User Manual - List of Commands (54)

Commands with more than one line of documentation have the full version included below.

Command Description
3D-BATCH-PLAN Generates 3D models of multiple selected embed and/or guard assemblies
3D-IN-PLACE Generates 3D blocks in current drawing from related 2D block selection
3D-MODEL Opens a new drawing and generates a 3D model of selected assemblies
3D-RET Generates rail return blocks from stair block selection
CODEMANUAL Opens the code manual in the default browser
DD-GUARD Creates or edits one or more guard rail blocks
DEVMODE Toggles development mode on or off
DISTFROMORIGIN Shows selected point's displacement from the point 0,0,0
DRAW-XBRACE Draws cross brace frames in section or elevation
DRAWSHAPE Draws an AISC shape in section, plan, or elevation
DUALOFFSET Offsets a polyline in both directions and closes both ends
DUMPLANDS Dumps raw landing data to an Excel spreasheet, opens it, and formats it
DUMPSTAIRS Dumps raw stair data to an Excel spreadsheet, opens it, and formats it
EDITBLOCK Command to edit any special block with the appropriate dialog
EDITFINISH Edits the finish table entry in a fab drawing
EDITTABLE Edits the description of an item in a material or hardware table.
EMBED Creates or edits one or more embeds
EMBED-TOTALS Adds a summary table to embeds sheet
ENDVIEW Draws an end view of a stair or landing
FAB Creates fab drawings from selected blocks
FABDATA Opens fab drawings, extracts shipping data, and saves it to a file
FABTEMPLATE Creates a new drawing in the current folder from a built-in template
GUARDRAIL Draws a basic 2D guardrail frame
INSERTROWS Inserts rows in a fab drawing table
JOBINFO Edits the jobinfo file, job.dat
LANDING Creates or edits landing blocks
LANDING-EMBEDS Draws EM-4s for landing ledgers in main section
LINE->PIPE Converts a 3Dpolyline into an extruded pipe
MANUAL Opens the user manual in the default web browser
MARKPREFIX Displays the next available mark prefix and increments markprefix.txt
MROTATE Rotates multiple independent selection sets by the same angle
QT-TAKEOFF Creates and inserts a Quiet Tread takeoff table for stairs and landings
RAIL-SECTION Generates a rail section
RAILCIRCLE Draws a donut with an outline, formatted like a top view handgrab
RAILS Draws rail blocks at stair main sections
RELOADALL Reloads all the files that have been loaded so far
RETURN Draws a handgrab return between two stair flights
SAVEQUIT Zooms to extents, purges blocks, and closes the drawing
SHAPE-LINE Draws a line representing a beam in 'schematic' plan view
SHAPE-TEXT Draws a text label for a DRAWSHAPE section block
STAIR Creates or edits stair blocks
STAIR-ADD-DET Adds detail numbers to a stair block
STAIR-DIM-HOR Adds a run dimension to a stair block
STAIR-DIM-HOR-OVR Overwrites a horizontal stair dimension with a run tag
STAIR-DIM-VER Adds a rise dimension to a stair block
STAIR-DIM-VER-OVR Overwrites a vertical dimension with a rise tag
TOPVIEW Draws plan views of stairs and landings
TOPVIEWHANDGRAB Formats a polyline as a pipe handgrab in plan view
TOPVIEWRAILS Converts an E drawing plan view to R drawing style
TRANSLATEXDATA Command to begin legacy block reformatting
TRIMROWS Trims empty rows from a fab drawing table
UPDATE-CHK Updates checker initials in fab drawings
UPDATEMARKNO Updates a single material list mark number in a fab drawing
XDATALIST Displays the raw XDATA for an object in a list box

Expanded command help

DRAW-XBRACE

Draws cross brace frames in section or elevation

When drawing a frame on the main landing block, posts are added automatically. If plotting
is not selected, the posts come in on the NO PLOT layer along with the frame.

This command edits the underlying block definition, so if multiple block references point
to the same landing, they will all have the brace frames added.

