216 — Top steps

Where the top of the panel drops in distinct steps rather than running level.

Warning

AutoCAD does this too — with a different control, not a Top Step tile. There is no mpts tile: it was removed from the VLX dialog layout (mp_dlg.dcl:100). But the CAPABILITY is there. In ConstructiVision for AutoCAD you make this by placing a rectangular Blockout against the top of the panel and using Snap-to-Edge to pull it to the left or right side — which notches the corner. That notch is the top step.

Snap-to-Edge is a rectangle-only tile: choosing a Circular, Arched or Triangular blockout disables it (user manual, Blockout Shape). So keep the shape rectangular.

So use this lesson for the cv-web control, and use the Blockout + Snap-to-Edge route in AutoCAD. Everywhere else in this series the two products match; the two products reach it by different routes, the other being Footing shapes. Tracked as CV-2037.

Note

This lesson also exists in the browser. Work it in ConstructiVision on the web — same steps, same values, so you can follow either and end up with the same panel.

Where it is

Program Options → Top Steps. Cap in the title: Top Steps (2 max).

The other half of the top edge

Top Profile describes the top as one shape — there is one per panel, so that dialog has no cap. Top Steps is the opposite case: the top changes height in discrete steps, and you get up to two of them.

Top profile	one continuous shape for the whole top
Top steps	up to two places where the top drops

They sit next to each other in Program Options, and choosing between them is the whole question. If you can describe your top edge in one breath, it is a profile. If you find yourself saying “and then it steps down”, it is this.

Two is usually enough, and that is a hint

Two steps is a tight cap next to six windows or four rough openings. It is worth reading as guidance: a panel top that steps three or four times is unusual enough to be worth a second look — either it wants to be two panels, or the shape wants rethinking.

No palette here either

Like dock levelers and blockouts, there are no presets. A step is set by the building, not by a catalogue.

By now that is a pattern you can read: presets appear only where standard sizes exist.

What to take away

One continuous top is a profile. A top that drops is a step, up to two — and if you need more than two, the panel is telling you something.