Beam class

Returns

Beam object

Return type

Beam

Example

To create a new beam in model m with label 100, part 10 and nodes 1, 2, 3:

var b = new Beam(m, 100, 10, 1, 2, 3);

Details of functions

AssociateComment(Comment[Comment])

Description

Associates a comment with a beam.

Returns

No return value

Example

To associate comment c to the beam b:

b.AssociateComment(c);

Blank()

Description

Blanks the beam

Returns

No return value

Example

To blank beam b:

b.Blank();

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

Description

Blanks all of the beams in the model.

Returns

No return value

Example

To blank all of the beams in model m:

Beam.BlankAll(m);

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

Description

Blanks all of the flagged beams in the model.

Returns

No return value

Example

To blank all of the beams in model m flagged with f:

Beam.BlankFlagged(m, f);

Blanked()

Description

Checks if the beam is blanked or not.

Returns

true if blanked, false if not.

Return type

Boolean

Example

To check if beam b is blanked:

if (b.Blanked() ) do_something...

Browse(modal (optional)[boolean])

Description

Starts an edit panel in Browse mode.

Returns

no return value

Example

To Browse beam b:

b.Browse();

ClearFlag(flag[Flag])

Description

Clears a flag on the beam.

Returns

No return value

Example

To clear flag f for beam b:

b.ClearFlag(f);

Copy(range (optional)[boolean])

Description

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

Returns

Beam object

Return type

Beam

Example

To copy beam b into beam z:

var z = b.Copy();

Create(Model[Model], modal (optional)[boolean]) [static]

Description

Starts an interactive editing panel to create a beam

Returns

Beam object (or null if not made).

Return type

Beam

Example

To start creating a beam in model m:

var b = Beam.Create(m);

DetachComment(Comment[Comment])

Description

Detaches a comment from a beam.

Returns

No return value

Example

To detach comment c from the beam b:

b.DetachComment(c);

Edit(modal (optional)[boolean])

Description

Starts an interactive editing panel.

Returns

no return value

Example

To Edit beam b:

b.Edit();

ElemCut(Database cross section label[integer])

Description

Returns coordinates of the intersections between a beam and a database cross section.
Note this function does not check that the beam is in the cross section definition (part set)

Returns

An array containing the x,y,z coordinates of the cut point, or NULL if it does not cut

Return type

Array

Example

To get the cut line coordinates between database cross section 200 and beam b:

var data = b.ElemCut(200)

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

Description

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

Returns

No return value

Example

To add an error message "My custom error" for beam b:

b.Error("My custom error");

ExtractColour()

Description

Extracts the actual colour used for beam.
By default in PRIMER many entities such as elements get their colour automatically from the part that they are in. PRIMER cycles through 13 default colours based on the label of the entity. In this case the beam colour property will return the value Colour.PART instead of the actual colour. This method will return the actual colour which is used for drawing the beam.

Returns

colour value (integer)

Return type

Number

Example

To return the colour used for drawing beam b:

var colour = b.ExtractColour();

FindBeamInBox(Model[Model], xmin[real], xmax[real], ymin[real], ymax[real], zmin[real], zmax[real], flag (optional)[integer], excl (optional)[integer], vis_only (optional)[integer]) [static]

Description

Returns an array of Beam objects for the beams within a box. Please note this function provides a list of all beams that could potentially be in the box (using computationally cheap bounding box comparison) it is not a rigorous test of whether the beam is actually in the box. Note an extension of "spot_thickness" is applied to each beam. This may include beams that are ostensibly outside box. The user should apply their own test. (this function is intended to provide an upper bound of elems to test) Setting the "excl" flag will require that the beam is fully contained, but this may not capture all the beams you want to process.

Returns

Array of Beam objects

Return type

Array

Example

To get an array of Beam objects for flagged beams within defined box (inclusive selection)

      var s = Beam.FindBeamInBox(m, xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax, zmin, zmax, flag, 0, 0);
      if(s.length) ...
      

FindBeamInit(Model[Model], flag (optional)[Flag]) [static]  [deprecated]

This function is deprecated in version 20.0. It is only provided to keep old scripts working. We strongly advise against using it in new scripts. Support may be removed in future versions.

