General | Program Operation | Factors of Safety | Water Modeling | Terzaghi & Braced Cofferdams

 

How do I ensure graphics and tables are set correctly?

Your computer should be set to Small Fonts when using SPW911, or some tabular output will extend beyond the right edge of the window or overlap. To reset your computer to small fonts:

• Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display
• Select Small Fonts on the Settings page of the dialog box.
• You may also prefer to set the following on the same page, although the settings shown are not critical:
• Color Palette should be set at High Color (16 bit). This produces shading on the side elevation diagram. Other settings give a hatched pattern.
• Desktop Area should be set at 800 x 600 pixels. The side elevation diagram fits the screen exactly on this setting when Fit Screen is set. Less than 800 x 600 will mean that you cannot see the whole diagram, even with Fit Screen set, while larger than 800 x 600 will result in white space around the diagram (this white space can be useful in some cases). Note, however, that some software (e.g. AUTOCAD) may require a larger setting, in which case see below.
• Set the Show settings icon on task bar check box. This provides quick access to the Color Palette/Desktop Area settings.
• The computer must be rebooted after changing the Font Size, but the Color Palette/Desktop Area may be changed at any time, even while the software is running.

 

How to I Customize SPW 911?

Your company logo or other information may be displayed in the area at the left side of the title bar below the main design area. To use this area, create a bitmap file called MyLogo, and save it in the Data folder of the install directory directory. The bitmap will be plotted in the appropriate area.

The bitmap may be any size as it is scaled to fit the space available. However, as the maximum display area provided is 266 pixels x 70 pixels, the bitmap used should not be much larger than this.

Your company address and other contact details can be displayed in the title bar below a design. They can be altered in the Setup page of the define box. Double click anywhere on a design and select the Setup tab for this page. Alternatively, double click the relevant hotspot to open the define box at the Setup page.

 

When I print output, part of the title block has info being printed outside of it, and the input data sheet runs outside the printable area and I cannot see any output. What is going on?

If this is happening on the screen, then see the Help file, under "Frequently asked questions - How do I ensure graphics/tables are displayed correctly?" If the problem is when printing, then you may have the wrong driver selected - check the driver agrees exactly with the printer in use. Please email Pile Buck with details of the printer, etc if the problem persists.

 

What if I receive a Borland Error Message?

The first thing you need to find out is, "What other Borland products do you have installed? If there are no other Borland products, or one(s) that he will not be using simultaneously with SPW911, it should be OK to proceed with the install.

If this is not the case, and there are other Borland products, locate the following files on your hard drive: USA.BLL, EUROPE.BLL, CEUROPE.BLL, CHARSET.BLL, OTHER.BLL, IDAPI32.CNF. You should have "Hidden Files" switched ON to locate them, and they should all be in the same folder "Program Files\Borland\Common Files\BDE." If they are not in this folder, reinstall your other Borland product(s), using the suggested default folders.

It should be noted that none of this may be necessary. It is entirely possible that SPW 911 will work properly if the program installation is completed.

 

My colors in Windows 2000 are wrong.  Or my computer is giving a new error message.  Why?

 

Our graphs have been printing improperly. Our scales on our graphs have been printing black blocks instead of the numbers. For some reason the Pressure Graph prints properly but not the others.

These problems (mainly in Windows 2000 and Me; probably in XP also) are due to changes in Windows that Microsoft has made.  These compromise the "backward compatibility" of the newer operating systems with software developed for and compatible with older systems.  We have a fix for these problems and if you would like it click here and email us with your request.  In some cases, color printers will still have problems, in which case turn the color graphics off in the Setup page.

 

Why is there no written documentation with SPW 911?  And why do the methods used by the program not exactly correspond with the Pile Buck Steel Sheet Pile Design Manual?

"Online" style documentation is normative for computer programs today.  It is especially helpful when revisions take place; the documentation can be changed and updated much more readily.

As far as the methodology is concerned, the methods used in SPW 911 are described in the British Steel Piling Handbook (7th Edition), which can be viewed at corusconstruction.com. As is very common with foundation design, there are many variations on design methods for the various types of structures and this is certainly true with sheet piling.  It is not practical to include all of them in one computer program.  We should also note that the Pile Buck Steel Sheet Pile Design Manual has been superceded by Sheet Pile Design by Pile Buck, which not only harmonizes the methodology but also gives worked examples using SPW 911.

 

I opened a new program. Got up to the "Your Company Name" Side Elevation tab. The bottom of the screen states "Double click to open Define dialog". I tried to click all over the screen but nothing happens. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling several times. What can I do to get to the define dialog?

• Open a new design by clicking the "New" icon at the top left of the toolbar.

• Double click (left button) anywhere in the white area of the main design window. You may be double clicking too slowly - try to do it quicker.

• A second window should open to let you edit designs.

• Assuming this doesn't work, confirm that you can open the demonstration files in the Designs folder.

• Check your mouse is OK and registering double clicks.

 

I am having difficulty getting a moment in my sheet pile wall. I did start off with metric,but then reinstalled program and used English units. When I click on show moment graph icon, I get the following statement : "Access violation at address 004ccb59 Read of address 00972974".

This type of error may happen in Windows XP if you do not have "admin" (administrator) privileges and full access to the directory c:\Program Files\Pile Buck. If you can obtain these, this type of error message may be eliminated.