About Standards

A standard is a type of identification criteria used throughout the Piping & Tubing Design apps. Standards are used to determine the values of:

• Discrete attributes (Nominal size, Rating, End Style, Outside Diameter, Wall Thickness).
• Some specifications (Min. Tangent Length, Turn Rules, Pipe Reference, etc.)

Typical examples of standards include "SSTL" and "ASTL".

The standards you use in your designs must be listed in a single Standard table resource file. For each standard listed in this file, there is a corresponding set of discrete attribute files. The standards and the discrete attributes are used during various operations in the setup and design processes:

• The value of the standard informs the system which table has to be used during the system design stage.
• The discrete lists set attribute values during component creation.

For example, when the administrator decides to use a certain standard, such as "ASTL", the users will only have access to specifications that meet that standard. Whenever the user tries to define a value for Nominal Size, for instance, they will be prompted to select from a predefined list that comes from the ASTL standard.

Factors to consider when you define the list of standards:

• Which standards are you using? (DIN, ANSI, ISO, JIS, GOST, UK, GB …..)
• Which standards are you using in the same collaborative space?
• If more than one, what is the proportion? (for example: 95% ANSI, 5% ISO)
• For each standard, which codification are you using for the discrete lists; Nominal size, Rating, EndStyle (Outside Diameter, Wall Thickness)?

Tip: Working in a multi standard environment increases the number of resources to manage; it may be of interest to consider using a single customized standard which is a mix of different standards.

You use a standard because it ensures that all the parts you place and the manner in which you place them will meet certain minimum requirements or be within a certain range.

Standards restrict users to certain parts, or part sizes, or other attribute values that are compatible with a project. When a user selects a standard during the part design or system design process, then only the values defined in the resource file associated with that standard can be applied to the design.

The Piping & Tubing Design apps include a default set of example standards and discrete lists in the following directories:

• ..\Startup\EquipmentAndSystems\Piping\Discrete
• ..\Startup\EquipmentAndSystems\Piping\Standard

When you create your own standards, you can use a different directory location as long as you specify it in the Data Setup app, but it is recommended that you keep the same directory structure as the samples.