IES VisualAnalysis User's Guide
Project Files
Open existing Projects using the command. Recent projects are listed in the Recent VisualAnalysis Projects section of the menu. Hover over the recent file to see an image of the model in the project.
Project files created and saved in previous version of VisualAnalysis are recognized and imported automatically in newer versions of the program. Depending on the version, all of the information from older format files may not be imported, but typically the model and loads will be preserved. Some features have changed significantly and projects may get modified and in some situations warnings or errors will appear. Legacy projects are upgraded to a new format when saved and cannot be read in previous versions of the product. Legacy projects can be can 'recovered' using the History Projects folder as discussed below.
Double-clicking on a .vap project file, or right-clicking on it and selecting will typically open the latest version of VisualAnalysis. If multiple versions of VisualAnalysis installed, Windows may open a different version than desired. Right-click and use the ... command to select the correct version and to change the default. The most recent version you "install" becomes the default for .VAP projects, but this can be customized in Windows Explorer. Attempting to open a newer .vap file with an older version, will produce an error message and the operation will fail.
VisualAnalysis is shipped with a number of example projects files to demonstrate various modeling techniques ranging from basic to advanced. These can be located using the command.
Use to store the information in a VisualAnalysis Project File (.vap). Project files save the model, loads, design information, and window layouts. Analysis and Design results are not saved, but we be automatically recomputed when the project is opened.
VisualAnalysis does not have a specific feature for splitting projects or models. To manually split projects, open the original project file, delete the unneeded portions, and then use to save the remaining portion of the project as a different file. Repeat the process with the original project file to split out a different fraction of the model.
VisualAnalysis can merge a saved project file into an open project using the command. While basic model and load information will be merged, objects may get renamed and location or direction collisions of data can cause things to change or fail. The Clipboard Exchange can also be used to merge basic objects and loads. While all features in VisualAnalysis cannot be imported in this manner it may still save time over recreating items manually. Pay attention to the naming of nodes, elements, and load cases. Items in the 'clipboard' data or in the destination project may need to be renamed before completing the import.
VisualAnalysis automatically creates files to record multiple versions of a project file as you work. These backup project files are called History Files and are saved in C:\Users\<your.login>\AppData\Local\IES\Customer\History Projects. Use these files to return to a previous state of the project if a file is accidentally deleted, it becomes corrupt, or if changes have been saved that you wish to undo. History Files are created every time you open a project file. The number of History Files or whether they are created at all are Preferences.
VisualAnalysis automatically saves the project at an interval specified in the Preferences (2 minutes is the default setting). This file will be replaced whenever a timed backup is made. If VisualAnalysis or your system crashes, this file allows your work to be recovered up to the last save point. When VisualAnalysis is launched it checks for the existence of this files and if one exists you will be given the opportunity to open it. This file is automatically deleted when the project is successfully closed.