Bar Checker

Not version-specific

Tekla Structures

Environment

United States (Imperial)

United States (Metric)

Purpose and description

The Bar Checker is a sorting, checking, and reporting tool specific to rebar detailing. The tool will automatically select the reinforcing bars in the model and give the User the ability to easily and dynamically check the reinforcing in the model. The tool will also allow the User to change certain information from the interface without having to open the bar properties.

System requirements

Environments: US Imperial, US Metric
Languages: English

Installing Bar Checker

To install the application:

Close Tekla Structures (if running)
Download MSI Installer from Tekla Warehouse
Install and run MSI Installer
Start Tekla Structures
Open an existing drawing
Before version 2016: A new toolbar icon which will launch the tool should now be visible when a drawing is opened. 2016 version and newer: a new thumbnail under Ungrouped items in the Applications and components side pane will appear.

Using Bar Checker

To use the plugins:
1. Launch Bar Checker. Note that all rebar in the model will be loaded into the interface.
2. View, sort, update and report properties within the interface.

User Interface

Refresh: If reinforcing is added, or renumbered while the tool is open, this will update the list

Fit Work Area: This will expand the view area to model without having to click in background

Select Mode: User can choose “Select Only” or “Select and Zoom” when bar is picked in list

Radius Fix: This will assign the proper bending radii to the bars in model (based on bar size)

Hook Fix: This will assign the proper bending length and radius for each hook for that grade and bar size

Options: This opens a list of setup options to control units and layout

Help: Opens Help file

Column Ordering

User has the ability to change the order of the column headings. To change order, click on the heading that you want to move, and drag and drop it to the desired location. If you wish to remove a column from the interface, just drag and drop the column header off of the interface. It you later would like to add that field or any of the other supported fields back to the interface, simply “Right Click” on the column header section and select the “Show Column Chooser” option. There are also other options contained in the shown options list that will help with sorting and organizing. For more information on hiding and showing columns, click here.

Summary Rows

If the User would like the information summarized, options can be accessed by Right Clicking in the interface footer (dark grey area), and select the desired function. The available options are Sum, Min, Max, Count, and Average. This will add to the summary row, and export to the Excel report automatically. For more information on sorting and grouping, click on this link.

Sorting

In order to sort reinforcing information, the User needs to simply drag and drop the column header up to the section that says “Drag a column header here to group by that column”. It is possible to sort by multiple categories as well. If it is desired to sort by Bar Name and Bar Size, just drag both fields into the space. To undo sorting, drag the header from the sort area and back to the column. Additionally, by clicking on the “filter” icon, the User can further narrow down the selection by choosing which specific information that is made visible by checking and unchecking the corresponding boxes.

Information Updating

By clicking on the value fields for Name and Class; the User has the opportunity to dynamically change the property information through the interface. This prevents the need to select the bar, open and change the properties, and select Modify. To write the change to the bar, User just needs to press “Enter” on keyboard or select another field. There is no need to press “Refresh” in the Bar Checker to register these changes. They are automatically updated to the model. For more information on data editing, click on this link.

Dynamic Filtering

To quickly filter for specific information, the interface is set up with a row for filtering. It is the first row in the interface, and will be blank unless information is manually input. For example, in the above screenshot, the Bar Checker is filtered to show only bars with a name of “REBAR” and a size of “#4”. To remove the filtering rules, click on the “X” in the bottom right corner (in the interface footer). For more information on filtering functionality, click here.

Additional information

The Bar Checker will only recognize reinforcing bars. It will not select concrete or steel elements; as well as bolts, studs, embeds, etc.
Additional columns cannot be added to the Bar Checker. The fields that are currently listed are hard coded within the tool.