Utilities tab

Table 1. Geometry Tools group
Tool Name		Description
Structure Tools >	Multiple Structures	Opens the List of Structures dialog, which is used to determine if the current model consists of more than one unconnected structure. Select a Structure in the list to see each structure highlighted.
	Beam Plate Connectivity	Used to check for plates that are improperly connected to beams. Beams must be connected to plates at their nodes in order to ensure proper coupling and load transfer. This tool will inform the user if any improper connections are present in the model.
	Merge Properties	Used to merge the properties of two or more similar objects. When a STAAD input file has a number of references of the same property, this tool can be used to consolidate all these properties into a single command. When a STAAD file has a number of references of the same property, there is now a tool to consolidate all these properties into a single command. Clicking the Yes button, all instances of a given section property will be collated into a single property reference. Note: Properties references with differing additional parameters will not be collated. Properties references with differing assigned material properties will not be collated.
	Cut Section	Opens the Section dialog, which is used to cut a section through the structure along a specified global plane at a desired location of the 3^rd axis.
Node Tools >	Duplicate Nodes	Opens the Remove Duplicate Nodes dialog, which is used to set the tolerance distance between two nodes the program should consider as duplicate. Used for detecting the presence of two or more instances of the same node.
	Orphan Nodes	Highlights all nodes in the structure which are not connected to any member, element, or solid.
	Remove Orphan Nodes	Used to remove all detected orphan nodes.
	Node to Node Distance	Display the distance between nodes.
	Remove Node to Node Distance	Used to remove the display of all node to node dimensions from the current view.
Beam Tools >	Duplicate Beams	Opens the Remove Duplicate Beams dialog, which is used to set the tolerance distance between two beams the program should consider as duplicate. Used for detecting the presence of two or more instances of the same beam.
	Zero Length	Opens the Zero Length Tolerance dialog, which is used to set the tolerance for zero length members. A member connected between duplicate nodes, which have the same (X,Y,Z) coordinates, will have a length of zero. This tool detects such members.
	Overlapping Collinear Members	When two members are collinear, and further, at least one of the nodes of one of those members happens to lie within the span of the other, but the two members are not connected at that node, those two members are considered as overlapping collinear members. This tool detects such members. The usefulness of this tool comes from the fact that it enables you to detect modeling errors which are not easily visible. Two lines overlapping on the drawing area become indistinguishable on large models, and this is one of the tools that can spot such errors.
	Beam Incidence	Used to reverse the incidence of selected beams so that the global coordinates of the end node are farther from the origin than that of the start node.
	Dimension Beams	Display the dimension of the members in the structure.
Plate Tools >	Duplicate Plates	Opens the Remove Duplicate Plates dialog, which is used to set the tolerance distance between two plates the program should consider as duplicate. Used for detecting the presence of two or more instances of the same plate.
	Warped Plates	A warped plate is defined as a four-noded plate whose nodes do not lie on the same plane. This tool detects such plates.
	Plate Connectivity	Checks the model for plates that overlap or intersect each other at their boundaries and, if found, opens the Overlapping Collinear Plates dialog. Typically, these overlaps cause improper load transfers or instabilities in the model.
Solid Tools >	Negative Volume	Used to verify that the solid elements in their model have the proper sequence (order) of node numbering to prevent warnings in the output file of solids containing negative volumes.
Solid Tools >	Warped Solids	Used to check if a solid element is warped. Warped solids cannot be analyzed and will produce errors in the output file.
Physical Member Restraints		Used to automatically generate top and bottom flange restraint conditions for the selected physical members. Note: The `PBRACE` command generated by this menu item is valid only for Member Design per AS 4100-1998 (Australian) steel design. When selected, the program will search through all the nodes along the Physical Member and determine if any other beam is connected besides the beams in the current physical member definition. If another beam is present, a full restraint is placed on both the flanges. Otherwise, an unrestrained condition is imposed on both the flanges.
Groups		Opens the Create Group dialog, which is used to cluster a set of joints, beams, plates or solids into a single entity identified by a distinct name. Note: If no groups exist, you will be prompted to create a group using the Define Group Name dialog.

