Personal ISOGEN Files

Personal ISOGEN Files

Understanding Personal ISOGEN Files
Personal ISOGEN uses data from two sources to produce a piping Isometric drawing. The description of the pipeline comes from the Piping Design System in a Piping Component File (PCF), and the user requirements on how that data is to be processed and presented come from a set of user definable control files. This section describes the following Personal ISOGEN operating files. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Piping Component Files (PCF). The ISOGEN.FLS file. The Message File. Options files. Material List Definition files (MLD). Drawing Definition File (DDF). The Weld Definition File (WDF). User Defined Drawing Frames. Output Data files (Text files for printing or passing data to other systems).

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1) Piping Component Files (PCFs)

PCFs are text files containing component and routing information. They are created by the Piping Design System extracting information from the piping model and passing this as an input file to Personal ISOGEN for the creation of an isometric. A single PCF can contain the data for a number of pipelines but generally The Piping Design System extracts piping data for single pipelines only and then the Personal ISOGEN system will produces isometrics for one pipeline at a time. At the end of each run Personal ISOGEN places a copy of the PCF it has processed in the \PISOGEN\PROJECTS\projname\PCFS directory. If the user has access to a server version of ISOGEN these PCFs may be processed as a batch for final issue and document control. Other users also find the PCF to be a convenient and easily understood data file describing the pipeline it represents, and even use it as a source of data to feed other programs. This latter use should, however, be adopted only after consultation with Alias Limited to ensure that future changes in file format do not invalidate the proposed use.

Personal ISOGEN can not reprocess a PCF from a previous run, and the pipeline must therefore be re-extracted from the Piping Design System if a re-run is required. This will create a new PCF which will overwrite any existing PCF of the same name unless it is removed from the ...\PCFS directory before the run.

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Personal ISOGEN Files Sample PCF input

Users will not normally need to see the detail in their PCFs. However, an example PCF for the above pipeline is shown here for information.

In the interests of brevity, only the shaded start and end sections of the pipeline are shown in the file.
ISOGEN-FILES ISOGEN.FLS UNITS-BORE INCH UNITS-CO-ORDS INCH UNITS-BOLT-DIA INCH UNITS-BOLT-LENGTH INCH PIPELINE-REFERENCE 3"-LSA-3250 REVISION 2 AREA AR-26A PIPING-SPEC SP1 NOMINAL-CLASS 150# DATE-DMY 08/11/95 PIPELINE-TEMP 150.0 END-CONNECTION-EQUIPMENT CO-ORDS 6006 10210 411 3 CONNECTION-REFERENCE H-152-NZ-6 GASKET END-POINT 6006 10210 411 3 END-POINT 6006 10210 410.16/16 PIPING-SPEC SP1 ITEM-CODE JFA150R2 ERECTION-ITEM BOLT BOLT-DIA 5/8 BOLT-LENGTH 3.75 BOLT-QUANTITY 4 BOLT-ITEM-CODE BAA5/8X3.75 ERECTION-ITEM FLANGE END-POINT 6006 10210 410.16/16 END-POINT 6006 10210 408.1/16 PIPING-SPEC SP1 ITEM-CODE FAM150WN40 SKEY FLWN FABRICATION-ITEM FLOW 2 PIPE END-POINT 6006 10210 408.1/16 END-POINT 6006 10210 391.9/16 PIPING-SPEC SP1 WASTE 10.0 PLANT-AREA 1 ITEM-CODE PAW-40 FABRICATION-ITEM

