Tekla Tedds Integrator

Tekla Tedds Integrator allows you to link Tekla Tedds calculation documents to your Tekla Structures model. You can link existing documents or create new documents, which you or other Tekla Structures users can then easily modify or review during the BIM workflow. The integration reduces the amount of manual work that the detailer or engineer has to undertake in Tekla Structures.

Note: The Tekla Tedds Integrator ribbon tab is shown only if it has been set visible in your environment or role by your administrator. For more information, see Administrator's release notes: Integrated link to Tekla Tedds for simple connections.

For example, using Tekla Tedds Integrator you can check that a simple steel connection in a Tekla Structures model is compliant with Eurocode design. You can quickly modify the design using the Tekla Tedds calculations until all the code-compliant design checks are satisfied. Then you can return the modified design to the Tekla Structures model and automatically update the geometry and configuration of the steel connection to reflect the modified design.

When using Eurocode design, Tekla Tedds Integrator includes built-in automatic data transfer for simple steel connections, structural concrete, and precast concrete elements. For other structural design codes, you can manually select the calculation to use, in which case no data is transferred. You can also add your own integration links, see the Tekla Tedds Integrator Reference Guide for details on how this can be achieved.

Tekla Tedds Integrator supports different levels of design integration. The linking method that is used depends on the structural element selected in the Tekla Structures model.

Data linking: If the integrator is able to identify the structural element you selected in the Tekla Structures model, the appropriate Tekla Tedds calculation will be automatically selected and any appropriate design information available from the model object, such as geometry and material, will be automatically transferred to the Tekla Tedds calculation. When the design is completed, the Tekla Structures model object will be updated as appropriate and the documentation will be linked to the model object. For a list of Tekla Structures object types supporting the data linking method, see the Tekla Tedds Integrator User's Guide.
Document linking: If the integrator is unable to identify the structural element you selected in the Tekla Structures model, you will be asked to choose which Tekla Tedds calculation to use to create your design documentation. When the design is completed, the documentation will then be linked to the model object.

Tekla Tedds ribbon tab in Tekla Structures

The Tekla Tedds ribbon tab in Tekla Structures provides commands for integrating Tekla Structures model objects and Tekla Tedds calculations:

Tekla Tedds application

Tekla Tedds is an easy to use application that engineers can rely on for accurate calculations. With Tekla Tedds, engineers can streamline engineering design, avoid errors, and present output professionally. Tekla Tedds includes a built-in library of structural engineering calculations, which can be used to produce high quality calculation documentation for a wide variety of structural building elements. The calculations are compliant with a range of regional design codes. For more information about Tekla Tedds, see Tekla User Assistance for Tekla Tedds.

To use Tekla Tedds Integrator, you need to have the Tekla Tedds application installed on your computer. You do not need to start the Tekla Tedds application to use the integrator commands, the commands will launch Tekla Tedds automatically when it is needed. For more information about the Tekla Tedds installation, see Tekla Tedds installation and licensing workflow.

Tekla Tedds needs to be purchased separately, it is not included in the Tekla Structures license.

To launch the Tekla Tedds application to do some manual work with Tekla Tedds:

On the Tekla Tedds ribbon in Tekla Structures, click Tedds.

Create a new document for a model object

You can create a new Tekla Tedds calculation document for the selected Tekla Structures object.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click New.
Depending on the selected structural element, either the data linking method or the document linking method is used:
Data linking method
If the structural identity of the object can be determined, the data linking method will be used, and the appropriate calculation will start automatically. Geometric information related to the section shape, governing dimensions, member length and material will be automatically populated.
Some information is not transferred from Tekla Structures to the Tekla Tedds calculation, such as loads and bending moments (where applicable), slenderness information, or the national annex to be used. Where values are not transferred from Tekla Structures, the default values applicable for the Tekla Tedds calculation will be populated.
1. To complete the design once the Tekla Tedds calculation has been completed, click the Finish button.
  This creates a new Tekla Tedds calculation document (.ted) and links it to the selected model object.
2. In the displayed dialog, save the documented results of the calculation.
  We recommend that you save the document in a subfolder under the Tekla Structures model folder, which will ensure that the documents are transferred with the model, for example, when using Tekla Model Sharing.
Document linking method
If the integrator is unable to identify the structural element, the document linking method will be used, and you will be asked to choose which calculation to use.
1. In the Select calculation dialog box, select the required calculation and click the Calculate button.
  The calculation dialog box is displayed.
  
  For document linking, no information is transferred from Tekla Structures to Tekla Tedds. Instead of information transfer, the default values applicable for the Tekla Tedds calculation will be populated.
2. Once the Tekla Tedds design calculation has been completed, click the Finish button to complete the design.
  This creates a new Tekla Tedds calculation document (.ted) and links it to the selected model object.
3. In the displayed dialog, save the documented results of the calculation.
  We recommend that you save the document in a subfolder under the Tekla Structures model folder, which will ensure that the documents are transferred with the model, for example, when using Tekla Model Sharing.

Link an existing document to a model object

You can link an existing Tekla Tedds document (.ted) to the selected model object.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Add.
In the Select Tedds document dialog box, browse for and select a previously saved Tekla Tedds document (.ted).

The selected Tekla Tedds document is linked to the model object that you selected.

