Rectangular Plate Edit window
( Modeling > F2 > " 
Misc steel " > " Rectangular Plate ")
Selecting " Rectangular Plate " as the " Miscellaneous steel " type adds a custom member with rectangular plate material to a 3D model.
The Rectangular Plate custom member is a superior alternative to " Miscellaneous -- Rectangular Plate ."
The edit window of this member features material and member options on the same window.
Its " General settings " include " Break apart " and " Rotation ," which are not available for the legacy miscellaneous member.
Member operations such as many of those found on the Model > Member menu in Modeling can be performed on this member, and you can add custom components to it.
- To open this window:
- Add Rectangular Plate (documentation is on this page)
- Double-click (any submaterial of the Rectangular Plate with ' Default ' as the filter)
- Edit Member
- Edit by Piecemark (alternative to Edit Member )
- Edit by Member Number (alternative to Edit Member )
- Selection filter (useful tool that aids selection)
The " OK " button is disabled (grayed out) to indicate a validation error. Hover the " OK " button with your mouse pointer to get a listing of settings you need to change on this window. When all settings are valid, the " OK " button is enabled.
Also see :
- Plates (topic)
- Miscellaneous member types (the complete list)
- Custom members (a rectangular plate miscellaneous member is a custom member)
- Rectangular Plate Material (window can set Rectangular Plate Edit 's " Main Material " to ' USER ')
- Miscellaneous members versus legacy miscellaneous members (topic)
- Surfaces Connection (a custom component you can add to a miscellaneous member)
Add rectangular plate :
1 . A rectangular plate miscellaneous member can be properly located and rotated even in an isometric view. Before adding the member, be aware of the following:
- The key to ensuring that a miscellaneous member's material is properly oriented in the model is proper location of the member's work points and proper " Rotation " around the member line established by those work points.
- Before adding a rectangular plate miscellaneous member in Modeling , you should Open ( Ctrl + o ) a view that will facilitate the locating of the work points.
- Work points for sloping rectangular plate should be added in a view that is at the desired slope. To create such a view, you can use Navigate > Snap to Surface or View > Section View .
- To lay out a perfectly horizontal rectangular plate, open a plan view at the desired elevation.
- Work points for a perfectly vertical rectangular plate can be located in an elevation view .
- You can adjust the " Elevation " of a rectangular plate miscellaneous member's work points on its edit window. If you want the elevation of both work points to be at a particular elevation, you may want to open a plan view at the desired elevation.
- You may want to add construction lines so that there are INCL points for locating work points.
- Custom components such as the Surfaces Connection can be added to miscellaneous members. If you plan to add such a connection to your rectangular plate miscellaneous member, you need to locate the work points of the member accordingly.
- Tools and widgets related to the locating of points include the point-location target (
), the X-Y-Z display , Modeling > Locate options and Offset Controls .
- Tools related to the adding of Modeling views include Navigate > Snap to Surface and View > Section View and File > View/Grids > Add Grid Line and others.
2 . To add a rectangular plate miscellaneous member (in Modeling ):
Alternative 1 : Press F2 > check the box for "
Alternative 2 : Choose Model > Member > Prompt for Member Type > check the box for "
3 . Locate - Repeat - Return mouse bindings become active, and you are prompted to locate the rectangular plate's work points. Two work points are required to lay out rectangular plate.
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3a : Select the appropriate Locate option.
3b : Left-click ( Locate ) at two different on-screen positions to define the member line between those two points. The first work point you enter when you add the rectangular plate defines the left end of the member. Both points are represented as exact points after step 4, when the member is actually generated in the model.
Depending on the choice made for its " Thickness reference point ," its member line will lie on the ' NS ', ' FS ', or ' Center ' of the plate's thickness.
The first point that you locate is identified by an origin symbol . The origin symbol also tells you which end is the member's left end. The following illustration shows the difference between locating the two points from left to right versus right to left.
Material can be set back from the left end -- that is, from the first work point entered -- when a positive left end " Material setback " is entered. Similarly, a right end setback can be entered.
If you Model > Member > Isolate > ... a rectangular plate miscellaneous member, you will find that the member's MAIN VIEW shows the member's origin symbol (
) to be to your left. This is true for any miscellaneous member -- even if the origin symbol for the member is to your right in a plan view. The MAIN VIEW in member isolation directly correlates to the main view of the miscellaneous member's detail.
Best practice when adding a miscellaneous member in a plan view is to input the member from left to right or from bottom to top. That way, when you add a grid line from left to right, the near side of the member, as determined by the location of its left end , will be the side looking toward the bottom or toward the right of the screen.
4 . After you are done laying out work points, the Rectangular Plate Edit window opens. On it are settings of the rectangular plate you are adding.
4a : Enter a " Material thickness " and " Material width ."
