Tekla Structures – Tools

•      Click Tools > Enter a Numeric Location and select an option. To access additionaloptions, click Tools > Options > Shortcuts > Enter a Numeric Location.

The following table explains the types of information you can enter.

See also                      XS_KEYIN_ABSOLUTE_PREFIX

XS_KEYIN_RELATIVE_PREFIX

Orthogonal snapping

Use the shortcut O (Tools > Ortho) to snap to positions in orthogonal directions on the work plane (0, 45, 90, 135, 180 degrees, etc.).

To control orthogonal snapping, use the variables XS_SEMI_ORTHO_ANGLE andXS_USE_SEMI_ORTHO. For more information, see Appendix C, Variables, in the System Manual.

Temporary reference points

You can create a temporary reference point to use as a local origin when snapping in models or drawings.

1.    Initiate a command that requires you to pick positions.

2.    Hold down the Ctrl key and pick a position. A green cross indicates that this position is now a temporary reference point.

3.    Use this temporary reference point with snap tools to define directions and distances.

Snapping examples

When you have snap switches on and you use a command that requires you to pick positions, the mouse pointer locks onto a snap point. Tekla Structures displays a magenta line between the last point picked and the snap point.

In the illustration below, we snapped to a grid line midpoint and tracked along the tentative line for 1000 units.

In this example, we create a beam using a grid line midpoint as a temporary reference point and tracking along an orthogonal direction (shown as green dashed line) for 500 units. Click OK,and Tekla Structures creates the beam along the magenta line.

To lock the x coordinate, for example, press x on the keyboard. To unlock the coordinate, press x again.

2.    Click View > Representation > Show Part with Exact Lines.

3.    Click the window in which you want to display exact lines. Youcan also right-click on the selected parts and choose Exact lines.

2.    Click View > Show > Hidden Lines.

3.    Click the window in which you want to display the hidden lines

You can also right-click a part, then click Hide Lines. Using this option there is no need toclick the window to make it active.

You can quickly hide selected parts from a view. For example, you could use this feature in complex connections, to temporarily hide parts in order to see the parts behind them.

1.    Select the parts to hide.

2.     Right-click and select Hide.

•       By default, hide changes parts to sticks

•       To completely hide parts, use the Shift key with the hide command.

3.     To make parts visible, use the command View > Redraw All or right-click the parts andselect Show with Exact Lines.

1.    Click View > Representation > Show Component Content.

2.    Click a component symbol or select an area.

Show assembly

Use Show assembly to display the actual contents of a selected assembly, even if someobjects are hidden in a view:

1.    Click a part.

2.    Right-click a part.

3.     Select Show assembly from the pop-up menu.

Tekla Structures displays all parts, bolts, welds, cuts, fittings, and other details belonging to the assembly, even if they were hidden in the view properties.

Lotting

Lots are consignments of assemblies for transporting to site. You can use lot names and numbers in reports.

To use lotting:

Click Tools > Lotting to open Lotting dialog box. This displays the properties of existing lots. Lots can be changed.

Creating a lot

To create a lot:

1.     Click Tools > Lotting to display the Lotting dialog box. Tekla Structures lists the existing lots.

2.     Click Properties to display the Lot properties dialog box.

5.    You now have an empty lot.

Adding parts to an existing lot

To add parts to a lot:

1.     Click Tools > Lotting to display the Lotting dialog box.

2.    Click an existing lot on the list. Tekla Structures highlights the parts included in the lot. The total weight of the lot and the number of assemblies it contains in are displayed underApplied values.

3.     To add parts to an existing lot, use the Shift key and select the part(s). Click Apply selected. Tekla Structures displays the weight and number of the parts you add underCurrent values.

4.     Click OK to close the dialog box. When you re-open the lotting dialog box, the Applied values include the weight and number of the parts you added.

