Add, modify, and delete shapes

You can add new shapes to the material database in the Shape Maintenance dialog box. You can also select which dimension properties are used for the shapes, and permanently delete unnecessary shapes.

To access Shape Maintenance, click the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance ribbon tab and on the menu click Shape Maintenance.

Each shape in Tekla PowerFab has the following properties:


Property	Description
Shape	An abbreviation for the shape. You can use any abbreviation that is not currently used by another shape.
Description	A description for the shape.
Material Group	Select a suitable group for the shape. Each shape belongs to one of the following material groups: Angles Beams Plates Rods Tubes None All material groups have their own dimension property sets that determine how Tekla PowerFab calculates the dimension properties and estimates labor. Note that if you select the None material group, Tekla PowerFab cannot calculate labor for the shape in the Estimating module.
Description (Imperial)/(Metric)	Each dimension property has a description in both imperial and metric units.
Dynamic	Determines what kind of entries the shape accepts. If Dynamic is set to Yes, the shape accepts any entry that the user enters as dimension. If Dynamic is set to No, the dimensions of the shape need to be added to the list. Note that if you select Yes, you cannot assign weights or other dimension properties for the shape.
Length	Shows if the dimension has length or if the descriptions contain the length. If the dimension descriptions contain the length or the dimension does not have length, Length is set to No. If the descriptions do not contain the length, but the dimension has a length, Length is set to Yes.
Property	Shows the weight calculation format of the dimension. You can view the details of the format by expanding the Dimension Format Properties section and opening the Property Formats tab.
Sur. Area	Shows the surface area calculation format of the dimension. You can view the details of the format by expanding the Dimension Format Properties section and opening the Surface Area Formats tab.
Price Format, Weight format	Select the price and weight format for the shape
Combining	Select if the shape should be multed, nested, or not combined at all.
PDC - Piece Mark Required	When selected, Tekla PowerFab always looks for a piece mark association when importing items of the new shape. If piece marks are not used, leave the checkbox unselected. The use of piece marks is defined in Maintenance > Production Control > Company Standards.
Exclude from Instance Tracking	If you do not want to allow instance tracking for the shape, select the Exclude from Instance Tracking checkbox. Selecting the Exclude from Instance Tracking checkbox is especially useful for items like hardware.
ERP Designation	If you are adding a shape that is also used in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, type the shape designation that is used in that software in the ERP Designation field.
Default Cost Code	A code for classifying costs to match your accounting system See Manage cost codes and Assign and view default cost codes and cost types.
Default Cost Type	A category for each classification of cost See Manage cost types.

Note: Some shapes also have qualified alternate dimension properties that you can select to use. In this case, two or more lines are shown for the selected shape.

Select the line whose properties you want to use, and click Save Shape to save the changes.

Add a shape

Note: When you add new materials to the material database, the materials still need to be added to the pricing database separately. The pricing database is where Tekla PowerFab looks for the material dimensions and lengths for combining materials.

See Pricing maintenance. See also Adjust labor standards.

In the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance dialog box, click the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance ribbon tab.
On the menu, select Shape Maintenance.
In the shape list of the Shape Maintenance dialog box, select a shape that has as similar properties as possible to the shape that you want to add.

For example, when adding deformed bar anchors, you may want to select the anchor bolts shape, whose properties are calculated in the same way. This way, you do not have to modify the shape properties too much.
At the bottom of the dialog box, click New Shape.
Define the properties.
Click Save Shape.

The new shape is added to the shape list.

Next, you can close the Shape Maintenance dialog box, and add dimensions, grades, additional shape abbreviations, and other properties for the shape according to your needs.

Modify a shape

In the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance dialog box, click the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance ribbon tab.
On the menu, select Shape Maintenance.
In the shape list of the Shape Maintenance dialog box, select the shape that you want to modify.
Modify the properties.

For example, you can change how the shape should be combined, and which price and weight formats are used.
Click Save Shape.
To confirm changing the shape properties, click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.

Modify multiple shapes

In the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance dialog box, click the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance ribbon tab.
On the menu, select Shape Maintenance.
In the shape list of the Shape Maintenance dialog box, select the shapes that you want to modify.

To select multiple items, hold down Ctrl.

To select a range of subsequent items, hold down Shift.
On the Shape Maintenance ribbon tab, select Global Edit - Selected.

The Shape Maintenance - Global Edit dialog box opens.
Update the properties.
Click Update.

You are prompted to confirm the action.
Click Yes.

Delete a shape

You can delete unnecessary shapes from the material database. For example, you might need to delete a shape whose properties are incorrect.

Note:

When you delete a shape in the Shape Maintenance dialog box, the shape and its properties are permanently deleted from Tekla PowerFab. Shapes that are currently used somewhere in Tekla PowerFab cannot be deleted.
We recommend that you deactivate shapes instead of deleting them. If needed, you can easily start using deactivated shapes by activating the shapes again.

In the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance dialog box, click the Shape/Grade/Size Maintenance ribbon tab.
In the menu, select Shape Maintenance.
In the shape list on the left side of the Shape Maintenance dialog box, select the shape that you want to delete.
At the bottom of the dialog box, click Delete Shape.
To permanently delete the shape from Tekla PowerFab, click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.