Description

Initialize setup so that all flagged beams in model can be tested to see if they are within box. In v20.0 this function is obsolete and the flagging bit (if required) should be specified in Beam.FindBeamInBox()

Returns

No return value

Example

To initialize find setup for flagged beams in model m:

Beam.FindBeamInit(m, flag);

First(Model[Model]) [static]

Description

Returns the first beam in the model.

Returns

Beam object (or null if there are no beams in the model).

Return type

Beam

Example

To get the first beam in model m:

var b = Beam.First(m);

FirstFreeLabel(Model[Model], layer (optional)[Include number]) [static]

Description

Returns the first free beam label in the model. Also see Beam.LastFreeLabel(), Beam.NextFreeLabel() and Model.FirstFreeItemLabel().

Returns

Beam label.

Return type

Number

Example

To get the first free beam label in model m:

var label = Beam.FirstFreeLabel(m);

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

Description

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

Returns

No return value

Example

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

Beam.FlagAll(m, f);

Flagged(flag[Flag])

Description

Checks if the beam is flagged or not.

Returns

true if flagged, false if not.

Return type

Boolean

Example

To check if beam b has flag f set on it:

if (b.Flagged(f) ) do_something...

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

Description

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

Returns

No return value

Example

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

Beam.ForEach(m, test);
function test(b)
{
// b is Beam object
}

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

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

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

Description

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

Returns

Array of Beam objects or properties

Return type

Array

Example

To make an array of Beam objects for all of the beams in model m:

var a = Beam.GetAll(m);

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

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

GetComments()

Description

Extracts the comments associated to a beam.

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 beam b:

var comm_array = b.GetComments();

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

Description

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

Returns

Array of Beam objects or properties

Return type

Array

Example

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

var b = Beam.GetFlagged(m, f);

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

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

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

Description

Returns the Beam object for a beam ID.

Returns

Beam object (or null if beam does not exist).

Return type

Beam

Example

To get the Beam object for beam 100 in model m

var b = Beam.GetFromID(m, 100);

GetParameter(prop[string])

Description

Checks if a Beam 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 Beam.ViewParameters() method and 'method chaining' (see the examples below).

Returns

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

Return type

Parameter

Example

To check if Beam property b.example is a parameter:

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

To check if Beam property b.example is a parameter by using the GetParameter method:

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

Keyword()

Description

Returns the keyword for this beam (*BEAM, *BEAM_SCALAR or *BEAM_SCALAR_VALUE). Note that a carriage return is not added. See also Beam.KeywordCards()

Returns

string containing the keyword.

Return type

String

Example

To get the keyword for beam s:

var key = s.Keyword();

KeywordCards()

Description

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

Returns

string containing the cards.

Return type

String

Example

To get the cards for beam b:

var cards = b.KeywordCards();

Last(Model[Model]) [static]

Description

Returns the last beam in the model.

Returns

Beam object (or null if there are no beams in the model).

Return type

Beam

Example

To get the last beam in model m:

var b = Beam.Last(m);

LastFreeLabel(Model[Model], layer (optional)[Include number]) [static]

Description

Returns the last free beam label in the model. Also see Beam.FirstFreeLabel(), Beam.NextFreeLabel() and see Model.LastFreeItemLabel()

Returns

Beam label.

Return type

Number

Example

To get the last free beam label in model m:

var label = Beam.LastFreeLabel(m);

Next()

Description

Returns the next beam in the model.

Returns

Beam object (or null if there are no more beams in the model).

Return type

Beam

Example

To get the beam in model m after beam b:

var b = b.Next();

NextFreeLabel(Model[Model], layer (optional)[Include number]) [static]

Description

Returns the next free (highest+1) beam label in the model. Also see Beam.FirstFreeLabel(), Beam.LastFreeLabel() and Model.NextFreeItemLabel()

Returns

Beam label.

Return type

Number

Example

To get the next free beam label in model m:

var label = Beam.NextFreeLabel(m);

Pick(prompt[string], limit (optional)[Model or Flag], modal (optional)[boolean], button text (optional)[string]) [static]

Description

Allows the user to pick a beam.

Returns

Beam object (or null if not picked)

Return type

Beam

Example

To pick a beam from model m giving the prompt 'Pick beam from screen':

var b = Beam.Pick('Pick beam from screen', m);

Previous()

Description

Returns the previous beam in the model.