Units data

Pipeline Header Data

Start Connection Information

3 3

Component data

3 3

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PIPE END-POINT 6134 10210 382.7/16 3 END-POINT 6134 10210 365.7/8 3 PIPING-SPEC SP1 WASTE 10.0 PLANT-AREA 1 ITEM-CODE PAW-40 FABRICATION-ITEM FLANGE END-POINT 6134 10210 365.7/8 3 END-POINT 6134 10210 363.1/16 3 PIPING-SPEC SP1 ITEM-CODE FAM150WN40 SKEY FLWN FABRICATION-ITEM GASKET Component END-POINT 6134 10210 363.1/16 3 Data END-POINT 6134 10210 363 3 PIPING-SPEC SP1 ITEM-CODE JFA150R2 ERECTION-ITEM FLOW 2 BOLT BOLT-DIA 5/8 BOLT-LENGTH 3.75 BOLT-QUANTITY 4 BOLT-ITEM-CODE BAA5/8X3.75 ERECTION-ITEM END-CONNECTION-EQUIPMENT End CO-ORDS 6134 10210 363 3 Connection CONNECTION-REFERENCE H-156-NZ-5 Information MATERIALS ITEM-CODE PAW-40 DESCRIPTION PIPE - API 5L GR B SCH 40 ITEM-CODE JFA150R2 DESCRIPTION GASKET - CAF GR A 1/16 THK 150# RF ITEM-CODE FAM150WN40 DESCRIPTION FLANGE - WN 150# RF ASTM A105 SCH 40 ITEM-CODE BAA5/8X3.75 DESCRIPTION STUD BOLT - CS 5/8 DIA X 3.3/4 LG WITH NUTS ITEM-CODE EAM90L40 DESCRIPTION ELBOW - BW 90 DEG LR ASTM A234 GR WPB SCH 40 ITEM-CODE VW4 DESCRIPTION VALVE - WEDGEGATE TYPE 26 150# RF

Material Descriptions

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Personal ISOGEN Files Explanatory Notes

1) The first line specifies the name of the file used to define the various Personal ISOGEN parameter files, in this case - ISOGEN.FLS . This is a text file that contains a list of filename pointers to all the various external files that are read or written to during the execution of Personal ISOGEN, including the plot file name. 2) As indicated, following the first line, the PCF contains the following information : Units data Pipeline Header data End Connection for start of pipeline Component data section with an entry for every component in the pipeline End Connection for end of pipeline Material Descriptions

2) The ISOGEN.FLS File

Most of the controls files available to Personal ISOGEN are optional, so an index file called ISOGEN.FLS is used to tell Personal ISOGEN the path and name of each of the control files which are to be used in the current run. Each of the isotype sub-directories contains its own ISOGEN.FLS to invoke the relevant control files for the particular type and style of drawing to be produced. The ISOGEN.FLS file is also used to define the path and name of various output files that Personal ISOGEN can produce in addition to the isometric drawing file, and to declare certain optional data which can be used during execution. Each entry in the file consists of a KEYWORD followed by a PATH\FILENAME or a DATA item. eg
MESSAGE MATERIAL-CONTROL DRAWING-FRAME OPTION-SWITCHES-LONG \PISOGEN\PROJECTS\projname\FINAL\ISOGEN.MSG \PISOGEN\PROJECTS\projname\FINAL\OUTPUT\MATERIAL.CTL \PISOGEN\PROJECTS\projname\FINAL\FINAL.DGN \PISOGEN\PROJECTS\projname\FINAL\ALIAS.OPL

The KEYWORD and the associated data must be separated by one or more spaces. TAB characters are not allowed and will cause the KEYWORD to be ignored.

The create new project utility will copy the standard ISOGEN.FLS for each isotype into the appropriate sub-directories and include the correct path for the chosen project name in each case. If you need to add a reference to any further control or output file, it is essential that the full path and file name is included to point to where the control file is located. The ISOGEN.FLS is an ASCII text file and it can be modified using any suitable text editor such as MS Windows NOTEPAD.

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3) The Message File

Every time Personal ISOGEN runs it writes a message to a file whose name and path are specified in the ISOGEN.FLS file. The message is appended to this file so it will grow progressively larger as Personal ISOGEN is used. These messages are only created for diagnostic purposes and as long as everything works normally these will be of no interest of no interest to the user. It is therefore recommended that the file is deleted from time to time to conserve disk space. If Personal ISOGEN runs but does not produce valid output, you should save a copy of the Message File together with the Piping Design System Design File, the PCF and any output files which have been created. These will help the Personal ISOGEN support staff diagnose the problem.

