Use the Story Data form to define the stories in a model, including modifying the story labels; specifying the height and elevation of the model stories, defining the base level elevation; specifying the master story; applying similarity among the stories; and indicating if there is a splice point, and if so, specifying its location.
Note: Right clicking on the spreadsheet displays a drop-down list of commands that can be used to copy and paste data, add and delete stories, and renames stories to defaults, as described at the end of this topic.
Story column. The labels of the story levels are shown in these cells. The labels can be changed; for example, story levels may be labeled 1st, first, 2nd, second, and so on.
Height column. The values shown in this column are the interstory height of the story level. It is the distance from the considered story level to the story level below. Note that by default the story height of the BASE level is zero and it cannot be changed.
Elevation column. The values shown are the elevations of the story levels relative to the base elevation. Note that the BASE level elevation can be specified (the default is 0). The program automatically calculates all other elevations (based on the specified story heights) and those calculated elevations can not be changed. Those story level elevations are provided for informational purposes.
Master Story column. When Yes appears in this column, the associated story is a Master Story. A Master Story cannot be Similar To (see next bullet item) other stories, but other stories can be Similar To it.
Similar To column. This column indicates if the story level is similar to another story level for drawing, assignment and selection purposes when working in plan view. Note that the Similar Stories drop-down list on the status bar in the lower right-hand corner of the ETABS window can be used to specify that actions apply to one story, similar stories, or all stories.
Note: When objects are drawn and the All Stories option is enabled, objects are drawn at the first story and above, not on the base (or support) level. Also because the Base level can not be a Master Story or be Similar To any other story, the only way to draw structural components on the Base level is to (a) select the Base level or (b) set the Working Plane drop-down list to "Base" in a 3D View, before using a Draw menu command.
Splice Story column and Splice Height edit box. Use these columns to specify if a splice occurs at this story level and to specify the splice height. The splice height is the distance from the bottom of the considered story up to the column splice location. For example, if Yes is selected for Story 3, the splice occurs at the specified height between Story 2 and Story 3. To display splices, check the Column Splices item on the Object Assignments tab of the Set View Options form.
Note: Splice point data applies to steel columns only.
Right clicking on the spreadsheet area will display a drop-down list of commands:
Right click > Copy and Right click > Paste -- Use these commands to copy data from the cells in the spreadsheet and paste to other cells. For example, right click > Copy in the Height cell of a given row of data and then highlight other rows of cells in the same column; right click > Paste to paste the copied data to the selected cells. The Copy command also works to copy data from the program to other programs, such as Microsoft Excel. Note that standard Windows Copy and Paste keyboard commands also can be used.
Right click > Add Story - Has two subcommands that can be used to add data to the Story Data form, where it can be modified as necessary before clicking the OK button to add the stories / story to the model :
Right click > Add Story > Keep Existing Story Heights command - Displays the Add Story - Keep Existing Story Heights form. Use the form to add a story or stories to the model. The program will automatically calculate the elevation(s) using the specified height(s).
Right click > Add Story > Keep Existing Story Elevations command - Displays the Add Story - Keep Existing Story Elevations form. Use the form to specify the elevation where the story is to be added to the model. If the elevation specified for the added story is less than the elevation of the existing top story, the program will adjust the height of the top story; this height can then be readjusted as needed.
Right click > Delete Story -- Has two subcommands that can be used to delete data from the Story Data form:
Right click > Delete Story > Delete Existing Structure at Story command - deletes the story level as well as the structure for that story, resulting in a reduction of the overall height of the structure (i.e., the elevation of the top story is reduced by the height of the deleted story).
Right click > Delete Story > Keep Existing Structure at Story command - deletes the story level, but retains the overall structure. The height of the deleted story is added to the height of the story level above it.
Right click > Set Story Names to Default command - restores default story level naming, which is that story names are "Story#" and listed sequentially.
Access the Story Data form using either of the following methods:
Method 1:
Click the File menu > New Model command and choose a method for initializing the model to display the New Model Quick Templates form.
Choose the Custom Story Data option and click the Edit Story Data button.
Method 2:
Click the Edit menu > Edit Stories and Grid Systems command or the Edit menu > Edit Towers, Stories and Grid Systems command to display the Edit Story and Grid System Data form.
Click the Modify/Show Story Data button.