Import and export profiles

Import and export profiles to merge profiles across profile catalogs.

Profile catalogs are imported and exported as .lis files, sketched profiles as .uel files, and user-defined parametric profiles as .clb files.

When you export an entire profile catalog, Tekla Structures creates three separate files: profiles.clb, profiles.lis and rules.lis. The .clb file contains parametric profile definitions, if they are used in the profiles in the catalog, otherwise it is empty. The profiles.lis file includes the actual profile definitions and the rules.lis file the branch rules. When you export a branch of a profile catalog, the branch name is attached as prefix to the file names.

Importing and exporting is useful when you:

upgrade to a newer version of Tekla Structures and want to use a customized profile catalog from a previous version
want to combine profile catalogs that are stored in different locations
want to share profile catalog information with other users
want to combine profile catalogs across different environments.

Limitations of importing and exporting profiles

You cannot import or export hard-coded profiles such as PROFILE_ZZ, PROFILE_CC, and PROFILE_CW.
You cannot import profiles that do not have a defined cross section.
If you have used a sketched profile or a user-defined parametric profile as the cross section for a fixed profile, you also need to import the sketched profile or the user-defined parametric profile to the new model.

Tip:

You can also download or share profiles using Tekla Warehouse.

Import profile catalog items

Tekla Structures has five types of profile catalog items: fixed profiles, hard-coded parametric profiles, sketched profiles, user-defined parametric profiles, and rule sets. Profiles and rule sets are imported to Tekla Structures models as .lis files, sketched profiles as .uel files, and user-defined parametric profiles as .clb files.

If you are importing an entire profile catalog or a branch, we recommend that you save the related files in a separate folder. This makes the import process faster.

Open the model to which you want to import profile catalog items.
On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
Click Import to import a single file, or Import Directory to import the contents of a file folder.
Select the import file or the import folder.
Click OK. Tekla Structures checks if there are duplicates in the profile names in the import file compared to the profile catalog.
1. If the Review import items dialog appears, there are duplicate profile names and you must select each duplicate and assign the action you want to perform with the following buttons:
  - Leave: The existing profile item is not replaced and the profile definitions in the import file are ignored.
  - Merge: Profile properties that are different in the import file are added to the existing profile. All the other properties remain unchanged.
    
    Use this option to import only certain elements of the profile catalog, such as user attributes.
  - Replace: The existing profile item is replaced with the imported profile item.
  - If you leave Unknown as the action for a profile item, it is not imported.
  You can select more than one profile item at a time by using the Shift and Ctrl keys and assign the same action to the entire selection.
  
  Note:
  Each cross section definition has a unique name and ID number. If during an import, a cross section with the same name but different properties is found in the existing profile catalog, the cross section being imported is renamed by adding an incremental number at the end of the existing name.
2. After you have selected the actions, click Continue to perform them.
Click OK to close the Modify Profile Catalog dialog.
Click OK in the Save confirmation dialog to save the changes.

Test and approve the catalog content, then export the new catalog and set it up to be used in models.

Export an entire profile catalog

Profile catalogs are exported from Tekla Structures models as .lis, .uel, and .clb files.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
Click Export.
Browse for the folder where you want to save the export files.

By default, the files are saved to the current model folder. For faster profile catalog import, we recommend that you create a separate sub-folder for the catalog files.
Click OK to close the Modify Profile Catalog dialog.

Set up the catalog to be used in models.

Export a part of the profile catalog

If you do not want to export an entire profile catalog, you can export a branch of the profile tree, meaning all the profiles grouped under one rule, or a single profile. Profiles and rule sets are exported from Tekla Structures models as .lis files, sketched profiles as .uel files, and user-defined parametric profiles as .clb files.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
Select profiles to be exported.
- To export a branch of the profile tree, right-click the branch and select Export Profiles.
- To export a single profile, right-click the profile and select Export Profile.
Browse for the folder where you want to save the export files.

By default, the files are saved to the current model folder.

If you are exporting a single profile, enter a name for the file.
Click OK.
Click OK to close the Modify Profile Catalog dialog.

Example of a profile export file

The export .lis file is divided into specific sections.

The first row in the file is PROFILE CATALOG EXPORT VERSION = n, where n is the version number.

Warning:

Do not delete this row. If the row does not appear in the file, the import is canceled.

The next section defines the hierarchical tree structure that is used to display the contents of the catalog.

The section after that contains the profiles.

Fixed profiles

PROFILE_NAME = "HEA120";
{
TYPE = 1; SUB_TYPE = 1001; COORDINATE = 0.000;
{
"FLANGE_SLOPE_RATIO"	0.000000000E+000
"ROUNDING_RADIUS_2"	 0.000000000E+000
"ROUNDING_RADIUS_1"	 1.200000000E+001
"FLANGE_THICKNESS"	  8.000000000E+000
"WEB_THICKNESS"	     5.000000000E+000
"WIDTH"		         1.200000000E+002
"HEIGHT"		        1.140000000E+001

Fixed user-defined profiles

Fixed user-defined profiles can have more than one cross section. The profile type for fixed user-defined profiles is 998. SUB_TYPE refers to the name of the cross section definition. When importing fixed user-defined profiles, the relevant cross section definitions must be in the same import file as the profile.

PROFILE_NAME = "TAN_HK_TEST_2_CS";
{
TYPE = 998; SUB_TYPE = 253; COORDINATE = 0.000;
{
"EQUIVALENT_TYPE"	   11
"FLANGE_SLOPE_RATIO"	0.000000000E+000
"ECCENTRICITY_Y"	    0.000000000E+000
"ECCENTRICITY_X"	    0.000000000E+000
"ROUNDING_RADIUS_2"	 0.000000000E+000
"FLANGE_THICKNESS_2"	0.000000000E+000
"WEB_THICKNESS_2"	   0.000000000E+000

Cross section definitions

CROSS_SECTION_NAME = "MY_OWN_PROFILE
POINT_NUMBER = 1;
POINT_X =  200.00;
POINT_Y = -200.00;
CHAMFER_TYPE = 0;
CHAMFER_X = 0.00;
CHAMFER_Y = 0.00;
POINT_NUMBER = 2;
POINT_X =  200.00;
POINT_Y =  200.00;
CHAMFER_TYPE = 0;
CHAMFER_X = 0.00;
CHAMFER_Y = 0.00;

Units used in import and export

This table lists the units Tekla Structures uses when importing and exporting profile catalogs and material catalogs.


Type	Unit (if blank, no unit)
Boolean
Integer
String
Ratio
Strain
Angle	degree
Length	mm
Deformation	mm
Dimension	mm
Radius of inertia	mm
Area	mm²
Reinforcement area	mm²
Transverse reinforcement area	mm²/m
Area/unit length	mm²/m
Volume	mm³
Section modulus	mm³
Moment of inertia	mm⁴
Torsion constant	mm⁴
Warping constant	mm⁶
Force	N
Weight	kg
Distributed load	N/m
Spring constant	N/m
Mass/length	kg/m
Surface load	N/m²
Strength	N/m²
Stress	N/m²
Modulus	N/m²
Density	kg/m³
Moment	Nm
Distributed moment	Nm/m
Rotation spring constant	Nm/rad
Temperature	K (°C)
Thermal dilation coefficient	1/K (1/°C)
Factor