Equation

Enter the equation or mathematical expression to show in the field. The program displays a preview of the rendered LaTeX syntax after leaving the text field. Otherwise, preview it manually by clicking the button (

). The default expression is -\nabla \cdot (k \nabla u), which displays as:

In the section header, use the (

) and (

) buttons to select predefined LaTeX expressions for vector operations, Greek letters, big operators, sets, logic, and text formatting that you can insert into the equation or add as the start of a new equation.

For information about available LaTeX symbols and characters, see Mathematical Symbols and Special Characters in the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual.

This section contains all layout settings for an equation in the grid of the parent form.

In the grid mode, you can control the horizontal and vertical alignment of the equation using the following lists:

•

From the list, choose , , , or , which automatically expands the form object to fill the cell in the horizontal or vertical direction (where applicable).

•

From the list, choose , , , or , which automatically expands the form object to fill the cell in the horizontal or vertical direction (where applicable).

The need to specify the alignment is most obvious when working in the grid mode, as it controls how the form object is aligned in its grid cell. Aligning the form object can be useful in the sketch mode too, and you can then use the alignment tools on the menu in the toolbar’s section. When running the application in any client other than the Windows client, the form objects may not be positioned exactly as seen in the Application Builder. This is because the form objects may have a different size in other clients, giving them a slightly different positioning. Specifying the alignment ensures that the form objects are aligned as you want them to be in all clients.

The and fields are unavailable because the dimensions of the equation are determined by the software.

Additionally, in the sketch mode, you can specify the absolute position of the equation using the and fields. In the grid mode, you can position the object in the grid and see the grid position as the , , , and values.

	The form windows update these size and positioning settings through the draw operations performed there, such as resizing and moving the object.

Under (in grid mode only), you can control the margins around the form object. By default, the margins are taken from the parent form. From the list, choose:

•

, for no margin around the form object. This setting can be useful when displaying an equation inside of a sentence to avoid excessive whitespace margins.

In this section, you can control the appearance of the equation.

From the list, select (the default) to use the setting from the form it is located in. You can also select one of the predefined colors or select to choose a custom text color from the color palette.

The default font size for the equation text is , which uses the font size from the node. If needed, choose or enter a font size (in points) in the combo box.

Under , you can control the initial state of the equation when users run the application. By default, the equation is visible and enabled. Clear the or check box if you want to make the initial state of the equation hidden or unavailable. You can then make it visible or enable it using a method. In the Form Editor, the state of the form object is indicated by a change in its appearance. Objects that are hidden become visible when selected in the Form Editor.