Import Properties

The Import Properties option allows you to import properties (i.e. material, bolt, liner, joint ) from one Phase2 file into another Phase2 file. To import properties:

1. Select Import Properties from the Import sub-menu of the File menu.

2. You will see an Open File dialog, allowing you to select a file from which to import properties. You can import properties from the following file types:

• .fea - Phase2 files (uncompressed)

• .fez - Phase2 files (compressed)

• .prp - Phase2 version 4 property file (see below)

Select and open the desired file.

3. You will see the Import Properties dialog, which allows you to select the properties you would like to import (material, bolt, liner, joint) using the checkboxes at the left of the dialog.

• If you want to import specific property types (e.g. only certain materials), click on the "+" symbol to expand the list and then select the desired checkboxes for individual materials.

• Show only used - if this checkbox is selected, only the properties which are actually used in the model will be available for selection.

• Overwrite current properties - if this checkbox is selected then the imported properties will overwrite the existing properties of the current file. If this checkbox is NOT selected, then the imported properties are appended after the existing properties of the current file.

Select OK and the chosen properties will be imported into the current file.

4. After importing properties, you should verify that the correct properties have been read. Select a Define option (e.g. Define Materials), and check that the properties in the dialog are the ones you wanted.

Default Properties File

You can create your own custom DEFAULT property file, which will always be loaded at program startup, by creating a Phase2 file named phase2defaultproperties.fea and saving it in your Phase2 installation folder.

If you create such a file, then the properties in this file will always be the DEFAULT properties which are loaded at program startup. This allows you to always have your favorite DEFAULT properties automatically loaded, without the need to use the Import Properties option.

To re-instate the original Phase2 default properties, you will have to delete (or rename) the phase2defaultproperties.fea file. If Phase2 does not find this file at program startup, it will load the original program defaults (i.e. the default properties when you installed the program).

Note that the phase2defaultproperties.fea file does NOT exist when you install Phase2, it must be created by the user.

Phase2 version 4 Property Files

In Phase2 version 4, properties could be stored in a separate "properties file" with a .prp filename extension. Phase2 version 5 and later versions no longer supports the creation of .prp files, since properties are now read directly from other Phase2 (*.fea or *.fez) files. However, .prp files which were created with Phase2 version 4 can still be read by Phase2 version 5 or later.