Update document and model

You can update the Tekla Tedds calculation document linked to the selected model object with the current data from the Tekla Structures model, recalculate the document, and update the model from the completed Tekla Tedds design.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Update.
The calculation is started. The current data from the Tekla Structures model will be transferred to the existing Tekla Tedds design and the calculations will be shown so that any other data can be modified before completing the design.
In the calculation dialog box, click Finish.

The Tekla Tedds document linked to the selected model object is updated with the current data from the Tekla Structures model and the document is recalculated. The document will be saved, and finally, the completed Tekla Tedds design data will be transferred back to the Tekla Structures model to update the model object.

Update document

You can update the Tekla Tedds calculation document linked to the selected model object with the current data from the Tekla Structures model and recalculate the document.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Update document.
The calculation is started. The current data from the Tekla Structures model will be transferred to the existing Tekla Tedds design and the calculations will be shown so that any other data can be modified before completing the design.
In the calculation dialog box, click Finish.

The Tekla Tedds document linked to the selected model object is updated with the current data from the Tekla Structures model and the document is recalculated and saved. No data will be transferred back to the Tekla Structures model object.

Update model

You can recalculate the Tekla Tedds calculation document linked to the selected model object using the existing design data and update the Tekla Structures model from the completed Tekla Tedds design.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Update model.
The calculation is started. The calculations will be shown so that any other data can be modified before completing the design.
In the calculation dialog box, click Finish.

The Tekla Tedds document linked to the selected model object is recalculated using the existing design data. The document will be saved, and finally, the Tekla Tedds design data will be transferred back to the Tekla Structures model to update the model object.

View and modify document

You can view and modify the Tekla Tedds calculation document linked to the selected Tekla Structures model object.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Open.
The Tekla Tedds document will be opened and you can modify the data.
To save the changes in the document, click Save.

Create a new project for calculations linked to current model

You can create a new project in the Tekla Tedds application and transfer all Tekla Tedds calculation documents linked to the model to the created project.

On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Project.
The Tekla Tedds application will be opened and you can see the new project there. The new project contains all of the Tekla Tedds calculations associated with the currently open Tekla Structures model. You can use the commands within Tekla Tedds to modify various aspects of the project. You can change the documentation order and modify the calculation headers, for example.
To save the changes to the project, click Save project.
The saved project data will be available in the future sessions of the Tekla Tedds application.

Remove a document

You can remove the Tekla Tedds calculation document linked to the selected Tekla Structures object.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Remove.

The association between the Tekla Structures object and the saved Tekla Tedds document is removed. The document is still retained in the saved location so that it may be added again if required using the Add command.

If you remove the document, the Tedds document UDA in the model object properties will be set to No.

View model object properties

You can view the properties of the selected model object in a separate dialog box. This is particularly useful when you are writing your own integrations.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Tools > Object browser.
The object properties are displayed in Object browser.
To update the list, click Refresh
You can limit the number of properties by selecting the desired object property sources.

View and modify Tekla Tedds integrator settings

You can view and modify Tekla Tedds Integrator settings.

On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click Tools > Options.
Modify the settings if required.

Enable logging: A record of actions taken by Tekla Tedds Integrator will be recorded to the log file. The log file will be created in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\TeklaTeddsIntegrator.

Delete log file on close (requires restart): Delete the log file when you close the integrator.

Timestamp log entries: Add a time stamp at the start of each line in the log to indicate when it was recorded.

Display log when mapping errors are encountered: When errors are encountered during property mappings, the log file will be shown automatically.

Open log folder: Open the folder storing the log data.

Reload all data files before performing each integration: Every time you use a command that uses the information in the IdentityProviders, DataProviders and TypeConverters folders, the data files will be reloaded. Enable this setting when modifying data files so that your changes will be reflected the next time you use a command in Tekla Tedds Integrator.

Open system provider files folder, Open user provider files folder: Open the system data or user data folder. Each part of the system is configured using data files that are stored in one of two locations, the system data location, which contains the files for the calculations already supported by the integrator, and the user data location, where you can save your own integrations. Each location has a hierarchy of folders for storing the various data files used to configure the different parts of the system. Within each folder files can be stored at either the root level for the default configuration or within subfolders for either design code specific data or Tekla Structures specific data.

Default system data location: ..\Tekla Structures\<version>\Environments\common\system\Analysis

Default user data location: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\TeklaTeddsIntegrator.
To save your changes and close the dialog box, click Close.
The changed settings are saved in the TeklaIntegrator.dll.config configuration file in the C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\TeklaTeddsIntegrator folder.

Tekla Tedds user-defined attributes

Once a Tekla Tedds calculation document has been linked to an object in the Tekla Structures model, the object will get two user-defined attributes.

Tedds document: This attribute indicates whether a Tekla Tedds document is associated with an object or not. The name of the user-defined attribute is TEDDS_DOCUMENT, and the value is either Yes or No.

Tedds identity: This Tekla Tedds Integrator attribute is only populated when you use the New or Update commands for an object which is supported by data linking. The attribute identifies which Tekla Tedds calculation should be used by the integrator. The name of the user-defined attribute is TEDDS_IDENTITY, and the value is a structural identity name as defined by Tekla Tedds Integrator identity provider feature.