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An option is a sub-set of a project which can be either active or not active. An active option is a part of the current variant of a project. A deactivated option is not.

 

An option may contain parts of many different sheets. Activating or deactivating an option may therefore affect a large number of sheets both directly and indirectly.

 

•The content of an active option is visible in the drawing sheets of the project. It will also be reflected in any reports that are created using the Report Generator, and it will be shown in Dynamic OnLine.

 

•The content of a deactivated option is invisible in the drawing sheets of the project. It will not be part of generated reports and not shown in Dynamic OnLine either.

 

A project can contain any number of options. Any number of options can be active and any number can be deactivated. It is fully possible to have options that can be used simultaneously. In the same way it is possible to have options that must be used as alternatives, for example located in the same place in a sheet.

 

Basically the options are placed in separate sets of layers:

 

•Non-electric option layers are frozen for inactive options and thawed for active options.

 

•Electric option layers are handled a bit differently. There are two option layers for each option corresponding to each electric standard layer. The objects belonging to an option are moved between these two layers, where one of them is used when the option is active and the other one when it is deactivated. The layer used for the deactivated state of the option is frozen and not electrical. The layer used for the active state of the option is thawed and electrical.

 

When an option is activated or deactivated, a number of layers are frozen and/or thawed and a number of objects are moved from one layer to another, not only in the current sheet but potentially in all sheets of the entire project.

 

This is a process that is performed using a special technology that does not require any scripting or similar. Other sheets than the current are modified without having to open them in AutoCAD, thus saving a lot of time.

 

The OnLine database is updated accordingly and automatically.