Section 1-1: Introduction. Welcome to the Structural Material Manager software system! We thank you for choosing our software, whether you have purchased the full system or are evaluating the demonstration version.

This release of the software package is Version 10.1, the 27th edition of the system since it was first released in 1985. At the time of this writing, Structural Material Manager is installed in over 1,100 locations!

The 1985 release was an 8-bit program; this was replaced by a 16-bit MS-DOS version for IBM PC-compatible computers in 1987. Version 6.0 (circa 1998) was a “hybrid” system in which a 32-bit Windows program called time-proven “legacy” code. Versions 6.1 through 10.0 gradually replaced the remaining DOS-based legacy code with more and more Windows components. This 2007 release - Version 10.1 - has very little remaining DOS code and is the first Structural Material Manager system to have a Windows-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) for its Material Entry Screen.

Regardless of version number or operating system, all releases in this series have been designed with a common goal in mind: to help steel professionals - fabricators, suppliers, estimators and detailers - manage structural steel material lists. Typical uses include producing job estimates, bills of material, length-cutting and plate-cutting lists as well as shipping tickets. It saves time and increases accuracy by automatically doing the following work:

∙ Weighs all steel, stainless and aluminum items. This is one of the most basic system capabilities, yet in and of itself eliminates hours of tedious manual calculations.

∙ Provides a total material cost for the job.

∙ Tallies the shop and field labor hours.

∙ Supplies bolt-counts for each size bolt.

∙ Provides item counts for each material type.

∙ Reports a lineal total for each section size.

∙ Computes surface areas of items for cleaning and painting estimates, and even uses these figures to calculate the actual gallons of paint and primer needed.

∙ Prints shipping tickets and master shipping lists.

∙ Prints a Production-Control history as a complete shipping status report or just a shortage report. At a glance, you are able to tell which items shipped, when they shipped and how many still need to go!

∙ Sorts items into proper order by size (material type, section size, length and grade) or by piece mark (whether by major marks only or by all piece marks).

∙ Nests lineal items into available stock lengths for an optimal cut, whether from in-house inventory, your supplier's stock or the best combination of both.

∙ Nests plates into available stock plates, providing an actual pictorial layout that represents the optimal cutting pattern!

∙ Prints adhesive item labels based on the Sorted List, Nested List, Master Shipper or Shipping Ticket.

If you're currently doing these operations by hand, we think you'll find this system to be an incredibly powerful tool.

Thanks again for choosing our software. We eagerly look forward to assisting you in getting the most out of it!

Section 1-2: About this Manual. This manual describes operation of Structural Material Manager from initial setup, through entry of structural material items, sorting and nesting of material, to final printing of the material. No, it does not read like a good novel, and yes, it is rather dry. Still, it is necessary reading for anyone who intends to use the system effectively. So please bear with us and read the manual before trying to use the system. In this way, maximum benefit will be obtained with a minimum of difficulty.

Much effort has gone into making this manual as concise and easy to read as possible. Accordingly, computer jargon has been kept to a bare minimum. The reader is assumed to have a background in structural steel matters, but is also assumed to be a novice where computers are concerned. All computer-related operations are thus explicitly described in step by step instructions. Computer-literate readers will probably feel their intelligence has been insulted, but the fact is that the vast majority of Structural Material Manager users relatively little computer expertise.

This User’s Guide is available both in an electronic format and as a printed book. Some users may wonder why we’ve gone to the expense of a printed manual in this electronic age. It is true that electronic documentation systems have some distinct advantages: they can be updated instantly in order to make corrections or add new material, they are searchable and are much less costly than paper books. However, despite the strengths of electronic media, paper remains popular! Paper is portable, and Structural Material Manager users seem most comfortable with it. The predicted “paperless office” simply has not yet arrived. We’ve thus decided to retain printed documentation for the foreseeable future while also providing the User's Guide in the system's Help menu in two electronic formats: PDF (Portable Document Format) and HTML (HyperText Markup Language). Any user with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program installed on the PC can view the PDF version, and anyone with a Web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape can view the HTML version. The bottom line: by providing both paper and electronic documentation, E.J.E. Industries is allowing the strengths of each medium to be exploited while giving users freedom to choose the information source they prefer.

