Compatibility Rule

Overview

This section provides a brief overview of the Compatibility Rule tables.

The compatibility rules ensure that when you are placing parts and creating routes, the parts you choose are compatible with one another and with the route.

The Compatibility Rule table is used in two ways during part placement:

It helps in building a formula to apply on catalog, database, or Parts Filter.
It helps in orienting parts correctly.

For instance, when placing a part on a route, it is sufficient to obtain the size value from the document and filter the catalog to find parts with the same size. However, sometimes the part that is being placed needs to have an attribute that does not match the attribute on the part it is being placed against.

An example is when a male end is placed next to a female end - these are dissimilar values and this is where the compatibility design rule comes into play. The text table associated with the design rule is examined to determine which attributes match, and the data source is filtered accordingly.

Note: For file-based resource sets, the app uses catalog keywords to achieve this. Your catalog should therefore have the correct keywords for each part.

In Data Setup, this table should be assigned to:

when using file-based tables, the Compatibility Rule item in the resource table of HVAC Design Resources.
when using Engineering Specification objects, a specification in the resource table of HVAC Specification Resources.

Click Me > Preferences and in the Options dialog box select the General tab in Equipment and select the Perform compatibility checking check box.

Table Description

This section describes the customization options of the Compatibility Rule tables.

Two special symbols can be used in the table.

Equal sign (=): When typed in the Standards column, it means the standard for both parts must be the same. When typed in the AttributeValue1 and AttributeValue2 columns, it means that the values for both parts must be the same.
Asterisk (*): When typed in a column, the meaning is similar to that of a wild card. In the Standards column, it means that the listed attribute values are compatible even if they have different standards. When typed in an AttributeValue column, it means that any value is compatible.

If an attribute is specified in the table, any combination that is not found in the table is considered as not valid.

In tables with a second standard column, lines specifying only one standard can leave the second standard blank.

File-Based Table

A typical Compatibility Rule file-based table is shown below:


AttributeName (String)	Standard (String)	AttributeValue1 (String)	AtributeValue2 (String)	Standard2 (string)
# V5 had standards SSTL and SSTLMM in compatibility table. Both had the same data so "=" is used
# here for standard to indicate the rules work as long as the standards are equal.
# Nominal size must match
V_NominalSize	*	=	=
#
# All compatible end style combinations in catalog
V_EndStyle	=	THREADED MALE FLARED	FLARED TUBE
V_EndStyle	=	THREADED MALE FLARED	FLARED SLEEVE
V_EndStyle	=	NUT STOP SF SLEEVE	SINGLE FLARED/B-NUT
V_EndStyle	=	FLARELESS MALE	STRAIGHT TUBE
V_EndStyle	=	FLARELESS MALE	FLARELESS SLEEVE
V_EndStyle	SSTL	NUT STOP SF SLEEVE	B-NUT	SSTLMM
V_EndStyle	=	THREADED MALE FLARED	THREADED FEMALE SWIVEL
V_EndStyle	=	THREADED MALE	FLARED TUBE
V_EndStyle	=	THREADED MALE	THREADED FEMALE
V_EndStyle		FLARELESS MALE	FLARELESS SWIVEL
V_EndStyle		INTERNAL SWAGE	SWAGED TUBE

Compatibility is established by entering in the table the attribute values that are considered compatible. This sample table shows tubing parts, however the rule behaves as explained for all types of parts.

AttributeName: The attribute name. Note that this must always be preceded by V_.

Standard: The standard to which this will apply. Only parts with the listed standard will be filtered and made available for selection.

AttributeValue1: The value compatible with AttributeValue2, which is on the second part.

AttributeValue2: The value compatible with AttributeValue1, which is on the first part.

Engineering Specification Table

A typical HVAC Compatibility Rule table is shown below:


Attribute Name	Standard 1	Attribute Value 1	Attribute Value 2	Standard 2
Rating	SSTL	=	=
Rating	ASTL	=	=
Rating	ASTL	150	*
Nominal Size	=	=	=
Shape	*	=	=
Rating	ASTL	300	250	SSTL
Rating	ASTL	150	125	SSTL
End Style	ASTL	BUTT WELD	WELD LINEAR
End Style	ASTL	RASED FACE	GASKET RF

Note: This sample table is written with piping/tubing values.

The columns definitions are as follow:


Column Name	Column Type	Link to Table	Link to Column
Attribute Name	String	-	-
Standard 1	String	Standard	Standard
Attribute Value 1	String	-	-
Attribute Value 2	String	-	-
Standard 2	String	Standard	Standard

The table has the following attributes:

Standard
Max temperature
Min temperature
Fluid
Fluid Category

Example

The following table has a column Standard2 that is optional when using file-based tables.


AttributeName (String)	Standard (String)	AttributeValue1 (String)	AtributeValue2 (String)	Standard2
V_Rating	ASTL	300	250	SSTL
V_Rating	ASTL	150	*
V_EndStyle	ASTL	BUTT WELD	WELD LINEAR
V_NominalSize	=	=	=
V_Shape	*	=	=

Line 1: ASTL Rating 300 matches SSTL Rating 250.

Line 2: For the standard ASTL, a Rating value of 150 is compatible with any other ASTL Rating.

Line 3: End style BUTT WELD and WELD LINEAR are compatible using ASTL standard.

Line 4: Nominal Size attributes are compatible if they have the same standard and the same value.

Line 5: All equal Shapes are compatible. However, the asterisk in the standard column means that shapes are compatible even for different standards. Thus a port with a Shape value of ROUND and standard ASTL is compatible with a port that also has a Shape ROUND but standard SSTL. On the other hand, an ASTL port and an SSTL port both with Nominal Size 2in are not compatible because their standards are different.

Sample Resource File

This section explains where to find the sample resource file.

The default location of XXX_CompatibilityRule.xls is:

..\startup\EquipmentAndSystems\HVAC\Specification\

and then the relevant specification, such as SS150R.

Where Used


Used in this app	When	Is seen as
HVAC 3D Design	Placing parts on ducts	Unseen - filters the catalog