PHYSIBEL DOCUMENT M_ME_A_E01

MatEdit Manual
Tool to edit Physibel material databases

 2002 PHYSIBEL

Table of contents

CHAPTER A INTRODUCTION......................................................... 2
A.1. Preface to MATEDIT ................................................................. 2
A.2. Minimum system requirements.................................................. 2
A.4. License statement ....................................................................... 2
CHAPTER B MATERIAL DATABASE ............................................ 3
B.1. Material database structure. The PHM files.................................. 3
CHAPTER C USING MATEDIT........................................................ 5
C.1. Starting the program. ..................................................................... 5
C.2. Language of Group names and Material names............................ 5
C.3. Loading databases from a different directory. .............................. 5
C.4. Saving the databases...................................................................... 5
C.5. Import/Export databases in TAB delimited text file..................... 5
Exporting data.................................................................................... 5
Importing data.................................................................................... 6
C.6. Viewing the Databases or the Material Groups or the Materials.. 6
C.7. Editing the Database properties..................................................... 6
C.8. Editing the Material Group properties. ......................................... 7
C.9. Editing the Material properties...................................................... 7
Material names .................................................................................. 7
Material Pattern ................................................................................. 7
Picture 7
Comment 7
Thermal Properties ............................................................................ 8
C.10. Editing the picture files (BMP, PNG) using Paint Shop Pro. ..... 8
C.11. Editing text comment files using Microsoft Wordpad................ 8

Matedit Manual 2.1.2001 1

 CHAPTER A INTRODUCTION
A.1. Preface to MATEDIT

The MATEDIT program has been developed to edit PHYSIBEL material databases.

A.2. Minimum system requirements

- PC’s with running Windows 95 SP2, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4 SP4 or above.

- SVGA graphic adapter with a minimum display resolution of 800x600.
- CD-ROM drive for installing the software.

A.4. License statement

Copyright law and international treaties protect this computer program. Unauthorized reproduction
or distribution of this program, or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties,
and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL LICENSOR,

OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE
TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY
YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES.

2 Matedit Manual
 CHAPTER B MATERIAL DATABASE

B.1. Material database structure. The PHM files.

The material databases are stored in plain text files with extension PHM. A database consists of
several material groups (e.g. metals, insulation, masonry ...) and each group can consist of several
materials.

Figure 1 Material database structure

Each group is defined with its name in different languages:

- English
- Nederlands
- Français
- Deutsch
A name in one language is sufficient.

Matedit Manual 3
Each material is defined with its properties:

- material names in different languages

- English
- Nederlands
- Français
- Deutsch
A name in one language is sufficient.

- a pattern for the graphical representation of the material in wall sections,

- a picture (a photo of each material can be added to the database; external picture file linked to the
database)

- a comment (external text file linked to the database for information purposes)

- thermal properties

The PHYSIBEL databases distributed with the software correspond to national standards and scientific
reports:
- DIN_4108.phm
- IEA_Annex_XIV.phm
- NBN_B62-002.phm
- NEN_1068.phm
- ONORM_B8110-1.phm
- PHYSIBEL.phm
- prEN_ISO_10077-2.phm
- SBR-report_9.phm
- SIA_180.phm

4 Matedit Manual
 CHAPTER C USING MATEDIT

C.1. Starting the program.

Start MATEDIT.EXE in the “…\Physibel\Materials\” directory from MS Explorer. When starting

the program the first time the database path must be specified.

C.2. Language of Group names and Material names.

Choose the desired language in the Language menu. If the group or the material name does not exist
in the chosen language then the next available name will be chosen.

C.3. Loading databases from a different directory.

When MATEDIT starts it loads the databases from the last directory used. To change this directory
and also to load databases from an other directory do the following:
1. Execute the ‘Load From Directory...’ command from the ‘File’ menu.
2. If you want, save changes to the existing databases.
3. Select the directory containing the desired databases.

This option is interesting when someone wants to organize databases in different directories.

Remark: It is possible to make a new database by selecting a directory where there are no database
files (*.phm). In this way MATEDIT will generate a new empty database.

C.4. Saving the databases.

Execute the ‘Save All’ command from the ‘File’ menu.

All databases will be saved in the current directory overwriting the existing ones.

C.5. Import/Export databases in TAB delimited text file

Execute the ‘Export To Text File’ and ‘Import From Text File’ commands from the ‘File’ menu.

This option is interesting to reorganise the databases, or to make printouts/reports of the databases
e.g. in Microsoft Excel or in Microsoft Word.

