AxialForceBeam class

The AxialForceBeam class gives you access to initial axial force beam cards in PRIMER. More...

The PRIMER JavaScript API provides many class constants, properties and methods. For Arup to be able to extend and enhance the API in the future any constant, property or method names beginning with a lowercase or uppercase letter are reserved.
If you need to add your own properties or methods to one of the existing classes then to avoid any potential future conflict you should ensure that the name begins with either an underscore (_) or a dollar sign ($) or the name is prefixed with your own unique identifier.
For example if company 'ABC' need to add a property called 'example' then to avoid any potential future conflict use one of:

Class functions

Member functions

AxialForceBeam properties

Name Type Description
bsid integer Beam set ID.
exists (read only) logical true if axial force beam exists, false if referred to but not defined.
id (read only) integer ID of the axial force beam. Only used in PRIMER.
include integer The Include file number that the axial force beam is in.
kbend integer Bending stiffness flag.
lcid integer Loadcurve ID.
model (read only) integer The Model number that the axial force beam is in.
scale real Scale factor on loadcurve.

Detailed Description

The AxialForceBeam class allows you to create, modify, edit and manipulate initial axial force beam cards. See the documentation below for more details.

Constructor

new AxialForceBeam(Model[Model], bsid[integer], lcid[integer], scale (optional)[real])

Description

Create a new AxialForceBeam object.

Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that axial force beam will be created in

  • bsid (integer)

    BeamSet ID.

  • lcid (integer)

    Loadcurve ID defining preload versus time.

  • scale (optional) (real)

    Scale factor on curve

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To create a new axial force beam in model m using beam set 10, load curve 100: 

    var afb = new AxialForceBeam(m, 10, 100);

    Details of functions

    AssociateComment(Comment[Comment])

    Description

    Associates a comment with a axial force beam.

    Arguments

  • Comment (Comment)

    Comment that will be attached to the axial force beam

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To associate comment c to the axial force beam afb: 

    afb.AssociateComment(c);

    ClearFlag(flag[Flag])

    Description

    Clears a flag on the axial force beam.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to clear on the axial force beam

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To clear flag f for axial force beam afb: 

    afb.ClearFlag(f);

    Copy(range (optional)[boolean])

    Description

    Copies the axial force beam. The target include of the copied axial force beam can be set using Options.copy_target_include.

    Arguments

  • range (optional) (boolean)

    If you want to keep the copied item in the range specified for the current include. Default value is false. To set current include, use Include.MakeCurrentLayer().

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To copy axial force beam afb into axial force beam z: 

    var z = afb.Copy();

    DetachComment(Comment[Comment])

    Description

    Detaches a comment from a axial force beam.

    Arguments

  • Comment (Comment)

    Comment that will be detached from the axial force beam

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To detach comment c from the axial force beam afb: 

    afb.DetachComment(c);

    Error(message[string], details (optional)[string])

    Description

    Adds an error for axial force beam. For more details on checking see the Check class.

    Arguments

  • message (string)

    The error message to give

  • details (optional) (string)

    An optional detailed error message

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To add an error message "My custom error" for axial force beam afb: 

    afb.Error("My custom error");

    First(Model[Model]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the first axial force beam in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get first axial force beam in

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object (or null if there are no axial force beams in the model).

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To get the first axial force beam in model m: 

    var afb = AxialForceBeam.First(m);

    FlagAll(Model[Model], flag[Flag]) [static]

    Description

    Flags all of the axial force beams in the model with a defined flag.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all axial force beams will be flagged in

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to set on the axial force beams

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To flag all of the axial force beams with flag f in model m: 

    AxialForceBeam.FlagAll(m, f);

    Flagged(flag[Flag])

    Description

    Checks if the axial force beam is flagged or not.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to test on the axial force beam

    Returns

    true if flagged, false if not.

    Return type

    Boolean

    Example

    To check if axial force beam afb has flag f set on it: 

    if (afb.Flagged(f) ) do_something...

