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PDMS COMMANDS
PIPING COMMANDS
1. ADD ALL PIP
2. REM ALL PIP
3. MOVE U THROU IDP@
4. MOVE E THROU IDP@
5. MOVE W THROU IDP@
6. MOVE N THROU IDP@
7. MOVE S THROU IDP@
8. Q DTXR (To See Name Of Component)
9. Q STEXT
10. STEXT ‘NOTE’ (Naming For Attachment)
11. Q ATT (To see the attributes)
12. REPR INSU ON/OFF UPDATE
13. Q ISPEC (To see the insulation)
14. ISPEC NULREF (To Remove the Insulation)
15. CONN NEXT (Connection to next element)
16. FCONN (For force connection)
17. DIST 500
18. AXES AT PH (To see Axes of Pipe Head)
19. AXES AT PT (To see Axes of Pipe Tail)
20. AXES OFF
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21. BY U 500
22. BY D 500
23. BY E 500
24. BY W 500
25. BY S 500
26. BY N 500
27. Q NAME
28. ROTATE BY 45 (Rotated command)
29. ROT BY 90 ABOUT Z THRO ID@ (Rotated)
30. Q PARA (To check nozzle size)
31. Q CATREF (To See nozzle Rating)
32. Q POS IN WORLD
33. CH CE (check current element)
34. Q SPREF (check piping Spec)
35. Q ORI (To see the orientation)
36. DIR D (Direction Down) U E W N S (For elbow, tee, valve)
37. Q P1/P2/P3 (To see pipe Bore Direction Connection type and
Position)
38. Q HBORE
39. Q TBORE
 40. Q LBORE
41. NEW BRA COPY PREV BY E/W/S/N/U/D 100
42. Q U (To see the elevation)
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43. Q ANGLE (For change the angle)
44. THRO NEXT (To connect element to next component)
45. Q LTLE (To cheek pipe length)
46. Q MEM
47. Q RTEX OF DETREF (To see element type and detail)
48. CONN IDP@ TO IDP Q CE
49. Q PL (For Direction and position)
50. BRA CONN PH TO FIST MEM
51. BRA CONN PT TO NOZZ ID@
52. BRA CONN PT TO LAST
53. RAD 500 (Control Valve Radius)
54. HEI 500 (Control Valve Height)
55. BACK (Backward)
56. FORW (Forward)
57. For Drain pipe
a. ADD ATT (For isometric note)
b. Q ATT
c. TCONN OPEN
d. Q STEXT
e. STEXT ‘DRAIN POINT’
58. For Slope Line /Rotated Elbow
a. FORWARDS (Select in piping components)
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b. DIR TOW NEXT
c. BACKWARDS (Select in piping components)
d. DIR TOW NEXT
59. MTOC DOTD (Do not want in bill of material) You can see the
Doted DOTD
60. MTOC ON (Want in bill of material)
61. MTOC OFF (Don’t Want in bill of material)
62. Q PA BOP/TOP (To see the pipe BOP/TOP)
63. Q LSTUBE (To Change the spec Brake)
64. Q PSPEC (To see the pipe spec)
65. CONN PH TO P3 OF ID@ ( AND SELECT THE PIPE P3)
66. CONN PT TO LAS MEM
STRUCTURE COMMANDS
1. AXES AT POSE/S (end or start)
2. Q POSE WRT/*
3. EXTE END BY D 500 WRT/*
 4. EXTE START BY U 500 WRT/*
5. EXTE END/START THRO ID@
6. EXTE END/START THRO IDPL@ (PL-Pline)
7. Q CUTL (To see length of section)
8. Q POS PPLINE BOS IN/* (BOS TOS NA)
9. ADD ALL STR
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10. REM ALL STR
11. Q ATT
12. BY U//D/E/W/N/S 500
13. Q DRNS DRNE
14. DRNSTART S 45 E (Direction and angle)
15. DRNEND S 45 W (Direction and angle)
EQUIPMENT COMMANDS
1. ADD ALL EQUI
2. REM ALL EQUI
3. MOVE U THROU IDP@
4. MOVE E THROU IDP@
5. MOVE W THROU IDP@
6. MOVE N THROU IDP@
7. MOVE S THROU IDP@
8. REPR HOLES ON/OFF UPDATE
9. REPR OBST ON/OFF UPDATE
10. To Copy New Equipment
a. VAR1 NAME
b. NEW EQU COPY $V1 (To Include Equipment in another zone)
