Applies To
	Product(s):	STAAD.Offshore
	Version(s):	All
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	STAAD.Offshore
	Subarea:	N/A
	Original Author:	Sudip Narayan Choudhury Bentley Technical Support Group

I added a section to the STAAD.Pro section database and used it in my model. Now I am trying to open the STAAD.Pro model in STAAD.Offshore and I am getting error messages saying “structure file has syntax errors”. How do I get Offshore to recognize my defined sections?
When you add a section to the STAAD.Pro section database, it gets added to the mdb file corresponding to that country database. For example if you added a section to the American Section database, this data would be added to the AISCSections.mdb file. These mdb files can be found within the X:\SProV8i\STAAD\Sections folder where X represents the local drive in which STAAD.Pro is installed. You need select the appropriate mdb and copy it to the folder C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Roaming\Bentley\OpenSTAADOEM\Sections from where Offshore reads the sections. There would be an existing file by the same name and that file needs to be replaced by the file you are trying to copy. You would then be able to open the file in STAAD.Offshore.
It is better to have STAAD.Pro and STAAD.Offshore closed when you do these external file transfers. Moreover it is always a good idea to keep a backup whenever you are trying to replace or modify any standard mdbs.