Some users may not have access to the printed version of this book. They may have received only a software CD without any accompanying printed materials. Perhaps their system was downloaded from the Internet rather than being received via a physical shipment, or maybe the printed manual was simply misplaced. The PDF format mentioned above is "printer-friendly" in that it retains good formatting regardless of which printer you are using, so such users can easily print their own copy of the User's Guide from within Acrobat Reader.

This chapter presents some general information concerning Structural Material Manager . Although the subjects discussed here are those that are generally skipped over in favor of more interesting topics, they are nonetheless important. Please take a few minutes to read this material and we will begin discussing actual system capabilities in the next chapter.

Section 1-3: Software Support. Lifetime technical support is included with your purchase. This service is free; there are never any annual renewal fees! We are definitely a customer-oriented company that always strives to support you to the best of our ability.

All we ask before providing technical support is that you please consult this User’s Guide first. If, after reading this guide, you experience difficulty with any aspect of system operation, please feel free to contact us for assistance.

To speak with a representative, call us at (724) 228-8841. Representatives are available 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

Support is also available by fax at (724) 228-7668 or e-mail at Support@ejeindustries.com.

E.J.E. Industries is proud to also provide support via our very own Internet site. The Internet site allows you to download software patches or upgrades in a matter of minutes.

Section 1-4: Disclaimer. Although this software has undergone thorough testing, no claims pertaining to program accuracy or suitability for any particular purpose are made. This system is thus sold strictly on an "AS-IS" basis. E.J.E. Industries, Inc. will not be held responsible for any consequential or incidental damages arising from the use, misuse or inability to use this software system. An understanding of this disclaimer is the sole basis upon which this program is provided. If you find these terms unacceptable, please return the package immediately for a full refund.

Section 1-5: Warranty. The original purchaser may return the system for a full refund within thirty (30) days if not completely satisfied.

All CDs supplied with this software system are warranted against defects for a period of ninety (90) days from the date your package is received.

Structural Material Manager’s security locks are backed by an unconditional lifetime warranty. In the rare event that one of our software locks becomes defective due to internal failure, a replacement is supplied at no charge. If failure is due to lightning strikes, flooding, accidental physical breakage, etc., there is only a $50.00 nominal charge for the replacement.

If a security lock fails within ninety (90) days from the date your package is received, E.J.E. Industries will cover the shipping costs both to and from your location. After that time, you will be responsible for shipping charges in both directions.

Section 1-6: Software Replacement Policy. If, at any time after the limited warranty has expired, a CD becomes damaged, replacement copies are available at a charge of $10.00 plus shipping.

Section 1-7: Program Errors. Please be aware that during the development of a software system as broad in scope as Structural Material Manager, there is always the possibility of a few errors going undetected. The system has undergone rigorous in-house testing, augmented with additional testing by an independent group of structural steel fabricators, in an effort to locate and correct as many errors as possible before release. However, if any errors are found during program operation or in the instructions, they may be reported to E.J.E. Industries and will be promptly corrected.

Section 1-8: Program Upgrade Policy. As corrections and/or improvements are made to the system, all original purchasers will be notified that a program upgrade is available. Purchasers may elect to receive the upgrade by submitting payment in the amount specified in the upgrade notice. Your investment is thus protected by having access to free or inexpensive upgrades as new program versions are released.

There are two different types of upgrades: maintenance releases and improvements to the existing system.

Maintenance releases are included with your purchase as part of our free technical support policy; they are provided at no charge via E.J.E. Industries’ Internet Web Site. These patches simply correct minor errors in the system and usually do not add any new features. See Section 3-9: Downloading Patches from the Internet for more information.

When improvements are made to the existing system, or options are added, upgrades may be purchased and are guaranteed to never exceed $149.95 per registered user.

Section 1-9: Hardware Requirements. Structural Material Manager Version 10.1 runs on any Windows 98, Me, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003 Server or Vista. If you require the system to run under Windows 95, please contact E.J.E. Industries to obtain a copy of Structural Material Manager Version 9.1, as that was the final version that supported Windows 95.

