Materials and Sections¶

• Edit > Materials opens reusable material definitions. Add or edit a name, E, Poisson ratio, and density. G defaults to E/[2(1+nu)]; enable Specify independent G to enter a positive finite frame/truss shear modulus in the displayed stress units. The effective value and Derived/Independent mode are shown in material tables and reports. Disable the checkbox to restore derived G. Select a member, choose Material in its inspector, and press Apply to assign it. Set Default controls newly drawn members without changing existing assignments. Renaming a definition updates its references; assigned/default materials cannot be deleted until members are reassigned and a different default is chosen. Library provides five reference presets: US/EU typical steel, generic aluminum, and C30/37 concrete with plain or reinforced-concrete weight. Search, preview E/Poisson ratio/G/weight density, and Add to Project. Imports do not reassign members or change the default. Source distinguishes Library from Custom; renaming retains the preset, while numerical edits make it custom.
• Edit > Sections manages reusable area, Iy, Iz, and J definitions. Choose Section in a selected member inspector and press Apply. Section defaults, renaming, deletion protection, and undo work like material definitions. Library opens a searchable, family-filtered AISC starter catalog. Choose the in-plane strong or weak bending axis and Add to Project, then assign the definition to members or Set Default. Imports never replace existing sections; duplicate names receive a suggested suffix. The Source column distinguishes catalog definitions from custom properties. Renaming preserves provenance; changing any numerical property makes the definition custom. Edit > Grid changes the drawing grid spacing.

Source: GUIDE.md. This manual follows the current repository; the published rc1 wheel has a smaller feature set.