Set up a profile system: identity, defaults and drawing dimensions
What this does
A profile system is the record WindoorERP draws, prices and manufactures a window from. This article covers the top of the system form and its first tab: the name and section image, the Profile Identity and Status groups, the Designer Defaults, and the Frame Dimensions tab that shapes the drawing. The colour and product rules, the glazing beads, the length corrections and the allowed products each have an article of their own.
Get the identity right before anything else. Every design built on the system reads its application, its profile type and its opening type, and a wrong value here is wrong on every quotation that follows.
Before you start
- Administrator access to the System app.
- The supplier's section drawings, so every dimension you type can be traced to a printed figure.
- Know which opening family the series serves. A hinge series and the sliding series it couples to are two systems, not one.
Steps
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01
Open System › Profiles & Glass › Profiles. The screen opens on the kanban with the Active filter on; switch to the list view to compare manufacturer, application and the main dimensions across systems.
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02
Click New, or open a system. Type the Profile Name, add a description or version note in the line under it, and upload a section photo in the image box.
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03
Under Profile Identity, choose the Application, the Profile Type, the Opening Type and the Manufacturer.
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04
Under Status, keep Active on and list the Compatible Systems this series may be mixed with in one design.
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05
Under Designer Defaults, set the Default Frame Cut Type and the Default Sash Connection Method your workshop uses.
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06
On the Frame Dimensions tab, type the frame, sash and door sash widths from the section drawing. Tick Show advanced dimensions only when a sliding, screen, anti-theft or milling figure is needed.
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07
Save. WindoorERP regenerates the designer configuration on every save, so nothing on the WebCC JSON tab needs editing by hand.
The list and the kanban
The kanban shows one card per system with its image, its profile type, its opening type and its application, and an ACTIVE badge. The list view shows the same systems as rows with the columns below; the Sash (sa) and Frame Mullion (fm) columns can be added from the column picker at the end of the header.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Profile Name | The system's name, as it appears in every selector. |
| Application | The opening family, as a coloured badge. |
| Manufacturer | Free text, the producer of the profile. |
| Profile Type | Frame, Sash or Fixed. |
| Opening Type | Inward or Outward. |
| Frame Width (f), Sash (sa), Frame Mullion (fm) | The three dimensions most often compared between systems. |
| Active | Whether the system is offered for new designs. |
The search box looks in the name, the manufacturer, the profile type and the application. The filter menu offers Active, Archived, one filter per application (Hinge / Casement, Sliding, Folding, KFC, Untyped (Universal)) and grouping by Application, Type, opening type and manufacturer.
Name, description and image
Three fields sit above the groups. Their only job is recognition, but recognition is what stops an estimator picking the wrong series from a list of similar names.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Profile Name | Required. The name every selector in WindoorERP shows for this system, in the designer and on the order line. Include the series and, where the supplier has variants, the variant. |
| Title line under the name | Optional description or version note, placeholder Add a description or version info.... It becomes editable once the record is saved. Use it to separate similar series from one supplier. |
| Image box | A photo of the profile section. It appears on the kanban card so the shape is recognisable at a glance. |
Profile Identity and Status
The two groups at the top of the form are read by every drawing. The identity decides where the system is offered and how a new item is drawn; the status decides whether it is offered at all and with which partners.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Application | Required. Which opening family the system serves: Hinge / Casement, Sliding, Folding, KFC or Universal (untyped). The designer shows one system selector per family present in the drawing, and a system appears only in its own family's selector. A Universal system appears in every selector and shows every dimension group; the form warns about this in a yellow banner and asks you to type the profile so that mixed-system designs offer it only where it belongs. |
| Profile Type | The role of the profile: Frame, Sash or Fixed. Shown on the kanban card and in the list. |
| Opening Type | Inward or Outward. Every new design on this system is drawn to open this way, and the converter product on an outward system depends on it. |
| Manufacturer | Free text, placeholder e.g. Schüco, Reynaers, .... Used to trace a system to its supplier when you buy from several. |
| Active | A toggle. Off archives the system: it stays stored for history but is no longer offered in new designs. The header also carries an archive button and, on an archived record, an unarchive button, both drawn as an archive icon next to the toggle. |
| Compatible Systems | The systems this one may be mixed with in one design, for example a hinge system and the sliding system it couples to. Compatibility is symmetric, so listing it on either side is enough. Empty means the system mixes with anything. |
Compatibility works in both directions in the designer. Once a hinge system is chosen, only its linked sliding systems are offered for a sliding frame in the same drawing, and choosing one of those sliding systems offers this hinge system in return.
Designer Defaults
These two selections are applied to the whole design the moment a user picks this system in the designer. The user can still change a corner or a sash afterwards; the defaults mean nobody has to choose them during a quotation, and the drawing and the cutting start out the way the workshop actually works.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Default Frame Cut Type | How frame corners are cut: Angle (the usual 45° cut on uPVC), Horizontal, Vertical (common on aluminium and aluminium-wood systems), Angle-Vertical, Interlock-Vertical, upH_downD or upD_downH. Empty keeps whatever the designer currently has. |
| Default Sash Connection Method | The same list, applied to sash corners. |
Frame Dimensions
The dimension codes describe the size of each profile so the designer can draw the item correctly: frame width, sash, mullion and the rest. They shape the drawing, not the cutting list, which comes from the component products and the length corrections. The exception is the sliding deduction groups described below, which are cut arithmetic.
The tab opens with the basic groups. Show advanced dimensions reveals the sliding, screen, anti-theft, milling, glass-gap and track groups; several of them appear only for the application they concern.
