After the Framing Tables have been created, interactive beam design can be performed. It is first necessary to select a floor Type using the Type command or selecting the Type from the dropdown menu on the tool bar. When a Type is selected it is displayed on the screen, and any steel beam or joist can then be viewed and designed interactively by selecting the Process -View/Update command.

The View/Update command is a very powerful function that allows the user to perform the following tasks:

• Inspect the Size and Stud Configuration selected by the program based on the Building Code, Steel Code, and Criteria selected.
• View the full output for the beam design by clicking the View Results button.
• View the load diagram for the beam by clicking the View Loads button.
• View and print the shear, moment and deflection diagrams for the beam by clicking the View Diagrams button.
• Modify the currently selected beam size, xe "Member Properties"shape, stud configuration, Fy, or Composite Flag and re-analyze or re-optimize.
• Modify the design and configuration of web openings and re-analyze or re-optimize.
• Save the modifications in the database by clicking the Update Database button.

The commands in the View/Update dialog are customized as appropriate for each different material.

Upon entering the View/Update dialog box, the beam size optimization algorithm is performed or in the case of beams for which a size was previously assigned, the analysis algorithm is performed. The selected beam size is displayed along with the design parameters. Various commands provide the user the opportunity to explore different designs, to view results and save sizes to the database.

The Optimize button invokes the beam size optimization algorithm after changes have been made to the design parameters. Because the purpose of this function is to select the optimum beam size and stud configuration, the currently selected beam size and stud configuration will be disregarded.

The Analyze button uses the design parameters established in the dialog box to perform a beam analysis of the currently specified size. The Analyze feature is activated when the beam size, Fy or, for composite beams, the composite flag or stud configuration is modified.

Either Optimizing or Analyzing a beam activates the Update Data Base button, giving the user the opportunity to save the new design to the database. When an “Analyzed” design is saved to the database, it is “tagged” as a User Size. When an “Optimized” design is saved to the database, it is not “tagged” as a User Size, but the modified design parameters are saved back to the database.

After a beam is tagged as a User Sizexe "User Size beams", the program will no longer perform the optimization algorithm for that beam. Instead, the User Size and Stud Configuration will be analyzed.

The beam will remain tagged as a User Size until that flag is cleared by the user. This can be done by using the Process – Clear Sizes command or by re optimizing the beam using the Optimize feature in View/Update and saving that optimized size to the database. The flag can also be cleared within the RAM Modeler with the Layout - Beams - Clear Size command. The View - Set Show Options can be used to determine which beams have been tagged as a User Size.

Changes to design criteria, geometry or loading WILL NOT clear the user size flag. If these types of changes are made, the user should clear the size if the optimum beam configuration is desired. If a user‑selected beam fails the stress or deflection checks, a warning is issued, but the design is still allowed. It is the engineer's responsibility to determine whether or not to allow an overstressed or over‑deflected condition on user-specified member sizes.

In most cases, making changes to the model in the RAM Modeler or to the design criteria specified in the Criteria menu of either the RAM Manager or the Beam Design module will result in the optimum sizes being cleared from the database.

The use of the View/Update command is more fully explained in the on-line help.