STAAD.

Pro - ISM
Bidirectional data exchange between STAAD.Pro
and Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM) repository

Updated March 10, 2016

 Table of contents
1. Overview of ISM ..........................................................................................................................3

2. Exchanging model data between STAAD.Pro and ISM ................................................................5

2.1 Creating a new ISM Repository from STAAD.Pro model .............................................................6

2.2 Viewing ISM Model......................................................................................................................9

2.3 Creating new STAAD.Pro model from ISM Repository ..............................................................11

2.4 Updating ISM Repository from STAAD.Pro model ....................................................................12

2.5 Updating STAAD.Pro model from ISM Repository ....................................................................16

2.6 Preventing collinear members from being exported as one physical member ........................18

2.7 Using ProjectWise Data Source .................................................................................................20

2.8 ISM Substructures .....................................................................................................................23

3. Conventions and Limitations .....................................................................................................25

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1. Overview of ISM
Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM) is a methodology that maximizes the interoperability of
structural information among specialized applications, CAD and BIM platforms, and design
reviews for authors and consumers of a project’s structural information. ISM stores the structural
model in a repository based on Bentley’s i-model format and provides development tools for
other applications to read from and write to the repository. ISM also provides tools for tracking
changes made by different applications and a viewing tool for viewing the structural model. Most
of Bentley’s Structural software products support ISM. Other software vendors such as Autodesk
and Tekla also support ISM.

ISM Create Repository /

Create Repository / Update Repository
Update Repository
Other
STAAD.Pro ISM Model
Application
Create from Repository /
Update from Repository Structural Synchronizer Create from Repository /
Revision history / Update from Repository
Viewer / Editor

Bentley's Structural Synchronizer product embeds ISM technology and offers tools for managing
revision history and viewing the model in ISM repository. Structural Synchronizer is supplied free
of cost with many Structural products offered by Bentley. It can also be downloaded from
Bentley’s web site free of cost. Structural Synchronizer also offers rudimentary capabilities for
editing the ISM model. For more details on Structural Synchronizer, please refer to Structural
Synchronizer documentation which is installed with this tool.

STAAD.Pro offers four options to interact with ISM models:

a. Create Repository: This option creates a new ISM model (repository). User needs to specify the
name and location of ISM repository.

b. Create from Repository: This option creates a new STAAD.Pro model from specified ISM
repository. User needs to open a new empty model in STAAD.Pro and then invoke the option.

c. Update Repository: This option updates specified ISM repository with the current STAAD.Pro
model. User gets an opportunity to view the changes from the current model in ISM repository
and accept changes. A revision history is created and stored by ISM.

d. Update from Repository: This option updates the current STAAD.Pro model with the content of
specified ISM repository.

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 Note that while a STAAD.Pro model is exported to an ISM repository or a model from ISM repository is
imported as a new STAAD.Pro model, several support files are created to keep track of mapping of
entities between two models. All subsequent round-tripping operations should be between these two
models.

Note: All ISM compliant applications offer the same four standardized options.

Note: STAAD.Pro uses StrucLink technology for exchanging data with ISM repository.
This is why the dialog boxes and Help->About options display the name
StrucLink for STAAD.Pro. The word StrucLink may be dropped in future versions
of STAAD.Pro.

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2. Exchanging model data between STAAD.Pro and ISM

ISM data exchange options are found under File menu of STAAD.Pro, as shown below

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2.1 Creating a new ISM Repository from STAAD.Pro model
To create a new ISM repository from the current STAAD.Pro model, follow the steps outlined
below:

1. From the pull down menu bar in STAAD.Pro select File -> ISM -> Create Repository
2. You need to specify the name of the repository to be created. By default the ISM repository
name will be <STAAD Model Name>.ism.dgn

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 3. StrucLink for STAAD.Pro dialog box is displayed with Create Repository option.

Do not change anything in Select Material File and Select Shapes File text boxes. These files
are used as intermediate reference for mapping STAAD.Pro materials and shapes to ISM
material and shapes.
4. Click Run button to start exporting current STAAD model to ISM repository

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 5. If the selected ISM repository does not exist, the program will prompt you to create it. If it
exists, you will be prompted to replace it.
6. As STAAD.Pro model is exported to ISM repository, messages are displayed showing the
progress of the process. Note that StrucLink will automatically create physical members from
contiguous analytical members provided the members are collinear and have the same shape,
material, axial behavior and orientation.

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 7. In case any error or warning occurs, you may be able to view those by clicking on Errors and
Messages tab

2.2 Viewing ISM Model

The ISM model can be imported in any other ISM compliant application such as Bentley ProSteel
or Revit® Structure by Autodesk. The model can also be viewed using ISM viewer which is
installed under program group Structural Synchronizer. This can be accessed from Start -> All
Programs menu in Windows.