Table 2. Physical Model group
Tool name	Description
Drop Physical Model	For models that have a linked physical model, this will open a confirmation dialog asking if you want to remove that link. Removing this link will enable the model to be edited using all analytical modeling tools as well as remove the disabled sections of the input file in the STAAD.Pro Editor.

Table 3. Query group
Tool Name		Description
Query >	Beams	Used to view detailed information for one beam at a time in a dialog.
	Physical Members	Used to view detailed information for one physical member at a time in a dialog.
	Plates	Used to view detailed information for one plate at a time in a dialog.
	Solids	Used to view detailed information for one solid at a time in a dialog.
	Nodes	Used to view detailed information for one node at a time in a dialog.

Table 4. Display group
Tool name	Description
Insert Text	Opens the Write Text to Insert dialog, which is used to add custom text to the View window (and, subsequently to pictures you take of the window).

Table 5. Edit group
Tool Name		Description
Command File		Opens the current input command file (file extension .std.) in the STAAD.Pro Editor. If any change has been made in the structure that has not been saved, you are prompted to save the structure first. Note: Refer to the STAAD.Pro Editor help for additional assistance.

Table 6. View group
Tool Name		Description
Analysis Output		Opens the results of a successful Analysis and Design run in the STAAD.Pro Editor window.
Analysis Log		Opens the analysis and design results file (file extension .anl) in the STAAD.Pro Editor.
Error Log		If analysis errors occurred, this tool is active. Click to open the error log in the STAAD.Pro Editor.

Table 7. Tools group
Tool Name		Description
Connection Tags >	Load Connection Tag File
	Edit Connection Tag File
	View Connection Tags	Opens the Assign Connection Tags dialog.
	Check Connection Tags	(Active only after a successful analysis has been performed) Opens the Assign Connection Tags dialog and Check Connection Tags dialog, the latter of which is used to check the load case results from the analysis against the defined connection capacities in the Connection Tags XML data file.
Calculator		Opens the STAAD.Pro Calculator window, which is capable of performing mathematical operations.
Unit Converter		Opens the STAAD.Pro Converter window, which is used to convert data from one unit system to another.
Take Picture		Used to take a snapshot image of current view. The picture is automatically added to a picture album. Tip: The picture is stored in a STAAD-native format and can be subsequently included in custom reports during Report Setup. The Copy Picture and Export View tools may be used to copy a model image or to save it to a common file format.
Copy Picture		Used to copy the current picture to the clipboard for pasting in other Windows applications such as image editors, spreadsheet applications, or word processors,.
AVI File		Opens the Create AVI File dialog, which is used to create a video file recording of for animated deflection, section displacement, mode shape, and plate stress contour diagrams.

Table 8. Developer group
Tool name	Description
Macro Editor	Opens the STAAD.Pro Script Editor window, which is used to write macros.
Macros	Opens the Macro dialog, which is used to create, manage, and run Visual Basic Script macros in STAAD.Pro.

Table 9. User Tools group
Tool Name		Description
Configure		Opens the Customize User Defined Tools dialog, which is used for running a macro utilizing OpenSTAAD functions. For additional information, refer to the OpenSTAAD help section.
User Tools	Export Model to AutoPIPE	Opens the Export STAAD Model to AutoPipe dialog. Refer to M. To export STAAD.Pro model data into AutoPIPE for information on using this macro.
	AIJ Route 2 Utility	Opens the AIJ Route 2 Design Tool which is custom tool for use with the Japanese design code.
	List Object GUIDs	Generates a custom table with tabs containing the unique IDs for each node, member, and physical member in the model.
	CIS/2 Object Update Report Tool	Opens the Report Option dialog, which is used to select the CIS/2 object report type to generate.
	Export Model to SACS	Opens the Export STAAD Model to SACS dialog. Refer to I. To export to a SACS input file for information on using this macro.
	Euro Code Load Combination Generator	Opens the Eurocode Combination Generator dialog. Refer to M. To generate load combinations per Eurocode for information on using this macro.
	Add Material	Opens the Add Materials dialog, which is used to add standard material definitions to your model. Refer to M. To add a predefined material for details on using this macro.
	Additional user tools	Any user tools you have added will also appear in this list.