RainCAD™ X Series 8.0 DesignCAD Edition

Transcription

Copyright © 2003
Software Republic, L.L.P.
All rights reserved. This documentation and the associated software are the property of Software Republic,
L.L.P. and are on loan to the user under the terms of the License Agreement. Unauthorized copying or use
of this documentation, the software, or any associated materials is contrary to the property rights of Software
Republic and in violation of state and federal law. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, photocopying,
or otherwise, without the expressed written permission of Software Republic, L.L.P.
This document describes the use of the RainCAD X Series DesignCAD Edition. Software Republic L.L.P.
reserves the right to enhance, improve and revise its products without further notice. The information in this
manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Software
Republic, L.L.P. Software Republic, L.L.P. assumes no liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may
appear in this document.
RainCAD is a trademark of Software Republic, L.L.P. DesignCAD is a trademark of Upperspace, Inc.
Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other product names are
trademarks of their respective owners in the United States and/or other countries.
Software Republic, L.L.P.
Internet:
Sales E-Mail:
Sales Number:
Support E-Mail:
www.softwarerepublic.com or www.raincad.com
sales@raincad.com
(281) 463-8804
help@raincad.com
Printed in the United States of America
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Getting Started.................................................................................................................................3
Assumptions ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Typographical Conventions......................................................................................................................... 3
System Requirements................................................................................................................................... 3
Selection Conventions ................................................................................................................................. 3
Installation ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Starting the Software ................................................................................................................................... 4
Help ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
How To Access Help ............................................................................................................................... 4
Reaching Us on the Internet..................................................................................................................... 4
Reaching Us by Fax................................................................................................................................. 4
Technical Support.................................................................................................................................... 4
Things You Should Know ...............................................................................................................7
Things You Should Do ....................................................................................................................9
Suggested Steps to a Proper Irrigation Design..........................................................................11
Lesson One - Becoming Familiar with the Software .................................................................13
The Designcad Screen ............................................................................................................................... 13
2-D Drafting Mode .................................................................................................................................... 14
Status Bar................................................................................................................................................... 14
The RainCAD or EcoCAD Menu Bar ....................................................................................................... 15
Underlined Letters ................................................................................................................................. 15
The RainCAD or EcoCAD Toolbar........................................................................................................... 15
Dialog Boxes ............................................................................................................................................. 15
The Windows Taskbar............................................................................................................................... 16
Lesson Two – The Basics.............................................................................................................17
Beginning Lesson Two – Learning to Draw.............................................................................................. 17
Menus ........................................................................................................................................................ 18
Shortcut Keys............................................................................................................................................. 18
Icons........................................................................................................................................................... 19
Snap-to-Points............................................................................................................................................ 19
Break Line Command ................................................................................................................................ 20
Practice Screen Two – Set Points .............................................................................................................. 20
Point Relative............................................................................................................................................. 21
Repeat Command....................................................................................................................................... 22
Point Polar ................................................................................................................................................. 22
Practice Screen Three – The Drafting Tool ............................................................................................... 24
Practice Screen Four – Drawing a Curve................................................................................................... 25
Practice Screen Five – Parallel and Point Select Mode ............................................................................. 26
Parallel ................................................................................................................................................... 27
Point Select Mode.................................................................................................................................. 27
Practice Screen Six – DesignCAD Zoom Commands ............................................................................... 28
Summary.................................................................................................................................................... 30
Lesson Three – Setting Up the Drawing Screen ........................................................................31
Beginning Lesson Three – Setting Up the Drawing Screen ...................................................................... 31
Units....................................................................................................................................................... 31
Using a Digitizer.................................................................................................................................... 32
Tracing an Image File ............................................................................................................................ 33
Placing a Title Block.................................................................................................................................. 35
Moving or Scaling Selected Entities.......................................................................................................... 36
Saving the Drawing ................................................................................................................................... 37
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Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 37
Lesson Four – Drawing the Plot Plan..........................................................................................39
Beginning Lesson Four – Drawing the House ........................................................................................... 39
Practice Screen Two – Adding Property Lines .......................................................................................... 43
Practice Screen Three – Garage, Driveway and More ............................................................................... 46
Rotating the Garage................................................................................................................................ 49
Adding the Patios ................................................................................................................................... 50
Adding the Driveway ............................................................................................................................. 51
Drawing the Walkway............................................................................................................................ 53
Adding the Flowerbed Lines .................................................................................................................. 53
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 54
Lesson Five – Designing the Irrigation System Part I ...............................................................55
Beginning Lesson Five – Water Meter and Boundary Lines ..................................................................... 55
Water Meter / Pump Station ................................................................................................................... 56
Boundary Line........................................................................................................................................ 57
Sprinkler Placement ................................................................................................................................... 58
Selecting a Single Symbol.......................................................................................................................... 60
Selecting Multiple Symbols ....................................................................................................................... 60
Moving a Symbol ....................................................................................................................................... 60
Copying a Symbol ...................................................................................................................................... 60
Rotating a Symbol ...................................................................................................................................... 61
Practice Screen Two – Zoning Sprinklers .................................................................................................. 61
Calculating the Total Flow of the Sprinklers ......................................................................................... 62
Assigning Sprinklers to a Zone .............................................................................................................. 62
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 64
Lesson Six – Designing the Irrigation System Part II................................................................... 65
Beginning Lesson Six – DesignCAD Layer Command ............................................................................. 65
Placing Control Valves............................................................................................................................... 66
Practice Screen Two – Control Valve Zone Assignments ......................................................................... 67
Practice Screen Three – Lateral Line Piping .............................................................................................. 68
Practice Screen Four – Manual Piping ....................................................................................................... 72
Practice Screen Five – Pipe Hops............................................................................................................... 75
Practice Screen Six – Backflow Device and Mainline Pipe ....................................................................... 76
Drawing the Mainline Pipe..................................................................................................................... 78
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 79
Lesson Seven – Pipe Sizing and Additional Symbols ...............................................................81
Beginning Lesson Seven – Irrigation Preferences...................................................................................... 81
Pipe Sizing Options .................................................................................................................................... 81
Practice Screen One – Automatic Lateral Line Pipe Sizing ....................................................................... 82
Practice Screen Two – Automatic Mainline Pipe Sizing............................................................................ 85
Practice Screen Three – Manual Pipe Sizing.............................................................................................. 87
Practice Screen Four – Controllers and Accessory Symbols...................................................................... 88
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 90
Lesson Eight – Landscape Design ..............................................................................................91
The Line Styles Database ........................................................................................................................... 91
Practice Screen One – Custom Line Styles ................................................................................................ 92
Searching for Plant Material....................................................................................................................... 93
Practice Screen Two – Placing Plant Symbols........................................................................................... 93
Deleting or Replacing Plants ...................................................................................................................... 98
Plant Notations ........................................................................................................................................... 98
Fill Materials .............................................................................................................................................. 99
Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 100
Lesson Nine – Dressing Up the Drawing ..................................................................................101
Beginning Lesson Nine – Adding Text, Symbols .................................................................................... 101
Table of Contents
Adding Text to the Drawing ................................................................................................................ 102
Editing the Title Block / Changing Text.................................................................................................. 103
Valve Notations ....................................................................................................................................... 104
Placing Sleeve Symbols........................................................................................................................... 104
Hatching an Area ..................................................................................................................................... 105
Placing Installation Details ...................................................................................................................... 106
Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 107
Lesson Ten – Calculations .........................................................................................................109
Beginning Lesson Ten – Hydraulic Calculations .................................................................................... 109
Distribution .............................................................................................................................................. 110
Practice Screen Two – Material/Estimate ................................................................................................ 111
Legends.................................................................................................................................................... 114
Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 115
Lesson Eleven – Printing or Plotting the Drawing ...................................................................117
Beginning Lesson Eleven – Selecting the Printer or Plotter.................................................................... 117
Setting the Page Orientation .................................................................................................................... 117
Printer or Plotter Margins ........................................................................................................................ 118
Adjusting Layers Prior to Printing or Plotting......................................................................................... 119
Adjusting Parameters – Fit to Paper ........................................................................................................ 119
Setting the Output Scale .......................................................................................................................... 120
Panels....................................................................................................................................................... 120
Printing or Plotting the Drawing.............................................................................................................. 120
Print / Plot to File..................................................................................................................................... 120
Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 121
Lesson Twelve – Modifying the Databases ..............................................................................123
The Sprinklers Database .......................................................................................................................... 123
Adding a Sprinkler to the Database ..................................................................................................... 123
Performance Characteristics ................................................................................................................ 124
Sprinkler Palette Assignments ................................................................................................................. 124
Tied Assemblies and Supplies ................................................................................................................. 125
The Plants Database................................................................................................................................. 126
Adding a Plant to the Database............................................................................................................ 127
Species Database.................................................................................................................................. 127
Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 128
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................129
Appendix A – Customizing Symbols .........................................................................................131
Customizing Existing Symbols................................................................................................................ 132
Creating New Symbols ............................................................................................................................ 133
Saving Changes to a Title Block.............................................................................................................. 134
Appendix B - Symbols.................................................................................................................135
Irrigation Symbols ................................................................................................................................... 135
Sprinkler Symbols................................................................................................................................ 135
Additional Irrigation Symbols ............................................................................................................. 136
Landscape Symbols ................................................................................................................................. 136
Plant Symbols ...................................................................................................................................... 136
Additional Landscape Symbols ........................................................................................................... 138
Drainage Symbols.................................................................................................................................... 138
Accent Lighting Symbols ........................................................................................................................ 139
Fixture Symbols................................................................................................................................... 139
Additional Lighting Symbols............................................................................................................... 139
Miscellaneous Symbols ........................................................................................................................... 140
Furniture .............................................................................................................................................. 140
Logos ................................................................................................................................................... 140
Miscellaneous ...................................................................................................................................... 141
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North Arrows........................................................................................................................................ 141
People ................................................................................................................................................... 141
Rocks/Boulders .................................................................................................................................... 142
Signs ..................................................................................................................................................... 142
Stepping Stones .................................................................................................................................... 142
Title Blocks .......................................................................................................................................... 143
Vehicles................................................................................................................................................ 144
Hatching Patterns ................................................................................................................................. 144
Appendix C – Layer Assignments .............................................................................................145
Index .............................................................................................................................................147
INTRODUCTION
Welcome! RainCAD is really the combination of two software programs. The first program, DesignCAD
3D Max from Upperspace, Inc. , gives you full function CAD capabilities allowing you to draw lines, circles
and arcs as well as the ability to print and plot drawings. RainCAD is a separate program that runs in
conjunction with DesignCAD to fit your irrigation, landscape, accent lighting or drainage design needs with
predefined symbols, sprinkler and plant placement functions, pipe sizing capabilities, area/volume
calculations and much more. The software will allow you to create installation documents for both
residential and commercial projects. You can quickly calculate a complete material takeoff, develop
estimates and proposals, and generate complete symbol legends. The software offers more than 1,000
predefined symbols, or you may create your own unique symbols. Best of all, the program is easy to learn
and use, offering on-line help screens for virtually every command in the program.
Thank you for your purchase of RainCAD. We value your business and are proud you have chosen our
software to assist you with your designs. Creating a more professional design will assist you in increasing
your profitability.
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GETTING STARTED
ASSUMPTIONS
We assume that you are familiar with the Windows operating system and its commands and are
knowledgeable in the use of your specific hardware (computer and peripheral devices). This manual
describes the RainCAD program and its use. Refer to the DesignCAD manual for information on the use
of the CAD program. For information on Windows, other software programs or your computer hardware,
refer to the User Manuals that came with the application or equipment when originally purchased.
TYPOGRAPHICAL CONVENTIONS
Information that you enter from the keyboard appears like this:
File names are all in caps:
SETUP
SETUP.EXE
Placeholders for information you must provide appear like this:
filename
Keys are shown as: <Enter>, or <F1>. This means to press the key in the brackets < >, for example, the
Enter key or the F1 key.
Keystrokes are shown as <Key1>+<Key2>. A plus sign (+) between key names means to press and hold
down the first key while you press the second key. For example, <Ctrl>+<W> means to press and hold down
the Ctrl key and press the W key. Once both keys have been pressed at the same time, you can release the
keys.
If you are using a mouse, you can make many selections by placing the mouse pointer directly on the action
to select and then "clicking" the left mouse button. When the mouse can be used, <click> or <clicking> will
be shown to indicate pressing the left mouse button.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
To run the software, you must be using Microsoft Windows 95 or higher. You must have the following
hardware in order to run the software:
1) A minimum of 16 megabytes of RAM.
2) A minimum of 60 megabytes of free space on the hard drive.
3) A SuperVGA monitor capable of at least 800 x 600 resolution.
4) A SuperVGA graphics card capable of 256 or more colors.
SELECTION CONVENTIONS
There are several ways to select an action in the software. When using a mouse or digitizer, you can enact a
command by placing the mouse cursor directly on the command and pressing the left mouse button. In the
manual, <click> or <clicking> will be used to designate pressing the left mouse button to select a command.
In many menus, you can select a command in multiple ways. If the menu has a shaded bar, you can use the
cursor keys to move the shaded bar to the desired command, then press <Enter> to make the selection. Many
menus also have selection choices that have an underlined letter. To select a particular action, you may
simply press the underlined letter on the keyboard. Another selection method is the use of Shortcut Keys. If
a command has a Shortcut Key, it will appear to the right in the menu. If a Shortcut Key is shown, you may
use rather than selecting the command in the menu.
You can access the command menu bar at the top of the application in two ways. You can press the <Alt>
key together with the underlined letter of the menu you want and the menu will drop down.
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The Toolbar just below the menus will allow you to <click> on an icon to enact a command. Simply
position the mouse cursor on the desired selection and <click> with the left mouse button.
INSTALLATION
Before you install RainCAD, please install DesignCAD 3D Max. Refer to the installation instructions in
the DesignCAD Reference Manual for information on installing DesignCAD.
To install RainCAD to your systems hard drive:
1) With Windows running, close any open applications.
2) Place the CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive.
3) <Click> on the Start button on the Windows Taskbar.
4) Choose Run… from the Start Menu.
5) In the Command Line, type D:/SETUP, where D is the letter representing your CD-ROM drive.
6) Press the <Enter> key on the keyboard, or <click> on the OK button with the mouse.
7) Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.
STARTING THE SOFTWARE
Once you have properly installed both DesignCAD and RainCAD, you are ready to start the program.
When you start RainCAD, it will automatically start the DesignCAD program as well.
1) Click on the Start button.
2) Locate RainCAD in the Start Menu Programs.
3) <Click> on the program icon or name.
HELP
HOW TO ACCESS HELP
You can access help on any of the available commands by using the on-line help system. To access help on a
topic:
1) Select Help Index from the Help menu, or press the <F1> key.
2) Select a topic from Contents, or use the Index to find information on the desired subject.
REACHING US ON THE INTERNET
You may reach us on the Internet at http://www.softwarerepublic.com, http://www.raincad.com,
http://www.irricalc.com, http://www.irrigationsoftware.com, or http://www.landscapesoftware.com.
REACHING US BY FAX
We have a 24-hour fax service available for you to send questions or comments.
Send any fax to (281) 463-1404.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
If you require technical support for any Software Republic, L.L.P. program, first check the on line help
screens, then check the accompanying documentation. If necessary, make use of the Support section of our
web site to further assist you. In addition, you may obtain technical support by sending an e-mail message to
help@raincad.com.
Before sending an e-mail message to technical support, try to duplicate your problem (as long as you do not
risk losing any of your work) and write down what happens step by step. If you receive an error message,
please write down exactly what the message says. This will assure that the technical support person
Getting Started
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receiving your message has as much information as possible to assist you. Please include your Product Key
number, your serial number, a return e-mail address, and a telephone number where we may reach you.
If you are experiencing difficulty with your printer, plotter, mouse, or digitizer, call the company supplying
the driver for the device for assistance.
Please do not email the support desk for questions regarding the operating system, specific hardware
problems, or for problems with any other software applications. Rather, call the specific manufacturer for the
product causing the difficulty. Support numbers for problems other than specific questions on a Software
Republic product may usually be found in the documentation accompanying the software or hardware in
question.
YOU MUST HAVE A VALID SERIAL NUMBER AND HAVE REGISTERED
YOUR SOFTWARE TO RECEIVE TECHNICAL SUPPORT.
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THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
You should know a few things before you begin the design process:
1) This manual is written for RainCAD IX DesignCAD Edition, RainCAD LX DesignCAD Edition,
and RainCAD SX DesignCAD Edition. Any reference to landscape, lighting or drainage does not
apply to RainCAD IX. Any reference to irrigation, lighting or drainage does not apply to RainCAD
LX. RainCAD SX includes irrigation, landscape, lighting and drainage design features.
2) RainCAD is based on a design program from Upperspace called DesignCAD 3D Max. Each
RainCAD includes a complete copy of DesignCAD 3D Max. You do not need to purchase the
software separately.
3) We recommend at least a 17-inch monitor with a screen resolution setting of no less than 1024 x
768. Refer to the help in Microsoft Windows for more information on changing the display
resolution of your monitor.
4) You can receive help on any command in the program by accessing the Contents and Index from the
Help menu or by pressing the <F1> key.
5) It is necessary for DesignCAD to be in the 2-D Mode during the design process. Refer to the help in
DesignCAD for more information on 2-D Mode.
6) All of the commands used in drafting the property are found in DesignCAD except for the Drafting
Tool and the Custom Line Styles.
7) All equipment and materials are placed on the drawing screen by selecting the appropriate submenu
and command from the Symbols menu.
8) You may find additional symbols for title blocks, north arrows, vehicles, people and more in the
Symbols menu as well. You may place these symbols on the drawing screen at any time during the
design process.
9) DesignCAD determines the mouse and digitizer buttons.
10) When the US Units/Metric setting is configured to Metric in the Irrigation Preferences dialog box, it
is necessary to enter data with the period as the decimal indicator and not the comma. For example;
30,13 meters should be entered as 30.13.
11) Sprinkler symbols are approximately 1.5 units in diameter. When your drawing is printed or plotted
to a 1” = 10’ or 1” = 20’ scale , the symbols are legible. If the drawing is output to a smaller scale,
such as a 1” = 40’ scale, the symbols may be too small to be visible. It is highly recommended that
you consider the desired output scale of the drawing and adjust the Symbol Scale Factor before you
begin a design. Once the symbols are placed on the drawing screen, they must be individually
selected and scaled to increase their size.
12) RainCAD calculates the length and type of pipe on a drawing screen based on the layer on which
the pipe is drawn and the width of the line. If you change the layer assignment or width of any pipe
on the drawing, it will not be counted in the material takeoff or estimate/proposal.
13) For RainCAD to know that a piece of pipe is connected to a sprinkler, control valve, backflow
device or point of connection, it must be connected near the center of the symbol. To be more
specific, an attribute is attached to each sprinkler, valve, backflow device, and point of connection.
An attribute is a small number that assigns information to the symbol so the computer will know
what type of device it is. The pipe must be drawn within 0.5 units of the handle of the attribute. The
attribute handle is located in the lower left corner of the number.
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14) RainCAD creates a database file to store the information required during the design process. The
file has the same name as the drawing, however, it has a .dat extension (example: filename.dat). If
you rename the drawing or copy the drawing to another name, you MUST RENAME or COPY
this file to retain the associated information.
15) DesignCAD has an Automatic Save feature that may be of benefit to help ensure that all of your
work is not lost if your computer shuts down. You will find the feature on the DesignCAD Options
dialog box on the General options tab. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more
information on the option settings.
16) DesignCAD will allow you to open more than one drawing screen at a time. When you finish a
lesson in the tutorial and proceed to the next lesson, you will need to close the current tutorial
drawing screen. When closing the drawing, you will have the opportunity to save any changes to
the drawing. If you or anyone else is going to work through the lesson at another time, DO NOT
SAVE the drawing.
When proceeding from one lesson in the tutorial to another:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, <click> Close.
2) A message will appear on the screen asking if you want to "save changes to" the current
drawing file. Answer NO by <clicking> on the No button with the mouse.
3) On the Help menu in RainCAD, <click> on Tutorial.
4) Select the desired lesson.
5) Select the screen number from the resulting dialog box.
THINGS YOU SHOULD DO
You should take a few steps before you begin the design process. Some of the following items are optional,
however, items such as creating or editing databases are necessary. The following is a list of suggested
procedures:
1) From the Options menu in DesignCAD, set the design screen to 2-D Mode. Refer to the
DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on 2-D Mode.
2) From the Databases menu in RainCAD IX or RainCAD SX, you can assign to each piece of
sprinkler equipment a symbol, pressure at the nozzle, an arc pattern, the symbol color, a labor rate
for installation and more. It is not necessary to complete all of the information in the databases if
you do not plan to make use of the material takeoff or estimate and proposal function. The only
items that are absolutely necessary for the system to function are symbol assignment, symbol color
and pressure at the nozzle. For more on databases, refer to Sprinklers Database.
3) RainCAD LX or RainCAD SX will allow you to build a database of different plant selections. It is
necessary for you to enter the plant selections you are going to design with into the database before
placing plant material on the drawing screen. For more on the database, refer to the help on the
Plants Database.
4) RainCAD will allow you to build databases of supplies that can be combined into tied assemblies.
If you plan to make use of the tied assemblies for material takeoff or estimate/proposals, it will be
necessary to create the supplies and combine them into tied assemblies. Refer to the Help in
RainCAD for more information on supplies and tied assemblies.
5) For estimate and proposal purposes, you must complete the list price, discount rate and labor rate in
all of the necessary database selections.
6) From the Options/Info menu, the Irrigation and Landscape submenus, choose Irrigation Preferences
and Landscape Preferences. From these dialog boxes, you may preset information such as US Units
or Metric units, the line type scale setting for the mainline, the text size for pipe size labels, the name
display type for plant material and more. It is beneficial to review these adjustments and establish
default settings before you begin a design.
7) From the Databases menu, you can select Line Styles to adjust the preset values for Building,
Property, Driveway, Walkway and Bed-line line styles. You may also adjust the characteristics of
the five preset line styles and ninety-five custom line styles available in the software.
8) Sprinkler symbols are approximately 1.5 units in diameter. When your drawing is printed or plotted
to a 1” = 10’ or 1” = 20’ scale, the symbols are legible. If the drawing is output to a smaller scale,
such as a 1” = 40’ scale, the symbols may be too small to be visible. It is highly recommended that
you consider the desired output scale of the drawing and adjust the Symbol Scale Factor before you
begin a design. Once the symbols are placed on the drawing screen, they must be individually
selected and scaled to increase their size.
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SUGGESTED STEPS TO A PROPER IRRIGATION DESIGN
When designing an irrigation system in RainCAD, you may follow virtually any order you desire to
complete the design. RainCAD does require that you perform some commands before completing others,
however, in most instances you are free to follow your own design techniques. Below is a listing of the steps
we recommend when performing an irrigation design.
1) Gather all site data for the project such as field dimensions, water meter locations and sizes, service
line type and size, static pressure readings, notation of elevation changes, electrical power locations,
types of plant material to be irrigated, etc.
2) Draft the property using the commands available to you in DesignCAD or in the Drafting menu in
RainCAD.
3) Place the water meter and/or pump symbol(s) on the drawing screen.
4) Place the sprinkler symbols on the drawing screen. Remember that the objective of any irrigation
system is to distribute the water as evenly as possible. We recommend a "head to head" spacing,
meaning that sprinkler symbols are spaced so that the radius of throw or wetting pattern of the
sprinkler reaches from one sprinkler to the next sprinkler. It is also important to separate areas
based on their water requirements. For example, you should irrigate shrub areas separately from
turf areas. You should separate full sun areas from shady areas. The top of a slope generally needs
more water than the bottom of a slope.
5) Once all sprinklers are placed on the design, choose the Water Source / Zone Assignment command
from Calcs menu, the Irrigation submenu to divide the system into the required number of zones.
6) Place a control valve on the screen for each zone and use the Water Source / Zone Assignment
command to assign each control valve to a zone.
7) Use the automatic or manual pipe placement commands to draw the lateral line pipe between the
sprinkler symbols in each zone.
8) Place a backflow device on the drawing screen and use the Water Source / Zone Assignment
command to assign the device to a water source.
9) Draw the mainline pipe from each control valve to the point of connection. Be sure to stop at the
backflow device if one exists on the drawing.
10) Size all pipe on the drawing screen with either the manual or automatic pipe sizing commands.
11) Perform system hydraulic calculations to determine proper system performance. Make any design
changes if necessary.
12) Place the desired irrigation controller(s) on the drawing screen.
13) Place any accessory devices such as rain sensors or moisture sensors.
14) Draw control wire from the irrigation controller(s) to the control valves.
15) Place the control valve notations on the drawing screen indicating each valve sequence on the
controller, the flow and size.
16) Prepare a material takeoff and/or estimate or proposal
17) Create the irrigation legend.
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18) Place the legend on the drawing screen. It may be necessary to create a separate drawing for the
details and legends to prevent cluttering the drawing.
19) Add any notations as needed to the drawing screen such as "This drawing is diagrammatic and
piping is shown in hardscape areas for clarity only", or "Place quick coupler valves every 100' O.C."
20) Using the tools available in DesignCAD, add any detail such as text or hatching patterns to give the
drawing a more professional appearance.
21) Print or plot the completed drawing and detail or legend page(s).
LESSON ONE - BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH THE SOFTWARE
Lesson One does not have any accompanying practice screens.
The intended use of this lesson is to help the first time user to become familiar with the software.
RainCAD is really the combination of two software programs. The first program, DesignCAD 3D Max
from Upperspace, Inc. , gives you full function CAD capabilities allowing you to draw lines, circles and arcs
as well as the ability to print and plot drawings. RainCAD is a separate program that runs in conjunction
with DesignCAD. This program allows you to create your irrigation, landscape, accent lighting or drainage
designs with predefined symbols, equipment and material databases and placement functions, pipe sizing
capabilities, area/volume calculations and much more.
In this lesson, you will learn some of the key features of the DesignCAD screen. In addition, you will learn
about the RainCAD menu system and Toolbar.
After completing Lesson One, you should be familiar with the:
• DesignCAD 2-D Drafting Mode and Status Bar
• RainCAD Menu Bar and Underlined Letters
• RainCAD Toolbar and Dialog Boxes
Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more detailed information on the use of DesignCAD.
THE DESIGNCAD SCREEN
When you start RainCAD, it automatically starts DesignCAD 3D Max with a blank untitled drawing
screen.
The DesignCAD Drawing Screen in 2-D Mode
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Using the commands available in the drop down menus or in the Toolbar or Toolbox, you can begin drawing
on the screen just as you would on a sheet of paper. You can also open an existing drawing. DesignCAD
will allow you to open more than one drawing at a time. If you are unfamiliar with menus, dialog boxes and
scroll bars, spend some time reading your Windows documentation before proceeding further with the
manual.
2-D DRAFTING MODE
When using DesignCAD 3D Max in conjunction with RainCAD, it is important to keep the program in the
2-D Mode. When DesignCAD is in 3-D Mode, the screen is divided into four separate panes. In 2-D Mode,
the screen will display only one drawing pane. Refer to the following illustration.
DesignCAD 2-D versus 3-D Drafting Mode
To place DesignCAD in 2-D Mode:
1) On the Options menu in DesignCAD, <click> on 2-D Mode until a checkmark appears to the left of
the selection or click on the 2-D Mode
icon in the DesignCAD Toolbar.
STATUS BAR
The Status Bar at the bottom of the screen displays information about the selected command. Once you
select a command, the Status Bar explains what to do next. The Status Bar will also show the number of
points set on the design screen, the zoom factor, the current drafting mode and more.
You will refer to the DesignCAD Status Bar often during the design process. Commands in RainCAD
such as Boundary Line and Symbol Placement will use the Status Bar to display information to assist you in
completing the command.
Lesson One - Becoming Familiar with the Software
15
DesignCAD Status Bar
THE RAINCAD MENU BAR
The Menu bar is located below the Title Bar in RainCAD. The Menu bar includes the entire drop down
menu selections, which contain all of the commands available in the program. Commands followed by an
arrow (►) indicate a secondary menu exists containing more command selections.
UNDERLINED LETTERS
You can access the Menu bar by <clicking> on a selection with the mouse, or you may press the <Alt> key to
access the Menu bar and then press the underlined letter in the menu name. For example, with RainCAD as
the active program, press the <Alt>+<S> to drop down the Symbols menu.
Once a menu is open, the command selections are available. You can select a command by <clicking> on the
selection with the mouse, or you can press the underlined letter in the command name. For example, press
the <M> key to open the Miscellaneous Symbols dialog box in RainCAD.
THE RAINCAD TOOLBAR
The Toolbar in RainCAD will allow you to quickly select commands without accessing the drop down
menus or Shortcut Keys. You can adjust the order in which the icons appear on the Toolbar. The Toolbar is
located just below the Menu bar in RainCAD.
RainCAD SX DesignCAD Edition Toolbar
To adjust the toolbar icon selections:
1) On the Options/Info menu in RainCAD, click Options.
2) Double click on a Menu Topic with the left mouse button or single click on the + sign to the left of
the topic name to view the available commands.
3) To assign a command to the toolbar, click on the command name in the Commands list and click on
the right arrow button, or double click on the command name.
4) The commands are listed in the order in which they are selected. You may adjust the order by
clicking on a command name and clicking on the up or down arrow buttons.
5) It may be best to separate the icons into small groups. Click on the Insert Separator button to place a
separator on the toolbar. Move the separator to a new location using the up or down arrow buttons.
6) To remove a command from the toolbar, click on the command name and click on the left arrow
button.