Exporting data

Using the ‘Export To Text File’ command MATEDIT will generate the ‘EXPORT.TXT’ file in the
program directory. This file is a TAB delimited text file which can be easily imported (opened) in
e.g. MS Excel. The file contains a small header section [INFO] for the explanation of each data
column.
In the [DATA] section the actual data can be found. Each data line begins with a 2 character
identifier + an equal (‘=’) sign. There are three kind of identifiers (data line types):
1. ‘DB=’ - database name
2. ‘GR=’ - group name

Matedit Manual 5
 3. ‘MT=’ - material name
After the ‘DB=’ line must always be a ‘GR=’ line and then as many ‘MT=’ lines as many materials
in the corresponding group are present.
There can be any number of databases – groups – materials in a file.

In order to import this file in MS Excel do the following:

1. Open MS Excel
2. Execute the ‘Open’ command in the ‘File’ menu
3. Select in the ‘Files of type:’ combo box (selection box) the ‘Text Files (*.prn; *.txt;
*.csv)’ filter.
4. Select the MATEDIT program directory and open the ‘Export.txt’ file.
5. In the Text Import Wizard which appears select ‘Delimited’ file type.
6. Push the ‘Next’ button.
7. Select in the Delimiters Group only the ‘Tab’ delimiter.
8. Push the ‘Finish’ button at the bottom of the Text Import Wizard.

Importing data

Using the ‘Import To Text File’ command, MATEDIT will read the ‘IMPORT.TXT’ file from the
program directory. This file is a TAB delimited text file which has the format described in the
former section.
It is recommended to first export a database and then rename the ‘Export.txt’ file to ‘Import.txt’ file
and then modify the ‘Import.txt’ file in MS Excel according to the desired requirements. In this way
the file format will be kept intact. (See in the former section how to import a TAB delimited data
file in MS Excel.)
Follow the next steps to prepare the ‘Import.txt’ file in MS Excel:
1. Export any database(s) to the text file ‘Export.txt’.
2. Import the file ‘Export.txt’ in MS Excel according to the method explained in the former
section.
3. Make the desired changes to the database(s).
4. Execute the command ‘Save As’ in the ‘File’ menu.
5. Select ‘Save as type:’, ‘Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt)’, and set ‘Import.txt’ as file name.
6. Push ‘Save’.

C.6. Viewing the Databases or the Material Groups or the Materials.

Select the desired database or group to view and push on the button ‘Database’, ‘Group’ or
‘Material’ (see Figure 2) to see the corresponding item, or push ENTER, or double click with the
mouse.

Figure 2 Selection buttons

C.7. Editing the Database properties.

From the ‘Edit’ menu choose ‘New’ – to make a new database, ‘Delete’ – to permanently delete the
selected database and all included groups and all included materials from the hard disk (can not be
undone), or ‘Rename’ – to rename the database.

6 Matedit Manual
C.8. Editing the Material Group properties.

From the ‘Edit’ menu choose ‘New’ – to make a new group, ‘Delete’ – to delete the selected group
and all included materials (if the database is not saved when exiting the program the deleted
materials can be recovered), or ‘Rename’ – to rename the group (in different languages).

C.9. Editing the Material properties.

From the ‘Edit’ menu choose ‘New’ – to make a new material, ‘Delete’ – to delete the selected
material, or ‘Rename’ – to rename the material.

Material names

Material names can be changed by the ‘Rename’ command in the ‘Edit’ menu. Enter the desired
names in the fields for the different languages.

Material Pattern

Material patterns can be chosen by pushing the button. (See Figure 3) Select with the arrow
keys, and push ENTER to choose the desired pattern.

Figure 3 The (material) patterns

Picture

Pictures can be chosen by pushing the button. To delete a picture from the database push the
button. It is recommended to use a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) picture with 256 colors
for the maximum compression (small file size), but it is also possible to use BMP files (large file
size). The optimal picture size is 200x200 pixels.

Comment

Comment text files can be chosen by pushing the button. To delete a text file from the database
push the button.

Matedit Manual 7
Thermal Properties

The thermal properties can be edited by selecting the desired property value and typing ENTER or
immediately typing the new value (see Figure 4).

Figure 4 Thermal properties editor

Notice: In the Physibel software at the time of this writing only the “Ui” indexed thermal
conductivity is used (λ dry/internal).

C.10. Editing the picture files (BMP, PNG) using Paint Shop Pro.

Please consult the Paint Shop Pro manual for using the program.

C.11. Editing text comment files using Microsoft Wordpad.

Please consult the WordPad help file if you have any problems creating a text file.

8 Matedit Manual