User Defined Attributes - Part 3 - How do I attach a User Defined Attributes (UDAs) to an element or panel?
2022
Tekla Structural Designer
2023
Tekla Structural Designer
2024
Tekla Structural Designer
2025
Tekla Structural Designer
Environment
Not environment-specific
How do I attach a UDA to an element or panel?
There are a number of ways of assigning UDA's to an element or panel.- Assigning to a Property Set prior to element/panel placement
- Via the Properties Window
- Graphically via the Review View > UDA command
Property Sets
Prior to placing any elements or panels into the model we could define a Property Set via the Home ribbon > Project Group > Manage Property Sets commandProperty sets are covered in another Tekla User Assistance article so this section is simply to raise awareness.
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When you invoke a command such as Steel Beam you can then pick a Property Set from the drop list to propagate all the predefined property values.
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Properties Window
To assign a UDA in the Properties window the general process would be as follows;- Select the members/panels to which the attributes are to be attached.
- If the selection consists of different member types, use the droplist at the top of the Properties Window to display the properties of the first type.
- Under the UDA heading in the Properties Window, define the value for each attribute that you want to attach.
- If the attribute being attached is a file, check the ‘Embedded’ box on the dialog if you want the file to be saved inside the model data file. Only embedded files are automatically transferred when the model is copied to another computer.
Tip: For multi-span beams, and multi-stack columns/walls you can attach separate UDAs to individual spans/stacks as required.
- If there are additional member types in the current selection, use the droplist at the top of the Properties Window to display the properties of the next type and then define the attribute values once again.
Step 6. Select the Column A/4 and via the UDA > File, embed a design calculation for the base plate undertaken in Tekla Tedds
Tip: If you want to replace the file click Load... and browse to the new file. If you wish to remove the attached file click Clear.
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Step 7. Select the Edge beams in the model and assign them the UDA > Beam Type > Edge Beam value
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Review View
To assign a UDA in the Review View the general process would be as follows;
- Click Review > UDA
- In the Properties Window, select the relevant attribute.
- For the Review/Update property, choose Update Selected.
- Use the drop list to select one of the existing values for the selected attribute.
- Choose the Selection Mode (Only Add, Only Remove, Add or Remove).
- Click on individual members, (or drag a box around multiple members) to add/remove the UDA value.
Tip: When the Selection mode is ‘Add or Remove’, the UDA will toggle between being attached/not attached when you click on a member or box around multiple members
Two additional check boxes are provided in the Properties Window to assist in the above process:
- Filter by Value - hides everything apart from those members which have the current UDA value.
- Use other Value Color - displays members that have an ‘other value’ of the selected attribute in a different color. Those members that don’t have the attribute attached are displayed in a ‘not set’ color.
Step 8. Review the Edge Beams you assigned earlier to verify their location in the model
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Step 9. Assign the Cantilver UDA's to the beams in the model as the screenshot below.
Note we are replacing the Edge assignment on two of the beams
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Step 10. Repeat to assign the Primary and Secondary Beams to the model and then review the assignment again
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Now let's move on to the next article part;
User Defined Attributes - Part 4 - How do I use User Defined Attributes (UDAs) for Grouping?