Interactive column design may be performed using the Process – View/Update command. The View/Update command is a very powerful function that can be used to perform the following tasks:

• Inspect the sizes selected by the program as well as the sizes from other Trial Groups.
• View the full output for the column design by clicking the View Results button.
• Modify the shape and Fy (fy or py) used to select the Trial Group sizes, and re‑optimize.
• Modify the currently selected size, Fy (fy or py), and shape.
• For double angle hanging columns, modify the spacing, long leg back to back and the snug tight setting.
• Save the modifications to the model by selecting the Update Data Base button.

Selecting Update Data Base will store the column design information in the model and the column will be “tagged” as User Size. If a column is tagged as a User Size, the program will no longer perform the optimization algorithm for that column. Instead, it is analyzed for adequacy under the design loads. A column tagged as a User Size will retain that flag until cleared with the Process – Clear Design command.

If changes in design criteria or any changes to geometry or loading in the RAM Modeler will affect the User tagged columns, the User size can be cleared so that the program will recalculate the optimum column configuration. If a user‑selected column is inadequate, a warning is issued, but the design is still allowed. It is the engineer's responsibility to determine whether or not to allow an over‑stressed condition on member sizes that have been specifically selected.

In most cases, making changes to the model in the RAM Modeler or to the design criteria specified in the Criteria menu of the Column Design module will result in the previous optimum sizes being cleared from the database. Making changes to beam designs may also affect the column sizes if the option to consider beam self-weight has been selected in Criteria – Self-Weight in the Manager.

When the self weight criteria is turned on, the program will restrict a View/Update on a column line with dependent column lines having columns tagged “cannot design.” This restriction will be lifted upon resolving the “cannot design” tag on the dependent column. Refer to 2.15 for conditions which result in a “cannot design.” Also refer to the on-line help for a more detailed description of the View/Update command or the Tutorial for examples on using this command.