COMSOL 6.2 - The Graphics Toolbar Buttons and Navigation

The Graphics Toolbar Buttons and Navigation

Some of the toolbar buttons available in the window are different based on the space dimension of the Component. The buttons also correspond to domain, boundary, edge, and point level nodes that display under the physics interface, which are also based on the Component space dimension as shown in Table 6-4. The buttons in Table 6-5 are available in any space dimension.

In the tables there are links to the corresponding sections that contain instructions about how to do the listed tasks.

Table 6-4: Graphics Toolbar Buttons by Space Dimension.
Name	3D	2D and 2D Axisymmetric	1D and 1D Axisymmetric
Selecting and Clearing Selection of Geometric Entities
Select Boundaries
Select Box
Deselect Box
Select Domains
Select Objects
Select Points			—
Select Edges		—	—
Group by Continuous Tangent			—
Group by Continuous Tangent Tolerance			—
Disable Mouse Selection
Contextual Hover Effect
The Sketch Visualization
Select Edges
Select Vertices
Select Constraints and Dimensions (Design Module only)
Changing Views in the Graphics Window
Go to XY View		—	—
Go to YZ View		—	—
Go to XZ View		—	—
Go to YX View		—	—
Go to ZY View		—	—
Go to ZX View		—	—
Rotate Right 90°		—	—
Rotate Left 90°		—	—
Show Axis Orientation		—	—
Show Grid			—
x-Axis Log Scale	—	—
y-Axis Log Scale	—	—
Show Legends
Enable Tooltip	—	—
About Clipping of 3D Model Geometries
Add Clip Plane and other clipping features		—	—
Clipping Active and other clipping settings		—	—
Lighting, Transparency, Projection, and Wireframe Rendering and About Shadows and Environment Mapping
Scene Light and environment maps		—	—
Transparency		—	—
Orthographic Projection		—	—
Wireframe Rendering		—	—
Mesh Rendering			—
Drawing on a 2D Work Plane in 3D
Align with Work Plane*	—		—
Work Plane Clipping*	—		—
*These buttons are available when using a Work Plane to define 2D objects in 3D.

Table 6-5: Graphics Toolbar Buttons Available for all Space Dimensions.
Button	Name	See Also
	Select All (Ctrl+A)
	Clear Selection (Ctrl+D)
	Click and Hide	Hiding and Showing Geometric Entities
	View Unhidden
	View Hidden Only
	View All
	Reset Hiding
	Zoom In	Zooming In and Out in the Graphics Window
	Zoom Out
	Zoom Box
	Zoom to Selection
	Zoom Extents
	Go to Default View	Changing Views in the Graphics Window
	Suppress Selection Highlight	Selection Colors
	Colors (Show Selection Colors in 2D and 3D and Show Material Color and Texture in 3D)	Selection Colors
	Quick Snapshot	Capturing and Copying Screenshots
	Image Snapshot	Capturing and Copying Screenshots
	Print	Printing from the COMSOL Desktop

Zooming In and Out in the Graphics Window


Button	Name	Action
	Zoom in and out	Click the middle mouse button (scroll wheel) and drag it forward and backward to zoom in and out of the object, respectively. The zoom is centered where the first click is made in the Graphics window. You can also use Ctrl+scroll wheel to zoom in and out by scrolling forward and backward or press the scroll wheel and zoom in and out with somewhat larger steps using the scroll wheel.
and	Zoom In and Zoom Out	Click the Zoom In button to zoom in. Click the Zoom Out button to zoom out.
	Zoom Box	To zoom into a general area of the geometry, click the Zoom Box button; then click and drag to highlight a section of the geometry to zoom into. Click the arrow to the right of the Zoom Box button to select Keep Enabled After Use if you want to continue to zoom using a box without having to click the Zoom Box button again.
	Zoom to Selection	Click the Zoom to Selection button to zoom into the selected geometric entities. This button is also available in connection with the selection lists for domains, boundaries, edges, and points. This zoom operation also updates the center of rotation and sets a manual rotation center, which will stay active until you click the Zoom Extents or the Go to Default 3D View button or otherwise change the mode of the rotation center.
	Zoom Extents	Click the Zoom Extents button to zoom out and fit the complete geometry into the window.
	Zoom to Point	Ctrl+middle-mouse click to zoom to the point that the mouse points to. This zoom action sets a manual rotation center and zooms into the point.

