Documentation

FEM-Design 23 significantly speeds up and simplifies the documentation creation.The Documentation module has been renewed in terms of functionality, user-interface and performance.

Contents

• General improvements
  • Multiple reports
  • Report defaults
  • Chapters defaults
  • Individual tables of contents
  • Hide Reports from content list
  • Collapse and expand content
  • Drag and drop in the content list
  • Object spacing
  • Select objects of the same type
  • New navigation panel
  • Quick access to object properties
  • Apply button in all relevant dialogs
  • Save settings options
  • Page format
  • Title block
  • Automatic margins adjustment
  • Attachment placeholder
  • Faster documentation processing
• Graphical windows
  • Adjust size and position on the page
  • Window margins
  • New title setup
  • Improved transfer of windows settings
• Tables
  • Edit and format table on the page
  • Quick access to hide / show table content
  • Go to top / bottom of the table
  • Table captions
  • Select objects from the table
  • Row filter
  • New table format settings
  • Additional data in the tables
• Text input
• Templates

General improvements

Multiple reports

From now on, within one documentation, we can create and manage several documents (as new objects, so-called Reports). Each report has separate settings, page format, title blocks, chapter settings, table of contents and page numbering.

Report defaults

All reports have a chapter-level default font style and spacing settings for content object types that can be customized and saved as templates for later use.

Chapters defaults

When inserting chapters, a custom settings can be specified in addition to the default font style specified for the host Report. The custom look can be reset to the default style at any time.

Individual tables of contents

A Table of contents with individual settings can be inserted for each Report separately. 

Hide Reports from content list

Individual reports and their contents can be temporarily hidden from the display, navigation and printing inside a documentation.

Collapse and expand content

Content can be collapsed and expanded by any chapter level in the content list.

Drag and drop in the content list

Contents can be easily and freely moved in the content list by drag and drop.

Object spacing

Spacing before/after an object can be now individually modified for each documentation object type.

Select objects of the same type

With the new Select type command, you can quickly select all objects of the same type (e.g., tables or graphical windows) and e.g edit their properties. This is also true for Detailed results of the same type.

New navigation panel

With the brand-new navigation panel one can now easily switch between different reports.

Quick access to object properties

Quick access to all settings of each documentation object can be achieved by hovering the cursor over the object in the documentation space and Ctrl+right-clicking. The regular way is to right click on the object in the content list and finding Properties on the list of available commands.

Apply button in all relevant dialogs

With the new Apply button, any settings can be approved and previewed immediately without closing the dialog box. This way, you can switch between several setting alternatives in fewer steps.

Save settings options

The settings in the individual dialog boxes can be saved as defaults, or with a name for later use.

Page format

Individual page orientation, size and margins can be specified for each Report or for any page within it. Any additional page format inserted into a report will override the previous format according to their own settings.

Title block

The Title blocks can now be supplemented with unique user defined data (fields). Additionally, brand new title blocks in A4 and A3 format in portrait and landscape orientations have been added to the default library.

Automatic margins adjustment

By inserting a Title block, the margins of the affected pages are automatically adjusted to the size of the Title block. With that feature, text boxes, tables, images and graphic windows cannot go outside the usable area defined by the Title block.

Attachment placeholder

FEM-Design 23 comes with an option to add an attachment placeholder. A placeholder does not appear in the Table of contents list, but its specified extent is tracked and followed by the current documentation's page numbering.

Faster documentation processing

Displaying results of visible objects only, instead of the entire model leads to significantly faster documentation processing and management compared to previous versions.

This functionality is directly accessible by narrowing down target objects with criteria (e.g., by Storey, Axis, or selection) during the result query.

Graphical windows

Adjust size and position on the page

It is now possible to resize and move the graphical windows directly on the page. Use the grey squares (bottom and right side of the window) for resizing and the move symbol (top and left side of the window) for moving.

Window margins

You can now specify graphical window margins for more precise positioning.

New title setup

Window titles can be now made of 3 separate components upon user request: Caption, (user defined) Name, and Automatic title.

If the Automatic title is not checked, it will appear withing the graphical window (just as in the previous versions). If it is checked, it will only appear in the title below.

Improved transfer of windows settings

Content and display settings can be transferred between Graphical windows (Copy/Paste window settings). In FEM-Design 23, the layers have been split into 3 separate groups.

Tables

Edit and format table on the page

Every table can now be edited directly on the page. It is now possible to resize the columns, or access the properties of a given column (with left click) that allows to hide a column, modify column width of format the number.

Quick access to hide / show table content

Use the plus icon for a quick access to the list of all available data columns for a given table. Here you can quickly check / uncheck (multi-selection is possible) what to show in the table.

Go to top / bottom of the table

In the case of multi-page long tables, the arrow icons (in the top right corner) will help in jumping to the start / end of the the table.

Table captions

It is now possible to have a caption with numbering for tables.

Select objects from the table

It is now possible to select the listed objects directly from within the table. Selection can be done:

• manually from the list of available objects,
• based on criteria sets specified by Filter, or
• by storeys, axes, and user-defined Filters.
   

Row filter

It is now possible to filter the rows of some tables. That option is only active for certain result types (mostly listing maximum/minimum of load combination/load group results based on result components).

New table format settings

The Format table tab includes all the relevant settings for the table setup.

Additional data in the tables

Relevant tables have been complemented with additional data such as the load combination number or bar length.

Text input

Brand new rich text editor has been implemented in FEM-Design 23.

Possible options:

• Font style formatting (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough) in addition to font type and size settings
• Subscript and superscript writing
• Custom font colour
• Text highlighting with a custom colour
• Increase/decrease indent function
• Line and paragraph spacing
• Bullets and numbering
• Inserting of symbols
  
   

Templates

FEM-Design 23 provides much more efficient documentation template. From now on, any template stores and applies all possible (non-model- and object-dependent) properties. Additionally, a brand new template structural analysis.dsc has been added to the library. You can find it in Templates > Apply...

Download an example of an A.2.1 Load take down documentation (inspired by the Danish Standard SBI 271) that can be created with the new template.

Properties stored in a template:
 

Components

1. Report

• All reports in the template
• All Report properties (All from tabs: General, Chapter and Spacing defaults)

2. Table of contents

• All table of contents for all reports
• All properties for each Table of contents (title, font, indent, spacing)

3. Chapter

• All chapters in all reports and all of their properties (level, title and font)
  
   

Page format

1. Page format 

• Paper size
• Paper orientation
• Margins

2. Title block

• All title blocks for each page format and each report

3. Page break

• All new lines and their position in the report

4. New line

• All new lines and their position in the report
  
   

Content

1. Graphical window

• Graphical windows all properties (title, windows)
• Display settings for individual windows (macro + detailed settings)
• Window settings (coordinate system, grid, unit, scale)
• The exact position of graphical windows (e.g. 2 in one row)
• View settings and orientation (wireframe / hidden line / shading mode, physical view, plane / south / east / space view, zoom, etc.)
• Layer status
• The appearance settings of Labels and Numeric values

2. Table

• Table properties (all from: General tab, Table options, Row filter and Format)

3. Text

• All properties and rich text

4. Attachment placeholder

• All properties (title and number of pages)
   

Additionally

• The spacing properties of all relevant objects
• The Window margin of all relevant objects