Administrator's release notes: Property pane updates

In the new Tekla Structures version, there can be new object types or properties, changed object types or properties, or removed properties.

For more information about changes in the property pane, see Property pane improvements.

Note:

Previously, it was possible to customize the property pane in the common environment. In Tekla Structures version 2023, customizations in the common environment have been removed.

Automatic upgrade of property templates

Your own property pane settings in PropertyTemplates.xml are now automatically merged with the default set of properties offered by Tekla Structures.

When you upgrade to a new Tekla Structures version, the property pane automatically merges the latest changes in the default set of properties from the Tekla Structures database with your custom PropertyTemplates.xml files from the previous version in the environment, company, or project folder.

When the property pane settings are merged, settings that are loaded later override the previously loaded settings. The overriding is done separately for each object type. The loading order is:

Default property pane settings from the Tekla Structures database
Property pane settings in environment folders, based on the XS_SYSTEM path
Property pane settings in the company folder, defined in XS_FIRM
Property pane settings in the project folder, defined in XS_PROJECT
Your customized property pane settings under %localappdata%.

After you open the Property pane editor and save the customized layout in Tekla Structures version 2023, it is no longer necessary to manually update your own PropertyTemplates.xml files when you upgrade to later versions.

Open the Property pane editor.

For detailed instructions, see Customize the property pane layout.
(Optional) Add your most important UDAs directly to the property pane so that you do not need to open separate UDA dialog boxes.
Click the Save all button.

The customizations are saved in the \<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\TeklaStructures\<version>\UI\PropertyTemplates folder.
Copy the PropertyTemplates.xml file from the \<user>\AppData\Local\Trimble\TeklaStructures\<version>\UI\PropertyTemplates folder to the environment, company, or project folder.

For example: ..\ProgramData\Tekla Structures\<version>\Environments\<environment>\system\PropertyRepository\Templates\PropertyTemplates.xml

Show or hide properties in the property pane

You can now customize the property pane to show only properties that you mark as frequently used.

By default, all properties are marked as frequently used and are always shown in the property pane. If you want to hide the properties that you do not use frequently, Customize the property pane layout, and mark each property as frequently or infrequently used.

For more information, see Show only frequently used properties in the property pane in the Tekla Structures 2023 release notes.

Start using the new property pane for drawings

A new property pane in drawings makes drawing object properties accessible in a side pane window.

For more information about the improvement, see New property pane in drawings.

Ensure that the drawing property pane for each object type has at least one standard file.

We recommend that you check the standard files for all roles. If there are any missing files, create the files and save them in the correct folders under the environment folder.

For more information, see Standard property files.
Check the dimension attribute files for missing related exclude tag filters.

If the dimension attribute file does not need an exclude tag filter, select None from the Filter list under Excluded tags, then save the attribute file.

The file is saved in the <model>\attributes folder. Copy the file to correct folder.

For more information about excluding tags, see Filter out dimension tag content.
(Optional) Customize the property pane layout, and mark each property as frequently or infrequently used.

If you have customized the ribbon, add changes to your customized ribbon. See Administrator's release notes: Ribbon updates.