11. BY U//D/E/W/N/S 500
12. NEW BOX COPY PRE
13. NEW BOX XLEN 400 YLEN 250 ZLN 150
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14. NEW CYL COPY PRE
15. NEW PYRE COPY PRE
16. NEW NOZZ COPY PRE
17. NEW BOX COPY PRE ROT BY 90 ABOUT Z THRO IDP@
OTHERS COMMANDS
1. For copy equip/sub equipment from one project to another project.
a. FILE /FILE NAME.TXT
b. OUTPUT CE
c. TERM
2. For pest equipment / sub equipment from one project to another
project.
a. $M FILE NAME.TXT
3. For Undo Command
 a. MDB NOUPDATE
b. EXIT
4. Mdb Update
a. MDB UPDATE
b. USER PROMQAMQA/MQA
c. /SUFN
d. EXIT
5. UNCLAIM CE
6. UNCLAIM ALL
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7. ALPHA REQ CLEAR (To clear the command screen)
8. CREATE NEW ZONE/SITE/EQUI
9. ADD ALL WITHIN VOL CE 100
10. Q ORI (To see the orientation)
11. ALPHA LOG /C:/ANANT.TXT (To make command line file)
ALFA LOG END
12. SAVEWORK
13. Q US (User name)
14. Q MDB (Multiple data base)
15. Q REF
16. RECREATE DISPLAY /ABC.TXT (For save Display)
17. $M ABC.TXT (For restore Display)
18. Q UNITS
19. Q DISPLAY
20. Q BANNER (To Check the version number)
21. Q BANNER FULL
22. Q TEAM (PDMS user name)
23. Q USER (Logging name)
24. Q DBNAME (To check DB name)
25. Q DBTYPE
26. Q DBFNUMBER
27. Q DBFILE
28. Q LASTMOD
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29. Q SESSMOD
30. Q SESSMODI
31. Q USERMODI
32. Q LASTMODI HIER
33. Q DRAW
34. Q DRAW COUNT
35. Q DRAW FULL
36. STATUS
37. SYSTAT (Gives you information about the current active Status of
 the project)
38. recre disp /gggg over (U can save as a display or u can do like
this)
$m gggg
39. FILE /C:/AAA OVER
OUTPUT NEW CEV
TERM ENTER
$M /C:/AAA
PDMS Syntax Examples
Position>Move>Distance
Moves the element’s origin by a given distance in a given direction.
Ex.
MOVE N DIST 10’
MOVE S WRT /* DIST 5'
MOVE E IN SITE DIST 5'
Position>Move>Through
Moves the origin of the element in a given direction through a
Reference Plane perpendicular to the line of travel that is passing
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through a picked element, p-point, or coordinate.
Ex.
MOVE N THRO ID@
MOVE N THRO IDP@
MOVE N THRO N46’
Position>Move>Clearance
Moves the element’s origin, p-point, or obstruction in a given direction
with a clearance from another item’s origin, p-point, or obstruction.
Ex.
MOVE E DIST 10’ FROM /P-101
MOVE E CLEARANCE 10’ FROM /P-101
The options INFRONT, BEHIND, ONTO, and UNDER refer to a picked or
named item’s physical obstruction, while the TO and FROM options
refer to the item’s origin. INFRONT and TO refer to the near side while
BEHIND and FROM refer to the far side of an item.
Position>Plane Move>Through
Moves the origin of the element in a given direction through a
Reference Plane specified by the user that is passing through a
picked element, p-point, or coordinate.
Ex.
