1. Release Notes of 8.8 version
General :
1.Unique ids will be displayed for elements and nodes in all the views and reports.
User can turn off these ids by selecting options provided in each module.
viz.Display->Unique Ids On/Off after setting a floor in Preprocessor
Tools->Unique Ids On/Off in Design
Control->IDs/Columns/Slabs in Postprocessor
2.User can modify the unique ids by using following option in Preprocessor:
Tools->Renumber Elements/Nodes
Here user can renumber all or selected beams/columns or nodes.
User can select the entities by window/grid/range or he can locate the
entities.
-If user selectes 'Renumber all' option,beams/columns or nodes,will be renumbered
by using the start number given for that entity.
-If user selectes 'Renumber selected' option,he can give the ids to the selected
beams/columns or nodes, manually.
-If user selectes 'Renumber selected' option and 'Renumber all selced' option,
the selected beams/columns or nodes,will be renumbered by using start number
given for that entity.
-User can select the numbering order.
-User can change the floor-level to renumber all entities on another floor-level.
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Preprocessor:
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Following options are added/modifications done in the menu which is
displayed after setting a floor.
1.Options added to change printer fonts for sections and loads
under the menu option 'Floor' .
These new options are as follows :
Floor->Print->Print Font Settings->Section
Floor->Print->Print Font Settings->Load
2.Function keys are now provided for displaying sections(F2).
elemental loads(F3) and wall loads(F8) in the 'Entities' dialog
under the menu option 'Display->Entities'.
3.Modifications made in Slab Quantity report which is displayed after selecting.
'Display->List->Slab Quantity report'.
Total area of slabs is added at the end of the report.
4.By default,'Entities' dialog is now displayed with all the options as a
full dialog.

2. 5.Modifications in 'Edit->Multiple Slabs' option :
Data related to 'Sunk Slab' can now be modified by using this option.
6.Modifications 'Create->Slab' option :
In 'Slab Properties' dialog, slab loading pattern can now be given by
using keyboard.
7.Option provided to delete column with node if no other elements are
connected with that node.
8.Toolbar is provided for zoom and pan options.
9.In multiple slab edit,slab thickness was getting multiplied as per user
defined unit,twice.This problem is solved.
Following options are added/modifications done in the menu which is
displayed after creating/opening a building.
10.Earlier,after corrupting the bld file and reopening the same file,
the messege -" Unable to open the file "- was being displayed. After selecting
exit from the same window,the option "save y/n/cancel" was being displayed.
When selcting yes here; the bak file also was getting corrupted.This problem
is solved now.
11.Earthquake load generation : User can give live load reduction percentage,
for each level now.Or he can give constant live load percentage for all the
floors.In that case,live load for the terrace floor will be taken as zero.
For this use, menu options
'Setup->Seismic Parameters' or
'Setup->Response Spectrum Parameters'
In the dialogs,which will be displayed after selecting above options,
click the button - 'LL Percentage'.A dialog for 'Live Load Percentage'
will be displayed, showing Floor-Level and live load percentage
for each level.Also,there is a checkbox - 'Consider constant live load
percentage for all the floors(no live load for terrace floor)'.
If user selects this option, constant live load percentage will be applied
for all the floors and live load of terrace i.e. the topmost floor will not
be considered in the earthquake load calculation.
If user deselects this option,he can give live load percentage for each
level, manually.
12.Modification in 'Response spectrum parameters' dialog :
The value of zone factor is now modified according to selection of zone.
13.User can now define and attach T,L sections to columns for analysis purpose.

