Tekla Structures

Tekla Structures 21.1

Administrator's Release
Notes

Product version 21.1

September 2015

©2015 Tekla Corporation

Contents

1 Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes.............................................3

1.1 Administrator's Guide: General settings.................................................................................3
Administrator's Release Notes: Model templates in version update...................................................................3
Administrator's Release Notes: New Applications and Components catalog...................................................4
Administrators's Release Notes: XS_PLOT_UNPLOT_BUFFER_SIZE removed....................................................9
Administrator's Release Notes: Decimal feet in drawing dimensions.................................................................9
Administrator's Release Notes: Task Manager.........................................................................................................10
Administrator's Release Notes: Group-based coloring in Organizer................................................................. 11
Administrator's Release Notes: New advanced options....................................................................................... 15
1.2 Administrator's Release Notes: Steel settings.....................................................................15
Administrator's Release Notes: New NC file settings............................................................................................16
1.3 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings.............................................................. 17
Administrator's Release Notes: Pours in general arrangement drawings........................................................17
Administrator's Release Notes: New reinforcing bar tools.................................................................................. 24
Administrator's Release Notes: New precast wall tools....................................................................................... 25
Administrator's Release Notes: New custom attributes.......................................................................................25
1.4 Disclaimer................................................................................................................................ 26

2
1 Tekla Structures Administrator's
Release Notes

Upgrade guide from Tekla Structures 21.0 to Tekla Structures 21.1

Administrator's Release Notes was formerly called Administrator's Guide. This guide is
intended to provide advanced users with instructions on how to apply the additional
customizations available in a new Tekla Structures version.

1.1 Administrator's Guide: General settings

General customization settings apply to all user groups. Use these settings together with your
own user group settings.

Administrator's Release Notes: Model templates in version update on page 3

Administrator's Release Notes: New Applications and Components catalog on page 4
Administrators's Release Notes: XS_PLOT_UNPLOT_BUFFER_SIZE removed on page 8
Administrator's Release Notes: Decimal feet in drawing dimensions on page 9
Administrator's Release Notes: Task Manager on page 10
Administrator's Release Notes: Group-based coloring in Organizer on page 11
Administrator's Release Notes: New advanced options on page 15

Administrator's Release Notes: Model templates in version update

To save a model as a model template in version updates:
1. Open Tekla Structures 21.1.
2. Create a new model using an existing model template.
3. Give the model the same name as in the previous Tekla Structures version.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 3 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 4. Open the 3D view.
5. Diagnose and repair the model by clicking Tools --> Diagnose & Repair Model and
selecting the appropriate commands.
6. Save the model as a model template.

7. Include the needed catalog files and subfolders from the model folder and click OK.
8. Remove manually all *.db (environment database, options databases) files from the
model folder.
The *.bak, *.log and xs_user files are automatically removed from the model
folder.
The model template is saved to the location defined for the
XS_MODEL_TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY advanced option.

Administrator's Release Notes: New Applications and Components

catalog
The Component Catalog has been renewed for Tekla Structures 21.1. The new catalog is
called the Applications and Components catalog.
All components from the old Component Catalog definition files are stored under the
Legacy catalog group. The applications, plugins and macros are in the Applications group.
Catalog definitions are stored in ComponentCatalog.xml files. All definition files that
are found are merged together. All editing can and should be done within Tekla Structures
and the new Applications and Components catalog.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 4 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 User interface

Groups work like in any other software, click the small arrows next to the groups to expand
the groups.
System groups and their contents are automatically generated. Users cannot edit these
groups at all.
The Legacy Catalog group contains the catalog structure from the old definition files. It will
be removed at some point, but for now it can be used to recreate the old structure with the
new definition files.
To show and hide items in the catalog, right-click an item and select Hide / Unhide. To show
previously hidden items, select the Show hidden items check box. The hidden items are
shown in gray color. This is the only way to show them.
The message log shows a list of errors and warnings.
In Access advanced features you can find the commands Undo / Redo, .uel Import,
create and record macros, and manage the catalog. Catalog management contains selecting
the definition file to be edited, showing or hiding the translation keys (albl_*), and reloading
the catalog definitions and translations to see the changes made without having to restart
Tekla Structures.

Editing the catalog

When you start editing the catalog, you need to select the correct file to edit.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 5 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 To edit definition files: Access advanced features (1) > Catalog management (2) > Edit
mode (3) > Select a file (4) to edit it.