7) Click on the Apply button to view the changes to the toolbar icons.
8) Click the OK button to accept the changes and close the Options dialog box.
Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for information on the DesignCAD Toolbar, Main Toolbox,
Snap Toolbox and Custom Toolbox.
DIALOG BOXES
A dialog box is a special window containing options that you choose or complete to communicate with the
software.
16
RainCAD
You can select options from drop down menus, radio buttons or check boxes in a dialog box. You can also
enter data in dialog boxes and then implement that data by choosing command buttons such as Save, Place,
OK and Close.
RainCAD Meter/Pump Placement Dialog Box
Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for information on the DesignCAD Menu bar, Hot-Keys or
Shortcut Keys and dialog boxes.
THE WINDOWS TASKBAR
The Windows Taskbar is the bar that usually appears at the bottom of the desktop containing the Start button.
The Taskbar also contains buttons for all other running applications such as DesignCAD and RainCAD.
The current running application usually appears on the top of your desktop. If the RainCAD Menu bar and
Toolbar disappear from the screen, you can place them back on top by <clicking> on the button in the
Windows Taskbar.
Windows Taskbar with RainCAD SX DesignCAD Edition as the Current Application
For more information on the Windows Taskbar, refer to the Help in Windows by <clicking> on the Start
button and then Help.
LESSON TWO - THE BASICS
Estimated time to complete: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Lesson Two provides the basic information needed to begin using some of the tools available in DesignCAD
and RainCAD to draft a piece of property. In this lesson, you will learn how to draw lines in various styles
and how to use important commands that can increase your speed in completing a drawing. You will learn
about drawing lines and using snap commands to place points precisely within a drawing. Additionally, you
will learn to use the edit commands, Undo and Redo, and become familiar with various Shortcut Keys.
Finally, you will learn how to use the Break Line and Curve commands and various Set Point commands to
draw a house.
After completing Lesson Two, you should be familiar with the:
• Line Commands
• Line Style Commands
• Snap Commands
• Zoom Commands
• Edit Commands
• Various shortcut key strokes
BEGINNING LESSON TWO - LEARNING TO DRAW
To start Lesson Two - Practice Screen 1:
1) On the Help menu in RainCAD, choose Tutorial.
2) On the Tutorial submenu, choose Lesson 2.
3) On the Lesson 2 submenu, choose Screen 1 to load Practice Screen 1 on the drawing page. Your
screen should look like the following illustration.
RainCAD Lesson Two, Practice Screen Number One
18
RainCAD
MENUS
Your screen has eight points labeled A through H. We will practice drawing a line through these points
using the tools available in DesignCAD.
To draw a line in DesignCAD:
1) Select Draw from the Command Menu in DesignCAD. The first item in the menu is Lines. An
arrow follows the Lines selection, which indicates that choosing Lines will result in the display of a
submenu. The submenu contains the various commands used for drawing different types of lines.
2) Select the Line command from the submenu to begin drawing a line. Note that the menu disappears
and instructions appear in the Status Bar at the bottom of the DesignCAD screen to guide you
through the steps required to complete the command.
3) Move the mouse cursor close as possible to the center of point A and <click> with the left mouse
button to set a point.
4) Move the mouse cursor to the right toward point B. Notice that a “rubber band” line appears from
the point you set at A to the mouse cursor. Also, notice that the angle and distance from the cursor
to point A is shown in the Coordinate Bar in DesignCAD. The angle and distance coordinates are
relative to the last point set. Stretch the line to point B and set another point by <clicking> with the
mouse.
5) Move the mouse toward point C to continue “rubber banding” the line to the next point and set a
point at C.
6) Set the remaining points at D, E, F, G, and H, and press <Enter> to end the line.
NOTE: It is important to note that the line just drawn is a single entity. The line has vertices at
each point, A through H, but is recognized as a single line.
To see that the software views this line as a single entity, select the line and choose the Erase command from
the Edit menu.
To erase a line using the Edit menu:
1) Select the line by <clicking> on the entity one time with the left mouse button.
2) On the Edit menu in DesignCAD, choose Erase.
3) To get the line back, choose Undo from the Edit and the line will reappear.
The Erase command is very useful and is used to edit, or clean up, a drawing. The Undo command comes in
handy when you erase an entity by mistake.
SHORTCUT KEYS
A Shortcut Key is a key or a combination of keys that enable you to execute a command directly from the
keyboard. If a command has a Shortcut Key, it will be shown to the right in the menu. If a Shortcut Key is
shown, you may use it while in the drawing screen rather than selecting the menu. Erase the line from the
screen again by using the Shortcut Key for the Erase command, <Del>.
To erase a line using the Erase Shortcut Key:
1) Select the line by <clicking> on the entity one time with the left mouse button.
2) Press <Del>, the shortcut key for Erase. Notice how parts of the marked points A through F are
erased with the line. In reality, only the line was erased, the points just appear to be partially gone
because the line overlapped them. To “refresh” the screen and show the points again, you need to
use the Regenerate command.
3) Choose Regenerate from the View menu or use the Shortcut Key combination of <Ctrl>+<R>. The
points will return to their proper appearance.
Lesson Two - The Basics
19
ICONS
Icons exist for many of the commands found in the software to give quick access to the command without
having to make use of the menus. In DesignCAD, icons are located in the Main Toolbox and in the Toolbar
at the top of the drawing screen. In RainCAD, icons are located in the Toolbar just below the menu
selections. In DesignCAD, if an icon contains a small red arrow in the upper right corner, hold down the left
mouse button to display the additional commands hidden behind the icon. For more information on the Main
Toolbox, refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual or help screens.
Draw the line again using a different method and a different line style. Line style refers to line characteristics
such as thickness, color and type (dashed, solid, etc.). RainCAD presets certain line styles to make it easy
for you to create a drawing that will print or plot in presentation quality. The line you drew earlier was not
one of the RainCAD preset line styles.
Assume that you are going to draw the house for a residential property. The house is actually a “building”,
so you will want to use the line style for drawing buildings.
To select the Building line style:
icon from the Toolbar in RainCAD. A dialog box will appear
1) Choose the Line Styles
displaying five preset line styles and ninety-five Custom Line Styles from which you can choose.
2) Choose Building by <clicking> on the selection and then <clicking> on the Apply button.
Redraw the line from point A through H. Instead of selecting the command from the Draw menu in
DesignCAD, select the Line icon from the Main Toolbox or use the Shortcut Key <V>.
icon from the Main Toolbox in DesignCAD or press <V> to begin drawing a
1) Choose the Line
line on the screen.
2) Set points as close to the center of marked points A through H as possible with the mouse. Notice
that the line is “rubber banded” from point A to all of the other points.
3) Once you have set a point at each location, press <Enter> to end the line.
Erase the existing line using the Shortcut Key <Del> for Erase and refresh the drawing screen using the
Shortcut Key combination <Ctrl>+<R> for regenerate. Now draw the line again using a different Line
command called Ortho Line.
icon from the Main Toolbox in DesignCAD.
1) Choose the Ortho Line
2) Set a point as close to the center of marked point A as possible. Move the cursor to the right and
then down. Notice that the line being drawn is always perfectly horizontal or vertical. This is an
ortho line, which will be very useful when drawing objects with ninety-degree angles.
3) Practice using the Ortho Line command by moving the cursor as close to the center of marked point
B as possible and setting a point.
4) Continue drawing a line through marked point H. When the final point is set at H, press <Enter> to
end the line.
SNAP-TO-POINTS
You have probably noticed that it is sometimes difficult to set a point exactly where you want it. In order to
set a point on the marked point A, you need a steady hand and a good eye. DesignCAD has Snap-to-Point
commands to help you set points precisely where you want them. You may find these commands in the Point
menu or in the Snap Toolbox in DesignCAD.
The DesignCAD Snap commands are very useful when accuracy is important. Each Snap command has a
shortcut key allowing you to use it in conjunction with other commands such as Line. Practice using two
important Snap commands, Gravity and Line Snap.
20
RainCAD
1) Erase the line through marked points A through H. Select the line and use the Shortcut Key <Del>
to erase the entity. Remember to use the Regenerate command to “refresh” the screen. Instead of
selecting Regenerate from the View menu in DesignCAD, use the Shortcut Key combination of
<Ctrl>+<R> to regenerate the drawing.
2) You will now draw a line through the marked points while making use of the Gravity command.
Remember that you can use snap commands while performing another command at the same time.
Select the Line icon from the Main Toolbox in DesignCAD or press the Shortcut Key <V> to start
drawing a line.
3) Move the mouse cursor close to point A and press <.>, the Shortcut Key for the Gravity command.
Notice that the mouse cursor “snaps” to the center of marked point A. Use the Gravity command to
set a point exactly on top of the nearest existing point closest to the mouse cursor (i.e., the end of a
line or center of a circle).
4) Notice that you are still in the Line command. Move the cursor to the right and a line will "rubber
band" from point A. As the cursor gets close to marked point B, press the <.> key again or press the
right mouse button to snap to point B.
NOTE: The right mouse button enacts the Gravity command. This command snaps to the
nearest point in the drawing and sets a point exactly on top of it. The button is predefined in
D i CAD
5) Move the cursor close to point C and press the <K> key. Notice that the mouse cursor “snaps” to
the center of marked point C. The K key is the Shortcut Key for the DesignCAD Line Snap
command. Use the Line Snap command to set a point on the nearest line or entity closest to the
mouse cursor.
6) Continue by moving the cursor close to the remaining points while using the Shortcut Keys for
Gravity and Line Snap to snap points on top of the marked points. When the final point is set at H,
press <Enter> to end the line.
BREAK LINE COMMAND
The line you just completed is one continuous line. Anything you do to the line now will affect the entire
length. It may be necessary to manipulate certain portions of a line. You may need to “break” the line into
separate pieces. To do this, use the Break Line command found under the Edit menu and the Selection Edit
submenu. The Break Line command actually breaks the line into multiple lines at its vertices. The vertices
are the points that were set when drawing the original line.
To break the line at its vertices:
1) Select the line by <clicking> on the line with the mouse.
2) On the Edit menu in DesignCAD, choose the Selection Edit.
3) On the Selection Edit submenu, choose Break Line.
4) DesignCAD has separated the line into individual line segments.
PRACTICE SCREEN TWO - SET POINTS
The DesignCAD Set Point commands allow you to place points at precise locations. To do this, you must
input the coordinates for a point by using X and Y coordinates, angles, or measurements relative to another
point on the screen. The most common Set Point commands are Point Relative and Point Polar. The Set
Point commands are located in the Point menu in DesignCAD. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will only
cover the Point Relative and Point Polar commands.
3) On the Lesson 2 submenu, choose Screen 2 to begin working on Practice Screen 2. Do not be
alarmed, you will not see anything on the screen!
21
POINT RELATIVE
The DesignCAD Point Relative command sets points on the screen using X, Y and Z coordinates. Since we
design in the 2-D Mode, the Point Relative command will only require an X and Y coordinate. The X
coordinates move left and right (horizontally) on the drawing screen. The Y coordinates move up and down
(vertically) on the drawing screen. To move to the left or down, enter a negative number. To move to the
right or up, enter a positive number. Refer to illustration below for clarification of X and Y coordinates.
-10, 10
10, 10
The Point Relative command
sets a point with X and Y
coordinates relative to the last
point set on the drawing screen.
0, 0
-10, -10
10, -10
X and Y Coordinate System for Setting Points
To set points using the Point Relative command:
1) Select the Line icon from the Main Toolbox in DesignCAD or press the Shortcut Key <V> to start
drawing a line.
2) Set a reference point on the screen approximately one-third of the way across and one-third up from
the bottom left corner of the screen. You do not have to worry about starting at the precise position.
You can move the building by selecting the item and using the drag cursor.
3) On the Point menu in DesignCAD, choose Point Relative.
4) Select Last Point as the reference point in the Relative to area of the dialog box. Now enter the DX
and DY offsets. This means to input the relative distance, in X and Y terms, where the program
should set the next point relative to the last point. More simply put, assume you want to draw a wall
11 feet to the right and zero feet up from the first point. Simply type 11 in the box labeled DX and 0
in the box labeled DY and click on OK.
DesignCAD Point Relative Command
5) You will set ten more points with the Point Relative command combined with the Repeat command.
22
RainCAD
NOTE: DesignCAD displays the number of points set in the bottom right corner of the screen in
the Status Bar. You can always “backup” or remove the last point set by pressing the <Esc> key.
REPEAT COMMAND
Now is a good time to learn a new Shortcut Key for repeating the last command. In DesignCAD, you can
press the <F3> key to repeat the last command selected from a menu, icon or Shortcut Key. Since Point
Relative was the last command used, you can repeat the command by pressing <F3>. Try this new short cut
with the next point you set.
To set points using the DesignCAD Repeat Command:
1) Press <F3> to enact the Point Relative command again.
2) Notice that the Point Relative command prompts you for the DX and DY offsets just as when you
selected the Point Relative command from the menu.
3) Enter 0 for the DX setting and type in a DY measurement of -2. Press <Enter> or <click> on OK to
continue setting points.
4) Press <F3> again to continue repeating the Point Relative command.
5) Type in the measurement of 12.6 for the DX setting and 0 for the DY setting.
6) Continue using the <F3> key to repeat the Point Relative command. Set the remaining DX and DY
points as follows:
X
Y
X
Y
a) 0
5.25
e) 0
55.1
b) 5
0
f) -16.1
0
c) 0
-3.4
g) 0
-19.7
d) 22.5
0
h) -7.25
0
Notice where each point is set as you input the DX, DY offsets. Also, notice that negative numbers are used
to change direction. You still have seven more points to set before you finish this exercise. Use a different
command to set the following points. Refer to the following illustration for clarification of angles while
using the DesignCAD Point Polar command.
POINT POLAR
The Point Polar command allows you to draw lines in DesignCAD at any distance and angle. This command
works well in drawing bay windows in a house, or drawing property lines by reading measurements from a
survey. Refer to the following illustration for clarification of angles while using Point Polar.
Y
90°
-270°
180°
-180°
0, 0
-90°
270°
Angles Used for Direction
-360°
0°
0°
360°
X
23
To set points using the Point Polar command:
1) On the Point menu in DesignCAD, choose Point Polar. The Point Polar command allows you to set
a point relative to the last point set by entering the distance and the angle for the new point.
2) Type in 2.25 in the Distance text box and 135 in the Angle text box.
DesignCAD Point Polar Command
3) Select Last Point as the reference point in the Relative to area of the dialog box and <click> on OK.
Set two more points with Point Polar by using the <F3> repeat key. Set the following distances and
angles:
Distance
a) 5
Angle
180°
Distance
b) 2.25
Angle
225°
To complete the exercise, you will set the final four points with the DesignCAD Point Relative command.
The Shortcut Key for Point Relative is the apostrophe key, <'>. Press <'> and you will be prompted for the
DX and DY offsets just as though you had selected Point Relative from the DesignCAD Point menu.
Use the Shortcut Key for Point Relative to input the last four points as follows:
X
a) -7.25
b) 0
Y
0
4.7
X
c) -12.3
d) 0
Y
0
-40.1
Once the four remaining points are set, press the <Enter> key to complete the line. Your screen should now
look like the following illustration.
24
RainCAD
Completed Building Using Set Points
PRACTICE SCREEN THREE - THE DRAFTING TOOL
The Point Relative and Point Polar commands will be of great use in drawing a piece of property.
RainCAD offers an additional command that makes drawing even easier. The Drafting Tool allows you to
enter a distance and simply <click> on the arrow pointing in the desired direction.
3) On the Lesson 2 submenu, choose Screen 3 to begin working on Practice Screen 3. Do not be
alarmed, you will not see anything on the screen!
You will use the Drafting Tool to draw the building again.
To begin drafting the building:
1) On the Drafting menu in RainCAD, choose Drafting Tool.
2) Set a reference point on the screen approximately one-third of the way across and one-third up from
the bottom left corner of the screen. You do not have to worry about starting at the precise position.
You can move the building by selecting the lines and dragging the entities.
3) Enter a distance of 11 and <click> on the arrow pointing to the right.
25
RainCAD Drafting Tool
Enter each of the following distances and <click> on the correct directional arrow.
Distance
a) 2
b) 12.6
c) 5.25
d) 5
e) 3.4
f) 22.5
g) 55.1
h) 16
Arrow
down
right
up
right
down
right
up
left
Distance
i) 19.7
j) 7.25
k) 2.25
l) 5
m) 2.25
n) 7.25
o) 4.7
p) 12.4
Arrow
down
left
left and up at 135°
left
left and down at 225°
left
up
left
4) To complete the building, <click> one time on the Join Start with End Point When Finished button.
The RainCAD Drafting Tool will allow you to draw lines or move to new locations without drawing a line.
You can move to a new location on the drawing screen by <clicking> on the Set Point Manually button and
then <clicking> on the DesignCAD screen at the new location. In addition, you can change the current line
style from the Select a Line Style drop down menu.
PRACTICE SCREEN FOUR - DRAWING A CURVE
3) On the Lesson 2 submenu, choose Screen 4 to begin working on Practice Screen 4. Your screen
should look like the following illustration.
26
RainCAD
RainCAD Lesson Two, Practice Screen Number Four
It is very easy to draw curves accurately in DesignCAD. The Curve command allows you to draw curved
walkways, driveways, flowerbed lines and more. You will most likely use this command extensively in all of
your designs.
Before drawing the walkway, choose the Walkway line style from the Line Styles command in the Drafting
menu of RainCAD.
To draw a curve between points:
1) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Lines.
2) On the Lines submenu, choose Curve.
3) Use the Gravity Shortcut Key <.> to snap a point on marked points 1 and 2. Move the mouse
around on the drawing screen and notice that the line curves from the last point set.
4) Set two additional points with the <.> key on marked points 3 and 4 and press <Enter> to end the
curve.
PRACTICE SCREEN FIVE - PARALLEL AND POINT SELECT MODE
27
RainCAD Lesson Two, Practice Screen Number Five
Notice that the walkway line running from the house down to the front property line is not completed. Many
properties have similar walks where two lines, whether curved or straight, are drawn parallel to each other.
The two lines are identical, so there is no need to draw one and then draw another separate line to match the
first exactly. DesignCAD offers the Parallel command to make drawing identical lines quick and easy.
PARALLEL
To complete the curved walkway:
2) On the Lines submenu, choose Parallel by Distance.
3) A box will appear allowing you to enter the distance between the first and second parallel lines.
Enter a distance of <4> in the Distance box.
4) Set a point on the existing walkway line to the left of marked point 1 by <clicking> on the curve
with the mouse.
5) Move the mouse cursor toward marked point 1. Set a point near marked point 1 which is roughly 4
units from the first sidewalk line. The walkway line is now duplicated exactly 4 units from the
existing curve. However, the curve extends too far at the top and not far enough at the bottom. You
will make use of an edit command to correct this situation.
POINT SELECT MODE
To adjust the line so that it does not extend past the patio and property line:
1) Select the Point Select Mode
icon from the Toolbar in DesignCAD.
28
RainCAD
2) Select the curve to edit by <clicking> on the line with the mouse. Small boxes indicate the points or
vertices of the line.
3) Move the cursor to the top box on the curve. Notice that the cursor changes to a circle with crosshairs when it is over the point.
4) Press the left mouse button and hold it down as you move the cursor. Notice how the line bends
with the movement of the mouse.
5) Continue holding the left mouse button down and drag the cursor to the desired location on the front
porch. Release the left mouse button or press the Shortcut Key <K> for Line Snap to snap directly
onto the front porch.
6) To lengthen the walkway out to the property line, move the mouse cursor over the bottom box on
the curved sidewalk line. Press the left mouse button and hold it down as you move the cursor.
7) Move the cursor to the desired location on the property line and press the <K> key to snap onto the
property line. Your screen should now look like the following illustration.
Completed Walkway Using Parallel by Distance
PRACTICE SCREEN SIX – DESIGNCAD ZOOM COMMANDS
In this exercise, you will learn the use of various Zoom commands available in DesignCAD. You will use
these commands extensively throughout the design process. The Zoom commands are available from the
View menu, the Main Toolbox icons or Shortcut Keys in DesignCAD. The Shortcut Keys for the Zoom
commands are the <+> for Zoom In, <-> for Zoom Out, <z> for Zoom Window and <Ctrl>+<M> for Zoom
Previous.
You can also make your drawing fill the screen with the Fit to Window command. The Fit to Window
Shortcut Key combination is <Ctrl>+<W>.
29
RainCAD Lesson Two, Practice Screen Number Six
To use the Zoom Window command:
icon found in
1) Choose Zoom Window from the View menu in DesignCAD or <click> on the
the Main Toolbox. Notice that the cursor corresponds to the Zoom icon.
2) Set a point on marked point A by <clicking> on the point with the mouse. Once a point is set, move
the mouse cursor toward marked point B. Notice the “window” rubber banding from point A.
3) Set another point at B. The software will zoom in on everything within the window. The image that
was too small to recognize, will now become more legible.
4) To return to the previous magnification, select Zoom Previous from the View menu. The screen
will return to its original magnification. If you select the Zoom Previous command repeatedly, it
will go backwards through the entire sequence of zoom operations since the last time you saved the
drawing.
5) To see this more clearly, use the Zoom Window command. Set points at A and B to zoom in on the
drawing.
7) Zoom in further with the Zoom Window command. Set a point at the top left corner of the detail
and a second point at the lower right corner of the detail.
5) Press <Ctrl>+<M>, the Shortcut Key combination for Zoom Previous, and notice that you return to
the first zoom magnification. Press <Ctrl>+<M> again, and you will return the original zoom
magnification.
30
RainCAD
Another way to zoom an area is with the Zoom command. The Zoom command differs from Zoom Window
in that it zooms by factors. Whole numbers make a drawing appear larger, while decimal numbers make a
drawing appear smaller. For example, entering a factor of four will make a drawing appear four times its
size, however, entering a factor of .25 will make the drawing appear one-forth its original size.
To change the Zoom Factor:
1) On the View menu in DesignCAD, choose Zoom.
2) In the resulting dialog box, type in a zoom factor in the Zoom Factor box.
3) Type a zoom factor of 3 and press the <Enter> key twice. This magnifies the view three times the
original size.
SUMMARY
In Lesson Two, you learned about drawing lines and curves using different line styles to make the drawing
more legible. Additionally, you learned about snap commands, edit commands, shortcut keys and icons.
You now know that you can use Shortcut Keys to access certain commands while performing another
command, and you know that there are multiple ways to activate most commands. You learned about the
various Set Point commands and how they help in drawing a house or property. You learned how to use the
Drafting Tool to simplify drawing buildings. You learned about the Parallel by Distance command and the
Point Select Mode, and how you can use them to draw duplicate lines quickly. Finally, you learned about
Zoom commands and how you can use them to get a closer view of the area in which you are working.
If you are not comfortable with any of the commands covered and their specific usage, go back through the
written materials and re-select the practice screens as necessary to review the material again.
LESSON THREE - SETTING UP THE DRAWING SCREEN
Estimated time to complete:
45 minutes
Lesson Three does not have any accompanying practice screens. While you learned the proper use of
many basic commands in Lesson Two, you did not cover the preparation of the DesignCAD drawing screen.
If you are going to draw with a mouse or cursor keys, an important step to take is setting the size of the
drawing screen. You can set the drawing screen to virtually any size; however, we recommend that you
allow enough room for the entire drawing to fit on the screen.
After completing Lesson Three, you should be familiar with:
• Setting the drawing units for the design screen based on:
a) drawing with the mouse or cursor
b) digitizing
c) scanning and tracing
• Placing a Title Block
• Moving and/or scaling entities
• Saving the drawing
BEGINNING LESSON THREE - SETTING UP THE DESIGN SCREEN
To start Lesson Three, you should have a blank drawing screen in DesignCAD. Again, Lesson Three does
not have any accompanying practice screens
If your drawing screen is not blank:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Close to close the open drawing.
2) Next, choose New from the DesignCAD File menu to create a clean drawing screen.
UNITS
You can make use of the Units command in DesignCAD to set up the drawing screen. When setting the
drawing units you are not setting the drawing scale, although the two are related. When creating a design in
RainCAD, you should think in terms of feet or meters when setting the drawing units. In RainCAD,
units equate to feet in US Units and meters in Metric units. For example, one foot or one meter is equivalent
to one unit on the DesignCAD drawing screen. When printing or plotting a drawing, you have the
opportunity to output the drawing to any scale you desire. The number of units per inch or centimeter (which
is in fact the drawing scale) can be set in the DesignCAD Print command. Therefore, the drawing units and
drawing scale are related but the actual scale (in units per inch or centimeter) is set before printing or plotting
the drawing.
To practice setting the drawing units, you should be in DesignCAD and have a blank drawing screen.
Begin setting the drawing units for a residential property. Assume you have a rectangular plot plan to draw
and the property measures approximately 80' by 140'. The first thing you must decide is how you want to
position the property, with the longest dimension running either horizontal or vertical on the drawing screen.
For this lesson, draw the property with the longest dimension running vertically; or from the top of the screen
to the bottom. Check the existing drawing units to make sure you have enough room to draw this property
on the screen.
To check and adjust the drawing units:
1) On the Dimension menu in DesignCAD, choose Units. You can also press the Shortcut Key <U>
for Units. For more information on Shortcut Keys, refer to Lesson Two.
2) Set a point at the top center of the screen by <dragging> the mouse to the location and <clicking>
one time with the left mouse button.
32
RainCAD
3) Now <drag> the mouse cursor to the bottom center of the screen. Set a point at this location to
reveal a window which displays the measured distance between the two points set on the screen.
Refer to the following illustration.
4) Since the property you want to draw is 140 feet in length, you may need to change the drawing units
from the top of the screen to the bottom. We recommend that you give yourself a little room to
work with for notations or other entities outside the property line. For the purpose of this lesson,
type in 160 in the box and press <Enter> or <click> on the OK button. Refer to the following
illustration.
5) Before you begin the design, we recommend you verify that the width of the screen will
accommodate the drawing as well. Press <U> for Units and set a point on the far left side of the
drawing screen by <clicking> with the mouse. Drag the mouse to the far right side of the drawing
screen and set another point with the mouse. Read the distance measurement in the window to
verify that you have more than the required width to draft the property. If the longest dimension is
set properly, the shorter dimension will be adequate as well.
NOTE: Adjusting the units of the drawing screen from the top to the bottom will automatically
adjust the units from the left to the right and vice versa. It is only necessary to set the units one
time, either horizontally or vertically on the drawing screen.
USING A DIGITIZER
A digitizer, or graphics tablet, is used to move the cursor, set points and enter commands. With a digitizer,
you can duplicate a drawing from paper onto the design screen. If you do not have a digitizer, skip to
Tracing an Image File on the following page.
If you are going to use a digitizer to input the drawing, try to place the plot plan on the digitizer so that the
building lines are running horizontally and vertically on the digitizer tablet. This will make it easier to use
the Ortho Line command in DesignCAD to draw the building.
Once you have digitized a portion of the property with known dimensions, such as the width of a driveway,
patio or property line, you can set the units of the drawing. For example, if you have digitized a building and
you know that the distance of one wall is 20 feet, you can scale the drawing properly.
To set the drawing units:
Lesson Three - Setting Up the Drawing Screen
33
1) On the Dimension menu in DesignCAD, choose Units.
2) Set a point at one end of the wall by dragging the digitizer puck close to the end of the wall and
pressing the Shortcut Key <.> for Gravity Snap to jump to the corner of the building.
3) Set a point at the opposite end of the wall by dragging the digitizer puck close to the end of the wall
and pressing the Shortcut Key <.> for Gravity Snap to jump to the opposite corner of the building.
4) A dialog box will appear with the measured distance between the two points set on the screen. Type
in the new known distance of 20 and press <Enter> or <click> on OK.
The drawing is now scaled properly and you may continue digitizing the plan. Refer to the DesignCAD
Reference Manual for more information on digitizing.
TRACING AN IMAGE FILE
DesignCAD will allow you to scan an image directly onto the drawing screen. In addition, you can load an
existing image file to the drawing screen. Once the image is on the screen, you can use the DesignCAD Auto
Trace command to trace the image, or use of the Line Styles and drafting tools learned in Lesson Two to
trace the image. This will allow you to input most residential properties within a few minutes.
Before you scan or load an image to the drawing screen, we recommend that you place the image on its own
layer. Think of a layer as an individual sheet of clear paper. Suppose you draw a house on one sheet of
paper and the property line on another sheet. When you place the sheets on top of one another, you see the
house with a property line around it. DesignCAD allows you to draw on up to 1,000 different layers. You
may turn each layer on or off to display specific portions of the design. Refer to the following illustration.
All new entities are drawn or placed on the current layer assignment in DesignCAD. Before you scan or load
an image to the design screen, change the current layer assignment to layer 100 in DesignCAD.
34
RainCAD
To change the current layer:
1) On the Options menu in DesignCAD, choose Layer.
2) In the Options dialog box on the Layer tab, scroll down until you see layer 100 in the list of layer
numbers.
3) Double <click> on layer 100 or single <click> on the layer number and <click> on the Make
Current button. This will place a small pencil symbol to the left of the layer number indicating this
to be the current drawing layer. Refer to the following illustration.
Current DesignCAD Layer Assignment
4) <Click> on the Apply button to accept the new layer assignment and <click> on the OK button to
close the dialog box.
Now that you have set the current layer, you can scan a new image or load an existing image to the design
screen.
To scan an image directly onto the design screen:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Image.
2) On the Image submenu, choose Scan Image. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual or your
scanner’s documentation for additional information on scanning.
To place an existing image on the screen:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Image.
