By default, all available section file formats are loaded into the workspace data directories. These section file formats contain lists of steel, timber, and concrete sections that you can then place in your model. Traditionally, section file formats correspond to standards determined by country. The files from the United Kingdom are therefore called uk.xml, the files from Japan called japan.xml, and so forth. Some countries such as the United States have more than one standard such as us.xml and usAISC21.xml. You can load and unload section files at any time even when placing a Structural member. That change remains permanent until you select another section file to load/unload. Also, multiple section files can be loaded via user interfaced tools, configurations, and key-in commands.

Section file formats are delivered in ASCII format *.stf files and standard *.xml format. The *.xml format allows you to view and edit the files using an HTML viewer. XML also allows the insertion of graphics and tables that clearly show what the section profile looks like and what the dimensions of the section are. The *.stf format files can still be used by those who have customized their section file formats and do not want to lose those changes. If you have customized your *.stf files and want to convert them to the *.xml format, or if you have a specific set of custom section files loaded and want to save them to the XML format for a specific project, there is a key-in command to do that.