This section describes the types of text you can add to drawings. You can add several styles of text to Tekla Structures drawings:
• Single lines
• Paragraphs
• Text files
• Hyperlinks
• Links between drawings.
Symbol angle Enter the angle of the symbol.
Place... See Place (p. 186).
Property Description
To add text to drawings, use the icons on the Drawings: Text toolbar, or select a command from the Create menu. The following table lists the commands you use to add text and gives a short description of each one. For detailed instructions, see the online help.
See Common drawing object properties (p. 181) for more on additional object properties.
Command Icon Description
Text Creates a single line of text.
Text (multi) Creates multiple lines of text (para- graphs).
Text along line Creates a single line of text along a line you specify.
Text along line (multi) Creates multiple lines of text (para- graphs) along a line you specify.
Text with leader line Creates a line of text with a leader line to a point you specify in the drawing.
Along line, arrow at end point
Creates a single line of text with a visi- ble line which has an arrow at the sec- ond point picked (or end point).
Along line, arrow at start point
Creates a single line of text with a visi- ble line which has an arrow at the first point picked (or starting point).
Text file Adds a text file to the drawing.
Hyperlink Inserts a hyperlink into the drawing.
Link drawings Creates a link to another drawing.
Text files in drawings
You can insert a text file inside a frame in a drawing. Tekla Structures adds the text file using the properties in the Text file properties dialog box. The filename extension of a saved properties file is fas.
In addition to the common object properties (see Common drawing object properties (p. 181)), you can modify the scale Tekla Structures uses when add- ing text files. See Scaling text files and links (p. 195).
Adding text files
To add a text file to a drawing:
1. Open the drawing.
2. Click Properties>Text file... to display the Text file properties dialog box.
3. Click Browse... and locate the text file you want to use.
4. Click OK to close the Browse... dialog box.
5. Modify the other text file properties as required.
6. Click OK to save the properties and close the Text file properties dialog box.
7. Click Create>Text file.
The Text file command creates a link to the text file. If you change the text in the file, it will change in all drawings using that text file.
8. Pick one or two points in the drawing to indicate the corners of the text file frame. The scaling type you choose affects the number of points to pick. See Scaling text files and links (p. 195).
Editing text files
To edit a text file, double-click the text inside the frame. Tekla Structures will open the original text file.
To modify the text file properties, double-click the frame around the text.
Links in drawings
You can place active links to files, Internet addresses, or Tekla Structures draw- ings within a frame in a drawing.
Tekla Structures creates hyperlinks using the properties in the Hyperlink proper- ties dialog box. The filename extension of a saved hyperlink properties file is fhl. Tekla Structures creates links to drawings using the properties in the Link drawing properties dialog box. The filename extension of a saved drawing link properties file is ldr.
In addition to the common object properties (see Common drawing object properties (p. 181)), you can modify the following link properties:
Property Action Description File Active link to a
file.
Click Browse... to find the file, or enter a filepath and name, for example, E:\models\new\report.txt.
URL Active link to an Internet address.
Specifies the Internet address for the link.
Drawing Active link to another Tekla Structures draw- ing.
Select the drawing from the list box.
The drawings in the list box are the drawings in the model’s drawing list.
Link text The text Tekla Structures dis- plays in the draw- ing.
Use this to have Tekla Structures show text other than the link or draw- ing name in the drawing.
Click the link text in the drawing to jump to the file or Internet address.
Double-click the link text to open the linked drawing.
Adding hyperlinks
To insert a hyperlink into a drawing:
1. Open the drawing.
2. Click Properties>Hyperlink... to display the Hyperlink properties dialog box.
3. Modify the text style, frame, and scaling as required.
4. In the File or URL field, enter an Internet address or filename and path. If you need to locate the file, click Browse.... Tekla Structures inserts an active hyperlink to the location you specify.
5. In the Text field, enter the text you want Tekla Structures to display for the hyperlink.
6. Click OK to save the properties and close the Hyperlink properties dialog box.
7. Click Create>Hyperlink.
8. Pick one or two points in the drawing to indicate the corners of the hyperlink frame. The scaling type you choose affects the number of points to pick. See Scaling text files and links (p. 195).
Creating links between drawings
To link two drawings of a model:
1. Open the drawing to link from.
2. Click Properties>Link drawings... to display the Link drawing properties dia- log box.
3. Modify the text style, frame, and scaling as required.
4. In the Drawing list box, select the drawing to link to.
5. In the Text field, enter the text you want Tekla Structures to display for the link.
6. Click OK to save the properties and close the Link drawing properties dialog box.
7. Click Create>Link drawing.
8. Pick one or two points in the drawing to indicate the corners of the link frame. The number of points you have to pick depends on the scaling type you use. See Scaling text files and links (p. 195).
Modifying link properties
To modify the properties of an existing link, double-click the frame around the link.
Scaling text files and links
To scale text files and links in drawings, double-click the frame around an exist- ing object, or use the appropriate command on the Properties menu. You have the following options in the Scaling: Type list box:
• No scaling
When you define the frame around the object, you only need pick the upper left corner of it. Tekla Structures inserts the object in its original size.
• Scale to fit
When you define the object frame, you pick two points to define it. Tekla Structures adjusts the object size to fit the frame.