The attributes can be displayed in the object representation provided by the Internal Block Diagram. Some attributes are visible in the Object Properties window of the object. The visible attributes depend on the projection in question.
In the example below, the object Hot water has one attribute that is displayed in the Properties window (Liquid type).
In a particular projection, it is also possible to display an attribute instead of the name of a flow (shown on the flow container) or the label of a flow (shown at the flow line). However, this can only be done when an attribute value has been defined. This property is once again controlled by
Attributes can have a default value. In this case, their default value can be defined as either editable or unmodifiable. The attribute values can be edited in the Object Properties window by clicking on the field at the right-hand side of the attribute name.
Attribute Types
Boolean
A Boolean is a data-type that can have two values: True or False. In the Properties window, a boolean attribute is presented as a check-box. When the box is checked, the value is True.
Boolean attributes always have a default value.
Integer
Integer attributes are positive or negative whole numbers.They are editable in the Properties window and in the right-click menu of the attribute. When no value is set, the value Null is displayed in diagrams.
Real Number
Real number attributes are positive or negative, possibly non-integer numbers. They can be Single or Double, the latter allowing more precision. They are editable in the Properties window and in the right-click menu of the attribute. When no value is set, the value 0 is shown in diagrams.
Text
Text attributes can be of type String(50), String(250) or Memo. Maximum text lengths are respectively 50 characters, 250 characters and no-limit. They are editable in the Properties window and in the right-click menu of the attribute.
Date
Date attributes must be posterior to 01.01.1971. They are editable in the Properties window. When no value is set, nothing is displayed.
Application
Application attributes are programs on your computer. You can edit them in the Properties window. If the attribute is displayed in the diagram, you can run the program from the right-click menu. If no value is set, Run will let you choose a program to run.
Author
Author attributes denote
Hyperlink
Hyperlinks are links to a destination on your computer, your network or the Internet. An example of a hyperlink is this. In the diagram, you can Go to the hyperlink destination from the right-click menu. You can edit the hyperlink in the Properties window. If no value is set, Go will let you choose a destination on your computer.
File
File attributes are like hyperlinks except for the fact that they can only point to files on the user computer. There is no Go option.
Saved File
Saved File attributes are files with version control saved on the
There are two types of saved files:
- Standard Saved Files are stored in the SVN structure on the server side, separately for each object-saved file attribute so user can upload different same-named files to different objects/attributes (requesting them returns files referenced by context object-saved file attribute). Use Add... button to add a standard saved file
- Shared saved files are stored in the SVN structure on the server side, similarly to standard files, but on the Project level. This means, that shared files are common for the whole project. They could be attached to any object so, many object can store reference to the same Shared File (with standard Saved File attribute). Shared saved files are accessible in the same way to standard files, requesting the Shared file from any place returns the same file. Use Add Shared... button to add shared saved file
To edit saved files, use the Properties window or double-click the item or use Edit... in the right-click menu. This will open Saved Files window.
In the example below, we have 7 saved files linked to the same attribute.
Columns:
Revision: internal version of the file
Shared: Yes if saved file is Shared
Name: name of the file
Description: general description of the file
Author: author of the last version of the file
Date: date of the last modification of the file
Size: size of the file
User can Add new saved files, Remove one or several saved files, Open one or Export multiple saved files, view Versions or edit Description of selected saved file.
To Add new saved files, use Add... button
Here, Description is a general description of the file, Revision comment is a comment for the file version
If you add the same file (with the same name) multiple times, arKItect will interpret this as being a new version of the same file.
To see previous Versions of a saved file, use Versions... button
Here, it is possible to access any previously uploaded version of the same file. User can Open one or Export several revisions
To Add new shared saved files, use Add Shared... button
New dialog with list of available shared files appears
With this dialog, similarly to standard 'Saved FIles' dialog, user can upload/remove/open saved files, export them or check versions
To attach shared file(s) to the object user needs to select one or more files and press Attach button.
Selected file(s) will be attached to the object, in the Saved Files dialog they will be marked with the 'Shared' flag.
Shared files can be attached to many objects, accessing the shared file gives the same result.
Shared file itself could not be deleted with 'Saved files' dialog, only reference to file will be deleted from object.
The shared file could be deleted with 'Shared saved files' dialog. the file itself will be deleted. If any object keeps the reference to saved file - the reference will be marked as 'deleted' in 'Saved files' dialog
To Add a new shared file use Add... button
To see previous Versions of a saved file, use Versions... button
Here, it is possible to access any previously uploaded version of the same file. User can Open one or Export several revisions
Pointer
A Pointer is a particular type of attribute. The pointer attribute value is a set of pointers pointing to different locations in the project. The location comprises in this case the current projection, the focus object, the type of view and the current variant. If pointer values have been defined, you can go from the current diagram to the new location directly by using the right-click menu, selecting Goto → and choosing a pointer.
If the value is empty, Edit... is displayed and you cannot find Goto in the right-click menu. If the value is defined, its name is displayed, and if several pointers are displayed, only the first pointer name is displayed with along with ....
To edit a set of pointers, use the Properties window or Edit... in the right-click menu. This will open an Edit view pointers window.
On the left-hand side of the panel, you see the list of pointers. You can Add, Rename or Delete pointers. To set the destination of a pointer, select it (by clicking on it) and select in the drop-down lists the type of view (on the bottom left-hand corner), the treeview and the variant (on the right-hand side) and, finally, use the displayed treeview to choose a focus object. Click Save to save all pointers before closing the window.
It is also possible to assign a pointer to the current view by right-clicking on the Internal Block Diagram background (and not on an object) and selecting Assign View Pointer from the context menu. You are now asked to choose the object type, a particular instance (Available objects) and the correct pointer attribute. You can either create a new pointer or to update an existing one to point to the current view.
Program
Program attributes are used to contain scripts. They are useful to perform automated work when it is not native to
In the right-click menu (in either the Internal Block Diagram or the treeview), you can Run a script when one has been defined. You can access the Edit script window from Edit... in the right-click context menu of the Internal Block Diagram or from Properties. In this window, you can edit and run your scripts.
More information on the execution of scripts can be found in Executing Scripts.
Enumeration (Enum)
Enumerator attributes can only take a value from a finite and predefined set of values. The possible values are determined in the meta-model. If a value has been set, it can be displayed in the diagram. The value can be changed from the Properties window. If there is only one Enum attribute and some values have different icons - when Enum value is chosen, objects icon is changed on attribute icon.