Help

This menu connects, via the Internet, with the “on line” help. It is therefore necessary to have an active Internet connection.

In fact, if you are reading this text, you have access to this support. In some phases of the program, opening the on-line help besides to what is realized in this moment may improve support for the user.

 
Check updates

It checks to see if there is any update to the program WinTess3.
The program can automatically check for the new updates. For this, two things are required:

  1. There is an active Internet connection.
  2. Automatic checking is enabled. This is achieved through the Options menu that is commented on below.

If the automatic checking is disabled, the startup is faster (especially when there is no connection to the Internet, as it does not waste time searching for a connection that does not exist). Even so, if we want to know if there is any update we can do so through this submenu.

 
Options

The options submenu opens the Options window. In this window, we see a number of parameters that affect the behavior and image of the program:

Graphics

  • Black background. Enables or disables the black background of the screen. By default the background is white, but it can be changed.
  • Contour lines: Offset (m). Modifies the value that is used to draw the level curves on the membrane. The smaller this value, more contours on the membrane.
  • RATIO: Thickness of bars with Ratio> 1: By default bars with ratio> 1 are shown in red and with a thickness of 2 pixels. If for some reason we wish to modify this value we can do it in this box. A value = 1 will cause bars with Ratio> 1 to show less visible.

Various

  • Load last file at start
    If this box is checked, when you open WinTess, it will automatically load the latest file analysed.
  • Check new versions at start
    If this box is checked, when you open the program, it connects through the Internet with the WinTess server to check if we are using the latest version of the program.
  • Update automatically databases
    If this box is checked, when you open a file, if there is some kind of membrane, tube type or cable type that is not on your database, this new object is automatically added to the database. If not, they are used in this case but not saved in the database.
  • Decimal separator (CSV file)
    To generate a CSV file from any table, we can write real numbers with the point or the comma.

Safety factors (Default values)

  • The program supports 5 safety factors for the loads and 3 for the materials. These coefficients must be defined each time you create a new structure.
    Here we can set the default values that will use WinTess when it creates a new structure.

Patterning

  • Default offset (cm). We can specify the default offset value for the patterns.
  • Default cross size (mm). When drawing the patterns in a DXF file, there is a layer on which you draw cross for each node that defines the pattern. This cross can be useful to weld the patterns by serving as a connection reference between them.
  • Use only geodesic nodes. Normally when we create the patterns, we use only the nodes of geodesic lines and the edge of the membrane. Other nodes of the mesh are not used and rather they clog when creating the pattern. For this reason, by default, the program does not take them into account, but we can force WinTess to take them into account for those cases we want.

Databases folder

  • (Name of the folder) If the folder exists, WinTess will search the data of tubes, cables and membranes in that folder. If it does not exist, it will continue searching in the default folder: … / AppData / Roaming / WinTess3 /
    This option is interesting, especially when two computers share databases located in a network folder.

Unless OK button is pressed,  the changes we make are not saved. The Cancel button cancels any changes.

 
Edit file WinTess3.ini

Clicking on this submenu displays a warning on not modifying this file if you don’t know what you are doing. It is in fact a file with the values that are used by the program on starting. Some of them are very obvious and could be modified without problems. However, in other cases, it is not so clear and introducing some incorrect value could compromise the proper functioning of the program.

If we accept, we will see a text editor with the contents of the WinTess3.ini file.

We can edit the file and save or print the results or simply exit without modifying anything.

 
Release notes

This is a text file in English which incorporates, by way of history, developments or corrections that have been made in the program through the different versions.

 
LOG

The WinTess3.log file is created on the desktop and points to a series of events as we use the program. When you close WinTess3, this file disappears, and therefore normally we will never see it (to view it you must go to the desktop while WinTess3 is open). However, in case the program hangs or crashes, this file could serve to clarify the cause of the problem.

 
License

If we use the program with a license that has been provided to the user, this submenu is the way of introduction of the license.

It is important to enter the exact text of the license, so it is recommended that you copy and paste the code provided.

 
About

As happens in most programs, this window is used to inform about the authorship of the program, its validity or expiration, the version number and other data that is deemed necessary.