Room Openings
Openings in Higharc are doors, windows, and the addition or absence of walls. Openings are hosted to room Edges and can be added via the Inspector or the listed shortcut.
Higharc Built-In Layouts will automatically generate a layout of default doors and windows. Custom doors and windows can be programmed in the Engine via Catalogs and then added and moved per Edge via the Inspector.
Create Room Openings
The fastest way to add room openings to a plan, would be through the Command Palette.
Select the icon for Windows, Doors or Walls in the Command Palette. Hover over the icon to see the shortcut.
A blue banner will appear at the top of the Canvas to indicate the command is active.
Select the ‘Type’ from the dropdown.
Click to place the Opening.
Alternatively, doors can be placed through the Inspector in each room.
Select the room.
Select the Edge to place the door/window on.
In the Inspector, select ‘+’ to add an Opening.
Select the opening type from the dropdown:
Add Window
Add Interior Door
Add Exterior Door
Add Solid Wall
Add Void Wall
Select the arrow next to the new opening.
From here, the type, size, placement and annotations can be edited.
‘Move’ Windows and Doors
The quickest way to move an Opening would be the Move command or the shortcut ‘M’ on the keyboard.
Activate the Move command.
Select the Window or Door.
Type in a distance to move the Entity.
Click to place it.
Move by Dimension String
Select the Window or Door.
Type a distance into the purple dimension strings that appear new the entity.
Hit Enter.
Alternatively, doors and windows can be moved in the Inspector.
Select the door or window in the Canvas, or locate in the Inspector through the breadcrumb menu.
Adjust the position using the dimension strings shown in the Canvas or the ‘Placement’ field in the Inspector.
Edge ID is the Edge that the opening is hosted to.
Horizontal Datum changes the datum alignment of the opening.
Horizontal Alignment will adjust the position of the dimension string to be on the left, right or centerline of the opening.
Placement Side will place the opening at the start or end of the Edge.
Placement can be either a precise dimension or a percentage along the Edge.
Inspector Options
The Inspector panel for each Opening Instance has many control options. From here:
The door swing side can be controlled.
Reverse controls whether door opens into or out of a room.
Ignore opposite wall collision allows the door to move outside of the host edge.
Door and Window casing can be controlled.
Tags and Annotations can be controlled by instance.
Doors vs Windows
Doors and Windows have many similarities when inserting, sizing and editing. Creating and controlling doors and windows at a setting level in the Engine can be quite different.
Door Catalog
Doors are created using the Door Catalog setting and are dependent on a prop being selected for visual accuracy. Props are created internally at Higharc and are managed by the Account Implementation Specialist.
Window Catalog
Windows can be created in the Window Catalog using Shape, Material and Attachments settings. They are not dependent on a prop and can be created at any time in any file.
Window Settings
From the Engine, you can create a new Global Setting and pick from the list of settings. For Window Settings, you’ll find options for:
Interior Window Casing
Exterior Window Casing
Window Framing
Window Material
Window Catalog
Window Mullion
Window Shutter
Window Wrapping
Within the Exterior Window Casing, this is where you can configure configure your settings for the Head and Side casing, Apron, and Stool for the outside styling of the window.
These settings can be controlled at a file level in Setting Sets or globally across all homes in a community using a Reference File or CDM.
Keyboard Shortcuts - Openings
The following are keyboards shortcuts that can be used create openings in Higharc Studio:
Shift+(W) - Window - Creates a window
Shift+(D) - Door - Creates a door
(M) - Move - Moves an opening entity
(C) - Copy - Copies an opening entity