System Panel
The System panel provides a real-world framework on which to load Flowcode components that compliments the Dashboard Panel. It is designed to show the physical representation of real world components during simulation.
Contents
Overview
The System Panel is opened by selecting it in the View menu.
When it opens, you see a central coloured square, called the Table top, set against a coloured background. The colours or images of both are set in the General Options. 
The System panel has a Shapes toolbar running vertically down the left-hand side, and a Controls toolbar running horizontally across the top.
Components can be added to the System panel from the Components Toolbar. Then, input devices like switches can be operated to control the progress of the simulation, while output devices, like LEDs show the result.
Table top
The Table top provides a 'surface' on which components are placed. It is a flat plane that objects can be placed on. When locked to the Table top, all objects sit on top of it and interact as solid objects.
It is also useful as a surface for shadows, giving a sense of depth and orientation. The rotate mode of the camera treats the table top as the 'ground' and keeps the camera orientated with this in mind.
Camera control
The camera (viewpoint) can be panned or rotated around different axes using the three icons shown.
These work in conjunction with the Ctrl, Shift and Alt keys and with the three coloured arrow heads that show the camera orientation.
- Camera controls
To move and control the camera:
- Hold down the Ctrl key and click-drag the mouse to move the camera eye.
- Hold down both the Ctrl and Shift keys and click-drag the mouse to move the camera target.
- Hold down Alt and click anywhere on the panel to move the camera over that point or object.
Zoom
There is also a zoom facility, operated by pressing the Ctrl key and moving the cursor over the viewpoint icon. Clicking the mouse button in this and dragging downwards causes the view to zoom out. Dragging upwards causes the view to zoom in. The same functionality can be achieved by holding Ctrl and using the mouse wheel.
Axis alignment
The coloured arrows in the top left corner of the panel show the orientation of the camera. You can click any of these arrows to reset the view to look in that axis.
For example, clicking on the blue arrow gives a top-down view – looking down the ‘Z’ axis. Clicking on one of the other coloured arrows rotates the object about that axis.
Hint:
- The coordinates of the cursor are shown in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. Using this information can help you to position objects.
- First of all, move the cursor to the desired position, to find its coordinates. Then enter these into the 'Position' properties of the object in the Properties Panel.
Selecting items
Multiple items can be selected:
- By holding down the Shift key and then clicking on a number of items, one after the other;
- By left-clicking the mouse button and dragging over the items.
They can then be grouped:
- By clicking on the 'Group' icon.
- By selecting the 'Group' option from the ‘Selection’ menu which appears when you click the right-hand mouse button.
In this way, complex nested structures can be assembled from a number of parts. To ungroup, select the object and then click on the same icon.
Shapes toolbar
At the top is a colour selector, which sets the colour of any shape added to the work area. By clicking on the down-arrow, one of a wide range of colours can be selected.
Below it is the 'Text' icon, used to 'drag and drop' a single row of alphanumeric characters onto the work area. Afterwards, you can select it, by clicking on it, and configure it using the Properties Panel. In particular, when added, you can edit the default text displayed using the bottom ‘Text’ control on the Properties panel.
The remaining icons allow you to add a variety of shapes - some two-dimensional, others three-dimensional, to the work area. Each takes the colour chosen in the colour selector at the top. Each one can be configured using the Properties Panel, to determine the position, size and rotation of the shape, for example.
All objects can be dragged between the Dashboard and System panel and dropped in the required position.
Controls toolbar
Moving objects
The first four controls operate on the size, position and rotation of the component.
The left-hand end control allows you to move the selected object around the work area.
Moving to the right, the next control allows you to re-position a single point on an item. When you select an object and click on this control, pink anchors appear on the object. Selecting one of these allows it to be moved to a new position on the work area. The effect is to change the appearance, size or rotation of the object.
32px The next control allows you to change the size of the object. After selecting an object and clicking on this control, a number of blue anchors appear on the object. Any of these can be dragged to re-size that particular dimension of the object. (Handles at the corners affect size in two dimensions.)
The fourth control allows you to rotate an object. After selecting it and clicking on this control, a number of yellow anchors appear on the object. These allow the object to be rotated around different axes. Corner anchors will spin the object.
Controlling the camera
The next three controls determine the camera (viewpoint) behavior.
The first allows the camera to pan left / right / up / down.
The second allows the camera to rotate assuming the table top is the ground.
The third allows the camera to rotate without considering the table top.
General Options
File:Gen Panel Object Collision 01.png The next control determines what happens when two objects ‘collide‘. The options are that they move through, move around or move over each other, with respect to the camera view.
The next control is used to align the camera with the selected object.
The next two controls are used to set properties for the whole panel.
The first allows you to lock movement of objects:
- To the grid,
- To other objects,
- To the table-top
The grid can be re-sized and made visible in a range of colors via this control.
The second general options dialog is used to:
- Set the colour or image of the display;
- Set the number of views, allowing, for example, plan and elevation views of a component;
- Set the level of detail of all the displays.
Multiple views
By selecting multiple views in the 'General Options' several camera angles can be displayed on the same image, enabling orthographic design of the system. Up to four views can be shown.
