Setup Window for Text-Setup Simulations

You can open a simulation as described in the “Opening an Existing Simulation” section in the User Guide manual. After you open a simulation, XSimComposer displays the Setup window that contains an Editor pane with some easy-to-edit parameters and a short description and image of the simulation. This is shown in Fig. 134.

Fig. 134 Parameters view of the text-setup setup window.

From here you can modify the exposed parameters of the simulation, in order to explore the dynamics for different values.

Pressing the View Input File button, boxed in red at the top, takes one to the Input File View, shown in Fig. 135.

Fig. 135 Input file view of the text-setup setup window.

This gives full access to the text-setup input file, so that you can add parameters, modify expressions, even modify the algorithms used in the simulation.

Additionally, one can see all the files in the simulation directory by pulling the separator bar to the right, as shown in Fig. 136.

Fig. 136 Setup Window Files View

The following sections will go through each of the components of the Setup window. We will then delve into the more in-depth .pre file, including general properties, elements, and recommended structure. See Fig. 137.

Fig. 137 The main parts of the Setup window

Navigation Pane and Simulation Files

The Navigation pane contains a list of Simulation Files, and can be accessed by clicking and dragging on the vertical bar that separates the Icon panel and the Editor pane.

To enable convenient viewing of the list of simulation files, XSimComposer allows you to specify in what order as well as which type(s) of files you would like to view. Smart Grouping causes similar types of files to be displayed in the same area of the Simulation Files tab list. Turning off Smart Grouping causes files to be displayed in alphabetical order rather than by type. All Files indicates that you want to see all available files involved in the simulation. You could choose to limit your view to only Simulation Files, which are files such as input files and macros that can be edited in the XSimComposer Editor pane, or Text files, which include all types of human-readable file formats, or Data files, which include incremental dump files and output files that can be visualized.

Key Parameters

All the example files in XSimComposer come with key parameters, allowing the user to easily adjust basic parameters of the simulation.

By holding the mouse over the key input parameter name, a description of what exactly the variable does will pop up. Many examples can be significantly modified with just the key input parameters to provide a good starting point for a different application. See Fig. 137.

If you have opened one of your own simulations that is not based off of an example, you may not have these key parameters. For more information on how to create these in your own file, please see Key Parameters.

Editor Buttons

From left to right, the editor buttons are:

• Undo

• Redo

• Paste

• Copy

• Cut

• View Input File / View Parameters

These buttons can be used for editing the key parameters as well as editing the .pre (or text-based) file.

If you would like to see the .pre (text-based) file, simply click on the View Input File button. This will bring you to the traditional .pre file. Modifications made in the Key Parameters window will carry over if you switch to input file view.

Validate Button

If many modifications to the input file have been made, it is suggested to first validate the simulation. After the Validate button has been clicked, the input file will be checked to make sure that there are no errors.

Description and Image

The far right of the Setup window holds a description of the simulation and a corresponding image.

If you have opened one of your own simulations that is not based off of an example, you may not have the description and image. For more information on how to create these in your own file, please see the discussion on the XSim Block in Key Parameters.

Hidden Log View and Find/Replace

Note

A LOG VIEW can be shown by clicking and dragging on the horizontal bar at the bottom of the Composer window.

Note

Find/Replace and Results tabs can be shown by clicking and dragging on the second and smaller horizontal bar above the bottom of the Composer window.

XSimComposer notifies you of the actions that it is taking in the LOG VIEW. This includes output from the validation of the input file, and imported files, among other things.

When editing the .pre file, XSimComposer has a Find/Replace tab to help naviagate the text. You can access this by going to Edit –> Find and Replace or using the shortcut keys Ctrl+F.

Fig. 138 Setup window tab for output message