Browser

The browser is located along the left edge of the user interface. A varied selection of model data appears within the browser, which is also referred to as the tree view. The contents depend upon which environment is active (FEA Editor, Results, or Report), and also upon the type of analysis and model geometry. Contents of the browser include the following:

Table 1: Browser Contents, by environment
FEA Editor Results environment Report environment
  • Unit systems
  • Analysis type
  • Planes (for sketching)
  • Load and constraint groups
  • Parts list, including:
    • Element type
    • Element data
    • Material, and
    • Surfaces
  • Meshes (structured or 2D)
  • Coordinate systems
  • Contact definitions
  • Selection groups
  • Unit systems
  • Analysis type
  • Parts list
  • Contact (type and force results)
  • Presentations (active results windows), including:
    • Mirror planes
    • Slice planes
    • Annotations
    • Embedded presentations
  • Saved presentations
  • Saved slice planes
  • Filter modules
  • Coordinate systems
  • Master report
  • HTML report, including:
    • Table of contents
    • Images
    • Animations
    • Analysis summary
    • Analysis log

A similar set of items exists in the browser for each design scenario in the model. However, the contents are only displayed for one design scenario at a time.

Note: When one or more design scenarios are in some stage of being solved, status messages appear to the right of the Design Scenario headings. Status messages include Preparing, Running, Finished, Failed, and Canceled. These status messages also appear within the Solver Manager dialog box.

The various, specific items within the browser are discussed within the context of the appropriate help sections. Much of the browser-related help content is discussed within the Mesh Models and Setting Up and Performing the Analysis branches of the program help. For example, element types and element data are discussed within the Elements Types and Parameters pages for each analysis type within the Setting Up... branch. Similarly, results presentations, mirror planes, and so on, are discussed within the Browser Functions page in the Results branch of the program help.

Browser Display Options

By default, the browser always remains visible within the FEA Editor, Results, and Report environments. The width is adjustable and the height is fixed. When the height of the contents exceeds the browser height, a scroll bar appears along the right edge. Use the scroll bar or the mouse wheel to scroll through the listed items.

To Resize the Browser: Click the right edge of the browser frame and drag it to increase or decrease the width. The display canvas to the right resizes at the same time. In order to resize its width, the browser must be pinned open.

To Unpin/Pin the Browser: Click on the push-pin icon near the top right corner of the browser to toggle the pinned state. The icon changes to indicate which state is in effect:

Parent topic: User Interface