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[niltrias]

Anyone figure out how to use them?  I was planning on building some for flood overflow control,  (I realize I don't actually have to flood an area for farming, but I like to anyway) but they don't seem to drain to the floor below.  
Also, what are hatches good for?  I can't make sense of them either.
Last, what is the difference in gameplay between stairs and ramps?
Thanks

[THLawrence]

Hatches are like vertical doors. Dwarfs can open them or close them and they block water but when connected to a lever they open when the lever is pulled. much like a flood gate.

[BurnedToast]

Grates need somewhere to drain to, you either need to make a channel (which basically digs out the spot from above) or actually dig out a spot under it. keep in mind they spot under there will fill up eventually, so you need somewhere for it to drain to.

hatches are basically z-level doors. I've not messed with them much, they might have to be opened/closed via levels I'm not sure.

stairs can be build anywhere and go straight up and down. ramps need to be build against a wall and let dwarves move to a higher level next to them. stairs are mostly useful for inside caves and stuff, ramps are for making ways up to higher z-levels outside.

[niltrias]

Aha.  Thanks for the help.  I dug out a big chamber on the level below the grates for holding the overflow, but I didn't dig a channel under the grate.  Back to digging!

[Arven]

I've some questions about grates...

Can you throw trash through them? I have a plans for a sewer system in my current fort that is both water supply and trash disposal. I'd like to secure it with grates so I don't have frogmen and the like climbing out... but I don't want to build the whole network only to find it won't work!