A Pentium processor at 233 MHZ is considered the slowest processor that will yield adequate performance.

Structural Material Manager's Material Entry Screen is designed for a resolution of at least 1024 x 768. It will work with 'lower resolutions, but scroll bars will be displayed so that you can access all parts of the screen. So, if possible, a resolution of at least 1024 x 768 should be used.

Memory (RAM) requirements are not important, as any machine capable of running 32-bit Windows will have adequate memory for this application.

Structural Material Manager supports two different types of printers. The first type is the printer that is used for generating the system’s normal reports. The second one is the printer used for printing adhesive labels that serve as item-identification tags.

Let’s first discuss the report printer. Any ink-jet or laser printer using cut-sheet paper can be utilized as the report printer. Dot-matrix printers have, of course, been displaced by ink-jet and laser printers in most cases but can still be utilized for printing Structural Material Manager’s reports. Since Structural Material Manager prints via Windows print drivers, it is not at all important as to whether your printer connects through the parallel port, Universal Serial Bus (USB) port or via a network.

Whereas the report printer can be a laser, ink-jet or dot-matrix model, the adhesive label printer must be a dot-matrix unit, as laser and ink-jet printers are simply unacceptable for the task . Since the adhesive labels are only 4" wide, the 15" wide-carriage dot-matrix printers offer no benefit over their 9" narrow-carriage counterparts for label printing, but either type can be used. Of course, if you do not wish to print item-identification tags, there is no need to have a dot-matrix printer; users who do wish to print such labels should also refer to Chapter 19: Adhesive Item Labels for more printer information.

Chapter 2: Overview of System Operation

Section 2-1: Introduction. This chapter provides a broad overview of Structural Material Manager 's operation. Its purpose is to familiarize first-time users with the basics so that specific details may later be better understood. The topics discussed here are only briefly summarized; these and many others are covered in greater depth in their respective sections of this manual.

Section 2-2: Summary of Menu Functions. The main functions of Structural Material Manager are conveniently controlled from pull-down menus. To help familiarize you with Structural Material Manager’s capabilities, this section lists each menu heading as well as the items listed beneath it. Here are the most important menu options:

File:

Open Job

Close Current Job

Copy Job

Merge Job

Back up Folder to Archive

Restore Folder from Archive

Material List:

Enter / Edit Material

Print Unsorted List

Sorting:

Sort Material

Print Sorted List (either as a report or a set of adhesive labels)

Nesting:

Nest Material

Print Nested List (either as a report or a set of adhesive labels)

Estimating:

Apply Prices

Print Report (Unsorted-Estimating, Sorted-Estimating, Shipping-Estimating or Master Shipper-Estimating)

Production-Control:

Print Report (Shipping List, Master Shipper, Shipping Ticket, Status Report or Shortage Report; some of these can be sent to labels)

Sequencing:

Extract Sequences

Data Exchange:

Import External Data

Export to ASCII-Delimited

Section 2-3: Entry of Structural Material Items. Structural material items are entered into the system via the computer's keyboard. Items may be entered for the following material types: W, S, M, HP, WT, ST, MT, C and MC Shapes, Plates, Checkered Plates, Bar Grating, Bars, Angles, Square and Rectangular Tubes, Round Tubes, Rods, Rebar, Pipes, Bolts and Miscellaneous Items.

Items are entered one "field" at a time. A W-Shape, for instance, is composed of the following fields: Piece Mark, Quantity, Depth, Weight, Length, Grade, Mill Mark, Camber, Remarks, Sequence, Camber, Material Price, Shop Hours and Field Hours. Of these fields, only the Quantity, Depth, Weight and Length must be entered; the other fields are optional.

Dimensions are entered in a very natural scheme. For example, a length of 5'-6 13/16 is entered exactly as such, without need for any cumbersome entry codes or decimal conversions. If your drawings express 5'-6 13/16 as 66 13/16", this can be entered directly when using the inches mode. Metric dimensions are also supported, so 5'-6 13/16 could also be entered as approximately 1697 MM.

