Overview

Doors, windows, and openings are related intelligent objects that I will refer to as fenestrations, a term whose etymology comes from the Latin fenestra (meaning "openings in wall"). Fenestrations are typically anchored to wall objects, although they can also exist in freestanding form. Wall objects automatically make appropriately shaped voids that perfectly fit any fenestration anchored to them.

Doors, windows, and openings have a lot in common, although there are many important differences between them that you'll learn in this chapter. You'll learn to create and edit these objects within walls. You'll edit object display and style and learn the intricacies of their display properties. Unlike most of the other chapters, you'll learn simply by experimenting in this chapter, rather than by building a project. In the end, you'll be able to create any custom fenestration you can imagine. After you master these objects, you'll design them into Door/Window Assemblies and Curtain Walls in Chapter 10, "Curtain Walls and Assemblies." This chapter's topics include the following:

• Creating Fenestrations

• Editing Fenestrations

• Editing Door and Window Styles

• Customizing Profiles

• Controlling Object Display

• Adding Display Blocks

Creating Fenestrations

Early in the design process, it helps to formulate spatial ideas by creating generic fenestrations. As you continue to think about the design, you will progressively refine ideas by editing and assigning styles to the generic objects. Although fenestrations can stand on their own, they are almost always anchored to walls, space boundaries, or door/window assembly grids.