Advanced Section Viewport Properties

While creating a section viewport, the advanced properties which define its extent and attributes can be specified from the Create Section Viewport dialog box. After creation, the advanced properties can also be edited.

To specify the advanced properties of a section viewport:

1.	From the Create Section Viewport dialog box, or the Object Info palette of a selected section viewport, click Advanced Section Properties.

The Advanced Section Properties dialog box opens.

2.	Click the Extent tab to specify either an infinite section view, or the length, depth, and height of a finite section viewport.

Finite sections are useful when creating interior elevations; for example, by drawing a section line across a particular room of a building and setting the layer visibility only for the room’s floor, an interior elevation of only that room can be created.

 

Parameter	Description
Length Range	Specifies the length range of the section viewport
Infinite	Cuts the section by an infinite plane
Limited by Section Line Length	Limits the section only to the length defined by the section line
Depth Range	Specifies the depth range of the section viewport
Infinite	All objects on the indicated side of the section line are displayed
Finite	Displays objects on the indicted side up to a specified depth (the depth can be indicated graphically by dragging a dotted line on the design layer; see Modifying Section Lines Graphically)
Height Range	Specifies the height range of the section viewport
Infinite	Does not limit the section to a Z range
Finite	Limits the display of the section viewport to a range defined by the Start and End Height Z values

3.	Click the Attributes tab to specify the appearance of objects on and beyond the section plane. Objects on the section plane can maintain an individual profile, or can be divided into structural and non-structural groups to display them differently according to class settings.

 

Parameter	Description
Section Plane	Objects on the section plane can be merged into a single profile, maintain individual profiles, or be divided into groups of structural and non-structural elements (useful for displaying cabinets and walls differently, for example)
Merged Cross Sections	Merges the sectioned objects’ cross-section profiles into one profile
Create Structural and Nonstructural Groups	Merges the structural objects’ cross-section profiles into one group, and the non-structural objects’ cross section profile into another, allowing them to have a different class setting
Separate Cross Sections	Generates a separate cross-section for each sectioned object
Use Attributes of Original Objects	Each sectioned object is displayed with the attributes of its original object
Attribute Class / Structural Class	Specifies the line and fill class for the section profiles; by default, the Section Style class is applied to the cross sections. If Create Structural and Nonstructural Groups is selected, the class selected here applies only to structural elements.
Nonstructural Class	When Create Structural and Nonstructural Groups is selected, specifies the line and fill class for non-structural elements
Objects Beyond Section Plane	Specifies the fill and line style for objects beyond the section plane (for section viewports that display objects beyond the section plane)
Fill
Use Original	Uses the fill style of the original objects
Use Class	Sets the fill style of the objects by class
Line Style
Use Original	Uses the line style of the original objects
Use Class	Sets the line style of the objects by class
Scale Factors	Changes section viewport display scale settings for lines and dashed lines
Line Weight Scale	Enter a number larger than 1.0 to make the line weight of hidden line and dashed hidden line sections thicker. Enter a number below 1.0 to make them thinner. The scale value must be above zero.
Dashed Line Scale	Enter a number larger than 1.0 to make the line weight of dashed hidden line sections thicker. Enter a number below 1.0 to make them thinner. The scale value must be above zero.

4.	Click the Display tab to specify the section viewport display properties.

 

Parameter	Description
Cast Shadows of Objects Removed by Section	When rendering, includes shadows cast by objects that are not included in the section viewport, for a more realistic effect (especially for interior elevations)
Show Wall Components	Displays a projection of the wall components in 3D, regardless of the document preferences wall component display setting (see Display Preferences), or component class visibility settings. The top and bottom wall lines of components do not display in Section Viewports, so that stacked walls display without a line break.
Black and White Only	Changes all colors in the section viewport to black or white; this is useful for displaying two section viewport copies on the same sheet layer, with one in color and the other in black and white.However, if the document preferences display setting is black and white, viewports will also display as black and white.
3D Conversion Resolution	Sets the segmentation resolution for curved surfaces in a live section, regardless of the VectorWorks preferences resolution setting (see 3D Preferences). Changing the resolution of an existing section viewport causes the viewport to become out-of-date; the higher resolution settings require longer update times.

5.

Click OK.