    ForEach(Model[Model], func[function], extra (optional)[any]) [static]

    Description

    Calls a function for each axial force beam in the model.
    Note that ForEach has been designed to make looping over axial force beams as fast as possible and so has some limitations.
    Firstly, a single temporary AxialForceBeam object is created and on each function call it is updated with the current axial force beam data. This means that you should not try to store the AxialForceBeam object for later use (e.g. in an array) as it is temporary.
    Secondly, you cannot create new axial force beams inside a ForEach loop.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all axial force beams are in

  • func (function)

    Function to call for each axial force beam

  • extra (optional) (any)

    An optional extra object/array/string etc that will appended to arguments when calling the function

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To call function test for all of the axial force beams in model m: 

    AxialForceBeam.ForEach(m, test);
function test(afb)
{
// afb is AxialForceBeam object
}

    To call function test for all of the axial force beams in model m with optional object: 

    var data = { x:0, y:0 };
AxialForceBeam.ForEach(m, test, data);
function test(afb, extra)
{
// afb is AxialForceBeam object
// extra is data
}

    GetAll(Model[Model], property (optional)[string]) [static]

    Description

    Returns an array of AxialForceBeam objects or properties for all of the axial force beams in a model in PRIMER. If the optional property argument is not given then an array of AxialForceBeam objects is returned. If the property argument is given, that property value for each axial force beam is returned in the array instead of a AxialForceBeam object

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get axial force beams from

  • property (optional) (string)

    Name for property to get for all axial force beams in the model

    Returns

    Array of AxialForceBeam objects or properties

    Return type

    Array

    Example

    To make an array of AxialForceBeam objects for all of the axial force beams in model m: 

    var a = AxialForceBeam.GetAll(m);

    To return an array containing the value of property 'foo' (for example 'x' for a node) for each axial force beam in model m: 

    var a = AxialForceBeam.GetAll(m, 'foo');

    GetComments()

    Description

    Extracts the comments associated to a axial force beam.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    Array of Comment objects (or null if there are no comments associated to the node).

    Return type

    Array

    Example

    To get the array of comments associated to the axial force beam afb: 

    var comm_array = afb.GetComments();

    GetFlagged(Model[Model], flag[Flag], property (optional)[string]) [static]

    Description

    Returns an array of AxialForceBeam objects for all of the flagged axial force beams in a model in PRIMER If the optional property argument is not given then an array of AxialForceBeam objects is returned. If the property argument is given, then that property value for each axial force beam is returned in the array instead of a AxialForceBeam object

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get axial force beams from

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag set on the axial force beams that you want to retrieve

  • property (optional) (string)

    Name for property to get for all flagged axial force beams in the model

    Returns

    Array of AxialForceBeam objects or properties

    Return type

    Array

    Example

    To make an array of AxialForceBeam objects for all of the axial force beams in model m flagged with f: 

    var afb = AxialForceBeam.GetFlagged(m, f);

    To return an array containing the value of property 'foo' (for example 'x' for a node) for all of the axial force beams in model m flagged with f: 

    var a = AxialForceBeam.GetFlagged(m, f, 'foo');

    GetFromID(Model[Model], number[integer]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the AxialForceBeam object for a axial force beam ID.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to find the axial force beam in

  • number (integer)

    number of the axial force beam you want the AxialForceBeam object for

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object (or null if axial force beam does not exist).

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To get the AxialForceBeam object for axial force beam 100 in model m 

    var afb = AxialForceBeam.GetFromID(m, 100);

    GetParameter(prop[string])

    Description

    Checks if a AxialForceBeam property is a parameter or not. Note that object properties that are parameters are normally returned as the integer or float parameter values as that is virtually always what the user would want. For this function to work the JavaScript interpreter must use the parameter name instead of the value. This can be done by setting the Options.property_parameter_names option to true before calling the function and then resetting it to false afterwards.. This behaviour can also temporarily be switched by using the AxialForceBeam.ViewParameters() method and 'method chaining' (see the examples below).

