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Dialog Options Name, ID, INFO, ObjectTree, Master

The boxes Name, ID, and the buttons Info and ObjectTree are described below since they appear on almost every dialog of an object. The other features will be covered in the relevant chapters.

Name

The Name box contains an object name which appears in the first column of the object table. It may comprise several thousand characters. However, since the column width is adapted to accommodate the longest character string among the names, it is recommended you use short terms. One of the possibilities for finding an object is to search for its name (see Search for Objects).

Info-button

The symbol „Info“ is available on each object dialog. When you click it, the dialog Memo-Window opens where you can enter specific object information and/or memo variables. The contents of the memo-window is not printed but the value of memo variables defined here can be referenced and, thus, be exported. The dialog Memo-Window may contain up to 30,000 characters.

If the dialog contains any information, the symbol „Info“ appears in blue, otherwise in grey.

Defining a memo variable

In order to define a memo variable write into a single line first its name, followed by an equal sign (without any space) and after the equal sign the value or text. The value of a text variable can be referred to by using the memo variable’s name.

For memo variables, the same rules apply as described at Rules for ID

Example memo variable

GRN0=07115

In this example, GRN0 is the name of the memo variable containing a reference number. The number 07115 can be displayed e.g. in a separate column in the Result Table for receiver points by entering the variable’s name GRN0 as expression.

With the memo variables you can also revert to information stored in databases, which have an ODBC-interface (see ODBC-Import) like MS Excel or MS Access, to save them by your CadnaA objects in the memo-window.

For that the memo variable has to be stored together with the equals sign and the information in a field of the database.

ID

The ID is a string of up to 47 characters serving to identify an object or a spectrum in the libraries. The limitation to 47 characters includes the part of the ID due to group generation within the ObjectTree , if any (see section „ObjectTree“ in this chapter).

The ID is used to organize objects in groups (see Structuring Data by Defining Groups) and to activate or deactivate within variants. An activated object will be considered in the calculation. Deactivated objects, however, may appear in the graphical representation, but will not be considered in the calculation (.i.e. sources will not radiate, obstacles will not provide a screening effect).

Rules for ID

An ID may contain only letters (A–Z, a–z), digits (0–9), or the underscore character (_). All other characters are not allowed. The first character must be a letter. These rules apply to the IDs of both objects and library entries (exception: the ID of aircraft groups).

As of CadnaA version 2026, the software enforces rule compliance by validating the user input. Upon opening files, the IDs are inspected and automatically adjusted when they do not comply with the specified rules. For further information, see here.

Group Formation

For each defined group you can present the proportionate sound pressure level on the receiver points as partial sum level. The activation status, the ID, and the group formation are powerful tools for the controlling of projects and the handling of various project variants while using the same file (see Managing Projects using Variants).

Activation States

The check box next to ID allows you to specify three different activation states for an object by clicking:

If the check box is grey (default), the object is activated. This is the case shown in the figure ("ID" written in black). The state can be manipulated by grouping.

If "ID" is written in red, the object has been deactivated via a group and will not be taken into account in the calculation.

If the box is checked with , the object will always be active no matter what group it may belong to and whether or not that group, if any, is active. Therefore, "ID" will always be written in black.

If the check box is white, the object will always be inactive no matter what group it may belong to and whether or not that group, if any, is active. Therefore, "ID" will always be written in red. In the graphical representation, these objects will be drawn with dashed lines (default setting).

ObjectTree

The button ObjectTree is located on every Edit Object dialog. By clicking this symbol the Dialog Select for ObjectTree is displayed. In case an ObjectTree has been defined (see ObjectTree) the present object can be sorted into an object group by a mouse-click.

Master and corresponding checkbox

Objects with this dropdown can have different attribute values in different project variants. The attribute set called „Master“ is used in those variants which have not explicitely been specified as independent of „Master“ by using the checkbox next to the dropdown. Fore more details, see Object Attributes per Variant of the CadnaA Reference Manual.

In the Info field of the object dialog you can insert hyperlinks for files, pictures, music, video, internet home pages etc. which you then can open easily by just a mouse click from the object’s context menu. For that enter the memo variable HYPERLINK=file. „File“ stands for the entire path of a file including its filename e.g.

HYPERLINK=T:\Reports\2198\diagram.xls.

If you intend to forward the CadnaA file together with all linked files you should use a relative path specification. If necessary delete the path and name of drive from the hyperlink. It will work if all files are saved together with the CadnaA file in the same directory on a different destination.

Instead to enter the hyperlink via your keyboard you can alternatively insert the hyperlink with drag and drop. Then the definition is entered automatically. After this „Hyperlink“ is displayed in the object’s context menu and in its local menu the linked filename (in the above example „diagram.xls“). The file opens if you click onto its name. For the file you also could enter an alias separated from its correct name with a vertical line . This alias is then displayed instead the original name, e.g.:

HYPERLINK=diagram.xls|spectrum

You can define several hyperlinks on the memo-window.

The memo variable is a CadnaA attribute and can therefore also be changed via the dialog Modify Objects, Action „Modify Attribute“, attribute: MEMOTXTVAR, memo variable: HYPERLINK.

Example

Objective: all path definitions shall be deleted globally.

  • Modify Attribute as explained before
  • Replace Strings: find what: *\\(*)
  • replace with: \2

effects that all path definitions will be deleted - and replaced only with the filename.

Standard Deviation

Enter the standard deviation in dB if you want to calculate the source related uncertainty (see General Tab in the CadnaA reference manual) of the emission determination.

AUSTAL

The button AUSTAL is available for the calculation of air pollution.

In the dialog Memo-Window of point, lines and area sources, and of roads and railways you can define via button „AUSTAL“ the emission time series of air pollutants in a table.

Further information is provided in the manual CadnaA-APL.