Text Box:   Chairperson:  Craig Blanchet LeMessurier Consultants blanchet@lemessurier.com   The 2007 GT STRUDL Interface Committee breakout session was successful as always.  We really missed Mac’s presence, but Rob did an excellent job filling in.  We apologize to Mac and offer thanks to Rob for all of the promises he made.  The list that follows begins with priority items that were agreed to by the committee.  We have the perfect opportunity to mold the GT STRUDL user experience into exactly what we want it to be.  If anyone has specific ideas on what you would like to see in a particular feature, please feel free to email them to me or directly to the CASE Center.  Text descriptions, graphical diagrams, flow charts, etc are all welcome.  The more specific you can be, the better.  Some of the items below have been followed by commentary in red.  Some of these comments include requests for help in better defining the requirements of the feature.   2007 PRIORITY ITEMS   Model Wizards ·         Braced Frames – Expand this wizard to include “V”, single diagonal, eccentric, and knee brace configurations.  Also include parametric controls of node locations along the beams in chevron, “V”, eccentric, and knee brace configurations. ·         Tanks – Add the ability to apply external surcharge loads on the sides and bottom of the tank. ·         The CASE Center needs a list and descriptions of parameters that will be used to define the loads. Datasheets ·         Mass – A datasheet that displays masses assigned to joints and members.  This datasheet should include the ability to display the masses assigned by the INERTIA OF JOINTS command. ·         Loads – A datasheet with multiple tabs for different loading types (joint loads, member distributed loads, element pressures, etc…).  Each tab should allow for sorting and filtering of data by load case and other parameters. ·         Rob committed to getting this data sheet started, but it would be helpful if we could prioritize which load types should be implemented first. ·        Allow for copy/paste (spreadsheet type) functionality in datasheets. GT MENU ·         Units Dialog – A single dialog should be available that allows the user to change multiple units settings at one time.  A similar dialog is activated from within some of the menus in command mode (e.g. the “Change Units” button in the “Store Time History Data” dialog box). ·         GT MENU changes the angular units to degrees when they are set to radians in command mode.  This should be corrected. ·         Graphical glitches occur when the GT MENU window looses focus during an animation.  This should be corrected. ·         Graphical review of design parameters and results. ·         Rob said this feature is already in development, but more specific input would be helpful. ·         Select/Deselect – Version 29 now allows joints, members, and finite elements to be selected and deselected.  The following are items to consider for further refinement of this feature. ·         When items have been deselected, return them to their original graphical representation (i.e. don’t leave the “x” on the member and just turn it black). ·         When the right button has been clicked to complete the selection process, the highlighted items should remain highlighted until the selected command has been executed.  This works for some dialogs (e.g. member releases) but not others (e.g. member eccentricities). ·         Joints – Make the dot larger and change its color when selected.  Change the size and color back when deselected. ·         Members – Make the line heavier and change its color when selected.  Change the line-weight and color back when deselected.  The “x” marker should still be part of the selected display since the user can determine the start end of the member by the location of the “x”. ·         Elements – Implement display characteristics similar to members. ·         By Fence – The user should have the ability to select items by drawing a fence area on the screen.  All items within, overlapping, or outside the fence area should be selected (or deselected) on execution. ·         By Parameter/Filter – The user should have the ability to select items by typing match criteria for a particular parameter.  Examples include: selecting all members whose name starts with “G”, selecting all plate elements whose thickness is less than 1”, selecting all support joints with MX releases. §         More specifics on desired parameters and filters will be helpful. ·         Display Selection Only – The user should have the ability to hide from view all items that are not part of the selection set. ·         Allow the user to set the accuracy of the display of numerical values.  Allow changing between decimal and scientific notation as well as specifying decimal accuracy. ·         The CASE Center would like some input as to the levels of precision required for specific data types. ·         Model/Results Display ·         Use different colors for the lines and fill on the positive and negative sides of member force and moment results diagrams. ·         Allow visualization of masses in a model via variable sized symbols (dots or circles) that are scaled to their relative magnitudes. ·         Pop-up window for active review of results – This feature would allow the user to view the results for a single member, physical member, or finite element in a separate window that has active functionality.  A series of buttons in the window could allow the user to control which results are to be displayed.  As the cursor is moved across the member, the value of the result is displayed at the location of the cursor. ·         Display of pushover analysis results: formation sequence of plastic hinges, ductility ratios, animation of displacements, etc. Other ·         Allow text selecting in text output window in a columnar fashion.  This functionality can be observed in a program such as MS Word by holding down the Alt key while selecting text. ·         Rob committed to explore copying text to the clipboard as tab-delimited for easier pasting into spreadsheets and database tables. ·         Allow the creation of material tables (similar to GTTABLE) that allows the user to store a collection of materials that they commonly use and reference them by name.  It is difficult to understand MAT1, MAT2, etc within GTMENU when there are many different materials used in a model. ·         Create an error checking function that checks each joint for instabilities due to excessive release specifications.  A list of unstable joints would be out put after running this utility.  