SymEd User’s Guide Product version 2.2 March, 2002 Copyright © 2002 Tekla Corporation Copyright© 1992-2003 Tekla Corporation. 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 Man- ual, disclaims other warranties, limits recoverable damages, defines permitted uses of the Soft- ware, and determines whether you are an authorized user of the Software. Please refer to the License Agreement for important obligations and applicable limitations and restrictions on your rights. 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, Xcity, Xengineer, Xpipe, Xpower, Xsteel, and Xstreet are either regis- tered trademarks or trademarks of Tekla Corporation in the European Union, the United States, and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned in this Manual are or may be trademarks of their respective owners. By referring to a third-party product or brand, Tekla does not intend to suggest an affiliation with or endorsement by such third party and dis- claims any such affiliation or endorsement, except where otherwise expressly stated. Elements of the software described in this Manual may be the subject of pending patent applica- tions in the European Union and/or other countries. SymEd User’s Guide i Contents Contents Contents i Preface 1 1 Getting started 5 1.1 Introducing symbol files 6 1.2 Installing and running SymEd 6 1.3 Introducing the workarea 8 1.4 Working with symbol files 13 1.5 Working with symbols 15 1.6 Setting program options 16 1.7 Working with SymEd windows 20 2 Drawing and editing symbols 23 2.1 Selecting and moving objects 23 2.2 Drawing primitives 27 2.3 Editing primitives 33 3 Using advanced functions 55 3.1 Importing DXF images 56 3.2 Using a digitizer tablet 56 ii SymEd User’s Guide Contents 4 Menu Reference 61 4.1 File menu commands 62 4.2 Edit menu commands 63 4.3 View menu commands 65 4.4 Insert menu commands 66 4.5 Misc menu commands 67 4.6 Options menu commands 68 4.7 Help menu command 70 4.8 Popup menu commands 70 Glossary 73 Index 77 SymEd User’s Guide 1 Preface Introduction This is the SymEd User’s Guide, which explains how to create and edit symbol files using SymEd. Symbol files are used in Tekla applications. A symbol file consists of up to 256 individual symbols made up of lines, arcs, cir- cles, filled areas and text. These are called primitives. Audience This manual is aimed at administrators of Tekla applications who want to: • create symbol files to be used in Tekla applications • edit existing symbol files We assume you are familiar with basic Windows commands such as starting and closing applications and using application windows. How to use this guide This manual is meant to be both a textbook and a reference book depending on your needs and level of familiarity with SymEd. If you are new to SymEd, you start with Chapter 1, Getting started. If you have the basics and want to get started with creating and editing symbols, go to Chapter 2, Drawing and editing symbols. If you want information about SymEd’s advanced features, go to Chapter 3, Using advanced functions. If you want information about SymEd menu commands, see Chapter 4, Menu Reference, on page 61. 2 SymEd User’s Guide Conventions used in this guide Typefaces We use different typefaces in this manual to mark different types of items. In most cases, the meaning is obvious from the context. If you are not sure what a certain typeface represents, check it here. • Any text that appears in the user interface is displayed using bold , for example window and dialog box titles, field and button labels, combo-box options and list box items. • New terms appear in italic bold when they are used for the first time. • Any text that you type into the user interface appears in "quotation marks". For example, typing "romsim" into the Font name field. • Italic is used for information that needs to be emphasized. • Names of files and directory paths appear in bold, for example: .\DXK_Fontpath\romsim.fon Noteboxes A notebox is a shaded area that contains special information which must stand out from the surrounding text. There are four different types of noteboxes. They contain: •Tips •Notes • Important notes and warnings Different types of noteboxes contain different icons. Below are some examples: A tip looks like this. It might introduce a shortcut or suggest alternative ways of doing things. This is a note. A note is to draw your attention to details that may be overlooked. Ver y important notes and warnings are marked with a stop sign. Read these! They are to save you from making mistakes or wasting your time. SymEd User’s Guide 3 Organization This guide is divided into four chapters and a glossary. Chapter 1: Getting started This chapter provides an overview of symbol files and how they are used in Tekla applications. The chapter introduces SymEd and the workareas and basic symbol file operations. Chapter 2: Drawing and editing symbols This chapter gives detailed instructions on selecting objects and drawing and editing symbols. Chapter 3: Using advanced functions This chapter provides information about adavnced SymEd features such as importing DXF images and using a digitizer tablet. Chapter 4: Menu Reference This chapter provides short descriptions of all SymEd commands. Glossary The glossary includes definitions for the most central terms and concepts in the manual. 