Steel member input methods

Before you can perform a steel member design, you must define each of the steel members you wish to design and then input some design parameters for each of them. This can be done in three ways as follows.

1. Auto-create steel members
   This option performs a quick initial input of the steel members and their design parameters for the entire model or for any part of it that you wish to select.
   
   After the quick initial input, you can refine the design parameters for each steel member by using a steel member input form or datasheet (see items 2 and 3 below). You can also skip the auto-create step completely if you prefer to input the steel design data from scratch using a steel member input form or datasheet.
   
   
   
2. Steel member input form
   This option allows you select a steel member graphically and then define or edit its design parameters via a form. It is restricted to one steel member at a time.
   
   
   
3. Steel member input datasheet
   This option lets you select one or more steel members graphically and then define or edit their design parameters via a datasheet. It can handle multiple steel members, however they must have been previously defined using methods 1 or 2 above.
   
   Alternatively, you can select "Steel Member Design Input-Datasheet" from the Design menu to open a datasheet and input or edit design parameters for steel members regardless if they have previously been defined or not.
   
   

The recommended procedure is to use the auto-create tool to perform a quick initial setup of the steel members and then refine them using a steel member input form or datasheet.

Each of the three input methods are explained in detail in the following sections.

If you want to have multiple steel members with identical design parameters, you can copy the design parameters from one steel member to many others by using the "Copy steel member properties" tool. Note, however, that you can’t copy to steel members that haven’t been defined yet.