Chapter 2. Graphical User Interface (GUI) The FLUENT graphical interface consists of a menu bar to access the menus, a toolbar, a navigation pane, a task page, a graphics toolbar, graphics windows, and a console, which is a textual command line interface (described in Chapter 3: Text User Interface (TUI)). You will have access to the dialog boxes via the task page or the menus. • Section 2.1: GUI Components • Section 2.2: Customizing the Graphical User Interface (UNIX Systems Only) • Section 2.3: Using the GUI Help System 2.1 GUI Components The graphical user interface (GUI) is made up of seven main components: the menu bar, toolbars, a navigation pane, task pages, a console, dialog boxes, and graphics windows. When you use the GUI, you will be interacting with one of these components at all times. Figure 2.1.1 is a sample screen shot showing all of the GUI components. The seven GUI components are described in detail in the subsequent sections. On Linux/UNIX systems, the attributes of the GUI (including colors and text fonts) can be customized to better match your platform environment. This is described in Section 2.2: Customizing the Graphical User Interface (UNIX Systems Only). 2.1.1 The Menu Bar The menu bar organizes the GUI menu hierarchy using a set of pull-down menus. A pull-down menu contains items that perform commonly executed actions. Figure 2.1.2 shows the FLUENT menu bar. Menu items are arranged to correspond to the typical sequence of actions that you perform in ANSYS FLUENT (i.e., from left to right and from top to bottom). To select a pull-down menu item with the mouse, follow the procedure outlined below: 1. Move the pointer to the name of the pull-down menu. 2. Click the left mouse button to display the pull-down menu. 3. Move the pointer to the item you wish to select and click it. Release 12.0 c ANSYS, Inc. January 30, 2009 2-1 Graphical User Interface (GUI) Graphics Toolbar Standard Toolbar Menu Bar Graphics Window Navigation Pane Dialog Box Task Page Console Figure 2.1.1: The GUI Components Figure 2.1.2: The FLUENT Menu Bar 2-2 Release 12.0 c ANSYS, Inc. January 30, 2009 2.1 GUI Components In addition to using the mouse, you can also select a pull-down menu item using the keyboard. If you press the <Alt> key, each pull-down menu label or menu item will display one underlined character, known as the mnemonic. If you then press the mnemonic character of a pull-down menu, the associated menu will be displayed (note that the mnemonic character is not case sensitive). After the pull-down menu is selected and displayed, you can type a mnemonic character associated with an item to select that item. For example, to display the Help menu and select the Using Help... option, press <Alt>, then h, and then h again. If at any time you wish to cancel a menu selection while a pull-down menu is displayed, you can press the <Esc> key. 2.1.2 Toolbars The FLUENT GUI includes toolbars located within the application window. These tool- bars provide shortcuts to performing common tasks in ANSYS FLUENT. By default, the toolbars are docked to the FLUENT interface but can also be detached and moved to a new location. You can detach a toolbar by clicking the left mouse button on the outer portion of it, holding down the mouse, and dragging the toolbar to a new location. To move the detached toolbar, select the title bar and drag the toolbar to a new position in the application window. Once detached, the toolbars can be restored to their location in the interface by double-clicking the title region of the toolbar. i Toolbars that are detached or moved to a new location will return to their original positions each time FLUENT is launched. The small arrow button in some FLUENT toolbars can be used to access additional functionality in ANSYS FLUENT. For instance, there are additional selections available when you click the small arrow in the standard toolbar. The FLUENT graphical user interface includes a standard toolbar and a graphics toolbar. The Standard Toolbar The standard toolbar (Figure 2.1.3) contains options for working with ANSYS FLUENT case files, saving images, and accessing the ANSYS FLUENT documentation. Figure 2.1.3: The Standard Toolbar Release 12.0 c ANSYS, Inc. January 30, 2009 2-3 Graphical User Interface (GUI) The following is a brief description of each of the standard toolbar options. • Read a file allows you to read in a mesh, open existing ANSYS FLUENT case files, and other file types using a file selection dialog box. Here, you can browse through your collection of folders, and locate a file. For more information, see Section 4.3: Read- ing and Writing Case and Data Files. • Write a file saves the current ANSYS FLUENT case, data, or other file types. For more information, see Section 4.3: Reading and Writing Case and Data Files. • Save Picture allows you to capture an image of the active graphics window. For more information, see Section 4.21: Saving Picture Files. • Help allows you to access the ANSYS FLUENT User’s Guide for help topics. For more information, see Section 2.3: Using the GUI Help System. The Graphics Toolbar The graphics toolbar (Figure 2.1.4) contains options that allow you to modify the way in which you view your model or select objects in the graphics window. Figure 2.1.4: The Graphics Toolbar The following is a description of each of the graphics toolbar options. • Rotate View lets you rotate your model about a central point in the graphics window. For more information, see Section 29.3: Button Functions • Pan allows you to pan horizontally or vertically across the view using the left mouse button. For more information, see Section 29.3: Button Functions • Zoom In/Out allows you to zoom into and out of the model by holding the left mouse button down and moving the mouse down or up. For more information, see Section 29.3: Button Functions. You can also roll the view by holding the left mouse button down and moving the mouse left or right. • Zoom to Area allows you to focus on any part of your model. After selecting this option, position the mouse pointer at a corner of the area to be magnified, hold down the left mouse button and drag open a box to the desired size, and then release the mouse button. The enclosed area will then fill the graphics window. Note that you must drag the mouse to the right in order to zoom in. To zoom out, you must drag the mouse to the left For more information, see Section 29.3: Button Functions 2-4 Release 12.0 c ANSYS, Inc. January 30, 2009 2.1 GUI Components • Print information about selected item allows you to select items from the graphics windows and request information about displayed scenes. This behaves as a mouse probe button. For more information, see Section 29.3: Button Functions. • Fit to Window adjusts the overall size of your model to take maximum advantage of the graphics window’s width and height. • Isometric view views the model from the direction of the vector equidistant to all three axes. • Arrange the workspace provides you with several application window layout options. For example, you can choose to hide certain windows, or view multiple graphics windows. This is essentially the shortcut to the View menu. For information about the various layouts, see Section 29.4: Viewing the Application Window. • Arrange the graphics window layout allows you to specify the number and layout of the graphics windows, when they are embedded in the FLUENT application window. You can have up to four graphics window embedded at one time. This is essentially a shortcut to the View/Graphics Window Layout menu. See Section 29.4: Viewing the Application Window for further details. 2.1.3 The Navigation Pane The navigation pane, located on the left side of the FLUENT GUI, contains a list of task pages, as shown in Figure 2.1.5 The list consists of Problem Setup task pages, Solution-related activities, and a Results section for postprocessing. When any of the items under Problem Setup, Solution, or Results is highlighted, the task page (Section 2.1.4: Task Pages) will be displayed to the right of the navigation pane. The items in the navigation pane are listed in the order in which you would normally set up, solve, and postprocess a case. Using the navigation pane is an alternative to using the menu bar. For example, there are two ways you can access the Viscous Model dialog box. To access it using the navigation pane, highlight Models in the navigation pane by clicking on it with your left mouse button. The Models task page will appear to the right of the navigation pane. Select Viscous from the Models list and click the Edit... button (or simply double-click on Viscous) to open the Viscous Model dialog box. Models −→ Viscous −→ Edit... You can also access the Viscous Model dialog box using the following menu path: Define −→Models... Release 12.0 c ANSYS, Inc. January 30, 2009 2-5 Graphical User Interface (GUI) Figure 2.1.5: The FLUENT Navigation Pane This will open the Models task page, where you will select Viscous from the Models list and click the Edit..