition to containing important information, the hole request object can act as a temporary visual marker in the 3D model. The Plant Modeller user can select whether to show or hide hole requests in the area model, as described in Inactivity filter.

Users can create hole requests in the following ways:

• Explicitly by using the New Request command of the Hole Manager tool.
• Implicitly by inserting a model object that requires an opening (see Place openings) or by creating a pipe penetration (see Penetration).

The created hole request is managed by an application-specific Agent. For example, hole requests for CADMATIC Hull Classic require a Hull Agent to be watching the folder <project>.pms/Site/pm/AgentRequests/<AgentName>.pm/ for new hole request files (.req) to appear. Hulltool profile informs the Hull Agent where the Hull program is located, and without this file requests cannot even be created.

So, if using CADMATIC Hull with HDX server (or NAPA integration) and a new hole request has been created, the Agent that controls the target object where the hole is to be made also takes control of the hole request object. The Agent forwards the request to the peer application which then processes the request. After the peer application has responded to the request, the Agent relinquishes control of the hole request object, and one of the following happens:

• If the peer application accepted the request, the model geometry is updated to include the requested hole. The hole request object still remains—each implemented hole should have the associated hole request object. To ensure this, the Hole Manager tool denies attempts to delete hole request objects that have resulted in a hole being cut.

• If the peer application rejected the request, it should add the reason for this to the hole request object, and the Plant Modeller user should then investigate this reason.

After creating a hole request, it is not necessary to instantly connect to the peer application. The peer application and its database that contains the target steel structure do not even have to be installed at the site which requests the hole to be made. At a certain point, Plant Modeller connects to the peer application and sends the hole request. The peer application sends back the changed status of the hole request ("NewAccepted") and the updated geometry (such as a plate with a new hole). As this might take some time, from a few minutes to several days, Plant Modeller stores the hole request and its state over multiple user sessions, if needed.

Hole requests are fully supported in distributed design. Hole request objects travel across the network via normal COS replication and Agent-based area update mechanisms, to the site where they can be added to the database of the peer application. Then, the steel structures with the new holes travel in the opposite direction, back to the Plant Modeller area which ordered the hole.

All hole request objects belong to the "HoleRequests" System (id 6007) for CADMATIC Hull or to the "NAPA HoleRequests" System (id 6109) for NAPA.

For general information on Agents, see Administrating agents and service requests.

Properties of Hole Request

The Properties of Hole Request dialog opens when you are creating a new hole request or editing the properties of an existing hole request. You can use this tool to select the shape of the hole and to define its dimensions, location, and orientation. Moreover, you can use it to lock or unlock a hole if the target object of the hole request is a CADMATIC Hull object. If the hole request has a trigger object (such as a pipe or a door), editing the parameters is restricted to prevent the user from requesting a hole that is unsuitable for the trigger object. If the trigger object is changed after creating the hole request, the hole request might need an "update from trigger" operation.

• Move – Allows moving the hole request by first selecting the target object and then a point on this target object.

• Move to – Allows moving the hole request by specifying a new location for it.

• Rotate – Allows rotating the hole request around the axis defined by the intersection of the hole request's width and height axes. The rotation is defined by selecting a new direction for the width axis.

• Set target – Allows specifying a new target object for a hole request that has lost its association to the target object or is associated with a wrong target object. This might be needed, for example, if the target object is a plate that has been split after creating the hole request.

• Set trigger – Allows selecting a model object that is to function as the trigger object of the hole request.

• Edit shape – This command is only used with the custom shape hole type; it opens a 2D view where the polyline of the custom shape can be edited.

• Fix thickness – This command is only used when conversion from the pre-2019T3 hole request format has caused angled hole requests to become shorter. If you have such problematic hole request objects in the model, run this command on those objects.

• Update from trigger – Opens a dialog for updating the shape, dimensions, location, and rotation of the hole request, based on the properties of the trigger object. This might be needed if the trigger object has been modified without checking out the hole request.

  

Activate Hole Requests

In the Hole Manager dialog, clicking Activate Holes opens the Activate Hole Requests dialog. This dialog lists Plant Modeller objects that intersect a hull structure such as a bulkhead or a deck plate but do not have a hole request yet.

Object that are listed in this dialog meet one of the following criteria:

• Object type is Equipment and the associated component model contains a node whose primary face type is Hole (DM_CT_HOLE).

• Object type is Standard Component, the associated component model uses a suitable geometry type (DM_GT_2P, DM_GT_ASYMCURVE, DM_GT_FIXCURVE, DM_GT_FLEXCOMP or DM_GT_PENETR), and the Dimension Table of the component has a dimension attribute by the name "PlHoleDia".

• Object type is Piping Part, the associated component model uses a suitable geometry type (DM_GT_2P, DM_GT_ASYMCURVE, DM_GT_FIXCURVE, DM_GT_FLEXCOMP or DM_GT_PENETR), and the Dimension Table of the component has a dimension attribute by the name "PlHoleDia".

To create hole requests for these objects, check out the objects, select the objects from the list (or use Pick), and then click Activate. The Properties of Hole Request dialog opens for each of the selected objects, and you can define their properties.

Retarget hole requests

Opening the Hole Manager dialog runs automatic retargeting for hole requests that are checked out to you and require retargeting. First the automatic retargeting tries to find a matching hole node from the area model. If that fails, then it tries to find the target object by using collision detection. In some cases, collision detection finds more than one potential target, and the correct target must be selected manually. If the user cancels automatic retargeting while it runs, the hole requests that the process already managed to retarget also remain as retargeted.

In the Hole Manager dialog, the Retarget button opens the Retarget hole requests dialog, listing the hole requests that still require retargeting. In this dialog, you can perform automatic or manual retargeting for hole requests that are checked out to you and automatic retargeting for hole requests that are checked in.

Use the tools in the dialog to resolve the problems, if possible. Successfully retargeted hole requests are removed from the list. If the retargeting attempt fails, the reason (such as "Could not find target" or "Multiple targets found") is displayed in the Status column.

• Columns – Allows selecting which columns are displayed in the dialog.

• Auto retarget – Attempts to automatically assign a target object for the selected hole requests.

• Manual retarget – Allows you to manually assign a target object for the selected hole requests.

• Browse – Shows the selected hole request in the model.

• Query object – Allows you to pick an object from the model and then shows its properties in the Object properties dialog.

• Pick – Allows you to pick a hole request from the model and then highlights that hole request in the list.

• Retarget checked in – Attempts to automatically assign a target object for checked-in hole requests. This operation checks out all hole requests and runs automatic retargeting, and those that it fails to retarget are left checked out to you and shown in the list, so that you can retarget and check them in manually.

• Check in – Checks in the selected hole requests and removes them from the list.