An editing feature allows items to be modified at any time during entry. This allows a part of an item, such as the Piece Mark, to be easily modified without having to re-type the entire line. Adding items to a list, editing them and deleting them can all be done conveniently from the same screen.

Section 2-4: Material Sorting. The sorting process arranges the material list in order such that larger items appear before smaller ones. The specific criteria used to determine which items are larger than others depends upon the specific material type being sorted.

Any identical items found in the material list are combined into one item, and their quantities are totaled. For example, if two identical entries have quantities of 10 and 15, they will be combined into one entry with a quantity of 25.

Structural Material Manager keeps jobs in sorted order by size by automatically sorting them “behind the scenes.” This automatic sorting process does not affect the order of the original unsorted material list; instead, it makes a properly ordered copy of it. This is useful since it allows later changes to be made to the unsorted list with the items in their original sequence. If, however, the unsorted items are required to be actually sorted, as is the case when the system is being used for inventory, the user may instruct the sorting module to physically sort the material list.

It should be noted that both sorting methods described above result in the same sorted printout; the difference between the methods is not noticed until the material list is viewed on the screen for further entry or editing of items. If only the normal, automatic sorting method is used, the items will appear on the screen in the order they were entered, but the second sorting method will cause the items to be listed on the screen in sorted order.

In addition to the sorting method described above which bases sorting decisions on material type and size, Structural Material Manager also offers two types of sort based on piece mark. One such sort rearranges the material list based on all piece marks whether they represent major shipping marks or minor detail marks. The other variety is a more complex sort that takes into account whether a mark is major or minor mark; it sorts the list based on major marks only and “carries” the detail marks along with their respective assemblies in the sorted listing.

Section 2-5: Material Nesting. One of the systems more interesting functions is that of nesting (some people refer to this as "multing"). This involves running large numbers of combinations on the material list to determine the most efficient way to cut items from available stocks. By determining the most efficient cutting pattern automatically, the incredible manual labor usually required to do this is eliminated, and costs associated with wasted material are drastically reduced.

The nesting feature is actually comprised of two different modules: the Length-Nesting Module and the Plate-Nesting Module. The Length-Nesting Module handles one-dimensional nesting by processing all lineal items, namely, all Beams, Channels, Bars, Angles, Tubes, Rods, Rebar and Pipes. The Plate-Nesting module operates in a two-dimensional fashion and is thus able to process Plates, Checkered Plates and Bar Grating

Available stock lengths and stock sheet sizes may be specified by user. Since the user has control over these parameters, as opposed to having rigid pre-set values, the resulting cutting pattern is guaranteed to always utilize stock sizes that are known to actually be available at the time the nest is performed.

In addition to stock size information, the user is also able to specify the cut width (or "kerf") to leave between adjacent items cut from a stock. This allows the system to account for the width of a saw blade, flame cut, etc. and adjust the cutting pattern accordingly. For example, a 20'-0 stock will not be permitted to be cut in half to yield two 10'-0 items if the cut width between the items is larger than 0", such as 1/8".

Please note that nesting has no effect on the order of the unsorted material list. A nested printout is available, but you are still free to edit the material list on-screen in its original unsorted order.

Section 2-6: Inventory Tie-In. The Length-Nesting Module is able to access your in-house inventory, as well as your supplier's stock list, as a source of stock lengths. Please note that this feature applies only to lineal items, as the Plate-Nesting Module always accesses supplier stock rather than in-house inventory.

In order to give maximum flexibility based on your specific inventory needs, the Length-Nesting Module can perform the following five different types of nests:

1. Nest material using up to nine different standard stock lengths, assuming unlimited quantities of each length are available. A different set of stock lengths can be specified for each material type, so you can instruct the system that 16'-0 and 21'-0 stocks are available for Pipes while 20'-0, 40'-0, 55'-0 and 60'-0 sections (all hypothetical, of course) are available for the WT sections. Mode #1 of nesting is ideal for the fabricator that does not wish to nest into any in-house inventory and does not know (or care) what specific stock the supplier has.

2. Nest into your in-house inventory only. This mode is generally used by steel warehouses; it accounts for the exact lengths and quantities you have in stock for each material type and description and considers that stock to be the only available source for stock lengths. Fabricators wishing to nest only into in-house inventory will also find this mode of nesting useful.