DRAWSHAPE

Draws an AISC shape in section, plan, or elevation

When drawing in section view, you may be prompted for an attachment point, mirroring,
and/or rotation. The attachment point can be Top (for beams in main section views) or
Center (for columns in plan view). Mirroring is along the spine for channels, and will
flip the leg orientation for unequal angles. Angles and columns (i.e. things attached at
Center) may be rotated after inserting. This table summarizes the prompts for each shape
type in Section perspective:

| Type | Attachment point | Mirroring         | Rotation             |
|------+------------------+-------------------+----------------------|
| W    | Prompt top/ctr   | N                 | When attached at ctr |
| HSS  | Prompt top/ctr   | N                 | When attached at ctr |
| C/MC | Top of spine     | Y                 | N                    |
| L    | Corner point     | When legs unequal | Y                    |

When drawing in plan or elevation view, you pick two points and the shape is drawn along
the line between them. In plan view, the line is the centerline, while in elevation view,
the line is the top line.

DUALOFFSET

Offsets a polyline in both directions and closes both ends

This command is equivalent to offsetting a polyline twice (once in the positive direction,
and once in the negative), drawing connecting lines between the ends of both resulting
lines, and joining the result into a closed polyline.

The joining lines may optionally be bulged out to create a 180 degree fillet at the
end (useful for drawing bent pipe handgrabs in elevation). When DUALOFFSET is run, it
first displays the current settings for rounding either end of the line, like this:

Current settings: Round head=No    Round tail=No

on the line before its main prompt. At the prompt, you can input the offset distance to
continue or optionally input H or T to toggle the rounding setting for that end. H, for
head, means to round the end at the first point of the line, and T, for Tail, means to
round the other end. These settings are preserved between calls to DUALOFFSET within the
same drawing.

DUMPLANDS

Dumps raw landing data to an Excel spreasheet, opens it, and formats it

Columns will be formatted so as to hilight patterns of values. When a column has all the
same value (or blank) in all rows, it will be left alone. But when a column has at least
one row that doesn't match the rest, all rows will be colored by value so that the pattern
can be visually distinguished.

DUMPSTAIRS

Dumps raw stair data to an Excel spreadsheet, opens it, and formats it

Columns will be formatted so as to hilight patterns of values. When a column has all the
same value (or blank) in all rows, it will be left alone. But when a column has at least
one row that doesn't match the rest, all rows will be colored by value so that the pattern
can be visually distinguished.

EDITBLOCK

Command to edit any special block with the appropriate dialog

This is designed to be set as the default double-click action, so blocks can be edited by
double-clicking.

EDITTABLE

Edits the description of an item in a material or hardware table.

In a material table, this command also updates the item weight.

ENDVIEW

Draws an end view of a stair or landing

When inserting the view, only the X coordinate is considered. The Y coordinate will match
that of the main section block. The X coordinate can be to either side of the main
section, and the perspective will be handled accordingly, allowing sections to be cut to
either side of the main view.

FAB

Creates fab drawings from selected blocks

If development mode is enabled, drawings will be re-opened once they are done
processing. Otherwise, they are left closed.

FABDATA

Opens fab drawings, extracts shipping data, and saves it to a file

This is the replacement for the legacy CF command, but it isn't able to process legacy
drawings itself. For any drawings that were not created with the new templates, this
command will crash.

Removing any of the tables present in a fab drawing will cause this command to crash.

FABTEMPLATE

Creates a new drawing in the current folder from a built-in template

Running this command will prompt you for the stair name, as there is no way for the system
to know it. It may also prompt for a drawing description for the title block, if one isn't
already built in to the template.

GUARDRAIL

Draws a basic 2D guardrail frame
This is a placeholder command

INSERTROWS

Inserts rows in a fab drawing table

In a generic fab drawing, the tables below the one you choose will be shifted to
accommodate the new rows.

If inserting rows in the material list above an existing standard-prefix part (e.g. AA;
i.e. not pans, STN, QT, or NRT), the mark numbers for parts below will be increased by the
number of rows added. This carries to the callouts in the drawing as well.