MOVE ALONG E PLANE N45W THRO ID@
AT E3’ N30’ U10’ -- Position the current element at a specific
coordinate (must specify all three coordinates)
BY E6’6 -- Move the current element a relative distance in a
given direction
 TO U12’6 -- Move a piping component to one specified zone
coordinate along constrained centerline
Q ATT -- Query all attributes of current element
Q NAME -- Query name (or any specific attribute may be used)
of the current element
Q REFNO -- Query the reference number of the current element
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Q POS -- Query position wrt owner of the current element
Q POS WRT ZONE -- Query position wrt zone of current
element
Q CE - Query the name attribute (or reference name) of current
element
Q MEM -- Query members of current element
Q OWN -- Query the name of the owner of the current element
NEXT -- Go to next element in list
PRE -- Go to previous element in list
SAME -- Go to the previous current element
$Q -- Lists all valid commands
MOVE $Q -- Lists all options for the MOVE command
NAME /ANYNAME -- Set the name attribute of the current
element
DESC ‘ANY TEXT STRING’ -- Set the Description attribute of
the current element to a text string.
$S QA=Q ATT -- Create synonym to query attributes
Q POS PPLINE TOS START WRT WORL -- Query TOS of
current element (SCTN)
Q EVAR PDMSUSER -- Query the operating system location of
user file directory (%PDMSUSER%)
NEW STRU -- Create new structure element (Note: CE must be
a owner level (ZONE) or below
NEW SUBS /MAIN-DECK -- Create new substructure element
and set the name attribute
POS E20’ N10’ U5’ -- Position CE at specified owner
coordinates
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POS E20’ N10’ U5’ WRT /* -- Position CE at specified world
coordinates
CONN IDP@ TO IDP@ -- Connect a picked Ppoint on the
current primitive to a picked Ppoint of another.
CONN P1 TO IDP@ -- Connect P1 of the current primitive to a
picked Ppoint of another primitive.
Setting PDMS attributes
In principle, any attribute can be set by specifying the attribute name
 and value you want it to
take. The following are examples:
XLEN 200
DESC 'PLATE GIRDER'
HEIGHT 300
TEMP 120
NAME /FRED
PURP EQUI
ORI Y IS N
ORI Y IS N AND Z IS U
Navigation
Commands for moving around the PDMS database.
/NAME - Move to an element by name
=23/506 - Move to an element by its reference number
END - Move up the database hierarchy by 1 level
6 - Move to the sixth element in the list of the current element
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NEXT - Move to the next element in the list at the same level
NEXT 2 - Move to the second element after the current element
NEXT ELBO - Move to the next elbo in the current list by
passing any other elements
PREV - Move to the previous element in the list
PREV 4 - Move four elements back from ce
SAME - Go to the previous current element
NOTE: NEXT and PREV commands work on the list according to the
modes Forwards or Backwards. In backwards mode, the list is
considered to be reversed so these commands have the effect of
working from the opposite end of the list.
Query Commands
Q ATT - Query all the attributes of the current element
Q POS - Query the position of the current element
Q POS IN SITE (or Q POS WRT SITE) - Query the position of
the current element relative to the site position
NOTE: Normally, the Q POS command gives the position relative to
the element's owner.
Q NAME - Query the name of the current element. This may
either begin with '/' character. '/PIPING' or may be by a list
position name (full name) such as:
ELBO 2 OF /P1/B1
Q REF - Query the database unique reference number i.e. =
234/702. This is the best way of ensuring that you get to the
element you want. Names can change but reference numbers
are fixed so you always get the same element.
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Positioning Commands (General)
At E300 N400 U500
At E3333 N6000 U50 WRT SITE
At N500W30U600 WRT WORLD
AT N400 U500 E300 IN ZONE
At N40 WRT /FRED
---->>> Position an element explicitly at the coordinates given
relative to the element's owner. To position relative to some other
element, wrt can be added, as shown above.
BY N500 -->> Move the element north from it's current position
by 500mm (This is relative movement.)
CONN P1 TO P2 OF PREV --->>> Positions P1 at the specified
point and orientates the element such that P1 is pointing in the
opposite direction to the specified ppoint.
CONN IDP@ TO IDP@ --->>> Connect a picked Ppoint on the
current primitive to a picked Ppoint of another
CONN P1 TO IDP@ --->>> Connect P1 of the current primitive
to a picked
Point of another primitive
Positioning Commands (Piping)
NOTE: All the above commands can be used with piping components
for exact positioning. The following commands are specific to piping
because they use the implied direction of the previous component to
determine the position. This implied direction is some times referred to
as the constrained centreline and is simply a line drawn in the
direction of the previous component. All of the following commands
will move components along this line.
