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click on the desired printer from the Windows Start->Settings->Printers menu and select Properties. Changes made
there will be permanent.

Configure for network use

Allows the user/administrator to update the configuration for network use of RAPT. See 2.3 Network Management for
an explanation of the options and process.
Recent Files
Lists the last 9 files opened in RAPT for quick access.

Open Defaults
Allows the user to open an existing Design Code or Materials file for viewing or editing.
Delete Defaults
Allows the user to delete an existing Design Code or Materials file.
Set Defaults
Allows the user to select which Design Code or Materials file is to be used as the default file when creating a new
design file. Simply select the desired file from the dialog (Design Code shown below) and press the Set As Default
button. The current default file is indicated by a tick.

Page Setup
Allows the user to define the printer settings for the current RAPT session using the standard printer settings dialog
shown below. The default settings are the default Windows settings. Changes made to printer settings in this dialog
will be lost when another printer is selected or the current RAPT session is closed. To make permanent changes, right

4 User Interface 3 4 User Interface 4

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4.1.2 Start Screen - View Menu 4.1.3 Start Screen - Help Menu
RAPT uses a standard Microsoft HTML Help system for viewing help information, If the files needed for viewing HTML
Help are not loaded on your system RAPT will load them during installation.

Status Bar
Allows the user to select to have the status bar visible or hidden. Clicking with the left mouse button will toggle
between visible and hidden.

Hide/Show Tree
This item is only shown when a Control Tree is available. It allows user to hide the program control tree. For
computers with small or low resolution screens, this allows the data views to use the full screen width while being
viewed/edited.
Contents (F1)
User Preference Pressing F1 or selecting Contents from the Help Menu will open the Help Viewer at the Table of Contents. The user can
Allows the user to control a set of preferences for units, fonts and data formatting. See 4.2 User Preferences. then select the area of help to be viewed from the lists in the contents tree.

Search
Allows the user to search the complete help document for a keyword, phrase or group of works. A list of the topics
containing the search request will be presented and the search request text will be highlighted wherever it occurs
within each topic.

Item Specific Help (Ctrl + H)

When a data cell that has specific help is in focus, pressing Ctrl + H or selecting this item from the Help menu will
open the Help document at the relevant item.
Help About Help
Selecting this item will give a help screen detailing the use of the Help viewer.
Email PCDC Pty Ltd
Automatically launches your computers default Email program with an email to PCDC support.
PCDC Website
Connect automatically to the PCDC website.
About RAPT
Opens a dialog which lists

1. RAPT Version number and copyright.

2. RAPT Licensee details and dongle number
3. Number of users logged onto a network dongle and maximum number of users allowed.
4. Current Usage for demonstration and usage licenses.

4.1.2 User Interface: Start Screen - View Menu 1 4.1.3 User Interface: Start Screen - Help Menu 1
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4.2 User Preferences 4.2.1 Unit and Fonts

The Unit and Fonts tab in User Preference dialog allows user to change their unit settings and font settings.

Units

RAPT supports 3 standard unit formats, SI unit, metric unit and imperial.
In addition, it also allows the user to define a personalised format. To do this, the user must select a base format from
one of the standard formats. In every data grid, for each column/row of data that has a unit type the user can then
select a unit type from the list for that data type. To access the list of unit types, click the right mouse button on the
unit type data cell for that column/row of data. A list of unit types will be offered and the user can select any of those
types for that column/row of data. Once all of the columns have been set as desired the unit format can be saved
RAPT users can configure a series of options used by RAPT in the input and display of data and results. These can be
using the Tools->Save As User-defined Unit Format menu option. This unit format can then be selected as the default
accessed and modified through View->User Preference menu. This menu will bring up a dialog which allows the user to
unit format for this user in the View->User Preference->Unit Type menu item.
configure
For each unit, the user can further define the precisions that they want RAPT to use to display that unit type. The
selected precisions will then be used consistently throughout the whole program.
• 4.2.1 Units and Fonts - The user can select the base unit type to show in all data and graphics views and to
set the format to be used in showing each if the individual unit types as well as the font characteristics to be The precisions available for SI and Metric and Imperial units are from 0 to 5 decimal places.
used in displaying the information.
For Imperial Unit length measurements, fractions of an inch are accepted from 1/2" to 1/16" and combinations of feet
• 4.2.2 User Options - The user can select various options used in controlling the data and report screens
and inches can be input, eg 12' 7 1/2" or 12.625' are both acceptable. The ' and " symbols must be used where a
• 4.2.3 Page Options - The user can configure the gape layout for output reports. combination of feet and inches is used, otherwise in "ft-in" cells, the input will be assumed to be feet and in "in" cells it
• 4.2.4 Line Options - The user can modify the default line colour and styles set in RAPT. will be assumed to be inches. In cases where fractions of an inch have been selected as the precision, the fraction will
• 4.2.5 Output Report Settings - The user can select the sections of the Output Tree and Output Report that will be rounded to the lowest denominator, eg if 10/16" is entered, it will be shown as 5/8" once the edit operation on the
be open by default for any new data file. cell is completed.
• Check For Update – The User can request that RAPT notifies via a dialog that an Update is available for
download from www.RAPTsoftware.com Downloads page. This check is made whenever RAPT is started. The
download is not automatic. The user still has to go to the website and download manually.

