A computer program for the tentative selection of structural members

The subject of this project is the development of a computer program that assists in the preliminary selection of wooden beams for residential scale buildings. It is a useful project because the program is intended to assist the architectural designer; it does not provide comprehensive engineering. With this purpose in mind, the intention is to simplify the process of sizing wooden members, to generate graphic visualization, and to make clear the analytic and decision making process incorporated in the program's construction. The user is presumed to be a designer or architectural student.

Efforts towards the design of the program have been aimed at making the software effective for designers and students. This project deals with such issues as logical sequence or flow, decision points, and conceptual organization of display screens for the purpose of focusing the users attention on vital information.