The “Modify” button performs settings modifications in a model. If no modifications are done, the “Modify” button does not perform any action. Changing the grid settings in the model requires modification of the values of the parameters and their confirmation by pressing the “Modify” button.

The “Modify” button runs the updates only in case at least one of the values of the parameters is changed. Let’s examine the first parameter, by writing into the respective field a new value and confirming it by pressing the “Modify” button.  

The first “Grid Properties” menu field stands for  Coordinates, which specifies  the distances between the grid lines.

Note that coordinate 0.000 in all the fields is a constant value and should

Make up the grid coordinates values for the axes X, Y, and Z equal to

Proceed as follows:

1. Make sure all operations are canceled or press the ESC key

2. Make sure the required grid is selected (enabled), if not, make a left-click

3. Press the “ Modify ” button.

4. In the ‘ Replace confirmation’ dialog window, confirm the updates by clicking the “Yes” button (valid for the older TS versions).

The selected grid gets shaped as follows:

Thus we created the grid in the coordinate 0.0.0, defined by axes X, Y, Z. The current alignment of the axes is displayed at the right bottom corner of the view.

Add a grid line at the axis OX at the distance of 6 meters from the origin point. Go to the "Grid Properties" menu, and insert into the X-axis field the required distance value of 6 meters expressed in mm right after the coordinate 0.00.  Spacing is the mandatory separator between the field values.

Let's create one more grid line on the axis X at a 1000 mm distance from the previous line, thus inserting into the X-axis field the following values: “0 6000 1000”. The TS automatically sets up the decimal places after the comma. Keep in mind that all the dimensions shall be expressed in millimeters, and the spacing between values is the mandatory separator.

Confirm the updates by pressing the “Modify” button and compare

Thus adding up a new grid line requires introducing into the axis field a new distance value. As a case study, let’s insert two more grid lines with the distances between them of 6000 mm.

 Thus the “0.000 6000.000 1000.000 6000 6000” values

Note that the consecutively repeating values are automatically simplified

where:

N stands for the number of occurrences of a value

L stands for the distance value between the grid lines

Let’s modify the X-axis coordinates values from “2*6000.000”

Note that the newly created grid lines are not tagged by any symbol, since

Add to the Y-axis 4 new grid lines with the distance between them of 6000

Proceed similarly to the algorithm for completing the X-axis coordinates field and refer to the below picture:

It is important to understand that the coordinate field values for the axes X and Y represent distances between the grid lines, but in the case of the Z-axis field, the values define the elevation point from  +0,000. Insert the following values into the Z-axis coordinate field: “0 3000”

The elevation grid line was created, but it is labeled not as +3,000, according to the coordinates field value, but  -1,500 which is incorrect, though the real distance to the grid line is  +3,000 meters. It is always a very confusing case for those who just started to work in the TS.

That is why we would like to highlight that a label is just a text, editable at the “Labels” section fields. The “Label” field is a specific field, where the grid lines’ titles are specified. We will get back to this topic, meanwhile, let’s familiarize ourselves with all the features of the “Label” section.

The grid lines titles may not have an orderly sequence and can be expressed in letters of the alphabet, as well as by various symbols.  Thus the grid lines titles labeling is not automatically set up by TS and is due to the manual typing in. The already existing labels are the default values of TS and their number is limited.

Let’s write in the missing gridlines titles and adjust the elevation

Let’s write in the missing labels for the X-axis grid lines by inserting their titles by space and pressing the "Modify" button.    

Thus all the X-axis labels are displayed on the view.  If required, proceed the same way for the Y-axis. In the current case study, it is not required. All the Y-axis labels are tagged.

Let's fix up the appropriate titles for the Z-axis grid lines.

To get a clear understanding that the values introduced into the “Labels'' field are just textual data, let’s express the grid line titles in words:  ”Alex”, “John”. Compare your results to the below:

As soon as the spacing is the mandatory separator, we can not employ this symbol into the grid lines titles, unless we enclose the title body into the double quotes. Exercise setting up the following titles for the Z-axis grid lines: "Ground level", "1st floor". Compare your results to those presented below:

Along with the elevation values expressed in mm, the symbols "+/-" shall be specified. Let’s write in a couple of elevation labels in the ascending order.

Do not deviate from the ascending order: ”-250 0 3000 6000 9000 12000”, this being a very strict TS requirement.

Example of the labels with the distances expressed in meters:   “-0.250 0.000 +3.000 +6.000 +9.000 +12.000”.  Do not miss the 0.000 elevation label!!

If there is a large number of labels to be inserted, follow the shortcut by copying the Z-axis coordinates field values, pasting them to the labels field, and editing the values’ line by adding the symbols ”+/-" and converting the values from mm to meters.  

Also, you can use a special plug-in to perform automatic labeling in a

The “Line extensions/  Extended grid lines” field

This section defines the required grid lines extension from the intersection

If we specify the field values equal to zero, then the grid lines endpoints coincide with the grid lines intersection points, which makes it quite difficult to examine a drawing, due to the collisions between grid lines and grid lines labels.  

Examine the case by setting to zero all the  “ Line extensions”

Substitute in succession the values of the parameters to 5000 mm and examine

Each axis ( X, Y, Z)  has its origin and the endpoint, thus the extensions of the grid lines shall be applied to the beginning of the axis and its end accordingly.

After completing the exercise, set out the values of the  “Line extensions” parameters to 2000, thus preventing the interference of the grid lines extensions.

• 2.2 The “Grid” tool in Tekla Structures
• 2.2.2 The “Modify” button of the Tekla Structures “Grid properties”
• 2.2.3 Creating a complementary grid in Tekla Structures