Lippie:
I think that a good software has to prevailed with or without a thick or a thin manual, because you´ll got to have a good technical supportby phone, online, etc. So, why i will need to buy a 600 page book in order to know how to use Excel for example???, anyway hand calculations has to...
I have used Risa 2D for some years now, and rigth now i am gonna go with Risa3D director, wich includes the Risa floor, i am happy with the interface that risa have oppossing a batch program; i think a good software program goes with a thin manual...
by definition, a cantiliver is an element with one end fixed and the other end free, therefore you have Moment in the fixed end, so, the element providing support for the cantiliver it is in this case, your column, and has to be design to both the axial loading and the moment by the cantiliver...
perhaps if you can have acces to a library in Mexico, you can look at "Diseno de estructuras especiales" by Raul Gomez Tremari from the Universidad de Guadalajara...