Options Settings

User preferences regarding what information, apart from loads and forces, will be displayed in plan view, elevation view, and the text output reports.

These are not saved with the project file, so they will remain the same when you open an existing project.

Display

Contains a list of items that can be turned on and off in order to reduce clutter on your diagrams or to focus on certain information. They apply to both screen display and printed output. There are separate lists for Plan View and Elevation View.

You must go to Loads and Forces Settings to turn on and off the loads and forces that appear on the screen.

Display or Print these Design Results...

Allows you to tailor the tables that are printed out in the design results. Can be used to reduce the output to a single page for a subset of the design results.

You must go to Loads and Forces Settings for loads tables, drag strut force and hold-down design tables, and to limit design results to rigid or flexible diaphragm and/or seismic or wind design.

Show/Hide Menus

The same settings that appear here can be changed by means of the Show/Hide settings on the Data Bar. Any particular setting can be changed more quickly by using the Show/Hide menus, so this dialog is best used to overhaul the configuration of loads and forces. It also allows you to save a configuration as a default for new files.

Torsional Analysis Sign Convention

This setting applies to the Detailed Torsional Analysis Output, which contains tables of components to the shear line forces from direct force and from torsional effects for many load cases. The torsional forces can either increase or oppose the direct shear line force. There are also wind load cases where the wind force is contrary to the wind direction. This setting allows you to specify whether

• a positive sign is in relation to the direction of wind or seismic force being analysed, in other words, a shear line force component in the east->west direction is positive if the wind or seismic force is in the east->west direction and negative otherwise.
• a positive sign is in relation to the Shearwalls co-ordinate system, in other words a shear line force component is positive if it is in the west->east direction and negative in the east->west direction

Some users are confused by negative signs for positive torsions, and vice-versa. Other users are confused when the direction of loading changes with the case in the output you are viewing. Set this setting according your preferred perspective.