The list shows the project and firm folders if defined, and the model folder. The files that
appear dimmed do not exist, but you can create the files by selecting them and answering
Yes in the Edit mode prompt shown in the image below. In the list of files, you can remove
an existing file by clicking the X button next to the file.

When you have selected a file to edit, you can start making your modifications. Create new
groups and subgroups if needed to organize the items and move the possible items from
Ungrouped items to the custom (that is, non-system) groups.
You can create new groups by right-clicking in the catalog and selecting New group from
the pop-up menu.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 6 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 You can move items to new groups by right-clicking the item and selecting Add to group >
<name of the group> as shown below.

You can add a description or tags to an item by clicking the small arrow in the bottom right
corner, highlighted with a blue rectangle in the image below. The description field and button
to add tags (+) are highlighted with green rectangles.

You can also add additional thumbnails by right-clicking an item and selecting Thumbnails
from the pop-up menu, and then clicking the Add thumbnail button in the dialog box that
opens.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 7 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 If you want to hide some groups for some roles, edit the proper definition file, and right-click
and select Hide / Unhide from the pop-up menu. This way you do not see the groups and
items that are not relevant for them. You can show hidden groups and items by selecting the
Show hidden items check box in the bottom-left corner of the catalog. Hidden items will
then appear as dimmed and they can be made visible.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 8 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 Administrators's Release Notes: XS_PLOT_UNPLOT_BUFFER_SIZE
removed
The XS_PLOT_UNPLOT_BUFFER_SIZE advanced option has been removed because the
plot buffer size is no longer limited. The expected effects are very slightly increased memory
use (<10MB) and better performance during operations that involve lots of objects.
You can remove all instances of XS_PLOT_UNPLOT_BUFFER_SIZE.

Administrator's Release Notes: Decimal feet in drawing dimensions

It is now possible to set dimension units to be feet in all places where dimension unit can be
defined:
• Options --> Drawing dimensions
• General arrangement drawing properties --> Dimensions
• Dimension Properties dialog boxes
• Level mark properties
It is also possible to save dimension properties with this option and use the properties in
certain (or additional) views in single-part, assembly and cast unit drawings.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 9 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 Administrator's Release Notes: Task Manager
You can now define, save and load default values for the Scheduling mode, Tracking mode
and Dependency settings in the Task Settings dialog box in Task Manager. Previously, only
the scheduling mode setting was available. The default values are used for all new tasks. To

open the task settings, click > Task Settings.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 10 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 The file name extension of the saved file
is .SiteManagement.TaskSettingsForm.xml.

New options
The Tracking mode and Dependency options are the same as in the Task Information dialog
box and they work in the same way.
• Tracking mode:
• Manual allows you to enter the actual start and end dates, and task completeness
information.
• Linked to objects shows the schedule and completeness information calculated from
the individual objects in the task.
• Automatic works like Manual when there are no objects in the task and like Linked
to objects when there are objects.
For more information, see Track a task schedule in Task Manager.
• Dependency:
You can define whether the dependent task is always moved when the preceding task is
moved, or whether the dependent task is only moved forward when the preceding task is
moved forward.
For more information, see Define general task properties in Task Manager.

Administrator's Release Notes: Group-based coloring in Organizer

It is possible to color model objects based on the grouping in Organizer. You can assign each
group a unique color based on the color set definitions. If there are more groups than colors

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 11 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 defined in the color set that is in use, the coloring starts from the beginning of the colors
listed in the set.
Group-based coloring is a temporary visualization tool, which means that colors are not
permanently assigned to the groups. If the groups are in a different order, they will have
different colors.
To use coloring:
1. Enable grouping:

2. Create groups by dragging one or more columns to the grouping row:

3. Enable coloring by selecting a color set:

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 12 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 Result: Organizer assigns colors to the groups and shows the objects in the groups with
the same colors in the model.

Defining color sets

The default colors have been carefully selected so that each group can be easily
distinguished.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 13 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 You can define new color sets on the Colors tab in Organizer Settings. Click
and give a name for the new set.

Change a color by double-clicking the color, or change the order of the colors by dragging
them. To add or delete colors, right-click the color. You can also copy and paste colors.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 14 Administrator's Guide: General settings

 You can export and import the color sets using the Export and Import buttons in the upper-
right corner on Colors tab.
To use a color set in a property template, select the color set on the Property templates tab
and export the settings to be able to use them from the project and firm folders, see the
image below.