4) Options Files.
Personal ISOGEN contains a large number of variable features. For example :1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Isometric type Bill of Materials position on the isometric Dimensional units Isometric drawing size Cut pipe list - ON/OFF Line weight and symbol size etc. These, and other features are all controlled by settings made by the user and held in the Options File. Each isotype installed for a project will in fact have its own Options File containing the settings relevant for the particular style and content. Each Options File contains a total of 140 switches, many of which have several positions. Most features are controlled in numeric form by a single Option Switch, but some of the more advanced features need two. Like most other Personal ISOGEN control files, the Options File is a text file that may be created and edited with any standard text editor but to simplify the process of making changes to settings, an Options Switch Editor is provided for use with Personal ISOGEN. To change Option Switches simply click on the Options File Editor icon in the Personal ISOGEN Utilities group and load the file of interest. Go to the appropriate page(s) for the switches you wish to change and select the new settings. Then save the file and you are ready to use it. If you have not been provided with the Options Switch Editor, please ask your Piping Design system supplier or contact Alias Limited directly.

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The Options File Contents

The Options File name is identified as file OPTION-SWITCHES-LONG in the FLS file e.g. ALIAS.OPL. Each Options File consists of a header followed by 140 lines with one Option Switch per line. Each line can include a comment, signified by a ! The 140 different options are specified in a vertical structure on a 1 line per Option Switch basis.

Sample file layout

SWITCH NUMBER -----1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SWITCH SETTING ------0 1 0 2 0 12 0 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Header. These 3 lines plus one blank line are mandatory. Plot File Length Cut Pipe List Cut Marks Character Size-On Isometric Picture End Co-ordinates Date Format Drawing Control - Number Of Drawings

138 139 140

0 0 0

! Un-Used ! Un-Used ! Un-Used

Explanatory Notes
1. 2. This is an incomplete Option Switches file - in the interests of brevity only the first seven and last three Option Switches are shown All Option Switches contain their settings in terms of a number. See the ISOGEN OPTIONS & ATEXT manual for a complete list of all 140 Option Switches and details of their setting values. If you use the Option Switch Editor you do not need to understand the file layout in detail.

Options File - The most commonly used Option switches

Personal ISOGEN will be supplied to you with ready-to-go pre-set Option Switch files for each isotype. Nevertheless, you may wish to modify some of the settings in these files to personalise the system to your own exact requirements. To help you do this efficiently, as a guide, the following is a list of the Option Switches you are most likely to want to change.

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Option Switch Number 2 4 6 9 14 21 22 23 25 27 35 39 41 42 53 54 71 73 75 Description Cut List type Character Size On Isometric Picture Date Format Type Of Dimensions Drawing Size - Standard Sizes Isometric Type Cut Piece Add-on Allowances for Field Fit Plotted Material List Material List / Title Block Position Material List Text Size Reserved Area Spool Number Allocation Dimensional Units Isometric View Point Weld Numbers Weld Indication Output File Types Part Number Box Style Weld Number Box Style

5) Material List Definition file (MLD)

This file is only needed if you wish to utilise the User Defined Material List (Material List is also known as Bill of Material or BOM ). The following options are available:1. 2. 3. 4. Two further Material List styles - in addition to the standard one The ability to transfer components from their standard category to another one Add Remarks - taken from a user-defined file of standard Remarks Specify a Material Control File with user defined content and layout

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Examples of the different Material List Styles

1) Style 1 Material List

This is the standard Material List which is produced without a user defined MLD file. The content and layout are fixed but the headings can be redefined using AText (see section 6).

2) Style 2 Material List

With a Style 2 Material List you can customise the layout and column headings through entries in the MLD file.

This is the MLD file that produced the Style 2 Material List above. STYLE2-COLUMN-HEADINGS PART SIZE COMPONENT NO (INS) CODE STYLE2-DATA-ITEMS

COMPONENT DESCRIPTION

QTY

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PT-NO 2 R N.S. 8 L ITEM-CODE 15 L DESCRIPTION 28 L QTY 79 Each data item to be included in the material list is defined on a line with its internal ISOGEN name, the start column for its location and the justification of the data field (Left / Right).

The user is responsible for ensuring that sufficient space is allowed in each column for the longest likely text string.

