EBSILON®Professional Online Documentation
Stream Tools are used to improve the appearance of pipes in your drawing. They do not have any influence on your calculation. The are different ways to access this functionality:
The property sheet does not start a tool, but it is listed here for completeness, because it allows to perform certain modifications to the stream similar to the ones performed by a tool.
The stream tools include
In the property sheet, you can modify the visibility and you can define two-coloured streams and DIN-display.
The "cutting tool" is not listed here because it changes the behaviour of your model. Therefore, it is a tool for error analysis. Note the difference between an undercut (where only a section of the line is invisible in the drawing, but physically is still there) and a real cut (where the line is split into two lines that are not connected with each other).
This tool is used to make a stream or a stream section invisible or to display it in a dash form.
When this tool is activated, the shape of the cursor changes to the form given below:
To use this tool, the "+" sign on the cursor on the stream must be changed. You can press the left or the right mouse button to start different actions.
With the left mouse button you can toggle the valid section of the stream between three states:
With the right mouse key, the complete stream is toggled between the three states:
When you are working with this tool, the invisible section of the stream are displayed in reverse colours (otherwise, one cannot view them during editing). The inverse colours are also used, if a stream having invisible sections is selected.
The actions that can be triggered with the right mouse key correspond to the stream states given in the drop-down box "Visible state" in the stream properties sheet "Basic Properties".
In the properties sheet, it is possible to select a second colour for the stream. The result is a two-coloured dashed stream. If a selection is made outside the "dashed" section, the appearance depends on the length of the stream.
exit from the visualization tool, simply press the "Esc"-key.
The "undercut tool" is used to improve the appearance of crossing lines. It is used to indicate that the lines really do not mix, but one line is behind the other.
When you call this tool, your cursor turns to one of the forms given below:
The form on the right appears, when the "SHIFT" button is pressed.
Now click on the crossing point of the two lines. If the cursor has the form on the left, the horizontal line will get a small invisible section. Else, the vertical line will get a small invisible section. As the cursor remains in this form, you can set several undercuts one after the other. When you are finished, click on the right mouse button or do some other action.
With the „undercut tool“ it is now possible – besides the already available option „invisible section“ – to display undercuts as an arc or as
a rectangle. This can be done by repeated clicks with the undercut tool on the stream.
The order is:
1. Invisible section
2. Arc
3. Arc (mirrored)
4. Rectangle
5. Rectangle (mirrored)
6. Visible section (no undercut)
After that, the order starts again.
Additionally, when you insert an undercut and the direction does not fit, Ebsilon tries to insert the undercut in the perpendicular direction.
The "Arrow on Stream" tool may be used to indicate the flow direction in the stream lines. But it can be used more generally to place arrows or double arrows at the stream ends.
When you call this tool, your cursor turns its form.
Now click on the end of a stream. An arrow will be placed at the end of the stream. If you click a second time, the arrow is deleted again. Now the direction of the flow is considered when adding arrows on lines. By pressing SHIFT, the arrow can also be added against the direction of the flow. With CTRL you will receive a double arrow.
You can insert arrows not only at the end points of streams, but at any intermediate point (and you can create an intermediate at any point on your stream by calling "New Point” from the context menu). In this case, you have to click carefully not exactly on that intermediate point, but a little step apart towards the section that is supposed to have the arrow. Else, the wrong section may get the arrow (if this happens anyway, just click again to delete it).
As the cursor remains in this form, you may insert several arrows one after the other. When you are finished, click on the right mouse button or do any other action.
If your model is growing, you may find a situation where you have to draw certain lines from one edge to the drawing to the other. Often it is quite inconvenient to follow up such lines; they destroy the appearance of your model. In this case, you can use the circle tool together with the visibility tool. In the first part, switch the major part of your long line to the state "invisible", but keep a small part visible on both sides. Now use the circle tool to add a small circle with a number or a letter on both sides. This will indicate where the line is continued.
The use of this tool is similar to that of the arrow tool. When you use it, your cursor acquires the following form:
Now click on the visible part of the line near the point where you want to insert the circle. An input field appears where you can specify your number or letter (up to two characters).
The circle is inserted, when you click on "OK".
Now do the same for the other side. When you open the input field, the default value will be the same as on the other side of the line. This is useful if you are inserting circles to several streams. Note that both the ends must always have the same circle text. If you change it for one circle, it will be changed for all circles on the line (you may have more than two circles on a line, if you want).
To delete a circle, click a second time on the same position.
As the cursor remains in this form, you can insert several circles one after the other. When you are finished, click on the right mouse button or do any other action.