Use the elevation editor

An elevation is a front-view drawing of one opening. The elevation editor shows it as a 3-D drawing, with a settings panel beside it. You set the opening size and grid, then click parts of the drawing to set up each lite (glass panel), frame member and door.

To open the editor, click Add elevation on a specification, or click an existing elevation on the proposal's Elevations tab. See Add specifications and elevations.

You can change an elevation until the proposal is finalized, and only while the project is open. On a finalized proposal, the editor is read-only and shows Close instead of Save.

Set up the elevationCopy Anchor Link

Fill in the settings panel:

• Elevation name: required, up to 100 characters, and unique within the proposal.
• Opening size (inches): the Width and Height of the opening.
• Number of...: how many Columns and Rows of lites, from 1 to 99 each. Some systems have horizontals (horizontal frame members) that run straight across the whole opening. For those, Rows stays at 1.
• Quantity: how many of this elevation the job needs, from 1 to 1000.
• Constraints: whether BidUnity checks each component against limits. Pick No constraints, Structural constraints or Florida product approval.
• Design pressure (psf): the wind load the elevation must resist, in pounds per square foot. Enter a Positive and a Negative value, both as numbers of 0 or more (no minus sign). These fields appear only when you pick a constraint.

Size fields in the editor, such as Width, Height, the daylight sizes, door opening sizes and frame heights, take inches as a decimal or a fraction: 99.5, 99-1/2 or 99 13/16. You can add an inch mark (" or in) if you like. If BidUnity can't read what you typed, the field says "Enter inches, like 99.5 or 99-1/2".

When constraints are on, any component that doesn't pass turns red in the drawing. Click a red component to see why. If nothing is red, everything passes.

To choose the components for the whole elevation, click Select components. In Configure components, pick the components for the overall elevation, for each column or section, and for each receptor (the channel at the edge of the opening that the frame sits in). Click OK.

Move around the drawingCopy Anchor Link

• Click a component to edit it.
• Use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in or out.
• Drag with the left mouse button to rotate.
• Drag with the right mouse button to move.
• Use Zoom to fit, Zoom in and Zoom out to change the view.

For the best 3-D drawing, use Google Chrome or Firefox.

The panel on the other side shows the system data: the product system and validation, Frame dimensions, Glass bite (how far the glass edge sits inside the frame), Shim spaces (the gap left around the frame for shims) and Receptor deductions. Use View: to switch the drawing between Design intent and Fabrication.

Set up a liteCopy Anchor Link

Click a lite in the drawing. In the dialog:

• Pick a glass type, or Empty for an opening with no glass. Empty isn't offered for the top or bottom lite in a column.
• Set Daylight width (inches) and Daylight height (inches). The daylight size is the visible glass area inside the frame. Leave Variable checked to let the lite fill the space left in the opening. Uncheck it to give the lite a fixed size.
• Check Apply this to every lite in the row or Apply height to this row in every column (except columns with doors) to copy your changes.
• In Lite options, pick Insert a horizontal to split the lite with a horizontal frame member, or Delete this lite to remove it. These happen right away and close the dialog.
• To put a door in a bottom lite, pick Insert a new door in Lite options, or click Insert door.

Click OK to apply your changes.

Set up a doorCopy Anchor Link

You can add a door only in the bottom lite of a column, and only if the product validation includes a door frame. After Insert a new door, choose a door from the list of doors that fit the frame, then pick a configuration, or Auto-select best price configuration to let BidUnity choose the least expensive match. To copy a door from this elevation or another one in the specification, pick it in Lite options. Then set these, or click an existing door to change them:

• Door label: the door's label, up to 30 characters.
• Door opening width and Door opening height.
• Hand and Swing: which side the hinges are on (Left hand, Right hand or Pair of doors) and which way the door opens (Swing out, Swing in or Double acting).
• Transom: pick Transom for a panel above the door, or None.
• Frame and Leaf: the door frame and the door panel itself.
• Custom components: extra hardware, such as a closer. Click Add custom component and mark each one as part of the frame or the leaf. Custom components appear on the door schedule.

If something doesn't fit, the dialog lists the problems under "There are some problems:". When the door changes the size the opening needs, BidUnity asks Resize the elevation opening? Click OK to resize the opening to match the door, including shim spaces and receptor deductions, or Cancel to keep the current size.

To remove a door, click it and pick Delete this door in Lite options.

Set up a frame memberCopy Anchor Link

Click a frame member (a vertical or horizontal bar) in the drawing. In Frame component:

• Pick the Component.
• For a mullion (a vertical bar between lites), check Set this component for all mullions to use it everywhere.
• For a vertical, click Edit next to Length, check Set fixed height, enter the height and click OK. The vertical can even run past the top of the opening.
• For a horizontal between lites in a column with no door, enter Set distance from bottom. Check the box to use that height for the same horizontal in every column without a door. For the head (the top horizontal) of a column with no door you can Set ceiling location, and for the sill (the bottom horizontal), Set floor location.
• For a head (the top horizontal), Verticals spanned shows how many verticals it runs through. Click Edit to set the number To the left and To the right.

When constraints are on, the dialog also shows the component's structural check, such as its deflection (how far it bends under wind load) and the allowable deflection.

To remove a vertical or a horizontal, click Delete component. The dialog closes and the bar is removed from the drawing.

Click OK to apply your changes.

Save the elevationCopy Anchor Link

Click Save. If a field needs fixing, BidUnity highlights it and doesn't save. When the save finishes, you go back to the proposal.

To leave without saving, click Cancel.