Changing Views in the Graphics Window


Button	Name	Action
	Go to XY View, Go to YZ View, and Go to XZ View (3D only)	Click the Go to XY View, Go to YZ View, and Go to XZ View buttons to change the view to the xy-, yz-, or xz-plane in a 3D Graphics window. The first click selects the plane view with a positive normal direction. A second click on the same button switches to a negative normal direction. A third click flips the direction in the plane, and a fourth click switches the normal again, so the clicks cycle through all four possible views for the chosen plane.
	Go to YX View, Go to ZY View, and Go to ZX View (3D only)	These buttons are only available if Click the Go to YX View, Go to ZY View, and Go to ZX View buttons to change the view to the xy-, yz-, or xz-plane in a 3D Graphics window. The first click selects the plane view with a positive normal direction. A second click on the same button switches to a negative normal direction. A third click flips the direction in the plane, and a fourth click switches the normal again, so the clicks cycle through all four possible views for the chosen plane.
	Go to Default View	Click the Go to Default View button to change the view to the default view in a 3D Graphics window.
	Display a user-defined view:	After creating a View under the Definitions node, click the down arrow next to the Go to View button () and select a user-defined view from the list.
	Rotate Right 90°, Rotate Left 90°	Click the Rotate Right 90° and Rotate Left 90° buttons to rotate a geometry in a 3D Graphics window by 90° in the right (clockwise) or left (counterclockwise) direction.
	Show Axis Orientation	Click the Show Axis Orientation button to toggle the display of the axis orientation indicator (triad) in the lower-left corner of the 3D Graphics window on or off.
	Show Grid	Click the Show Grid button to toggle the display the grid box on or off in the 2D and 3D Graphics window.
	Show Legends	Click the Show Legends button to toggle the display of the color legend on or off in 2D and 3D Graphics windows or to toggle the display of legends on or off in 1D Graphics windows.
	Enable Tooltip	For 1D graph plots, turn off and on the tooltip that shows the value of the graph at the point where you hover over the graph (enabled by default).
	Vertical axis	On the Default 3D View page, under Graphics in the Preferences dialog box, you can choose the vertical axis for default 3D views. From the Vertical axis list, choose x-axis, y-axis, or z-axis (the default). Also, by default, the axis points upward. To make it point downward instead, clear the Axis points upward check box. The default 3D view is used when adding new views and when clicking the Go to Default View button in 3D in the Graphics toolbar.

Moving Around and Rotating a 3D Geometry

There are many options available for moving around the window and rotating 3D geometries, in addition to the buttons for changing views listed under Changing Views in the Graphics Window above.

Controlling the Rotation

As the default, there is an automatic rotation center, so that the rotation center switches if there is something observable in the screen center. The automatic rotation center is good for navigating the model but not always for working on a local area of a big model. For that purpose, you can switch to a manual rotation center. Click the middle mouse button to set a new rotation center if you want to temporarily fix the rotation center (a manual rotation center). Zooming to a point or a selection also sets a manual rotation center. If you middle-click somewhere in the window where there is no object, the rotation center switches back to the automatic mode. The manual rotation center is only temporary and is reset to the automatic mode if you click the , , , , , , , or button. You can switch between automatic and manual modes by pressing the R key, and the rotation center icon will appear to indicate the current mode, if it is activated. See the preference settings below for disabling the automatic rotation center and the middle-mouse clicking and controlling the visibility of the rotation center icon, if desired.

If you want to permanently lock the current rotation center (in rare cases you may need to do so; perhaps for creating snapshot images for a report), select the check box in the node’s window. It locks the rotation center permanently, so you have to clear this check box to unlock it. The current locked rotation center will be saved in the model.

