Adding user-defined records

In addition to using Ansys-provided reference data, you can also add in your own data by creating a user-defined record within a selection project.

You can create records in a selection project, and specify the data values for each property. In addition, you can create a record with similar property values to another record by duplicating an existing record. These records are saved in the project file. They are not available outside of the selection project, and can only be compared with records within the same data table.

Note: User-defined records are treated differently to standard records. If a user-defined record has a data value missing for one of the properties included in a selection stage, then the record will automatically pass that stage.

The maximum number of user-defined records you can add to a selection project is 250.

User-defined records are saved within the selection project, and are displayed in the 'My records' folder on the browse tree. They are not added to the database. They can only be compared with records in the same data table that the record has been added to.

A user-defined record can be added with property values that specify the criteria for an ideal material, for a given design specification. You can then use Find Similar to find the material in the database that is most similar to the ideal material.

User-defined records can be used in the Eco Audit tool and the Synthesizer tool.

Note: The attributes available to include in a user-defined record are set by the data table and the selection attribute layout. If you wish to add an attribute and it is not initially available, try creating the record and then editing it to find the required attribute.

For range data, if you enter a minimum value greater than the maximum value, then this will be marked as estimated data on the datasheet.

For attributes which can not physically be negative (such as composition percentages), the values entered must be zero or above. If you enter any negative values, the data for that attribute will be incorrect.

When you duplicate a record from a chart data label, all of the record data is copied, even though not all attributes are listed in the dialog.

To add a new user-defined record:
  1. Click Tools > Add Record, and select which data table to add the record to. Do one of the following:
    • Select a table from the list of recently used tables.
    • Click Other, and select the table from the list of all data tables in the database.

    Your choice of data table sets the properties available on the datasheet, and sets which records are available for comparison within a selection project.

    Tip: Alternatively, you can right-click an existing record, and click Duplicate Record. The user-defined record is populated with the values from the selected record.
  2. Enter a Record Name (required). Note that the User-defined Record dialog title displays the data table you are adding the record to.
  3. Enter (optional) information on the record, such as record color and notes.
  4. Enter the property values as required.
    Tip: You can edit user defined records by right-clicking and selecting Edit Record. When you edit a user-defined record, you can edit values for all properties, even if not all properties were visible when you added the record.
To highlight user-defined records on the chart, click Highlight User-defined Records.
  • If you have not made a selection:
    • all user-defined records will stay colored
    • all other records will be plotted in white
  • If you have made a selection:
    • user-defined records that pass will stay colored
    • user-defined records that fail will be plotted in gray
    • all other records will be plotted in white