Administrator's Release Notes: New advanced options

XS_DRAW_HIDDEN_FACES
Controls if hidden hatched faces are drawn (TRUE) or not (FALSE).

XS_REBAR_USE_ALWAYS_METHOD_A_FOR_90_DEGREE_HOOK_DIMENSIONS
When set to TRUE, the SHLB/EHLB hook properties will have the same values as the SHLA/
EHLA properties in case the hook angle is approximately 95 degrees or less.

1.2 Administrator's Release Notes: Steel settings

The following customization settings apply to the steel user group.

See also
Administrator's Release Notes: New NC file settings on page 16

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 15 Administrator's Release Notes: Steel settings
 Administrator's Release Notes: New NC file settings
There is a new tab in the NC File Settings dialog box: Advanced Options. On the Advanced
Options tab, there are new options for curve detection, changing the contour curve radius
sign, and for controlling the number of decimals in NC files.
Note that the Advanced Options dialog box under Tools --> Options is used to control
advanced options.

New options for curve detection

When Curve detection is set to Yes, Tekla Structures checks the edges against a virtual curve
described by the edges to see if the edges are curved or straight based on the Chord
tolerance value. The chord tolerance is given in millimeters, and the default value is 10.

New options for changing the contour curve radius sign

• Change external contour (AK block) radius sign on top (o) and back (h) faces
changes the AK block curve radius signs for top (o) and back (h) faces.
• Change internal contour (IK block) radius sign on top (o) and back (h) faces changes
the IK block curve radius signs for top (o) and back (h) faces.
These two options were earlier available as advanced options
XS_DSTV_CHANGE_AK_BLOCK_RADIUS_SIGN and
XS_DSTV_CHANGE_IK_BLOCK_RADIUS_SIGN that you could set in an .ini file.
These advanced options have been removed.

New option for controlling the number of decimals in NC files

The Number of decimals option controls the number of decimals shown in the exported NC
files. This option improves the accuracy when converting the values between imperial and
metric units.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 16 Administrator's Release Notes: Steel settings
 1.3 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
The following customization settings apply to the concrete user group.

See also
Administrator's Release Notes: Pours in general arrangement drawings on page 17
Administrator's Release Notes: New reinforcing bar tools on page 24
Administrator's Release Notes: New precast wall tools on page 25
Administrator's Release Notes: New custom attributes on page 25

Administrator's Release Notes: Pours in general arrangement drawings

It is now possible to show pours in GA drawings. Previously, it was only possible to show
parts and pour breaks, now actual pours can be selected, inquired and modified. Pour
management needs to be enabled (XS_ENABLE_POUR_MANAGEMENT=TRUE).
To show pours in a GA drawing and modify pour-related properties:
1. Open General arrangement drawing properties.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 17 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 2. Open View properties and set Show pours in drawing to Yes.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 18 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 3. Open Pour Object Properties and set Content, Appearance and Fill settings to proper
values.

4. Save the pour object properties as a standard (.gpo) file and close with OK.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 19 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 5. Open Pour Object Mark Properties and set mark Content and General settings to
proper values.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 20 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 6. Save the pour mark properties as a standard (.gpom ) file and close with OK.
7. Save the GA drawing properties (filename extension .gd) and test by creating a GA
drawing.
Example of a structure containing pours:

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 21 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 A customized pour drawing after some manual editing:

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 22 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 Dialog box changes

Property dialog box Filename New/Changed

extension
GA Drawing .gd Changed
GA Drawing - view .gdv Changed
GA Drawing - Pour .gpo New
Object
GA Drawing - Pour .gpom New
Object Mark
View .vi Changed
View - Pour Object .vpo New
View - Pour Object .vpom New
Mark

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 23 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 Property dialog box Filename New/Changed
extension
Pour Object .po New
Pour Object Mark .pom New

Filters for pours

Pour object and pour break have been added to filter category. Create the necessary filters,
for example, by pour phase.

Other things to consider

Consider whether drawing layouts need to include pours (for example, pourlist table in
the ga_pour drawing layout).

