Toolbar

All toolbar options are applied to the active windows of the actual group. By right-clicking on the window bar a group member can be either activated or deactivated. Beyond, there are the options controlling the activating of other groups or the deleting the currently chosen dataset. When moving the curser over several fields, information about the possible actions and applications, in relation to the field on which one is moving, are monitored in a special information bar. This information bar can be seen at the window’s bottom.

Time settings¶

There are several tools to take a look at the specifically desired animation´s time steps. By using the toolbar navigation pane, the whole simulation can be watched fluently from the first step to the last step of the animation (1). Moreover, it is possible to move forward and backwards in time (3) and to switch to the start or end of the simulation (2). In case of putting the some files of the same calculations into execution, the last time step is replaced by the latest common time step. For instance, R1: 1-5 and R2:1-10 output on a first click the 5^th, and on a second click a 10^th step. And consequently there is also a step to the following, or previously time step (3). Likewise, it is also possible to choose a certain time [s] manually.

There are two overall navigation modes – by simulation time or by time step IDs. Stepping by IDs is useful when parsing results generated by multiple restart in append mode. There might be several time step results for an equal simulation time. In the time stepping mode, the last of multiple results for the same simulation time will be displayed.

Figure 2¶

The animation's different time step options

Coordinate system choice¶

Figure 3¶

3D data sets can only be displayed in 2D axis parallel slides whereas XZ, XY, YZ define the visible dimensions and the reference unit the position in the 3^rd^ dimension. The 2D can be done by selecting the coordinate system together with its reference unit. So the reference value can be a number from 1 to 75 moving virtually through the datasets volume. As Figure 3 reveals, the mid Y location of the XZ plane takes the value 50 in a 100x100x100 dataset- A more detailed description of this principle can be found in the introductory passage of !!!!! Section 4.4 ‘Content’.

Mouse pointer tools¶

There are a few functions highlighted for quickly using these in a handy manner (see Figure 3). Apart from highlighting these tools in the taskbar, the same tools can be found in the rubric 'Mouse pointer'.

The zooming tool allows a closer observation of certain areas by just moving the cursor in any direction and hence opening an extract of a certain area. The prerequisite is here to zoom within the open simulation. It is possible to move the visible area on the same zoom level by holding the 'ctrl'-key while dragging. The zoomed in region can be cancelled out by clicking once. If having moved as well, a simple clicking switches back to the originally zoomed in area again. By clicking a second time the zooming is reversed, too.

The rectangle drawer enables a change in scaling and also makes use of these values for the color scale’s minimum and maximum values. A simple clicking reactivates the automatic settings of the color scale.

The points and lines tool reveals the properties of one single point in a label. When adding another point, the two points are automatically connected by a line. This line generates a direct comparison by seeing the distance and the angle between the two points. By clicking twice on a certain point, it will be removed. The transparency of the labels depends on the cursor’s position: just when clicking on a point the label is readable. So when creating a new point the other points become transparent. Lines and points can be moved by dragging them. When removing a line, the two related lines at the two ends are connected to each other automatically. A double-clicking on a line removes the point-line combination. All created points are deleted by a second click on the points and lines tool. The selected points and lines can be used as input for the virtual EDX functions, for more detail see !!!!! chapter 4.7. In spite of zooming, the selected points keep constantly their position.

The anchor gives a reference value to another point. One click places the anchor and to define the anchor’s position it can be moved to a desired point. Beyond, by clicking on the arrowhead the anchor’s target position can still be changed. A double-clicking on the arrowhead activates a popping-up window which comprises several designing opportunities and moreover the possibility of deleting the arrow. Even after zooming, the selected anchors keep constantly their positions.