Delimiters in input files

A delimiter is a character that separates different fields that are on the same line.

You can delimit fields with any ASCII character that does not appear in the names or values of the attributes that you are importing. You can use several alternative delimiters in the same input file. Common delimiter characters include the comma, tab, semicolon, and space.

Field and value definitions in input files

In the input file, the first line is a header that defines the fields for the rest of the input file. All other lines in the input file contain the values for the fields that you named on the first line.

The first line must contain at least one key field that identifies the model objects or drawings, and at least one user-defined attribute name that identifies a user-defined attribute field into which you want to import new values. Note that the names of many of the fields are different than the field labels that you see in the user interface. The user-defined attribute names are defined in the objects.inp files that apply to the model (see the reference about how to read the file).

The configuration file import_macro_data_types.dat (which is explained further ahead) defines which fields you can use in the attribute import and what is each attribute's data type. It is not possible to add or change the key fields, but you can edit the set of user-defined attributes. Values are imported as strings (text) unless a different data type is defined for the attribute in the import_macro_data_types.dat file.

Available key fields for input files

The key fields for model objects are:

The key fields for drawing objects are:

Empty values in input files

Some lines in the input file might not have a value for all of the attribute fields. For example, there might be two or more consecutive delimiter characters between values.

These empty values can be either skipped during import without making any changes to user-defined attributes, or you can use these empty values to erase existing user-defined attribute values in your model. By default, empty values are skipped. To clear existing values instead, set the advanced option XS_ERASE_UDA_VALUE_WITH_ATTRIBUTE_IMPORT_NULL_AND_BLANK to TRUE in an ini file.

Reading order for input files

Tekla Structures reads the input file in order starting from the first line. If there are duplicate key fields on the following lines, only the first occurrence is imported.

Location of data files

The default data file is located in the system folder in the environment folder, such as C:\ProgramData\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\environments\common\system. There might also be a localized version of the file in the environment that you are using.

Do not make changes to the default files. Instead, create a copy of the file and store it in a different location, for example, in the firm folder or in the attributes folder in the model folder. This way, your changes are not overwritten when you reinstall or upgrade Tekla Structures. When the same file exists in multiple locations, the default folder search order is followed and only the first file that is read is used.

Content of data files

The import_macro_data_types.dat file is plain text. You can modify the file using any standard text editor, such as Microsoft Notepad.

Each line in the file is a field definition that can contain the following attributes in this order:

User-defined attribute name,Data type,Conversion factor,Comments

1. User-defined attribute name. Write the internal field name as defined for the field in an objects.inp file.

   For example, in the objects.inp definition attribute("USER_FIELD_1", "j_user_field_1", string, "%s", no, none, "0.0", "0.0"), the user-defined attribute name is USER_FIELD_1.

2. Data type.

   The value can be: INT (integer), STRING (text), FLOAT (decimal number), or DATE (date fields with a calendar widget). If the value is missing or incorrect, the value defaults to STRING.

   A value type mismatch does not prevent importing data, but the results might not always be correct depending on the data and the field. For example, date fields might be set incorrectly if the data type is not DATE. However, you can import a number with the integer data type into a text field without problems.

   Fields with option lists are defined as number fields of the INT value type. For example, object locks can be set to No, Yes and Organization with the corresponding numbers 0, 1 and 2 in the input file.

3. Conversion factor (optional, FLOAT only). For converting imperial values to metric values in imperial environments.

   Note:

   We recommend that you check the FLOAT values to avoid conversion factor errors.

4. Comment (optional). Any characters that follow the previous definitions are ignored and can be used for writing your comments. However, we recommend that you avoid adding comments on the same line as definitions. The file is easier to read if you write most comments on separate lines.

Tekla Structures treats lines that start with double forward slash characters (//) as comments and ignores the whole line when reading the file.

Examples:

//Regular attributes

R1_ISSUED_FOR_APPRL, STRING
R1_DATE_APPROVED, DATE

//Attribute with conversion factor and comment

shear1, FLOAT, 4448.2222, For kips

Example input file for parts

This input file is tab delimited.

ASSEMBLY_POS and PHASE are the key fields. Tekla Structures adds several user-defined attributes to the assemblies with values that match those listed in the ASSEMBLY_POS and PHASE columns.

For example, an assembly with the ASSEMBLY_POS (assembly number) of B5 in phase 1 gets the following user-defined attributes:

STATUS: 3

USER_PHASE: 6

USER_ISSUE: 3/25/2019

ASSEMBLY_POS  PHASE  STATUS  USER_PHASE  USER_ISSUE
B1  1  7  3  3/25/2019
B2  1  7  3  3/25/2019
B3  1  7  3  3/25/2019
B4  1  7  3  3/25/2019
B5  1  3  6  3/25/2019
B1  1  3  5  3/26/2019
B2  2  3  4  3/26/2019

The input file contains two entries for B1. In this case, Tekla Structures writes the message ">Duplicate entry in input file." in the log file and only imports the first entry in the file. So in this example, B1 will have the following user-defined attributes after the attribute import:

STATUS: 7

USER_PHASE: 3

USER_ISSUE: 3/25/2019

Example input file for drawings

This input file is tab delimited.

TYPE and NAME are the key fields. Tekla Structures adds a value for the user-defined attribute User field 4 to drawings with values that match those listed in the TYPE and NAME columns.

For example, a drawing with the TYPE A (assembly drawing) and NAME B.2 gets the value 4 in the User field 4.

TYPE  NAME  DRAWING_USERFIELD_4
A  B.1  3
A  B.2  4
A  C.1  1
A  C.2  2