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D. Connection Tags XML File Schema

A simple schema is used to define the data for a Connection Tags XML file used for storing connection tag data for STAAD.Pro.

When you initiate a connection tags action for the first time from the right-click pop-up menu, you will be prompted to select a Connection Tags XML file for use with creating and checking connection tags.

A diagram representation of the XML schema used

ConnectionTagFile

The <ConnectionTagFile> element is the root element for a STAAD.Pro Connection Tags file. Within a ConnectionTagFile element two types of data: connection categories and connection tags.

Table 1. ConnectionTagFile model details
Contains (File Version then Categories then Equations then Tags then RCNXTemplates)
Contained by n/a (root element )
Attributes  

FileVersion

The <FileVersion> element is indicate the file version used.

Table 2. FileValue model details
Contains n/a (empty element )
Contained by ConnectionTagFile
Attributes value (required, decimal)

Categories

The <Categories> element contains individual connection categories. Typically a connection tags file contains both Moment and Shear categories.

Table 3. Categories model details
Contains (Category) (one or more )
Contained by ConnectionTagFile
Attributes   none

Category

The <Category> element defines a connection category.

Table 4. Category model details
Contains (CategoryDesc)
Contained by Categories
Attributes CategoryName (required, restricted string data, no default); values are:
  • MOMENT
  • SHEAR

CategoryDesc

The <CategoryDesc> element is used to provide a human readable description for the parent connection category. It can contain any alpha-numeric string.

Table 5. CategoryDesc model details
Contains text data
Contained by Category
Attributes   none

Equations

The <Equations> element contains individual equations.

Table 6. Categories model details
Contains (Equation) (one or more )
Contained by ConnectionTagFile
Attributes   none

Equation

The <Equation> element contains a user-defined equation.

Table 7. Capacity model details
Contains n/a (empty element )
Contained by Equations
Attributes

EquationID (required, string),

Equation (required, string),

Condition (required, string),

Limit(required, decimal)

See " Equations Guidelines " for details on writing equation and condition values.

Tags

The <Tags> element contains the connection tag data in a series of child elements.

Table 8. Tags model details
Contains (Tag) (one or more )
Contained by ConnectionTagFile
Attributes  

Tag

The <Tag> element contains an end release definition and a set of connection capacities to be used for checking connection tags.

Table 9. Tag model details
Contains (EndRelease then Capacities)
Contained by Tags
Attributes TagName (required, string, no default),
CategoryName (required, restricted string data, no default); values are:
  • MOMENT
  • SHEAR

EndRelease

The <Tag> element is used to specify the end release conditions to be used with a connection tag.

Table 10. EndRelease model details
Contains n/a (empty element )
Contained by Tag
Attributes FX (required, restricted integer),

FY (required, restricted integer),

FZ (required, restricted integer),

MX (required, restricted integer),

MY (required, restricted integer),

MZ (required, restricted integer)

The range for these attributes is:
  • 0 - restrained
  • 1 - full release

Capacities

The <Capacities> element contains one or more connection capacity value sets for a specific system of units.

Table 11. Capacities model details
Contains (Capacity) (one or more )
Contained by Tag
Attributes UnitSystem(required, restricted string data, no default); values are:
  • METRIC
  • IMPERIAL

Beam

The <Beam> element contains one or more beam or column sections.

Table 12. Beam model details
Contains BeamOrCol (one or more )
Contained by Capacities
Attributes Name (required, string)

BeamOrCol

The <BeamOrCol> element is used to specify connection capacity bending and shear capacities for a specific member, or for the default member.

Table 13. BeamOrCol model details
Contains n/a (empty element )
Contained by Beam
Attributes

Name (required, string),

Mz.cap (required, decimal),

Fx.cap (required, decimal),

Fz.cap (required, decimal)

alpha (required, decimal)

See D. Connection Tags Capacity Checks for details on how these values are used.

See " Use of Wild Cards " for details on using defaults.

Checks

The <Checks> element contains one or more check.

Table 14. Checks model details
Contains (Check) (one or more )
Contained by Tag
Attributes none

Check

The <Check> element is used to specify connection capacity between specified members required for checking connections.

Table 15. Check model details
Contains n/a (empty element )
Contained by Checks
Attributes Type (required, string),

Desc (required, string),

EquationID (required, string) - reference to equation IDs.

RCNXTemplates

The RCNXTemplates element contains one or more RAM Connection template.

Table 16. RCNXTemplates model details
Contains (RCNXTemplate) (one or more )
Contained by Tag
Attributes none

RCNXTemplate

The RCNXTemplate element is used to map a connection tag to a RAM Connection template.

Table 17. RCNXTemplate model details
Contains n/a (empty element )
Contained by RCNXTemplates
Attributes TagName (required, string),

Code (required, string),

Template (required, string) - the RAM Connection template name,

File (required, string) - the RAM Connection template file name

Use of Wild Cards

Instead of specifying the capacities and other details for each individual beam or column section, "wild card" entries can be used. This is particularly useful when the remaining attributes are the same for multiple sections.

Example using the Default wild card: 

<Beam  Name="UB203x102x23">
      <BeamOrCol Name="Default" Mz.cap="35.9156" Fx.cap="207.3451" Fz.cap="" />
</Beam>

Equations Guidelines

The following table contains the expressions that can be evaluated for user-defined equations:

Digits/Characters 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 . ,
Binary Operators + - * /                
Unary Operators + -                    
Parenthesis ( )                    
Symbols PI                      
Functions ABS POW ROUND SQRT                
MAX MIN SIN COS TAN ASIN ACOS ATAN LN LOG EXP  
Reserved Keywords (variables) [MZ.CAP] [FX.CAP] [FZ.CAP] [FX] [FY] [FZ] [MX] [MY] [MZ]      

Notes:

  • "," (comma) can only be used with the POW function
  • The ROUND function rounds off to the nearest integer, not to a certain decimal place
  • Condition attributes should include any one of the following:
    • EQ - equal to
    • LT - less than
    • LE - less than or equal to
    • GT - greater than
    • GE - greater than or equal to
  • Reserved keywords should be specified with square brackets
  • Reserved keywords, symbols, functions, and conditions are not case sensitive.

Example of an equation: 

<Equation EquationID="Eq1" Equation="Abs([MZ])/[MZ.CAP]+Abs([FX])/[FX.CAP]" Condition="LT" Limit="1.0" />
D. Sample Connection Tags XML File
Parent topic: D. Connection Tags
Related concepts