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DIST 300 --->>>> Position the current element 300mm away
from the previous component. The direction is taken as the leave
direction of the previous component.
CLEAR 400 --->>>> Position the current element with a
clearance of 400m between it and the previous element. For
most types of component, this command gives a tube spool
length equal to the clearance value. For some components such
as level operated valves the clearance is likely to take the lever
length as the obstruction length of the valve, so in this case the
clearance might be more unpredictable.
THRO N500 TO N500 --->>>> Position the origin of the CE
along constrained centerline through N500 in ZONE coordinates.
THRO PT --->>>> Position the origin of the CE along
constrained centerline at the point where it intersects a
perpendicular plane positioned at the branch tail.
CONNect --->>>> Position the arrive point at the leave point of
the previous component and orientate the component to suit.
Orientation Commands (General)
ORI Y IS N AND Z IS U --->>>> This is the default orientation
(wrt owner) for all elements that have an orientation attribute.
ORI Y IS E45N --->>>> Specify that the Y axis is pointing
E45N. When only one axis is specified, the other tries to get to
it's default, so in this case, Z will default to UP.
ORI P1 IS N --->>>> Rather than specifying an axis, this
command specifies that a particular ppoint is to be orientated in
the direction specified.
Orientation Commands (Piping)
ORI --->>>> This command orientates the arrive of the
element in the opposite direction to the leave of the previous
element. It does not change the position.
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CONNECT --->>>> Perform an ORI, then position the arrive at
the leave of previous.
DIR S --->>>> This is a special command which is allowed to
change the angle of a component. It first performs an ori, then
adjusts the angle to ensure that the leave direction is in the
direction specified.
ORI AND P3 IS U --->>>> Used for valves, tees, etc., this
command performs an ori and then points the ppoint in the
required direction. It does not change the angle.
DIR AND P3 IS U --->>>> This is another special command
which is only used on tees with variable angles. (Usually for
sloping lines.) In this case, the tee is orientated and the angle
adjusted to allow p3 to point in the direction specified.
Creating Elements
NEW BOX --->>>> To create anything in PDMS, you need to be
at the right level in the hierarchy and use the command NEW
followed by the TYPE of element you want to create.
NEW EQUI /T-1101 --->>>> Create EQUI element and set the
name attribute
NEW ELBO CHOOSE --->>>> For piping components, you
need to create the element and then link it to the catalogue via
the spref attribute. The CHOOSE command allows you to select
components from the specification by picking them from a
displayed menu.
CHOOSE ALL ---->>>> Allows you to see more detail about the
component than CHOOSE on it's own.
Deleting Elements
DELETE ELBO --->>>> To delete an element, the syntax is
 DELETE followed by the TYPE of element you are deleting.
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DELETE BRAN MEM --->>>> This deletes the members of an
element (i.e. BRAN in this example) without deleting the element
itself.
PSEUDO ATTRIBUTES
In order to get specific information directly from the database, a
number of keyword or pseudo
attributes have been introduced. Pseudo attributes are not attributes
as such, but they have
the ability to extract data when queried. For Example
ELBO 1 --->>>> Go to elbo 1 of the branch
Q PARAM --->>>> Query the parameters of the catref of the
spref
Q DTXR --->>>> Query the rtext of the detref of the spref_ can
also use dtxs or dtxt
Q MTXX --->>>> Query the xtext of the matref of the spref _
can also use mtxy or mtxz
Q PSATTS --->>>> Query the list of pseudo attributes available
for the CE.