The automatic, manual, and locked modes have different rotation center icons on the screen when you rotate the object or perform any mouse operation:

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For the automatic mode:

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For the manual mode:

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For the locked mode:

The rotation center icon can be visible or hidden. You can specify the visibility in the dialog box, on the page, as well as controlling if the automatic rotation center and the middle-click for specifying the rotation center should be active. The following settings are available:

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Clear the check box to turn off the automatic rotation center (which is active by default).

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Clear the check box to turn off the automatic rotation center (which is active by default).

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From the list, choose (the default) to never show the rotation center icon, to show it only when you click the mouse or press R to change the rotation center, or to make it visible always.


	Setting the manual rotation point in the Graphics windows is only supported for the OpenGL renderer.

Constrained Rotation

To rotate around the x-, y-, and z-axis, use the X, Y, and Z keyboard shortcuts, respectively. If you press and hold the X key when rotating a 3D geometry, it will rotate around the x-axis only (lock the x-axis). In the same way, press and hold the Y and Z keys to rotate around the corresponding axis. You can switch the rotation while rotating with the left mouse button active; for example, press and hold the X key and then release it; then press and hold the Y key to switch between locking the x-axis and the y-axis without releasing the left mouse button.

Additional Tools for Moving, Zooming, and Rotating

In addition, the following list contains tools that are available for moving, zooming, and rotating geometries in the Graphics window. Except where stated otherwise, these tools are available for 3D geometries only.


Task	Action and Result	Operation Order
Rotate the objects in the scene around the scene’s rotation center.	In the Graphics window, click and hold down the mouse button while dragging it in any direction. This rotates the scene around the axes parallel to the screen X- and Y-axes with the origin in the scene rotation point.	click
Move the visible frame on the image plane in any direction (pan)	In the Graphics window, right-click and hold down the mouse button while dragging it in any direction. Available in all space dimensions.	right-click
Zoom in and out around the mouse position where the action started	In the Graphics window, click and hold down the middle mouse (scroll wheel) button and drag the mouse forward or back to zoom in and out (change the view angle of the camera in 3D). Available in all space dimensions.	middle-click
Set the manual rotation center	In the Graphics window, click the middle mouse button.	middle-click
Rotate about the X- and Y-axes in the image plane (tilt and pan the camera)	Press Ctrl and click in the Graphics window. While holding down the key and button, drag the mouse in any direction. This places the rotation coordinate system in the camera (the camera look-at axis) and rotates around the axes parallel to the screen X- and Y-axes. You can also constrain the rotation around the x-, y-, and z-axis using the X, Y, and Z keys, respectively. See Constrained Rotation.	Ctrl+click
Move the camera origin in the plane that intersects the camera origin and that is orthogonal to the camera look-at axis	Press Ctrl and right-click in the Graphics window. While holding down the key and button, drag the mouse in any direction.	Ctrl+right-click
Move the camera into and away from the object (dolly in/out)	Press Ctrl and then click the middle mouse button. While holding down both the key and button, in the Graphics window, drag the mouse in any direction.	Ctrl+middle-click, hold, and drag
Move the camera origin along the camera look at axis	Press Ctrl and then click the middle mouse button (scroll wheel).	Ctrl+middle-click
Rotate the objects in the scene about the axis that intersects the camera origin and the scene’s rotation center (roll direction)	Press Alt, then click in the Graphics window. While holding down the key and button, drag the mouse in any direction.	Alt+click
Move the camera origin in the plane that intersects the camera origin and that is orthogonal to the axis that intersects the camera origin and the scene’s rotation center	Press Alt, then right-click the mouse in the Graphics window. While holding down the key and button, drag the mouse in any direction.	Alt+right-click
Move the camera origin along the axis that intersects the camera origin and the scene’s rotation center	Press Alt, then middle-click in the Graphics window. While holding down the key and button (scroll wheel), drag the mouse in any direction.	Alt+middle-click
Rotate the objects in the scene about the camera look-at direction	Press Ctrl+Alt, then click in the Graphics window. While holding down the keys and the button, drag the mouse in any direction. If you have not rotated the camera (using Ctrl+click), the effect is the same as when using Alt+click.	Ctrl+Alt+click

Lighting, Transparency, Projection, and Wireframe Rendering

The following are available for 3D models.


