SuperBeam: 2002 changes

Release 4.20j, 6 November 2002

This resolves an incompatibility between 4.20i and Windows NT4 systems, (we have changed the release letter rather than inlining this change so that it is clear which releases will and won't run on NT systems). It also fixes a little bug that lost non-default printer settings when changing the INI file location.

Release 4.20i, 4 November 2002

1. You can now define where the INI file(s) used to store the program settings are located, a change which has been requested by a number of network administrators.

2. Where the two reactions are different, web buckling and crushing calculations are now shown for each end of a beam instead of the one with the higher reaction.

3. Where you have chosen to enter dead and live loads separately, for a beam extends as a cantilever the figure used for the reaction at R1 for bearings, web buckling and crushing and connections is calculated assuming that there is no live load on the cantilever so will be higher than before. In such cases the web crushing and buckling calculation at R2 assumes a continuous bearing.

4. The Steel Check dialog has been redesigned and now contains two list boxes, the first for the section type, the second for the sections of this type. B & D dimensions are shown. If you position this dialog to one side of the calculation window you can see the calculation when you select an alternative section.

5. On the Timber page of the Beam Edit dialog there is now a small button labelled 'Change std dims'. Pressing this displays a dialog with two comma-delimited lists, one for widths, one for depths. The values entered here appear in the respective drop-down lists

6. On the Timber page of the Beam Edit dialog if you select a timber width starting with '2No' or '3No', '2' or '3' is automatically selected in the 'Number of members' box. You can change this where appropriate.

7. M10 has been added to the list of flitch beam bolt sizes

8. Notes fields containing semi-colons are now correctly saved to and restored from disk

9. You can now have up to 20 standard load descriptions (previously 10)

10. Heading templates that are no longer required can now be deleted from within the User Setup dialog

11. If you change the name of the steel data file or standard notes file in the User Setup dialog and the new file does not exist, the old file is copied over to the new location/name. Previously an error message was displayed.

12. A new option, Configuration, Information displays a window showing information about the program licensing and files.

Release 4.20h, 26 June 2002

This minor update fixes a number of small bugs and adds some user requests.

1. Selecting a B/F load initially gives the wrong load description (the first standard load name) - fixed

2. A Project Summary button has been added to the toolbar

3. The Project Summary now says 'or' when you have steel and timber alternatives

4. If you changed a steel/timber beam to steel or timber, the Project Summary still showed both alternatives - fixed

5. Additional timber depths have been added to the drop down list on the timber design page

6. If you run the program in a maximised window this setting is now remembered and used next time you run it

7. If you are using dead+live load entry, the dead and live reaction components are now shown on screen as well as on the printouts

8. If you change a project from total load entry to dead+live loads, steel beams were still checked for total load deflection - fixed

9. The printout now also shows the BS deflection figure (L/360 for steel beams; 0.003L for timber)

4.20g, 28 February 2002

This incorporates minor internal changes which reduce the memory used by the program; these appear to overcome isolated instability problems reported by a few users

4.20f, 21 February 2002

One important and one minor bug fix:

1. A change made in release 4.20e meant that the reaction components and shear forces resulting from variable loads not starting at R1 were incorrectly calculated (reaction too high one end, too low the other). The bending moment and deflection were correctly calculated.

2. Load totals for true cantilevers (i.e. beam span = 0) were misaligned on printouts

If you have current update cover and have entered an activation key you can get this now. See How to use the web updates facility

4.20e, 11 February 2002

Three small changes:

1. If you entered a variable load with positive and negative loading values(for example a variable load with w1 and w2 values of 10 and -10) the resulting bending moment and shear force were incorrectly calculated: the method used was to calculate the total load (which of course was 0) and its point of action, giving nil reactions. This has been changed.

2. The Project Summary and Project File Catalogue can now be copied to the Windows clipboard and from there pasted into other applications (for various reasons, this facility will not be extended to the calculations themselves, but these can be exported as a PDF file).

3. If a valid activation key has previously been entered a confirmation dialog is now displayed advising you of this if you select the 'Enter Activation Key' dialog option.