    Arguments

  • prop (string)

    axial force beam property to get parameter for

    Returns

    Parameter object if property is a parameter, null if not.

    Return type

    Parameter

    Example

    To check if AxialForceBeam property afb.example is a parameter: 

    Options.property_parameter_names = true;
if (afb.GetParameter(afb.example) ) do_something...
Options.property_parameter_names = false;

    To check if AxialForceBeam property afb.example is a parameter by using the GetParameter method: 

    if (afb.ViewParameters().GetParameter(afb.example) ) do_something...

    Keyword()

    Description

    Returns the keyword for this axial force beam (*INITIAL_AXIAL_FORCE_BEAM). Note that a carriage return is not added. See also AxialForceBeam.KeywordCards()

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    string containing the keyword.

    Return type

    String

    Example

    To get the keyword for axial force beam afb: 

    var key = afb.Keyword();

    KeywordCards()

    Description

    Returns the keyword cards for the axial force beam. Note that a carriage return is not added. See also AxialForceBeam.Keyword()

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    string containing the cards.

    Return type

    String

    Example

    To get the cards for axial force beam afb: 

    var cards = afb.KeywordCards();

    Last(Model[Model]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the last axial force beam in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get last axial force beam in

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object (or null if there are no axial force beams in the model).

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To get the last axial force beam in model m: 

    var afb = AxialForceBeam.Last(m);

    Next()

    Description

    Returns the next axial force beam in the model.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object (or null if there are no more axial force beams in the model).

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To get the axial force beam in model m after axial force beam afb: 

    var afb = afb.Next();

    Previous()

    Description

    Returns the previous axial force beam in the model.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object (or null if there are no more axial force beams in the model).

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To get the axial force beam in model m before axial force beam afb: 

    var afb = afb.Previous();

    Select(flag[Flag], prompt[string], limit (optional)[Model or Flag], modal (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Allows the user to select axial force beams using standard PRIMER object menus.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to use when selecting axial force beams

  • prompt (string)

    Text to display as a prompt to the user

  • limit (optional) (Model or Flag)

    If the argument is a Model then only axial force beams from that model can be selected. If the argument is a Flag then only axial force beams that are flagged with limit can be selected (limit should be different to flag). If omitted, or null, any axial force beams can be selected. from any model.

  • modal (optional) (boolean)

    If selection is modal (blocks the user from doing anything else in PRIMER until this window is dismissed). If omitted the selection will be modal.

    Returns

    Number of axial force beams selected or null if menu cancelled

    Return type

    Number

    Example

    To select axial force beams from model m, flagging those selected with flag f, giving the prompt 'Select axial force beams': 

    AxialForceBeam.Select(f, 'Select axial force beams', m);

    To select axial force beams, flagging those selected with flag f but limiting selection to axial force beams flagged with flag l, giving the prompt 'Select axial force beams': 

    AxialForceBeam.Select(f, 'Select axial force beams', l);

    SetFlag(flag[Flag])

    Description

    Sets a flag on the axial force beam.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to set on the axial force beam

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To set flag f for axial force beam afb: 

    afb.SetFlag(f);

    Sketch(redraw (optional)[boolean])

    Description

    Sketches the axial force beam. The axial force beam will be sketched until you either call AxialForceBeam.Unsketch(), AxialForceBeam.UnsketchAll(), Model.UnsketchAll(), or delete the model

    Arguments

  • redraw (optional) (boolean)

    If model should be redrawn or not after the axial force beam is sketched. If omitted redraw is true. If you want to sketch several axial force beams and only redraw after the last one then use false for redraw and call View.Redraw().