Button	Name	Action
	Scene Light	Click any plot under Results. In the Graphics window or any other plot window, click the Scene Light button to turn it on. Click again to turn scene light off. See Figure 6-14. When creating a View, this action toggles the Scene light check box on the View page.
	Transparency	Click any plot under Results. In the Graphics window or any other plot window, click the Transparency button to turn it on. Click again to turn transparency off. See Figure 6-14. When creating a View, this action toggles the Transparency check box on the View page. With transparency active, you can also turn on Fresnel Transmittance from the button’s menu. For more information, see See View (3D).
	Orthographic Projection	Click this button to use orthographic projection; otherwise, perspective projection is used.
	Wireframe Rendering	Click any plot under Results. In the Graphics window, click the Wireframe Rendering button to turn it on. Click again to turn the wireframe off. See Figure 6-14. Note that wireframe rendering only has effect when mesh rendering is turned off (for a view that normally shows the mesh). When creating a View, this action toggles the Wireframe rendering check box in the View node’s settings. See View (3D). See also Preference Settings to set the level of graphic detail to Wireframe and speed up the rendering of complex models or to improve visual appearance.

Figure 6-14: Scene light, transparency, and wireframe rendering examples.

Hiding and Showing Geometric Entities

Selecting an item in any list highlights the corresponding geometric entities or objects in the window for selection or deselection. Only the geometric entities you can see in the window are available for selection; that is, hidden objects cannot be selected, and selection methods vary based on the Component’s space dimension.

In the window, toggle the button (click to highlight and turn on and click again to turn off). When turned on, click a geometric entity or geometry object, and it is then hidden and added to the list of hidden entities or hidden geometries in the Hide for Geometry or Hide for Physics node under a View. In the lists, appears next to the entity number. When click and hide is active, the cursor changes to indicate that clicking now hides objects:

. See Figure 6-15.

The click and hide functionality is turned off when you activate any of the following actions:

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Right-click in the window and select from the context menu.

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Clicking an button in the window (that is, activating or deactivating the selection).

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Changing the selection in the Model Builder, manually or as a side effect of some other action such as adding a new feature.

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In 2D, clicking the button.

When creating a , right-click the node and select or , depending on the current node in the model tree. Select a from the list to hide.

Also see Hide for Geometry, Hide for Physics, and Hide for Mesh Import when creating a .

View Unhidden

In the window, click the button to display any geometry objects, domains, boundaries, edges, or points not hidden.

View Hidden Only

In the window, click the button to display only hidden geometry objects, domains, boundaries, edges, or points.

View All

In the window, click the button to display all hidden and unhidden geometry objects, domains, boundaries, edges, or points.

Reset Hiding

In the window, click the button to reset all hidden geometry objects, domains, boundaries, edges, or points to the default.

This removes any or subnodes added to a node (when in geometry mode, subnodes are not removed). A dialog box opens where you can confirm that all hide nodes are deleted. Click to confirm. Select the check box to prevent it from appearing again. You can also disable it by clearing the check box on the page in the dialog box.


	When the View Hidden Only button (), View Unhidden button (), or View All button () is clicked in the Graphics window toolbar, it changes the view accordingly. The selection list in the Settings window details what is hidden or shown based on the button clicked. See Figure 6-15 and Figure 6-16 for examples based on the original geometry shown in About Highlighted Geometric Entities in the Graphics Window.

Figure 6-15: An example of the domains that display in the Graphics window when the View unhidden button is clicked. The selection list displays the detail that domains 4 and 7 are hidden in the Graphics window. Compare to Figure 6-16.

Figure 6-16: An example of the domains that display in the Graphics window when the View unhidden only button is clicked. The selection list displays the detail that domains 2, 3, 5, and 6 are hidden in the Graphics window. Compare to Figure 6-15.