detail manager

Copyright © 2011 Tekla Corporation August 2011

Detail Manager (Draft) 1. Purpose and description This tool allows users to create sections and details on General Arrangement (GA type drawings quickly and easily through a simple interface. It circumvents the need to identify, cut sections and define blowup details by combining all of these processes into one action.

2. System requirements Tekla Structures version: 19.0

.NET Framework version: 4.0

Environments: Default

Languages: English

3. Installation To install the application:

1. Close down Tekla Structures (if running)

2. Download the appropriate MSI Installer… (x64 for 64 bit machine and 64bit installation of Tekla Structures)

3. Install MSI Installer…

4. Start up Tekla Structures

5. Drag and dock the new toolbar that will have an icon similar to below.


4. Introduction The tool is designed to fit with several workflows

1. Steel Detailers creating sections and details for the review or approval process and for site instructions

2. Engineers creating connection design sketches of each similar connection for validation

3. Concrete detailers producing shop fabrication and site installation details

This extension contains features defined specifically for these processes but can be used in other methods too.

5. Orientation 1. Start the tool by clicking the icon on the toolbar or by going to the Tools>Macros

menu within Tekla Structures, selecting the Detail Manager in the list, and pressing the Run button.

2. As the interface opens it will detect any previously created GA type drawings and show them in the list.

3. The interface is icon driven and tootltips will appear as the mouse is hovered over

each icon.

4. 5. From Left to Right

a. Refresh: This is only required when details are altered while the interface dialog is open and will update all the drawings and details

b. Create Drawings

i. Create New Blank: Creates a new blank GA type drawing conforming to the Drawing Attribute Settings defined in the options

ii. Create New From Model: Creates views based on the selected System Components, Custom Components, ModelViews or ReferenceViews in the model


iii. Create New From Files” This allows rapid selection of 2D details in DWG, DXF or DDF format for addition to drawings without the need to define a location in the model first.

c. Create Views

i. Create New Reference View: This function allows linking of a 2D Reference File by first defining a location in the model where that Reference View exists. The location will appear on Plan or Elevation drawings, denoting which detail sheet the reference file is shown upon.

ii. Create New Model View: For locations where multiple components exist or where no components exist, a ModelView can be created. The users is prompted to input 2 points defining the extrema for the drawing view.

d. Options:

i. Clicking the Options button launches a dialog offering drawing prefix

customization and the maximum number of views per drawing allowed before a new drawing is created when run automatically. The default parameters for drawings and views are located here too.

1. Drawing Settings can be created in the General Arrangement Drawing Properties dialog box and are read from there.

2. Component View Settings and File View settings can be created at the View Level of a General Arrangement Drawing and are read from there.

ii. Under the Advanced section, users can opt to only allow one component per drawing which is particularly useful for creating quick connection detail sketches.

iii. Force One View per Component Code allows multiple views of the same component. This is useful when multiple details are required of the same system component. Users can make more views of different scenarios by changing the ‘Connection Code’ attribute on the General tab of the System or Custom Component. (Note: Some AutoDefault rules in the component settings may override this setting so be sure to turn this setting off first.)

iv. View Naming allows users to specify how the views are labeled.


1. Name would be the Component Name (Clip Angle, Shear Plate etc)

2. Code is the Connection Code from the General tab of the System and Custom Component Properties or from the Connection Code fields in the Reference View and Model View Properties

3. Orientation is defined by the view in the model. Different orientations for details can be defined in the Component Level Settings dialog.

e. Settings: The Component Level Settings Dialogue allows different views to be created of different components.

f. Select Mode: This feature allows highlighting and selection of components in

the model by clicking items in the Detail Manager dialog. Select Only will just highlight the item in the model which may be difficult to find in a large structure. Select and Zoom will highlight the component and zoom to it allowing easier identification.

g. Always On Top: This pin will keep the dialog box on top of all others or allow it to be covered by other active windows if left unchecked.

h. Help: Launches this help file and gives information regarding version and errors reported (in debug model only)

6. Setup Once the model is complete and checked and ready for drawing production, users can create General Arrangement Drawings in the usual manner.

6.1. Connection Codes Every system and custom component has a connection code field on the General tab of the settings. The Detail Manager will produce a detail of every connection selected with a unique connection code. For example; if a Clip Angle (141) component has a default connection code of ‘std’ and every instance of this component has the same code then the Detail Manager will only produce one set of detail views for that component. If the model has some with 3 rows of bolts and some with 4 rows of bolts then the user can change the Connection Code field in one or both of these instances to receive 2 different details of the same component, even though they will be using different settings or different attribute files.


The same rules apply for Model Views too. Change the Connection Code field in the Model View settings dialog box to allow multiple details of Model Views

Note that this setting only applies when the ‘Force one view per component code’ is checked. (This is the default setting)

To produce details of every connection selected in the model regardless of their similarities, uncheck the ‘ Force one view per component code’ setting.

6.2. Force One Component Per Drawing This setting is for situations where user may want multiple views of one connection on smaller sketch style detail sheets on letter sized sheets perhaps. This is commonly used to create sketches for connection design purposes or for site connection details for cast in place concrete connections.