3) Style 3 Material List

MATERIAL LIST - FABRICATION

PT.NO QT Y CO DE SIZE IT EM T HK/RAT ENDS MAT L. STANDARD REF.

With this style of Material List, the data items are plotted into pre-defined areas of the drawing frame. The data in the MLD file for this type of Material List is described in the Reference Manual. Style 3 Material List - Features: Data is plotted onto a user defined backing sheet containing all column headings and box lines. The user defines the X/Y data positions in the MLD file. There are three types of layout:

Continuous (all Up or all Down). Up and Down ( e.g. FAB Up, ERECT Down). Sectionalised, with separate sections for Fabrication Erection and Offshore items.

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6) Drawing Definition File (DDF)

This file is used to customise the appearance of isometrics by defining such features as :1. 2. 3. 4. Thickness of the plotted pipeline - independently by bore The thickness and scale of all fittings - flanges, olets, valves, instruments, welds, etc. Round or square elbows and bends - controlled by bore range Set drawing Layers for all parts of the isometric - e.g.

PIPE FITTINGS MATERIAL-LIST DIMENSION-TEXT DIMENSION-LINES FRAME Colours can be set up for the layers in the MicroStation seed file to help in distinguishing the various parts of the Isometric.

Example
This is the standard isometric produced without a DDF.

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This is the same pipeline but the following changes have been made by the inclusion of a DDF. 1. 2. 3. Piping greater than 2 bore has been made thicker All the fittings and welds have been scaled up in size and drawn slightly thicker Elbows are depicted square instead of round

Although the drawing looks quite different it is produced from exactly the same PCF.

DDF data
This is the DDF data for the above isometric. ISOMETRIC-DEFINITION PIPELINE-ATTRIBUTES N.S. INCH N.S.RANGE 0 2 THICKNESS 2 0.25 LAYER 5 N.S.RANGE 2.5 * THICKNESS 2 1.25 LAYER 5 PIPELINE-ATTRIBUTES-DOTTED

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SPECIAL-STATUS THICKNESS 2 0.25 LAYER 40 PIPELINE-CONTINUATION THICKNESS 1 0.25 LAYER 40 FITTINGS-GENERAL N.S. INCH N.S.RANGE 0 2 THICKNESS 2 0.25 LAYER 5 SCALE 150 N.S.RANGE 2.5 * THICKNESS 2 1.25 LAYER 5 SCALE 150 FITTINGS-SPECIAL INSTRUMENTS THICKNESS 2 0.30 LAYER 10 SCALE 120 VALVES THICKNESS 2 0.30 LAYER 10 SCALE 120 MISC-COMPONENTS THICKNESS 2 0.30 LAYER 10 SCALE 120 NOZZLE THICKNESS 2 0.6 LAYER 10 SCALE 120 FLANGES THICKNESS 2 0.6 LAYER 10 SCALE 120 WELDS THICKNESS 4 0.35 LAYER 35 SCALE 100 BEND/ELBOW-REPRESENTATION BEND ROUND ELBOW SQUARE MISC-ITEMS DIMENSION-TEXT LAYER 20 DIMENSION-LINES LAYER 25 MATERIAL-LIST LAYER 30 FRAME LAYER 31 FRAME-TEXT LAYER 31 ISO-TEXT LAYER 32 LAYER-NAMES 5 PIPE 10 INST 20 DIMTEXT 25 DIMLINES 30 MATLIST 31 FRAME 32 ISOTEXT 35 WELDS 40 DOTTED Full details of the allowable content of the DDF are given in the Reference Manual.

The Personal ISOGEN installation includes a default DDF for each isotype. These can be customised as required by the user. A DDF editor is available to users of Personal ISOGEN. If you have not received a copy of this utility with your Personal ISOGEN installation, please ask the supplier of your Piping Design System or contact Alias Limited directly.

7) The Welding Definition File (WDF)

Detailed Weld information may be shown on the isometric in a plotted Weld Table like the one shown here. The table is user definable and will often contain spaces for data to be filled in later during fabrication or erection as well as columns for data contained within the PCF. The Weld Table (sometimes known as the Weld Box) is placed in the bottom right hand corner of the plotted

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area of the drawing. Examples of Weld Tables can be seen in the samples included in the \PISOGEN\PROJECTS\TESTPROJ\SPOOL directory on installation.

