This page contains answers to common questions handled by
our support staff, along with some tips and tricks that we have found useful and
presented here as questions.
Note: In these answers we will follow a few shorthand
conventions for describing user-interface procedures. Key combinations will be
presented like this: Ctrl+Alt+Delete, which means that you should press
and hold down the Control key, the Alt key, and the Delete key at the same time.
Menu selections will be presented like this: File->Open, which means
that you should open the File menu, and then make the Open selection.
- How do I purchase ChoiceSteel or Cutting Schedule?
- Will ChoiceSteel work with another CAD system ?
- I have loaded ChoiceSteel but it wont work ?
- Can I add or modify the cladding colours for portal frames?
- TrueCAD sometimes crashes when I execute a Steel command?
- Can I modify the symbols supplied with ChoiceSteel?
To purchase ChoiceSteel please use the comments
page or call 01825 841403 if you are inside the UK or 00 44 1825 841403 if you are
outside the UK.
Cutting Schedule may be purchased through Softcover or print out the order
form in the demo version and follow the instructions to pay by cheque.
Sorry but no, it is only currently designed to work with TrueCAD &
AllyCAD
To use ChoiceSteel you must have previously loaded TrueCAD or AllyCAD.
ChoiceSteel must be installed to a directory within TrueCAD or AllyCAD,
generally if you accepted the defaults when installing you CAD programme then
you should accept the defaults when installing ChoiceSteel. The directory
structure should be ..TrueCAD32\Steel If you cannot see a Steel
directory inside the TrueCAD32 directory then you have installed it to the
wrong place. Uninstall ChoiceSteel then re-install to the correct
directory.
If you installed to the correct place then you should run ChoiceSteel by using
the Load New Menu command from the TrueCAD file menu and load the Steel32D.Men
file. Once you have done this select Steel Tools from the Steel menu
that should now have appeared. To have the Steel menu loaded each
time you start TrueCAD see the ChoiceSteel readme file.
Yes, load the file called SheetCol.Txt which is in your steel directory
into NotePad and making sure you copy the format just make changes or add your
own colours. Once you have created a colour using a TrueCAD solid hatch
you can get the red green and blue colour numbers from the hatch by editing
the hatch and clicking on the Define Custom Colour button and noting down the
colour numbers. It is a good idea to keep a drawing with the blocks of
custom colours for future reference or modification.
Some users have experienced a problem whereby TrueCAD will crash after
executing a ChoiceSteel command. This problem can occur when ChoiceSteel
sends dynamic data exchange commands to TrueCAD. We are not entirely
sure of the cause but the problem seems to be related to screen or printer
drivers. To date it has only been experienced by users using Windows 98
or ME. Some HP printer drivers also seem to cause a problem.
If using a G85 HP multifunction printer it is recommended that you turn it off
and exit the printer status software by right clicking on the icon in the
taskbar and choose exit.
Installing a generic printer driver and setting this as the default will
generally cure the problem. The best cure is to update to Windows 2000
Yes, you will find the drawing files in the Steel directory. If you
modify the Purlins, Eave beams or Holding down bolts then you should create a
new text file containing the symbol names. Please see the help file for
information on how to use the TrueCAD function do this. The reason being that
these symbol libraries are used by the portal frame generator and it needs to
know what symbols are available when drawing the frame. You should also
make sure the hook points are in the right place otherwise they will be
wrongly placed on portal frames. If you create new libraries why not
have them load automatically from the Steel menu Libraries option? To do
this, edit the Library.Mac file in the Steel directory.
