Delete Project Items ( Utility Functions )

* = requires a concrete license

Related tools :

  • Release Unused Data (after Delete Project Items )
  • Delete View (alternative to Delete Project Items for erection views)
  • Removing member details (alternative to Delete Project Items )
  • Delete (a selection dialog button for deleting drawings or evus) ( )
  • Event Logging (Deleting an item is logged when the job " Operations " box is checked)
  • Log Viewer (A deleted item log entry is displayed when the job "Operations" box is checked)

Please note :

  • Using Delete Project Items does not actually remove the selected items from disk. It only marks them to be removed and makes you unable to use those items in your current Job . To actually delete the items from your hard disk, use the Release Unused Data utility.

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Step-by-step instructions :

Delete Project Items causes the items that you select -- such as unneeded erection views, details, user defined connections, assemblies or submaterial details -- to be removed from your current Job . For Global Standards and Global Symbols, it removes them from your the data directory for your current version of the SDS2 program that you used to start this utility.

1 . Start the Delete Project Items utility:

1a : Home > Utilities > Utility Functions . If prompted to do so, enter the " Utility Password " that has been set up for your network. Then, on the Utility Functions menu, click " Delete Project Items ."

2 . A selection dialog opens. It allows you to select one item at a time.

  Member Details (user-created only)
  Member Base Details
  Member Archive Details
  Job Standard Details
  Erection Views
Erection View Base Details
Erection View Archive Details
Submaterial Base Details
Submaterial Archive Details
  Detail Sheets
  Gather Sheets
  Erection Sheets
  Sheet Outlines
  User Defined Connections
  Global Standards
  BIF Configurations
  CNC Configurations
  Assemblies
  Reference Drawings
  Fabricators
  ABM
  Custom Properties
  Tower Cranes
  Mobile Cranes
  Crane Placements
  Symbols
  Global Symbols
     see below for rebar and concrete items.

 

Alternative 1 : Double-click the type of item that you want to delete from your current Job. For instance, if you want to delete sheet outlines, double-click " Sheet Outlines ." Delete Project Items will check for items of the type you selected and, if it cannot find any, will open an alert like the following:

No xxx items exist!
         
If you get this alert, press " OK " and go back to the beginning of step 2 (this step).

If you do not get the above shown alert, go to step 3 .

Alternative 2 : Press " Cancel " to end the Delete Project Items operation without deleting any more files. Do not continue.

3 . Skip this step if the choice you made in step 2 was something other than ' Interactive details ' or ' Job Standard Details ' or ' User Defined Connections ' or ' Global Standards ' or ' Custom Properties ' or ' Symbols '.

WARNING!!

You can only delete USER CREATED details using this utility function.

Do you wish to continue?

     
You get this warning if ' Interactive details ' was selected in step 2 and if interactive details reside in your current Job. To delete an automatically detailed detail, see removing member details .

WARNING!!

DO NOT delete an item that you have put on a member as a standard detail. This item must exist when processing or detailing that member.

Do you wish to continue?

     
You get this warning if ' Job Standard Details ' was selected in step 2 and if job standard details reside in your current Job. An example of what the warning refers to is the applying of a job standard detail as a " Standard detail " onto the end of a beam.

WARNING!!

While in Utility Functions, Delete Project Items, it is not possible to delete a user defined connection that is in use. Also, in order to delete a user defined connection, all members must be unlocked and not in use. This helps confirm a user is not applying a user defined connection to a member at the time of deletion.

Do you wish to continue?

     
You get this warning if ' User Defined Connections ' was selected in step 2 and if user defined connections reside in your current Job.

WARNING!!

DO NOT delete an item that you have put on a member as a user defined connection. This item must exist when processing or detailing that member.

Do you wish to continue?

     
You get this warning if ' Global Standards ' was selected in step 2 and if global standard details reside in your current Job. An example of what the warning refers to is the applying of a global standard detail as a " Standard detail " onto the end of a beam.

WARNING!!

All modeling sessions using this job should exit before using this utility function. Any sessions still running may resave old data.

Do you wish to continue?

     
You get this warning if ' Custom Properties ' was selected in step 2 and if custom properties reside in your current Job. Also see the help warnings .

