ProSteel 2007 changes

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Change log: Latest changes | 2008 . 2007 . 2006 ... -2001

Release 5.32a: 3 Dec 2007

  1. The Masonry Strength Calculator has been updated (a little belatedly!) to BS5628-1:2005. Note that default material strengths have changed. Testing is now to BS EN 771-3 which gives a slightly higher measured strength for the same material due to the testing being done ins slightly drier conditions. Article explaining this on Celcon website Thus 2.8 becomes 2.9; 3.5, 3.6; 7.0, 7.3; 10.0, 10.4 etc. Note that several tables contain identical data for the same block strengths, e.g. Table 2b (aerated blocks) is just a subset of Table 3c (aggregate blocks) , likewise 2e and 2d.
    Old brickwork is generally taken as being 7N/mm² bricks in Class iv mortar: under the new code the net bearing stress for this combination will drop by about 10% will a consequent increase in padstone/bearing plate size. Logically, it would now be reasonable to assume a brick strength of 7.3N/mm², but doing so might confuse some checking engineers!
  2. Calculated fields (e.g. loads) allow you to incorporate text within expressions to amplify them (e.g. 'avg') which is stripped out when the expression is evaluated. Previously no check was made as to where this text was, so if you inadvertently entered (say) 2N038 instead of 2NO38 the first would be resolved as 2038, the 'N' being stripped out. Now an error is thrown if free text comes within a number. Note that the error handler will identify the first following number as being in error, since at this point only another text character or operator is now acceptable.
  3. The startup dialog, which is displayed if automatic reload of last project is turned off, now includes an option to reload the last project.

Release 5.31d: 26 Oct 2007

  1. Fixes bug which could give the wrong reaction at R1 for bearings where this reaction is a B/F load on another member. The value returned would be too high when the member was a beam extended as a cantilever and had one or more live part UDLs whose start position was somewhere along the span (i.e. >0) and whose end position was on the cantilever. Note that for such beams the B/F or reaction figure will not be the same as on the beam calculation as the live loads on the cantilever are ignored when calculating R1 for this purpose.

Release 5.31c: 10 Oct 2007

  1. A new startup dialog is now displayed if a previous project is not automatically reloaded. Future display of this dialog can be skipped by checking the box in the dialog.
  2. Bug fixed which caused UKPFC (Advance designation) to be printed as UKUKPFC
  3. As the licence/disclaimer is not now shown each time the program is run, we have added a new menu option Help, Show Licence.

Release 5.31b: 12 Sept 2007

  1. Bug fixed that could set the wrong INI file location on new Vista installs
  2. The second page of the User Setup dialog is now titled 'File names and locations' instead of 'Paths and Files'
  3. Fixed bug that gave 'Could not create backup: Save cancelled' error messages when 'Create backup on save' not checked in User Setup, Preferences.
  4. The disclaimer screen is now shown when (i) the current user initials are not the same as those entered last time the program was run;. (ii) this is the first time a new release has been run; or (iii) this is the 25th, 50th, 75th ... time the program has been run.
  5. UNC program settings INI file names (i..e starting with \\) were lost on exiting program - fixed.
  6. A new default steel table now includes the 18 new Corus Advance sections: to use it. If you are updating an existing installation and want these sections you will need to change the steel data file name - go to Configuration, User Setup: File Names and Locations, press the 'Open' button at the end of the line and locate and select file name AdvSteel.dta (on XP systems this file should be in folder C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SDA and on Vista systems, C:\ProgramData\SDA. The Advance sections include three new UB families, 610x178; 533x312 and 533x165 and additional heavier sections in the 533x210, 457x191, 406x178 and 406x140 UB and 203x203 and 152x152 UC series.
  7. A new option in Configuration, User Setup: Preferences lets you decide whether to use the traditional UB, UC and PFC designations or the Advance UKB, UKC and UKPFC ones.
  8. The beam span can be changed using the cursor [Up], [PgUp], [Down] and [PgDn] keys.
  9. For axially loaded columns, the on-screen summary calculation now shows the axial capacity

Release 5.31a: 31 May 2007

  1. ProSteel is now compiled with Delphi 2007 (which makes it slightly faster and displays the new style file dialogs on Vista systems), thus the 0.01 increase in the version number
  2. We are now using a new PDF generator which does not need an external DLL file: Print Project PDFs include bookmarks which make it easier to navigate through files containing a large number of items.
  3. When editing existing beams or columns, the Apply buttons in the beam and column edit dialogs are now enabled as soon as you type anything in the loading grid - previously you had to move to another cell first.
  4. Our web site now has a help desk facility: the Help menubow includes additional options which take you to the forum and support form pages.
  5. We have made a number of small changes to improve Vista compatibility - ProSteel now runs properly in Vista's non-Administrator mode, as well as various little interface improvements in various places.
  6. The Miscellaneous, Catalogue Disk Files option now lists files with clickable links which open the associated project files.
  7. The Internet, Check SDA Web Site for Updates option now includes a button which lets you choose an alternative download location. The default location has been changed to be compatible with Windows Vista
  8. Holding down the [Ctrl] key while moving the mouse wheel increases or decreases the calculation display font size as on all modern web browsers.

Release 5.30g: 23 Feb/9 March 2007

  1. INI (configuration) file names could be incorrectly retrieved from the registry - fixed.
  2. Aspack file compression substituted for UPX.
  3. 9 March Minor change to improve standard note file location

Release 5.30f: 1 Feb 2007

  1. The program file is now code-signed to prevent Windows issuing a potentially unsafe file warning
  2. We have made some changes to speed up the program startup and shutdown
  3. Help > About now just displays the basic build and licence data instead of the full licence and disclaimer text shown when you first start the program
  4. More message boxes have been replaced with the new Vista-style ones showing more information
  5. Clicking the bar above the Project Manager buttons hides them - useful if you are just using the PM to select items and reports and have a lot of them.
  6. You cannot now delete an beam or column from a project if it is referenced by another item (e.g. BF load).
  7. If you were using separate DL+LL load entry and brought forward the load from a true cantilever (span=0), the LL would be shown as zero - fixed
  8. The on-screen summary calculation for steel beams now adds the total load deflection
  9. When designing a steel beam, the first section in the table (usually a small CHS) would be used if nothing that met the required width and section types was found. A warning box is now displayed when this happens.
  10. The 'Add to recent documents' option has been dropped from User Preferences.
  11. The '99' button in User Setup, Paths & Files is now labelled 'V' and generates the preferred locations for INI files on Windows 2000/XP/Vista systems.
  12. Double clicking on the Page Heading Edit dialog grid header line resets the column widths to their original defaults.
  13. The default standard notes file name has been changed to StdNotes.sbps (was StdNotes.xxx where xxx were your initials): this does not affect existing installations.

Latest changes .... 2008 . 2007 . 2006 ... -2001