4.2 User Interface: User Preferences 1 4.2.1 User Interface: Unit and Fonts 1
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Fonts

As soon as a change is made to a single data item in the Units/Fonts page, the change will be made to the currently
open RAPT views, allowing the user to see the effects of the change. The Cancel button at the bottom of the dialog will
NOT over-ride changes made in the Units/Fonts page of this dialog.

The user can also change the following fonts to suit their viewing and printing needs using standard Windows font
selection dialogs (see below).

1. Input header cell font

2. Input data cell font
3. Output font for screen
4. Output font for printing (used when doing a Print Preview or printing to the printer).

4.2.1 User Interface: Unit and Fonts 2 4.2.1 User Interface: Unit and Fonts 3
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4.2.2 User Options

If you find such dialog boxes is annoying, turn on this option to suppress warning dialogs and the changes will be
made without warning.
Suppress Graphics Tool tips: Graphic tool tips can provide useful information about the graphics underneath the
mouse cursor in the cross-section views. The same information is also available on the status bar but not as easy to
read.

Turn it off if you don't like the tool tips. The graphic information is still available on the status bar even if the tool tips
have been turned off.

Accept design bar size outside preferred range: When calculating the Detailed Reinforcement and the
Reinforcement Layout from the design areas of reinforcement, RAPT will search within the range of bar sizes
nominated at that location by the designer in the input to try to achieve a reinforcement spacing within the code and
design limits. If you are willing to accept bar sizes outside this range, select this option. RAPT will check within the
nominated range first. If there is no solution within this bar size range, RAPT will then check all other bar sizes for this
bar type.

Suppress error report while editing: Basic Error Checking necessary to ensure that the graphics can be drawn
properly will be conducted every time an input value has been changed. An error report window will automatically
come out to replace the concrete shape graphic view if there are any errors. If you prefer to see the concrete shape
graphics view by default even if there are errors to report, this option should be turned on. You can then switch to the

error window using the window toolbar button. This will change the setting of this flag in both the user
preferences which are used to control all future RAPT sessions and also the setting for the current RAPT session which
Show all prestress tendons: For a RAPT frame data file having multiple prestress tendons, for extremely complex is controlled from 4.5.3.4 General Menu->Tools.
runs or on slow computers, the regeneration of the prestress graphics may be too slow if all the tendons are shown in Enable Real-time Scrolling: Real-time scrolling means that, when the user clicks and drags scroll bars of a view
the background. By turning this option off, only the current tendon is drawn and the redrawing would be much faster. without releasing the mouse, the view changes its current position continuously giving the user a clear idea where
Automatic Re-Profiling Based on: When concrete sections are modified, RAPT will check the tendon profiling to see they are. For some slow computer systems, it may take a long time for a view to respond to the real-time scrolling.
if any of the tendon profiles need to be modified to suit. The designer can select to have the re-profiling based on Turning this option off means the view will only change its current position when the user releases the mouse. So turn
maintaining either off this option if using a slow system.