6.3. View Naming Style This setting control how the detail views that appear on the sheets will be identified. Each view will have a number and this can be further appended by addition of the View name (e.g. the component name; clip angle, shear plate simple or the name defined in the Model View dialog.) This can be further appended with the orientation name (e.g. Front View, Top View etc)

6.4. Drawing Leading Zeros This setting should be used when more than 10 views are to be shown on one drawing to avoid a binary numbering system that place view numbers over 10 in the wrong order.

6.5. Defining Views Per Component Before creating the details on the drawings, users may prefer to see more than an elevation view of each component or model view. The settings options allows for this. An example where users may want to define more views would be where the Shear Plate Simple (146) is used and the drawings need to show what side of the beam web should be attached to the shear tab. To seta plan view and an elevation view in this example click the settings icon.

This will launch the dialog box that allows users to add exceptions for certain components

For example it may be necessary to create a top view of a shear tab component to show which side of the beam the shear tab is positioned but a top view might be unnecessary on an end plate connection.

To add a new rule click the icon then type the name of the component in the Component Name search field. Component Numbers or names can be searched here in a similar method to the System Component Catalog.

To add a custom setting for a component, click the icon. This launches another dialog where views can be set and saved.


Select which views are required. For Isometric views, define the view angle. This can be read from the values in the View Properties Dialog Box of the Tekla Structures model for ‘Rotation around X and Rotation around Z shown below.

The View Settings is read from the General Arrangement Drawing View settings and can be created there.

Slope to Follow is for situations where a skewed or sloped connection would result in an unclear detail if drawn orthographically.

Note: To apply the settings, enter a name and click save and close the dialog box. Then select the setting from the drop down list and click enter. Settings will not apply until the enter key is pressed and the drop down arrow disappears from the field.

7. Usage Once the setup is complete, views can be created easily by selecting the required components in the model and clicking the ‘Create Views from Model’ icon

Multiple or single components can be selected. If multiple components are selected, the Detail manager will automatically assign view numbers and place views onto drawing up to the limit defined by the ‘Maximum Number of Views Per Drawing’ setting.


At this point the Detail Manager will automatically create a new sheets and start adding more views until all views are created for the selected components in the model.

7.1. Creating Model Views To create model views, first define the area extrema by clicking the ‘Model Views icon.

For model views, the Detail Manager will then prompt users to select two points in the model that define the limits of the extrema.

The resulting detail view will show all the parts contained within the shaded box.

The shaded box is automatically hidden from the drawings and will not appear on reports or add weight to the model.

7.2. Creating Reference Views Reference Views are simple 2D drawings that are not created in the model. These can be brought directly onto the drawing or can be linked to to a specific location in the model.

To add a 2D reference object onto a detail sheet, select the drawing to receive the detail then choose Create New From File option from the Create Drawings icon and define the path to the 2D reference file. This can be a dxf, dwg or ddf file and multiple 2D reference files can be added at one time. This is particularly useful for adding the many standard details that may be required on the drawings.

To link a specific 2D detail to a specific location in the model choose Create New Reference View from the Create Views icon.


The user will then be prompted to add a location in the model where the reference detail occurs. Opening the properties of this shaded cube with then allow setting of a path to the reference object.

The View Name and Connection Code settings work as described earlier. The dwg / dxf settings can be defined in the dwg / dxf properties available in the drawing interface. These control scaling, line types and colors of the file imported.

8. Mapping of Details Each detail can be automatically identified and located on the General Arrangement Drawings using a localized setting that shows labels for each detail created.

To use this setting select ‘DetailManager_Plan’ or ‘DetailManager_Elevation’ from the localized settings that will be installed along with the Detail Manager. This setting is


based on the standard Plan and Elevation settings with the exception that it will show these Part Marks and Connection Marks.

9. Other Settings DetailSheet: General Arrangement Drawing level setting that specifies the size of sheet and layout to be used from the drawing that will receive the detail views.

Note that there is currently a known issue in the API restricting this capability to automatically load this setting when the drawing is opened. Until this feature is added, users will have to load this setting manually.

DetailView: This view level setting controls how the detail views look by default.

DetailView_Plan: This setting replicates the Part Mark and Connection Mark settings defined at the General Arrangement drawing level at the corresponding view level

DetailView_Elevation: This setting is similar to the Detail View_Plan settings but applies to General Arrangement Elevation type drawings

BlockMarkCube: This is an object group that control the additional parts that are added to the model for Model Views and Reference Views requiring a specific location.

DrawingDetailCube: Object group that collects the shaded

DrawingViewCube

DetailManager_ConnMark: Drawing setting that defines the source Drawing and View Number shown on the Detail Sheet for System and Custom Components

DetailManager_PartMark: Similar to DetailManager_ConnMark but applies to Model Views and Reference Views by pulling this information from the BlockMarkCube

Objects.inp: Adds two new CustomTypes to the default objects.inp in the background. To customize these settings, locate the objects.inp objects_DetailManager.inp file installed to the following folders

\\Program Dat\environments\usimp\inp

\\Program Dat\environments\usmet\inp

\\Program Dat\environments\common\inp

detail manager

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