WARNING!!

Deleting a symbol that has been placed onto a drawing removes that symbol from the drawing and replaces it with a broken link marker .

Do you wish to continue?

     
You get this warning if ' Symbols ' was selected in step 2 and if symbols reside in your current Job.

Alternative 1 : Press " Yes " to continue. Go to step 4.

Alternative 2 : Press " No " to go back to step 2.

4 . A selection dialog opens.

 item_1
 item_2
item_3
 item_4
 item_5

The selection dialog lists of all items in your current Job that are of the type you selected in step 2.

Alternative 1 : Select those items on this list that you want deleted, then press the " OK " button. Go to step 5.

Alternative 2 : Press " Cancel " to go back to step 2 .

5 . The items you selected in step 4 are now deleted, or you will get a warning message telling you that item(s) you selected were not deleted. For example, Delete Project Items will emit a warning message instead of deleting a user defined connection that is in use by a member in the Job.

Alternative 1 : Repeat steps 2 and 4 to delete additional Project Items (for instance, of a different type ).

Alternative 2 : Press " Cancel " to end this operation.

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Types of items that can be deleted :

Member Details: These are details created by the user in the Drawing Editor . Users can create details using the " New ... " button or Save As or Save Reuse .

To delete an automatically detailed detail, see removing member details .
Hide Items: User created details

Base Member Details : These are copies of member details that are used for revision tracking purposes. They will be generated automatically, under various circumstances, when " Disable automatic creation of BASE drawings " is turned off. Create Base Drawings (a Change option) and File > Create Base Drawing are two ways to manually create base member details.

Archive Member Details : These are copies of member details that were created, for example, using Archive Current Drawing or from the current base drawing when Create Base Drawing was used to create a new base drawing. An archived drawing of each newly created base drawing is automatically created when " Disable automatic creation of ARCHIVED drawings " is turned off.

Job Standard Details : Deleting a job standard detail prevents that job standard from being applied using Add Standard Detail or Add Standard Detail to Several... . Any drawings to which the deleted job standard detail was previously applied remain unaffected.

Warning : Do not delete a job standard detail that has been placed on a member -- for example, on the end of a beam . The standard detail must exist when processing or detailing that member. Member Detailing will generate an error instead of the detail if the job standard detail cannot be found.

Erection Views: These are grid lines in Modeling . They are straight grid lines (which you can Open ) and curved grid lines . Deleting them also removes from the Drawing Editor any erection view drawings that were generated from them. An alternative way to remove erection views (if a drawing has not yet been generated from them) is to use Delete View in Modeling . If " Erection view operations " is turned on (checked) in Event Logging setup, the deletion of an erection view using this utility will be logged to the " Log " that is found on the Edit Properties window that opens when you choose Home > Project Settings > Job > Job Property Settings. The log entry can also be viewed using the View Event Log utility.

Erection View Base Details : These are copies of erection view drawings that are used for revision tracking purposes and may be generated automatically when " Disable automatic creation of BASE drawings " is turned off. Create Base Drawings (a Change option) and File > Create Base Drawing are two ways to manually create erection view base details.

Erection View Archive Details : These are copies of erection view drawings that were created, for example, using Archive Current Drawing . An archived drawing of each newly created base drawing is automatically created when " Disable automatic creation of ARCHIVED drawings " is turned off.

Submaterial Base Details : These are copies of submaterial details that are used for revision tracking purposes and may be generated automatically when " Disable automatic creation of BASE drawings " is turned off. Create Base Drawings (a Change option) and File > Create Base Drawing are two ways to manually create submaterial base details.

Submaterial Archive Details : These are copies of submaterial details that were created, for example, using Archive Current Drawing . An archive drawing of each newly created base drawing is automatically created when " Disable automatic creation of ARCHIVED drawings " is turned off.

Detail Sheets : Deleting detail sheets does not delete member details that have been placed on them. It does, however, remove the " placed on sheet flag " from any member details that were placed on the detail sheet. This is the only tool available for deleting detail sheets from your current Job.

Gather Sheets : Deleting gather sheets does not delete the submaterial details that have been placed on them. It does, however, remove the " placed on sheet flag " from any submaterial details placed on the sheet. This is the only tool available for deleting gather sheets from your current Job.

