Tekla Structures indicates the direction of a part with handles. When you select a part, Tekla Structures shows the handles. The handle of the first end point is yellow, the rest are magenta.
For information on how to select only the handles of a part, see Select objects.
If direct modification is on, Tekla Structures also displays direct modification handles for the reference points, corners, segments, and segment midpoints of the selected part. These handles are blue.
Modify the length of a part using handles
If you do not want to use direct modification, you can use the part handles to modify the length of a part.
- Ensure that the Direct modification switch is not active.
- Select the part.
Tekla Structures highlights the handles of the part.
- Click one of the handles to select it.
- Move the handle like any other object in Tekla Structures.
For example, right-click and select Move.
If Drag & drop is active , just drag the handle to a new location.
Warning: Do not use cuts or fittings to change the length of a part, for the following reasons:
- Cuts may cause shop errors, because cuts do not always affect part length when you export information to NC files.
- Fittings may cause problems with connections and details.
Swap handles
You can change the modeling direction of a part by using the Swap handles macro. This changes the yellow start handle to magenta, and the other way around.
- Select the part whose modeling direction you want to change.
Tekla Structures shows the part handles.
- Go to Quick Launch , start typing swap handles , and select the Macro . Swap handles command from the list that appears.
Tekla Structures changes the modeling direction of the part, and swaps the start and end handles.