Topics
- Saving views
- View Settings
- Moving Around in the View
- Moving Objects
- Sizing Objects
- Connecting Objects
- Creating and Editing Selection Sets
- Editing an Object's Properties
- Right-Click Menu
Saving views
The views utility is found in the Quick Properties window when there are no objects selected in the 3D view. It allows you to capture the view's current camera position and add it to a list of views.
View Name - Rename the selected view by typing a new name in this field.
View List - Select a view from the list to rotate/move to that view.
- Captures the current view.
- updates the currently selected view to the camera's current position/rotation.
- Removes the selected view from the list.
views can also be access through the right-click menu.
View Settings
For more available view settings, see the View Settings.
The 3D view may be toggled between orthographic and perspective modes by deselecting all objects in the 3D view and checking/unchecking the Perspective Projection option in the Quick Properties window.
Perspective projection gives the model a more 3D world feel.
Where as the orthographic view has no depth.
For more information about changing the View Settings for the 3D View, see the View Settings page.
Moving Around in the View
To move around in the view, click-and-hold on the floor of the model, and drag the mouse around in the view. This will translate the camera. To rotate the view, right click-and-hold on the floor of the model and drag the mouse in different directions. To zoom in and out, hold down both the right and left mouse buttons and move the mouse up and down. You can also zoom in and out by scrolling the mouse wheel.
If you are working in a perspective view, you can also do a mouse guided fly through using the F8 key. Make sure the mouse is in the center of the window. Then press the F8 key. Move the mouse up and down to fly forward and backward. Move the mouse left and right to turn left and right. Once you are finished, click on the F8 button again to exit fly-through mode. It is sometimes easier to navigate if the view is configured as first person (from the view settings window).
Moving Objects
To move an object in the X/Y plane, click-and-hold on the object and drag it to the desired location. To move the object in the z direction, click on it and scroll the mouse wheel. You can also hold both the left and right mouse buttons down on the object and drag it up and down.
To rotate the object, click on one of the three axis arrows with the right mouse button and drag the mouse up and down.
Sizing Objects
To change the object's size, click on one of the three axis arrows with the left mouse button and drag the mouse in the direction of the arrow. You can size the object in all three axes by 5% by pressing Ctrl and "L" to size up or "K" to size down. You can also size the objects in all three axes at once by holding alt and clicking on one of the three axes and moving the mouse in the direction of the axis. If the three axis arrows are not showing, go to the Edit menu and select Resize and Rotate Objects.
Connecting Objects
To connect two objects in the model, hold the 'A' key down, click-and-hold on one object, drag the mouse to the other object, and release the mouse button on that object. The 'A' connect method usually connects output ports to input ports, but you can also use other key connections. For instance, the 'Q' key is used for disconnecting. These and others are described in detail in the keyboard interaction section.
Another way to connect objects is to use the Connect Objects mode on the main toolbar. Having this mode selected allows you to create connectionsa without holding the 'A' key.
You can also create multiple connections in series. To do this, you hold 'A' or use Connect Objects mode 
, click an object, then click another object, then click another object, and so on.
Creating and Editing Selection Sets
You can create selection sets to have operations apply to a whole set of objects. To add objects to the set, hold the Shift or Ctrl key down and drag a box around the objects that you want selected. Holding Shift down resets the selection set, while holding Ctrl down adds or removes the objects to the selection set. You can also hold Shift or Ctrl down and click on objects, instead of dragging a box around them.
Another way to create selection sets is to use the New Selection mode on the main toolbar. This mode works the same as holding the Shift key down. The Toggle Selection mode works the same as holding the Ctrl key down.
Objects in the selection set are drawn with a red wire frame around them.
Once you have created a selection set, moving, rotating and scaling one of the objects will cause the other objects in the selection set to be moved, rotated or scaled as well. You can also perform several operations on the selection set from the Edit Selected Objects menu.
Editing an Object's Properties
To edit the properties of an object, refer to the Quick Properties window on the right side of your screen, or double click on the object or right click on it and select "Properties" from the popup menu to bring up more properties.
Right-Click Menu
Right click on the Perspective View or on an object to display this popup menu:
Explore Tree - Opens a Tree Window and displays the object in the Tree.
Properties - Opens the object's properties window.
Help - Displays this help page.
Edit
Copy - This copies the current item(s) to the clipboard.
Paste - This pastes from the clipboard into the current item (usually the model).
Animations... - Opens the Animation Creator to edit the object's animations.
Reset Object - This resets the x/y/z rotation and the z location of the object to 0.
Set Object Reset Position - This saves the object's current position so that whenever you press the reset button, the object will go back to that position (particularly useful for mobile objects such as transporters and operators).
Clear Object Reset Position - Clears the object's Reset Position.
Show Name - When this option is selected, the object's display name is always visible.
Show Ports - This toggles visibility of the ports and connections of the item.
Show 3D Shape - This toggles object visiblity in 3D views.
Show Content - This toggles flowitem visibililty within the object (i.e., flowitems in a Queue).
Record Stats (History) - This is another way to turn on statistics recording for the object.
Protected - This locks the objects' location, size and rotation.
No Select - This toggles the object's No Select, making the objects unclickable in the 3D View (still accessible in the Tree Window).
Designate This Node (so) - This designates the object as the "selected object", which can then be referenced in code as so(). You will usually use this option for writing code in the script console. There can only be one so() at any time.
Add to User Library - This option adds the selected object to the a selected user library.
View
View Object Events - Opens the Event List and displays all the current events for that object.
Capture Screen - This option captures the current screen, saving it as a bitmap file in the prints folder of flexsim. This can also be done by selecting on the active view and pressing the 'P' key.
Reset View - This returns the camera position of the view to its initial position, which is focused at 0,0,0.
Reset View Rotation - This returns the camera rotation of the view to its initial position, which is looking straight down.
Down - This option causes the view to drill down into the selected object, allowing you to see what is going on in the "contents" of that object. The title bar of the window will show the name of the object that you are observing. This feature is particularly useful for Visual Tools that hold other objects.
Up - This option causes the view to return up out of a selected object. If you have drilled down multiple levels you will have to return up the same number of levels to reach the main view.
Full Screen View - This sizes the window to take up the full screen. The window's title bar and frame will not be shown, and any other Flexsim windows on that monitor, including the main window, will be hidden behind this view. To exit Full Screen View, right click in the view and select View > Out of Full Screen View.
Designate This View (sv) - This designates the window as the "selected view", which can then be referenced in code as sv(). You will usually use this option for writing code in the script console. There can only be one sv() at any time.
Explore Structure - This option brings up a tree window exploring the tree structure of the orthographic window itself.
Object Groups
This list will dynamically update as you add groups. Each group name will be listed, and will become checkable, so you can easily add objects to any number of groups.
Add to New Group - This adds the object to a new group.
Edit Groups... - This opens the Object Groups utility.
For more information see the Groups page.
Model views
This list dynamically updates to show all available views. The defaults are Top, Front, Back, Left, and Right. Selecting an available view will rotate the model to that view.
Custom views, the ones created through the views utility, will appear at the top of the menu.