Returns

Beam object (or null if there are no more beams in the model).

Return type

Beam

Example

To get the beam in model m before beam b:

var b = b.Previous();

RenumberAll(Model[Model], start[integer]) [static]

Description

Renumbers all of the beams in the model.

Returns

No return value

Example

To renumber all of the beams in model m, from 1000000:

Beam.RenumberAll(m, 1000000);

RenumberFlagged(Model[Model], flag[Flag], start[integer]) [static]

Description

Renumbers all of the flagged beams in the model.

Returns

No return value

Example

To renumber all of the beams in model m flagged with f, from 1000000:

Beam.RenumberFlagged(m, f, 1000000);

SectionFacePoints(face[integer])

Description

Returns the indices of the points for a faces to plot the true section of the beam. Note face numbers start at 0. Beam.SectionPoints must be called before this method.

Returns

Array of integers

Return type

Number

Example

To get the indices of the points for the second face on beam b:

var indices = b.SectionFacePoints(1);

SectionFaces()

Description

Returns the number of faces to plot the true section of the beam. Beam.SectionPoints must be called before this method.

Returns

integer

Return type

Number

Example

To get the number of faces for beam b:

var faces = b.SectionFaces();

SectionPoints()

Description

Returns the point coordinates to plot the true section of the beam. They are returned in a single array of numbers.

Returns

Array of reals

Return type

Number

Example

To get the point coordinates for beam b:

var points = b.SectionPoints();

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

Description

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

Returns

Number of beams selected or null if menu cancelled

Return type

Number

Example

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

Beam.Select(f, 'Select beams', m);

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

Beam.Select(f, 'Select beams', l);

SetFlag(flag[Flag])

Description

Sets a flag on the beam.

Returns

No return value

Example

To set flag f for beam b:

b.SetFlag(f);

Sketch(redraw (optional)[boolean])

Description

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

Returns

No return value

Example

To sketch beam b:

b.Sketch();

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

Description

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

Returns

No return value

Example

To sketch all beams flagged with flag in model m:

Beam.SketchFlagged(m, flag);

TiedNodeCheck(Contact label[integer], Flag[Flag], Option1[integer], Option2[integer])

Description

Checks if nodes of beam are tied by contact or directly attached (non-zero option1)

Returns

string

Return type

String

Example

To check if both nodes of beam b are tied by contact 200 or attach directly to constraint, beam or shell:

var message = b.TiedNodeCheck(200, flag, 1|2|4, 1)

Timestep()

Description

Calculates the timestep for the beam

Returns

real

Return type

Number

Example

To calculate the timestep for beam b:

var timestep = b.Timestep();

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

Description

Returns the total number of beams in the model.

Returns

number of beams

Return type

Number

Example

To get the total number of beams in model m:

var total = Beam.Total(m);

Unblank()

Description

Unblanks the beam

Returns

No return value

Example

To unblank beam b:

b.Unblank();

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

Description

Unblanks all of the beams in the model.

Returns

No return value

Example

To unblank all of the beams in model m:

Beam.UnblankAll(m);

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

Description

Unblanks all of the flagged beams in the model.

Returns

No return value

Example

To unblank all of the beams in model m flagged with f:

Beam.UnblankFlagged(m, f);

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

Description

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

Returns

No return value

Example

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

Beam.UnflagAll(m, f);

Unsketch(redraw (optional)[boolean])

Description

Unsketches the beam.

Returns

No return value

Example

To unsketch beam b:

b.Unsketch();

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

Description

Unsketches all beams.

Returns

No return value

Example

To unsketch all beams in model m:

Beam.UnsketchAll(m);

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

Description

Unsketches all flagged beams in the model.

Returns

No return value

Example

To unsketch all beams flagged with flag in model m:

Beam.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.

Returns

Beam object.

Return type

Beam

Example

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

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

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

Description

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

Returns

No return value

Example

To add a warning message "My custom warning" for beam b:

b.Warning("My custom warning");

Xrefs()

Description

Returns the cross references for this beam.

Returns

Xrefs object.

Return type

Xrefs

Example

To get the cross references for beam b:

var xrefs = b.Xrefs();

toString()

Description

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

Returns

string

Return type

String

Example

To get data for beam b in keyword format

var str = b.toString();