2) On the Image submenu, choose Load Image File.
3) Locate the image on your computer using the Load Image File dialog box and choose Open to place
the image on the screen.
4) Set one point on the drawing screen for the location of the image by <clicking> one time with the
left mouse button.
5) Press the <Enter> key to place the image on the design screen.
6) Use the tools you learned in Lesson Two to zoom in or out to view the image.
Once the image is on the screen and assigned to its own layer, it is best to disable or lock the layer. This will
prevent you from accidentally moving the image during the tracing process. Once you have traced the
image, you can enable or unlock the layer and erase the image from the drawing screen.
To disable or lock the image layer:
2) DesignCAD will not allow you to disable the current layer. You will need to make another layer
number the current layer. In the Options dialog box on the Layer tab, double <click> on layer 1 or
single <click> on the layer number and <click> on the Make Current button. This will place a small
pencil symbol to the left of the layer number indicating that layer number one is now the current
drawing layer.
3) Scroll down to layer number 100 and single <click> on the layer number. An asterisk (*) will
appear to the left of the layer number indicating that an entity exists on this layer.
35
4) <Click> on Editable with the left mouse button until the checkmark no longer appears in the box or
<click> on the padlock image until it appears to be in the locked position. This will disable the layer
and prevent you from selecting or moving the image during the tracing process. Refer to the
following illustration.
Disabling the Selected Layer
5) <Click> on the Apply button to accept the changes and <click> on the OK button to close the dialog
box.
Before you begin tracing the image, we recommend that you set the drawing units. You will need to locate
two points on the image that are a known distance apart from one another. For example, the length of a
property line or wall of a building, or the width of a sidewalk or driveway.
To set the drawing units:
1) On the Dimension menu in DesignCAD, choose Units. You can also press the Shortcut Key <U>
for Units.
2) Set a point at one known location by <dragging> the mouse to the location and <clicking> one time
with the left mouse button.
3) Now <drag> the mouse cursor to the opposite end of the known distance. Set a point at this location
to reveal a window which displays the measured distance between the two points set on the screen.
4) A dialog box will display the measured distance between the two points set on the screen. Type in
the known distance and press <Enter> or <click> on OK.
Now that the drawing units are properly set, you may begin to trace the image. Once you have traced the
necessary portions of the image, you may unlock the layer and erase the image from the drawing screen with
the Erase command from the Edit menu in DesignCAD. In addition, you may delete the layer on which the
image is located.
To delete the image layer:
2) Scroll down to layer number 100 and single <click> on the layer number. An asterisk (*) will
appear to the left of the layer number indicating that an entity exists on this layer.
3) Once you select the layer, click on the Delete Layer button to remove the image from the design
screen.
4) Click on the OK button to close the dialog box.
PLACING A TITLE BLOCK
You can place a title block on the drawing screen at any time during the design process. RainCAD has
several different title block selections. You can modify the title blocks to fit your specifications by following
the instructions for Symbol Customization.
To manually place a Title Block on the drawing screen:
1) On the Symbols menu in RainCAD, choose Miscellaneous.
36
RainCAD
2) In the tree on the left side of the dialog box, double <click> on Title Blocks with the left mouse
button or single click on the + sign to the left of the category name to view the symbols.
3) Click one time with the left mouse button on a symbol and click on the OK button to place the
symbol on the drawing screen. For this lesson, choose End of Sheet.
4) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. Drag the symbol to the desired location on the
drawing screen and click one time with the left mouse button.
5) Press the Enter key to place the symbol on the screen, or move the mouse around the symbol to
rotate the symbol. Set a second point with the left mouse button to place the symbol at the desired
angle.
6) The Title Block will be placed on the drawing screen and the group of entities will remain selected.
Continue with the tutorial to learn how to move the title block or scale it if necessary.
MOVING OR SCALING SELECTED ENTITIES
You can move or scale an entity on the drawing screen at any time during the design process. To move or
scale the entity (or group of entities), they must be selected.
To move the Title Block:
1) If the Title Block on the drawing is not selected, choose the 2-D Selection Mode
icon from the
Main Toolbox in DesignCAD and set two points on opposite corners of the title block to drag a
“window” around the object.
NOTE: To select entities within a window, set one point with the left mouse button and hold
down the button. Drag a window with the mouse while holding down the left mouse button.
Release the button to select all objects that are totally inside of the window. If you hold down the
<Ctrl> key on the keyboard while dragging the selection window, any object that is within the
window or touching the window will be selected.
2) To move the title block, drag the mouse cursor on top of the selection handle . The cursor will
change to a cross with four arrowheads.
3) Press and hold down the left mouse button. Drag the mouse across the screen and notice that an
image of the title block is moving with the mouse cursor.
4) When the title block is in the desired location or position on the design screen, release the left mouse
button and the title block will move to the new location.
Before proceeding through the lesson, practice moving the title block around the drawing screen a few times.
To scale the Title Block:
1) If the Title Block on the drawing is not selected, choose the 2-D Selection Mode icon from the Main
Toolbox in DesignCAD and select the entities.
icon in the DesignCAD Toolbox. Eight
2) <Click> on the Enable/Disable Resizing Handles
small boxes will surround the selected entity.
3) To scale the Title Block, drag the mouse cursor on top of each of the eight boxes surrounding the
selected entity one at a time. Notice that the cursor changes its shape as it crosses each of the
selection boxes. The cursor will form a horizontal, a vertical, or a diagonal shape with two
arrowheads.
4) To scale the Title Block vertically (up or down), drag the mouse on top of a middle selection box
either on the top or bottom of the title block. Press and hold down the left mouse button.
5) Drag the mouse up or down and notice that an image of the title block is changing in shape.
6) Release the mouse button and the title block will change to the new shape.
Using each one of the selection boxes, practice changing the shape of the title block. The corner selection
boxes will change the shape of an entity both horizontally and vertically at the same time.
37
SAVING THE DRAWING
Now that you have created your drawing page and placed a title block on the drawing screen, you should
save the drawing file. DesignCAD cannot save a drawing unless something exists on the drawing page. It is
a good idea to get in the habit of saving your drawing on a regular basis. If you do not save your drawing,
any small power outage can shut down your computer system for a brief moment and you will loose your
work.
DesignCAD is a 32-bit application allowing you to use long, descriptive file names. DesignCAD will
automatically add the dcd extension to the end of the filename.
The complete path to the file, including the drive letter, folder, file name and extension can contain up to 255
characters. File names cannot include any of the following characters: forward slash (/), backslash (\),
greater than sign (>), less than sign (<), asterisk (*), question mark (?), quotation mark ("), pipe symbol (|),
colon (:), or semicolon (;).
To save the drawing file:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Save.
2) A files box will appear allowing you to enter the drawing name, change the current drive and select
the directory where the drawing is to be located.
3) For this lesson, call the design LESSON 3. Type in the filename LESSON 3 in the File Name box.
4) Although it is not required, we recommend that you save your drawings in a "\DWGS" subdirectory. For example, you would choose C:\PROGRAM FILES\SOFTWARE
REPUBLIC\RAINCAD 8 DESIGNCAD\DWGS in the files box. Refer to the DesignCAD
Reference Manual for more information on saving a file.
5) Once you have selected the drive and directory and entered the desired filename, choose Save to
save the drawing file.
Once you have named a drawing file, you can select the Save
quickly save the drawing on a regular basis.
icon from the Toolbar in DesignCAD to
SUMMARY
Quickly review what you have learned in Lesson Three. You know how to set the units for the drawing
screen if you are using a digitizer or tracing an image. You have learned how to place a title block on the
drawing screen. In addition, you have learned how to move and scale selected entities. Most importantly,
you have learned that the software needs to have something on the screen in order to save the drawing file,
and you have learned how to save the drawing using a files box. You also know that it is good to get in the
habit of saving your drawings in a \DWGS sub-directory for ease of location.
38
RainCAD
LESSON FOUR - DRAWING THE PLOT PLAN
The practice screens in this lesson will take you through the process of drawing a residential property with
the mouse. You will use tools available in both DesignCAD and RainCAD to complete the property.
After completing Lesson Four, you should be able to:
• Draw buildings, garages and patios
• Draw property lines
• Rotate buildings
• Draw walkways, driveways and flower bed lines
Before getting started, it may help to understand the recommended order for drawing any property. When
obtaining site measurements in the field, it is typical to measure the house first. Once the house
measurements are known, you can measure out from known points on the house to set points for the property
line. With points set for the property line, you can draw a border around the house to represent the property
or lot. From here, you can add the walkways, driveway, garage, and flower bed lines. You can follow any
order you are comfortable with in drawing the property although the order given above is usually the easiest.
BEGINNING LESSON FOUR- DRAWING THE HOUSE
To start Lesson Four - Practice Screen 1:
RainCAD Lesson Four, Practice Screen Number One
40
RainCAD
You may wonder how you will know where to start the drawing on the screen. There is no magic answer
other than to estimate the approximate location. Later, if you need to move something, you can select it with
the mouse and move it to a more exact location. Practice Screen 1 shows a partially completed house with
one marked point. Your job is to complete the house using commands and procedures you learned in Lesson
Two. You will refer to Field Measurements Diagram I (see page 42) many times as you work through the
next part of the lesson, so you may want to make a copy for easy viewing.
To complete the house:
1) On the Drafting menu in RainCAD, choose Drafting Tool.
2) Set a reference point on marked point 1, which is the end of one wall of the house, by moving the
mouse cursor close to the point and pressing the <.> key.
3) Since you are going to complete the house, select Building from the Select a Line Style drop down
menu in the Drafting Tool dialog box. Refer to the following illustration.
Selecting a Line Style in the Drafting Tool
4) Enter a distance of 16 and <click> one time on the left arrow button.
5) Use the Drafting Tool to draw the remaining walls back to the original starting point on the house.
Refer to the measurements given in Field Measurements Diagram I.
TIP: When drawing your own properties, you can estimate the angle for structures such as the
bay window in this exercise. The angles for this exercise are 135° and 225° respectively.
Check your drawing against the one in the following illustration. Make sure the building you drew matches
the one shown. If they are identical, congratulations, you are ready for Screen 2. If you were unable to
complete the house on your own, stop now and review Lesson Two. Keep in mind that what you have done
so far is no different from drawing a property on the drafting board.
Lesson Four - Drawing the Plot Plan
41
Completed House
When drawing a building using the Drafting Tool, each wall of the building is a separate line or entity. If
you need to move or rotate the building, you will need to select each line. You may want to combine the
entities together to make it easier to select the building later in the design process.
To combine each line or entity:
1) Choose the 2-D Selection Mode
2) Hold down the <Shift> key and <click> on each line or entity. You may also drag a “window”
around the entities by setting two points with the mouse. Any line or entity that is completely inside
the window will be selected.
3) If you hold down the <Ctrl> key and drag a window around several lines or entities, anything that
fits within the window or crosses its boundary will be selected.
4) With the building selected, choose Selection Edit from the Edit menu in DesignCAD.
5) Choose Combine Lines from the Selection Edit submenu to combine the walls of the building into
one single entity.
6) Press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the building line or entity.
42
RainCAD
47.90
47.10
20.00
62.10
16.00
10.50
5.00
25
2.
12.40
4.70
25.60
5.00
10.00
2.
25
11.41
19.70
22.00
7.25
7.25
40.00
55.10
11.00
7.00
12.60
22.50
POINT RELATIVE
(7.00, -40.00)
FIELD MEASUREMENTS DIAGRAM I
NOT TO SCALE
40.00
POINT RELATIVE
(-22.50, -40.00)
3.40
30.00
40.00
22.50
2.00
5.25
5.00
43
PRACTICE SCREEN TWO - ADDING PROPERTY LINES
To start Lesson Four - Practice Screen 2:
RainCAD Lesson Four, Practice Screen Number Two
Now that you have drawn the house, you can use measurements from the house out to the property lines to
set points and draw the property. When placing the property around a house or building, in most instances
you need at least two measurements from each side of the house out to the property line. If the property has a
cul-de-sac lot, you will need at least three measurements. You will need a measurement from the house out
to the corner of the property on each side of the lot. In addition, you will need at least one other
measurement straight out from the house to the property line. In this particular example will demonstrate
both instances. Your screen has the first point set for you, refer to Field Measurements Diagram I to see the
DX and DY offsets used to set this point.
We made use of the DesignCAD Pointmark and Point Relative commands to set a point with relative offsets
of 7, and -40 from the front right corner of the house. In this lesson, you will continue to set the additional
points required to draw the property line. After you draw the property line, you will simply erase the
Pointmarks.
To set points for the property lines using the DesignCAD Pointmark and Point Relative commands:
1) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Pointmark.
2) On the Point menu in DesignCAD, choose Point Relative or press the Shortcut key <’> on the
keyboard to enact the Point Relative command.
44
RainCAD
3) Enter a DX measurement of 10.5 and a DY measurement of 0. Choose Reference Point in the
Relative to area of the dialog box and <click> on the OK button. Refer to the following illustration.
4) Snap to the back right corner of the house by dragging the mouse cursor close to the location and
pressing the Shortcut key <.> on the keyboard or by pressing the right mouse button. A pointmark
will appear 10.50 units to the right of the back corner of the house.
5) Set the remaining points for the property lines by using the Point Relative command to come either
straight off of the house or over and down to find the front left corner. Enact the Gravity command
to snap onto a corner of the house and set a point relative to that position.
6) You also need to set an additional point from the front of the house to the property line to help draw
the cul-de-sac. Refer to Field Measurements Diagram I to set the last point with DX and DY
relative offsets of 0 and -30.
You should now have seven points marked including the point on the front curved property line. Now you
need to draw a straight line between at least two points on each side of the yard excluding the front curved
area. You will draw a curved line for the front property line. Refer to the following illustration.
Before drawing the property lines, choose the Property line style from the Line Styles command in the
Drafting menu of RainCAD. Select the DesignCAD button in the Windows Taskbar or <click> anywhere
on the DesignCAD screen to make it the current application.
To begin drawing the property lines:
icon in the Main
1) In DesignCAD, press the Shortcut Key <V> for Line or <click> on the line
Toolbox.
2) Drag the mouse cursor close to the Pointmark at the bottom right corner of the screen and press the
<.> key to gravity snap onto the Pointmark.
3) Drag the mouse cursor up to the point coming off of the back right corner of the house and
extending out 10.50 feet to the property line and press the <.> key again.
4) Press <Enter> to end the line drawn between the two points.
5) Draw a line between the two points across the back of the property and then along the left side of
the property following the same steps as above. Your screen should now look like the following
illustration.
45
Pointmarks and Partial Property Lines
Now you need to join the lines together to form three sides of the property.
To connect the property lines at the corners of the plot plan:
1) On the Edit menu in DesignCAD, chose Trim/Extend.
2) On the Trim/Extend submenu, choose Trim Two Lines.
3) Set a point on the property line on the right side of the house. Set a second point on the property
line across the back of the yard. The two lines should connect at their intersection.
4) Follow the same instructions to connect the property line across the back of the yard with the
property line down the left side of the house. However, this time enact the Trim Two Lines
command by pressing the Shortcut Key combination of <Shift> + <E>.
To draw a curve across the front of the yard:
icon in the Main
1) In DesignCAD, press the Shortcut Key <C> for Curve or <click> on the
Toolbox.
2) Drag the mouse cursor close to the Pointmark near the bottom left corner of the property and press
the <.> key to gravity snap onto the Pointmark.
3) Use the Gravity command to snap onto the point off the front of the house and the point at the right
corner of the property.
4) Press <Enter> to complete the curve across the front of the property formed by the cul-de-sac. The
property lines around the house should look like the ones in Field Measurements Diagram I. Now
that the property lines are complete, you need to erase the Pointmarks.
To erase the Pointmarks:
2) On the Edit menu in DesignCAD, choose Selection Filter.
46
RainCAD
3) In the DesignCAD Selection Filter dialog box, <click> on the Select by Entity Type checkbox until
a mark appears in the box.
4) <Click> on the Setup Select Entity Type button and choose Pointmark in the resulting list box.
Refer to the following illustration.
DesignCAD Selection Filter Dialog Box
5) Leave the Selection Filter box open on the screen. As long as the Selection Filter box is open, you
can only select entities based on the settings in the command.
6) Choose Select All from the Edit menu in DesignCAD to select all of the Pointmarks. You can also
select the marks by clicking on them with the mouse or dragging a window around the pointmarks..
7) Press the Shortcut Key <E> for Erase removing all of the Pointmarks from the drawing screen or
select the Erase command from the DesignCAD Edit menu.
8) Close the Selection Filter dialog box.
9) Press <Ctrl>+<R> to regenerate the drawing screen.
Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Selection Filter command.
PRACTICE SCREEN THREE - GARAGE, DRIVEWAY AND MORE
To start Lesson Four -Practice Screen 3:
47
RainCAD Lesson Four, Practice Screen Number Three
You will begin by drawing the garage. The garage is a building, so choose the Building line style from the
Line Styles command in the Drafting menu of RainCAD. Select the DesignCAD button in the Windows
Taskbar or <click> anywhere on the DesignCAD screen to make it the current application.
We set the first point for the garage for you. Refer to Field Measurements Diagram I to see the DX and DY
measurements of 5 and 10 that we used to establish the starting point. The garage is a simple rectangle so
you will make use of a new command to draw it more quickly.
To draw the rectangular garage:
icon in the Main Toolbox.
1) On the Solids menu in DesignCAD, choose Box, or <click> on the
2) For this lesson, make sure the Align to Any Angle checkbox is disabled. Refer to the following
illustration.
3) Move the mouse cursor close to the pointmark for the corner of the garage and press <.>, the
DesignCAD Shortcut Key for Gravity Snap.
4) Press the Shortcut key <’> on the keyboard to enact the DesignCAD Point Relative command.
5) Type in the DX and DY coordinates for the width and depth of the garage. Remember that the X
coordinate will be moving to the left, therefore, the number will have a negative value.
6) Select Last Point in the Relative to area of the dialog box and <click> on the OK button to draw the
garage.
48
RainCAD
5.50
1.00
17.00
10.00
13.00
4.00
18.00
4.50
5.50
6.00
8.00
10.00 12.00
10.00
4.00
27.80
FIELD MEASUREMENTS DIAGRAM II
NOT TO SCALE
49
ROTATING THE GARAGE
The garage is now drawn, but you will need to rotate it slightly to position it correctly on the design. In
many cases, estimating the angle will be accurate enough. However, if you want to set the garage at a more
precise angle, make use of the following method. The measurement for the lower left hand corner of the
garage relative to the back left corner of the property (as shown in the Field Measurements Diagram I) is
11.41 and
-47.90. You can use the measurement to assist in calculating the angle of rotation for the garage. You may
want to use the Zoom Window command to get a better view of the backyard area before rotating the garage.
To determine the rotation angle:
icon in the
1) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Pointmark, or <click> on the
DesignCAD Main Toolbox.
2) On the Point menu in DesignCAD, choose Point Relative or press the <’> Shortcut Key.
3) Enter a DX measurement of 11.41 and a DY measurement of –47.90. Choose Reference Point in
the Relative to area of the dialog box and <click> on the OK button.
4) Snap onto the back left corner of the property with the <.> key to set a point for the garage relative
to the back left corner of the property.
5) Press the <Esc> key to deactivate the Pointmark command.
6) To determine the angle for the garage, select Angle and Distance from the Calcs menu in RainCAD
or EcoCAD. Use the Gravity command to set a point on the lower right corner of the garage. Move
the mouse cursor over to the Pointmark just set and use the <.> key to snap onto the Pointmark.
7) A window will appear showing an angle of 169° with a distance of 22. This represents the angle
from the bottom right corner of the garage going counter clockwise to the marked point. If you
subtract this angle from 180.00, you get the correct angle for the garage rotation. Since you are
rotating the garage in a clockwise direction, the angle will actually be a negative number. Refer to
the following illustration to better understand this concept.
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RainCAD
Determining the Rotation Angle
Now that you know the correct rotation angle, you can properly position the garage on the screen. Before
you rotate the garage, remove the pointmarks from the screen. Follow the steps in Practice Screen Two, or
simply select the pointmarks with the mouse and press the <Del> key to erase the marks.
You want to rotate the garage from the lower right corner. You will need to select the entity at this location
to establish the handle or rotation point.
To rotate the garage:
1) Drag the mouse cursor near the bottom right corner of the garage.
2) Press the <.> key or the right mouse button to gravity snap onto the corner of the garage.
3) On the Edit menu in DesignCAD, choose the Selection Edit.
4) On the Selection Edit submenu, choose Rotate.
5) Type in the previously determined angle of -11 degrees in the Rotation Angle text box, and press the
<Enter> key. Refer to the following illustration.
6) Follow the Status Bar and press <Enter> again to activate the command. The garage should rotate
negative eleven degrees to its correct position on the design.
7) After rotating the garage, press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the entity.
ADDING THE PATIOS
With the garage completed, it is time to add the driveway, patios and sidewalk. You will refer to the
measurements in the Field Measurements Diagram II (see page 48) many times as you complete this lesson,
so you may want to make a copy to place on your desk for easy viewing.
To draw the back patio:
1) On the Drafting menu in RainCAD, choose Line Styles.
2) In the Line Styles dialog box, <click> on Walkway, the Apply button and then the Close button.
4) On the Lines submenu, choose Ortho Line.
5) Use the Gravity command to snap a point onto the lower right corner of the garage. Move the
mouse cursor to the right all the way to the wall of the house.
6) Use the Shortcut Key <K> for Line Snap to snap the line to the wall of the house and press <Enter>.
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To draw the front patio:
icon in the Main
1) Choose the Ortho Line command in DesignCAD by <clicking> on the
Toolbox.
2) Use the Gravity command to snap onto the left front corner of the house near the patio.
3) Use the Point Relative Shortcut Key <‘> to activate the Point Relative command and enter relative
DX and DY offsets of 5 and 0.
4) Select Last Point in the Relative to area of the dialog box and <click> on the OK button to begin
drawing the patio line.
5) Drag the mouse toward the house near the right front corner of the patio and press the <.> key to
snap onto the house.
6) Press <Enter> to complete the patio.
ADDING THE DRIVEWAY
The driveway is a little more involved, but will still be easy to draw. The driveway begins to curve into the
house 18 feet down and 4 feet out from the back left corner of the house. Refer to the measurements as
shown in Field Measurements Diagram II. The driveway meets the house just 10 feet down from the back
left corner. The driveway itself is 13 feet wide. With these measurements, you have the data you need to
begin drawing the driveway.
To begin drawing the right side of the driveway:
2) In the Line Styles dialog box, <click> on Driveway, the Apply button and then the Close button.
4) Press the DesignCAD Shortcut key <’> on the keyboard to enact the Point Relative command.
5) Set the DX and DY offsets to 0 and –10. Select Reference Point in the Relative to area of the dialog
box and <click> on the OK button.
6) Snap to the back left corner of the house by dragging the mouse cursor close to the location and
will appear on the wall to establish the point where the driveway meets the house.
7) Enact the Point Relative command again and enter DX and DY offsets of -4 and -18. Select
Reference Point in the Relative to area of the dialog box and <click> on the OK button.
8) Snap to the back corner of the house again to set a point where the driveway line begins to curve
toward the house.
9) Enact the Ortho Line command in DesignCAD and snap to the last point set by pressing the <.> key.
10) Drag the mouse cursor down to the property line and press <K> to snap onto the line. Press <Enter>
to end the driveway line.
11) Use the Curve command in DesignCAD to draw a curved line from the marked point at the end of
the line you just drew to the marked point on the house. You will have to set a point in between the
two marked points as you draw the line in order to create the curve. For this line, estimating the
correct placement for the point in between the marked points should be accurate enough.
12) Erase the marked points as you have done before to complete the right side of the driveway.
To begin drawing the left side of the driveway:
2) On the Lines submenu, choose Parallel by Distance.
3) A box will appear allowing you to enter the distance between the first and second parallel lines.
Since the driveway is 13 feet wide, enter a distance of <13> in the Distance box.
4) Set a point on the straight portion of the right driveway line by <clicking> on the line with the
mouse.
5) Move the mouse cursor to the left and you will notice a duplicate copy of the line. Set a point by
<clicking> on the screen to place the left side of the driveway. The duplicate driveway line is now
exactly 13 units from the right side. However, the driveway line does not extend all the way to the
property line. You will make use of an edit command to correct this situation.
6) Press the Trim One Line Shortcut Key (E) to trim the driveway line with the property line. <Click>
one time on the driveway line and <click> a second time on the property.
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RainCAD
Now that the driveway extends to the property line, you must complete the line up to the garage.
To complete the left side of the driveway:
2) Press the DesignCAD Shortcut key <’> on the keyboard to enact the Point Relative command.
3) Set the DX and DY offsets to -17 and 0. Select Reference Point in the Relative to area of the dialog
4) Snap to the back left corner of the house by dragging the mouse cursor close to the location and
will appear to the left to establish the point where the driveway begins a slight curve to the garage.
icon in the
5) On the Options menu in DesignCAD, choose Preset Point Mode or <click> on the
Toolbar.
6) Use the Gravity command to set a point at the lower left corner of the garage. Move the mouse
cursor to the right along the front of the garage until the distance shown in the DesignCAD
Coordinate Bar is approximately one unit. Refer to the following illustration.
7) Press <K> to Line Snap onto the garage and use the Pointmark command to mark the two points.
8) Press Shortcut Key <C> to enact the Curve command and snap a point to the marked point
approximately 1 unit from the left front corner of the garage.
9) Move the mouse cursor down and snap a point on the next marked point and then on the end of the
left driveway line and press <Enter> to end the curve. The left side of the driveway is now
complete.
10) Turn off the Preset Point Mode by <clicking> on the icon in the DesignCAD Toolbar and erase the
marked points as you have done before. Your drawing should look like the following illustration.
53
Completed Patios and Driveway
DRAWING THE WALKWAY
The house and property are almost complete. Now you need to add the sidewalk and the planting areas in the
front yard. You will estimate the placement of points between the house and the property line, and use the
Curve command to draw the sidewalk. While you could have taken more field measurements for the exact
placement of the walk, you can estimate the point locations and draw the walk accurately enough. Start by
setting and marking a point along the front property line 27.80 feet from the right side of the driveway. The
point will not end up directly on the property line because of the curve. However, it will provide you with a
good guideline for drawing the walkway.
Before drawing the sidewalk lines, choose the Walkway line style from the Line Styles command in the
Drafting menu of RainCAD.
To draw the left side of the walkway:
1) Select the Pointmark command and then the Point Relative command in DesignCAD.
2) Set the DX and DY offsets to 27.80 and 0. Select Reference Point in the Relative to area of the
dialog box and <click> on the OK button.
3) Snap to the end of the right driveway line where it meets the property line. A pointmark will appear
to the right to establish a point close to the location where the walkway will meet the property line.
4) Press the Shortcut Key <C> to start drawing a curve or <click> on the Curve icon in the
DesignCAD Main Toolbox. Snap the first point of the curve onto the front patio close to the left
corner of the entry to the house by pressing the <K> key.
5) Set a point approximately 10 feet down and a little to the right to form the first curve in the walk.
Use the distance indicator in the DesignCAD Coordinate Bar to determine when you have gone
approximately 10 feet.
6) Set another point about 10 feet down and to the left of the last point. Use the distance indicator as
before.
7) Move the mouse cursor downward and, using the point you marked earlier as a guide, snap to the
property line using the <K> key. Press <Enter> to end the line.
Now draw the right side of the walkway using the same method you learned in Lesson Two. Because you
have already learned this method, we will not provide the same detail here. If you need help, refer back to
Lesson Two.
1) Use the Parallel by Distance command in DesignCAD to draw an identical line 4 units to the right of
the existing sidewalk line.
2) Follow the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen to select the existing curve and to set another point
to the right for the parallel walkway line.
3) Choose the Point Select Mode command in DesignCAD to “bend” the curved sidewalk
appropriately.
4) Make use of the Zoom Window and Zoom Previous commands to get a better view of what you are
doing if necessary.
5) Use the snap commands to jump onto the patio and property line.
6) Erase any marked points as you have done before.
ADDING THE FLOWERBED LINES
You now need to draw the planted area in front of the house. Like the walkway, you need not spend too
much time on field measurements. Rather, take the measurements needed to allow you to reasonably
approximate the drawing. While accuracy is important, you can approximate the bed-line within reasonable
tolerances from the measurements taken.
Before drawing the flowerbed lines, choose the Bedlines line style from the Line Styles command in the
Drafting menu of RainCAD.
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RainCAD
To draw the flowerbed lines:
1) Select the Pointmark command and then the Point Relative command in DesignCAD.
2) Set the DX and DY offsets to 0 and -6. Select Reference Point in the Relative to area of the dialog
3) Snap to the end of the left front corner of the house. A pointmark will appear in front of the house
to establish a point for the flowerbed line.
4) Set and mark the remaining points as indicated in Field Measurements Diagram II. The fifth point is
10 feet out from the house. When you reach this point, use the Line Snap command <K> to set a
point on the house approximately midway between the sidewalk and the front right corner of the
house.
5) Press the DesignCAD Shortcut Key <C> to begin drawing a curve. This time, work from right to
left snapping onto to the appropriate marked points using the <.> or <K> keys. Use the field sketch
as a guide to create the approximate shape for the bed line. You will have to set points between the
marked points as you work to the left in order to create the scalloped look.
6) End the line when you get to the right walkway line by dragging the mouse cursor close to the
sidewalk and pressing the <K> key.
7) Start a new line working from the walkway line toward the driveway. When completed, your
drawing should look very similar to the Field Measurements Diagram II.
SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Four and have drawn an entire property making use of the commands
learned in both Lesson One, Lesson Two and Lesson Three. You should now be comfortable with the
methods used to draw any property with relative ease. The next few lessons will cover irrigation design by
taking you through the commands and processes used to place sprinklers, control valves, draw pipe, size
pipe, place controllers and more.
LESSON FIVE - DESIGNING THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM PART I
Estimated time to complete: 1 hour
This lesson will cover irrigation commands in RainCAD IX or RainCAD SX. If you purchased RainCAD
LX as a stand-alone program, review the sections on selecting, moving, copying and rotating symbols, and
then proceed to Lesson Eight.
After completing Lesson Five, you should be familiar with:
• Boundary lines; how to create them and what they do
• Placing sprinklers within the drawing screen
• Adding a water meter or pump station to the drawing screen
• Grouping sprinklers into zones
Having completed the previous lessons, you should be comfortable with the commands and procedures used
to draw any property. Up to this point, most of the commands you have practiced are standard DesignCAD
commands. It is now time to begin an irrigation system design. RainCAD allows you to approach system
design in any manner in which you are accustomed. However, there are a few instances where you must
follow a preset order.
The design approach the tutorial will comply with is as follows:
1) Placing the water meter or pump station
2) Creating the boundary lines
3) Placing the sprinklers
4) Grouping sprinklers into zones
5) Adding the control valve symbols
6) Assigning the control valves to zones
7) Piping the sprinklers
8) Adding the backflow device
9) Assigning the backflow device to a water source
10) Drawing the mainline pipe
11) Sizing the pipe
12) Adding other miscellaneous symbols
BEGINNING LESSON FIVE - WATER METER AND BOUNDARY LINES
To start Lesson Five -Practice Screen 1:
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RainCAD
RainCAD Lesson Five, Practice Screen Number One
You may want to make use of the Zoom Window, Zoom Previous and Pan commands in the next few steps.
These commands will allow you to get a better view of the front yard while placing the water meter, and the
backyard while creating the boundary line. You may find these commands in the DesignCAD View menu or
in the DesignCAD Main Toolbox icons.
WATER METER / PUMP STATION
RainCAD refers to each water meter and pump station as a water source. You may have as many water
sources on the design as required. When assigning sprinklers or valves to a zone number, you will also need
to select the water source that supplies the zone.
Each drawing in RainCAD begins with one default water source titled New Water Source.
In this exercise, you will place a water meter on the drawing screen.
1) On the Symbols menu in RainCAD, choose Irrigation.
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Meters/Pumps.
3) <Click> on New Water Source in the tree on the left side of the dialog box.
NOTE: To rename the water source, <click> on the water source name in the tree on the left side
of the Meters/Pumps dialog box. Press the right mouse button and click on Rename. You may
also add, delete, copy and paste water sources in this dialog box.
4) Select the water meter size from the drop down menu. For this exercise, select a 3/4 inch meter.
5) Enter the static pressure available at the water meter. Type in a pressure of 62 pounds per square
inch.
Lesson Five - Designing the Irrigation System Part I
57
6) Enter a difference in elevation from the source to the water meter location of 10.00 feet. Enter a
drop in elevation as a negative number and a rise in elevation as a positive number.
7) Select a pipe category for the supply line from the drop down menu. For this exercise, select
Schedule 40.
8) Select the pipe size of 1” from the drop down menu by <clicking> on the selection with the mouse.
9) Enter the service line length of 20.00.
NOTE: The program will display the maximum recommended flow of water through the water
meter and the available working pressure at the water meter near the bottom of the dialog box.
You may change the recommended flow through the water source. <Click> on the Override
Recommended Flow box with the left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box. Enter a
new flow in the maximum recommended flow text box.
10) <Click> on the Save button to save the water meter information.
11) <Click> on the Place button to place the water meter symbol on the drawing screen.
12) Drag the mouse cursor to the lower right side of the property and <click> one time with the left
mouse button.
13) Press the <Enter> key to place the symbol on the screen, or move the mouse around the symbol to
rotate the symbol and set a second point with the left mouse button to place the symbol at the
desired angle.
14) Once the water meter symbol is positioned correctly, press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the
symbol and <click> on the Close button to close the Meters/Pumps dialog box.
BOUNDARY LINE
Now that a water meter exists, it is time to create a boundary line to use when placing sprinklers. A
boundary line is a limit or border for automatic sprinkler layout. You may place restrictions on a boundary
line to prevent sprinklers or spray from sprinklers from entering the area.
IMPORTANT: You may have as many boundary lines on the drawing screen as necessary. Boundary
lines may overlap other boundary lines or objects on the drawing screen. We do not recommend that you
create one boundary line to irrigate an entire project. Use separate boundary lines to irrigate the backyard,
front yard, sides of the house and more.
Make use of the zoom commands or the pan command in DesignCAD to get a better view of the backyard.
To create a boundary line:
1) On the Symbols menu in RainCAD, choose Boundary Line.
2) For the purpose of the tutorial, do not place any restrictions on the boundary line. Choose OK to
close the dialog box.
3) Follow the DesignCAD Status Bar and set three or more points for the boundary line and then press
<Enter>.
4) Use the DesignCAD Gravity command to snap a point on the back right corner of the property to
begin the boundary line. Using the DesignCAD Gravity and Line Snap commands, set a point at
each of the remaining locations as shown in the following illustration.
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RainCAD
Setting Points for Drawing the Boundary
5) After setting point number 9, press <Enter> to end the line. RainCAD will automatically close the
boundary line by connecting the first point with the last point.
SPRINKLER PLACEMENT
You can place sprinkler symbols on the drawing screen either manually or with one of several different
automatic placement features. Using the automatic features, you can place symbols along an existing line or
curve, along a temporary line, or within a boundary line. For the purpose of the tutorial, you will place the
sprinklers automatically using the boundary line you just created.
To begin placing sprinkler symbols within the boundary line:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Sprinklers.
3) On the Sprinkler Placement dialog box, click on the Within a Boundary tab.
4) Double <click> on a Manufacturer with the left mouse button or single <click> on the + sign to the
left of the manufacturers name to view the available sprinkler nozzle categories. For this lesson,
<click> on Rain Bird in the list of manufacturers.
5) Double <click> on a Category Name with the left mouse button or single <click> on the + sign to
the left of the category name to view the available sprinkler palettes. Select Turf Sprays from the
list of Category Names.
6) <Click> on a Palette Name one time with the left mouse button to view a list of the sprinklers
assigned to the palette. For this lesson, <click> on 15 Series.
NOTE: A palette is the assortment of sprinklers RainCAD will use to fill the boundary line.
You must have a sprinkler with a 180 degree and a 360 degree arc pattern assigned to each
palette. Palettes are created in the Sprinkler Palette Assignments database in RainCAD.
7) Select Square Spacing and enter 50 in the % of Diameter text box. Leave the Automatic Radius
Reduction checkbox enabled. Enter 10 in the % of Overspray Allowed box and 0.50 in the
Sprinkler Offset Along Boundary Line box. Refer to the RainCAD help screens for more
information on these options.
8) <Click> on the OK button and follow the DesignCAD Status Bar at the bottom of the screen.
<Click> one time on the boundary line with the left mouse button.
NOTE: When selecting a boundary line, pick an area where one boundary line is not drawn
directly on top of another. This will prevent you from selecting the wrong boundary line.
9) The sprinkler symbols will automatically be placed within the boundary line area.
Depending on the shape of the area, the number of points set when creating the boundary line, and the
sprinkler nozzles available in the chosen palette, you may need to adjust the layout once the automatic
placement is complete. We achieved the following sprinkler layout in a very short period by deleting one
half circle sprinkler and moving a few other sprinkler symbols.
Completed Sprinkler Layout in the Backyard
The following is a brief explanation of how to select, move, copy and rotate symbols on the drawing screen
using commands available in DesignCAD. These techniques apply to any type of symbol whether it was
originally placed with manual or with automatic placement features. In addition, you may use these
techniques on all entities including irrigation, landscape, lighting and drainage symbols.
Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on selecting, moving, copying or rotating
entities on the drawing screen.
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RainCAD
SELECTING A SINGLE SYMBOL
To select a symbol on the drawing:
2) Select a symbol or entity by <clicking> on it one time with the mouse. The symbol will change
color indicating it is selected and the selection handle will appear.
SELECTING MULTIPLE SYMBOLS
To select multiple symbols at one time:
2) Hold down the <Shift> key and <click> on several symbols or entities.
3) You may also drag a window around the entities by setting two points with the mouse. Any symbol
or entity that is completely inside the window will be selected.
4) If you hold down the <Ctrl> key and drag a window around several symbols or entities, anything
that fits within the window or crosses its boundary will be selected.
MOVING A SYMBOL
Although this is not the only way to move a symbol, we believe it is the easiest.
To move a symbol on the drawing:
2) Select the symbol by <clicking> on it one time with the mouse. The symbol will change color
indicating it is selected and the selection handle will appear.
3) Press the DesignCAD Shortcut key <M> for the Move command. The symbol will appear on your
mouse cursor.
4) Drag the symbol to the new location and <click> one time with the left mouse button.
5) Press the <Enter> key to place the symbol on the screen or move the mouse around the symbol to
desired angle.
6) Once the symbol is positioned correctly, press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the symbol.
COPYING A SYMBOL
Although this is not the only way to copy a symbol, we believe it is the easiest.
To copy a symbol on the drawing:
2) Select the symbol by <clicking> on it one time with the mouse. The symbol will change color
indicating it is selected and the selection handle will appear.
3) Press the DesignCAD Shortcut Key <N> for the Duplicate command. A copy of the symbol will
appear on your mouse cursor.
4) Drag the copy to a new location and <click> one time with the left mouse button.
5) Press the <Enter> key to place the copy of the symbol on the screen or move the mouse around the
symbol to rotate the symbol and set a second point with the left mouse button to place the symbol at
the desired angle.
6) Once the copy of the symbol is positioned correctly, press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the
symbol.
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ROTATING A SYMBOL
Most symbols have two handles. This will allow you to place the symbol on the screen and rotate it in any
direction. To rotate most irrigation, landscape, lighting or drainage symbols, follow the steps for moving a
symbol. Once you set a point to move the symbol, you will be able to rotate the symbol in a new direction.
If you need to rotate the symbol at a precise angle, follow the steps in Lesson Four for rotating the garage or
refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for additional information.
PRACTICE SCREEN TWO – ZONING SPRINKLERS
Now it's time to practice grouping the sprinklers into zones. The software will help you determine how many
zones are required based on the recommended flow of water through the meter and the combined flow of the
sprinklers.
To start Lesson Five - Practice Screen 2:
RainCAD Lesson Five, Practice Screen Number Two
Before getting started on zoning, make use of the Zoom Window command from the View menu or the Main
Toolbox in DesignCAD to get a better view of the backyard.
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RainCAD
CALCULATING THE TOTAL FLOW OF THE SPRINKLERS
Now you can determine the minimum recommended number of zones required based on the flow of water
through the meter and the total flow of all sprinklers currently on the design.
To calculate the minimum recommended number of zones and the total flow of the sprinklers:
1) On the Calcs menu in RainCAD, choose Irrigation.
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Total Flow. A dialog box will appear displaying the total flow of
all sprinklers on the design screen. In addition, the command will separate the flow for each
sprinkler category on the design. If there is only one water source on the design, the command will
calculate the estimated number of zones and recommend a flow per zone. In this lesson, to divide
the zones evenly, the command recommends at least three zones at approximately 18.18 GPM for
the turf sprinklers in the backyard.
3) <Click> on the Close button to exit the dialog box.
This tool is meant to be used as a guideline for zoning. You do not have to set all zones to the recommended
flow. Keep in mind that you should consider other factors such as the hydrozones within the project as well
when grouping sprinklers into zones.
ASSIGNING SPRINKLERS TO A ZONE
Assigning sprinklers to a zone number is a two-step process. In the first step, you select a group of sprinklers
and calculate the flow from the selection. Once you reach a total flow you are comfortable with, you proceed
to the second step and assign the sprinklers to a zone number.
Now that you know the minimum recommended number of zones, you can begin grouping the sprinklers into
zones. Once you determine a zone, you can assign the sprinklers to a zone number.
To select a group of sprinklers and calculate their flow:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Water Source/Zone Assignment.
3) On the Water Source/Zone Assignment dialog box, <click> on the Assignment tab.
4) Select the row across the back of the property line with five half circle sprinklers and two quarter
circle sprinklers. Drag a window around the sprinklers, or select them one at a time with the left
mouse button while holding down the <Shift> key. Refer to the section on Selecting Multiple
Symbols covered earlier in this chapter.
NOTE: It may be easier to select sprinklers by <clicking> on the arc pattern versus selecting the
sprinkler symbol itself.
5) <Click> on the Get Flow From Selection button to determine the flow of the selected sprinklers.
You should have seven sprinklers selected with a flow of 11.09 GPM. This is well below the
recommended flow, so add a few more sprinklers to the zone.
6) While holding down the <Shift> key, <click> on the half circle and quarter circle sprinklers against
the property line on the left side of the backyard and the full circle sprinkler just to their right.
7) <Click> on the Get Flow From Selection button again to determine the flow of the selected
sprinklers. You should now have ten sprinklers selected with a flow of 17.56 GPM.
Although the flow of the selected sprinklers is less than the recommended flow of the zone, you will proceed
to assign these sprinklers to zone number one. You can add or remove sprinklers to or from a zone at any
time.
To assign the sprinklers to a zone number:
1) Each design may have more than one water source. Before you may assign sprinklers or control
valves to a zone number, you must first select the water source supplying the zone. In the Water
63
Source Assignment location, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available water
sources. In this lesson, you will only have one water source in the list. <Click> on the water source
name one time with the mouse.
2) In the Zone Number Assignment text box, type in the number <1> for the zone assignment. There is
no limit to the number of zones per water source.
3) In the Zone Assignment location, select Add Selection to Zone in the drop down menu and then
<click> on the Apply button.
NOTE: To remove a sprinkler or control valve from a zone assignment, select Remove
Selection from Zone in the drop down menu and then click on the Apply button.
4) <Click> on the DesignCAD button in the Windows Taskbar to make DesignCAD the current
application.
5) Refresh the drawing screen and press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the sprinkler symbols.
A 1-1 should appear next to the sprinkler symbols indicating that they are assigned to water source
number one and zone number one.
6) Following the steps above, select the next row of four full circle sprinklers and one half circle
sprinkler and assign them to zone number two.
7) Select the remaining ten sprinklers and assign them to zone number three.
NOTE: When the flow of the selected sprinklers exceeds the recommended flow through the
water source, the Flow of Selected Sprinklers label turns red as an indicator.
8) <Click> on the Close button to close the dialog box. Your screen should now look like the
following illustration.
Sprinkler Symbols Assigned to Zones
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RainCAD
Assume there are additional sprinklers on the drawing that you need to assign to a zone number. Before you
can add a sprinkler to an existing zone number, you will need to check the flow of the zone.
To check the flow of the existing zone number:
4) In the Water Source Assignment location, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available
water sources. In this lesson, you will only have one water source in the list. <Click> on the water
source name one time with the mouse.
5) In the Zone Number Assignment text box, type in the number <1> to check the flow for zone
number one.
6) <Click> on the Select Zone button to select all of the sprinklers on the design that are currently
assigned to water source number one and zone number one.
7) <Click> on the Get Flow From Selection button to determine the total flow of the selected sprinklers
assigned to zone number one. If additional sprinklers were on the drawing, you could now select
the sprinklers and add them to the zone.
8) <Click> on the Close button to close the dialog box.
There may be times when you need to reorder or reassign sprinkler zone numbers. On the Reassignment tab
in the Water Source/Zone Assignment dialog box, you can select one or more zones and increment or
decrement their zone assignment numbers. This tool becomes useful when you need to add a zone or remove
a zone, but would like to keep the zone numbers in sequential order on the design.
Refer to the RainCAD Help screens for more information on the use of this command.
SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Five. You have learned how to place a water meter on the drawing. You
have created a boundary line and should know that you may have as many boundary lines as necessary on the
drawing screen. You have placed sprinkler symbols on the drawing screen using one of the automatic layout
features and should be aware of the other features available to you. In addition, you know how to move,
copy and rotate a symbol. Finally, you have learned how to group sprinklers into zones.
The next lesson will cover placing irrigation control valves, drawing lateral line and mainline pipe, placing
backflow prevention devices, irrigation controllers, accessories and more.
LESSON SIX - DESIGNING THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM PART II
This lesson is specific to RainCAD IX or the RainCAD SX. If you purchased RainCAD LX as a stand-alone
program, skip this lesson and proceed to Lesson Eight.
Having completed the first five lessons, you should have a better understanding of how to draw any property
and place sprinkler symbols. From here, you will learn how to add control valves, assign control valves to a
zone number, pipe the lateral zones, draw the mainline pipe and more.
After completing Lesson Six, you should be able to:
• Use the DesignCAD Layer command to make layers invisible
• Place irrigation control valve symbols
• Assign control valves to a zone
• Draw lateral line pipe
• Create pipe “hops”
• Place backflow prevention devices and assign them to a water source
• Draw mainline pipe
BEGINNING LESSON SIX – DESIGNCAD LAYER COMMAND
To start Lesson Six -Practice Screen 1:
RainCAD Lesson Six, Practice Screen Number One
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You should make use of the Zoom Window, Zoom Previous and Pan commands in the remainder of this
lesson. The commands will allow you to get a better view of the backyard while placing the control valves
and piping the lateral zones. You may find the commands in the DesignCAD View menu or in the Main
Toolbox icons.
In addition to the zoom commands, sometimes you can get a better view of an area by turning layers on or
off. Layers are like individual sheets of clear paper that overlay one another to create a complete drawing.
DesignCAD has 1,000 layers available for use when designing your project. RainCAD assigns sprinkler
symbols and arc patterns to specific layers during the design process. Make use of the DesignCAD Layer
Options command to turn the layers on and off. For example, now that you are through placing sprinklers in
the backyard, it would be beneficial to turn the sprinkler arc patterns off while placing the control valves.
To turn the sprinkler arc patterns off:
2) Scroll down to layer 720 and <click> one time on the light bulb
pattern layer for turf spray nozzles off.
icon to turn the sprinkler arc
NOTE: You may find the sprinkler and arc pattern layer assignments in the Irrigation
Preferences dialog box in RainCAD. The assignments are shown on the Sprinklers tab.
3) <Click> on the Apply button to apply the changes.
4) <Click> on the OK button to close the dialog box.
For additional information on layers, refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual.
PLACING CONTROL VALVES
RainCAD will automatically pipe the sprinklers assigned to a lateral zone. For the software to pipe the
lateral zones, you must place the irrigation control valves on the drawing screen and assign them to a zone
number. You may place control valves anywhere on the drawing screen.
To place irrigation control valve symbols:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Control Valves.
left of the manufacturers name to view the available control valves. For this lesson, <click> on
Hunter in the list of manufacturers.
4) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a PGV-101G and <click> on the OK button to place
the symbol on the drawing screen.
5) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. For this exercise, drag the symbol to the point left of
the #1 indicator and <click> one time with the left mouse button to center feed the zone.
NOTE: When creating your designs, you may place control valve symbols anywhere on the
drawing screen. You may place the control valves to center feed or end feed a zone, or in a
manifold configuration.
desired angle.
To place additional valves on the drawing, you can simply copy the valve symbol to locations #2 and #3.
Lesson Six - Designing the Irrigation System Part II
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To copy the control valve symbol:
1) If the original valve symbol is not selected, select it now by <clicking> on the symbol one time with
the mouse.
2) Press the <N> key on the keyboard to enact the Duplicate command in DesignCAD. Drag the copy
of the valve symbol to the point left of location #2 and <click> one time to place the symbol on the
design screen.
desired angle.
4) Press <N> to copy the symbol again and follow the steps above to place a valve symbol at the point
left of location #3.
5) Press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the original symbol. Your screen should look similar to
the following the illustration for practice screen two below.
PRACTICE SCREEN TWO – CONTROL VALVE ZONE ASSIGNMENTS
When drawing lateral line pipe with the Automatic Piping command, the software will pipe the sprinklers for
each zone back to the control valve.
To start Lesson Six -Practice Screen 2:
RainCAD Lesson Six, Practice Screen Number Two
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RainCAD
To assign a control valve to a zone number:
4) <Click> one time on the control valve near back property line to be assigned to zone number one.
5) Each design may have more than one water source. Before you may assign a control valve to a zone
number, you must first select the water source supplying the zone. In the Water Source Assignment
location, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available water sources. In this lesson, you
will only have one water source in the list. <Click> on the water source name one time with the
mouse.
6) In the Zone Number Assignment text box, type in the number <1> for the zone assignment. There is
no limit to the number of zones per water source.
NOTE: To remove a control valve from a zone assignment, select Remove Selection from Zone
in the drop down menu and then click on the Apply button.
application.
9) Refresh the drawing screen and press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the control valve
symbol. A 1-1 should appear next to the symbol indicating its assignment to water source number
one and zone number one.
10) Following the steps above, select the next control valve and assign it to zone number two.
11) Select the remaining control valve and assign it to zone number three.
PRACTICE SCREEN THREE - LATERAL LINE PIPING
There are multiple commands available to assist in drawing the pipe for an irrigation system. In this tutorial,
we will cover both automatic and manual pipe placement commands. In addition, we will cover the
techniques required to draw a pipe hop.
We will begin with the Automatic Piping command. For this command to function properly, you must assign
the sprinkler symbols and control valves to a zone number. For more information on zone assignments, refer
to Assigning Sprinklers to a Zone and Control Valve Zone Assignments previously covered in this manual.
To begin automatic piping of the sprinkler zones:
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RainCAD Lesson Six, Practice Screen Number Three
The sprinklers and control valves on the screen represent those placed on the drawing in previous exercises.
You know which sprinklers to pipe together based on their water source and zone assignment numbers.
Before placing the pipe, use the DesignCAD Layer Options command or the RainCAD Layer Display
command to turn off the sprinkler arc patterns. Now it's time to begin drawing lateral line pipe.
To use the Automatic Piping command:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Pipe Placement.
3) On the Pipe Placement dialog box, <click> on the Automatic Piping tab.
4) Select each sprinkler zone to pipe in the Check Zones for Automatic Lateral Line Piping box. Click
on each selection with the left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box. For this lesson,
select all three zones.
NOTE: You do not have to pipe all zones at one time. You can pipe each zone individually,
adjusting the settings as required to achieve the desired piping results.
5) Leave the Minimum Length of Lateral Line Branches and Lateral Line Row Variance on their
default settings of 3 and 12.
NOTE: The Minimum Length of Lateral Branches allows you to reduce short pieces of pipe
that tee off a main lateral branch to a sprinkler. The automatic piping feature attempts to group
sprinklers in rows or columns. The Lateral Line Row Variance allows you to dictate the
distance between a sprinkler row or column. Adjusting these two variables can greatly affect the
outcome of the pipe layout.
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RainCAD
6) <Click> on the OK button to continue with the automatic piping process.
7) Follow the Status Bar and set two points on the screen for the row angle. Set the two points
horizontally on the screen by <clicking> one time on the left side of the screen, moving the mouse
directly to the right a short distance and <clicking> one more time.
The program will pipe the sprinklers automatically based on their water source and zone assignments. In
addition, the program will pipe the sprinklers together in rows running horizontally on the design screen.
Your screen should now look similar to the following illustration.
Automatic Lateral Line Piping
If you are not satisfied with the layout, you may choose the Automatic Piping command again and try a
different method with adjusted settings. The lateral line pipe for the selected zones will be removed and new
pipe will be placed based on the adjusted settings.
In this example, zones number one and three both need a little work. Zone number two is fine as it is. Let’s
continue the automatic lateral line piping process and redo zone number three.
You need to eliminate the small branch forming a tee with the top lateral line and running down to the 270degree nozzle. You will also need to eliminate the pipe running through the building by separating the
sprinklers into three rows instead of two.
First, you need to know the length of the lateral line braches. You will use a DesignCAD command to gather
this information.
To determine the length of a line in DesignCAD:
1) Select the piece of pipe running down from the horizontal lateral line to the 270-degree sprinkler
located near the back corner of the garage.
2) On the View menu in DesignCAD, choose Info Box.
3) A dialog box will appear with information on the selected entity including the layer assignment,
color, line scale, line width and the length. The line should be approximately 3.51 units in length.
4) Now select the line running up from the bottom horizontal lateral line through the building to the
sprinkler located just outside the back wall of the house.
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5) If the Info Box is not still open, select the command to determine the length of the line. This line
should measure approximately 5.00 units long.
6) Close the dialog box by selecting Info Box in the View menu of DesignCAD or by <clicking> on
the X in the top right corner of the box.
With this information, you are ready to redraw the pipe in zone number three.
To redo the lateral line piping on zone number three:
1) The Pipe Placement dialog box should still be open to the Automatic Piping tab. If it is not, restart
the command.
2) Select zone number three in the Check Zones for Automatic Lateral Line Piping box. <Click> on
the zone number with the left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box. Remove any
checkmarks from the other two zones.
3) Since you need to eliminate the 3.51 foot lateral branch off the top horizontal row, enter a value of
<4> in the Minimum Length of Lateral Line Branches. This will prevent the program from drawing
any branches that are less than four units in length.
4) The sprinklers along the bottom are together in one row with lateral branches of five feet. Enter a
value of <4> in the Lateral Line Row Variance to separate the sprinklers into two rows instead of
one.
5) <Click> on the OK button.
6) Set the two points horizontally on the screen by <clicking> one time on the left side of the screen,
moving the mouse directly to the right a short distance and <clicking> one more time
7) The program will prompt you indicating that pipe already exists on the zone. <Click> on the Yes
button to delete the existing pipe and continue with the piping process.
The program will erase the existing pipe and redraw the pipe with the adjusted settings. You should now
have an acceptable piping design for zones two and three in the backyard. Your piping layout should
resemble the following illustration.
Automatic Lateral Line Piping with Redesign of Zone Number Three
Now you need to make a few minor adjustments to zone number one to complete the lateral line piping in the
backyard. You can make the final adjustments using a manual pipe placement command. We will cover
manual pipe placement in the following lesson.
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PRACTICE SCREEN FOUR – MANUAL PIPING
You may draw lateral line, mainline and pipe hops on the design using the Manual Piping command. You
can draw pipe in a selected size and category, or pipe to size at a later point in time.
When drawing pipe manually on the design screen, it is necessary to end the pipe at each sprinkler, control
valve, backflow device, or water source symbol. You may draw one continuous piece of pipe, however, you
will need to set a point by <clicking> with the left mouse button at each sprinkler, control valve, backflow
device, or water source location. RainCAD will automatically break the pipe at each point you set.
The pipe must start or stop within 0.50 feet from the insertion point of each irrigation symbol for the
Automatic Pipe Sizing or Hydraulics commands to function. To be more specific, a small “attribute” number
is assigned to each piece of equipment. The attribute holds information about the equipment. For sprinklers
it holds the type of nozzle and the body assignment. The attribute number is placed at the insertion point of
the symbol. You must start or stop a piece of pipe within 0.50 units of the bottom left corner of the attribute
number. When you select a symbol on the drawing screen, DesignCAD places a small (0) at the insertion
point and a (1) at the rotation point. The pipe must stop or start within 0.50 feet of the (0) insertion point.
In this exercise, you will practice drawing lateral line pipe between sprinkler symbols all the way back to the
control valve.
To start Lesson Six - Practice Screen 4:
RainCAD Lesson Six, Practice Screen Number Four
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To manually draw lateral line pipe:
1) On the Symbols menu, choose Irrigation.
3) On the Pipe Placement dialog box, <click> on the Manual Piping tab.
4) Choose Lateral Line by <clicking> on the selection one time with the left mouse button.
5) If you plan to draw pipe of a known category and size, select a category in the Select Pipe Category
drop down menu. For this exercise, leave the selection on the default setting of Select pipe category
later.
6) If you had chosen a category of pipe in the previous step, you would select the desired pipe size
from the Select Pipe Size drop down menu. For this exercise, leave the selection on the default
setting of Select pipe size later.
7) Enable the Auto Snap Pipe to Symbols feature by <clicking> with the left mouse button until a
checkmark appears in the box.
8) Enter a value of <2.00> in the Pipe Snap Distance text box.
NOTE: To assist in connecting the pipe to the irrigation symbols, you can make use of the Auto
Snap Pipe to Symbols feature. With this feature enabled, the software will automatically connect
the pipe to the closest irrigation symbol based on the setting in the Pipe Snap Distance text box.
If the Pipe Snap Distance is set to a value of 2.00, a point may be set within one (2) units of the
insertion point of an irrigation symbol and the program will automatically snap the pipe to the
symbol. If the Pipe Snap Distance is set to 3.00, a point may be set within three (3) units from the
insertion point of an irrigation symbol. Depending on the size and complexity of the drawing and
the speed of the computer system, this feature may slow down the manual piping process.
All of the layers associated with the irrigation symbols must be visible and unlocked for the Auto
Snap Pipe to Symbols feature to function. For example, when snapping to sprinkler symbols, the
symbol, arc pattern, and attribute number layers must be visible and unlocked. Refer to the
DesignCAD Reference manual for more information on drawing layers.
9) To draw the lateral line pipe, <click> on the OK button and follow the Status Bar.
10) Begin drawing the pipe at the top left sprinkler and try to set a point within 0.50 units of the center
of the symbol at each sprinkler location along the top row. Once you reach the final sprinkler on the
top row, press the <Enter> key on the keyboard to end the piece of pipe.