Erection Sheets : Deleting erection sheets does not delete the erection views that have been placed on them. It does, however, remove the " placed on sheet flag " from any erection views placed on the sheet. This is the only tool available for deleting erection sheets from your current Job.

Sheet Outlines : Deleting a sheet outline does not affect the appearance or functionality of any detail sheets , gather sheets or erection sheets that were created using the deleted sheet outline. However, it does prevent that sheet outline from being used in your current Job for the creation of new detail sheets, gather sheets or erection sheets. This is the only tool available for deleting sheet outlines from your current Job.

User Defined Connections : Deleting user defined connections from your current Job prevents them from being used in that Job. You cannot delete user defined connections in any other way. If this utility detects that a user defined connection has been applied to member, it will not delete the user defined connection, but will instead emit a warning notifying you that the user defined connection was not deleted.

Warning : While in Utility Functions, Delete Project Items, it is not possible to delete a user defined connection that is in use. Also, in order to delete a user defined connection, all members must be unlocked and not in use. This helps confirm a user is not applying a user defined connection to a member at the time of deletion.

Global Standard Details : Deleting global standard details prevents the standard detail from being used in your current Job or, for that matter, any other Job.

Warning : Do not delete a global standard detail that has been placed on a member -- for example, on the end of a beam . The standard detail must exist when processing or detailing that member. Member Detailing will generate an error instead of the detail if the global standard detail cannot be found.

Output Configurations: Deleting output configurations prevents them from being used in your current Job or, for that matter, any other Job. The output configurations that you can delete are the same ones that are shown on the selection list that appears when you press the " Edit Configuration " button in User and Site Options > Output > under the " Output configurations " heading.

CNC Configurations: Deleting CNC configurations makes it so that they will not be able to be used in your current Job or, for that matter, any other Job.

Assemblies : Deleting assemblies prevents them from being Added .

Reference Drawings : Drawings of this type can be created from a file generated by AutoCAD or other programs using Drawing Conversion to convert a copy of a .dxf, .dxb, .dwg, .dgn or .pdffile. You can also create a reference drawing using the " New... " button or by using Save As . A reference drawing (as well as a job/global standard detail, erection view or member detail) can be placed as a reference drawing in Modeling . If you delete a reference drawing that has been placed in Modeling , it will disappear from Modeling .

Fabricators: Choosing this option allows you to delete one or more of Fabricators that are stored in your current Job. Your current Fabricator and the Master Fabricator cannot be selected for deletion using this utility since those Fabricators do not appear on the selection list.

ABM: Suppose you just created a new ABM and now have no more use for previously created ABMs. You can use this option to delete those previously created ABMs and thus prevent reports from being generated based on them. You cannot delete ABMs in any other way.

Custom Properties: You can select " Job Schema " and/or " Member Schema " and/or " Material Schema " and/or " Bolt Schema " and/or " Weld Schema " and/or " Hole Schema " to be deleted. This applies regardless of whether your current Job was set up, at creation time, to use modular or legacy custom properties.

WARNING!!

All modeling sessions using this job should exit before using this utility function. Any sessions still running may resave old data.

Do you wish to continue?

     

Warning 1 : All users on your network should exit the Job from which the custom property schema is to be deleted.

Warning 2 : A schema of a selected type (job, member, etc.) includes all custom properties associated with items of that type. For example, if you delete the " Member Schema ," the utility deletes all custom property options that are on the Edit Properties window for all members in your current Job .

Warning 3 : If you delete a member schema that includes a custom property for which " Use to split piecemarks " is checked, all members will be marked for piecemarking ( Create Solids ). If you delete a member schema that includes a custom property for which " Add to member detail " is checked, all members will be marked for Detail Members .

Tip 1: To remove one custom property schema entry at a time, use the " Delete " button instead of this utility. The " Delete " button does not, however, work for plugin-based custom properties.

Tip 2: To remove a custom property plugin, use the " Deactivate " button in Activate Custom Properties . Of course, you can easily reactivate the plugin at a later time, but all custom property data entered by users will have been lost.