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To sketch axial force beam afb: 

    afb.Sketch();

    SketchFlagged(Model[Model], flag[Flag], redraw (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Sketches all of the flagged axial force beams in the model. The axial force beams will be sketched until you either call AxialForceBeam.Unsketch(), AxialForceBeam.UnsketchFlagged(), Model.UnsketchAll(), or delete the model

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all the flagged axial force beams will be sketched in

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag set on the axial force beams that you want to sketch

  • redraw (optional) (boolean)

    If model should be redrawn or not after the axial force beams are sketched. If omitted redraw is true. If you want to sketch flagged axial force beams several times and only redraw after the last one then use false for redraw and call View.Redraw().

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To sketch all axial force beams flagged with flag in model m: 

    AxialForceBeam.SketchFlagged(m, flag);

    Total(Model[Model], exists (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the total number of axial force beams in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get total for

  • exists (optional) (boolean)

    true if only existing axial force beams should be counted. If false or omitted referenced but undefined axial force beams will also be included in the total.

    Returns

    number of axial force beams

    Return type

    Number

    Example

    To get the total number of axial force beams in model m: 

    var total = AxialForceBeam.Total(m);

    UnflagAll(Model[Model], flag[Flag]) [static]

    Description

    Unsets a defined flag on all of the axial force beams in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that the defined flag for all axial force beams will be unset in

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to unset on the axial force beams

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To unset the flag f on all the axial force beams in model m: 

    AxialForceBeam.UnflagAll(m, f);

    Unsketch(redraw (optional)[boolean])

    Description

    Unsketches the axial force beam.

    Arguments

  • redraw (optional) (boolean)

    If model should be redrawn or not after the axial force beam is unsketched. If omitted redraw is true. If you want to unsketch several axial force beams and only redraw after the last one then use false for redraw and call View.Redraw().

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To unsketch axial force beam afb: 

    afb.Unsketch();

    UnsketchAll(Model[Model], redraw (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Unsketches all axial force beams.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all axial force beams will be unblanked in

  • redraw (optional) (boolean)

    If model should be redrawn or not after the axial force beams are unsketched. If omitted redraw is true. If you want to unsketch several things and only redraw after the last one then use false for redraw and call View.Redraw().

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To unsketch all axial force beams in model m: 

    AxialForceBeam.UnsketchAll(m);

    UnsketchFlagged(Model[Model], flag[Flag], redraw (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Unsketches all flagged axial force beams in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all axial force beams will be unsketched in

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag set on the axial force beams that you want to unsketch

  • redraw (optional) (boolean)

    If model should be redrawn or not after the axial force beams are unsketched. If omitted redraw is true. If you want to unsketch several things and only redraw after the last one then use false for redraw and call View.Redraw().

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To unsketch all axial force beams flagged with flag in model m: 

    AxialForceBeam.UnsketchAll(m, flag);

    ViewParameters()

    Description

    Object properties that are parameters are normally returned as the integer or float parameter values as that is virtually always what the user would want. This function temporarily changes the behaviour so that if a property is a parameter the parameter name is returned instead. This can be used with 'method chaining' (see the example below) to make sure a property argument is correct.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    AxialForceBeam object.

    Return type

    AxialForceBeam

    Example

    To check if AxialForceBeam property afb.example is a parameter by using the AxialForceBeam.GetParameter() method: 

    if (afb.ViewParameters().GetParameter(afb.example) ) do_something...

    Warning(message[string], details (optional)[string])

    Description

    Adds a warning for axial force beam. For more details on checking see the Check class.

    Arguments

  • message (string)

    The warning message to give

  • details (optional) (string)

    An optional detailed warning message

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To add a warning message "My custom warning" for axial force beam afb: 

    afb.Warning("My custom warning");

    Xrefs()

    Description

    Returns the cross references for this axial force beam.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    Xrefs object.

    Return type

    Xrefs

    Example

    To get the cross references for axial force beam afb: 

    var xrefs = afb.Xrefs();

    toString()

    Description

    Creates a string containing the axial force data in keyword format. Note that this contains the keyword header and the keyword cards. See also AxialForceBeam.Keyword() and AxialForceBeam.KeywordCards().

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    string

    Return type

    String

    Example

    To get data for axial force beam afb in keyword format 

    var s = afb.toString();