4b : Choose the " Thickness reference point " of the material and thus specify whether you want the near side, far side or center of the plate at the elevation (or relative depth) of the view in which you entered its work points (if you entered the plate by locating two work points).
4c ( optional ): The " Left/right end settings " on this window let you specify cuts or material setbacks on the ends of the rectangular plate. The left end is the end associated with the first point you located in step 3.
4d : Press the " OK " button to apply your settings and close this window.
Note: The default settings on this window are those of the last rectangular plate miscellaneous member added or edited in this session of Modeling . Even if all you do is double-click a rectangular plate member and press " OK " on its edit window, its settings become the defaults for the next-added rectangular plate miscellaneous member. You therefore only need to make changes to those settings which are different for this member.
5 . If User and Site Options > Modeling > " Process after modeling operation " is ' Process and create solids ', the new plate will have automatically undergone all phases of Process and Create Solids and will show up in a solid form . If that option is ' Process ' or ' Do nothing ', then the member line of the rectangular plate you just added shows up on screen in stick form , and you will have to Process > Process and Create Solids in order to have the member piecemarked and able to be displayed in a solid form. Do one (1) of the following:
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Alternative 1 : Move the mouse pointer (
) and middle-click ( Repeat ) to lay out a rectangular plate just like the last one beginning at the point where the point location target (
Alternative 2 : Follow these instructions beginning with step 3 to add a rectangular plate with different settings than the one you just laid out.
Alternative 3 : Right-click ( Return ) if you are done adding rectangular plate.
------ Rectangular plate ------
Material thickness: The thickness of this plate (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units or the gage ). The thickness of a " Checkered " plate is measured exclusive of its raised pattern.
To enter gage plate: Type in the ' gage number' followed by ' ga ' (example: ' 4ga ' is rewritten as ' 4GA ' when you Tab out of the field). Right-click tells you the stored thickness (based on industry standards), from which the weight of the gage plate is calculated. Allowable gages are any whole number from 3 to 38 . You can also enter an exact decimal thickness to get the gage (example: ' .1345 ' becomes ' 10GA ' when you Tab out of the field). The " Description " for a gage plate follows the format: ' plate prefix ' + ' numberGA ' + ' x ' + ' width ' (example: PL16GAx15 1/2 ).
Thickness precision: You can enter a plate " Material thickness " that is more precise than the " Dimension precision " that is set at Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Detailing > Drawing Presentaton . For example, if you enter ' 5/32 ' and the " Dimension precision " is ' 1/16 ', the thickness of the plate will be ' 5/32 '. The thickness you enter will be reflected in the " Description " and will propagate to the bill of material, reports, etc. The setup option to " Round flat plate values " does not affect this. Be aware that the Ruler measures to whatever the " Dimension precision " is set to, which means that the plate's measured thickness may not exactly match its actual thickness.
Defaults: If you are newly adding this rectangular plate, the default thickness is that of the last rectangular plate added or edited. You may want to type in a different thickness.
Also see: How the plate thickness is measured with respect to the work plane in which you laid out the member's points is determined by the " Thickness reference point ."
The following can be used to track the choice made here when " Main material " is ' SYSTEM ':
Status Display: Material status > Material plate thickness
Report Writer: XXXXX . Thickness
Advanced Selection: Thickness
Parametric module: Thickness
Material width: The width (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) of the rectangular plate being added/edited. This dimension is the same at both its left and right ends.
The following can show the choice made here when " Main material " is ' SYSTEM ':
Report Writer: XXXXX . Width
Advanced Selection: Width
Parametric module: Width
Steel grade: A36 or A572 or etc. This is the grade of steel for the rectangular plate whose settings are defined on this window.
Setup: If the grade of steel you want is not shown on the list box (
), you can use Home > Project Settings > Job > Plate Grades to add it to the list.
Tip: Changing the " Steel grade " does not cause the plate to be regenerated. This means that, if you change this setting without changing other settings, material cut operations such as a Cut Layout may, optionally, be preserved.
The following can show the choice made here when " Main material " is ' SYSTEM ':
Report Writer: MemberMaterial.Material.SubMaterial.MaterialGradeDescription
Advanced Selection: MaterialGrade
Parametric module: MaterialGrade
Thickness reference point: FS or Center or NS . ' NS ' stands for near side, ' FS ' for far side.
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| A section view of the same rectangular plate, but with different depth reference points. The view looks perpendicular to the plan view (at 100 ft) in which the rectangular plate was added. |
Choose ' NS ' if you added the rectangular plate in a plan view and want the near side of the plate to be at the elevation of the plate's work points. The near side is the face of the rectangular plate that faces you when the bar was added in a plan view at the default " Rotation " (' -90 '), you are in that view, and the plate was not subsequently rotated.
Choose ' Center ' if you are adding this plate in a plan view and you want its thickness centered at the elevation of the plate's work points.
