Import and export profiles in the new profile catalog

Import and export profiles to reuse, combine, and share profiles between different profile catalogs.

Importing and exporting helps you to:

Reuse a customized profile catalog from a previous version when you upgrade to a newer version of Tekla Structures
Combine profile catalogs that are stored in different locations
Share profile catalog information with other users
Combine profile catalogs across different environments.

Tip:

You can also download or share profiles using Tekla Warehouse.

About importing and exporting sketched profiles

To use a sketched profile in other Tekla Structures models, export the profile as a .uel file, then import the file into another Tekla Structures model.

We recommend that you use the profile catalog to import and export sketched profiles. You can also use the Applications & components catalog to import sketched profiles together with related custom components.

The exported .uel file contains information about the version of Tekla Structures from which it was exported. You can import the .uel file into the same or newer version of Tekla Structures. You cannot import a .uel file from a newer version into an older version.

Tip: To automatically import all .uel files from a folder when creating a new model, use the advanced option XS_UEL_IMPORT_FOLDER.

Import profiles

Import profiles to make profiles from one profile catalog available in another profile catalog.

You can import profiles from the new profile catalog or the original profile catalog.

You can import these types of files from the original profile catalog:

profiles.lis: for fixed profiles
.uel: for sketched profiles
.clb: for user-defined parametric profiles.

You cannot import rules.lis files from the original profile catalog into the new profile catalog because the new profile catalog uses groups instead of rules to organize profiles. To convert rules.lis files to groups in the new profile catalog, use the Convert Rules to Groups tool.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
On the ribbon of the Profile catalog dialog, click Import.
Browse to the location of the file that you want to import.
In the Review import items dialog, change the action for any profiles that you do not want to import.
By default, all rows have the Import action. When you use the Import action, the profile in the import file replaces the existing profile if the same profile is already in the profile catalog.
1. Select the row for one or more profiles.
  
  To select multiple rows, hold down Ctrl or Shift and click the rows.
2. Click one of these buttons to select the action for the selected rows:
  - Do not import: The profile in the import file is ignored. The profile that already exists in the profile catalog is not changed.
  - Merge: The properties of the profile in the import file are merged with the properties of the existing profile in the profile catalog.
3. After you have selected the action for all rows that you want to change, click Import.
To close the dialog, click Close.

If the profiles that you imported have a group structure, the profiles appear in the groups to which they belong. If the groups do not already exist, they are created.

If the profiles that you imported do not have a group structure, they appear in the Ungrouped group.
To save the changes, click Save.

Import groups

Import groups to make the group structure from one profile catalog available in another profile catalog.

Before you begin, you must have an exported group structure.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
On the ribbon of the Profile catalog dialog, click Import.
Browse to the location of the file that you want to import.
Click Open.
To close the dialog, click Close.
To save the changes, click Save.

Next, add profiles to the groups.

Insert profiles and groups from Tekla Warehouse into the model

You can insert profiles and groups directly from Tekla Warehouse into the new profile catalog.

For more information, see Insert Tekla Warehouse content into a Tekla Structures model.

Export selected profiles

To make individual profiles available in another profile catalog, select and export the profiles.

Individual profiles are exported as .profilecatalog files.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
Select one or more profiles.
To select multiple profiles, hold down Ctrl or Shift and click the profiles.

You can also use the selection options on the ribbon of the Profile catalog dialog to select multiple profiles:
- Select all selects all the profiles in the list.
- Select none clears the selection.
- Invert selection selects all but the previously selected profiles.
Right-click the selected profiles, then select one of these options:
- Export: Only the selected profiles are exported.
- Export with group: The selected profiles and their group structure are exported. When the profiles are imported into another profile catalog, they appear in the groups to which they belong. If the groups do not already exist, they are created.
Browse to the location where you want to save the export file.
Enter a name for the file, then click Save.
To finish the export, do one of the following:
- To open the folder that contains the exported files, click Open folder.
- To close the dialog, click Close.

Export all profiles in a group

To make a group of profiles available in another profile catalog, export all profiles in the group.

Profiles in groups are exported as .profilecatalog files.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
Right-click a group, then select one of these options:
- Export profiles: Only the profiles are exported.
- Export profiles with group: The profiles and the group structure are exported. When the profiles are imported into another profile catalog, they appear in the groups to which they belong. If the groups do not already exist, they are created.
Browse to the location where you want to save the export file.
Enter a name for the file, then click Save.
To finish the export, do one of the following:
- To open the folder that contains the exported files, click Open folder.
- To close the dialog, click Close.

Export all profiles in the profile catalog

To share all profiles in the profile catalog, export the whole profile catalog.

Profile catalogs are exported as .profilecatalog files.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
In the ribbon of the Profile catalog dialog, click Export, then select one of these options:
- Export all profiles: Only the profiles are exported.
- Export all profiles with groups: The profiles and the group structure are exported. When the profiles are imported into another profile catalog, they appear in the groups to which they belong. If the groups do not already exist, they are created.
Browse to the location where you want to save the export file.
Enter a name for the file, then click Save.
To finish the export, do one of the following:
- To open the folder that contains the exported files, click Open folder.
- To close the dialog, click Close.

Export group structures

Export groups to make the group structure from one profile catalog available in another profile catalog. You can also export group structures to prepare for localization.

Group structures are exported as .ProfileCatalog.Groups.xml files.

On the File menu, click Catalogs > Profile catalog to open the Modify Profile Catalog dialog box.
Export the group structure in one of these ways:
- To export the group structure for all groups in the profile catalog, click Export in the ribbon of the Profile catalog dialog, then select Export group structure only.
- To export the group structure for a single group, right-click the group, then select Export selected group structure only.
Browse to the location where you want to save the export file.
Enter a name for the file, then click Save.
To finish the export, do one of the following:
- To open the folder that contains the exported files, click Open folder.
- To close the dialog, click Close.

Only the groups and their sub-groups are exported.

If you want to use the exported .ProfileCatalog.Groups.xml file for localization, we recommend that you copy the file to the environment or firm folder.

Upload profiles and groups from a model to Tekla Warehouse

You can upload profiles and groups directly from the new profile catalog to Tekla Warehouse.

For more information, see Upload content from a Tekla Structures model.

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