The pipe will be broken at each symbol location to allow for accurate sizing of the pipe in another command.
To continue placing the lateral line pipe:
1) <Click> on the OK button and set a point near the center of each sprinkler location along the bottom
row of symbols.
2) Press the <Enter> key to end the piece of pipe.
Now it is time to connect the two lateral lines together and then connect them to the control valve.
To connect the laterals together:
1) <Click> on the OK button and set a point midway between the second and third sprinkler locations
on the top row of lateral line pipe. Make use of the DesignCAD Snap commands such as Midway
or Line Snap to assist in connecting the lines.
2) Drag the cursor down and set another point midway between the second and third sprinkler
locations on the bottom row of lateral line pipe.
3) Press the <Enter> key to end the pipe.
4) <Click> on the OK button and set a point on the control valve.
5) Drag the cursor to the left, set a point on the vertical piece of pipe and press <Enter>.
6) <Click> on the Close button to close the dialog box. Your screen should look like the following
illustration.
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Manual Lateral Line Piping
Now that the pipe is drawn, you will need to break the pipe at any intersection formed by a tee or cross
fitting. This will allow for accurate pipe sizing and hydraulic calculations.
To break the pipe at all intersections:
3) On the Pipe Placement dialog box, <click> on the Modify Pipe tab.
4) Each design may have more than one water source. Before you may break pipe at each intersection,
you must first select the water source supplying the zone. In the Water Source Assignment location,
<click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available water sources. In this lesson, you will only
have one water source in the list. <Click> on the water source name one time with the mouse.
5) In the Zone drop down menu, select the zone number for the lateral line you intend to break. In this
exercise, select Lateral Line – Zone 1.
NOTE: To break mainline pipe at each intersection, select Mainline from the drop down menu.
6) <Click> on the OK button to break the pipe at each intersection. The horizontal pieces of lateral
line pipe will be broken at their intersection with the vertical piece of pipe. This will allow for
accurate sizing of the pipe.
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PRACTICE SCREEN FIVE - PIPE HOPS
When you draw one pipe overlapping another, unless they are drawn in two different colors, it is not possible
to tell that the two pieces of pipe do not actually connect to one another. To make sure that the final plan is
easy to read, the software allows you to "hop" overlapping pipe so they do not appear to be connected.
RainCAD Lesson Six, Practice Screen Number Five
To draw a pipe hop:
3) On the Pipe Placement dialog box, <click> on the Modify Pipe tab.
4) <Click> on Draw Pipe Hop until a checkmark appears in the box.
5) You can adjust the radius for the pipe hop by entering a value in the Pipe Hop Radius text box.
Enter a value of <1.50> feet.
6) <Click> on the OK button and follow the Status Bar.
7) Select the pipe that will make the hop by <clicking> on the line with the left mouse button. In this
exercise, select the vertical line running from control valve number 1 to the top row of sprinklers.
8) Next, set a point for the center of the hop. Set a point at the intersection of the vertical line and the
horizontal line connecting the bottom row of sprinklers.
9) Set the final point for the end of the hop.
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RainCAD
NOTE: The order in which you set the center and the end point determines the side on which the hop
occurs. If you set the end point below the center point, the hop will be on the right side. If you set the
end point above the center point, the hop will be drawn on the left side.
To continue the exercise, make use of the DesignCAD Undo command to restore the vertical line back to its
original shape.
To restore the line to its original shape:
1) On the Edit menu in DesignCAD, choose Undo or use the Shortcut Key combination of
<Ctrl>+<Z>. You will need to select the command multiple times to restore the line. The command
will undo each step of the pipe hop process until the drawing is back to its original condition.
Once you complete the restore process, practice making the horizontal line connecting the bottom row of
sprinklers hop the vertical line.
To make the bottom row hop the vertical line:
1) The Pipe Placement dialog box should still be open to the Modify Pipe tab. If it is not, restart the
command.
2) <Click> on Draw Pipe Hop until a checkmark appears in the box.
3) You can adjust the radius for the pipe hop by entering a value in the Pipe Hop Radius text box. For
this exercise, leave the radius at the default setting of 1.50 feet.
5) Select the pipe that will make the hop by <clicking> on the line with the left mouse button. This
time, select the horizontal line connecting the bottom row of sprinklers as the line making the hop.
6) Next, set a point for the center of the hop at the intersection of the horizontal line and the vertical
line running from control valve number 1 to the top row of sprinklers.
7) Set the final point for the end of the hop.
NOTE: If you set the end point to the right of the center point, the hop will appear on the top.
If you set the end point to the left of the center point, the hop will appear on the bottom.
8) <Click> on the Close button to exit the dialog box.
You should now be comfortable with drawing a pipe hop and using the DesignCAD Undo command. When
drawing a pipe hop, the hop will take on the characteristics of the line making the hop. If the pipe is sized,
the hop will be sized as well. If the pipe is a mainline, the hop will be a dashed line.
PRACTICE SCREEN SIX – BACKFLOW DEVICE AND MAINLINE PIPE
You have already placed irrigation control valves and piped the lateral zones in the backyard. Now you need
to place a backflow prevention device and draw the irrigation mainline pipe.
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RainCAD Lesson Six, Practice Screen Number Six
You can see the water meter that you placed in the front yard in an earlier lesson. Now you need to
determine what type of backflow prevention device is required for the project and where the device should be
located on the design. Once these decisions are made, you can select the device, place it on the screen and
draw the mainline pipe from the water meter to the backflow device. From there, you can draw the mainline
to each of the control valve locations. For this exercise, assume you want to use a Pressure Vacuum Breaker
and you want to place the device on the right side of the house in the flowerbed just a few feet to the right of
the corner of the house.
Before placing the backflow device, make use of the DesignCAD zoom commands if necessary to get a
better view of the front yard and flowerbed area.
To place a backflow device:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Backflow Devices.
left of the manufacturers name to view the available control valves. For this lesson, <click> on
Watts in the list of manufacturers.
4) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on an 800M2-QT 1 and <click> on the OK button to
place the symbol on the drawing screen.
5) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. For this exercise, drag the symbol to the flowerbed
just a few feet to the right of the corner of the house and <click> one time with the left mouse
button.
desired angle.
8) Press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the symbol.
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RainCAD
Before you proceed to draw the mainline pipe, you must first assign the backflow device to a water source.
To assign the backflow to a water source:
4) <Click> one time on the backflow device to select the symbol.
5) Each design may have more than one water source. Before you may assign a backflow device to a
water source, you must first select the water source supplying the system. In the Water Source
Assignment location, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available water sources. In
this lesson, you will only have one water source in the list. <Click> on the water source name one
time with the mouse.
6) It does not matter what value is in the Zone Number Assignment text box. A backflow device is not
assigned to a particular zone.
application.
9) Refresh the drawing screen and press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the backflow symbol. A
1 should appear next to the symbol indicating its assignment to water source number one.
DRAWING THE MAINLINE PIPE
Now that a backflow device is on the design and assigned to the water source, it is time to draw the irrigation
mainline pipe from the water source to each control valve in the system.
To draw the mainline pipe:
3) On the Pipe Placement dialog box, <click> on the Manual Piping tab.
4) Choose Mainline by <clicking> on the selection one time with the left mouse button.
5) For the purpose of the tutorial, do not select a pipe category or size from the drop down menus.
NOTE: When creating your designs, if you know what size the pipe should be, you can select
the category and pipe size from the drop down menus. As you draw the pipe on the screen, it is
automatically sized according to your selections. If you do not know the size, wait and make use
of the Automatic Pipe Sizing command in RainCAD.
6) For the purpose of the tutorial, disable the Auto Snap Pipe to Symbols feature and be sure to set the
points for the mainline pipe within 0.50 feet of the center of each irrigation symbol.
8) Move the mouse cursor to the center of the water meter symbol and <click> one time with the left
mouse button.
9) Move the cursor up toward the backflow device to draw the mainline pipe from the water meter to
the backflow and <click> one time with the left mouse button near the center of the backflow
symbol.
10) Set points as required drawing the mainline pipe from the backflow device to the backyard and out
to each control valve. Remember to consider the actual path you will follow when installing the
pipe while trying to keep straight lines as they result in a much more professional drawing.
NOTE: If you are zoomed in on the drawing, make use of the DesignCAD scroll bars or the Pan
command to move about the screen while drawing the mainline pipe. You may also make use of
the Angle Constraint Mode to help keep your lines horizontal or vertical on the screen.
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11) Once you reach the final control valve, press the <Enter> key to end the pipe.
12) Draw pipe hops as necessary to indicate that the mainline pipe is not connected to the lateral piping.
The mainline pipe is now complete and your drawing should look similar to the following illustration.
Completed Mainline Piping
SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Six. You have learned how to turn certain layers on or off with the
DesignCAD Layer command. You learned how to place irrigation control valves and assign them to a water
source and zone number. In addition, you learned about special commands such as Automatic Piping,
Manual Piping, and Pipe Hops. You know that pipe must stop and start within 0.50 feet of the lower left
corner of a symbols attribute number. If the pipe does not end within this distance, the program will not
recognize that the pipe is attached to the symbol. You have placed a backflow device and assigned it to a
water source. You practiced drawing mainline pipe and have covered the correct techniques for drawing the
pipe between water meters, backflow devices and control valves. In the next lesson, you will learn how to
size the lateral line and mainline pipe.
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RainCAD
LESSON SEVEN - PIPE SIZING AND ADDITIONAL SYMBOLS
This lesson is specific to RainCAD IX or the RainCAD SX. If you purchased RainCAD LX as a stand-alone
program, skip this lesson and proceed to Lesson Eight.
After completing Lesson Seven, you should know how to:
• Set preferences in the Irrigation Preferences dialog box
• Size pipe using the Automatic Pipe Sizing command
• Size pipe manually
• Place symbols for controllers, rain sensors, and other accessories
In the first six lessons, you learned how to draw the property and layout an irrigation system. To complete
the system design phase you need to size the pipe correctly. In Lesson Seven, you are going to practice the
Automatic Pipe Sizing command. Methods for manual sizing are covered in the on-line help screens and are
easy enough that you should have no difficulty in working through the process without the help of a tutorial.
BEGINNING LESSON SEVEN - IRRIGATION PREFERENCES
Before you begin the pipe sizing process, it may be beneficial to make some setting adjustments in the
Irrigation Preferences dialog box. The Irrigation Preferences dialog box allows you to set certain properties
to avoid the repetitive entry of information. Additional settings are available in the Automatic Pipe Sizing
dialog box.
Some of the properties associated with pipe are as follows:
Line Type Scale Setting for Mainline
Text Size for Pipe Size Labels
Pipe Size Label Offset
Default Color for Pipe Size Labels
Automatic Color Code Selections for Mainline and Lateral Line Zones
To set the irrigation preference settings for pipe sizing:
1) On the Options/Info menu in RainCAD, choose Irrigation.
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Preferences.
3) On the Irrigation Preferences dialog box, <click> on the Pipe tab.
4) Make adjustments to the settings as necessary.
NOTE: If the Automatically Color Code Pipe checkbox is enabled in the Automatic Pipe Sizing
command on the Options tab, the color of the mainline pipe and the color of the lateral line zones
will be based on the settings under the Auto Pipe Color settings. If the Automatically Color Code
Pipe check box is disabled, the pipe will be colored based on the Symbol Color for each piece of
pipe in the Pipe Database. Each piece of pipe may be assigned to its own Symbol Color.
5) Once all settings are made, <click> on Close button to exit the dialog box and save the settings.
For more information on preference settings, refer to the RainCAD Help screens under Irrigation
Preferences or Pipe Preferences.
PIPE SIZING OPTIONS
Prior to sizing lateral line or mainline pipe, it may be necessary to adjust the available option settings. Any
adjustments to the settings will be saved until further adjustments are required.
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RainCAD
To adjust the pipe sizing option settings:
1) On the Calcs menu, choose Irrigation.
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Automatic Pipe Sizing.
3) On the Automatic Pipe Sizing dialog box, <click> on the Options tab.
4) Select the category of pipe to use in the sizing process from the Pipe Category drop down menu.
For the pipe sizing exercises, select the category for Class 200 PVC.
5) Select each pipe size to use during the sizing process in the Check Sizes Used for Sizing box.
<Click> on each pipe size selection with the left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box.
A pipe size that is not selected will not be used during the pipe sizing process.
For example, in the following illustration we disabled 1/2" and 1 1/4" pipe. When sizing the pipe,
these two sizes will not be used during the process.
For the pipe sizing exercises, select all of the available pipe sizes.
6) Set the Maximum Allowable Velocity in the Lateral Line and the Maximum Allowable Velocity in
the Mainline to five (5) feet per second.
7) Set the Percent Allowable Pressure Variance to 10% by entering <10.00> in the text box.
NOTE: In all piping situations, there will be a pressure difference between the first and last
sprinkler in a zone. You should control the difference in pressure to maintain system
performance at the nozzle. Increased pressure may also increase the precipitation rate causing
one portion of the zone to receive more water than another portion. The default setting is 10%.
Industry standards recommend that you not set the number to a value greater than 32%.
8) Enable the Automatically Color Code Pipe check box by clicking on the selection with the left
mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box to color code each zone of lateral line pipe based
on the settings in the Irrigation Preferences dialog box. If this feature is disabled, the pipe will be
colored based on the Symbol Color settings for each piece of pipe in the Pipe Database.
Once the settings are complete, you may proceed with the automatic lateral line or mainline pipe sizing
process.
PRACTICE SCREEN ONE - AUTOMATIC LATERAL LINE PIPE SIZING
To start Lesson Seven - Practice Screen 1:
Lesson Seven - Pipe Sizing and Additional Symbols
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RainCAD Lesson Seven, Practice Screen Number One
The software allows you to size pipe either manually or automatically. Automatic lateral line pipe sizing is
as simple as selecting the water source and zone numbers and having all of the pipe size itself. You must
define the maximum allowed velocity through the pipe, the category of pipe you wish to use, all pipe sizes
available for use, and the allowable lateral zone pressure variance on the Options tab. With this information,
the software will calculate the correct pipe size based on the Hazen-Williams formula.
You should make use of the DesignCAD Zoom and Pan commands in the remainder of this lesson. The
commands will allow you to get a better view of the yard while sizing the pipe. You may find the commands
in the DesignCAD View menu or in the Main Toolbox icons.
To size each lateral zone in the backyard:
3) On the Automatic Pipe Sizing dialog box, <click> on the Lateral Line Pipe tab.
4) Select each zone number in the Check Zones for Auto Pipe Sizing box. <Click> on each selection
with the left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box. If you do not select a zone number,
the program will not size the pipe for that zone. In this exercise, select zones 1, 2 and 3. Refer to
the following illustration.
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5) <Click> on the OK button to size the pipe. Depending on the speed of the computer, the number of
zones and the complexity of the piping layout, it will take a short period to size the pipe.
6) Once the pipe is sized, <click> on the Close button to close the dialog box and refresh the
DesignCAD screen.
Your design should look similar to the illustration below.
Sized Lateral Line Pipe
If the program fails to size a piece of pipe, the Pipe Viewer will appear displaying all of the pipe that is not
sized. The pipe is most likely not connected to a symbol or another piece of pipe, or the pipe is not broken
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properly at an intersection with another piece of pipe. Erase the pipe and redraw the pipe using the Manual
Piping command. Once the pipe is redrawn, select the Automatic Pipe Sizing command again and resize the
pipe.
Depending on the angle of a piece of pipe, you may need to adjust the position of the pipe size labels.
Simply select a label and drag it to a new location if necessary. You may need to adjust the Pipe Size Label
Offset in the Irrigation Preferences dialog box to adjust the location of future pipe size labels placed on the
drawing screen.
PRACTICE SCREEN TWO - AUTOMATIC MAINLINE PIPE SIZING
To start Lesson Seven - Practice Screen 2:
RainCAD Lesson Seven, Practice Screen Number Two
The next step is to size the mainline pipe from the control valves through the backflow device and on to the
water source. The command will automatically detect any mainline loop piping network and size the pipe
based on the Hardy Cross method of balancing flows and pressure loss. In addition, the command will allow
for single valve operation or multiple control valves operating at one time.
To automatically calculate the mainline pipe sizes for single valve operation:
3) On the Automatic Pipe Sizing dialog box, <click> on the Mainline Pipe tab.
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4) Each design may have more than one water source. Before you may size the mainline pipe, you
must first select the water source supplying the pipe. In the Water Source location, <click> on the
down arrow to view a list of the available water sources. In this lesson, you will only have one
water source in the list. <Click> on the water source name one time with the mouse.
5) In this exercise, you will size the pipe with each valve running independently. Disable the Multiple
Valve Operation feature by <clicking> on selection with the left mouse button until the checkmark
no longer appears in the box.
6) <Click> on the OK button to begin sizing the pipe.
7) In this exercise, a message box will appear indicating that a standard network has been detected.
<Click> on the Yes button to continue with the pipe sizing process.
NOTE: If a loop network is detected, the message box will indicate so. There is no limit to the
number of loops that may exist within the network as long as the loops are not totally independent
of one another. The program cannot size mainline pipe with more than one independent loop.
Refer to the RainCAD Help screens for more detailed information on loop networks.
Depending on the speed of the computer, the number of control valves, and the complexity of the
piping layout, it will take a short period to size the pipe from the control valves back to the water
source.
If more than one control valve will operate simultaneously, you will need to create Run Sets and assign each
control valve to one or more Run Sets.
To add, delete, or assign a control valve to a run set:
3) On the Automatic Pipe Sizing dialog box, <click> on the Mainline Pipe tab.
4) Enable the Multiple Valve Operation check box by <clicking> on the selection with the left mouse
button until a checkmark appears in the box.
5) To create a new Run Set, <click> on the Add Set button. You may create as many different Run
Sets as required.
6) To place control valves into a Run Set, <click> on the desired Run Set in the selection box on the
right side of the dialog box. <Click> on a control valve in the list on the left side of the dialog box
and <click> on the right arrow button, or double <click> on the control valve number. The control
valve number will be placed to the right of the Run Set number.
7) To remove a control valve from the selected Run Set, <click> on the control valve in the list on the
left side of the dialog box and <click> on the left arrow button. The control valve number will be
removed from the right of the Run Set number.
8) To delete a Run Set from the list, select the desired Run Set in the list on the right side of the dialog
box and <click> on the Delete Set button.
9) To calculate the flow of a Run Set, <click> on the Get Flow for Selected Set button.
10) Once all possible Run Sets have been created, <click> on the OK button to begin the pipe sizing
process.
The Run Set configuration along with the adjustment of the velocity and pressure variance settings can
greatly affect the sizing of pipe within the system. If the sizes are not satisfactory, you may adjust the
settings and resize the system until you are satisfied with the results.
Once the pipe is sized, the Pipe Network Viewer will appear. The Pipe Network Viewer will allow you to
select a piece of pipe on the screen and view more detailed information such as the size, length, flow,
velocity, and pressure loss.
To view the hydraulic information on a specific piece of pipe:
1) In the Run Set location near the top of the dialog box, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of
the available run sets. Select a run set from the resulting menu by <clicking> on the selection with
the left mouse button. Refer to the following illustration.
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Pipe Network Viewer
2) Make use of the select, zoom, and pan icons to select individual pipe segments for more detailed
information.
3) <Click> on the Export button to save the information in an HTML format.
4) <Click> on the X in the top right corner to close the dialog box.
PRACTICE SCREEN THREE - MANUAL PIPE SIZING
If you have accidentally chosen the wrong category and/or size of pipe, there is a command to assist you in
correcting the error. If you need to remove pipe from the drawing screen, simply choose Erase from the Edit
menu in DesignCAD and erase the pipe. If you have accidentally sized pipe with the wrong category or size
and need to change the pipe to a different size and category, you can use the Properties command.
To start Lesson Seven Practice Screen 3:
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RainCAD Lesson Seven, Practice Screen Number Three
We mistakenly sized the entire lateral line pipe as Class 315 PVC. In fact, for the 3/4" and 1" piping, Class
200 PVC pipe was the desired choice. You do not need to erase the pipe and redraw it; you just need to
change it to the correct size and category. To make sure the pipe size labels are removed, use the
DesignCAD Erase command to erase the unwanted pipe size labels from the drawing screen
To change pipe to a different size and category:
1) Select a piece of 3/4" pipe by <clicking> on the pipe one time with the mouse.
2) On the Options/Info menu in RainCAD, choose Properties.
3) Double <click> on a pipe Category Name with the left mouse button or single <click> on the + sign
to the left of the category name to view the available pipe sizes. For this exercise, <click> on Class
200 PVC in the list of category names.
4) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on Class 200 PVC 3/4”.
5) <Click> on the APPLY button to change the pipe and <click> on the Cancel button to close the
Properties dialog box.
6) Follow the steps above to change the remaining 3/4” pipe and change the 1” Class 315 PVC to 1”
Class 200 PVC.
All of the three-quarter and one inch Class 315 PVC pipe should now be Class 200 PVC.
PRACTICE SCREEN FOUR - CONTROLLERS AND ACCESSORY SYMBOLS
If the irrigation design is complete, you should now know how many zones or control valves exist in the
system. You can now add other symbols such as the irrigation controller or a rain sensor. If this were a
commercial project, you may want to add isolation valves, quick coupler valves or a weather station.
RainCAD will count all of the additional equipment in the material takeoff or estimate/proposal.
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To start Lesson Seven Practice Screen 4:
RainCAD Lesson Seven, Practice Screen Number Four
To add an irrigation controller:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Controllers.
left of the manufacturers name to view the available controllers. For this exercise, <click> on Toro
in the list of manufacturers.
4) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a V2-P06 and <click> on the OK button to place the
symbol on the drawing screen.
5) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. For this exercise, drag the symbol to the location right
of the point mark in the garage and <click> one time with the left mouse button.
desired angle.
Now place an accessory symbol on the design screen.
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Accessories.
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left of the manufacturers name to view the available control valves. For this exercise, <click> on
Hunter in the list of manufacturers.
4) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a MINI-CLIK and <click> on the OK button to
place the symbol on the drawing screen.
5) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. For this exercise, drag the symbol next to the
controller in the garage and <click> one time with the left mouse button.
desired angle.
SUMMARY
You have now completed the design phase of the project. From Lesson One through Lesson Seven you have
learned the basics for drawing the property and designing an irrigation system. The next lesson is specific to
RainCAD LX and RainCAD SX. If you have purchased RainCAD IX as a stand-alone program, refer to the
sections covering Custom Line Styles and then proceed to Lesson Nine.
LESSON EIGHT - LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Most of this lesson covers landscape design issues that are specific to RainCAD LX or RainCAD SX. If you
purchased RainCAD IX as a stand-alone program, refer to the sections covering Custom Line Styles and then
proceed to Lesson Nine.
This lesson will take you through a few of the features available to create a landscape design. Be sure to
review Lessons One through Four to learn how to draft a property prior to placing landscape symbols.
After completing Lesson Eight, you should be familiar with:
• Editing line styles
• Custom line styles
• Searching the plant database
• Placing plants on the drawing screen
• Placing symbol designators
• Performing area/volume calculations
THE LINE STYLES DATABASE
As you learned in Lesson Two of this tutorial, RainCAD has five preset line styles to represent buildings,
property lines, driveways, and more. In addition, you may choose from ninety-five Custom Line Styles. You
may create a custom line style to represent metal edging, landscape timbers, concrete mow curb, cedar
fencing, and more. When you draw using these custom line styles, the total length of each line style is
calculated and included in the material list and estimate or proposal.
To create or modify the characteristics of a line style:
1) On the Database menu in RainCAD, choose Line Styles.
2) In the tree on the left side of the dialog box, <click> on the first Custom in the list and then press the
right mouse button.
3) <Click> on the Rename button and enter Metal Edging as the new line style name.
4) Select the type of line style from the Line Type drop down menu. For this exercise, select a dashed
line by <clicking> on the selection with the mouse. Line types allow you to differentiate between
lines drawn on the design screen. You may assign a line to a continuous, dashed, dash dot or one of
many other patterns.
5) Enter a line width of <0.10> in the Line Width box and a scale of <1.00> in the Line Scale box.
The line width refers to the thickness of the line, while the line scale refers to the distance between
the elements of the line such as the dots or dashes.
NOTE: You may need to experiment with the different line types, widths and scales to
determine what settings you like the most.
6) Select a color for the line style. <Click> on the colored rectangle to the right of the Color label one
time with the left mouse button to open the Color dialog box. Select a color and <click> on the OK
button.
7) To include the line style in the material list and estimate or on the legend, <click> on Show in
Material/Estimate and Legend until a checkmark appears in the box.
8) Enter a list price, discount rate, and labor rate per linear foot or meter if you want the
Material/Estimate command to calculate the cost of the material.
9) <Click> on the Save button to save the line style information.
10) <Click> on the Close button exit the dialog box.
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RainCAD
PRACTICE SCREEN ONE - CUSTOM LINE STYLES
To begin creating a landscape design, you will draw a flowerbed area using the custom line style you just
created.
To start Lesson Eight - Practice Screen 1:
You may want to make use of the Zoom Window, Zoom Previous and Pan commands in the next few steps.
These commands will allow you to get a better view of the front yard while creating the landscape design.
You may find these commands in the DesignCAD View menu or in the DesignCAD Main Toolbox icons.
Make use of the measurements found in Field Measurements Diagram II (see page 48) and the commands
you learned in Lessons Two and Four to draft the front flower bed lines.
RainCAD Lesson Eight, Practice Screen Number One
To begin drawing the flowerbed lines:
1) Set points as necessary using the DesignCAD Point Relative and Pointmark commands.
3) Choose Metal Edging by <clicking> on the selection and then <clicking> on the Apply button.
5) On the Lines submenu, choose Curve.
6) Draw the front flowerbed as you did in Lesson Four.
Lesson Eight - Landscape Design
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SEARCHING FOR PLANT MATERIAL
There may be times when you need a little help in finding the right plant for a particular setting. The Plant
Search function will assist you in finding plant material within the database. You select or enter the criteria
for the species data and the software will search the database for any matching plant material. A list of all
matches will be displayed in the dialog box.
To search the plant database:
1) On the Symbols menu in RainCAD, choose Landscape.
2) On the Landscape submenu, choose Plant Material.
3) On the Plant Placement dialog box, <click> on the Plant Search tab.
4) Select the desired species data from the drop down menus or enter the necessary criteria in a text
box.
NOTE: It is not necessary to make a selection or enter a value for each field. For example,
assume you are looking for plant with a three-inch flower with a pink blossom. Simply <click>
on the Flower Color drop down menu and select Pink by <clicking> on the selection one time
with the left mouse button. Enter a <3> in the Flower Size text box. Refer to Lesson Ten for
more information on entering the species data in the Plants Database.
5) Once the desired selection criteria is chosen, <click> on the Search button. The program will
display the plant material meeting the criteria in the tree on the left side of the dialog box.
6) Double <click> on a category with the left mouse button or single <click> on the + sign to the left of
the category name to view the list of matching plant selections. If a plant category does not have a +
sign to the left of the category name, there are no plants in this category that meet the selected
criteria.
PRACTICE SCREEN TWO - PLACING PLANT SYMBOLS
You can place plant symbols on the drawing screen either manually or with one of several different
automatic placement features. Using the automatic features, you can place symbols along an existing line or
curve, along a temporary line, or within a boundary line. When placing plant material within a boundary
line, you may place the symbols in a square or triangular pattern based on a set distance on center. In
addition, you may place a quantity of plants in a random pattern creating a grove. For the purpose of the
tutorial, you will place the plants manually on the drawing screen.
NOTE: You assign symbols to each plant in the Plants Database. RainCAD comes with more than 350
individual plant symbols in addition to the more than 120 hatching patterns available in DesignCAD. You
may edit any of the individual symbols or create your own symbols for assignment to the plant material.
To start Lesson Eight Practice Screen 2:
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RainCAD Lesson Eight, Practice Screen Number Two
To begin placing plant symbols:
2) On the Landscape submenu, choose Plant Material.
the left of the category name to view the available plant selections. For this exercise, <click> on
Trees to view a list of the tree selections.
4) Scroll down to Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia Indica) and <click> one time with the left mouse
button on the selection.
NOTE: You can press the first letter in the plant name to quickly jump to the plants with names
beginning with the letter. You can also use the up and down arrow keys or the <Page Up> and <Page
Down> keys on your keyboard to scroll through the selections.
5) On the Plant Information tab, select the Plant Size from the drop down menu. Plant sizes are set in
the Plants Database. Each plant may have its own set of sizes. For this exercise, select 5 gallon.
6) If necessary, you can adjust the radius for the plant canopy in the Radius text box. The radius for
each plant is set in the Plants Database. For this exercise, leave the radius to the database setting of
three.
7) With the Automatic Plant Layout Mode disabled, <click> on the OK button.
8) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. Drag the symbol to the front left side of the house
between the sidewalk and the driveway where the wall extends out about two feet and <click> one
time with the left mouse button. Refer to the illustration on page 96 to see the location for the plant
placement.
desired angle.
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10) Once the plant symbol is positioned correctly, press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the
symbol.
Now place a few small shrubs in the flowerbed and then place ground cover along the front edge similar to
the following illustration.
1) In the Plant Placement dialog box, select Shrubs Under 4 Feet from the category listings on the left
side of the dialog box.
2) Select Azalea (Azalea Indica) from the list by <clicking> on the selection one time with the mouse.
3) On the Plant Information tab, select the Plant Size from the drop down menu. For this exercise,
select 1 gallon.
4) Leave the plant canopy radius to the database setting of two.