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 The ISM model is displayed using ISM Viewer

You may also view properties of members by clicking on them. Note that several analytical
members may be combined to form a physical member.

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2.3 Creating new STAAD.Pro model from ISM Repository
To create a new STAAD.Pro model from ISM repository, follow the steps outlined below:

1. Open STAAD.Pro and create a new empty model

2. From the pull down menu bar in STAAD.Pro select File -> ISM -> New From Repository
3. Select ISM repository (<filename>.ism.dgn) to be imported
4. StrucLink for STAAD.Pro dialog box appears with New from Repository option.
5. Do not change anything in Select Material File and Select Shapes File text boxes. These files
are used as intermediate reference for mapping STAAD.Pro materials and shapes to ISM
material and shapes.
6. Click Run button to start import process
7. At the end of Import process, you may view the detailed messages by clicking on Errors and
Messages tab below:

Note that several physical members in ISM model may be split to form multiple analytical
members in STAAD.Pro

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 8. You will need to save the model in STAAD.Pro in order to view it

2.4 Updating ISM Repository from STAAD.Pro model

Changes made to the structural model in STAAD.Pro can be synchronized with ISM repository.

1. From the pull down menu bar in STAAD.Pro select File -> ISM -> Update Repository
2. Select ISM repository (filename.ism.dgn) to be updated
3. StrucLink for STAAD.Pro dialog box appears with Update Repository option.
4. Do not change anything in Select Material File and Select Shapes File text boxes. These files
are used as intermediate reference for mapping STAAD.Pro materials and shapes to ISM
material and shapes.
5. Click Run button to start update process

6. The application will confirm that you want to update existing ISM repository

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 7. An ISM model will be created on the fly from current STAAD.Pro model and compared with
the current model in ISM repository. ISM Viewer application will be launched to display the
changes made in STAAD.Pro model. You need to accept or reject the changes to the ISM
model.

Use these icons to

show/hide Added,
Deleted, Modified,
Unchanged, Accepted
and rejected entities

On left pane of ISM Viewer screen, you may view the entities that have been added, deleted
or modified by clicking on +, - or triangular icon respectively. To accept changed entities
(Added, Deleted or modified), check the box on left and click on Accept button at the bottom.
You may use Select All and then accept to accept all changes made in STAAD.Pro model.

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 The graphics window on right side of ISM Viewer displays added, deleted and modified
entities in different colors. You may need to click on Preview button from bottom of left panel
to display all entities that were changed from existing ISM model.

Deleted
Member

Added
Member

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 8. To finalize all accepted changes and update ISM repository click on Update Repository button
from bottom of the left panel. The Design History dialog box appears where you can type in a
description for the change being made in the ISM model. You can also mark this as a major
change.

These changes can be tracked using the ISM Revision Manager application from Structural
Synchronizer program group. A sample Revision History is shown below:

9. After the ISM repository is updated control is sent back to StrucLink window and the Update
Repository operation is completed. Any error encountered is displayed in the Errors and
Messages window.
Note: The STAAD.Pro model will not be updated if selective acceptance is made. You need to perform
‘Update from Repository’ to sync the changes.

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2.5 Updating STAAD.Pro model from ISM Repository
Changes made to the structural model by another application can be synchronized with current
STAAD.Pro model via ISM technology. The “other” application must update ISM repository before
it can be synchronized in STAAD.Pro. To update current STAAD.Pro model from ISM repository
follow the steps outlines below.

1. From the pull down menu bar in STAAD.Pro select File -> ISM -> Update from Repository
2. Select ISM repository (<filename>.ism.dgn) to be updated from.
3. StrucLink for STAAD.Pro dialog box appears with Update from Repository option.
4. Do not change anything in Select Material File and Select Shapes File text boxes. These files
are used as intermediate reference for mapping STAAD.Pro materials and shapes to ISM
material and shapes.
5. Click Run button to start import process
6. An ISM model will be created on the fly from current STAAD.Pro model and compared with
the current model in ISM repository. ISM Viewer application will be launched to display the
changes to be made in STAAD.Pro model. You need to accept or reject the changes to the ISM
model.

Use these icons to

show/hide Added,
Deleted, Modified,
Unchanged, Accepted
and rejected entities

On left pane of ISM Viewer screen, you may view the entities that have been added, deleted
or modified by clicking on +, - or triangular icon respectively. To accept changed entities

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 (Added, Deleted or Modified), check the box on left and click on Accept button at the bottom.
You may use Select All and then accept to accept all changes made in STAAD.Pro model.
The right panel shows deleted, added and modified members in separate colors.
7. Click on Update Application button located at the bottom of the left pane after accepting or
rejecting changes to be made to STAAD.Pro model.