Choose ' FS ' if you added the plate in a plan view and want its far side at the elevation of the plate's work points. The far side is the face that is away from you when the bar was added in a plan view at the default " Rotation " (' -90 '), you are in that view, and the plate was not subsequently rotated.
Piecemarking: Two rectangular plates, each with a different " Thickness reference point ," may have the same submaterial piecemark. The two plates will have different submaterial mark index numbers .
Note: This option does not change the plate's reference elevation. It only changes the positioning of the plate with respect to that reference elevation. You can change a rectangular plate's " Reference elevation " using the General Information window.
The following can track the choice made here when " Main material " is ' SYSTEM ':
Advanced Selection: MaterialOriginPoint
Parametric module: MaterialOriginPoint
If this box is checked (
If the box is not checked (
), the rectangular plate is considered to have a smooth near-side surface.
The following can track the choice made here when " Main material " is ' SYSTEM ':
Report Writer: XXXXX . CheckeredPlatePattern
Advanced Selection: CheckeredPlatePattern
Parametric module: CheckeredPlatePattern
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------ Member ------
End elevation: The elevation (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) of the work point at this end of the rectangular plate. For a non-sloping plate, both the left and right end elevations are the same. When you add the rectangular plate, its work points are placed in your current view's reference elevation until you change their elevations here, on this window.
| A rectangular plate has two exact points , whose elevation you can change by changing the member's left- and/or right-end " End elevation ." |
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To determine the end elevation on a rectangular plate in the 3D model, use Construction Line Add or a similar tool, select EXPT as the Locate option, then snap the point location target to the work point at the end of the member. The Z coordinate reported in the X-Y-Z display tells you the elevation at the snapped-to exact point.
Tip: Use this option instead of rotating a rectangular plate member's material to change its left- or right-end elevation. For complex situations, you can Model > Member > Move/Stretch one or the other of its work points.
Standard detail: None or a standard detail name . To apply a standard detail, you can type in the file name of the drawing (if you know it), or press the "file cabinet" browse button ( 
) and double-click any job standard detail or global standard detail that is on the list.
If ' none ' is entered here, then no standard detail will be applied on this end of the miscellaneous member when it is automatically detailed .
If a ' standard detail name ' is entered here, the next time you auto detail this miscellaneous member, the reference point of the standard detail will align with the input work point on this end of the member, and the standard detail's bill of material will be combined with the member's bill of material. The detail is placed on a layer that is named after the standard detail plus a "_L" or "_R" suffix.
------ Settings ------
Material setback: The positive or negative (-) distance in the appropriate " Units " that you want the (left or right) end of the rectangular plate to be displaced from its work point distance.
A ' positive material setback ' makes the rectangular plate shorter. The distance is subtracted from the work point distance.
A ' negative (-) material setback ' makes the rectangular plate longer. The negative distance is also subtracted from the work point distance.
Assuming that the bar was added in a plan view at the default " Rotation " (' -90 '): a ' positive angle ' is measured counterclockwise from a perpendicular bisector to the workline. A ' negative angle ' is measured clockwise from a perpendicular bisector to the workline.
The following can track the choice made here when " Main material " is ' SYSTEM ':
Report Writer: XXXXX . MaterialSetbackLeftEnd
Report Writer: XXXXX . MaterialSetbackRightEnd
Advanced Selection: MaterialSetback[0] or MaterialSetback[1]
Parametric module: MaterialSetback[0] or MaterialSetback[1]
End cut angle: Any positive or negative (-) angle .
In this example, the left end of the rectangular bar is to your left on your computer screen and negative distances along its Y member axis are toward the bottom of the screen. The bar's width is shown as vertical in this view: ' 0 ' (zero) square cuts the end. A ' positive angle ' is measured counterclockwise from a perpendicular bisector to the member line. A ' negative (-) angle ' is measured clockwise from a perpendicular bisector to the member line.
The following can show the choice made here when " Main material " is ' SYSTEM ':
Report Writer: XXXXX . WebCutLeftEnd
Report Writer: XXXXX . WebCutRightEnd
Advanced Selection: WebCutEnd[0] or WebCutEnd[1]
Parametric module: WebCutEnd[0] or WebCutEnd[1]
Top/bottom operation: None or Cope or Clip .
' None ' designates that no top/bottom cutting operation be performed on this rectangular plate.
' Cope ' applies a 90 degree (L-shaped) cut with a rounded corner.
' Length ' sets the length of the cope along the span of the member line from the left/right end of the plate.
' Width ' sets the width of the cope from the top/bottom edge of the plate toward its center.
' Clip ' applies a single, linear cut.
' Length ' sets the length of the clip along the span of the member line from the left/right end of the plate.
' Width ' sets the width of the cope from the top/bottom of the plate in toward the plate's center.