5) Make sure the Automatic Plant Layout Mode is disabled by <clicking> on the selection until a
checkmark is no longer located in the box.
6) <Click> on the OK button to place the plant symbol on the drawing screen.
7) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. Drag the to the desired location and <click> one time
with the left mouse button.
desired angle.
9) <Click> on the Close button to close the dialog box or minimize the box into the Windows Taskbar
to allow for more visibility on the design screen.
10) Follow the instructions on page 60 to make copies of the plant without having to refer to the dialog
box.
11) Once you position the plant symbols correctly, press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” any
symbols.
In most instances, ground cover and annual flowers are assigned to hatch patterns versus individual plant
symbols. When placing plants on the drawing screen that are assigned to hatch patterns, you must select the
hatching pattern and enter the scale and angle in the DesignCAD Hatch dialog box.
NOTE: To determine the correct scale and angle for the hatch pattern, it is recommended that you draw a
box somewhere on the screen and hatch the inside of the box with the plant symbol. Use the settings in the
DesignCAD Hatch dialog box to adjust the scale and angle of the hatch pattern. If the pattern is too large
or spread out, reduce the scale and try again. If the pattern is too small or tight, increase the scale.
To place ground cover along the front portion of the flower bed:
1) Maximize the Plant Placement dialog box from the Windows Taskbar or open the command again
from the Symbols menu in RainCAD, the Landscape submenu.
2) In the Plant Placement dialog box, select Ground Cover/Vines from the category listings on the left
3) Select Creeping Lily Turf (Liriope Spicata) from the list by <clicking> on the selection one time
with the mouse.
select Each for the plant size.
5) <Click> on the OK button to open the DesignCAD Hatch dialog box.
6) Adjust the hatching pattern if necessary by <clicking> on the pattern button and <clicking> on a
new selection. For this exercise, <click> on the hatching pattern button and select ANSI31 as the
desired pattern for the plant.
7) Enter a scale factor of <.20> in the Hatch Scale text box.
8) Enter an angle of <0> in the Hatch Angle text box.
9) Follow the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen. Set multiple points to outline the front of the
flowerbed area and press <Enter>.
Your design should now look like the following illustration.
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Planting in Front Flower Bed
RainCAD LX and RainCAD SX will allow you to place plant symbols along an existing line or curve, or
along a temporary line. These commands work well when placing plant symbols along a fence or property
line. The commands are explained thoroughly in the help screens, so we will not cover their use in this
tutorial. For the next exercise, you will learn how to use a DesignCAD command to assist in plant
placement.
Place one row of shrubs between the house and the driveway making use of the DesignCAD Array
command. Begin by placing a single plant symbol on the drawing screen.
To place the plant symbol:
1) If the Plant Placement dialog box is not open, restart the command again from the Symbols menu in
RainCAD, the Landscape submenu.
2) In the Plant Placement dialog box, select Shrubs Under 4 Feet from the category listings on the left
3) Select Chinese Holly (Ilex Cornuta) from the list by <clicking> on the selection one time with the
mouse.
select 1 gallon.
5) Leave the plant canopy radius to the database setting of 1.5.
6) Make sure the Automatic Plant Layout Mode is disabled by <clicking> on the selection until a
checkmark is no longer located in the box.
7) <Click> on the OK button to place the plant symbol on the drawing screen.
8) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. Drag the plant symbol to the left side between the
house and the driveway. Place the symbol just above the existing Azalea and <click> one time with
the left mouse button.
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desired angle.
To place one or more rows of plant material:
1) If the Chinese Holly plant symbol is not selected, select it now by <clicking> on the symbol one
time with the mouse.
2) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Array.
3) The DesignCAD Array dialog box will appear on the screen. Type in the number <8> in the
Direction 1 box and leave the Direction 2 box with the default value of one.
4) Begin moving your mouse around the drawing screen. Notice that there are rectangular boxes
moving at any distance and angle from the original symbol to the mouse cursor location. These
boxes represent seven copies of the original plant symbol. The original symbol is the eighth copy.
5) Drag the mouse straight up from the original symbol to evenly space the boxes so the top box is just
below where the flowerbed meets the house.
6) Set a point by <clicking> one time with the left mouse button. DesignCAD will place copies of the
original symbol in a row along the side of the house.
NOTE: If you enter a number greater than one in the Direction 2 box, you will see additional
boxes representing rows. This command can make orchard designs extremely quick and easy.
You may also use the command to place symbols evenly along an existing curve.
7) Press the <Esc> key one time to “unselect” the original symbol.
Your drawing should now look like the following illustration.
Completed Planting
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DELETING OR REPLACING PLANTS
Occasionally you may need to delete or replace plant material on a design. The RainCAD Plant Properties
command will allow you to select one or more plant symbols on the drawing screen and either replace the
selected plants with another plant selection, replace all like plants, or delete all like plants from the design.
For the purpose of the tutorial, replace the Chinese Holly along the side of the house with Japanese
Boxwood.
To delete or replace plant material on a design:
1) Select one of the Chinese Holy plant symbols by <clicking> on the symbol one time with the mouse.
2) On the Options/Info menu in RainCAD, choose Properties.
3) The Plant Properties dialog box will open with Chinese Holly as the selected plant material.
4) Scroll down and select Japanese Boxwood (Buxus microphylla japonica) from the list by <clicking>
on the selection one time with the mouse.
5) In the Function location, select Replace all plants of this type in the drop down menu and then
<click> on the Apply button
6) All Chinese Holly plant symbols on the design will be replaced with Japanese Boxwood.
PLANT NOTATIONS
In most landscape designs, plant symbols are noted on the drawing screen as well as in the legends. There
are several plant notation commands in RainCAD. One places a label for a single plant while the other
places a label for a group of plants.
To place a plant symbol label for a single plant:
1) For this exercise, select one of the Azalea symbols along the front left side of the house.
2) On the Symbols menu in RainCAD, choose Symbol Label.
3) The DesignCAD Pullout dialog box will appear indicating the plant name and size. You may edit
the information in the Text box before placing the label on the design screen.
4) If necessary, <click> on the Arrowhead button and change the DesignCAD Symbol Designator
settings. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Symbol
Designator.
5) If necessary, <click> on the Text button and change the DesignCAD Text settings. Refer to the
DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Text settings.
6) Follow the Status Bar and set two or more points for the symbol designator. Set the first point on
the screen near the center of the plant symbol.
7) Drag the mouse away from the symbol and you will see the plant name on the end of the designator
line. Drag the mouse up at approximately a 45° angle and set another point with the mouse.
8) Drag the mouse to the side at a 0° or 180° angle and set another point with the mouse.
9) Press the <Enter> key to complete the command.
To place a label for multiple plant symbols:
2) On the Landscape submenu, choose Quantity Label.
3) Follow the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen and select a plant symbol. For this exercise, select
one of the Japanese Boxwood or Chinese Holly plant symbols on the left side of the house.
4) Continue following the Status Bar and outline the plants to include in the quantity label by setting
points with the left mouse button. Set points with the left mouse button to outline the eight plant
symbols on the left side of the house.
5) Once the area containing the plant material is outlined, press the <Enter> key on the keyboard.
6) The DesignCAD Pullout dialog box will appear indicating the number of plants selected, the plant
name and the plant size. You may edit the information in the Text box before placing the label on
the design screen.
7) If necessary, <click> on the Arrowhead button and change the DesignCAD Symbol Designator
settings. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Symbol
Designator.
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8) If necessary, <click> on the Text button and change the DesignCAD Text settings. Refer to the
DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Text settings.
9) Follow the Status Bar and set two or more points for the symbol designator. Set the first point on
the bottom plant symbol near the center of the symbol.
10) Drag the mouse up to the next symbol and set a second point. Continue setting points on each
symbol until you reach the top.
11) Drag the mouse away from the symbol and you will see the plant name on the end of the designator
line. Drag the mouse up at approximately a 45° angle and set another point with the mouse.
12) Drag the mouse to the side at a 0° or 180° angle and set another point with the mouse.
13) Press the <Enter> key to complete the command.
To edit the text in a symbol label once it is on the design screen, you will need to separate the designator line
from the text using the Group Explode command from the DesignCAD Tools menu. You can then select the
text and use the Info Box from the DesignCAD View menu to edit the text. Refer to the DesignCAD
Reference Manual for more information on the Group Explode and Info Box commands.
FILL MATERIALS
When creating a landscape design, you must be able to calculate area and volume. Before calculating
volume, it is necessary to create a database of fill materials.
To add a fill material to the database:
1) On the Database menu in RainCAD, choose Landscape.
2) On the Landscape submenu, choose Fill Material.
3) <Click> in the tree on the left side of the dialog box. Press the right mouse button and <click> on
Add Fill Material. A new item will be placed in the list with the title of New Fill Material.
4) <Click> on New Fill Material in the tree on the left side of the dialog box with the left mouse
button.
5) Press the right mouse button and <click> on Rename.
6) Enter Bark Mulch as the new name in the box, and then press the <Enter> key.
7) Enter a list price, discount rate and labor rate in the appropriate boxes.
8) For the software to correctly price the fill material, select the basis for pricing and installation from
the drop down menu.
9) Once the information is entered into the database, <click> on Save to save the changes.
The software will allow you to calculate area/volume information and store the data for different locations
within each drawing. Before storing the information, you must save the drawing file. Refer to the
DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on saving the drawing.
To calculate and store area/volume information:
1) On the Calcs menu in RainCAD, choose Landscape.
2) On the Landscape submenu, choose Area/Volume Calcs.
3) <Click> on Area 1 in the tree on the left side of the dialog box with the left mouse button.
4) Press the right mouse button and <click> on Rename.
5) Enter a description for the area such as Right Front Flowerbed and then press the <Enter> key.
6) Enter a value of <4> inches in the Depth of Fill Material text box.
7) Select Bark Mulch from the Fill Material drop down menu.
8) If you know the square footage of the area, you may enter it in the Area text box. For this exercise,
<click> on the Outline an Area button and follow the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen. Set
points outlining the front flower bed on the right side of the sidewalk and press <Enter>.
NOTE: The total area and volume results will be visible in the in the dialog box.
9) <Click> on the Save button to save the calculations.
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SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Eight and you should have a good understanding of how to create a basic
landscape design. You have learned how to create and make use of the custom line styles. In addition, you
should be familiar with searching the plant database and placing plant symbols on the drawing screen. You
have placed symbol designators and know that you can edit the text appearing in a designator. You have
created a fill material and calculated the area and volume of a flowerbed. There are many additional features
available in the landscape design software. It is recommended that you practice the different commands
available in each menu and make use of the on-line help screens to assist you in your learning.
LESSON NINE - DRESSING UP THE DRAWING
Now that the design portion is complete, you can “dress up” the drawing for presentation purposes by adding
descriptive text and general notes. You may not consider this as an important aspect of design, but whether
your client is a homeowner or an architect, presentation will make a difference. Customizing your clients
drawing requires a minimal amount of time and produces a high quality presentation. A high quality
presentation increases your competitive edge and reduces the necessity to justify a higher bid.
After completing Lesson Nine, you should be able to:
• Add descriptive text to the drawing
• Customize the title block
• Add control valve notation symbols
• Add sleeving symbols under hardscape areas for irrigation
• Add DesignCAD hatching patterns to walkways and patios
• Add installation details to the drawing screen
BEGINNING LESSON NINE - ADDING TEXT, SYMBOLS
To start Lesson Nine- Practice Screen 1:
RainCAD Lesson Nine, Practice Screen Number One
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ADDING TEXT TO THE DRAWING
Adding text consists of selecting the DesignCAD Text command, typing the desired text and placing the text
anywhere on the drawing with the mouse cursor. It takes only a few minutes and makes a big difference in
the final appearance of the drawing. The following instructions will help you create text for a new drawing.
You can choose from two methods when creating text, the first method is useful for typing a single line of
text. The second method is useful for one or more lines of text.
To add a single line of text to a drawing:
1) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Text.
2) The DesignCAD Text dialog box will appear displaying a text input box as well as options that
apply to the new text. The option boxes include the font name and size, angle alignment,
justification, bold and italic options and more. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more
information on the Text command.
3) Type the word Residence in the text box.
4) Select the desired font style, if different from the one displayed, by scrolling through the font
options and <clicking> on the desired selection. For this exercise select Arial.
5) Select the size and angle, and any elements of style such as bold or italic. For the purposes of this
exercise, set the font size to <3> in order to read the text clearly and leave the angle at 0°.
6) The text will appear on your mouse cursor. Drag the text to the center of the house and set one
point with the mouse. The program will place the text horizontally on the drawing screen. You can
set an optional second point to change the angle of the text or press the <Enter> key to complete the
command.
7) Continue adding descriptive text to the drawing such as Garage, Driveway and Patio.
There is another command in the DesignCAD Draw menu that may be beneficial to you. You can use the
DesignCAD Text Arc command to place text in a “curved” location such as the address for a cul-de-sac lot.
To display text using the DesignCAD Text Arc command:
1) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Text Arc.
2) The DesignCAD Text Arc dialog box will appear displaying a text input box as well as options that
apply to the new text. Type Street Address in the text box.
3) Set three points for the arc, the beginning, the middle and the endpoint. Once you set the second
point, you will see the text appear on your screen. If necessary, press the <Esc> key to remove the
points and reposition the text on the screen. Once the final point is set, the text will appear on the
drawing.
To add one or more lines of text using the DesignCAD Text Block command:
1) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Text Block.
2) The DesignCAD Text Block dialog box will appear displaying a text input box as well as options
that apply to the new text. Type in the text you wish to place on the drawing screen.
NOTE: If you cut or copy text to the clipboard from another Windows program such as
Microsoft Word or Word Perfect, you can paste the text into the Text Block box for input on
the drawing screen. Simply press the <Ctrl>+<V> keys to paste the text into the text box.
3) The text will appear as a box on the end of your mouse cursor. Drag the box to the desired location
on the screen and set a point by <clicking> the left mouse button. Set an optional second point to
change the angle of the text or press the <Enter> key to complete the command.
Your drawing should look similar to the following illustration.
Lesson Nine - Dressing Up the Drawing
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Adding Descriptive Text
EDITING THE TITLE BLOCK / CHANGING TEXT
Now that you are familiar with adding text, continue with this exercise by changing the text in the title block.
The title block has the wrong business name and address. You can change any of the text in the title block.
You may need to make use of the DesignCAD Zoom or Pan commands to move around the drawing screen.
All of the entities that make up the title block are grouped together to make the title block easy to select and
move on the drawing screen. Before you can edit any of the text, you must first ungroup the entities.
To ungroup the title block entities:
2) Select the title block by <clicking> on it one time with the left mouse button.
3) On the Tools menu in DesignCAD, choose Group Explode.
The title block will be broken up into separate entities.
To change text on the drawing screen:
1) Make use of the DesignCAD Zoom commands to zoom in on the top portion of the title block.
2) Double <click> on the text that reads XYZ Company, Inc. The DesignCAD Info Box will appear
allowing you to select the type of change required. In this case, you want to change the text.
NOTE: You may also open the Info Box by selecting the entity and choosing Info Box from the
DesignCAD View menu.
3) Type in your company’s name in the text box near the top of the dialog box.
4) <Click> on the X in the upper right hand corner of the Info Box to close the box.
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5) Your company’s name will replace the XYZ Company name in the title block.
6) Press the <Esc> key to “unselect” the text.
Changing text is just that easy! If the text is at an angle on the drawing page, you do not need to rotate the
text before changing it. The changed text will automatically be placed back on the drawing screen at the
correct angle.
To permanently save changes made to the title block, refer to Appendix "A" - Customizing Symbols.
VALVE NOTATIONS
The Valve Notation command allows you to place specific valve and zone information on the drawing
screen. There are multiple valve notations from which to choose. Each notation includes the zone
assignment number, the size of the control valve, and the flow of water through the valve. The Valve
Notation command is only available in RainCAD IX or RainCAD SX. If you purchased RainCAD LX as a
stand-alone program, skip this exercise and proceed to Hatching an Area.
To place a valve notation symbol on the drawing screen:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, chose Valve Notations.
3) Select a Water Source and Zone Number from the Zone selection box by clicking on the selection
one time with the left mouse button. For this exercise, select Water Source 1 - Zone 2.
4) Select the Valve Notation Type of your choice by <clicking> on one of the available buttons.
5) <Click> on the OK button to place the symbol on the drawing screen and follow the Status Bar at
the bottom of the screen.
6) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. Drag the symbol to the desired location on the
drawing screen and <click> one time with the left mouse button.
PLACING SLEEVE SYMBOLS
Once the system design is complete, you can add symbols such as sleeving. A sleeve is a piece of pipe
placed under a hardscape area such as a driveway or walkway. The sleeve is used to run lateral line,
mainline, or control wire under the hardscape area. Even though you have not actually completed an entire
irrigation design, place a sleeving symbol under the front sidewalk. The sleeving symbol is only available in
RainCAD IX or RainCAD SX. If you purchased RainCAD LX as a stand-alone program, skip this exercise
and proceed to Hatching an Area.
To place a sleeve symbol on the drawing:
1) Use the DesignCAD Zoom or Pan commands to get a better view of the front yard.
3) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Sleeving.
4) Double <click> on a Pipe Category with the left mouse button or single <click> on the + sign to the
left of the category name to view the available pipe selections. For this exercise, select Schedule 40
PVC.
5) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a piece of pipe. Select Schedule 40 2” and <click>
on the OK button to place the sleeving symbol on the drawing screen.
6) Follow the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen. Set three points on the drawing screen. The first
and second points determine the length and angle of the sleeve symbol. The third point determines
the width of the sleeve symbol. Position the symbol near the middle of the sidewalk.
8) Press <Esc> to “unselect” the symbol.
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HATCHING AN AREA
Assume the house in your design has a patio made of brick. It would certainly dress up the drawing if you
could give the patio a brick pattern; well you can. Covering areas with patterns is known as “hatching" the
area. You can choose from many different hatching patterns in DesignCAD.
To give the patio a brick pattern:
1) Use the DesignCAD Zoom or Pan commands to get a better view of the back patio area.
2) On the Draw menu in DesignCAD, choose Hatch.
3) On the Hatch submenu, choose Hatch.
4) The DesignCAD Hatch dialog box will appear allowing you to adjust the scale, angle and pattern.
5) For this exercise, type a value of <0.1> in the Hatch Scale box and leave the Hatch Angle set to
zero.
NOTE: When hatching portions of the drawing, you may need to experiment with the scale to
achieve the desired pattern.
6) <Click> on the Hatch Pattern box one time with the mouse. The Hatch Pattern selection box will
appear on the screen.
7) Choose the Brick pattern and <click> on the OK button to exit the selection window.
8) Follow the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen and set points around the patio as shown in the
following illustration. Make use of the DesignCAD Gravity Snap Shortcut Key <.> to set points on
the house and garage.
Outlining the Patio for Hatching
9) After outlining the area, press <Enter> and the patio will be filled with a brick hatching pattern.
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Your patio should look similar to the following illustration.
If you need to change any of the characteristics of the hatching pattern, make use of the DesignCAD Info
Box. In the DesignCAD Info Box, you can change the hatching pattern itself, the scale or the angle of the
pattern.
Patio After Hatching
PLACING INSTALLATION DETAILS
Another way to improve the look of the drawing is to add installation details. Installation details make the
design easier for the installer to understand by indicating the precise method of installation. With small
designs, which include most residential drawings, you may be able to place the installation details right on
the drawing page. If this is a large commercial project, simply create a new drawing. The new drawing may
consist of a title block, a general legend and installation details.
To place an installation detail on the drawing:
1) On the Symbols menu in RainCAD, choose Installation Details.
2) On the Installation Details submenu, choose Irrigation, Landscape, Lighting or Drainage. For this
exercise, choose either Irrigation or Landscape.
NOTE: The equipment manufacturers created most of the irrigation installation details in
RainCAD. RainCAD does not have installation details for each piece of equipment or plant
material in the program. You may create your own details or modify any of the existing detail
drawings to meet your specifications.
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3) If you chose Irrigation on the Installation Details submenu, double <click> on a Manufacturer with
the left mouse button or single <click> on the + sign to the left of the manufacturers name to view
the available installation details. For this lesson, <click> on Rain Bird in the list of manufacturers.
<Click> one time with the left mouse button on 1804 on a Swing Joint and <click> on the OK
button to place the installation detail on the drawing screen.
4) If you chose Landscape on the Installation Details submenu, double <click> on a Category with the
left mouse button or single <click> on the + sign to the left of the category name to view the
available installation details. For this lesson, <click> on Trees in the list of category names.
<Click> one time with the left mouse button on Tree Guying and <click> on the OK button to place
the installation detail on the drawing screen.
5) The symbol will appear on the mouse cursor. For this exercise, drag the symbol to the left of the
house and <click> one time with the left mouse button.
6) Press the <Enter> key to place the detail on the screen, or move the mouse around the detail to rotate
the detail and set a second point with the left mouse button to place the detail at the desired angle.
SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Nine and have learned several ways to dress up the drawing once the
design is complete. We recommend that you wait until the design is complete to add these final touches.
Adding text, hatching patterns, details and other symbols increase the drawing size and can slow down
certain commands.
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LESSON TEN - CALCULATIONS
This lesson covers Hydraulic calculations and Distribution Analysis that are specific to RainCAD IX and
RainCAD SX. If you purchased RainCAD LX as a stand-alone program for landscape design, refer to the
section covering the Material Takeoff and Estimating, as well as the section on Creating a Legend.
After completing Lesson Ten, you should be able to:
• Calculate the irrigation system hydraulics
• Create a sprinkler distribution analysis
• Calculate a complete bill of materials or estimate
• Create a symbol legend and place it on the design screen
BEGINNING LESSON TEN – HYDRAULIC CALCULATIONS
To start Lesson Ten- Practice Screen 1:
RainCAD Lesson Ten, Practice Screen Number One
The Hydraulics command allows you to perform pressure loss calculations on any of the completed sprinkler
zones within the irrigation design. The calculations include pressure loss through each component of the
system, as well as the gain or loss in elevation and the pressure loss through the service line. Typically, it is
only necessary to calculate total pressure loss data on the largest zone and for the zone furthest from the point
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of connection or water source; however, you may perform hydraulic calculations on each zone on the design
screen.
Before you begin calculations, you must size all lateral line pipe within the zone. You must draw mainline
pipe from the control valve back to the point of connection and size the pipe. A control valve must exist for
the zone, and if applicable, you must place a water meter and backflow device.
You can calculate the hydraulics on each individual control valve. To run multiple valves at the same time, it
is necessary for you to group the valves into individual Run Sets. Each Run Set is a group of control valves
that will operate simultaneously. You may create as many different Run Sets as required. To add, delete, or
assign a control valve to a run set, refer to the section on Automatic Mainline Pipe Sizing on page 86.
To account for a change in elevation, make use of the Symbol Elevation Adjustment command. Refer to the
RainCAD Help screens for more information on the Symbol Elevation Adjustment command
To perform hydraulic calculations on a sprinkler zone:
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Hydraulics.
3) In the Water Source, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available water sources, or
press the up and down cursor keys to scroll through the selections. Select a water source from the
resulting menu by <clicking> on the selection with the left mouse button. For this exercise, <click>
on Water Source 1.
4) In this exercise, you will calculate the hydraulics of a single control valve. Disable the Multiple
Valve Operation feature by <clicking> on selection with the left mouse button until the checkmark
5) Select a control valve from the list on the left side of the dialog box. For this exercise, <click> on
valve number 3 one time with the left mouse button.
6) To calculate the hydraulic information such as the pressure loss through the lateral line and
mainline, the backflow device, water meter, and service line, <click> on the OK button.
7) In this exercise, a message box will appear indicating that a standard network has been detected.
<Click> on the Yes button to continue with the hydraulic calculations.
NOTE: If a loop network is detected, the message box will indicate so. There is no limit to the
number of loops that may exist within the network as long as the loops are not totally independent
of one another. The program cannot calculate hydraulics with more than one independent loop.
Refer to the RainCAD Help screens for more detailed information on loop networks.
Depending on the speed of the computer, the number of control valves, and the complexity of the piping
layout, it will take a short period to calculate the system hydraulics for the selected control valve or Run Set.
Once the system hydraulic calculations are complete, the Hydraulics Viewer will appear. The Hydraulics
Viewer will allow you to select a piece of equipment on the screen and view more detailed information such
as the size, length of pipe, flow, velocity, and pressure loss. <Click> on the Export button to save the
information in an HTML format, or the X in the top right corner to close the dialog box.
DISTRIBUTION
The Distribution command will create a densogram of the selected sprinkler zones displaying the coverage.
You can drag the mouse around the entire display to see calculated application rate at any point in the
sprinkler layout. It is not necessary to wait until the system is completely designed to calculate the
distribution. You may run the command at any time after sprinklers have been assigned to a water source
and zone number.
The command will allow you to calculate the distribution of a single zone, multiple zones, or the entire
project. The command reads the sprinkler layout from the design with no restrictions on sprinkler placement.
To calculate the distribution:
Lesson Ten - Calculations
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2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Distribution.
3) Select each water source or zone number to calculate by <clicking> on the checkbox to the left of
each Water Source / Zone ID number. <Click> on each selection with the left mouse button until a
checkmark appears in the box. A zone that has not been selected will not be calculated. You can
select all of the zones at one time by <clicking> on the WTF% or WS / Zone ID buttons.
4) Enter a Watering Time Factor in the WTF% box next to each zone number. For this exercise, leave
each of the zones at 100 percent.
NOTE: The Watering Time Factor Percentage (WTF%) is used to adjust the application rate for
any of the selected zones. This factor is best used with sprinkler zones that do not make use of
matched precipitation rate nozzles. For example, suppose all zones are based on the same nozzle
having the same flow of 3.0 GPM. Zone 1 is made up of all 360° arc patterns. Zone 2 is all 180°
patterns, while zone 3 is all 90° arc patterns. Zones 2 and 3 will appear to be over watered if you
do not adjust the WTF%. You can set zone 2 to 50 percent and zone 3 to 25 percent to match the
application rate of the zones.
5) Select a density for the distribution pattern by selecting a value from the Density drop down menu.
A value of 1 will have a higher number of pixels creating the pattern while a setting of 10 will have
a smaller number of pixels. Select a density setting of 3 for this exercise by <clicking> on the down
arrow and <clicking> on the selection.
6) Enable or disable the Blue Scale setting by <clicking> on the checkbox.
NOTE: If Blue Scale is disabled, the driest application areas appear in red, average application
areas appear in blue, while the wettest areas appear in green. If Blue Scale is enabled, the driest
areas will appear in white with the wettest areas appearing in the darkest shade of blue.
7) <Click> on the Calculate Distribution button to create a densogram of the selected sprinkler zones.
The average application rate will be displayed in the dialog box.
8) Drag your cursor over the densogram to display a reading of the application rate at any location
throughout the selected zone(s).
NOTE: The distribution pattern of each sprinkler is assumed to be even over the entire radius of
the sprinkler. This program does not make use of actual sprinkler distribution data. Therefore,
the distribution will not be totally accurate, but will serve as a good guideline for possible wet
and dry areas.
9) <Click> on the Save button to save the image as a Windows Bitmap (*.bmp) file. You may then
open or import the bitmap image in another program such as Microsoft Paint or Word for output
to a printing device.
10) <Click> on the X in the top right corner to close the dialog box.
PRACTICE SCREEN TWO - MATERIAL/ESTIMATE
The Material/Estimate command will allow you to calculate a complete bill of materials or create an
estimate/proposal of installation costs for the current design. Pricing information and labor for installation
may be entered in each of the databases available for equipment and materials. You may select each field to
appear in the report and adjust the order in which they appear. Once the calculations are complete, you may
view the information on the screen, send it to the printer, or export the information to one of many different
file formats. File formats include Microsoft® Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Word for Windows™, Adobe Acrobat,
HTML, XML, ASCII Text and more.
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Before you create a report, you may change the labels that appear on the report from the Options command in
the Options/Info menu in RainCAD. This feature is especially useful if the report is to be output to a
foreign language.
You may include your company information such as the name, address, and phone numbers at the top of a
report. To include this information, you must enter your company information in the Company Information
database from the Databases menu in RainCAD.
To start Lesson Ten Practice Screen 2:
RainCAD Lesson Ten, Practice Screen Number Two
Prior to calculating a report, it may be necessary to enter additional information to determine overhead
expenses, profit, and more. The Project Information tab will allow you to assign specific information to a
design such as the customer's name and address, percent of profit, percent of overhead for labor and
materials, miscellaneous fees/permits , and more. You may include the customer's name and address at the
top of the material takeoff or estimate/proposal based on the Options setting on the Settings tab.
To enter specific project information:
1) On the Calcs menu in RainCAD, choose Material/Estimate.
2) On the Material/Estimate Configuration dialog box, <click> on the Project Information tab.
3) Enter the necessary information in the appropriate text boxes as required. Enter percentages as
whole numbers and not decimals. For example, a twenty percent profit margin would be entered as
20 and not 0.20. Since you have not entered pricing information in the databases at this time, it is
not necessary to enter any values in this dialog box to complete this exercise.
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Once any necessary project information is entered, you can continue calculating the material\estimate report.
To calculate a material/estimate report:
1) If the Material/Estimate Configuration dialog box is not open, restart the Material\Estimate
command again from the Calcs menu in RainCAD.
2) On the Material/Estimate Configuration dialog box, <click> on the Settings tab.
3) To create a material/estimate for one or more groupings, select each group in the Create box.
<Click> on each selection with the left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box.
