Applies To
	Product(s):	STAAD.Pro
	Version(s):	All
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	General Solutions
	Subarea:	General Information
	Original Author:	Bentley Technical Support Group

When I save my file in STAAD.Pro, all REPEAT commands are changed by STAAD to the expanded format. The same thing happens when I do a File > Save As. I would like to retain my input using the REPEAT commands. Is there any way to do that?

The REPEAT and REPEAT ALL commands were used at times when the graphic user interface was not
so advanced and the primary mode of data input used to be by typing commands in the input file. But these days, the graphic user interface in Staadpro is so developed that there is no need for the users to go to input file and type in information. Consequently the commands like REPEAT and REPEAT ALL lost importance and have now been replaced by GUI features like Translational Repeat , Circular Repeat etc.

However they are still recognized as valid commands by the engine so that if your file contains those commands, Staad would be able to read the geometry information. When the file is saved using the GUI, the REPEAT commands get replaced. This improves the performance of the software because it no longer has to remember blocks of information that used to appear within the REPEAT commands.

However if you want to retain the REPEAT commands in the input file, keep a copy of the full set of commands like
JOINT COORDINATES, MEMBER INCIDENCES and  ELEMENT INCIDENCES which predominantly use the REPEAT options,  and place them after the FINISH command at the end of the input file. When you are done with
the full job and would not be saving the model using the GUI any more, you can finally replace the JOINT COORDINATES, MEMBER INCIDENCES, ELEMENT INCIDENCES sections with the copied blocks containing the REPEAT commands placed at the end of the file . Then run the analysis again and you will have your analysis results and at the same time your input file will contain the REPEAT commands. 

When you do a File > Save As, the file is saved by the GUI and hence the REPEAT commands are again replaced. If
you would like to save the file by a different name and retain the REPEAT commands, the best thing to do is to do the Save from outside the STAAD environment. You may use Windows Explorer. You can simply copy the original .std file and then rename it using Explorer to get your second file.