4 SymEd User’s Guide SymEd User’s Guide 5 Getting started 1 Getting started Overview Introduction This chapter gives an overview of symbol files and how they are used in Tekla applications, and discusses installing the SymEd software and starting and exit- ing the program. Audience This chapter is for beginners. Whatever plans you have for using SymEd, you should start with this chapter. You need to be familiar with basic Windows concepts. Organization This chapter contains the following sections: • Introducing symbol files (p. 6) • Installing and running SymEd (p. 6) • Introducing the workarea (p. 8) • Working with symbol files (p. 13) • Working with symbols (p. 15) • Setting program options (p. 16) • Working with SymEd windows (p. 20) 6 SymEd User’s Guide Getting started 1.1 Introducing symbol files Introduction A symbol file is a collection of individual symbols saved in a single file. A sym- bol file can contain up to 256 symbols. A symbol is made up of primitives and their combinations such as lines, polygon lines, arcs, circles, boxes, filled areas, and text. You can identify the individual symbols of a symbol file with numbers from 0 to 255. For detailed information about primitives and other shapes, see Available primitives and shapes (p. 29). Symbol file usage We use SymEd symbol files in Tekla Xproducts for creating user interface items. The attributes of a symbol (line or fill color, for example) are defined at runtime, or they can be set in the symbol file. You can use symbol files to adjust symbols for your own needs. You can intro- duce your own customized symbols without making changes in the Xproduct. Tekla applications use SymEd symbol files in a variety of ways. Some applica- tions (Tekla Xsteel, for example) use symbol files directly, others (Tekla Xpower, for example) use a combination of symbol and presentation files created with PresEd. To find out how your Tekla product uses symbol files, refer to the product docu- mentation. 1.2 Installing and running SymEd This section contains information on how to install SymEd. The installation pro- cedure depends on which Tekla application you are using. This section also cov- ers hardware requirements and describes how to start and exit SymEd. Do not edit the standard symbol files delivered in your Tekla applications. If you need to edit any symbols, copy the original symbol file and work on the copy, keeping the original symbol file intact. [...]... 38) Starting SymEd Starting SymEd depends on how it is installed: • If SymEd is installed on an application server, you have a shortcut on your desktop To start SymEd, double-click the SymEd shortcut icon SymEd starts via a batch file • If SymEd is installed on your local workstation, you start by going to the SymEd installation directory and double-clicking the Symed. exe icon In some Tekla products,... Tekla products, you can start SymEd directly from the product pulldown menu For detailed information on starting SymEd in your Tekla Xproduct, refer to the product documentation SymEd User’s Guide Getting started 7 Exiting SymEd To exit SymEd, do one of the following: • On the File menu, click Exit • Click the Close button program window on the upper right corner of the SymEd SymEd asks for confirmation... calculated from the DXF file coordinates SymEd User’s Guide Getting started 19 1.7 Working with SymEd windows This section provides an overview of SymEd windowing operations SymEd has standard windowing operations available in most Tekla applications and utilities They include zooming, panning, and positioning the view of a window Redrawing a window Redrawing an active SymEd window is useful if you are working... • If you have a multi-user license, SymEd is typically installed on an application server In some cases SymEd software may be delivered in a zip file To install the software from a zip file, extract its contents to a folder of your choice For detailed information on installing SymEd in your Tekla Xproduct, refer to the product documentation Hardware requirements SymEd supports three-button mouse devices... Cancel to continue the current session 1.3 Introducing the workarea This section covers the SymEd program and zoom windows and their contents Program window When you start SymEd, the program window appears: File toolbar Symbol Library Workarea Zoom toolbar Symbol Edit Workarea Symbol slots Attribute bar 8 SymEd User’s Guide Getting started Status bar Coordinate bar Primitive toolbar Symbol Library Workarea... magnify the workarea if necessary For details, see Introducing the workarea (p 8) SymEd User’s Guide Getting started 15 4 When you are done, save the file by selecting File > Save 1.6 Setting program options This section covers SymEd program options Automatic Redraw If the automatic redraw option is on (default setting), SymEd updates all windows after each user operation On a slow computer, this feature...Installation SymEd installation depends on which Tekla application you are using With some applications SymEd is installed automatically With others, SymEd is delivered as a part of an optional tools package The installation location will depend on the application and the type of your application license: • If you have a single-user license, SymEd is typically installed on your... shortcut: Shift + Down 26 SymEd User´s Guide Drawing and editing symbols 2.2 Drawing primitives SymEd symbols consist of primitives, which are basic geometric shapes such as a line or an arc This section tells you how to create primitives Primitives SymEd has the following primitives: • • • • • Line Arc Circle Text Fill area Shapes In addition to the primitives listed above, SymEd has a number of shapes... window: SymEd User’s Guide Getting started 11 Zoom window toolbar The Zoom window toolbar contains the following buttons: Button View > Pan Increases the displayed area View > Zoom In Reduces the displayed area View > Zoom Out Restores the previous view – Restores the original view – Magnifies selected workarea View > Magnifier Creates a new zoom window View > New Zoom Window Deletes the zoom window SymEd. .. under a new name: 1 Click File > Save As A file selection dialog box appears 2 Specify a file name and location and click OK SymEd User’s Guide Getting started 13 This saves the current symbol file with a new name If you specify an existing file name when saving a symbol file, SymEd will overwrite the existing file without a warning To save a symbol file under the current name, do one of the following: . 70 Glossary 73 Index 77 SymEd User’s Guide 1 Preface Introduction This is the SymEd User’s Guide, which explains how to create and edit symbol files using SymEd. Symbol files are used in Tekla applications. A. manual. 4 SymEd User’s Guide SymEd User’s Guide 5 Getting started 1 Getting started Overview Introduction This chapter gives an overview of symbol files and how they are used in Tekla applications,. intact. SymEd User’s Guide 7 Getting started Installation SymEd installation depends on which Tekla application you are using. With some applications SymEd is installed automatically. With others, SymEd