To generate a plotted Weld Table on the isometric, you must supply relevant information in a Welding Definition File (WDF) which must be referenced in the ISOGEN.FLS against the keyword WELDING-DEFINITION.

Welding Definition File data

The data in the file WELDING.WDF to produce the above Weld Table output looks like this :WELD-BOX-HEADINGS WELD | SIZE No | INS WELD-BOX-DATA-ITEMS WELD-NO 5 N.S. 10 WELD-TYPE 17 WELD-CAT 26

| |

WELD TYPE R L L L

| |

WELD CATEGORY

| |

For full details of the content of the WDF see the Reference manual.

8) User Defined Drawing Frames

When you installed Personal ISOGEN a pre-defined drawing frame was loaded as a seed file for each isotype. Although these can be used as required, it is most likely, at some time you will want to make your own frames and have your isometrics plotted onto them. User Defined Drawing Frames are drawings created in the format to suit your Piping Design environment. eg MicroStation Design Files (DGN) and DXF or DWG files for AutoCAD. You can therefore customise the frame to include information such as a company logo and other symbols and text. Also, the layouts may be designed to suit your exact requirements. These Design Files are then used as seed files or underlays during the isometric production phase.

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Actions required to modify a User Defined Drawing Frame
1. 2. 3. 4. Use MicroStation or AutoCAD to modify the appropriate seed file as required. Modify the associated AText file to change or suppress ISOGEN text as required. (See section 6 for control of AText.) Identify the location on the drawing for any new or revised data items and modify the TextPos file accordingly. Add records to the ISOGEN.FLS to specify:

Include a record to point to the Drawing Frame file name : DRAWING-FRAME Drawing_Frame_Name.DGN

Include a record pointing to the file that contains your TextPos data. POSITIONED-TEXT Text_Position_Name.POS

Include a record pointing to the file that contains your AText data. ALTERNATIVE-TEXT AText_Name.ALT

In the case of AutoCAD a DXF drawing frame can be used as an underlay into which the isometric is merged as it is created by Personal ISOGEN but this adds significantly to both processing time and to the size of the drawing files created. A preferable alternative is to create the drawing frame as a DWG file and to create the Isometrics as a DXF without a DRAWINGFRAME record in the ISOGEN.FLS. The DWG file can then be loaded into AutoCAD and the DXF imported into it for plotting or the addition of data missing from the PCF.

Please note that when working in a MicroStation environment the Design File for each isotype must be called isotype.DGN. eg for the isotype FINAL it will be called FINAL.DGN, and for the isotype CHECK it will be called CHECK.DGN. For other systems you may use any valid file name as long as you specify it correctly in the ISOGEN.FLS record.

Example Drawing Frame:

This is a sample User Defined Drawing Frame. As may be seen, the main area is divided into two - the space on the right is for the Material List and the one on the left for the addition of the isometric picture. Along the bottom of the frame are various boxed areas with corresponding descriptive text. The appropriate data is placed in the boxes using TEXTPOS (see section 6) when the isometric produced by Personal ISOGEN is superimposed onto the drawing frame as follows.

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This is the sample Drawing Frame shown empty and ready to receive an Isometric.

This is the Final Isometric superimposed onto the Drawing Frame.

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9) Output data files

In addition to producing isometrics, Personal ISOGEN can also output information to text files for printing or use as data input for other systems. The types of files that may be produced in this way include :1. Printed Material List (BOM). This may be either the standard default version or alternatively, with a user defined content and layout and may be created either in addition to or instead of the Material List on the Iso. Material Control File. With user defined content and format. Weld Summary File. With user defined content and format.

2. 3.

