The Selection List Window
Use the Selection List window () (see Figure 6-12) to make it easier to choose objects, for example, while working with complex geometries and when you need to easily locate a geometric entity that is not easily viewed. The Selection List is particularly useful when you know the geometric entity number to select; for example, when you are following step-by-step instructions to build an example from the application libraries (in that case, you can also copy and paste the selections directly from the instructions). It also includes a list of named selections, when available.
To open the window, from the Home toolbar select Windows>Selection List (). By default, it appears to the right on the COMSOL Desktop.
To open the window, select Windows>Selection List (). By default, it appears to the right on the COMSOL Desktop.
The Selection List window is empty when Sketch visualization is used in a 2D geometry.
Figure 6-12: The Selection List window and toolbar. See Table 6-2 and the text below for button information.
Working with the List of Geometric Entities or Objects
The Selection List window displays all geometric entities of a certain type (boundaries, for example) and also named selections for the same entity type. COMSOL Multiphysics determines the geometric entities listed based on where in the model you are working. This is different from selection lists in Settings windows, which contain lists of the selected entities only (see About Selecting Geometric Entities, Figure 6-7). At the top of the window, the Selection List window displays the number of selected entities.
At the top of the Selection List window, there is a toolbar with buttons that are explained below. The toolbar buttons only apply to nodes selected in the upper list of geometric entities.
Click the Create Explicit Selection button () and enter a Selection name in the Create Selection window to create a new Explicit selection. If applicable, such as when you create an explicit boundary selection when a boundary condition node is selected, for example, a Use in check box (Use in Electric Potential 1, for example) is available ans selected by default. The selection in that node then becomes the new explicit selection. Clear the check box to keep the current selection.
See Copying and Pasting Selection Lists for information about the Copy and Paste buttons.
Use the Add to Selection button () to add a selected entity from the Selection List window to a selection for boundary condition, for example. Use the Remove from Selection button () to remove selected items from a selection. Use the Hide () and Show () buttons to hide and show selected geometric entities, respectively. You can also right-click an item in the selection list and choose any of those four menu options (Add to …/Select, Remove from …/Deselect, Hide, or Show; see Working with the List of Named Selections below). Click the Collapse All () and Expand All () button to collapse or expand the top list, when it is a tree of geometry objects (this functionality is not available in the sketch mode).
Selecting from and Filtering the Selection List
The selected items in the Selection List window are indicated by (selected) next to the entity label, except if you choose to only list the selected items by selecting Only List Selected from the Filter List menu () on the Selection List toolbar. You can also view and select any named selection in the model under Domain selections, Boundary selections, Edge selections, Point selections, or Object selections. When you right-click a named selection or group of such selections, you can choose Create Selection (a submenu), Add to …/Select (), Remove from …/Deselect (), Hide (), or Show () as desired (see Working with the List of Named Selections below).
Click any item to see it highlighted in The Graphics Window — except if the item is hidden, which is indicated in the Selection List by (hidden), unless you choose to only list the visible items by selecting Only List Visible from the Filter List menu () on the Selection List toolbar — and select items as described in Selecting and Clearing Selection of Geometric Entities.
From the Filter List menu () on the Selection List toolbar, you can filter the list of selected entities by choosing Only List Selected, Only List Visible, and Only List Applicable as desired. Choose to Only List Applicable if the model includes many entities that are selected but not applicable, for example.
Working with the List of Named Selections
Under Boundary selections, for example, select a number of nodes in the list of named selections to highlight the corresponding entities in the graphics. Right-click and select one of the following items from the context menu:
From the Create Selection submenu, choose one of the following: Union (if at least two named selections are selected), Intersection, Complement, Adjacent, Ball, Box, or Cylinder (in 3D). In 2D, Disk is available together with Box but not Ball or Cylinder. In 1D, Ball and Box are available but not Cylinder. Choosing one of these options creates a new named selection of the chosen type based on the selected named selections.
Add to Boundary Selection for Electric Potential 1 (), for example. This adds the corresponding geometric entities or objects to the selection in the currently selected node. If no such node is selected, instead Ctrl-click some boundaries, for example, right-click, and choose Select to makes the corresponding boundaries selected in the Graphics window.
Remove from Boundary Selection for Electric Potential 1(). This removes the corresponding geometric entities or objects from the selection in the currently selected node. If no such node is selected, instead Ctrl-click some selected boundaries, for example, right-click, and choose Deselect to remove the selection for the corresponding boundaries selected in the Graphics window.
Hide (). This hides the corresponding geometric entities or objects in the graphics.
Show (). This shows the corresponding geometric entities or objects in the graphics.
Using the Selection List
For example, you can use the Selection List in the following situations:
Materials, Physics, and Boundary Conditions
When working in windows with Selection or Geometric scope sections (a Selection window under a Definitions node for example), or anywhere you assign materials, physics features, boundary conditions, and other Component settings. The Selection List displays the specific geometric entity level selected (domain, boundary, edge, or point).
Geometry
When in the Model Builder under the Geometry node, the geometry objects are displayed in the Entities to select, for example, ext1 (extrusion), blk1 (solid), or cone1 (solid) (Figure 6-13). You might also use it with a Chamfer or Fillet geometry feature when you want to locate specific points. To specify the selection level, click the Select Points button in the Graphics window toolbar and add the points to the Vertices to fillet or Vertices to chamfer lists. See Creating Named Selections in the Geometry Sequence for details about creating selections based on geometry sequences.
Meshing
When in the Model Builder under the Mesh node, the list also includes information on which entities are meshed by adding (meshed) to the right of the meshed entities. If the Geometry has Mesh Control entities, the list also specifies if a mesh control entity has been removed; see Controlling the Mesh Size Using Mesh Control Entities. This is indicated next to the entity in the list by (meshed and removed).
Figure 6-13: An example of a Settings window for Explicit Selection for a Geometry sequence (left) and a Free Settings window for Tetrahedral for a Mesh node (right).