Administrator's Release Notes: New reinforcing bar tools

The following extensions are now available in the Applications and Components catalog:
• Rebar coupler creates couplers where a rebar has already been split, or where rebar ends
are connecting and parallel.
• Rebar end anchor creates end anchors at the free ends of the bars.
• Split rebar and add coupler creates couplers where a rebar group needs to be split and
adds couplers in relation to the direction of the picked points.
• Rebar end trimming adjusts the free space between two rebar ends.
• Rebar Coupler and Anchor Tools: Update rebar attributes updates the rebar end-
specific user-defined attributes (UDA) that have been set by the Rebar coupler, Rebar

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 24 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 end anchor, or Split rebar and add coupler. Use this tool if you have deleted the
couplers from the rebar.
Rebar coupler, Rebar end anchor, and Split rebar and add coupler can create couplers and
anchors based on manual user input, or based on attribute table files that contain
information about couplers and anchors. Use the attribute table files to automatically create
correct couplers and anchors based on rebar size and grade. You can have as many tables as
you want. There are different tables for end anchors (one input rebar) and coupler
components (two input rebars). The tables have different extensions:
• .couplers.csv for Rebar coupler and Split rebar and add coupler
• .anchors.csv for Rebar end anchor
Coupler fabricators can create attribute table files to Tekla Warehouse. One attribute table
file covers one coupler or anchor product. When there are attribute table files in Tekla
Warehouse, Tekla Structures users can select products there to create correct couplers based
on rebar size (and grade). The Default environment includes example attribute file tables:
AnchorExample.anchors.csv and CouplerExample.couplers.csv. In the
Default environment, the files are located in the \system folder.

Administrator's Release Notes: New precast wall tools

The following precast extensions are now available in the Applications and Components
catalog:
• Wall to wall connection
• Wall groove seam detail
Wall to wall connection creates a connection between two precast walls. The connection
may contain a groove with or without additional shear teeth. Optionally, the connection may
also create rebar loops or some embeds (custom part) as connectors at walls.
Wall groove seam detail creates a groove with optional shear cups into a precast wall, slab,
or similar part.

Administrator's Release Notes: New custom attributes

Reinforcement meshes now have new custom properties: MESH_LENGTH_NET,
MESH_WIDTH_NET, and MESH_SIZE_NET. These properties provide accurate results,

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 25 Administrator's Release Notes: Concrete settings
 whereas LENGTH, WIDTH and SIZE did not do that in certain situations. The difference
between the two sets of attributes is shown in the image below.

The new custom attributes should be taken into use in all relevant reports, templates,
drawing marks and associative notes using CUSTOM.MESH_*_NET instead of LENGTH,
WIDTH, and SIZE.
The two sets of attributes work somewhat differently: the new attributes consider the
longest side of the actual bars as the length direction, and the order of the bars in
CUSTOM.MESH_SIZE_NET is consistent.
In addition to these, CUSTOM.ELEMENT_WEIGHT sums up the net weights of all cast unit
and subassembly parts. It ignores all subassemblies whose main part MATERIAL_TYPE is
STEEL. The attribute can be used to ignore the weight of all embedded subassemblies, such
as lifting anchors and cable loops, which are included in CAST_UNIT.WEIGHT.

1.4 Disclaimer
© 2015 Tekla Corporation and its licensors. All rights reserved.
This Software Manual has been developed for use with the referenced Software. Use of the
Software, and use of this Software Manual are governed by a License Agreement. Among
other provisions, the License Agreement sets certain warranties for the Software and this
Manual, disclaims other warranties, limits recoverable damages, defines permitted uses of the
Software, and determines whether you are an authorized user of the Software. All
information set forth in this manual is provided with the warranty set forth in the License

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 26 Disclaimer

 Agreement. Please refer to the License Agreement for important obligations and applicable
limitations and restrictions on your rights. Tekla does not guarantee that the text is free of
technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Tekla reserves the right to make changes and
additions to this manual due to changes in the software or otherwise.
In addition, this Software Manual is protected by copyright law and by international treaties.
Unauthorized reproduction, display, modification, or distribution of this Manual, or any
portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the
full extent permitted by law.
Tekla, Tekla Structures, Tekla BIMsight, BIMsight, Tedds, Solve, Fastrak and Orion are either
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where otherwise expressly stated.
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To see the third party licenses, go to Tekla Structures, click Help --> About and click the
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The elements of the software described in this Manual are protected by several patents and
possibly pending patent applications in the European Union and/or other countries. For more
information go to page http://www.tekla.com/tekla-patents.

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 27 Disclaimer

Tekla Structures Administrator's Release Notes 28 Disclaimer