5.    Tekla Structures displays a warning message when the weight limit of the lot is exceeded.

1.     Click Tools > Lotting to display the Lotting dialog box.

2.    Click an existing lot on the list. Tekla Structures highlights the parts included in the lot.

3.    Hold down the Ctrl key and select each part to remove.

4.     Click Apply to remove the parts from the lot.

5.     Click OK to exit the Lotting dialog box.

Deleting an existing lot

To delete an existing lot:

1.     Click Tools > Lotting to display the Lotting dialog box.

2.     Click Properties.

3.    Click an existing lot on the list.

4.     Click the Delete key.

Sequencer

Use Sequencer to name sequences and assign incremental numbers to parts. There aremany uses for the Sequencer, including defining erection sequences. You can define several sequences for different purposes. You can include the same parts in several sequences at the same time.

The Sequencer works by assigning user-defined attributes to parts. So you can use theSequencer to create user-defined attributes when you only need to use numeric values.With Sequencer you can also assign numeric values to existing user-defined attributes.

Creating a report

To include the sequence number in reports, enter the sequence name in the text field.

You can also use the sequence number in a report by entering the sequence name in the table part row.

To create a list showing all the parts belonging to a sequence, use the

You can check the name and number of a sequence using the Inquire object command. To do this, the sequence name must appear as a user-defined attribute in the objects.inp file. For more information, see Adding properties in the System Manual.

Using Sequencer

Click Tools > Sequencer to open a dialog box displaying existing sequences. You can enterthe following information:

1.     Click Tools > Sequencer to display the Sequencer properties dialog box.

2.     Enter the Sequence name.

3.     Click OK or Apply.

4.    Select the parts you want to include in the sequence. The first part gets the sequence number 1, the second, number 2, etc.

5.     Finish adding parts to the sequence with the Interrupt or Esc key. The Sequencerproperties dialog box closes.

Adding parts to a sequence

To add parts to an existing sequence:

1.     Click Tools > Sequencer to display the Sequencer properties dialog box.

2.     Click the Sequence name.

3.    Select the parts you want to add to the sequence.

4.     Finish adding parts to the sequence with the Interrupt or Esc key. The Sequencerproperties dialog box closes.

Project status visualization

Use the project status visualization tool to review the status of the objects in the model, in specific time frame, for example:

•      Display the erection schedule for groups of parts using colors.

•      Identify the parts that are scheduled to be fabricated during a specific time period.

To create project status visualizations, you need predefined object representation settings which include object groups based on date rules.

4.    Enter the time step.

7.     Click Save to save the properties.

8.    Use project status visualization tool by clicking the step buttons.

Project status visualization files

Tekla Structures saves the project status visualization settings with filename extension *.4din the current model’s attributes folder.

•      You can copy the *.4d file to another model’s attributes folder.

•      To make the *.4d file available to all models, copy the file to the system folder.

•      Include also a copy of the object representation file (filename extension .rep) and object group files (filename extension .PObjGrp) when copying the *.4d file to theattributes or system folder to have all the files working correctly.

Tekla Structures searches for the *.4d files in the standard search order.

Project status visualization example

In this example, we visualize when parts are erected. The project status visualization is based on object representation settings including an object group rule for the user-defined attribute Planned erection date.

This is how the model looks with the standard object representation settings:

1.    Click View > Representation > Object representation… to open Object representation settings

dialog box.

2.    Enter a name for the object representation settings.

3.     Click Add row to add a new row.

4.     Select the newly added row, and click Create new group… in the Object group list box.

7.    Modify the rule. This rule should include all objects that have the user-defined attributePlanned erection date earlier than or equal to the review date.

•        Select Object in the Category column.

•        Select Planned erection date in the Property column.

•        Select Earlier than or equal in the Condition column.

•        Click Select date… in the Value list box and select Review date in the Select datedialog box and click OK.

8.     Save the object group and click Close.

9.     In the Object representation dialog box, select Color by class for the new object groupin the Color list box and check that the row is set to Visible.

visualization

1.    Click Tools > Project Status Visualization… to open the Project Status Visualization

dialog box.

2.     Modify the properties (the image below shows the Review date and other properties according to this example):

•     From which view to take the screenshot

•     Filename

•     Include or omit view borders

•     DPI, size, background color, line properties (only for rendered views