Program Operation

1. Column Load View Pop-up Window (Bug 2381)

   A setting has been added to the Preferences settings to allow you to display column load view in a pop-up window rather than in a permanent view. This was done to circumvent a problem associated with certain touch screen monitors that the program would crash upon entering column load view.

   This had been done previously for beam load view (see versions , below), but it was found that the problem also occurred, albeit more rarely, with columns.

2. Elimination of Text Output Files (Feature 168)

   Some users reported problems when saving Sizer project files to common cloud storage locations like Dropbox, Google Drive, Apple iCloud, and Microsoft SkyDrive. When designing, Sizer outputs design results files to the same folder as the project file, which causes long delays when the cloud storage devices attempt to synchronize these files with the ones already on the system.

   For this reason, and because these files cause a certain amount of clutter on users’ hard drives, we have changed the storage location of these output files. .

   1. Files Affected

      The following files are currently output to the same folder as the project file and will be moved to the new location.

      • .wd Concept Mode design summary by group
      • .wdm Concept Mode design summary by member
      • .wml Concept Mode materials list
      • .wbd Beam Mode design summary
      • .wbc Beam Mode code check
      • .wba Beam Mode analysis output
      • .wbg Beam Mode graphics data
      • .wcd Column Mode design summary
      • .wcc Column Mode code check
      • .wca Column Mode analysis output
      • .wcg Column Mode graphics data
   2. New File Location

      These files are now output to the folder

      [ProgramData]\WoodWorks\OutputFiles\[FileID]\

ProgramData is C:\ProgramData for Windows 7 and 8, and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data for Windows XP.

FileID is a 32 character length string created by the system uniquely for each project file. The file ID for a particular project file is stored in the project file so it can update these output files at each design run.

1. Files from Previous versions

   Any document created with old version of Sizer will be assigned an a new FileID when it is opened with new version of Sizer. All associated output files will be moved from the old folder to the output file folder. In order to store the new FileID, the opened document will be saved automatically with this file ID.

2. Accessing Files

   As these files are more difficult for a typical user to find, a menu item has been added called Edit Output File. When invoked, the program will open Notepad and display the file that is showing in the currently active Sizer window. This file can then be saved to any location on the computer, and can also be converted to other formats such as Word documents or .rtf files.

1. Persistence of Project Setting Information (Bug 2752)

   When opening files created with Version 8 or before, the program did not retain the Project Information setting. This has been corrected.

2. Default Open File Setting (Change 146)

   When in column mode and opening an existing file, .wwc files now appear by default in the File Open dialog. Previously, .wwb for beams was the default.

3. Bearing Support for Disabled Database Files (Change 147)

   If all of the database files of a member type have been turned off in database editor, so are not included in the program, the program would crash when that type was selected as a bearing support, or if it was the default type for a bearing support.

   The program now allows design to proceed, but support bearing will fail.

4. Link to Custom Version Web Page (Change 137)

   The web page that is accessed from Custom versions of Sizer in the Help menu, has been updated to http://www.cwc.ca/index.php/en/woodworks-software/proprietary-products.