Pages and Windows

The main display area of the user interface is called a page. Each page can contain up to 16 windows.

Any window on a page can display an HM model (HyperMesh), MBD model (MotionView), animation (HyperView), 2D plot (HyperGraph), 3D plot (HyperGraph 3D), text (TextView), or media file (MediaView).

All pages and windows are created and stored in a hierarchical list in the Session Browser. You can create unlimited pages in a session; however, only one page can be displayed at a time.

The current page number and the total number of pages in the session are displayed in the upper-right corner of the application with the page navigation tools.


Figure 1.
Navigate between pages by clicking (Previous Page) or (Next Page), or enter a desired page number into the text field to go directly to that page and display it in the modeling window.

Create and Modify Pages

Create pages or modify an existing page's properties, such as name, publish settings, and layout.

  1. In the Session Browser, right-click and select Create from the context menu.
    A new page is created, and the Entity Editor opens with the page's corresponding properties.
  2. In the Entity Editor, edit the page's properties.
Edit an existing page's properties at any time by selecting the page from the Session Browser.

Change Page Layout

Change the layout of each page to suit your needs.

A typical layout might consist of a large window on the left displaying an animation with two smaller windows on the right tracking relevant data points on corresponding plots. There are 20 possible page arrangements.

The default layout is a single window; however a different default layout can be specified using the *SetDefaultPageLayout() statement in the preferences.mvw file.

  1. On the Page Controls toolbar, click (Page Layout).
  2. Select a layout from the list of options.


    Figure 2. Page Layout Menu
The selected layout is applied to the current page.

Expand/Reduce Windows

On pages that contain more than one window, you can expand and reduce windows.

On the Page Controls toolbar, click one of the following:
  • Expand the active window to full screen by clicking (Expand Window).

    Expanded windows are reduced to their original size if you turn the page.

  • Reduce the expanded window to the normal page layout by clicking (Reduce Window).

Swap Windows

Exchange the active window's position with another window on the same page.

For example, you can swap the upper left window with the lower right window in a six-window layout. When only two windows appear on the layout, the Swap button automatically exchanges the two windows.
Restriction: You cannot swap in single window layouts.
  1. Select a window.
  2. On the Page Controls toolbar, click (Swap).
    The cursor changes to a small cross.
  3. Select a new location by clicking on another window.

    The first window exchanges places with the second window.

Copy/Paste Pages and Windows

  1. In the Session Browser, right-click on the page/window to copy and select Copy from the context menu.
  2. Paste page/window.
    Option Description
    Paste page Right-click and select Paste from the context menu.

    A new page, with the same name and contents as the copied page, is created.
    Paste window Right-click on the window where you want to paste the copied window (the window can be on the same page or a different page), and select Paste from the context menu.

    The contents of the window are replaced with the contents of the copied window. The original contents of the window are discarded.

    When a window is copied, the model retains its orientation when it is pasted into the new window and it is automatically scaled to fit the window. The animation is not re-loaded in the second window; rather, it is a linked copy of the original. Entity attributes such as color and transparency are shared between windows, but the models can be oriented independently.
    Restriction: This feature is only applicable in HyperView, HyperGraph and TextView.

Overlay Pages and Windows

  1. In the Session Browser, right-click on the page/window to copy and select Copy from the context menu.
  2. Overlay two pages/windows.
    Option Description
    Overlay two pages Right-click on another page with the same page layout, containing windows of corresponding types, and select Overlay from the context menu.
    Overlay two windows Right-click on another window of the same type and select Overlay from the context menu.