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Some sealed units are sold build-to-suit: the glass make-up is fixed,
but the overall thickness changes with what the opening needs. Rather than creating a separate
sealed unit for every thickness, mark the sealed unit as having an optional thickness
and the system will ask which thickness is required each time it is used.
Setting it up
Two steps, in this order. The sealed unit decides whether the user is asked; the
series decides what they may choose.
1. Tell the series which thicknesses are allowed
OJ Setup → Series → Glazing Thickness. Each row is an allowed band, entered
in both unit systems, with the number of Panes it applies to:
| From / To (metric) | From / To (imperial) | Panes | Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 – 1850 | 46 – 48 | 3 | 18.5 mm, or 46/64″–48/64″ |
| 3325 – 3325 | 83 – 84 | 1 | 33.25 mm, or 83/64″–84/64″ |
Metric is entered in hundredths of a millimetre (1850 = 18.5 mm) and imperial in
sixty-fourths of an inch (48 = 3/4″), matching every other dimension in setup.
a placeholder in the To column (a very large number such as 99999). A band with no genuine
maximum cannot be enforced, so a typed thickness the frame could never glaze will be accepted.
The dialog shows such a row as (no max set) — that is a prompt to fix the series, not a
feature.
2. Mark the sealed unit
SU Type screen (OJ Setup) → tick optional thickness, on the thickness row.
That is the whole change. The thickness still shown beside the tick-box is only the catalogue
default; once ticked, the user is asked each time.
It opens when a new item is created and whenever a glass is picked. It does not
open when an existing item is opened: that item’s thickness was chosen when it was saved. To
change it, pick the glass again.
3. Optional: choose the unit the dialog speaks
Company Preferences → Files & interface → Glass thickness entry unit
(su_thick_uom): 0 follow the item, 1 millimetres, 2 inches.
Glass make-ups are usually quoted in millimetres even on imperial work, so setting this to 1
saves changing the unit on every entry.
What the dialog shows
The dialog names the sealed unit it is asking about, with its pane count and
series beneath. The pane count is there for a reason: the thicknesses on offer are filtered by
it, so two sealed units on the same series can legitimately show different lists. Under that
is the list of valid thicknesses for that sealed unit, and — only when the row you
picked is a range — a Manual entry box.
Using it
Pick the sealed unit in the Glass panel, or simply open an item that already uses one.
The dialog appears with:
- Allowed — the series’ bands, listed down the left, so you can see what is
permitted before choosing. - the selectable thicknesses taken from those bands, as radio options;
- a Manual box with its own mm / inch selector.
Everything is shown in the unit set by Glass thickness entry unit, so the list, the
bands and the box all read the same way.
A thickness typed in millimetres is kept exactly as typed — 19.7 mm stays
19.7 mm on the sealed unit’s description. It is not quietly converted to the nearest
1/64″ and back.
A thickness typed in inches is snapped to the nearest true 1/64″, because
that is the finest the imperial side can represent — type 0.73″ and you get 47/64″
(0.7344″). The millimetre value is then worked out from that same 64th, so the two never
disagree.
24means 24 mm or 24 inches depending on that selector. Because make-ups are quoted in
millimetres, this is the easiest mistake to make on an imperial item — so the unit is always
shown and never assumed. A typed value is checked against the series bands and refused if it
falls outside them.
The chosen thickness is used for the glass and for anything that depends on it — notably
the glazing beads, which are selected against sealed-unit thickness. Choosing thicker
glass therefore selects the matching bead automatically. The number chosen also appears as the
sealed unit’s thickness description.
Turning it on
Two switches must both be on before the dialog ever appears:
- OJ Setup → Series → Header → Facet & Defaults → Allow custom SU thickness.
This is the product-line switch, and it starts off. - The sealed unit’s own optional thickness tick-box, on the SU Type screen.
The per-sealed-unit box is already ticked across entire catalogues on some companies — every
sealed unit in one manufacturer’s catalogue (509 of them) carries it. Driving the feature from the sealed unit alone
would therefore switch it on everywhere at once. The series flag is what keeps it off until a
product line actually wants it, and it is a single place to turn it off again.
Setting up the thicknesses — Series → Glazing Thickness
Everything the user can pick comes from this tab and nowhere else. Each row is a
band, and you fill in five things:
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| From / To | the thickness range this row permits, entered in both metric and imperial |
| Target | The important one. Leave it 0 and the row is a free range — the user gets a box and types any thickness between From and To. Put a value in it and the row forces that thickness: the user picks the row and gets exactly that, and no entry box appears at all. |
| Panes | which sealed units this row applies to, matched against the unit’s number of leaves. 0 means “any pane count”. |
So one tab covers both ways of working:
| You want… | Fill in | The user sees |
|---|---|---|
| “this product is always built at 18.5 mm” | From 18.5, To 18.5, Target 18.5 (or leave Target 0 — equal bounds already mean one value) | a single choice, nothing to type |
| “anything from 18.3 to 19.1 fits” | From 18.3, To 19.1, Target 0 | the range, plus a box to type the exact figure |
| “the band is 18.3–19.1 but always build 18.5” | From 18.3, To 19.1, Target 18.5 | 18.5 mm — the row shows its target, not the From–To, and nothing can be typed |
Each row is one line in the dialog, and a targeted row shows its target rather
than its From–To. Where every row carries a target, the list of those targets is therefore the
complete set of valid thicknesses and no custom thickness is possible — the manual entry
box never appears. Targeted rows and free ranges mix freely:
| Rows set up | The user sees |
|---|---|
| Target 18.5; Target 19.75; and a free band 33.0–33.3 | 18.5 / 19.75 / 33.0 – 33.3 — only the last one reveals a box to type in |
other. The metric and imperial sides of a row are stored independently, and whichever the
glass is ordered in is the one used, exactly as entered. If you fill in only the metric side
and a supplier orders in inches, that row has nothing to offer them. Enter the real figure for
each system rather than expecting a conversion.
The spacer is chosen by the rules from whatever thickness ends up in force. The series
only has to state the thickness — the rest follows.
back to being a free range. Two settings pulling in different directions should not force a
thickness the frame cannot glaze — correct the row rather than relying on this.
When the user picks or types a thickness, that answer wins over both a
Set SU Thick rule (which would otherwise impose the thickness) and a
Set SU Thick Text rule (which would otherwise impose the description text). The chosen
number is what gets glazed and what appears on the description.
Cancel the dialog and the rules are fully in charge again — the sealed unit glazes at
its own thickness and any Set SU Thick Text rule supplies the description, exactly as on a
sealed unit that was never build-to-suit. Ordinary sealed units are untouched either way.
left with a placeholder in the To column instead of a real maximum. Such a row cannot be
enforced, so it is not offered at all and the dialog says how many were skipped. That is
a prompt to fix the series, not a feature — until it is fixed those thicknesses cannot be
chosen.
The thickness is stored with the item, so reopening a saved order shows the thickness that
was chosen, not the sealed unit’s catalogue value. Sealed units that are not ticked keep
working exactly as before: they glaze at their own thickness and no dialog appears.
If the dialog does not offer what you expect
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| No dialog at all | The sealed unit is not ticked as optional thickness. |
| A thickness you added is missing | The band was added to a different series. Bands are per series, and each row also carries a Panes count. |
| Thicknesses appear that this product cannot take | The band belongs to another series — check you edited the right one. |
| A band shows (no max set) | Its To value is a placeholder, not a real maximum. Enter the true maximum. |
| Only the Manual box appears | The series has no Glazing Thickness rows at all. |