Autodesk 235B1-05A761-1301 User Guide - Page 539

Choosing one of the 3 isometric planes causes the AutoCAD® Ortho mode and the crosshairs to be aligned along the corresponding isometric axes in the WCS. You can switch between planes as you draft. For example, you can start a run on the top plane, switch to the left plane to draw a riser, and then switch to the right plane to complete the run. Although an isometric drawing appears to be 3D, it is actually a 2D representation. Therefore, you cannot extract 3D distances, display objects from different view ports, or remove hidden lines automatically. For more information, see Creating a Schematic Diagram on page 525. Customizing Schematic Content Schematic lines and schematic symbols are style-based content. This means the objects are defined by styles, which are sets of properties and, for schematic symbols, also include associated view blocks to represent the symbol geometry. For a general introduction to style-based content, see Working with Style-Based Content on page 85. You can manually create the styles that define schematic lines and symbols using Style Manager. For an overview of this process, see Workflow for Creating Style-Based Content on page 599. Additionally, there are several ways to convert batches of objects to schematic symbol styles. You can ■ Convert the schematic symbol styles provided with AutoCAD MEP to their individual components (the settings and the view blocks), customize the components, and then convert the components back to schematic symbol styles. ■ Convert a batch of AutoCAD blocks in a custom block library to schematic symbol styles. For more information, see Customizing Schematic Symbol Content on page 630. Configuring Schematic Settings If you take time to configure schematic settings prior to drawing schematic diagrams, you can lay out your designs more quickly and accurately. Schematic settings are stored in the Style Drawing, and you can import them into the current drawing or open the content drawings. Creating Schematic System Definitions A system definition is typically named for the system it will represent, such as return air, lighting, or domestic cold water. The settings for a system definition control many of the display properties of a system. For example, you can specify a layer key for a system, which determines the layer, color, and linetype for the system. System definitions are stored in the drawing, and you can copy them between drawings. TIP The default templates contain several system definitions that you can copy or modify. To create a schematic system definition 1 In the Schematic workspace, click Manage tab ➤ Style & Display panel ➤ Style Manager drop-down ➤ Schematic System Definitions . Customizing Schematic Content | 521