CloudCalc is pleased to announce the release of Version 1.02.14, the application’s 34th update since its initial launch on June 2, 2014. You can verify that you automatically have this latest version by clicking on the Help Menu – the bottom of which shows the active version number. (If, for some reason it does not show this version, you may need to force a hard-refresh of your browser, via Ctrl-F5 on a PC or Cmd-Shift-R on a Mac.)
This release enables the Import and Export of CloudCalc’s Nodal Coordinate data from and to external files in the form of Excel’s XLSX files. Data is exported in the format of Node – X Coordinate — Y Coordinate — Z Coordinate (where coordinates are expressed in the current units for length); imported data is expected to be in that same format, and also in the current units. The data may have a header line or not (CloudCalc prompts for that), and the coordinates may correspond to the Y-Axis Up or the Z-Axis Up convention (the latter is automatically converted to/from CloudCalc’s standard Y-Axis Up convention upon Import or Export).
Facilitating the interface between CloudCalc and Excel not only enhances the speed with which an engineer can model a structure, but also assures greater accuracy of the model by allowing data to be entered once, but reused many times – from the same source – by various software applications.
To better learn how to use this new feature, we invite you to watch the short video Exporting/Importing Nodal Coordinates from Excel in CloudCalc.
Remember, because CloudCalc is delivered via the cloud, we will always be able to provide more updates faster than you ever will see with our PC-based competitors. We continue to average roughly one update every 5 weeks over the past 3+ years. Let us know, at techsupport@cloudcalc.com, which update you would like to see next. (Note that this feature was specifically implemented in response to requests by a number of CloudCalc users.)
To learn more about CloudCalc, the scalable, collaborative, and mobile cloud-based engineering software, please visit: www.cloudcalc.com – Structural Analysis in the Cloud.
By Tom Van Laan
Copyright © CloudCalc, Inc. 2017
Engineering and the Cloud 