Overview of the Column Summary Table

Overview of the Column Summary Table

Design Tab

After clicking the “Columns” option in the “Design” tab you will see a summary table in which all the columns and walls in the current project are listed for all storeys.

The summary table can be manipulated as follows:



To filter members


Initially the column summary table displays all columns and walls at all storeys.  You can filter the table by clicking the “Filter” button located in "Design" tab.

The following filtering options are provided:

  1. “Display All Members”
  2. “Filter by Storey”
  3. “Filter by Member Label”
  4. “List Failed Members Only”
  5. “List Only Columns”
  6. “List Walls Only”
  7. "List Basement Walls Only"
If the “Filter by Storey” option is selected, a list of storeys will appear on the right of the option. You can choose any storey from this list so that the members of that storey are listed in the table.
Similarly if the “Filter by Member Label” option is selected a field for member label input will appear on the right of the option. When the desired member label is typed, the table will consist of a list of members with that label on all storeys.

Furthermore, if you select the “List Failed Members Only” option, only members for which reinforcement couldn’t be determined will be listed in the summary table.

To return to a listing of all members choose the “Display All Members” option in the “Filter Axes” dialog.

Alternatively, user can use the search function to find/locate the particular member by clicking the search icon Search Icon - Free Download, PNG and Vector in the top right corner, then input the member label. 

To sort the table into a different order

Initially the column summary table displays members sorted by member label, then Storey.  You can sort in different ways by dragging “Design Status”, “Columns” or “Storey” column headers to the area indicted. The first header becomes the primary and the next becomes the secondary sorting criteria.

To remove a sorting criteria drag it back into the table header.

Copy and Paste Bars

“Copy Bars” and “Paste Bars”, located on the “Edit” tab, allows the designed bars from one member to be pasted to other members with similar geometry. A check design is then performed to establish if the pasted bars are sufficient.

Because no relation is established between the source and destination members, re-selecting bars would result in the members adopting different bars to each other once more.

Copy Bars

Using this button, steel bars from the selected member can be copied to the clipboard and can be pasted to members with similar geometry.

Select the member to copy and press the “Copy Bars” button. The member label will be marked by an arrow symbol and all members with similar geometry will be highlighted with an “=” mark.

Paste Bars

If a member is marked by an arrow symbol, then you can use this button to paste steel bars from it to other selected members.

You can only paste steel bars to members marked with “=”.

A check design is carried out immediately after paste operation to check if the provided steel is sufficient and the tick/cross mark will be updated. User can refer this article: 

Paste Steel Bars to All

If a member is marked by an arrow symbol, then you can use this button to paste steel bars from it to all the members marked with “=”.

A check design is carried out immediately after paste operation to check if the provided steel is sufficient and the tick/cross mark will be updated.

Column Design (Batch Mode) 

All columns and walls can be designed automatically in batch mode. If you select the “Column Design (Batch Mode)” option the “Column Reinforcement Design” dialog will be loaded. The parameters in this dialog control the column design in batch mode.

Consideration should be given to designing critical columns and walls using the “Interactive Design” option instead.

Reinforcement Selection Options

Batch mode column section design includes the following options:


  1. Check Steel (Select New Steel When Previous Bars are Sufficient): This option will not modify the previously selected bars, if the area ratio is sufficient for the new conditions. New reinforcement will be selected only if the bars are not adequate.
  2. Check Steel (Don’t Select New Steel When Previous Bars are Sufficient): This option will not modify the selected bars, no matter the bars are adequate or not. If the bars are inadequate, columns will be marked with a “X” sign.
  3. Reselect All Steel Bars: This option will delete all the available bars in the section and perform the column section design from scratch.

Review of Batch Design

A report in TXT format is generated during the batch mode design to inform the user of any problems during the design process. You can review this report by pressing the “Messages” button in the “Column Reinforcement Design” dialog.



After closing the “Column Reinforcement Design” dialog the summary table is redisplayed. The “Design” and “Print” columns in the table will be marked for those members that have been designed successfully and the steel bars and links provided will be listed.

The Utilization Ratio will also have been calculated. If this ratio is greater than 1.0 for a column or wall then it can be said that the selected reinforcement is not sufficient.

Steel Standardisation 

Using this dialog, you can:

  1. Standardise the steel in the columns between storeys. You can check the steel bars provided in the columns of a particular column line storey by storey and make manual modifications to standardise them.
  2. Manually input/modify steel bars.

Steel bars of columns with polyline cross sections cannot be modified using the options provided in this dialog.

Column Line List:

You can select a column line using this dropdown list. All column lines will be referenced in this list. Walls will be referenced using their I-insertion points.

When a column line is selected in this list, all columns in this column line will be loaded to the table below.

If you make any modification to the data presented in this table, you need to press “Save” button before selecting another column line, otherwise the modifications will be lost.
Modifying the Column Steel Bars:
All columns (or walls) in the selected column line will be displayed in the column table. The steel bar quantity and size cells are editable in this table.

Columns with arbitrary cross-sections cannot be edited using this dialog. 

Saving Column Lines:
You can use “Save” button to save the modifications in the selected column line before selecting another column line or closing the dialog.

Reports Tab

Various reports are available to be printed from the “Report” tab of the “Column Reinforcement Design” form.

Rebar Table 

To print the rebar summary table as it is displayed on screen, click the “Rebar Table” button.

Design Report  

After design has been accomplished the “Design Report” button can be used to print the results.

Column Analysis  

You can use this option to check the capacities of the columns and walls calculated using the supplied steel.

This table is generally used for checking the capacity of an existing building.

Column Forces Listing  

In the column design stage, the most critical member force group (axial load and moments) among all the different member forces resulting from different load combinations in the building analysis, will be selected and used.

To view the most critical member force group used for design, the “Column Forces Listing” option in the Column Toolbar can be used. By clicking this option you can load the “Column Forces Listing” form. Member forces can be listed either for all columns or only for the columns at foundation level.
Similarly, all column member forces or only the most critical ones can be selected for listing.

Marking the Axes for Printing  

The “Design” and “Print” columns in the table will be marked for the members that have been designed informing you that the members are designed and ready for printing.

The mark in the “Print” column indicates that the member will be included in the output report. When the “Design Report” option is selected, only the members that are marked for printing will be transferred to the output report.

After selecting a member in the table, you can either mark or unmark it for printing by clicking in the “Print” box.

The print marks for all members in the table can be set using the “Mark All Columns” button. Likewise, all print marks can be removed by using “Remove Marks” button.




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