8. STAAD.Pro model is now updated with accepted changes form ISM model. Any error or
warning message is displayed in the Errors and Messages tab.
Note: The ISM repository will not be updated if selective acceptance is made. You need to perform
‘Update Repository’ to sync the changes.

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2.6 Preventing collinear members from being exported as one physical
member
StrucLink for STAAD.Pro automatically joins collinear members of same cross section and
orientation into one physical member. However, in some cases this does not reflect the physical
condition.

The horizontal members going across the highlighted column in the above image cannot be
contiguous across the column even if the horizontal members have the same section property
and orientation. In such cases you should use Add Member Attribute option to prevent these
members from forming a physical member. Right-clicking on the selected member will pop up a
menu as shown above. Select Add Member Attribute option.

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 In the dialog box that appears (see above) select attribute as STRUCLINK and select value as
BREAK_MEMBER_ACROSS. Default value is USE_DEFAULT which causes all collinear members to
form a physical member where possible.

When this model is exported to an ISM repository, members across the column are not joined
together.

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 2.7 Using ProjectWise Data Source

StrucLink for STAAD.Pro can create/access ISM repositories held in a ProjectWise data source. Users
with ProjectWise Explorer installed will have the option to read and write files to secure locations or
to cancel and save files normally to the local hard drive. Users without ProjectWise Explorer are
unaffected by the change.

 ISM repositories can be stored either in a local/network drive or in a ProjectWise data source. To make
the ProjectWise location as the default option, in the Configure dialog box check the ProjectWise
option.

 If ProjectWise option is checked, while accessing any ProjectWise location the application will display
the following ProjectWise login dialog.

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  Whenever an ISM repository is read from a ProjectWise location in read only mode the following
ProjectWise file open dialog will be displayed.

 Whenever an ISM repository is checked out from a ProjectWise location the following ProjectWise file
open dialog will be displayed.

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  Whenever an ISM repository is created in a ProjectWise location the following ProjectWise file save as
dialog will be displayed.

 After operations like Create ISM Repository and Update ISM Repository, the corresponding ISM file
should be checked in using the following ProjectWise check-in dialog.

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 2.8 ISM Substructures

Some applications need to synchronize with a portion of a large ISM repository or to synchronize
multiple model files within a single repository. Such group of ISM entities are referred to as ISM
Substructures. StrucLink for STAAD.Pro can classify a STAAD.Pro model as a substructure while
creating a new ISM repository. In this case the STAAD.Pro entities will be flagged with a
substructure classification so that when the model is updated only the relevant part of the
repository will be modified. Similarly, while importing any model from ISM repository that
contains multiple substructures, if any specific substructure is selected, only a group of ISM
entities that belong to the said substructure will be imported.

 There is a checkbox in the StrucLink user interface with caption ‘Use ISM Substructures’. This
checkbox has to be selected to enable substructure functionalities, otherwise the application
will follow the default path.

 While creating an ISM repository with a specific Substructure name

o Select ISM repository

o Ensure that the ‘Use ISM Substructures’ checkbox is selected
o Open the ‘Substructure’ popup window and provide the name in the text box as shown
below
o Select the ‘Accept’ button to complete the action

 While creating a new STAAD.Pro model from ISM repository with a selected Substructure
name

o Select ISM repository

o Ensure that the ‘Use ISM Substructures’ checkbox is selected

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 o Open the ‘Substructure’ popup window and select the desired Substructure name
from the list of available names
o Select the ‘Accept’ button to complete the action

 While updating ISM repository or updating from ISM repository with an associated
Substructure name

o Select ISM repository

o Ensure that the ‘Use Ism Substructures’ checkbox is selected (if it is not selected
explicitly, it will be selected automatically)
o The associated Substructure name will be displayed as read only text
o No need to open the popup window unless the user want to see the available names
and there will be no selection facility
o As there is no relevance for the ‘Accept’ or ‘Cancel’ button, those will appear as
disabled

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3. Conventions and Limitations
1. StrucLink automatically takes care of splitting and merging physical members into analytical
members and vice-versa. For example, if a model is imported from ISM with a continuous
Girder beam supporting several cross-beams, StrucLink will automatically split the Girder into
segments so that an analytical node is created at every intersection of the Girder and cross-
beams. The application keeps track of how the analytical member segments are connected to
the original physical member. If one of the segments of the physical member is modified and
you attempt to export the model data back to the same ISM repository, the following results
are expected:

i. If a segment of the physical member is deleted in STAAD.Pro, the original ISM entity
will be deleted and new entities will be created with the remaining portions of the
physical member.
ii. If the cross-section of one of the segments is altered, the original ISM entity will be
deleted and new entities will be created instead.
iii. If orientation of one of the segments of the physical member is altered, the original
ISM entity will be deleted and new entities will be created instead.
iv. If member end release or offsets are specified to any of the intermediate segment, the
original ISM entity will be deleted and new entities will be created instead. (Note if the
offset provided does not create a gap between the segments, then member is left
untouched)
2. While exporting, StrucLink automatically forms Physical members from adjoining analytical
members with the same cross-section and orientation. However, note that the STRUCLINK
attribute can be used to change this behavior while exporting. See section 2.6.