Unselected groups will not be included in the report. For this exercise, if you are running RainCAD
SX, <click> on Irrigation and Landscape to create a report for both irrigation equipment and
landscape materials. If you are running RainCAD IX or RainCAD LX, <click> on either Irrigation
or Landscape.
4) In the Options box, <click> on Company Information until a checkmark appears in the box to place
your company’s name and address at the top of the report. For this exercise, leave Tax Direct Labor
unchecked.
NOTE: Company Information such as the name and address is entered in the Company
Information database from the Databases menu in RainCAD.
5) To place a field in the report, <click> on the field name in the Fields Available list and <click> on
the right arrow button, or double <click> on the field name. The chosen fields will appear in the
Fields Selected box on the right. For this exercise, chose Quantity, Description, Part Number and
Total.
NOTE: You may adjust the order in which the fields appear in the report by selecting a field
name and <clicking> on the up or down arrow buttons. In addition, you can remove a field from
the report by selecting the field name in the Fields Selected box and <clicking> on the left arrow
button, or by double <clicking> on the field name.
6) To calculate the wholesale cost of an item, <click> on the Apply Discount Rate checkbox with the
left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box. The program will calculate the wholesale
cost based on the List Price and Discount Rate set for each item in the databases. If a checkmark
does not appear in the box, the program will not apply the discount rate to the list price of each item.
For this exercise, leave Apply Discount Rate unchecked.
7) You may enter a title for the report in the Report Title text box. The title will appear near the top of
the report and it is not project specific. Each report will have the same title until you change the title
or remove the title from the text box. Enter Material Takeoff in the text box for this exercise.
8) In the Paper Orientation location, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available
selections, or press the up and down cursor keys to scroll through the selections. Select an
orientation from the resulting menu by highlighting the selection and pressing the <Tab> key, or
<click> on the selection with the left mouse button.
9) In the Paper Size location, <click> on the down arrow to view a list of the available sizes, or press
the up and down cursor keys to scroll through the selections. Select a paper size from the resulting
menu by highlighting the selection and pressing the <Tab> key, or <click> on the selection with the
left mouse button.
10) <Click> on the Calculate button to create the report.
Once you calculate a material takeoff, estimate, or proposal, you may adjust the settings and <click> on the
View button to preview the report. You will not need to calculate the report again unless you make changes
to the design itself.
From within the Material/Estimate Preview command, you may send a report to the printer or export the
information to one of many different file formats. File formats include Microsoft® Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Word
for Windows™, Adobe Acrobat, HTML, XML, ASCII Text, and more. In addition, you may zoom in or out,
change from one page within the report to another, and search for items in the report.
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To view the material/estimate report:
1) If the Material/Estimate Configuration dialog box is not open, restart the Material\Estimate
command again from the Calcs menu in RainCAD.
2) On the Material/Estimate Configuration dialog box, <click> on the Settings tab.
3) After calculating the report, <click> on the View button to preview the Material/Estimate. For
available options in the Preview dialog box, refer to the following table.
4) <Click> on the X in the top right corner of the dialog box to close the viewer.
5) <Click> on the Close button to close the Material/Estimate Configuration dialog box.
The following options are available in the Preview dialog box.
Icon
Command
Close Current View
Print
Description
Closes a view of a selected group and returns to the
main report.
Sends the report to the printer for output.
Export
Exports the report to one of many different file formats.
Refresh
Refreshes the report.
Toggle Tree Group
Zoom
Displays a tree on the left side of the dialog box with all
of the available groups from within the report.
Change the view of the report by zooming in or out.
Go to the First Page
Move to the beginning of the report.
Go to the Previous Page
Move to the previous page within the report.
Page Number
Go to the Next Page
Lists the current page and the total number of pages
within a report.
Move to the next page within the report.
Go to the Last Page
Move to the last page in the report.
Stop Loading
Stop the report during the loading process.
Search Text
Search all of the text within a report.
LEGENDS
The Legend command will create a symbol legend of all equipment and materials that appear on the design.
The legend may include irrigation, landscape, lighting, and drainage equipment depending on the version of
the software you are running.
To create a legend and place it on the design screen:
1) If Lesson Ten, Screen 2 is not open, reopen the drawing.
2) On the Symbols menu in RainCAD, choose Create Legend.
3) <Click> on the Calculate button to evaluate the design and determine all of the items required to
appear in the legend. It is not necessary to check any of the categories in the Create box at this time.
The calculation will read all of the items on the design regardless of their category. Once the legend
materials are calculated, you may place the legend on the current design screen, or you may open a
new drawing and place the legend on a separate page.
4) Select each category to include in the legend in the Create box. <Click> on each selection with the
left mouse button until a checkmark appears in the box. For this exercise, if you are running
5)
6)
7)
8)
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RainCAD SX, <click> on Irrigation and Landscape to create a legend for both irrigation equipment
and landscape materials. If you are running RainCAD IX or RainCAD LX, <click> on either
Irrigation or Landscape.
Leave the desired text size set to <1> in the Text Size box.
Leave the desired column factor set to <1> in the Column Factor text box. A number less than one
will bring the columns closer together while a number greater than one will spread the columns
further apart.
If you include landscape materials in the legend, you may enable or disable the Automatic Plant
Canopy Adjustment feature. If the adjustment is disabled, the plant symbols will be drawn at the
radius set in the plant databases. If the adjustment is enabled, the plant symbols will be drawn at the
radius as set in the Plant Canopy box below. If you are running either RainCAD SX or RainCAD
LX, <click> on the Automatic Plant Canopy Adjustment box until a checkmark appears in the box.
<Click> on the Place button to insert the legend onto the drawing. Follow the Status Bar at the
bottom of the screen and set a starting point for the legend. The starting point will be the top left
position of the legend.
NOTE: To place the legend on a separate sheet of paper, start a new drawing or open an existing
drawing in DesignCAD. Click on the Place button and set a starting point for the top left corner
of the legend. The legend will be placed on the separate drawing page.
9) Once the legend appears on the screen, <click> on the Close button to exit the dialog box.
SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Ten of the tutorial. In this lesson, you learned how to calculate the system
hydraulics and the distribution of wet and dry areas. You also learned how to calculate a complete list of
materials and how to place a symbol legend on the design screen.
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LESSON ELEVEN - PRINTING OR PLOTTING THE DRAWING
Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes
Now that you have completed your design, it is time to print or plot the drawing. DesignCAD will produce
high quality drawings on ordinary dot matrix, bubble jet, ink jet or laser printers as well as plotters. You may
output the drawing to any device in which a valid Windows printer driver exists. A printer driver is a file
that includes codes for controlling the printer or plotter. Each printer or plotter has its own driver. The
driver is created by the manufacturer of your printer or plotter and must be installed on your computer before
you can access the device. For instructions on installing your printer or plotter and connecting it to your
computer, refer to your printer or plotter documentation.
After completing Lesson Eleven, you should be familiar with:
• Selecting the printer driver
• Setting the printer options
• Adjusting layers
• Selecting the output units
• Setting the output scale
• Panels
• Previewing a drawing
• Creating a print file
Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on printing a design.
BEGINNING LESSON ELEVEN - SELECTING THE PRINTER OR PLOTTER
Before sending the drawing to the printer or plotter, you must select the correct device driver and adjust the
settings properly. You must set the paper size, the paper orientation and the page margins before printing or
plotting.
To start Lesson Eleven - Practice Screen 1:
should look like the illustration on the following page.
To select the correct printer or plotter:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Page Setup.
2) The DesignCAD Page Setup dialog box will appear allowing you to set the paper size, orientation
and margins.
3) <Click> on the Printers button and adjust your printer selection as necessary.
NOTE: The settings will be different for each printer or plotter chosen. For example, laser
printers have available options that are different from bubble jet printers. If you are printing with
a color printer, you may need to adjust the Dithering or Intensity settings to make colors such as
gray appear on the paper.
4) <Click> on the OK button to close the Printers dialog box.
SETTING THE PAGE ORIENTATION
The orientation refers to the position of the drawing on the piece of paper. DesignCAD will allow you to
choose between portrait (vertical) and landscape (horizontal) page orientations. If the orientation is set to
Portrait, the width of the drawing will be in the same direction as the width of the paper. If the orientation is
set to Landscape, the drawing will be rotated 90º, or printed sideways on the paper.
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NOTE: The setting for orientation can affect the number of panels or sheets of paper it takes to print or
plot the drawing.
To set the page orientation:
1) The DesignCAD Page Setup dialog box should still be open. If it is not, restart the command.
2) For the purpose of the tutorial, select an 8½ x 11 sheet of paper and set the orientation to Portrait.
<Click> on the Portrait radio button one time with the left mouse button.
RainCAD Lesson Eleven, Practice Screen Number One
PRINTER OR PLOTTER MARGINS
Most printers or plotters will not print all the way to the edge of the paper. DesignCAD will automatically
default to 0.5 for the top, bottom, left and right margins.
NOTE: Adjusting the margins may affect the number of panels or sheets of paper required to print or plot
the drawing.
To adjust the margin settings:
1) The DesignCAD Page Setup dialog box should still be open. If it is not, restart the command.
2) If necessary, <click> into the top, right, left and bottom margin boxes and type in a new value.
3) Once all adjustments are made, <click> on the OK button to close the Page Setup dialog box.
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119
ADJUSTING LAYERS PRIOR TO PRINTING OR PLOTTING
Layers are like individual sheets of paper that overlay one another to create a complete drawing.
DesignCAD has 1,000 separate layers available for use when designing your project. RainCAD assigns
symbols to specific layers during the design process.
Before printing or plotting your design, you may want to turn off certain layers such as the sprinkler arc
patterns. Make use of the DesignCAD Layer Options command to turn the layers on and off.
To turn off the sprinkler arc pattern layers using the DesignCAD Layer Options command:
2) Under Layer Attributes, scroll down until you see layer 720. An asterisk (*) will appear to the left
of the layer indicating something is drawn on the layer.
3) <Click> one time on the light bulb
nozzles off.
icon to turn the sprinkler arc pattern layer for turf spray
NOTE: You may find the sprinkler and arc pattern layer assignments in the Irrigation
Preferences dialog box in RainCAD. The assignments are shown on the Sprinklers tab.
4) <Click> on the Apply button to apply the changes.
5) <Click> on the OK button to close the dialog box.
NOTE: You can turn on or off as many layers as you desire before <clicking> on the OK button.
You do not have to turn layers on or off one at a time. If you cannot turn the layer off, make sure
the layer is not the Current Drawing Layer. The Current Drawing Layer will have the pencil
icon to the left of the layer number. You cannot turn off the current drawing layer.
ADJUSTING PARAMETERS - FIT TO PAPER
Now that you have selected the correct device and have turned off any layers, it is time to make the final
adjustments and print or plot the drawing. You still need to set the output scale for the drawing and decide if
you want to center the drawing on the page.
Before you can set the output scale, you must disable the Fit to Paper feature.
To disable or turn off the Fit to Paper feature:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Print.
2) DesignCAD will display the size of the drawing in units near the top of the dialog box. To output
the drawing with a number of units being equivalent to an inch, select Inches from the Units drop
down menu. <Click> on the down arrow and <click> one time on Inches with the left mouse
button.
3) Turn off the Fit to Paper feature by <clicking> on the selection with the mouse until the checkmark
NOTE: The Fit to Paper feature will make the drawing fill the entire sheet of paper no matter
what size the paper is. For example, if the paper size is 8½ x 11, the drawing will fill the paper.
If the paper size is 24 x 36, the same drawing will fill the entire sheet of paper. The drawing will
be proportional, however, it will not be output to any set scale.
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SETTING THE OUTPUT DRAWING SCALE
Once Fit to Paper is disabled, you may enter the output scale of the drawing. There are two ways to enter the
output drawing scale. One way to enter the scale is by typing a beginning bracket [ followed by the drawing
scale and then an ending bracket ]. For example, a 1” = 10’ scale would be entered by typing [1/10] in the
Scale box. Another way to enter the drawing scale is to type the scale factor in the Scale box. For example,
a 1” = 10’ scale is actually a scale factor of 0.10, or 1 divided by 10. The following are examples of scale
factor settings and the two methods of entering them.
Output Scale
1” = 4’
1” = 10’
1” = 20’
1” = 30’
1” = 40’
1st Way to Enter
[1/4]
[1/10]
[1/20]
[1/30]
[1/40]
2nd Way to Enter
0.25
0.10
0.05
0.0333
0.025
For this exercise, enter an output scale of 1” = 20’.
1) The DesignCAD Print Command dialog box should still be open. If it is not, restart the command.
2) <Click> into the Scale box and type [1/20]. Press the <Tab> key and notice that the scale factor
changes to 0.05, or 1divided by 20.
Just below the Scale box are the drawing Height and Width indicators. You can quickly look at these
indicators to see if the drawing will fit on the selected sheet of paper. For example, at a 1” = 20’ scale, the
sample drawing measures 5.7351” wide by 9.2021” high. You can easily see that the dimensions of the
drawing are well within the 8½“ by 11” paper size. If you had entered a scale of 1” = 10’, the drawing size
would be 11.4702” wide by 18.4042” high. It is clear to see that at this scale, it is not possible to print the
drawing on one 8½“ by 11” sheet of paper.
PANELS
Panels represent the number of sheets of paper it will take to print or plot the drawing. If the panel indicator
on the Panel tab in the DesignCAD Print Command dialog box says 1 (1x1), this means it will only take one
sheet of paper to print or plot the drawing. If the panel indicator says 6 (2x3), this means it will take six
sheets of paper to print or plot the drawing. It will take two sheets across and three sheets down. Adjusting
the output scale, the center drawing selection, the margin settings and the page orientation can affect the
number of panels or sheets of paper it requires to print or plot the drawing. Refer to the DesignCAD
Reference Manual for more information on drawing panels.
PRINTING OR PLOTTING THE DRAWING
Once the settings are determined, it is time to send the drawing to the printer or plotter. Make sure the printer
or plotter is turned on and is ready to accept the design. For the purpose of the tutorial, you will print the
entire drawing.
To print or plot the drawing:
1) Adjust the settings as necessary. You may select the Preview button to get a view of how the
drawing will look on the sheet of paper.
2) <Click> one time on the Print button.
PRINT / PLOT TO FILE
There may be times when you need to output a drawing on a larger sheet of paper than your printer or plotter
will allow. The software will allow you to create a print or plot file. You can take this file to a reproduction
company and have the drawing output to the larger sheet size. For the purpose of the tutorial, you will not
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121
create a print or plot file. We will cover the necessary steps for creating a print or plot file for future
reference.
NOTE: Before you create a print or plot file, you must determine the type of device the reproduction
service will use to output your drawing. You will need to install a printer or plotter driver on your
computer to run the device. Once the device is installed, you will need to select that driver in Page Setup
before creating the print or plot file. The drivers that are provided with Microsoft Windows are not
always up to date. Consult the reproduction company or the manufacturer of the device for an up to date
device driver. For instructions on installing the printer or plotter driver, refer to your Windows
documentation.
To create a print file:
1) Install the printer or plotter driver on your computer.
2) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Print.
3) On the DesignCAD Print Command dialog box, choose the output device from the Printers drop
down menu. <Click> on the down arrow and <click> on the printer or plotter selection.
4) Adjust the any of the available settings as necessary.
5) <Click> on Print to File until a checkmark appears in the box.
6) <Click> one time on the Print button.
7) The DesignCAD Print to File dialog box will appear. Select the desired directory to save the file
from the Save In drop down menu.
NOTE: Depending on the size and complexity of your drawing, the print file may be greater
than 1.44MB. We recommend that you save the print file to your hard drive. If you need to place
the file on a floppy disk, you can copy the file to the disk.
8) In the File Name box, enter the file name for the print file and <click> on the Save button. For
example, enter FILENAME.PRN.
NOTE: If you are creating a plot file, simply change the extension on the file name to PLT. For
example, the filename could be FILENAME.PLT instead of FILENAME.PRN.
SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Eleven of the tutorial. In this lesson, you learned that you cannot print or
plot to a device unless you have the correct device driver. You learned that device drivers are provided by
the manufacturer of the printer or plotter and are installed through Microsoft Windows. You now know
that any layer you do not want to print or plot should be turned off using the DesignCAD Layer Options
command from the Options menu. You covered the necessary steps to set the output scale, adjust the
margins, adjust the page orientation, and more. Finally, you learned that you can create a print or plot file.
For additional printing options, refer to the Paper Space Configuration and Paper Space Mode commands in
the DesignCAD Manual or Help screens.
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LESSON TWELVE - MODIFYING THE DATABASES
Lesson Twelve does not have any accompanying practice screens.
This lesson will instruct you on modifying the existing databases of equipment or landscape materials. All of
the databases are similar in the way they function. Some databases have options that do not exist in other
databases. However, once you become familiar with one database, you should be able to work in any of the
database selections. When you place equipment or plant material on a drawing, the information in the
database is used to identify each piece of equipment and price it correctly.
Database characteristics that are common to virtually all of the database selections are list price, discount
rate, labor rate, equipment code, part number and supplier code. Most databases also include the description,
symbol assignment, symbol color and tied assembly.
If you purchased RainCAD LX as a stand-alone program, proceed to the section on The Plants Database later
in this lesson.
THE SPRINKLERS DATABASE
The Sprinklers Database will allow you to edit a database of sprinkler nozzle selections based on the chosen
manufacturer and the selected category. The sprinklers are shown in seven different categories - Turf Sprays,
Shrub Sprays, Shrub Risers, Turf Rotors, Shrub Rotors, Bubblers and Low-Volume.
To edit the sprinkler databases:
1) On the Database menu in RainCAD, choose Irrigation.
left of the manufacturers name to view the available sprinkler nozzle categories.
the left of the category name to view the available sprinkler nozzles.
5) Choose a sprinkler nozzle from the list by <clicking> on the selection with the mouse. Notice that
the characteristics change based on the chosen sprinkler nozzle.
Once you select the desired nozzle, you may modify any of the characteristics as necessary. Characteristics
specific to the Sprinklers Database include the arc pattern assignment, the performance characteristics, the
default pressure setting and the sprinkler body assignment.
ADDING A SPRINKLER TO THE DATABASE
When adding equipment to a database, it is important that you enter the equipment in the order you would
like it displayed in the dialog box. For example, it would be best to group all fifteen foot spray nozzles
together and all twelve foot spray nozzles together. This will make it easier to find the correct equipment for
placement on the drawing screen.
NOTE: You cannot change the order of the equipment once you enter it into the database.
To add a sprinkler to the sprinklers database:
left of the manufacturers name to view the available sprinkler nozzle categories.
the left of the category name to view the available sprinkler nozzles.
5) Press the right mouse button and <click> on Add Sprinkler to add a new sprinkler to the list.
6) <Click> on New Sprinkler in the list and press the right mouse button.
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7) <Click> on Rename and enter a description for the sprinkler.
8) Edit each characteristic as necessary and click on the <Save> button to save the information.
PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS
To make use of a sprinkler in the design process, it is necessary to enter the performance characteristics of
the nozzle. With each operating pressure, you must enter the flow of water through the nozzle and the radius
of the throw.
To edit the performance characteristics of the selected sprinkler:
1) <Click> on the data to modify one time with the left mouse button to open the Sprinkler
Performance dialog box. In addition, you can press the right mouse button to add or delete data to
or from the Sprinkler Performance table.
Sprinkler Performance Characteristics
2) Enter the operating pressure, flow and radius of throw in the available text boxes. If the nozzle is
assigned to a side strip, end strip, center strip or square arc pattern, you must enter the width of the
throw as well.
NOTE: When entering performance characteristics, begin with the lowest pressure. For
example, the first pressure you enter may be 15 PSI. The next pressure may be 20 followed by
25, 30, 35, and 40. We recommend that you follow this same rule when entering performance
data for control valves and backflow devices as well.
3) Once all entries are made, <click> on the OK button to save the additions or changes to the
performance data and return to the Sprinklers Database dialog box.
SPRINKLER PALETTE ASSIGNMENTS
Each manufacturer has literally hundreds of different sprinkler nozzle selections. When placing sprinklers
automatically within a boundary line, you will only need to make use of a few nozzle selections. Just as an
artist has millions of colors to choose from when he begins a painting, he only makes use of a few colors that
he places on his palette. A sprinkler palette is similar to an artists color palette.
A Sprinkler Palette is a group of sprinklers to use in a particular situation. For example, you may create a
palette of nozzles consisting of only 15 foot sprays. In addition, you may have another palette consisting of 8
foot or 10 foot nozzles. You may create separate palettes for turf sprays, shrub sprays, turf rotors and shrub
rotors. You may create as many sprinkler palettes as required for each manufacturer and each sprinkler
category. In addition, you may assign each sprinkler to one or more sprinkler palettes.
To assign a sprinkler to a sprinkler palette:
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125
2) On the Irrigation submenu, choose Sprinkler Palette Assignments.
3) Double <click> on a Manufacturer with the left mouse button or single click on the + sign to the left
of the manufacturers name to view the available sprinkler nozzle categories.
4) Double <click> on a Category Name with the left mouse button or single click on the + sign to the
left of the category name to view the available sprinkler palettes. In addition, you can press the right
mouse button to add, delete or rename the sprinkler palettes.
5) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a sprinkler palette name. All of the sprinklers
currently assigned to the selected sprinkler palette are shown under Sprinkler Palette Assignments.
All of the sprinklers available for assignment are shown under Sprinklers.
6) To assign a sprinkler nozzle to the selected palette, <click> on the nozzle in the Sprinklers list and
<click> on the left arrow button, or double <click> on the sprinkler nozzle. The nozzle will be
placed under the Sprinkler Palette Assignments.
7) To select a range of nozzles at one time, select the first nozzle. Press and hold down the<Shift> key
and select the last nozzle in the range. To select multiple individual nozzles, press and hold down
the <Ctrl> key while <clicking> on each nozzle selection. Once all selections are made, <click> on
the left arrow button.
8) To remove a nozzle from a palette, <click> on the nozzle in the Sprinkler Palette Assignments list
and <click> on the right arrow button, or double <click> on the sprinkler nozzle. The nozzle will be
placed under the Sprinklers list.
9) <Click> on the Save button to save the changes.
NOTE: All sprinkler palettes must include at least one nozzle with an arc assignment of 180º.
If a palette does not have a 180º nozzle assignment, you will not be able to make use of that
palette in the automatic sprinkler placement within a boundary line.
The remaining irrigation databases all function very similar to the Sprinklers Database. For additional help
on databases, refer to the on-line help screens in RainCAD.
TIED ASSEMBLIES AND SUPPLIES
A Tied Assembly is the combination of supplies that are associated with the installation of a single piece of
equipment or plant material. Tied assemblies can be built for sprinkler bodies, controllers, backflow devices,
control valves, trees, shrubs, and more.
Below is an example of a tied assembly created for a one-inch control valve.
Tied Assembly
1" Control Valve
Quantity
2
2
1
1
Supplies
1" PVC (MIPT x Slip) fittings
Waterproof Wire Connectors
10" Round Valve Box
Cubic Foot of Pea Gravel
Each assembly may be assigned to one or more pieces of equipment or plant material in the database
selections. All of the product in an assembly is counted in the Material/Estimate command. Before you can
build an assembly, you must create the list of supplies to use in the creation.
To create or modify the information in the Supplies Database:
1) On the Database menu in RainCAD, choose Irrigation, Landscape, Lighting, or Drainage.
2) On the Irrigation, Landscape, Lighting, or Drainage submenu, choose Tied Assemblies/Supplies.
3) On the Tied Assemblies/Supplies dialog box, <click> on the Supplies tab.
4) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a supply selection, or press the right mouse button
to add, delete, or rename the a supply.
5) Modify any of the available characteristics as necessary.
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Once a list of supplies is available, you may combine the supplies into a tied assembly.
To create or modify the Tied Assemblies Database:
1) On the Database menu in RainCAD, choose Irrigation, Landscape, Lighting, or Drainage.
2) On the Irrigation, Landscape, Lighting, or Drainage submenu, choose Tied Assemblies/Supplies.
3) On the Tied Assemblies/Supplies dialog box, <click> on the Tied Assemblies tab.
4) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on an assembly in the Tied Assemblies section on the
left side of the dialog box, or press the right mouse button to add, delete, or rename a tied assembly.
5) All of the supplies currently assigned to the selected tied assembly are shown under Assigned
Supplies. The amount of each supply is shown under the Quantity label to the right of the supply
listing. All of the supplies available for assignment are listed under Supplies on the right of the
dialog box.
6) To assign a supply to the selected tied assembly, <click> on the supply in the Supplies list and
<click> on the left arrow button, or double <click> on the supply name. The supply will be placed
under the Assigned Supplies with a quantity of one. To increase the quantity of the supply, simply
<click> on the left arrow again or double <click> on the supply name. You will notice that the
quantity will increase by one.
7) To remove a supply from a tied assembly, <click> on the supply in the Assigned Supplies list and
<click> on the right arrow button, or double <click> on the supply name. If the quantity of the
supply is greater than one, the quantity will be reduced by one. Continuing to <click> the right
arrow or double <clicking> on the supply name will reduce the quantity until the supply is removed
from the tied assembly.
THE PLANTS DATABASE
The software will allow you to have an unlimited number of plants in the database. The plants are divided
into categories to make it easier to locate the plant of your choice. You can add, delete or rename the plant
categories in the Plants Database. Each plant may have an unlimited number of sizes. In addition to plant
selections, you may also create a database of fill materials for area and volume calculations as well as
supplies and tied assemblies to cover all materials involved in plant installation.
The Plants Database will allow you to edit the plant material selections based on the chosen category and
size. The six default categories of plant material are Tress, Palms, Shrubs Under 4 Feet, Shrubs Over 4 Feet,
Ground Cover/Vines and Annuals/Perennials.
To edit the plant database:
2) On the Landscape submenu, choose Plants.
3) On the Plant Database dialog box, <click> on the Plant Size Data tab.
left of the name to view the available plant selections. In addition, you can press the right mouse
button to add, delete or rename the plant category names.
5) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a plant selection. Notice that the characteristics
change based on the chosen plant. In addition, you can press the right mouse button to add, delete
or rename the plants. The plant selections are sorted alphabetically based on the common or
botanical name as set in the Landscape Preferences dialog box.
Once you select a plant, you may modify any of the characteristics as necessary. Plant characteristics include
the symbol assignment, the symbol color, the radius of the plant’s canopy, the list price, a discount received
from the supplier, the labor rate for installation and more. In addition, you may <click> on the Species Data
tab and edit any of the species data available for the selected plant or the General Notes tab to enter general
information about the plant material.
NOTE: Each characteristic is specific to the size of the selected plant where species data is generic to all
sizes. For example, the radius of the plant canopy, the list price, and the labor rate for installation are all
plant characteristics. These factors may change based on the size of the plant. If a plant is a 1 gallon
versus a 15 gallon, the radius may be smaller and the labor rate for installation may be less. The color of
the plant, the mature height and the exposure are all species data. This data will remain the same no matter
what size the plant is at installation.
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127
NOTE: To place a plant on the drawing screen, the radius of the plant’s canopy must be set to a value
greater than zero. You may assign each plant size a different radius setting. It is important that you enter a
value for each plant size you plan to include on the design.
ADDING A PLANT TO THE DATABASE
When adding plant material to the database, you may enter the information in any order. The plant material
is sorted in alphabetical order in the list.
To add a plant to the database:
3) On the Plant Database dialog box, <click> on the Plant Size Data tab.
left of the name to view the available plant selections. In addition, you can press the right mouse
button to add, delete or rename the plant category names.
5) Press the right mouse button and <click> on Add Plant to place a new plant selection in the list.
6) <Click> on New Plant in the list and press the right mouse button.
7) <Click> on Rename and enter a description for the plant material.
8) Edit each characteristic as necessary and click on the <Save> button to save the information.
SPECIES DATA
The species data for a plant includes the climate zone(s), the mature height and width, the color of the
foliage, the water requirement, the flower color, the fragrance and more. This data is generic to the plant no
matter what size of the plant is selected. It is not necessary to complete this information unless you plan to
make use of the Plant Search feature in the Plant Placement dialog box. For more information on the Plant
Search feature, refer to Lesson Eight in this manual.
To enter or edit the species data:
3) On the Plant Database dialog box, <click> on the Species Data tab.
left of the name to view the available plant selections.
5) <Click> one time with the left mouse button on a plant selection.
6) In each of the available fields, select the desired criteria by <clicking> on the a box until a
checkmark appears, <clicking> on the selection and entering a value in the text box, or <clicking>
on a drop down menu and <clicking> on the desired selection.
NOTE: The climate zone, flower color, fall color, foliage color, plant type, soil preference and
flowering season will allow more than one selection. <Click> on each selection until a
checkmark appears in the box.
The remaining landscape databases all function very similar to the Plants Database. For additional help on
databases, refer to the on-line help screens in RainCAD.
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SUMMARY
You have now completed Lesson Twelve and have learned how to enter or edit information in the databases.
You should know how to enter the pressure, flow and radius for sprinkler nozzles. You should know that
you must always begin at the top of the list with the lowest pressure when entering performance data for
sprinkler nozzles. In addition, you should know what a sprinkler palette is and how to assign sprinklers to a
palette. Finally, you should know that each sprinkler may be assigned to more than one palette at a time.
CONCLUSION
We have created this tutorial to help you learn the proper use of the RainCAD™ Design Software as quickly
as possible. You started by learning basic drawing commands and worked your way through drawing a
complete property and laying out an irrigation system and/or landscape design. In addition, you made use of
additional features to improve the look of the drawing with symbols, descriptive text, hatching patterns and
installation details.