This tool might be incorporated into GTMENU as well.  This would be a simpler (and hopefully faster) tool than the comprehensive instability checker.  Although it would not necessarily find all the instabilities in the structure, simple errors could be identified much more quickly. ·         Rob committed to exploring this feature with Mike Swanger as part of the consistency checking routine. Lower Priority Items GT MENU ·         Undo/Redo – Continue developing undo/redo functionality.  The copy model dialog currently includes the ability to undo, but this should be a more generic function. ·         Edit Members/Joints/Elements – Allow for list editing of properties and values for selected items.  The list should contain the current values of the properties to be edited.  This would essentially be allowing for access to the datasheets found in command mode. ·         Keyboard functionality in dialog boxes – “Standard Windows” functionality such as ENTER = Execute/Done, TAB = Down/Next Cell, Double-Click in a cell selects entire cell contents. ·         Allow for copy/paste functionality in dialog boxes and lists. ·         Units Dialog – A single dialog should be available that allows the user to change multiple units settings at one time.  A similar dialog is activated by some of the menus in command mode. ·         Allow the user to set the accuracy of the display of numerical values.  Allow changing between decimal and scientific notation as well as specifying decimal accuracy. ·         Model/Results Display ·         Change the orientation of member labels to be in line with the member.  Member releases in v29 are now drawn in line with members regardless of their orientation, but member IDs, section names, loads, and results should also be drawn this way.  Implemented in Version 29. ·         Add graphical symbols for releases at member ends and for support and release conditions at support joints.  Allow for “always on” display so these symbols will remain visible when the model is redrawn. ·         Allow visualization of rigid bodies using “spider” diagrams.  Master nodes would be made large (and perhaps change color) and dashed lines would be drawn to the slave nodes which would also be made large (but not as large as the master nodes).  Allow for “always on” display to keep the rigid bodies from disappearing when the model is redrawn.  Also allow for list selection so the user can select individual rigid bodies to be displayed. ·         Allow for visualization of superelements using similar display concepts to the rigid bodies. ·         Allow the graphical display of assigned thicknesses for two-dimensional finite elements. §         This was implemented using variable colors. ·         Roll-over functionality – For joints, members, elements, results, etc. the user should have the ability to move the cursor over an item and have a pop-up window appear that displays information about the item under the cursor.  For example, if the cursor is over a joint, the window would display the joint name, coordinates, support and release status, connected members and elements, etc.  The item being described should appear highlighted as if it were selected.  The user should be able to turn this feature off if desired. ·         Translucent color display – This would allow solid or planar finite elements to be “see through” so that elements behind other elements could be seen when redraw solid or result contours are displayed. ·         Physical Member “On” Feature – When selected, this feature will force the editing of member data (sizes, materials, releases, etc), and display of results to be on a physical member basis so that the user is only required to refer to or click the physical member. ·         Direct output of animation files (AVI, MPG, MOV) for all animation result types. ·         Incorporate openings into auto-meshing via definitions of interior and exterior boundary lines. ·         The “Inquire,” “Select --- Only” feature should be implemented as selection modes that would remain on until turned off. ·         Allow the user to choose which joint to delete when duplicate joints are found. ·         Change the graphical symbol indicating support joints to reflect the existence of releases (pin, roller, etc). ·         Sketches may be helpful for this item. ·         Annotation of joint coordinates should include the joint ID. ·         Allow the user to navigate the model using the scroll wheel to zoom in and out, click and drag to pan, double-click to center, etc. ·         More detail will be helpful. Other ·         Allow more than 8 characters for alpha-numeric naming of joints, members, and finite elements. ·         Create a cross section builder utility that allows the user to assemble arbitrary cross sections from standard shapes.  This utility should allow the user to create standard shape tables (as is done with GT TABLE) that can accessed from any project.  This utility should also provide the information necessary for GTMENU to draw the section correctly using “Redraw Solid”. ·         Create a dynamic function builder utility that allows the user to generate transient and harmonic functions from variable parameters of standard functions (sine, cosine, ramp, pulse, etc.) ·         Allow the definition of column lines so that columns can be referenced/named by grid line intersection.  Columns should be tied to the grids that defined them so than moving a grid also moves the column (i.e. the joints that define the column).  This functionality currently exists in that the user can select a series of joints by line and increment coordinates, but column grids are more intuitive in commercial building design. ·         Steel Design – Allow for the selection of members from multiple tables in case a more economical (lighter) section can be found from a table other than the one that a member’s current property comes from. ·         This can be done by transferring shapes from multiple tables or individual shapes from multiple tables into a single user table.  More intuitive access to user tables would help make this easier to understand. ·         Create an error checking function that checks each joint for instabilities due to excessive release specifications.  A list of unstable joints would be out put after running this utility.  This tool might be incorporated into GTMENU as well.  This would be a simpler (and hopefully faster) tool than the comprehensive instability checker.  Although it would not necessarily find all the instabilities in the structure, simple errors could be identified much more quickly.