Structural Shapes...Can You Add Additional Sizes

[ericjhberg]

I was wondering if there is a way to add Sizes or Series to the Structural Shapes tools already present in the Detailing toolset within vectorworks.

 

Our issue is that the Angle shapes don't include many of the smaller sizes that are common. It only goes down to 1.5x1.5.0.125 and we would love to be able to use it to quickly model shapes as small as 0.5X0.5X0.125. The chart of standard ASTM A36 steel angle sizes below shows where VW standard sizes start and what we are missing on the small size end.

 

[LarryO]

I believe the answer is yes.

for imperial find the data file Angle-Inch.txt

open with a basic text editor (not MS_Word the file must remain a txt file without hidden formatting characters)

add the specifics of the shape following the order presented in the file. (Make sure you save a copy of the original file elsewhere in case you accidentally delete something) I've forgotten if the entries are delimited with a space or a tab between each. A normal carriage return is used for terminating each line.

open the plugin editor and select the angle tool. While you cannot see or edit the script you can view and add to the parameters' data. So go to the parameters and find the list that is used for selecting the size and enter the size of the angle in the same format as presented, spaces are as critical as the other characters. There maybe more than one parameter data set to edit in some of these structural tools. I've forgotten if they are utilizing the parameter strings or not. Of course this will have to be redone with every major upgrade as the tools are not checked if they have been customized.