Symbol Design Tutorial Part 2: What Fills Do inside a Shape



  
 Applies To 
  
 Product(s):gINT Logs, gINT Professional, gINT Professional Plus
 Version(s):8.x
 Environment: N\A
 Area: Symbol Design
 Subarea: N\A
 Original Author:Kathleen Holcomb, Bentley Technical Support Group
  

Note: This exercise requires the use of training.gpj project and training.glb library available from: download.aspx.  Instructions for unzipping and setting up these files is on: using gint downloaded examples.aspx.

Symbol Design Tutorial Part 2: What Fills Do inside a Shape

Let’s experiment with applying some fills and notice how they behave. Do the following:
  1. Important: Ensure that training.glb is the current library and training.gpj is the current project.
  2. Go to DRAWINGS  General Drawings.
  3. Select the Rectangle tool, and create a rectangle with a first point of ‘0,0’ and a second point of ‘3, 1’ (using the coordinates box at lower left).
  4. Select the Rectangle tool again, and create a rectangle with a first point of ‘4,0’ and a second point of ‘7,3’.
  5. Select the Zoom Window tool and draw a zoom rectangle that just surrounds the two rectangles in the drawing. This displays them in a closer view.
  6. Double-click on one of the edges of the rectangle at left. The POLYLINE PROPERTIES window opens.
  7. Click the Browse button to the right of Fill Type[!Symbol] text box. Select a Type of ‘Solid’ and click OK.
  8. Click the Configuration tab. In the Override Fill Color drop-down list, select ‘Very Light Red’. Click OK.
  9. The rectangle appears in solid black. To see its actual color, click the Preview  icon, then close the preview.
  10. Double-click the left rectangle. Click the Browse button on the Fill Type[!Symbol] text box, select a Type of ‘TILE’, and a Symbol of ‘LINE30D01’ (to go to this symbol in the Symbol dropdown list, press the ‘L’ key when the list is showing).
  11. Click OK to close the Fill Symbol dialog box, and again to close the POLYLINE PROPERTIESdialog box. The rectangle is filled with a pattern of diagonal lines. Click Preview to see that the lines are red, and then close the preview.

  12. Double-click the left rectangle, click the Browse button on the Fill Type[!Symbol] text box, select a Type of ‘MATL’ and a Symbol of ‘GP-GC’. Click OK to save the fill symbol, and again to close the POLYLINE PROPERTIES.
  13. Double-click an edge of the right rectangle, and specify the same fill symbol (Type of ‘MATL’ and a Symbol of ‘GP-GC’), then close the POLYLINE PROPERTIES. (We’ll ignore color from this point on, and not preview). Notice how the symbol is applied similarly in the two rectangles.
  14. Because of how this symbol is defined, the left 50% of any shape to which it is applied will have the light pattern, and the right 50% will have the dark pattern.
  15. Double-click the left rectangle, and specify a Type of ‘SAMP’ and a Symbol of ‘GB’, then close the POLYLINE PROPERTIES. Do the same in the right rectangle.

    Notice that this symbol retains its original proportions as it is made larger.

  16. Double-click the left rectangle, and specify a Type of ‘SAMP’ and a Symbol of ‘AU’, then close the POLYLINE PROPERTIES. Do the same in the right rectangle.
  17. Notice that the auger symbol is repeated as you increase the height of the area being filled, but its components always occupy the same proportions from left to right.
  18. Click the Save icon, and specify a filename of 'symbols test'.  We will re-use this drawing for additional experiments in Part 3 of this tutorial.

We will see how these kinds of different symbol behaviors, as well as other behaviors, are configured in a material or sampler symbol, and the tiles from which it is composed in Part 3 of this tutorial.