COMSOL Multiphysics Application Builder Reference Manual Application Builder Reference Manual © 1998–2019 COMSOL Protected by patents listed on www.comsol.com/patents, and U.S. Patents 7,519,518; 7,596,474; 7,623,991; 8,457,932; 8,954,302; 9,098,106; 9,146,652; 9,323,503; 9,372,673; 9,454,625; and 10,019,544. Patents pending. This Documentation and the Programs described herein are furnished under the COMSOL Software License Agreement (www.comsol.com/comsol-license-agreement) and may be used or copied only under the terms of the license agreement. COMSOL, the COMSOL logo, COMSOL Multiphysics, COMSOL Desktop, COMSOL Compiler, COMSOL Server, and LiveLink are either registered trademarks or trademarks of COMSOL AB. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and COMSOL AB and its subsidiaries and products are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or supported by those trademark owners. For a list of such trademark owners, see www.comsol.com/trademarks. Version: COMSOL 5.5 Contact Information Visit the Contact COMSOL page at www.comsol.com/contact to submit general inquiries, contact Technical Support, or search for an address and phone number. You can also visit the Worldwide Sales Offices page at www.comsol.com/contact/offices for address and contact information. If you need to contact Support, an online request form is located at the COMSOL Access page at www.comsol.com/support/case. Other useful links include: • Support Center: www.comsol.com/support • Product Download: www.comsol.com/product-download • Product Updates: www.comsol.com/support/updates • COMSOL Blog: www.comsol.com/blogs • Discussion Forum: www.comsol.com/community • Events: www.comsol.com/events • COMSOL Video Gallery: www.comsol.com/video • Support Knowledge Base: www.comsol.com/support/knowledgebase Part number: CM020010 Contents Chapter 1: Introduction About the Application Builder 8 What Can You Do with the Application Builder? . 8 Accessing the Documentation . 8 Overview of the Manual 10 Chapter 2: Application Builder Tools Introduction 13 Starting the Application Builder 14 Launching the Application Builder . 14 Opening the Application Builder from the COMSOL Desktop. 15 Application Examples in the Application Libraries . 15 Overview of the Application Builder 16 The Application Builder and the Application Tree . 16 The Home Toolbar . 16 Cutting, Copying, Duplicating, Deleting, and Pasting Components . 18 Copying Application Components Between Applications . 19 Compiling Applications 20 Compiling Applications Using the COMSOL Compiler. 20 Creating Add-ins 22 Overview. 22 Add-in Definition . 22 Form Definition . 23 Method Definition . 23 The Inputs Branch 24 The Application Argument Node . 24 The Main Window Branch 26 The Main Window Node . 26 The Menu Bar Node . 27 The Toolbar Node . 27 The Menu Node . 27 The File Menu Node . 28 The Ribbon Node . 28 The Ribbon Tab Node . 28 The Ribbon Section Node . 28 The Item Node . 29 The Toggle Item Node. 31 The Separator Node . 33 CONTENTS | 3 The Forms Branch 34 The Forms Node . 34 The Form Node . 34 The Events Branch 38 The Events Node. 38 The Event Node . 38 The Declarations Branch 41 Array Syntax . 42 The String Node . 42 The Boolean Node . 43 The Integer Node . 43 The Double Node . 44 The Array 1D String Node . 44 The Array 1D Boolean Node . 45 The Array 1D Integer Node . 45 The Array 1D Double Node . 46 The Array 2D String Node . 46 The Array 2D Boolean Node . 47 The Array 2D Integer Node . 47 The Array 2D Double Node . 48 The Choice List Node . 48 Activation Condition . 49 The File Node . 50 The Unit Set Node . 50 The Graphics Data Node. 51 Adding Shortcuts . 51 Editing Initial Values and Arguments in Declarations and Command Sequences 52 The Methods Branch 55 The Methods Branch . 55 The Method Node . 55 The Libraries Branch 56 Images . 56 Sounds. 56 Files . 57 Add-in . 57 Form . 57 Method . 57 Planning and Preparing an Application 58 Preparing an Application . 58 Creating Applications from Models 59 Copy as Code to Clipboard . 59 Testing the Application . 60 4 | CONTENTS Keyboard Shortcuts 61 Chapter 3: Working with Forms Introduction 64 Overview of the Forms and Tools for Creating Forms. 64 Working with a Form and Using the New Form Wizard . 64 Data Access. 67 The Form Toolbar . 67 The Form Window Layout Modes . 69 The Sketch Mode. 69 The Grid Mode . 70 Previewing and Testing the Form . 74 Running Local Methods in Form Objects . 74 The Form Objects 75 Overview of the Form Objects . 75 Input Field . 76 Button . 80 Toggle Button . 83 Check Box . 87 Combo Box . 89 Text Label . 92 Unit . 93 Equation . 94 Line . 96 Data Display . 97 Graphics . 99 Web Page . 103 Image . 104 Video . 105 Progress Bar . 107 Log . 108 Message Log . 110 Results Table . 111 Form . 113 Form Collection . 114 Card Stack . 116 Card . 118 File Import . 120 Information Card Stack . 122 Array Input . 124 Radio Button . 127 Selection Input. 130 Text. 132 List Box . 135 Table . 138 The Edit Custom Toolbar Item Dialog Box . 141 Slider . 143 Hyperlink. 146 Toolbar . 147 Spacer . 149 CONTENTS | 5 Chapter 4: Working with Methods Overview 152 Opening a Method Editor Window . 152 Coding and Methods Overview . 152 The Application Builder Window. 153 The Method Windows. 153 The Method Toolbar . 153 The Method Nodes and Method Editor Windows . 155 The Utility Class Node . 156 The External Java Library Node . 157 The External C Library Node . 157 Using External C Libraries . 158 File Schemes and File Handling. 161 Getting Files to and from the Client File System . 162 Creating Methods 164 Syntax Highlighting and Comments . 164 Code Completion and Tooltip Help. 165 Code Folding . 170 Adding Language Elements . 171 Adding Model Expressions . 171 Adding Model Code and Form Objects . 172 Going to the Node to Which the Source Code Is Mapped . 174 Recording Code . 174 Using Shortcuts . 175 Creating Local Variables and Their Type Declarations . 176 Calling Other Methods Directly . 177 Using Properties Defined in Declarations as Variables . 177 Searching and Finding Text . 177 Indentation and Whitespace Formatting . 178 Brace Matching . 178 Debugging and Running Methods for Applications 179 Running Methods . ..