Circle/Quad Circle Conversion: Allows the user to specify default parameters for the conversion of circular shapes
1. Percentage Drape:- the same percentage drape in each span as previously or to a series of trapezoidal shapes. This allows the designer to easily define multi-sided shapes such as hexagons and
2. Cover:- the same cover at each nominated profile point as previously octagons and also to reduce circular shapes to shapes that are more easily manipulated to create partial circular
shapes. This will be done automatically if the designer requests a cut across a circular shape. The parameters required
are-
Tendon Profile Spacing: When calculating the profile support points, RAPT will round spacings to either
- Segments in a quadrant of a circle: Number of segments a quadrant circle shape is to be divided into.
1. the next whole number of profile spaces or - Segments in a circle: Number of segments a full circle shape is to be divided into.
2. the numerically closest whole number of profile spaces - Extend Radius: Increase the radius of the circle shape so that the total area of the resulting trapezoidal shapes
is the same as the area of the original circular shape. If this is not selected, the corners of the trapezoidal shapes will
be placed on the original circle shape surface.
depending on the users selection. - Flat Top: If not selected, the top and bottom shapes will be triangles with a peak point at the centreline of the
circle shape. If selected, the top and bottom shapes will be trapezoids with the top surface flat and the top points
Enable Auto-save every ** minutes: When selected, RAPT will automatically backup the current data to a
equally spaced either side of the centreline of the circular shape.
temporary file at the selected time interval. This file will be the existing file with ~ at the start of the file extension,
eg .~rpf. This file will be stored in the current directory for saving data files. If the file is closed normally, RAPT will Levels of Undo: Sets the maximum levels of undo that RAPT will allow. Levels of undo can range between 0 to 20
automatically delete the backup file. A backup file will only exist in a directory if RAPT has crashed this not deleting the inclusive. When this value is set to zero, the undo function is disabled. Setting this value to 5 for example means RAPT
file. When RAPT is started it will automatically open an existing backup file or, if there are more than one backup files will remember the last 5 changes the user makes in a data file so that they can rollback at most 5 steps. If RAPT is
in a directory, will offer the option to select the backup file to be opened. running on a computer that has limited memory, it is recommended to set Levels of undo to a small value or even zero
to accommodate memory problems. The default setting is 5 levels.
Suppress Warning Dialogs: When the user is about to make a major changes which could cause the loss of a large
amount of data if proceeded with, a warning dialog will come out to ask for confirmation of the change, eg Default Designer: The default designer name will be automatically added to the RAPT frame data file in the General
Data View whenever a new RAPT frame file is created.

The Reset To Defaults button resets the default settings of the User Options tab.
To cancel changes made to this page click the Cancel button at the bottom of the dialog.

4.2.2 User Interface: User Options 1 4.2.2 User Interface: User Options 2
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The user can specify whether an element should be
4.2.3 Page Options 1 left, right or centre aligned.
2 in the header or the footer
Page options tab controls the page layout of a RAPT printed report.
Show Full Version Number option enables user to show the full version number of RAPT (such as 6.0.0.2) or just a
simplified version number (such as 6.0) in the report header or footer.
Company Logo field allows the user to specify a company logo bitmap (BMP file) to be printed on the first page of the
report. There is no size restriction on the BMP file. If a bitmap image is too large, it will be reduced to a more usable
size (50% of screen width for viewing on screen or page width inside margins for printing to a printer). The program
will only accept BMP file format, other image formats such as JPEG or GIF will not be accepted. Contact PCDC if you
don't know how to convert a JPEG or GIF file to a BMP file.

The Reset To Defaults button resets the setting of the Page Options tab to the RAPT default settings.
To cancel changes made to this page click the Cancel button at the bottom of the dialog.

Margins - The left, top, right, bottom margins are the printer margin settings for the page size selected. Different
printers have different minimum print margin settings. The correct print margins for one printer sometimes are smaller
than the minimum margin allowed for another printer. RAPT allows the user to set the margins between the current
printer's minimum allowed margin and 1/3 of the paper width/height. Tips: The user can set larger margins on left or
right if they need to put punch holes to bind the printed report.

If the values input for the margins by the user violate the printers limits, RAPT will check the values when this page
goes out of focus and post the following warning dialog. The user will be forced to modify the settings to conform to
the printer minimums. The limits shown in the warning dialog are the mutually exclusive extreme values between
which the settings are acceptable.

