There are no limitation on how objects and spots can be linked. This may lead to unexpected results, so its best to follow some of the best practices on how objects should be linked.

Linking scenarios described below are supported and should produce expected results. 

One object - One spot

This is the most basic linking scenario that will always result in correct view.

Draw or import a spot (vector object) on a single layer and link object to this spot. 

Open

One object - Multiple spots

First, we must decide what these multiple spots represent.

Case 1: Alternative representations of the same object

If multiple spots are alternative representations of the same object, they should be placed on separate layers.

Example: A room has three spots, one for each area type: BRA, NTA, BTA. Each of these spots should be located on a dedicated layer and linked to object.

For presentations and object selection, a single spot at a time will be taken into account.

A layer is selected either by explicit indication in filter definition or, if not present, a default presentation layer will be used. If still nothing is found - a first random spot is taken.

Open

Case 2: Multiple parts of the same object

When we would like to use several spots from the same layer to represent a single object, these spots should be grouped. 

Although it is possible to link several independent spots, from the same drawing, to the same object, the result might not always be as expected. 

In that case its best to group the spots and link the entire group:

Case 3: Single object with multiple spots on multiple drawings

In this case, we have an object that is represented on more than one drawing. This happens for example, in case of apartments located on two floors.  

In such case, a single object (an apartment) can have two spots, one per drawing. 

Grouping of objects

In some cases we have objects that consists of several smaller objects. A good example is a Rental Unit or an apartment. 

IF we have a system with spaces that have individual spots (see earlier examples), we can link these spaces to an apartment. 

In this case, a proper object-spot linking will be maintained

Linking for grouped objects where Rooms have multiple spots 

This is a correct linking scenario, but it requires proper settings for layer visibility and default presentation layer to work efficiently. 

Common mistakes / issues

Creating random links can result in unexpected results on presentation filters and on printouts

Some cases that should be avoided are listed below.

Multiple un-grouped spots

 Not recommend

In case multiple ungrouped spots on single layer are linked to the same object, some issues might occur with proper selection, labeling and filtering spots. 

Why this is a problem? System is designed to look for a single representation of an object on a drawing. IF it finds multiple spots, its basically impossible to say if these are all valid representations at once, or are they alternative representations of the same object (see spots on BRA, NTA and BTA layers).

In general, system will try to treat

• spots on multiple layers as alternative representations

• spots on the same layer - all as single representation of an object

Reusing drawings

 Not recommend

Some customer use such complex linking scenario, where there is:

• single floor drawing with spots linked to several, identical floors

• each floor has its own list of rooms/spaces

• each space is linked to a corresponding spot

The result is that each spot has several spaces linked, but there is only one space from a given floor. 

This will work in most scenarios, as we use additional context object (Floor) to know what the system should show.

Nevertheless, complexity of this linking scenario might be confusing and is generally not recommended as a "best practice".