3. Use only your supplier's stock. This type of nest is intended for the fabricator that knows what quantities and lengths the supplier has in stock, but does not want to use any in-house stock.

4. Utilize your in-house inventory as best as possible, then resort to using your supplier's stock. This mode is ideal for the fabricator who has some sort of in-house inventory, whether it is a large stock or just a few remnants, and wants to use that stock before nesting into the supplier's specific stock. This mode can be thought of as a mix of mode #2 and mode #3.

5. Nest into in-house inventory until no further in-house stocks can be used, then nest the remaining list items into unlimited quantities of standard stock lengths. This mode is basically mode #4 with the exception that the supplier's exact stock is unknown; it can also be considered a combination of mode #1 and mode #2.

When nesting into any in-house inventory (modes #2, #4 and #5 above), the system can automatically remove from inventory any stocks that were utilized and add back "drops" (the remnants) that exceed a certain length that you specify. This allows it to maintain a "perpetual" inventory list without need for manually deleting utilized stocks and entering resulting remnants.

One important time-saving aspect of having the in-house inventory stored in Structural Material Manager is that total dollar value figures can be quickly generated whenever they are needed for accounting purposes. Most companies need such inventory tallies yearly, quarterly or even monthly. These totals can now be generated in minutes rather than the hours that manual methods sometimes require.

Section 2-7: Material Printouts and Adhesive Labels. The following types of printouts of the material list are available:

1. Unsorted Report. This report lists the items in the exact order they were entered into the system.

2. Unsorted-Estimating List. This printout is an expanded form of the Unsorted List; it tallies the total material prices, shop hours and field hours for a job. The summary can provide such figures as total paint and primer requirements, welding electrode costs, etc.

3. Shipping List. The piece mark sequence of the unsorted material list is used to group fabricated assemblies together on this printout. Because the system can interpret which marks are shipping marks on main members and which marks belong to detail items, the report provides a total weight for each separate assembly. This report can be produced in a "Master Shipper" format, in which case only main members with shipping marks are shown (detail items are omitted), but total assembly weights still include the weight of all items.

4. Shipping Ticket. This report serves as a Loading List and is a specialized form of the Shipping List. Whereas the Shipping List shows all items for a particular job, the Shipping Ticket only lists items and quantities that were selected for shipping on a particular date. The system even keeps a running tally of the current truck weight as you enter piece marks and quantities that are to be shipped!

5. Production-Control Status report. As Shipping Tickets are printed, the Production-Control Module keeps track of quantities and dates for each item shipped. This information is then available on the Status Report, allowing the user to know at a glance when a certain item was shipped and what percentage of the job has already been shipped. An abbreviated form of this report, known as a Shortage Report, only lists items and quantities that have not yet shipped.

6. Shipping-Estimating List. This report provides all information presented on the Shipping List, but also provides a total material cost for each fabricated member.

7. Sorted Report. It lists the items sorted from large to small within material types and groups similar items together.

8. Sorted-Estimating List. This printout is essentially the same as the Unsorted Estimating List, except the items are presented in sorted order.

9. Nested List. This report, essentially a "Cut List", shows items that are to be cut from a single stock for optimum efficiency. For lineal items processed by the Length-Nesting Module, a listing of the items is provided. Likewise, two-dimensional items processed by the Plate-Nesting Module are presented in a list, but an actual pictorial layout is also provided to augment this listing. A summary of all stocks required to cut the list is provided; it indicates not only the stock used and the resulting drop, but also whether the stock came from in-house inventory or your supplier's inventory.

The printouts provide such values as single item weight, line weight, total material type weight, total job weight, total job price, total job shop hours, total job field hours, etc. Surface areas, along with total paint and primer requirements, are also supplied on most of the reports. The specific values that appear on each report are discussed in each report's specific section of this manual.

This section has provided an overview of Structural Material Manager’s printouts. Some of these (the Sorted List, Nested List, Master Shipper and Shipping Ticket) can also be printed as sets of adhesive labels rather than normal reports. The labels contain such information as piece mark, length, weight, project name and contract number; they are applied directly to the steel and resist weathering. See Chapter 19: Adhesive Item Labels for more information.

