Applying Sections to a Frame
After the geometric relationships of the pieces of the structure have been built, each and every member must be given section properties. In order to do this, the section must first be selected. This can be accomplished be either simply clickng on a single member, shift-clicking on more than one member, or selecting members of a distinct orientation as indicated in the window above.
After the member(s) has(have) been selected, pull down the frame window and release at section type. At this point the menu below appears which allows a choice from either pre-programmed or custom sections. Simply choose the appropriate section and click the OK button.
Each and every section has a name that is stored with the rest of the physical properties. The name can be displayed on the screen at any time. This is a convenient way to control which sections have been appled to which members. Pull down the Display window and choose Symbols.... The menu above then appears. Choose Section Names so that the names will appear. This can be deactivated in the same manner at any time.
If a section was created with both physical and geometric properties, the section will be drawn when in the render mode. This will also occur for the pre-prgrammed sections. In order to see the section, one must change the view to 3-Dimensions. When the view window is opened by clicking on the bottom left corner, the following menu appears. Notice that the standard view is frontal.
The view can be changed at will. The best way to control the orientation of the new section that has been applied to a member is to click on the 3D window. The window will change to the 3D mode.
Now the program must be told to render the members. Pull down the display menu and choose render. 
This menu allows the sections to be drawn to any exaggerated scale. If 1.0 is used, the sections are drawn to a scale that is appropriate to the structure. This can also be activated at any time that the 3D window is in the screen.