Editing & productivity tools

CivilKit Studio is built for working on many members at once - selecting, transforming and bulk-editing whole frames instead of one element at a time.

Selecting elements

Almost every edit acts on the current selection, so picking the right elements quickly is the key skill. Studio keeps a single selection (one member, node or plate) and a multi-selection set (any number of elements).

1. Click an element in the viewport or the Model Tree to select it on its own.
2. Shift-click or Ctrl/Cmd-click to add (or remove) elements one at a time, building a multi-selection.
3. Box select - open the Select button on the toolbar, choose Box, then drag a rectangle across the viewport. Everything inside the box is selected.
4. Lasso select - from the same Select menu choose Lasso, then draw a freehand outline around the elements you want.
5. Hold Shift while dragging a box or lasso to add the region to the existing selection instead of replacing it.
6. Press Esc to step back out: it clears the multi-selection, then the single selection, and cancels an active box/lasso or measure mode.

Front-only selecting

The Select menu has a Front only tick box (on by default). With it on, a box or lasso grabs only the elements facing you and skips the ones hidden behind nearer geometry - so you can select the front face of a 3D frame without catching the back. Turn it off to select straight through the model. The setting is remembered between sessions.

Selecting by rule

You rarely want to hand-pick every element. These commands build a selection for you (menu Edit, or right-click in the viewport):

• Select all - selects every member in the model.
• Select all of type - with one element picked, selects all of that element's type (all members, all nodes or all plates).
• Invert selection - swaps to everything that is not currently selected.
• Select connected frame - right-click a member to select the whole connected run of members joined to it.
• Select in plane (X / Y / Z) - right-click a single member that lies in one plane to select every member in that same plane (handy for a single floor or wall).
• Select orphan (unconnected) nodes - finds nodes attached to nothing, ready to review or delete.

Jump straight to an element

Type an element id into the Find box (top toolbar) and press Enter - M5 selects member 5, N12 node 12, P3 plate 3 (a bare number is read as a node). Studio selects it and zooms the camera to it. This is the fastest way around a large model.

Undo, copy, paste and delete

Every edit is undoable, and the in-app clipboard copies elements with their loads so a paste is self-contained.

1. Undo / Redo any change from the Edit menu or the keyboard.
2. Copy a selection, then Paste it (it lands nudged beside the original) or use Paste at offset to type an exact dX / dY / dZ.
3. Duplicate copies and pastes in one step.
4. Delete removes the selection. Deleting a node also removes the members joined to it, and any now-orphaned loads are cleaned up.

Plates: copy/paste/duplicate an existing one, don't draw from scratch

There is no "add plate" tool. A plate is created by copying, pasting or duplicating an existing plate (they otherwise arrive via import) - so do not go hunting for a button to draw one.

Action	Shortcut
Undo	Ctrl / Cmd + Z
Redo	Ctrl + Shift + Z, or Ctrl + Y
Copy	Ctrl / Cmd + C
Paste	Ctrl / Cmd + V
Duplicate	Ctrl / Cmd + D
Delete selection	Delete or Backspace
Select all	Ctrl / Cmd + A
Isolate selection	X
Show all	A
Clear selection / exit mode	Esc

Mirror does not flip directional loads

Copies carry their loads, but a mirror copy does not reverse the direction of those loads. Check any directional loads (wind, lateral point loads) on the mirrored copy before solving.

Transforming a selection

These tools (menu Edit, or right-click) move or replicate the selected elements. Each one opens a small dialog so you type exact values, and each is a single undoable step.

• Move - shift the selected nodes (and the nodes of selected members) by a dX / dY / dZ offset in metres.
• Mirror copy - reflect the selection across an X, Y or Z plane. The plane value defaults to the selection's centroid on that axis.
• Linear array - replicate the selection into a regular grid by spacing (dX, dY, dZ) and a number of copies, for repeating bays, portals or floors.
• Renumber - reassign member numbers in sequence from a chosen start number and step, to tidy a schedule or match a drawing.
• Snap to grid - round the selected node coordinates to the nearest multiple of a grid step (in mm), to clean up coordinates that drifted on import or while drawing.

Bulk editing many elements

When you have a multi-selection, a bulk action bar appears with one-shot edits across the whole set:

• Section - assign a section (or open the catalogue) to every selected member.
• Fixity - set pinned or fixed ends on every selected member at once.
• UDL - add a gravity UDL (kN/m) to every selected member in the active load case.
• Length [Set] - type an exact length and apply it to every selected member in one go. Each member keeps its lower end (e.g. a column base) anchored and slides the higher end to match, so setting a length across a row of columns keeps every base on the ground.
• Isolate - hide everything except the selection (press A / Show all to bring the rest back). Hide selected does the reverse.
• Delete / Clear - remove the selected elements, or just clear the selection.

Two more right-click helpers work on a multi-selection:

• Match properties to selection - select two or more members and this copies the primary member's section and material onto all the others.
• Set member type and Set support - bulk-set members to beam or truss, or set the support (free, pinned, roller, fixed) on every selected node in one go.
• Add / edit note - right-click a member and choose Add / edit note to attach a short text annotation. It shows as a small amber label (with a pencil icon) floating above the member in the 3D view, persists with the model (save, export and share), and is cleared by leaving the note text blank.

Cleaning up a model

Imported models often arrive with duplicated geometry. Clean up model (menu Edit) merges nodes that sit on top of each other within a tolerance you set (in mm) and removes duplicate or zero-length members. It scans first and tells you what it found, so you can confirm before anything changes.

Data sheets (spreadsheet editing)

For pure data work, open Tools -> Data sheets for an Excel-style grid of the whole model. It is the fastest way to edit hundreds of rows.

1. Switch between the tabbed sheets - Nodes, Members, Materials, Sections, Member loads and Nodal loads - each tab shows its row count.
2. Edit a cell inline and press Enter; the value is validated and a bad entry is flagged red and left unchanged. Use Enter and the up / down arrows to move down a column like a spreadsheet.
3. Mass-update a column - tick the rows you want, pick a column and a value, then Apply to write that value into every ticked row at once.
4. Copy the whole sheet as tab-separated text to paste into Excel, or paste a block of cells from Excel - it fills right and down from the cell you start in.
5. Download CSV to export the active sheet, or delete ticked rows (loads sheets only, where removing rows is safe).

Sheets show engineer numbers

Data sheets display the friendly element numbers (1, 2, 3...) you see everywhere else, and reference columns like a member's Node A / Node B accept those same numbers - so the sheet always matches the model and the section names you assigned.

Right-click is the shortcut to everything

Right-click in the viewport (or long-press on a tablet) for a context menu built from whatever you have selected - the transform, selection and edit commands above all appear there, filtered to what makes sense for that element.