Now that you have completed the lessons, there is still a great deal more you can learn by using the software
and reviewing the on-line help screens. Because of its power, you will continue learning from the program
with each use. You will no doubt realize an increase in speed with each new design. Like any software
product on the market, the more you use the program, the more proficient you will become.
With the lessons now behind you, you should be prepared to conquer almost any design project with little
difficulty. Should you encounter any problems, look through the on-line help screens first to find the
answers. If your problem is not covered or you need additional assistance, visit the Support section of our
Internet home page at http://www.raincad.com.
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APPENDIX "A" - CUSTOMIZING SYMBOLS
RainCAD will allow an unlimited number of symbols to represent equipment or landscape material. There
are symbols to represent sprinklers, water meters, pumps, backflow devices, control valves, controllers, quick
couplers, plants and more. Even more symbols are included to represent vehicles, people, furniture, stepping
stones, rocks and boulders and more. You may customize any of these symbols to your specifications, or you
may create your own symbols.
All of the symbol files are located in one of several subdirectories. The subdirectories are located within the
SYMBOLS subdirectory. For example, sprinkler symbols in RainCAD might be located in the following
directory - C:\PROGRAM FILES\SOFTWARE REPUBLIC\RAINCAD 8.0\SYMBOLS\SPRINKLERS.
Below is a list of the subdirectories that are associated with each software program.
RainCAD SX and RainCAD IX:
Subdirectory Name
backflow
controllers
couplers
iaccessory
idetails
isolation
meters
sprinklers
valves
RainCAD SX and RainCAD LX:
Subdirectory Name
laccessory
ladetails
Category of Symbols
Backflow prevention device symbols such as
pressure vacuum breakers, double checks and
reduced pressure assemblies.
Irrigation controller symbols.
Quick coupler valve symbols.
Irrigation accessory symbols such as rain sensors and
weather stations.
Irrigation equipment installation drawings or details.
Isolation valve symbols such as gate valves or ball
valves.
Water meter and pump station symbols.
Sprinkler nozzle symbols.
Irrigation control valve symbols.
plants
Category of Symbols
Landscape accessory symbols.
Plant material and equipment installation drawings or
details.
Plant material symbols.
RainCAD SX:
Subdirectory Name
daccessory
ddetails
dequipment
liaccessory
lidetails
lighting
transformers
Category of Symbols
Drainage equipment accessory symbols.
Drainage equipment installation drawings or details.
Drainage equipment symbols.
Accent lighting accessory symbols.
Accent lighting installation drawings or details.
Accent lighting fixture symbols.
Accent lighting transformer symbols.
RainCAD SX, RainCAD IX and RainCAD LX:
Subdirectory Name
miscellaneous
Category of Symbols
Miscellaneous symbols such as vehicles, people,
rocks, boulders, furniture and more.
132
RainCAD
CUSTOMIZING EXISTING SYMBOLS
You may have an unlimited number of symbols to represent equipment or plant material on the design
screen. The software includes many symbols, all of which are customizable to your specifications.
To customize any of the existing irrigation, landscape, lighting or drainage symbols:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Open.
2) <Click> on the file name in the Open dialog box and <click> on the Open button to retrieve the
drawing to the design screen. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on
the Open Command.
The DesignCAD Open Command
3) In some instances, the entities that make up the symbol may be grouped together. It may be
necessary to explode the group before you can make any changes to the symbol. If necessary, select
the symbol by <clicking> on the symbol one time with the left mouse button. On the Tools menu in
DesignCAD, choose Group Explode. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more
information on Group Define and Group Explode.
4) Make any desired changes to the drawing file using any of the commands available in DesignCAD.
5) If you are making changes to a symbol, be sure to not to change the units of the existing symbol.
Sprinkler symbols have a diameter of approximately one and a half (1 1/2) units, where water meter
and pump symbols are approximately two (2) units in diameter. Plant symbols are set to a radius of
10 units. RainCAD uses this setting to scale the symbols based on the Symbol Scale Factor in the
Irrigation Preferences dialog box. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information
on the Units Command.
6) Once all modifications are complete, on the Point menu in DesignCAD, choose Set Drawing
Handles. The Status Bar at the bottom of the screen will ask you to set 1 to 2 points for the drawing
handles. A handle represents the point on the symbol from where the symbol will rotate, drag, copy
or scale. For sprinkler or accent lighting fixture symbols, the first point is the location from which
the sprinkler arc pattern or lighting beam pattern will be positioned on the symbol.
7) You should set the second point directly above and at least one unit away from the first point. You
may use the Point Relative command in DesignCAD to assist in setting the second point in
relationship to the first point. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on
Point Relative. Below are a few examples of where the points might be set on sprinkler symbols.
Appendix “A” – Customizing Symbols
133
Points for Setting Handles
8) For most other symbols including plants, north arrows and detail drawings, set the first point in the
center of the symbol with the second point set at least one unit directly above the first point.
9) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Save As. Enter the output drawing file name and be sure
to use the same path and file name as the original drawing. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference
Manual for more information on the Save As Command.
CREATING NEW SYMBOLS
To create a new irrigation, landscape, lighting or drainage symbol:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose New.
2) Use any of the tools available in DesignCAD to create a new symbol or detail drawing.
3) Once you have created a new symbol, set the units of the symbol equivalent to that of similar
existing symbols. On the Dimension menu in DesignCAD, choose on Units. Sprinkler symbols
have a diameter of approximately one and a half (1 1/2) units, where water meter and pump symbols
are approximately two (2) units in diameter. Plant symbols are set to a radius of 10 units.
RainCAD uses this setting to scale the symbols based on the Symbol Scale Factor in the Irrigation
Preferences dialog box. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the
Units Command.
4) Once you have completed the symbol and set the drawing units, on the Point menu in DesignCAD,
choose Set Drawing Handles. The Status Bar at the bottom of the screen will ask you to set 1 to 2
points for the drawing handles. A handle represents the point on the symbol from where the symbol
will rotate, drag, copy or scale. For sprinkler or accent lighting fixture symbols, the first point is the
location from which the sprinkler arc pattern or lighting beam pattern will be positioned on the
symbol.
5) You should set the second point directly above and at least one unit away from the first point. You
may use the Point Relative command in DesignCAD to assist in setting the second point in
relationship to the first point. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on
Point Relative.
6) For most other symbols including plants, north arrows and detail drawings, set the first point in the
center of the symbol with the second point set at least one unit directly above the first point.
7) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Save As. Enter the output drawing file name and be sure
to save the symbol drawing in the proper directory. All of the symbols are saved in numerical order
beginning with the number one (1). You should name the drawing as the next number in numerical
order. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Save As Command.
134
RainCAD
SAVING CHANGES TO A TITLE BLOCK
It is possible to permanently save changes to a title block . This will minimize the number of changes you
will need to make each time you place a title block on the design screen.
To save the changes to a title block:
1) On the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Open.
2) <Click> on the file name in the Open dialog box and <click> on the Open button to retrieve the
drawing to the design screen. The title blocks are saved in the \SYMBOLS\MISCELLANEOUS
subdirectory and are named TITLE BLOCK END OF PAGE.DCD and TITLE BLOCK PAGE
BORDER.DCD. Refer to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Open
Command.
3) Make any desired changes to the title block. Refer to Editing the Title Block earlier in this manual
for additional information.
4) On the Points menu in DesignCAD, choose Set Drawing Handles. The Status Bar at the bottom of
the screen will ask you to set 1 to 2 points for the drawing handles. A handle represents the point on
the symbol from where the symbol will rotate, drag, copy or scale.
5) Set two (2) handles on the title block. Set the first handle at the bottom right corner of the title
block. Place the mouse cursor near the corner and press the <.> to snap to the corner of the title
block. Set the second handle at the top right corner of the title block. Place the mouse cursor near
the corner and press the <.> to snap to the corner of the title block.
6) Once the handles are set, on the File menu in DesignCAD, choose Save As. Enter the output
drawing file name and be sure to save the title block symbol drawing in the proper directory. Refer
to the DesignCAD Reference Manual for more information on the Save As Command.
APPENDIX "B" - SYMBOLS
You may find the pages of this Appendix on the CD-ROM in the \APPENDIX directory. If you would like
to view the symbols in more detail, open a drawing in DesignCAD. Once the drawing is open, make use of
the zoom commands in DesignCAD to better view the symbols or output the drawing to a printer.
IRRIGATION SYMBOLS
SPRINKLER SYMBOLS
Sprinkler symbols are found in the \SYMBOLS\SPRINKLERS subdirectory with the following file names.
All sprinkler symbol file names end with the DesignCAD extension of dcd.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
120
137
270
138
240
139
120
140
120
141
120
142
270
270
143
240
240
144
120
270
120
145
270
146
240
240
147
120
120
148
120
120
270
240
120
149
150
151
152
153
120
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
136
RainCAD
ADDITIONAL IRRIGATION SYMBOLS
\backflow\1.dcd
\backflow\2.dcd
\backflow\3.dcd
\controllers\1.dcd
\controllers\2.dcd
\controllers\3.dcd
\couplers\1.dcd
\couplers\2.dcd
\iaccessory\1.dcd
\iaccessory\2.dcd
\iaccessory\3.dcd
\iaccessory\4.dcd
\iaccessory\5.dcd
\iaccessory\6.dcd
\iaccessory\7.dcd
\iaccessory\8.dcd
\iaccessory\9.dcd
\iaccessory\10.dcd
OD
SD
PD
\iaccessory\11.dcd
\iaccessory\12.dcd
\iaccessory\13.dcd
\iaccessory\14.dcd
\isolation\1.dcd
\isolation\2.dcd
\isolation\3.dcd
\isolation\4.dcd
\isolation\5.dcd
\meters\1.dcd
\meters\2.dcd
\meters\3.dcd
\meters\4.dcd
\meters\5.dcd
\meters\6.dcd
\valves\1.dcd
\valves\2.dcd
\valves\3.dcd
LANDSCAPE SYMBOLS
PLANT SYMBOLS
Plant symbols are found in the \SYMBOLS\PLANTS subdirectory with the following file names. All plant
file names end with the DesignCAD extension of dcd.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
Appendix “B” – Symbols
137
M/O
99
100 101 102
103
104
C
T
R
105
106
107
108
109 110 111 112
L
J
D
D
113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126
G Y
M
ICE
127 128 129
130 131 132 133
w
F
141 142 143 144
C
P
155
P B
145
P
156 157 158
159
C
B
P
F
L
134 135
136 137 138
E
C
T
170 171 172
P
R
183
R
139
140
R M
C
146 147 148
149
150 151 152 153 154
C J
G
M
160 161 162
163
164
L
173 174 175 176 177
E
C
165
E
169
P
166
167
H
H
O
168
A
178 179 180 181 182
184
185
186
187
188
189
190 191 192
193
194
195
196
197 198
199
200
201
202
203
204
211 212 213 214
225
226
227
228
205
206
207
208
209
210
215 216 217 218 219
220
221
222
223
224
229
234
235
236
237
238
230
231
232
233
138
RainCAD
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271 272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310 311 312
313 314 315
316 317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
ADDITIONAL LANDSCAPE SYMBOLS
\laccessory\1.dcd
\laccessory\2.dcd
\laccessory\3.dcd
\laccessory\4.dcd
\dequipment\2.dcd
\dequipment\3.dcd
\dequipment\4.dcd
DRAINAGE SYMBOLS
\dequipment\1.dcd
DA
\daccessory\1.dcd
139
ACCENT LIGHTING SYMBOLS
FIXTURE SYMBOLS
Accent lighting fixture symbols are found in the \SYMBOLS\LIGHTING subdirectory with the following
file names. All lighting file names end with the DesignCAD extension of dcd.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
ADDITIONAL LIGHTING SYMBOLS
LA
\liaccessory\1.dcd
T
\transformers\1.dcd
\transformers\2.dcd
140
RainCAD
MISCELLANEOUS SYMBOLS
The following is a list of miscellaneous symbols available in RainCAD. This list does not represent a
complete record of all of the symbols available in the program. The Miscellaneous symbols are found in the
\SYMBOLS\MISCELLANEOUS subdirectory with the following file names.
FURNITURE
\bench.dcd
\table and chairs with shadows.dcd
\seat.dcd
\lounge chair and table with shadows.dc
\chair.dcd
\wooden patio table and chairs.dcd
\table.dcd
\wooden deck chairs and table.dcd
\table and chairs.dcd
\wooden lawn chairs.dcd
\lounge.dcd
\wooden bench.dcd
LOGOS
\RainCAD.dcd
\Irritrol Systems.dcd
\EcoCAD.dcd
\Nelson.dcd
R
\Irricalc.dcd
\Rain Bird.dcd
R
\Buckner.dcd
\Toro.dcd
\Hunter.dcd
\Weathermatic.dcd
R
141
MISCELLANEOUS
\gazebo.dcd
\bus stop.dcd
\water feature.dcd
TA
\trash can.dcd
TE
OF T E
XA
S
S
\texas licensed irrigator seal.dcd
JOHN B. DOE
C
SE
R
1234
LI
EN
TO
BUS
\bike rack.dcd
D I RRI G
A
NORTH ARROWS
NORTH
\north arrow 1.dcd
N
\north arrow 2.dcd
\north arrow 3.dcd
\north arrow 4.dcd
NORTH
E
W
\north arrow 5.dcd
S
PEOPLE
\man number 1.dcd
\woman number 2.dcd
\man number 2.dcd
\woman holding briefcase.dcd
\man with briefcase.dcd
\woman carrying briefcase.dc
\man checking his watch.dcd
\boy.dcd
\man carrying briefcase.dcd
\girl.dcd
\woman number 1.dcd
142
RainCAD
ROCKS/BOULDERS
\boulder 1.dcd
\boulder3.dcd
\rock.dcd
\boulder 2.dcd
\boulders.dcd
\rocks.dcd
SIGNS
\handicap.dcd
\men.dcd
\bike trail.dcd
\women.dcd
\parking lot arrow.dcd
STEPPING STONES
\square stepping stone.dcd
\cobblestone.dcd
\cobblestone walkway.dcd
\round stepping stone.dcd
\Texas stepping stone.dcd
\small concrete pathway.dcd
\flagstone.dcd
\flagstone walkway.dcd
143
TITLE BLOCKS
PROJECT:
JOHN DOE - RESIDENCE
234 ANYWHERE
ANYWHERE, USA
(234) 234-5678
SHEET DESCRIPTION:
IRRIGATION DESIGN
XYZ COMPANY INC.
123 ANYWHERE
ANYWHERE, USA
(123) 123-4567
\title block end of page.dcd
REVISIONS:
DATE:
01-01-02
JOB #:
12345
DRAWN BY:
JSD
CHECKED BY:
JS
SCALE:
1" / 10'
SHEET:
1 OF 1
JOHN DOE - RESIDENCE
234 ANYWHERE
ANYWHERE, USA
(234) 234-5678
PROJECT:
SHEET DESCRIPTION:
IRRIGATION DESIGN
XYZ IRRIGATION
123 ANYWHERE
ANYWHERE, USA
(123) 123-4567
\title block page border.dcd
REVISIONS:
DATE:
01-01-02
JOB #:
12345
DRAWN BY:
JSD
CHECKED BY:
JS
SCALE:
SHEET:
1" / 10'
1 OF 1
In addition to the two title blocks shown above, there are other title blocks located in the DESIGNCAD 3D
MAX\PSTEMPLATE folder.
144
RainCAD
VEHICLES
\car plan view.dcd
\mini-van.dcd
\truck plan view.dcd
\two door sedan.dcd
\two door hatch back with sunroof.dcd
\car section view.dcd
\volkswagon beetle.dcd
\porche.dcd
\two door sports car.dcd
\truck section view.dcd
\luxury sedan.dcd
\van.dcd
HATCHING PATTERNS
Below is a partial list of the hatching patterns available in DesignCAD.
ANGLE
ANSI31
ANSI32
ANSI33
ANSI34
BLOCKS
BRASS
BRICK
BRICK2
CLAY
DOTS
EARTH
FLEX
HONEY
INSULATE
DECKING DOLOMITE
HEATRANS
HEX
PARKET
PLASTIC
WEAVE
ZIGZAG
PLASTIC1 SHINGLES
ANSI35
ANSI36
ANSI37
ANSI38
CORK
CROSS
DASH
GLASS
GRASS
GRATE
HBONE
LINES
MUD
NET
NET3
NONSKID
SQUARES
STARS
STEEL
TILE
TRIANGLE
CONCRET
WIN_SOLIDWIN_
WIN_
WIN_
WIN_
WIN_
HORIZONTALVERTICALFWDIAGONAL
BKDIAGONAL
CROSS
WIN_
DIAGCROSS
APPENDIX "C" – LAYER ASSIGNMENTS
The following is a list of RainCAD layer assignments.
ENTITY
LAYER
Building Line Style
Property Line Style
Driveway Line Style
Walkway Line Style
Bedlines Line Style
Custom Line Style 1 - 95
Turf Spray
Shrub Spray
Shrub Spray on Riser
Turf Rotor
Shrub Rotor
Bubbler
Low Volume
Turf Spray Arc Pattern
Shrub Spray Arc Pattern
Shrub Spray on Riser Arc Pattern
Turf Rotor Arc Pattern
Shrub Rotor Arc Pattern
Bubbler Arc Pattern
Low Volume Arc Pattern
Attributes
Legend
Pipe Node Labels
Sleeving
Unsized Lateral and Mainline Pipe
Pipe Size Labels
Zone Attribute Numbers
Irrigation Symbols
Valve Notation Symbols
Irrigation Details and Specifications
Wire
Boundary Line
Hydraulic Information
Symbol Label
Trees
Palms
Shrubs under 4 feet
Shrubs over 4 feet
Groundcover/Vines
Annuals/Perennials
Custom Category 1
Custom Category 2
Custom Category 3
Custom Category 4
Custom Category 5
Custom Category 6
Custom Category 7
Custom Category 8
Custom Category 9
600
601
602
603
604
605-699
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
730
731
734
752
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
146
Custom Category 10
Custom Category 11
Custom Category 12
Custom Category 13
Custom Category 14
Custom Category 15
Custom Category 16
Custom Category 17
Custom Category 18
Custom Category 19
Custom Category 20
Landscape Accessories
Landscape Hatching
Miscellaneous Symbols
Landscape Details and Specifications
Uplighting
Down Lighting
Back Lighting
Path Lighting
Specialty Lighting
Underwater Lighting
Custom Category 1
Custom Category 2
Custom Category 3
Custom Category 4
Custom Category 5
Uplighting Pattern
Down Lighting Pattern
Back Lighting Pattern
Path Lighting Pattern
Specialty Lighting Pattern
Underwater Lighting Pattern
Custom Category 1 Lighting Pattern
Transformers
Lighting Accessories
Lighting Details and Specifications
Drainage Equipment
Drainage Accessories
Drainage Details and Specifications
Sized Pipe
RainCAD
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
833
838
840
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
880
881
882
901 - 930
INDEX
2
2-D Mode, 7, 9, 13, 14, 21, 36, 41, 103
3
3-D Mode, 14
A
Accent Lighting Symbols, 139
Add Run Set, 86
Add Selection to Zone, 63, 68, 78
Adding a Plant to the Database, 127
Adding a Sprinkler to the Database, 123
Adding Property Line, 43
Angle, 22, 47, 49, 50, 61
Apply Discount Rate, 113
Arc Patterns, 66
Area Volume Calcs, 99
Array Command, 97
Assumptions, 3
Attribute, 7, 72
Auto Snap Pipe to Symbols, 73, 78
Auto Trace Command, 33
Automatic Lateral Line Pipe Sizing, 82
Automatic Mainline Pipe Sizing, 85, 110
Automatic Pipe Sizing, 83, 85, 86
Automatic Piping, 68, 69, 70, 71
Automatic Plant Canopy Adjustment, 115
Automatic Save, 8
Automatically Color Code Pipe, 82
B
Backflow Devices, 77, 78
Bill of Materials, 111
Boundary Line, 57
Box, 47
Break Line Command, 20
C
Calcs Menu, 49, 62, 68, 83, 85, 99
Calculate Distribution, 111
Changing Text, 103
Check Sizes Used in Sizing, 82
Check Zones for Auto Pipe Sizing, 83
Check Zones for Automatic Lateral Line Piping,
69
Close, 31
Column Factor, Legend, 115
Combine Lines, 41
Company Information, 112, 113
Conclusion, 129
Control Valve Notations, 104
Control Valves, 66
Controllers, 89
Coordinate Bar, 52
Copying a Symbol, 60
Create Legend, 114
Creating New Symbols, 133
Curve, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 92
Curve Command, 26
Custom Line Styles, 7, 9, 19, 91, 92
Custom Toolbox, 15
Customizing Existing Symbols, 132
Customizing Symbols, 131
D
Database Menu, 91
Delete, 18, 19, 20, 50
Delete Run Set, 86
Deleting or Replacing Plants, 98
Density, 111
Densogram, 110, 111
DesignCAD, 1, 4, 7, 13
DesignCAD Hatch, 105
Dialog Boxes, 13, 15, 16
Digitizer, 3, 5, 7, 32, 37
Dimension Menu - DesginCAD, 35
Dimension Menu - DesignCAD, 31, 32, 133
Discount Rate, 113
Distribution, 110
Drafting Menu, 24, 26, 40, 44, 47, 50, 51, 53
Drafting Tool, 7, 24, 40, 41
Drainage Symbols, 138
Draw Menu - DesignCAD, 18, 19, 26, 27, 43, 49,
92
Drawing a Curve, 25
Drawing a Line, 18, 19, 20, 25
Drawing Scale, 7
Drawing the House, 39
Drawing the Plot Plan, 39
Duplciate, 67
Duplicate, 60
E
Edit Menu - DesignCAD, 18, 20, 35, 41, 45, 46,
50, 76, 87
Editing the Title Block, 103
Elevation Adjustment, 110
Erase, 18, 19, 20, 34, 35, 45, 46, 50, 51, 52, 53,
71, 85, 87
Estimate, 111
F
Fax – Reaching Technical Support, 4
Fees/Permits, 112
Field Measurements Diagram I, 42
Field Measurements Diagram II, 48
Fields Available, 113
148
Fields Selected, 113
File Menu - DesignCAD, 31, 34, 37, 132
File Names, 37
Fill Material, 99
Fit to Paper, 119, 120
Fit to Window, 28
Fixture Symbols, 139
Flow, 124
Furniture Symbols, 140
G
General Notes, 126
Get Flow for Selected Set, 86
Get Flow From Selection, 62, 64
Getting Started, 3
Gravity Snap, 19, 26, 33, 45, 47, 51, 57, 105
Group Explode, 99, 103, 132
H
Hatching, 105, 144
Help, 4, 7
Hydraulic Calculations, 109, 110
Hydraulics Viewer, 110
I
Icons, 19
Image, 34
Info Box, 70, 99, 103, 106
Insertion Point, 72
Installation, 4
Installation Details, 106
Internet – Software Republic, 4
Introduction, 1
Irrigation Preferences, 7, 81, 85, 132, 133
Irrigation Symbols, 135, 136
L
Landscape Preferences, 126
Landscape Symbols, 136, 138
Lateral Line Pipe, 83
Layer Assignments, 145
Layers, 33, 34, 35, 65, 66, 69, 119
Learning to Draw, 17
Legends, 114
Line Snap, 19, 28, 50, 51, 52, 57, 73
Line Styles, 9, 19, 26, 33, 40, 44, 47, 50, 51, 53,
91
Lines, 18, 26, 27, 50, 92
List Price, 113
Load Image File, 34
Logos, 140
M
Main Toolbox, 15, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 36, 41, 44,
45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 56, 60, 61, 66, 83, 92, 103
Mainline Pipe, 85, 86
Mainline Piping, 76, 78
RainCAD
Manual Pipe Sizing, 87
Manual Piping, 72, 73, 78, 82, 85
Margins, 118
Material/Estimate, 111
Material/Estimate Labels, 112
Material\Estimate, 112, 114
Material\Estimate Preview, 113
Menu Bar, 13, 15
Menus, 18
Meters/Pumps, 56
Metric Units of Measurement, 7, 9, 31
Miscellaneous Symbols, 35, 140, 141
Modify Pipe, 74, 75
Monitor, 3, 7
Mouse, 3, 5, 7
Moving a Symbol, 60
Moving Entities, 36
Multiple Valve Operation, 86, 110
N
New Command, 133
North Arrows, 141
O
Open Command, 132, 134
Options, 8, 9, 14, 15, 34, 35, 52, 66, 112, 119,
121
Options/Info Menu, 9, 15, 81, 88, 98
Orientation, 117, 118
Ortho Line, 19, 50, 51
Overhead, 112
P
Page Setup, 117, 118
Palette Name, 58
Palettes, 125
Panels, 120
Parallel, 26, 27, 51, 53
People Symbols, 141
Performance Characteristics, 124
Permits /Fees, 112
Pipe Database, 82
Pipe Hop Radius, 76
Pipe Hops, 75, 76
Pipe Network Viewer, 86
Pipe Placement, 69, 71, 73, 74, 75, 78
Pipe Size Label Offset, 85
Pipe Size Labels, 81
Pipe Sizing Options, 81
Pipe Snap Distance, 73
Pipe Symbol Color, 82
Pipe Viewer, 84
Placing a Title Block, 35
Plant Canopy, 115
Plant Material, 93, 94
Plant Notations, 98
Plant Placement, 93, 95, 96, 127
Index
Plant Search, 93, 127
Plant Size, 94
Plant Sizes, 126, 127
Plant Symbols, 136
Plants Database, 9, 126, 128
Plotting, 31, 117, 120
Point Menu - DesignCAD, 21, 23, 43
Point Polar, 20, 22, 23, 24
Point Relative, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 43, 47, 49, 51,
53, 132, 133
Point Select Mode, 26, 27, 53
Pointmark, 43, 44, 49, 51, 52, 53
Preset Point Mode, 52
Pressure, 124
Pressure Variance, 82
Preview, 120
Print to File, 121
Printing, 31, 117, 120
Profit, 112
Project Information, 112
Properties, 87, 88, 98
Proposal, 111
Pump, 56
Q
Quantity Label, 98
R
Radius of Throw, 124
RAM, 3
Redo, 17
Regenerate, 18, 19, 20, 46
Repeat Command, 22
Report Title, 113
Resizing Handles, 36
Resolution, 3, 7
Rocks/Boulders, 142
Rotate, 49, 50, 61
Run Sets, 86, 110
S
Save, 8, 37, 121, 133, 134
Saving Changes to the Title Block, 134
Scale, 7, 31, 120
Scale Factor, 7, 9
Scaling Entities, 36
Scan Image, 34
Select Pipe Category, 73
Select Pipe Size, 73
Selecting Entities, 41
Selecting Symbols, 60
Selection Conventions, 3
Selection Edit, 50
Selection Edit Menu, 41
Selection Edit Menu - DesignCAD, 20
Selection Filter, 46
Selection Handle, 36, 60
149
Set Drawing Handles, 132, 133, 134
Setting Up the Design Screen, 31
Settings, 112
Shortcut Key, 3, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 28, 29, 31, 45,
51, 60, 76
Signs, 142
Sleeving, 104
Snap, 19
Snap Toolbox, 15, 19
Snap-to-Points, 19
Solids Menu - DesignCAD, 47
Species Data, 126, 127
Sprinkler Palette Assignments, 124, 125
Sprinkler Placement, 58
Sprinkler Symbols, 135
Sprinklers Database, 9, 123
Starting the Software, 4
Status Bar, 13, 14, 50, 53, 57, 70, 73, 75, 78, 95,
98, 99, 132, 133
Stepping Stone Symbols, 142
Steps to a Proper Irrigation Design, 11
Suggested Steps, 11
Supplies, 9, 125
Supplies Database, 125
Support, 4
Symbol Designator, 98
Symbol Elevation Adjustment, 110
Symbol Label, 98
Symbol Scale Factor, 7, 9, 132, 133
Symbols Menu, 35
System Requirements, 3
T
Taskbar, 16, 44, 47, 63, 95
Technical Support, 4
Text, 102
Text Arc, 102
Text Block, 102
Text Size, Legend, 115
Things You Should Do, 9
Things You Should Know, 7
Tied Assemblies, 9, 125
Tied Assemblies Database, 126
Title Block, 35, 36, 103
Title Block Symbols, 143
Title Block, Saving Changes, 134
Toolbar, 4, 13, 15, 16, 19, 27, 37, 52
Total Flow, 62
Tracing an Image, 33
Trim One Line, 51
Trim/Extend, 45
Tutorial, 8
Typographical Conventions, 3
U
Underlined Letters, 13, 15
Undo, 17, 18, 76
150
Units, 31, 32, 35, 119, 132, 133
Upperspace, 1, 7, 13
US Units of Measurement, 7, 9, 31
V
Valve Notations, 104
Vehicle Symbols, 144
Velocity, 82
View Material\Estimate, 113
View Menu - DesignCAD, 18, 29
W
Water Meter, 56
Water Source Assignment, 74
Water Source/Zone Assignment, 62, 64, 68, 78
Watering Time Factor (WTF%), 111
RainCAD
Web Site – Software Republic, 4
Windows Taskbar, 16
Within a Boundary Line, 124
Within Boundary Line, 58
WS / Zone ID, 111
Z
Zone Assignments, 61, 62, 68
Zone Number Assignment, 63, 64, 68, 78
Zone Reassignment, 64
Zoom Commands, 28, 30, 56, 66, 83, 92
Zoom Factor, 30
Zoom Previous, 29
Zoom Window, 29

RainCAD™ X Series 8.0 DesignCAD Edition

Transcription

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