Legends displaying the meaning of colours used to display members and loads can be displayed by selecting the corresponding option in the Symbol Display dialog available from the Display menu.
A feature of some of the legends used in Multiframe is that you can use the legend to modify the selection in the current window. Double clicking on the text of an item in the legend will select the corresponding items in the model. For example, this can be useful for selecting all the members in a group, all the members with the same label or all he members with the same section type.
Members in the Frame and Plot window can be displayed in colour. The colour of the member is selected via the Symbol Display dialog (available from the Display menu) by choosing a colour scheme. The following options are available:
Default colour
When this option is selected, the default colour settings will be used. The default colour settings can be set via the View | Colour dialog.
Section
When this option is selected, the members’ colour will be displayed as per the colour of the Section type. The legend will list all different section types used in the structure.
Section Group
When this option is selected, the members’ colour will be displayed as per the colour of the group their assigned section type belongs to. The legend will list all different section groups that the members used in the structure belong to. Section groups are for example UB, Channels, Equal Angles etcetera.
Section Shape
When this option is selected, the members’ colour will be displayed as per the colour of the shape. The legend will list all different shapes of the members used in the structure. Shapes are for example Tube, I section, Channel, etcetera.
Label
When this option is selected and members have been labelled, the members’ colour will be displayed as per the label colour. The legend will list all different labels.
Type
When this option is selected, the members’ colour will be displayed as per the member type colour. The legend will list the different types of members used in the structure. Types are for example “Tension only” or “Compression only”.
Group (in current group set)
When this option is selected and members have been assigned to groups, members’ colour will be displayed as per the group they belong to. The legend will list all different groups used in the current group set. For more information on Groups and Group Sets, please see Grouping on page 63.
Component
When this option is selected and members have been assigned to components, the members’ colour will be displayed as per the component’s colour. The legend will list all different components.
Tip
You can use the legend to quickly select members that share the same property or label. For example: if you want to select all members with a Tube shape, you set the Colour scheme to Shape in the Display | Symbols dialog and then double click on “Tube” in the legend.
The colour used to display each load in the Load Window is set by selecting the colour scheme in the Symbol Display dialog (available from the Display menu). As with members, various properties of the loads can be displayed graphically. The following options are available:
Load type
Display the colour of the load by the Load type. Load types are for example: Local Member Point Loads, Local Joint Loads etcetera.
Direction
Display the colour of the loads by the direction the load is in.
Localised index
When several loads are applied on one member, their display can be set so that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, … loads on each member are shown in different colours.
Loadcase
Display the colour of the loads by base load case from which load originates.
Loading type
Display the colour of the loads by the Loading type. Loading types can be for example dead, live, etc
Note
The Load legend is activated by selecting the check box next to the load colour scheme in the Symbol Display dialog (available from the Display menu).
Legends are drawn in the corners of a window, by default this is the top right hand corner. The position of the legends can be modified by the user via the Legend submenu contained within the Display menu. The font size and style used to draw the legend can also be customised using the commands in the Legend submenu.
In many instances it is also possible to customise the colour of each item in the legend. This can be done via the submenu or by double clicking on the colour box in the legend. Note that many legends use the same list of legend colours and that editing the colour of an item in one legend will be affect the colour in many legends.
A popup menu can also be activated by right clicking the mouse on the legend. The popup menu has options to edit the colours, style and position of the legend and to choose the current colour scheme.