Two New Features, Countless Time Savings

Direct Attachment to Gantry and the Steelwork Configurator are coming to Lineardraft this summer, but what do they do and why are they important?

The Lineardraft team are working hard on two new features that will not only make it easier to place equipment on structures, but also dramatically reduce the time required to edit structures when equipment is present.

Let's take a look at what the new features do and how they'll benefit our users.

Direct Attachment to Gantry

When attaching auxiliary equipment to a mast or gantry, Lineardraft's current functionality allows you to place the wire exactly where you need it by manipulating the appropriate values. However there are some limitations.

Currently it's not possible to attach an auxiliary wire directly to a gantry using a bracket; you can only place using SPS and a drop tube. Users can instead adjust the "Height" and "Offset" values to position the wire manually, and some may choose to place a model of the bracket manually too. This is a time-consuming process, especially for a minor detail, and it doesn't stop there.

Manual auxiliary wire placement in Lineardraft.

This not only requires users to rely on the graphics preview to position their equipment accurately, adjusting the values until it looks correct, but if they were to edit the structure (such as change mast or gantry length) they would need to also manually reposition their auxiliary wire. Not the most efficient use of a designer's time.

Gantry length being edited, leaving the auxiliary wire in place.

Direct Attachment to Gantry not only allows, as the name suggests, the ability to attach brackets directly to gantries, but also revolutionises wire placement in Lineardraft, making it much easier and more dynamic, whilst drastically cutting down the design time required to place and edit equipment.

This new process fits seamlessly into the current design workflow, so it won't be a case of relearning how to place equipment from scratch; this enhances the user experience and makes it far more intuitive.

This alteration to how equipment is placed, particularly brackets and SPS, not only requires less configuration for the user, but allows for more flexibility, as equipment and wire positions are updated automatically whenever structure parameters are changed.

A bracket attached directly to a gantry, then its length adjusted; the auxiliary wire updates accordingly.

Take placing an ATF Gallows Support for example. Currently, users have to manually adjust the "Height" value so the support sits in the correct position on top of the mast. If the mast length, foundation height, or foundation gap were to change, they'd have to go back and manually adjust the auxiliary equipment too.

Manual placement of an ATF Gallows Support, the mast length is then reduced.

With the new placement process, users would simply select the appropriate attachment location, in this case "Top of Mast", when placing the ATF Gallows Support, and it would be positioned accordingly. If any structure parameters were to be changed, then the equipment and wire height would change automatically.

The new bracket placement method, which updates with any structure changes.

This feature also includes a notable update to the equipment editor, located in the wire configure window, making it much easier to view the active equipment pathway and far more predictable when making changes, giving users confidence when designing with Lineardraft. More information will be provided about these changes in our Helpcentre upon the feature's release.

A preview of the new equipment editor with clearer equipment pathways.

Steelwork Configurator

Editing a structure in Lineardraft is simple and fast. Editing a structure when there's equipment attached however, whilst still far quicker than the manual approach, can be an awkward and time-consuming process

Currently, if you go to change the mast of a structure that has equipment attached, it's likely your mast dropdown list will be greatly reduced, or show only the mast you have selected. This is because Lineardraft filters the masts by what equipment is attached, giving you only the masts that can support your selected equipment.

Whilst Lineardraft is only trying to be helpful, this means to change mast you have to remove all the equipment first in one window, change masts in another window, then reattach your equipment as before, making any required adjustments as a result of the new mast. The process is clunky, slow, and requires users to remember the equipment they had attached in the first place once they've switched masts - hardly allowing designers to "focus on the critical".

To illustrate how awkward this process is, let's say you needed to change the mast of a simple STC structure, which has one catenary wire and two auxiliary wires attached with equipment. With Lineardraft's current functionality it would take around 50 clicks and 3 minutes to do this. And if that change is required on multiple structures, that time very quickly adds up; that's before you consider how long it would take to change more complex structures such as TTCs and portals.

This is where the Steelwork Configurator comes in. Instead of needing to remove your attached equipment, ornaments, or backties, the configurator shows you everything that's attached to your structure in a single window, and allows you to make the required adjustments from there.

Now, if we were making the same changes to our example STC structure, it can take fewer than 10 clicks and 10 to 20 seconds. Imagine the time savings when editing a fully equipped portal structure. Watch the preview video below to see it in action.

When are the features being released?

This work is being completed ahead of the Final Production Phase of the MTM and Australia - General catalogues (learn more about them here), and we are aiming to release both the new features and catalogues in early June 2024.

You can follow any progress updates in the meantime on our Software Roadmap.