Information for existing users

Release 5.00.1 : 27 August 2008

This is a long overdue release bringing SuperBeam USA into line with the UK version and adding NDS2001 support. For a full list of changes see the README file included in the download

Release 4.40.1 : 28 December 2004

User Interface

  1. SuperBeam USA 4.40 is built with Delphi 7: XP users will now see XP style buttons (with rounded corners and which shimmer if you hold the mouse over them) and other refinements. As part of this change you can no longer change the program desktop colour.
  2. When visible, the Project Manager is now always docked at the left of the program main window: i.e. the option to display it as a floating window has been removed.
  3. The Project Manager 'Expand' button status (up/down) is saved when you exit and restored on startup (when it is down and you click on an item in the Project Manager its window is displayed in expanded form)
  4. The toolbar now displays captions under the toolbar buttons. The toolbar and Project Manager fonts can now be changed using the Configuration, Screen and Printer fonts option
  5. You can now change the calculation screen font size without using the Configuration Menu option: use the Alt+Plus and Alt+Minus (numeric keypad '+' and '-') keys to enlarge or reduce the font size
  6. If you run the program in a maximised window this setting is now remembered and used next time you run it
  7. The screen and printer font dialogs have been combined into one dialog with two tabbed pages. You can now select the line spacing and blank line size (as percentages of the font default line spacing) so you can choose whether to go for a tighter spacing to fit more on screen or an a page, or a more open spacing for clarity.
  8. The beam, column and post load entry tables now show alternate rows in two different colours. These can be changed from within the Configuration, Colours dialog.
  9. When you select a beam, column or post load entry table a prompt panel appears which shows the input required in the currently selected cell.

Projects - General

  1. The Project Details dialog now contains an extra field containing the project start information (which is printed at the top of the Project Summary): previously this data was automatically generated by the program when you first started a project and could not be changed, and was retained if you copied an old project file as the basis for a new one.
  2. When you start a new project you are asked for the project details and a file name. A new message box is then displayed telling you that you add beams and other items to the project using the toolbar buttons: check the checkbox to stop this being displayed in the future (it is there to assist new users of the program)
  3. The Print Project dialog is now resizeable and shows the items not selected and selected for printing in two list boxes. You can now drag items from one list to the other and also select multiple items with [Ctrl]+mouse click before pressing the appropriate button
  4. PDF files produced by the program can now be merged with other non-protected PDF files if you have a copy of Adobe Acrobat (the full version, not just the free reader)
  5. A Project Summary button has been added to the toolbar
  6. The Project Summary now says 'or' when you have steel and timber alternatives
  7. If you are using dead+live load entry, the dead and live reaction components are now shown on screen as well as on the printouts
  8. The Project Manager 'Move up' and 'Move down' buttons now do not do anything if the result would be to move an item above one whose data it accesses

Beams

  1. If you select total load entry the loading duration column (used to enter D/L with dead/live load entry) is now hidden
  2. The maximum fields lengths for beams have been increased: load name from 20 to 24, loads 14 to 20, start and end positions 11 to 14.
  3. Notes fields containing semi-colons were not read in correctly - fixed
  4. You can now have up to 20 standard load descriptions (previously 10)
  5. On a beam extended as a cantilever, shear was not checked at the root of the cantilever - fixed
  6. The calculation of beam deflections has been altered very slightly to give better results with highly irregular loads
  7. The beam analysis now omits the deflection coefficient. The actual total deflection is shown as before, and if you are using separate dead+live load entry the actual dead and live load deflections

Steel beams

  1. The Steel Check dialog has been redesigned and now contains two list boxes, the first for the section type, the second for the sections of this type. B & D dimensions are shown. If you position this dialog to one side of the calculation window you can see the calculation when you select an alternative section.
  2. With steel beams, where no section could be found that was suitable within the section type and width limits entered, the section displayed was the lighest/shallowest in the section list. Now you will see the last section checked that met these limits with the usual warning message telling why it was not suitable.
  3. For steel beams you can now add multi-line notes to each bearing - previously you were restricted to one 80-character line. Standard notes can be used as elsewhere. If you've selected the 'Show notes in summary' option these notes are now also shown in the Project Summary: to avoid confusion in the summary the main notes are printed before the bearings details

Wood beams

  1. The nominal-actual size conversion has been corrected for members that are 6x6 or larger - in each case 0.5" is now subtracted from the nominal dimension; previously 0.75" was subtracted from dimensions of 8" or more.