Tower Cranes : A tower crane is a crane that has been added to your model using Add Tower Crane . Deleting a tower crane using this utility also removes any crane placements associated with that crane.

Mobile Cranes : A mobile crane is a crane that has been added to your model using Add Crawler Crane or Add Truck Crane . Deleting a crawler crane or truck crane using this utility also removes any crane placements associated with that crane.

Crane Placements : A crane placement is added to the model whenever a new crane is added using Add Tower Crane or Add Crawler Crane or Add Truck Crane . Additional crane placements can be assigned to a crane using Add Crane Placement . Be aware that if you delete all of a crane's placements using this utility, the crane is deleted also.

Symbols : These are symbols that are stored in your current Job . Be careful to only delete symbols which have not been placed on drawings.

Warning : When a symbol file is deleted using the Delete Project Items utility, all links to that symbol are broken throughout your current Job (no other Jobs are affected). A broken link marker is placed in each affected drawing to mark the location where the deleted symbol was originally placed. The index of the deleted symbol will be applied to the next symbol that you create, and that new symbol will replace the marker in all drawings in which the original, deleted symbol was placed. For this reason, do not use Delete Project Items to delete a symbol that has already been placed on drawings.

Tip: To cause a symbol to no longer be shown in drawings, simply Open the symbol file and delete all of the graphics in that file. After you Save the symbol, the symbol will no longer be shown in any of the drawings in which it was originally placed.

Global Symbols : These are symbols that are maintained in the data directory for your current version of this program. Since global symbols cannot be placed directly into drawings, there is no danger that deleting a global symbol will have negative repercussions on any drawings. Only job symbols can be added to drawings -- global symbols cannot.

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See step 2 :

  Standard Rebar Bends
  Global Standard Rebar Bends
  CMU Templates
  Global CMU Templates
  Thickened Slab Templates
  Global Thickened Slab Templates
  Concrete Column Templates
  Global Concrete Column Templates
  Concrete Beam Templates
  Global Concrete Beam Templates
  Grade Beam Templates
  Global Grade Beam Templates
  Continuous Footing Templates
  Global Continuous Footing Templates
  Footing Step Templates
  Global Footing Step Templates
  Pilaster Templates
  Global Footing Step Templates
 

Standard Rebar Bends: These are rebar shape templates that are stored in your current Job . Be very careful to only delete templates which have not been used to define rebar shapes.

Warning : When a rebar shape template is deleted using the Delete Project Items utility, that template is inaccessible to any rebar shape that has been defined by it throughout your current Job (no other Jobs are affected). Then, if you attempt to change members to solid form (for example, by invoking Change All to Solid Opaque ) while in Modeling , you may be unable to proceed. In that case, you can delete the member or material as well as the submaterial mark used by the rebar shape to successfully run Verify and Fix . For this reason, do not use Delete Project Items to delete a rebar shape template that has already been used to provide a template for reinforcing bar that you have already modeled.

Global Standard Rebar Bends: These are rebar shape templates that are maintained in the data directory for your current version of this program. Since global templates cannot be used directly to define a rebar shape, there is no danger that deleting a global template will have negative repercussions for the model. Only job rebar shape templates can be accessed by rebar shape edit screens -- global templates cannot.

Concrete Member Templates: These are concrete member templates that are stored in your current Job . These items are named for the concrete member type whose profiles they can define; for example, CMU Template , Thickened Slab Template , etc. Be careful to only delete templates which have not been used to define concrete members.

Warning : When a concrete member template is deleted using the Delete Project Items utility, that template is inaccessible to any member whose profiles have been defined by it throughout your current Job (no other Jobs are affected). If the member is later marked for processing (for example, by using the Mark for Processing tool) and then undergoes Process and Create Solids , the concrete member will not display in solid form. You will need to edit the member and select another template, or it will only display in stick form. For this reason, do not use Delete Project Items to delete a concrete member template that has already been used to provide a template for members that you have already modeled.

Global Concrete Member Templates: These are concrete member templates that are maintained in the data directory for your current version of this program. Since global templates cannot be used directly to define a concrete member profile, there is no danger that deleting a global template will have negative repercussions for the model. Only job concrete member templates can be accessed by concrete member edit screens -- global templates cannot.

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