Basic dimensions
| Group and field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Frame Settings: Frame Width (f), Frame Length (fl), Frame Margin (fm) | The frame profile width, the secondary large frame profile, and the width of the mullion or partition profile. fm is the span each partition takes out of a cell, so it drives how thick mullions are drawn; the drawing caches a width per split line, so changing it affects only partitions drawn afterwards. |
| Sash Settings: Sash (sa), Upper Sash (usa), Down Sash (dsa), Sash Coupling (sc), Sash Mullion (sm) | The sash profile widths, the coupling between two sashes that meet without a mullion, and the mullion that belongs to the sash. |
| Door Sash Settings: Door Sash (door_sa), Door Upper Sash (door_usa), Door Down Sash (door_dsa), Door Sash Coupling (door_sc), Door Sash Mullion (door_sm) | The same set for door leaves. Hidden on a Sliding system. |
| Glazing and Interlock: Interior Line (il), Bead (b) | The interlock, the meeting stile where two sliding or folding leaves overlap (falls back to the sash width when 0), and the glazing bead dimension. |
| Reinforcement Settings: Reinforcement | A checkbox that enables the reinforcement products of the colour rules for this system. Tick it on uPVC systems that carry steel. |
| Hardware Sizing: Sash Profile Weight (kg/m) | The linear weight of the sash profile, used to estimate sash weight when the hardware rules pick a hinge load class. Leave 0 if unknown. |
| Pricing: Default Price Rate (per m²) | A fallback selling rate per square metre of opening, used when the colour rule matched by a design has no rate of its own. The analysis writes the sum of frame area times rate to the sale line's Design System Amount, which price-engine formulas can use. Leave 0 to contribute nothing. |
Advanced dimensions
| Group | Fields and meaning |
|---|---|
| Sliding Tracks (sliding and universal only) | Upper Track (ut), Fixed Upper Track (fut), Lower Track (dt), Fixed Lower Track (fdt), Up/Down Track (udt), Side Track (st), Double Side Track (dst) for four-track sliders. |
| Sliding Cut Deductions (sliding and universal only) | Cut arithmetic, not drawing: Sash Height Deduct (sliding sash cut height = frame height minus this), Glass Height Deduct, Rail Deduct, Fix Adapter Deduct, Sash Steel Deduct, Glazing Bead Add (per-pane bead cut = glass plus this) and Omit Engine Track Adapters, which drops the engine's track and side-track adapter bars from the cut list for systems whose jamb and sill carry the running surfaces themselves. |
| Sliding Width Deductions (sliding and universal only) | One row per Panes count with a Sash Width Deduct (mm) and a Glass Width Deduct (mm): sash rail cut width = (frame outer width minus the deduction) divided by the panes. Rows here override the built-in table; a sliding frame needs at least 2 panes, and two rows cannot share a pane count. |
| Sliding and Folding Doors (sliding, folding, universal) | Sliding Door (sd), Sliding Upper Door (sud), Sliding Lower Door (sdd), Interlock Door (ild). |
| Slider Hardware (sliding and universal) | Threshold (ts), Sash Holder (sh), Screen Sash Holder (ssh), Sash Dock Offset (sdo), Sidelock (sl). |
| Fly Screen | Screen Bead (snb), Screen Door (snd), Sash Bead (sb) for the regular sash when it differs from b. |
| Anti-Theft / Lock Geometry | Anti-theft (a), Anti-theft Mullion (am), Anti-theft Hole Height (ahh), Anti-theft Air Gap (ag), Anti-theft Handle Width (ahw), Anti-theft Handle Offset (aho). |
| Milling | Mullion Sash / Milling (ms) and Mullion Frame / Milling (mf), the machining allowances. |
| Curtain Wall / Beam | Keder Width (kw) and Drainage Bar / Door Beam (db). |
| Glass and Seal | Glass Gap (gg), Glass Gap For Height (ggfh) (falls back to gg) and Inner Frame / Infill (inf). |
| Frame Manager (cached) | Edge Joint Width (ejw) and Edge Width (ew), four-value lists such as [60,60,60,60] cached from the designer. |
The Help tab at the end of the form names and explains every code above exactly as the designer uses it. Read it before changing a value you are not sure of.
The supporting tabs and the header button
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| WebCC JSON tab | The configuration the Frame Studio Designer reads, generated from the record on every save. Read-only in practice; nothing here needs editing. |
| Regenerate WebCC JSON button in the header | Rebuilds that configuration from the current settings and confirms with a notification, WebCC JSON Regenerated. Use it after a change that did not go through the form, such as an import. |
| Notes tab | Free text for supplier details, installation remarks or special handling, visible to the whole team. |
| Help tab | The reference for every dimension and parameter on the form. |
Troubleshooting
The designer does not offer the system: check that it is active, that its Application matches the frame family you are drawing, that a system already chosen in the same drawing lists it under Compatible Systems, and that the product on the order line has not restricted its allowed systems.
The system shows up in every selector of a mixed design: its Application is Universal (untyped). Type it, and it appears only where it belongs.
Mullions on an existing design are still drawn at the old width after Frame Margin (fm) was changed: the drawing caches a width per split line. Partitions drawn after the change use the new figure.
Every new item opens outward when it should open inward, or the other way round: the Opening Type on the system is wrong.
A cut length is wrong: the dimension codes on this tab are not where it comes from. Check the component products and the Length Corrections tab, or the sliding deduction groups on a sliding system.
Common mistakes
- Leaving Application on Universal (untyped) because it appears everywhere. It also drops every dimension group onto the form and mixes with any system.
- Editing a live system's dimensions to fix one job. Every future design changes with it; copy the system instead.
- Creating a new system by copying another and changing only its name, so a wrong face width is inherited by every job on the new series.
- Expecting a change under Frame Dimensions to move the cutting list. Only the sliding deduction groups do; the rest is drawing.
- Leaving Compatible Systems empty on every series, so users can couple profiles that were never designed to work together.
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