Creating Wall Components

Wall components define the sections that make up a standard wall. For example, to indicate that a wall is made up of studs, inner drywall, outer sheathing, and then a siding material, define a component for each of these items to illustrate their location. Wall components can be offset at the top or the bottom of the wall, individually constrained relative to the wall, the layer, or, for Vectorworks Architect users, to story levels. Components can be textured (Renderworks required), creating realistic section views and rendered views, as well as accurate wall material estimates. The area and volume of wall components can be calculated in worksheets; see Worksheet Functions).

The overall thickness of a wall is equal to the sum of its components. Component fill and pen style are only displayed in Top/Plan view (except for section viewports in the Vectorworks Design Series products).

Use the Eyedropper tool to copy wall component settings from one wall to another (see Transferring Attributes).

Additional wall capabilities are available in the Vectorworks Architect and Landmark products. Curtain walls do not have components.

Wall components can be defined prior to drawing the wall in Wall Preferences mode, or after drawing the wall, from the Object Info palette.

Wall components can also be edited from Wall Preferences mode. Editing a component from wall preferences does not affect existing walls.

Defining Components for New Walls

1. Select the Wall tool or Round Wall tool from the appropriate tool set, and then click Preferences from the Tool bar.

The Wall Component Settings dialog box opens. Specify the component thickness, name, and parameters.

Parameter	Description
Definition
Name	Provide a name for the component, which displays in the Components list in the Wall Preferences dialog box
Class	In the Vectorworks Architect or Landmark product, select a class for the component to control its appearance and visibility (see Creating Walls). The classes present in the drawing are listed; alternatively, create a new class by selecting New, or select the class named <Object Class>, which places the component in the same class as the wall object. The Vectorworks Fundamentals product can display classes set in a Vectorworks Design Series product. <Object Class> indicates that the component assumes the same class setting as that of the wall.
Thickness	Specifies the component’s thickness; the thickness of a wall is the sum of its components. A component must have a thickness greater than 0.
Component Top
Relative to Wall	Sets the top of the component relative to the top of the wall
Relative to Story (Vectorworks Architect required to set to story levels)	Select the vertical reference that determines the top of the component from the Top Bound list. The Layer Wall Height or Layer Elevation value is set by the design layer (see Setting Design Layer Properties). Additional options are available for the Vectorworks Architect product. The top of the component can be bound by one of the story levels defined for the story or the story above it. Select the level from the Top Bound list. By setting the top of the component to a level type, if the elevation of the associated story changes, the height of the component changes automatically to match.
Top Offset	Specifies an additional offset distance for the component from the top of the wall
Follow Top Wall Peaks	The component follows the wall peaks at the top of the wall
Component Bottom
Relative to Wall	Sets the bottom of the component relative to the bottom of the wall
Relative to Story (Vectorworks Architect required to set to story levels)	Select the vertical reference that determines the bottom of the component from the Bottom Bound list. Layer Elevation is the only option available unless the Vectorworks Architect product is installed. Additional options are available for the Vectorworks Architect product. The bottom of the component can be bound by one of the story levels defined for the story or the story below it. By setting the bottom of the component to a level type, if the elevation of the associated story changes, the height of the component changes automatically to match.
Bottom Offset	Specifies an additional offset distance for the component from the bottom of the wall
Follow Bottom Wall Peaks	The component follows the wall peaks at the bottom of the wall
Fill
Style	Specify the wall fill attributes. Select None for no fill, or Class Style to set the component fill attributes by class rather than by the parameters in the Wall Component Settings dialog box. Selected hatch, gradient, or image fills, if not already present in the file, are imported and added to the Resource Browser (default content is automatically imported into the current file at the point of use and displays in the Resource Browser). See Resource Libraries. Use a tile fill with Fit to Wall selected, to represent insulation fill. See Defining Tiles.
Texture (Renderworks required)
No Texture	Does not apply a texture to the component
Class Texture	Sets the component to use the texture specified by the component’s class. The class texture is set from the Other tab in the Edit Classes dialog box; see Setting Class Properties.
Choose Texture	Select a texture for the component from the default content or the current file’s content (see Resource Libraries).
Left Pen/Right Pen	Select a style for the left and right sides of the component. Select None for no pen, Line Type to select a complex line type, or Class Style to set the component pen attributes by class rather than by the parameters in the Wall Component Settings dialog box.
Thickness	When a pen style has been selected, specify the line thickness; see Line Thickness Attributes. If Line Type is selected as the pen style, also select the line type to use.

3. Click OK to create the component and return to the Wall Preferences dialog box.

The wall’s Overall Thickness value changes to be determined by its components. As components are defined, they display in the preview. Click and drag a component in the # column to change its order.

Defining Components for Existing Walls

Parameter	Description
Preview	Displays a preview of the wall structure, including the defined components; the preview wall is drawn from left to right, so the “top” of the preview, by default, indicates the left part of the wall as it will be drawn. The arrow shows the wall direction.
Overall Thickness	The thickness of a wall with components is defined by the sum of the component thicknesses
Components	Lists the components that form the structure of the wall, in order from left to right as displayed in the preview. To change the order of a component, click and drag within the # column.
Core	One of the wall components can optionally be designated as a core component by clicking in the Core column. A check mark indicates that the component is the core component. When the Auto join walls Vectorworks preference is enabled, components also automatically join based on the core component specified for each wall. See Automatically Joining Walls.
New	Opens the Wall Component Settings dialog box to define the components of the wall as described previously in this section
Edit	Opens the Wall Component Settings dialog box to edit the selected component’s thickness and attributes (you can also double-click on a component to open the Wall Component Settings dialog box)
Duplicate	Duplicates the selected wall component; the duplicate is added to the component list right below the originally selected component
Delete	Deletes the selected wall component; the wall thickness is adjusted accordingly

3. Click New or Edit, and define or edit the components as described previously.