If RAPT is started with a default printer which has one or more page margin minimums larger than the settings in User
Preferences, the offending settings will be modified to the minimums for that printer. This check is also carried out
when the user attempts to print to a printer. The changed values will be reflected in this dialog and can be viewed /
modified by the user.

Header/Footer - The user may select any of the following elements to be included in the report header or footer.
1 version
2 page number
3 licensee
4 license number
5 designer name
6 project name
7 project number
8 frame description
9 file name
10 date & time

4.2.3 User Interface: Page Options 1 4.2.3 User Interface: Page Options 2
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4.2.4 Line Options

These six lines will be used in order by RAPT in drawing graphics plots. If only one line is needed Line 1 will be used, if
2 are needed then Line 1 will be used for the first line and Line 2 for the second and so on.
Line Thickness
This option allows the designer to control the thickness of the main lines on graphics output to the printer. RAPT offers
four settings from a minimum thickness to a maximum approximately four times as thick as the minimum. It will not
have any effect on viewing a RAPT report on the screen.
Reset To Defaults
The Reset To Defaults button resets the settings of the Line Options tab to the default settings. This will reset the line
colours and styles and the line thickness.

Cancel
RAPT provides 6 defaults lines for drawing graphics output. Each line colour and line style can be changed to suit the To cancel changes made to this page click the Cancel button at the bottom of the dialog.
user's viewing or printing needs. The default colours have been selected to attempt to provide a good contrast
between different lines. To change line style or colour, select the Change button which will open the dialog below.
The line styles that user can choose from are

solid:
dash:

dot:
dash dot:

dash dot dot:

The colours for each line can be modified by selecting the Colour button in the Change Dialog which will present the
user with the following colour selection palette from which colours can be selected. RAPT will not carry out any checks
on relative colour difference between lines. This is completely up to the user.

4.2.4 User Interface: Line Options 1 4.2.4 User Interface: Line Options 2
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4.2.5 Output Report Settings

The Report Text and Graphics columns preset which report elements should be included into the final report as
default. When the user resets the Report settings, these options will be selected. The user can then modify the
settings if desired before printing the report. In Load Combinations, only Ultimate Flexure within this folder will be
selected by default . For Column Actions, both the Load Cases Column Actions and the Load Combinations Column
Actions will be selected. In all other cases, all of the text and/or graphics options within that folder will be selected as
nominated.

The Output Tree Text and Graphics columns determine which report elements in the report tree should be
expanded to be visible when a new RAPT frame file is created. Any other elements in the tree can be opened manually
by the user and all can be viewed on the screen. The logic is the same as for Report settings.
Save Output Data When this option is on, all the output data is saved along with the input and materials data so that
the next time this RAPT frame file is opened, no calculation is needed. This option will result a larger RAPT frame file
(RPF file). When this option is off, the saved RAPT frame file size is smaller containing only the input and materials
data, but the next time this RAPT frame is opened, recalculation is needed to produce the RAPT Report.

Set Prestress Graphics Density The density is determined by the profile height spacings and the depth of a
character. A setting of 0 will produce the narrowest prestress graphics with the closest pair of profile heights spaced by
exactly 1 character height .This includes the standard "border" around a character but does not add any extra spaces
between the characters. A setting of 10 will result in a full character height spacing between the closest pair of profile
heights. Intermediate selections will result in that number of 1/10ths of a character height spacing between the profile
heights. This density is used to determine how many rows the tendon profile must be spread over in the printed
output. The final result will normally be a slightly larger spacing than selected as, for example, 1.5 rows may be
needed by calculation from the density, so 2 rows will be used and the graphics will be evenly spread over the whole 2
rows.
Spans per reinforcement graphics row controls number of spans that will be printed to a paper width in a
reinforcement graphics plot for either the user defined input or Final Reinforcement Layout in the calculated results .
Any remaining spans will be wrapped around and printed to the next row/s.

Spans per other graphics row controls number of spans that will be printed to a paper width in graphics other than
prestress and reinforcement. Any remaining spans will be wrapped around and printed to the next row/s.

4.2.5 User Interface: Output Report Settings 1