Printed Material List (BOM)

1. To obtain a standard Style 1 printed Material List for a pipeline all you have to do is to include an entry in the ISOGEN.FLS defining the name of the file to be created. eg PRINTED-MATERIAL-LIST BOM.MAT The file BOM.MAT will then be created and data will be appended to it for each pipeline processed by Personal ISOGEN. 2. To obtain a user defined Style 2 printed Material List you must : a) make a PRINTED-MATERIAL-LIST filename entry in the ISOGEN.FLS file as above, and b) add a PRINTED-MATERIAL-LIST-TITLES section to your MLD file for the printed page titles. The remainder of the Material List control data will be taken from STYLE2COLUMN-HEADINGS and STYLE2-DATA-ITEMS information in the MLD file, which means the printed Material List will look just like the plotted one.

If required the Material List may be suppressed such that it does not appear on the drawing by setting Option Switch 23. (See Reference Manual.)

Material Control File

To obtain a user defined Material Control output file you must:a) include an entry in the ISOGEN.FLS defining the name of the file to be created. eg MATERIAL-CONTROL MATLC.MAC The file MATLC.MAC will be created and data will be appended to it for every pipeline processed by Personal ISOGEN. and

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b) add PRINTED-M/C-COLUMN-HEADINGS for the printed page titles and PRINTED-M/C-DATA-ITEMS sections to your MLD file.

Sample Material Control output file

PIPELINE REF -------3"-LSA-3250 3"-LSA-3250 3"-LSA-3250 3"-LSA-3250 3"-LSA-3250 3"-LSA-3250 DRG NO --1 1 1 1 1 1 DESCRIPTION ----------PIPE - API 5L GR B SCH 40 ELBOW - BW 90 DEG LR ASTM A234 GR WPB SCH 40 FLANGE - WN 150# RF ASTM A105 SCH 40 GASKET - CAF GR A 1/16 THK 150# RF STUD BOLT - CS 5/8 DIA X 3.3/4 LG WITH NUTS VALVE - WEDGEGATE TYPE 26 150# RF CODE ----PAW-40 EAM90L40 FAM150WN JFA150R2 BAA5/8X3 VW4 MAIN BORE ---3 3 3 3 5/8 3 SEC BORE ---3 3 3 3 5/8 3 QTY --12.7 2 4 4 16 1

Material Control data required in the MLD file to produce the preceding output :MATERIAL-CONTROL-FILE PRINTED-M/C-COLUMN-HEADINGS PIPELINE DRG REF NO DESCRIPTION ---------- ----------PRINTED-M/C-DATA-ITEMS PIPELINE-REFERENCE 2 DRG 15 DESCRIPTION 20 ITEM-CODE 66 N.S. 77 N.S.SEC. 84 QTY 92 CODE ---L L L L L L N MAIN BORE ---SEC BORE ---QTY ---

See the Reference Manual for full details of the required entries in the MLD.

Weld Summary File

A Weld Summary File can be created either in Append mode whereby data is added to the file each time Personal ISOGEN is run, or in Overwrite mode whereby a new file is created each time.

In the case of Overwrite files the user must move or rename each file as the same name will be used for each run.

To obtain a user defined Weld Summary file you must :a) include an entry in the ISOGEN.FLS defining the name and type of the file to be created. eg WELD-SUMMARY-OVERWRITE WELDSUM.WSO or WELD-SUMMARY-APPEND WELDSUM.WSA and b) add a section to the Welding Definition File (WDF) to define the printed output file.

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Sample Weld Summary printed output file.
WELD SUMMARY PIPELINE REF3"-LSA-3375 PROJECT NO PIPING SPEC SP1 WELD NO ----1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 WELD CAT -----S S F S S F S S WELD TYPE -----BW BW BW BW BW BW BW BW PAGE 1 ISSUE 2 PROJ AREA AR-26A DATE 14/11/95

SIZE -----3" 3" 3" 3" 3" 3" 3" 3"

Entry required in the WDF to produce the preceding output :WELD-SUMMARY-TITLES WELD SUMMARY PIPELINE REF -6 PROJECT NO -9 PIPING SPEC -11 Blank WELD-SUMMARY-COLUMN-HEADINGS WELD WELD WELD NO CAT SIZE TYPE ------- ---- ---WELD-SUMMARY-DATA-ITEMS WELD-NO 2 WELD-CAT 9 N.S. 16 WELD-TYPE 23 PAGE ISSUE -8 PROJ AREA -10 DATE -14

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