If inserting rows in the assembly table, the quantities in the material table will be
updated.

LANDING

Creates or edits landing blocks

To create a new landing from scratch, press ENTER at the selection prompt.

To create a new landing based on the properties of the two stairs that will connect to it,
select both stairs (and nothing else) at the prompt and pess ENTER.

To edit a single landing, select it at the prompt and press ENTER.

To edit multiple landings in bulk, select them all at the prompt and press ENTER.

LANDING-EMBEDS

Draws EM-4s for landing ledgers in main section

The selection filter for this command allows main landing blocks, grid lines (lines only,
not polylines, on CENTER layer), and floor-to-floor dimensions (those with 90 degree
angles and no text overwrite). If only landings are selected, embeds are located relative
to the channels per the standard detail. Selecting grid lines or dimensions causes the
embed inserts to be rounded to the nearest inch relative to the nearest grid line or
bottom of the enclosing dimension.

MROTATE

Rotates multiple independent selection sets by the same angle

This command is mainly useful for saving keystrokes while rotating all the North arrows in
plan views. Usage:

1. Run MROTATE
2. Select an object or group of objects and a base point about which to rotate them
3. Repeat step 2 for each combination of selection set and base point
4. Move on from step 3 by pressing ENTER at "Select objects:" prompt
5. Input angle and press ENTER

RAILS

Draws rail blocks at stair main sections

This command will draw stair rails, guard rails, wall rails, and handgrab returns at all
selected stairs. Returns are only drawn between two flights, so the last flight won't have
a return added, even if it should get one.

This command can be used to draw either the inside or outside rails for each flight.

SHAPE-LINE

Draws a line representing a beam in 'schematic' plan view

This command draws a 3 inch thick polyline with a label, for use in RO plan views.

SHAPE-TEXT

Draws a text label for a DRAWSHAPE section block

Running this command and selecting a section block that was created using DRAWSHAPE will
put a text label on your cursor for inserting in an RO section view.

STAIR

Creates or edits stair blocks

To create a new stair, press ENTER at the selection prompt.

To edit a single star, select it at the prompt and press ENTER.

To edit multiple stairs in bulk, select them all at the prompt and press ENTER.

TOPVIEW

Draws plan views of stairs and landings

To draw a plan view, run this command, select up to 3 stairs and 2 landings, press ENTER,
and click to insert. You can have more than 2 landings in a plan view, but they probably
won't be laid out how you want.

Selecting a single stair will prompt to show it as full or broken, and if broken, which
end to show. By default, this command will prefer to show the lower or middle flight as
full. It will show the top flight as full if there are only two flights and the top one
has a zero distance between.

TOPVIEWHANDGRAB

Formats a polyline as a pipe handgrab in plan view

To use, draw a polyline, run TOPVIEWHANDGRAB, select the polyline you drew, and press
ENTER. It will be thickened to 1.66 inches, put on RAILS layer, set to color 140, and
given an outline on the NO PLOT layer. A 2.33 inch radius fillet will be applied to all
points, so this command will fail if the fillet cannot be applied because the points are
too close together.

TOPVIEWRAILS

Converts an E drawing plan view to R drawing style

To format a plan view for the rail layout, run TOPVIEWRAILS, select all the blocks in the
plan view that were created with TOPVIEW, and press ENTER. Material tags and hole
centerlines will be removed from the block. Landing channels will be put on the NO PLOT
layer. Stair rails, guard rails, wall rails, and handgrab returns will be drawn along with
their tags.

TRIMROWS

Trims empty rows from a fab drawing table

A row is considered empty if its first column is blank.

If inserting rows in the material list above an existing standard-prefix part (e.g. AA;
i.e. not pans, STN, QT, or NRT), the mark numbers for parts below will be increased by the
number of rows added. This carries to the callouts in the drawing as well.

If trimming rows in the assembly table, the quantities in the material table will be
updated.