A few useful pseudo attributes appear below:
General Queries
Q LIST --->>>> Query what you can create below the current
element
Q OLIST --->>>>Query the type of elements which can own CE
Q ORDER --->>>>Query the list position
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Q PROP DESC --->>>> Query the data element with the dkey
equal to DESC in the component's dataset (Steelwork and Piping
elements)
Q PRLS --->>>> Query the list of properties in the component's
dataset
Q PURP XXX --->>>> Query the purpose attribute of the
property XXX
Piping Attributes
Q CHOICE --->>>> Query the answers of the selectors of the
spref
Q CHOICE STYP --->>>> Query the styp used to select the
component
Q PL BOP --->>>> Query the bottom of pipe elevation of the
leave point
Q PA INSU --->>>> Query the insulation thickness at the
arrive point
 Q PGRAD 1 --->>>> Query the slope at ppoint 1
Q ITLE --->>>> Query the length of implied tube (must
navigate first by using 'IL TUBE' at a component)
Q LBOR --->>>> Query the leave bore
Q ABOR --->>>> Query the arrive bore
Q APOS --->>>> Query the arrive position
Q LPOS --->>>> Query the leave position
At Branch Level
Q TULEN --->>>> Query the length of tube in a branch
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Q CLLEN --->>>> Query the centerline length through all
components
Steelwork
Q ODESP --->>>> Query the design params of the joint owner
Q ADESP --->>>> Query the design params of the joint
attached beam
Q DRPS --->>>> Query the derived position of the beam start
Q NWEI -->>>> Query the net weight (considering joint cut
outs)
Q GWEI --->>>> Query the gross weight (beam before cutting)
Q NCOF --->>>> Query the net centre of gravity for the beam
Q NSRF --->>>> Query the net surface area
Q MIDP --->>>> Query the mid point
Q POS PPLINE TOS START WRT /* --->>>> Query TOS of
current element (SCTN)
Q PPLINE TOS DIR --->>>> Query the direction of the TOS
pline on a SCTN
The Construct Syntax
The construct syntax is described more fully in the Design reference
manual and it is worth looking at it in more detail. CONST allows
distances and angles to be calculated from the design data and is
invaluable when you are writing applications. For example
Q CONST ANGLE N AND W --->>>> gives 90°
CONST A PIN1 TO PIN2 TO PIN3
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Q CONST DIST FROM P1 to P2 TO P2 OF/BOX1 --->>>>
gives a distance
CONST DIST FROM PA TO PL OF PREV
$S QA=Q ATT --->>>> Create a synonym to query attributes
Q EVAR PDMSUSER --->>>> Query the operating system
location of user file directory PDMSUSER
REPORTING SYNTAX
You can create an array which includes a number of elements which all
satisfy specific selection criteria, as defined by yourself. The syntax is:
VAR !Array COLLECT selection criteria
!Array is the name of the array that will be created to contain the
elements selected.
The following general criteria can be used to define the selection:
A class of elements or element types
A logical expression to be satisfied at all selected elements
A physical volume in whichall selected elements must lie
A point in the hierarchy below which all selected elements must
lie
Eg VAR !PIPECOMPS COLLECT ALL BRANCH MEMBERS
This would create the array !PIPECOMPS and set it to contain the
reference numbers of every
piping component in the MDB. Logical expressions use the WITH and
WHERE option; a volume is defined by the WITHIN keyword; and the
hierarchy criteria is defined by the FOR keyword.
Eg VAR !ELBO COLL ALL ELBO WITH SPREF EQ /A300B/100
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Evaluating Selected DB Elements
Using the facilities described here you can create an expression and
have it evaluated for all elements which satisfy particular selection
criteria. The results of the expression are then placed in a named
array.
The command syntax is:
VAR !Array EVALUATE (Expression) FOR Select
!Array is the name of the array that will be created
(expression) is the expression that will be carried out for all elements
that match the select criteria
Select is the selection criteria
Eg VAR !BOXES EVALUATE ( XLEN * YLEN ) FOR ALL BOXES
IF ALL ELSE FAILS!
As you can see, there are a lot of commands available to the PDMS
user and the list above is only scratching the surface. Almost all of the
command syntax is described in the reference manuals but in some
cases you might find it difficult to compose the required command
from these alone. In these cases, it might be necessary to build a
command by using the query syntax itself, using $Q and $H syntax.
The command: $Q gives a list of all possible commands at any one
time. On it's own, $Q gives a complete list of top level commands in
any PDMS module. When applied in the middle of a command line, it
lists the options available at that point.
E.G. the command:
SETUP FORM --->>>> Yields an error incomplete command
line