Section 2-8: Sequencing. Structural Material Manager supports sequences which allow you to break a large job into manageable sections. Some fabricators refer to sequences as “zones,” “divisions,” or “phases.” Regardless of the terminology that you prefer, the sequencing feature permits you to enter a large project in its entirety and later extract only the sequences you wish to fabricate, ship, etc. at a certain time.

Section 2-9: External Data Interface. The External Data Interface is a very useful tool for companies that already have their material lists stored in another software system. This interface allows such users to import those jobs into Structural Material Manager and eliminates any need for re-typing the list.

The External Data Interface is most commonly used for importing jobs from CAD systems. Below is an alphabetical list of the systems that support Structural Material Manager (where the company name is different from the name of the CAD package it produces, both names are provided):

AutoCad (i.e., generalized AutoCad without any third-party, add-on programs)

AutoSD, 601/679-5800, http://www.autosd.com

CadVantage, 704/344-9644, http://www.steeldetails.com

CDS, 843/552-7055, http://www.asteel.com

DetailCad, 205/324-5741, http://www.detailcad.com

SSDCP, 704/370-0840, http://www.ssdcp.com

SteelCad, 800/456-7875, http://www.steelcad.com

SteelLogic (by Computer Detailing Corporation), 215/355-6003, http://www.steellogic.com

StruCad (by AceCad Software, Inc.), 610/280-9840, http://www.strucad.com

Tekla Structures (formerly Xsteel, by Tekla, Inc.), 770/424-8666, http://www.tekla.com

No custom programming is needed to import items from these CAD packages. Custom programming can be used, however, if you’d like to import bills of material from other systems.

No matter what software system your bill of material may be stored in, the bottom line is this: don’t re-type items! Let the External Data Interface eliminate such wasteful redundancy.

Chapter 3: System Installation

Section 3-1: Introduction. Now that the required preliminary information was covered in Chapter 1, and an overview of system operation has been presented in Chapter 2, this chapter describes the steps necessary to set up the system for actual operation.

If you’re evaluating a demo rather than installing the full system, you probably only need to read up though Section 3-4 of this chapter. Proceed directly to Chapter 4 at that time, as sections beyond 3-4 are not critical to getting the demo up and running.

Section 3-2: Instructional Notation. The instructions in this manual follow some basic notations. The first of these involves underlining; any underlined letters or words are what you are to type at the keyboard. All underlined information must be typed exactly as it appears in the instructions.

One exception to the above note concerning underlining occurs if you are viewing this User’s Guide in a PDF format using Adobe Acrobat reader. In that particular viewer, “hyperlinks” to e-mail addresses and Web site addresses appear in blue with a black underlined Links to pages in the Table of Contents are also blue with black underlines. Let the blue color be your clue that such underlined text represents a hyperlink rather than something that you are type. Neither readers of the printed book nor those viewing it in a Web browser via HTML need to be concerned with this issue.

Another notation used is [Enter]. This is simply a prompt for you to hit the Enter key. Some computers may use a Return key instead of Enter; they are identical in their function.

As an example of the two basic notations described above, suppose you are instructed to type A:Setup [Enter]. This is accomplished by typing A:Setup and hitting the Enter key.

The Tab key is commonly used to move between fields in a Windows programs. The notation [Tab] means that you should hit the Tab key. So, if you are instructed to type a Piece Mark of 1B1 [Tab], you would type 1B1 before hitting Tab.

Shift-Tab moves between fields just like Tab except that Shift-Tab causes a move back to the previous field instead of forward to the next. So, notation of 12 [Shift-Tab] means type 12 before holding the Shift key and hitting Tab to move one field backwards.

Some common Windows terminology will be used freely. The terms “click” and “left-click” both mean to click the left mouse button once while the mouse pointer is positioned on the desired object. “Double-click” means to rapidly click the left mouse button twice without moving the mouse between clicks. Windows also makes extensive use of a “right-click” command which requires you to click the right mouse button once.

