The Structural Engineering Library "calcsheet" screen shares a common layout and button arrangement for all  available programs. There are four main components of a calcsheet, however due to the varied capabilities and scope of the whole Library, some calcsheets may look different.

 

After double-clicking (or choosing Edit) to select a calculation from the  Project Manager calculation tree , the screen is changed to display the calculation sheet (example shown below for the General Timber Beam calculation).

         

 

The central working area in the calculation screen are the tabbed sheets. There are always two sets of tabs....one for input values and one for results and graphics. These sheets let you quickly switch between working with your data, a sketch of the item you are designing, and a force or stress diagram of applicable values.

 

General Control Buttons

 

 

The buttons across the top of the calculation screen provide various items of functionality.

 

 

Tools & Settings

This button gives you access to various items that effect the whole Structural Engineering Library. When selecting this button the following pop-up menu is displayed. Please see elsewhere in this User's manual for descriptions of these items :

 

                       

 

Help

This item give you access to various items of assistance. Here is the pop-up menu displayed when pressed:

 

                       

 

Design

This button is not present in all calculation screens. When the type of calculation allows us t provide a more automated design feature than you simply entering the input values and watching the results a Design button is provided.

 

This particular program shown in the screen capture is for designing wood beams. The Structural Engineering Library has a database of wood sections, so this button will display a design criteria screen and then automatically check all beam sections and then provide a list of the acceptable ones for your choice for usage.

 

 

 

 

 

Print

This button starts a printout of this calculation.

 

Print Preview

This button, which always just appears with an icon of a sheet of paper  will display a preview of the calculation printout for you to review before selecting to send it to the printer.  Shown below is the top portion of the window that is displayed that will show the preview printout.

 

 

Cancel

This selection exits the calculation without saving the data to the project file and then redisplays the Project Manager.

 

Save

This selection saves all of the data for this calculation to the project file and redisplays the Project manager.

 

 

Input Tabs

The group of tabs on the left one-half of the calculation screen are called the "Input Tabs". These tabs contain all the input data locations that you will use.

 

 

You can easily select different tabs and enter the data quickly.

 

 

Results & Graphics Tabs

The results & graphics tabs are where all the calculated values are reviewed, a sketch of the item that your input data describes is shown, and where the shear/moment/deflection or other stress diagrams are available.

 

Results Tab

This tab is either a single tab or contains a group of sub-tabs that presents all of the calculation information. Here's an image of a Results tab that has a set of sub tabs:

 

 

Sketch Tab

This tab is not present in all calculations. A drawing of the item you are designing will be displayed, possibly with tabs, toggle buttons, or other controls that you can use to manipulate the display of information.

 

When the Sketch tab is selected, the Print button will start a printout of the sketch only.

 

 

 

Diagram Tab

This tab is not present in all calculations. When available, a length-magnitude diagram of stresses, deflections, forces, column interaction, or other graph will be displayed. Tabs, toggle buttons, or other controls may also be provided so you can manipulate the display of information.

 

When the Diagram tab is selected, the Print button will start a printout of the current diagram only.

 

 

 

 

Defaults Menu Item

This selection is only operational when editing a calculation.

 

For each calculation in the Structural Engineering Library  there are initial values stored in a file named DEFAULTS.ECD. When you start a calculation using the Quik  menu or the New  button for a project file, these initial values are loaded into the data entry areas of the calculation.

 

Selecting this menu item will ask you whether you wish to Save or Load the default values. Saving the values will use all your current calculation input data as the new, initial, default data. Loading the values will replace all your current calculation input data with the default  values stored.

 

You can do this for all calculations in the Library, and in most cases we recommend you do so to ease your repetitive data entry.