A COMSOL® application is an intuitive and efficient way of interacting with a COMSOL Multiphysics® model through a highly specialized user interface. This book gives a quick overview of the Application Builder desktop environment with examples that show you how to use the Form Editor, Main Window Editor, and the Method Editor. Reference materials are also included in this book, featuring a list of the built-in methods and functions that are available. For detailed information on how to use the Model Builder, see the book Introduction to COMSOL Multiphysics.

If you want to check out an example application before reading this book, open and explore one of the applications from the Application Libraries in one of the Applications folders. Keep it open while reading this book to try things out. Only the Applications folders contain applications with user interfaces. The other folders in the Application Libraries are tutorial models with no user interfaces.

The Application Builder is included in the Windows® version of COMSOL Multiphysics and is accessible from the COMSOL Desktop® environment. COMSOL Multiphysics and its add-on products are used to develop applications. A license for these add-ons is required to run the applications from the COMSOL Multiphysics or COMSOL Server™ products.

Additional resources, including video tutorials, are available online at www.comsol.com/videos.

With a COMSOL Multiphysics license, applications can be run from the COMSOL Desktop in Windows®, macOS, and Linux®.

By using COMSOL Compiler™ you can compile your application to an executable file for Windows®, Linux®, and macOS. You can freely distribute the executable and it can be run without any license file.

With a COMSOL Server license, a web implementation of an application can be run in major web browsers on platforms such as Windows®, macOS, iOS, Linux®, and Android™. In Windows®, you can also run COMSOL applications by connecting to a COMSOL Server with an easy-to-install COMSOL Client, available for download from www.comsol.com/client-download. COMSOL Server does not include the Application Builder, Physics Builder, or Model Builder tools that come with the COMSOL Desktop environment. Any application created with the Application Builder will automatically work with a web browser or any client.

If you are not experienced in building a graphical user interface or programming, you may want to read Appendix F — Guidelines for Building Applications.

Additional documentation with information relevant to building applications can be found in the books: Application Programming Guide, Application Builder Reference Manual, and Programming Reference Manual.