Certain areas of Structural Material Manager allow multiple selections. This is a Windows feature in which multiple items in a list can be selected by holding either the Shift or Ctrl key down while the mouse is dragged or the keyboard arrow keys are pressed. The Shift key is utilized when the selected items are adjacent in the list, that is, for a continuous selection. Ctrl is to be held down instead of Shift to select multiple items when those items are not adjacent in a list (this is a non-contiguous selection). So, in places in which the Structural Material Manager documentation refers to making multiple selections, it is referring to selections made while the Shift or Ctrl is pressed.

A vertical bar will be used to separate items when you are asked to click on several items. For example, if presented with the command Start | Programs | Windows Explorer, you would first left-click the Start button, then the Programs folder and finally the Windows Explorer item.

Of course, most Windows users are already familiar with the terms and notations described above, but they are reviewed here for the sake of completeness.

Section 3-3: Installing the System. It is now time to actually install the software on your computer.

Most users, and probably all those evaluating a demo, will be installing on a single-user computer. They may follow this section's instructions as-is. If you are installing on a network, please review the notes in Section 3-7: Network Setup before proceeding.

The same instructions will be used whether you are installing the system for the first time, are upgrading from an earlier version of the system, or are loading a maintenance release. The system will automatically detect which version of the Structural Material Manager system, if any, is installed. It then acts accordingly to perform either an upgrade or a complete installation.

Users that have owned the software for a number of years and now wish to load Version 10.1 on a new computer might have a collection of old Structural Material Manager diskettes and/or CDs. You only need to load your most recent CD; there is no need to load all previous versions in order of release date. So, don’t bother loading say a Version 9.2 system before 10.1. Likewise, there is no need to load 10.1b before 10.1c.

Installation steps will now be presented. You may already have Structural Material Manager's Setup program running, perhaps because you accessed these directions from within the Setup program rather than in printed form. If that is the case, then you can skips Steps A through E which deal with invoking the Setup program, and proceed directly to Step F. Only if the Setup program is not already running should you begin with Step A.

Here are the necessary procedures:

A) Structural Material Manager is supplied on a single CD. Insert the CD in your PC’s CD-ROM drive at this time.

B) On many PC’s, the “auto-run” feature will cause Structural Material Manager’s Setup utility to start soon after you insert the CD. If this occurs on your PC, simply skip Step C, and proceed to Step D at this time.

C) Only if the Structural Material Manager Setup utility did not automatically appear will you have to invoke it manually. If this proves necessary, right-click (not left-click) the Start button at the Windows desktop to display a pop-up menu. Left-click on the Explore option that appears in that menu. Once Windows Explorer opens, click the My Computer icon and then click the icon that corresponds to the CD-ROM drive in which you placed the Structural Material Manager CD. The contents of the CD should be displayed; double-click the SetupSMM item to run it.

D) Some versions of Windows may display the “Open File - Security Warning” dialog. It reports that "The publisher could not be verified. Are you sure you want to run this software?" If this appears, it is important that you click Run rather than Cancel.

E) Depending on which version of Windows you are running, the "User Account Control" dialog sometimes appears. It may state that "An unidentified program wants access to your computer." If this dialog appears, you should click "Allow. I trust this program. I know where it’s from or I've used it before."

F) Structural Material Manager’s Setup utility is actually used for installing not only the application itself, but also “helper applications.” One such application is Adobe Acrobat Reader. If the PC on which you have installed Structural Material Manager does not already have the latest version of Acrobat Reader installed, click the “Install Acrobat Reader” button, as the Acrobat Reader program is required for viewing some of Structural Material Manager’s built-in documentation. If you are installing from an Internet-supplied download rather than from a CD, Acrobat Reader’s installer won’t be available since its presence would greatly increase download times; you can download it from our Web site at

http://www.ejeindustries.com/eje/support/download.html.

G) Click the “Install Structural Material Manager” button at this time.

H) Click on the type of installation you wish to perform. Most users will be doing a complete installation to either a local hard drive or a network drive, and that option is indeed the default.

If you already have the system loaded on a network server, you might want to select the second option. That choice causes the system to install just those components that are needed to access an existing system across the network. See