Steel Columns

  1. Load entry has been completely revised. You now enter loads in a table, much as for beams, and can give loads descriptive names, The position where the load acts is denoted by 'A' if axial, or '1' - '4' if acting so as to produce a moment. In the latter cases you have to enter the distance from the center of the member to the position where the load is assumed to act. If you load in a file produced by an earlier version of SuperBeam the data will be converted to the new format: you will need to substitute your own load descriptions for the default ones.
  2. Following present day usage, references to 'Stanchion' have been changed to 'Column'
  3. Increment/decrement spinners have been added to the column length field
  4. The steel column baseplate edit dialog now shows the actual minimum required dimensions in brackets after the specified dimensions - the latter are never changed by the program if they exceed the required minima.
  5. As before, if the length, width or thickness of a baseplate entered exceeds the required minimum value it will not be changed when you press 'Apply'. Otherwise a rounded up value will be substituted

Wood posts

  1. Load entry has been completely revised. You now enter loads in a table, much as for beams, and can give loads descriptive names, The position where the load acts is denoted by 'A' if axial, or '1' or '2' if acting so as to produce a moment. In the latter cases you have to enter the distance from the face of the member to the position where the load is assumed to act - i.e. '0' if the load is considered to act at the edge of the post or stud. If you load in a file produced by an earlier version of SuperBeam the data will be converted to the new format: you will need to substitute your own load descriptions for the default ones.
  2. Increment/decrement spinners have been added to the post length field
  3. A check is now made to ensure that the slenderness ratio of timber posts and studs does not exceed 180: a warning message is printed if it does

Configuration

  1. The User Setup dialog, Preferences page now includes an additional field that lets you enter your preferred way of describing multiple section beams, e.g. 2No or 2 of. If a leading space is needed before your choice you must enter it in the field.
  2. The User Setup dialog, Preferences page now includes an additional field in which you enter the maximum number of windows, x, to be displayed when you select the 'Tile All' option. If the number of items in the project is greater than this, pressing the toolbar 'Tile All' button repeatedly displays the next x windows and so on.
  3. The User Setup dialog now has an additional button which lets you delete the currently selected heading template: please note that this operation is NOT reversible.
  4. The User Setup dialog now lets you define the name and location of the INI file(s) that store the program settings: both entries default to SDA_APPS.INI. Where no path is specified (as is the case by default) this file will be stored in the system Windows directory (C:\Windows or C:\WINNT depending on OS) and this could not be changed on earlier releases. This can cause problems on XP systems where 'ordinary' users do not have write access to this directory: in such cases you will need to relocate these files. Pressing the '99' button generates suitable defaults. For a more detailed discussion of this see our web site page www.sda.co.uk/inifiles.htm
  5. If you change the name of the steel or timber data file or standard notes file in the User Setup dialog and the new file does not exist, the old file is copied over to the new location/name. Previously an error message was displayed.
  6. A new 'Information' option has been added to the Configuration menu. This displays information about the program including licence details and file names and locations. This information may be printed out if desired.
  7. The maximum length of text that can be entered in any heading cell has been increased from 80 to 240 characters (in practice of course you would never use anything like this).
  8. The heading template edit dialog now shows which font has been used for the currently selected cell and also shows the names given to the %1-%4 project fields. You can now drag these prompts and drop them onto table cells

Other

  1. A 'Change Description' option has been added to OLE pages which (as the name implies) lets you substitute your own description (e.g. 'Connection detail') for the default 'OLE Object: Word Document' etc.
  2. An alternative way of numbering pages has been added: the Print dialog now offers you two options: Sequential numbering (1,2,3...) as before, with the first number selectable by the user; or 'Number by content'. If you choose the latter, pages are given the same number as the item, with a second number for subpages, e.g. if a beam is item 12 in the Project Manager and on the Project Summary, the printouts will be numbered 12.1 and (if more than one sheet) 12.2
  3. By design calculated field entries ignore extraneous text which may clarify an expression - e.g 'avg' or 'est'. To save risks of errors being introduced, any instances of upper case 'O' are now flagged as an error, before 2O would be interpreted as 2, not 20.
  4. Until now including one or more blank lines in calculation notes forced a new line. Now one blank line forces a new line and two blank lines includes a blank line between paragraphs
  5. The calculator now includes keys to recall the last expression ('#') and to calculate Sales Tax/VAT (default 17.5%) on the last result or current entry. To change the rate to (say) 18.5% type ++0.185 on the calculator input line and press 'Enter'
  6. The help file system now uses the Microsoft HTML Help Engine. The new help file is called sbwusa.chm and is displayed with an index down the left hand side. The old file (sbwusa.hlp) can be deleted once the new version is installed and you have confirmed that the online help works correctly
  7. An Uninstall option is now added to the Start menu
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