3. As of current release (March 2016) Plate, Solid and Surface elements are not considered
during Import / Export.

4. The connection between an ISM object and STAAD object is maintained using ISM object IDs
and STAAD member ID in ‘.ism.struclink’ file. STAAD stores the member IDs in ‘.uid’ file. If
these files are removed, any import / export operation will recreate the entire STAAD model
rather than updating it.

5. Once a STAAD.Pro model is exported to an ISM repository or vice versa, you should not use
another file for import or export. In other words, the following workflows are not supported:

STAAD Model A ISM Model X STAAD Model B

ISM Model X STAAD Model A ISM Model Y

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 6. By default, ISM axis system differs from STAAD axis system. While in ISM the Z axis is vertical
(+ve Z points upward), STAAD.Pro uses Y axis as vertical unless a specific SET Z UP command is
used. StrucLink for STAAD.Pro automatically adjusts the node coordinates during import and
export to represent the same model view. This means that Y and Z coordinates are
interchanged between STAAD.Pro and ISM models when Set Z Up option is not set in
STAAD.Pro.

7. Node objects in ISM are very loosely bound with members. So, when a node attached to a
member in ISM is deleted, the associated entities may not get deleted. Therefore, when a
member is imported into STAAD, if a node is missing from the member, StrucLink uses the
‘Location’ property of the member to create nodes. It may happen that a deleted node is not
reflected during ‘Update from Repository’ operation unless the objects associated with the
node is also deleted.

8. Export of sections from STAAD.Pro follows the below logic,

i. If any sections belong from the user provided tables, these sections are exported out
to ISM as Parametric section objects and varying section objects.

ii. If any sections belong from the tapered group, these sections are exported to ISM as
varying section objects. (Note that, currently tapered hollow round tube, tapered
hollow square tube and tapered I type of sections can be exported.)

iii. If any sections belong from the prismatic group (say rectangle, circle, tee), these
sections are exported to ISM as parametric section objects.

9. If any sections belong from the STAAD.Pro’s section database tables, these sections are first
checked against ISM supported sections and if it fails, parametric section objects are created.

Note that, as of this release (March 2016), the currently supported Standards Organizations in
ISM are:
i. "ABNTNBR" - Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas
ii. "AISC" - American Institute of Steel Construction
iii. "AISCM" - American Institute of Steel Construction (metric standards)
iv. "API" - American Petroleum Institute
v. "AS" - Standards Australia
vi. "ASNZS" - Australian/New Zealand Standard (Standards Australia and Standards New
Zealand)
vii. "BIS" - Bureau of Indian Standards
viii. "BSI" - British Standards Institution
ix. "CEN" - European Committee for Standardization
x. "CISC" - Canadian Institute of Steel Construction

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 xi. "DIN" - Deutsches Institut für Normung
xii. "GB" - Chinese National Standards ("Guobiao") (国标)
xiii. "IMCA" - Instituto Mexicano de la Construcción en Acero
xiv. "JIS" - Japanese Industrial Standards (日本工業規格)
xv. "SAISC" - South African Institute of Steel Construction
xvi. “AISI” – American Iron and Steel Institute

10. Similar to above, when a section is encountered during import, StrucLink checks if that ISM
section has any previous mappings with STAAD sections. If not, then it tries to create STAAD
sections in the following ways,

i. For any TableSection objects, it is checked against STAAD.Pro’s section database

tables, and if found a STAAD section is created.

ii. For any ParametricSection objects, only rectangular, circular, tee, hollow circle, hollow
rectangle shapes are converted to STAAD sections.

iii. For any VaryingSection objects, only hollow circle, hollow square and I shapes are
converted to STAAD sections

iv. Currently, import of CustomSection, BuiltupSection, SteelJoist objects, is not

supported.

11. As of this release ISM has only IIsmSteel and IIsmConcrete type materials. Accordingly,
StrucLink maps all materials in STAAD.Pro model, other than Concrete, as IIsmSteel material in
ISM. This means that Aluminum, Timber etc. will be created as IIsmSteel objects when
exported from STAAD.Pro model to ISM repository. However, the same material properties
are assigned to the objects.

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