With a draft group, you can instance different catalog items at the same time. Once the items are instanced, they become independent of one another. You can create, instance, and modify draft groups.

You can create a draft group in the Catalog Explorer the way you create other catalog items, or you can select items on the design sheet. When you create a new catalog item, you must choose a template sheet and instance items. A draft group has a diagram type and items instanced in the draft group must be of the same diagram type. When you create a draft group by selecting items on a design sheet, it is created on a new sheet with the same diagram type as the items selected. You can perform the following operations on a draft group catalog item:

The following items can be instanced into a draft group:

You cannot instance highways, ports, and labels into a draft group. Ports and labels in a draft group must belong to a parent in the draft group.

When you place a draft group on the design sheet, you do not create an instance of the draft group. All items are independent. Therefore, you cannot run a report or export a draft group to XML. You can run a report on and export individual members of the draft group. Since a draft group has no instances, you can delete it from the catalog even after you placed it on a design sheet. After a draft group is submitted to the Central Catalog only an editor can delete it.

The contents of a draft group are placed without a parent unless the parent is in the draft group definition. Item names are updated on the design sheet without referencing the draft group.

You can edit a draft group in the following ways:

You cannot perform the following operations: