Creating a Member Using Point and Length

You can create a member by specifying a point and length.

Before you begin: Open a structure to place a member.
See Also
About Members
Managing Sections
Creating Coping
In Other Guides
Content for Structure Apps
  1. From the Function section of the action bar, click Member - Point Length .
  2. In the Member - Point Length panel, under Material & Orientation, specify the following parameters:
    1. Select the required material and section for the member.

      1. Select the required material reference.
      2. From the Standard list, select the section standard.
      3. From the Shape list, select the required section shape.

        The Shape box is unavailable for selection when the material-section table does not have the SectionShape column, that is when you are using the resolved sections.

      4. From the Size list, select the required section size.

      If no Resources Catalog or Resources Library resource is set in Data Setup, you can click More... to search and select the material and section references from database. If you select a parametric section reference from the database, the Size list is updated with the available sizes and then you can select the required section size.

    2. Set the appropriate orientation.

      1. Select the anchor point.

        The anchor points displayed in the Anchor Point box are defined in the molded convention resource, set in Data Setup. If no molded convention resource is set in Data Setup, the default list of anchor points will be available.

      2. Specify the angle to rotate the section, if required.

        You can click to invert the rotation direction and to twist the member. For more information, see Twisting a Member.

  3. Under Type and Name, specify the type of the member.

    If no dictionary is set in Data Setup, only the default category is available.

  4. Optional: Clear the Automatic check box and enter the required name of the member.
  5. Under Geometry, specify the following inputs:
    1. In the Point box, select the start point for the member.

      Notes:
      • You can select a point or a vertex.
      • You can also create a point on the fly, using the Point command from the Point Toolbox.
      • You can select multiple points. Click to manage multiselection.

    2. Enter the required length of the member.

      You can also change the length of the member using the length translation handle. For more information, see Handles.

    3. In the Direction box, select a plane or a line to define the direction.

      Notes:
      • You can also create a line or a plane on the fly, using the commands from the Direction Toolbox.
      • You can click to invert the direction.
      • You can click to lock the direction as z-axis.

  6. Optional: Under Limits, specify the following parameters:
    1. Specify the start and end limits.
    2. Specify the offset and the normal offset values.
    3. Select the limit type.
    4. Define the endcut. For more information, see Creating End Cuts.

      You can click to delete the endcut and to delete the selected limit.

  7. Click OK.
    The member is created.