3. For attaching these sections,Select - 'Column->Orient'.Then select the column
and click the button 'Shape & Size' and change the column section.
Design of T,L shaped columns isnot supported now.
14.If user sets colours for levels,those will be used for display in spaceframe
view.Columns will be displayed in black colour.
15.Modification in column reaction method of earthquake load generation :
Spaceframe analysis is now used instead of planegrid analysis.
16.In 'Column->Set Parameters' option,a warning message is added so that
user defined column sizes will not be overwritten accidentally.
17.Column->Orient->Shape and Size : Columns in the selected column groups are
highlighted.
18.Member release and master-slave relations defined in preprocessor are now
transferred to STAAD input file.
19.Default load combinations used in the design are now transferred to STAAD
input file.
20.Elements segregated as beam and column and written under heading
'DESIGN BEAM' and 'DESIGN COLUMN' respectively,in STAAD input file.
21.While writing joint loads in STAAD input file,the node id was being written
twice.This problem is solved.
22.User was unable to remove the release status of elements.This problem
is solved.
Truss Define :
23.In user defined truss , Zoom and Pan options were not working properly.
This problem is solved .
24.In Predefined Truss,there was an option to delete an element but no option
was available to add an element.This option is added now.
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Postprocessor:
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1.Control->Define Set->Load Comb.Set
- Software hangs if user selects above option.This problem is solved.

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R.C.C. Design
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General :
1.Design Module : Window was always in maximized state.Now user can tile the
window.
2.STRUDS Help is now availble in design module also.
3.There was a problem in saving and opening the design files,if user had
opened the HTML reports before saving the design.This problem is solved.
Slab design :
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No changes
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Beam design :
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1.Provided steel diagram added for top and bottom steel.
2.Steel required at top and bottom displayed for 2 consecutive beams
simultaneously.
3.Detail report - User defined point load was not displayed in the beam detail
design report.This problem is corrected.
4.Section depth check - 'Depth should not be more than L/4 ' - check passing
condition is modified.
5.Individual design module - 'Compute flange dimensions automatically' option
removed for T/L sections.
6.Beam detail design report is saved by different names for each floor-level.
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Column design :
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1.View design in column - If column design fails at any level,user can
now view the design of columns at other levels.
2.Loadcombination with DL load case : If load factor for DL loadcase is less
than 1.0,this factor is retained while computing the working load.
This modification is done only for 'DL' load case without considering other
loadcases present in that load combination.
3.Column orientation angle is displayed in the detail design report.
4.Column dynamic report problem of shifting of columns in report,solved.

5. 5.If column design fails for one of the column groups,earlier there were
problems in generating column design reports.These problems are solved now.
6.In 'Properties' dialog box,an option is added to check the presence of
horizontal bracings at all the levels for a column.This check is taken
before the design of each column group .A warning message is displayed
containing the column names along with the levels where such bracings arenot
present.
7.Floor and level descriptions are displayed in the design reports,
instead of their numbers.
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Footing design :
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1.Horizontal projection of column bars in footing - added in
'Footing Design Parameters' dialog.It is used for development length check
in design.
2.Currently development length check for column bars is taken for tension.
Now development length check is added for column bars in compression.It checks
only the vertical length of column bars,projecting into the footing.
3.Report added for footing loads for selected/all load combination/s added .
Option added for this report is :
Footing-> Report->HTML reports->Load report
4.Loadcombination with DL load case : If load factor for DL loadcase is less
than 1.0,this factor is retained while computing the working load/working
pressure.This modification is done only for 'DL' load case without
considering other loadcases present in that load combination.
5.Floating column foot group geneation problem solved.
6.Footing detail design report : Pressure calculation displayed after area
calculation.Working pressures also displayed in the report.
7.If footing slope exceeds 45 degrees,a warning message is displayed .
User can change the minimum depth of the footing or he can ignore the warning.
An option is provided in the 'Properties' dialog to turn this check on/off.
8.Now,parameters changed through - View design->Change parameter option -
will be applicable for that footing group only.
9.Footing bitmap displyed in HTML report is modified.

6. 10.In combined footing design,load taken for design was taken as maximum of the
loads at both the ends of a column.Now load of only lower end is considered.
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Truss Design:
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1.User defined Truss Zoom,Pan problem solved.
2.Predefined Truss element deletion,addition problem solved.
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Drafting :
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1.beam L - section is displayed in beam sheet - in stf files.
which was present earlier,now removed in 8.7.1,it is added again.
2.For drawings in dxf format colours are assigned to layersso that user can
change the colours of all the entities on a layer by changing only the colour
of the layer.
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