Advanced Smartsheets
Getting Started
This article will covered how to used the advanced aspects of the EdgeWise piping smartsheets. Most users will be familiar with the part info smartsheet and chain info smartsheet. However, most users are also only familiar with the normal tools available in these smartsheets from regular usage or trainings. There are more advanced features available in these smartsheets that might help in improving workflow efficiency and troubleshooting.
Advanced Smartsheets – Part Info Smartsheet
First, this article will cover the advanced options in the Part Info Smartsheet. To access this smartsheet, navigate to the Piping tab within EdgeWise. Next, click on the smartsheet drop down button and select Part Info Smartsheet (Q).
Part Info – Buttons
Fig 1: QA Mode Button
Fig 2: Part Info Buttons
The first button you’ll probably notice is the QA Mode button. For more detailed information on this button and its use, refer to this article here. You’ll find the rest of the buttons at the bottom of the Part Info Smartsheet.
Zoom will snap your camera into a down-the-barrel or broadside view of your selected pipe. This is similar to how the QA Mode works, however, this Zoom feature is accessible even while in perspective view.
Approve will set the approved drop down, for the currently selected pipe, to Yes. Alternatively, you can click the approve drop down and change it to Yes or No.
Refit will attempt to fit the currently selected pipe to the point cloud. This is especially helpful if you are working with rough point cloud data and need to move pipes around manually.
Delete will delete the currently selected pipe.
Part Info – Ribbon
Fig 3: Part Info Ribbon
Fig 4: Part Info – File
Export will export the part info smartsheet into an editable .csv file. This is especially helpful for cataloging all of the pipe parts that exist in your project.
Exit will simply close the Part Info Smarsheet. Alternatively, you can press the X button in the top right-hand corner, or press Q on your keyboard.
Fig 5: Part Info – Column Settings
Display Temp ID will add an additional column that shows the unique identifiers for each individual item. This is especially useful for when imports into other deliverables are missing items. A log file will be produced that gives an ID for each item that failed to be produced. These ID numbers are the same as what will display in the Temp ID column.
Display Diameter in Feet and Inches will add a column to your part info smartsheet that displays your pipe parts in feet and inches in addition to your current metric setting.
Display RMSE/Coverage will display an RMSE and Coverage percentage column. These columns are automatically display when you enter QA Mode.
Fig 6: Part Info – Options
Inspection Mode is a toggle that basically jumps you into QA Mode. Inspection Mode will keep you locked into orthographic and a down-the-barrel/broadside view of any pipe you select.
Zoom-in Display Mode allows you to switch your inspection, zoom, and QA views between down-the-barrel and broadside.
Fig 7: Zoom-in Display Mode
Column Style is a visual adjuster for the part info smartsheet.
Fig 8: Column Style
Grid Line Style is a visual adjuster for the part info smartsheet.
Fig 9: Grid Line Style
Advanced Smartsheets – Chain Info Smartsheet
The rest of this article will cover the advanced options in the Chain Info Smartsheet. To access this smartsheet, navigate to the Piping tab within EdgeWise. Next, click on the smartsheet drop down button and select Chain Info Smartsheet (I).
Chain Info – Buttons
Fig 10: Chain Info – Buttons
Zoom in the chain info smartsheet operates identically to the zoom button in the part info smartsheet. It will zoom in on your currently selected chain.
Clean will “clean” the currently select chain(s). See this article for more information.
Multi-Edit allows you to make a variety of adjustments to the selected pipe chains. See the Clean Pipes & Apply Standards and How to Utilize Layers articles.
Delete will delete the currently selected chain.
Chain Info – Ribbon
Fig 11: Chain Info – Ribbon
Fig 12: Chain Info – File
Export produces a .csv file of the information in the chain info smartsheet.
Exit will close the chain info smartsheet. Alternatively you can press the X button in the top right-hand corner or press the I key on your keyboard.
Fig 13: Chain Info – Column Settings
New Column will produce a new blank column in the chain info smartsheet. It is recommended to avoid this feature as it is known to cause crashes.
Display Temp ID displays the identification number column in the chain info smartsheet. However, the Temp ID column in the part info smartsheet is what is referenced by log files for import into other software.
Display Diameter in Feet and Inches will add a column to your part info smartsheet that displays your pipe parts in feet and inches in addition to your current metric setting.
Display Chain’s Middle Point will create three new columns in the chain info smartsheet. These columns will display the center X, Y, and Z coordinate points for your pipe chains.
Fig 14: Chain Info – Options
Inspection Mode, Zoom-in Display Mode, Column Style, and Grid Line Style are all explained above.
Fig 15: Chain Info – Layer Edit Mode
Layer Edit Mode allows you to change between Type-in Mode and Layer Spec Mode. Refer to [this article]how_to_utilize_layers for more information on Layers.
The Points column options have been known to cause issues. Ignore this column. The Help option opens up information about your version of EdgeWise as well as license information.
Utilizing Layer/Level Information in the Chain Info Smartsheet
Layer information is helpful in assigning a variety of information to your pipes before export. While this information doesn’t carry with every export option (ie STEP, centerlines, etc.) It can be very helpful with export formats like Revit, AutoCAD, etc. Knowing how to utilize layers will also be extremely helpful in performing certain actions in EdgeWise.
Accessing Layer Information
To view layer information for your pipe model, first navigate to the Piping tab in the ribbon. Next, click on the Smartsheet drop down and click Chain Info Smartsheet. Alternatively, you can click the I key on your keyboard. You should notice a column in this smartsheet labeled Layer/Level.
Fig 16: Chain Info Smartsheet Layer/Level Column
By default every chain in your project will have 0 in this column. However, you can type freely in this text box with any information you like. Alternatively, you can create your own custom layer group and assign layers via drop down menu. For information, view this article here.
How to Utilize Layer Information Effectively
It’s understandable how layer information can be helpful after exporting. For example, once you import all of your pipes into Revit, you can select all in instance your W-Water pipes and swap them with your proper family object. View this article. for more information on this workflow. But how can layer information speed up your workflow in EdgeWise?
One of the biggest reasons to utilize layer information, is to help more effectively use the multi-edit tool. This button can be found in the bottom of the chain info smartsheet, and allows you to edit information for multiple pipe chains.
Fig 17: Multi-Edit button
To utilize the multi-edit tool, you’ll need to make selections of pipes you wish to adjust. This can be information like standards, pressure ratings, Revit Family Type, and so on. If you were to perform your workflow in stages (ie clean, then apply standard, then adjust pressure rating, then adjust revit family type) you would need to re-select these pipes in the 3D view every time. This can be very time consuming.
Alternatively, if your pipe chains have layer information already assigned, selection becomes so much easier. Click the Layer/Level column at the top of the chain info smartsheet to sort everything in the table via Layer name. Now you can shift-select everything in that layer and easily clean or multi-edit.
Fig 18: Attempting to select pipes in the 3D view
Fig 19: Utilizing the Layer column to quickly select in the Smartsheet