Keyboard & Mouse Operation

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Mouse Picking

Mouse picking has been dramatically improved in LS-PrePost 2.3 (starting with March 2008 builds). The changes, which are available in both pre and post-processing modes (except when using Follow or Explod), are as follows:

  • 1. Element picking for very large models is much faster.
  • 2. Element picking in wire mode is done by finding the closest element center within a certain pixel tolerance (see pixtol command).
  • 3. Node picking in wire mode is done by finding the closest node within a certain pixel tolerance.
  • 4. Node picking in wire and shad mode will work even if the pick is outside the element.
  • 5. Coincident node picking is aided by a pop-up list of available node IDs (view Demo).

Dynamic Model Operation

  • Rotate: Left Mouse Button + Shift Key
  • Translate: Middle Mouse Button + Shift Key
  • Zoom: Right Mouse Button + Shift Key or Scroll Wheel + Shift Key
  • Fast Rendering Mode: Use Control (Ctrl) Key instead of Shift Key (Model will be rendered in edge mode)

Drawing Area Selection

  • Single Pick: Left Mouse Button
  • Area Pick (Rectangular Window): Hold Left Mouse Button while Dragging
  • Polygon Pick: Left click at corners of selection boundary / Right click to complete

Lists and Multiple Selections

Multiple selections are allowed in certain list menus. To accomplish this, hold down the Control (Ctrl) Key while clicking on the list items.

Function Keys (F1-F12)

function keys

F1 brings up the function key panel showing the current mapping of interface panels to F-keys. F2-F12 open whatever interface panel is linked to the function key pressed. Note: for the Windows version only, it may be necessary to click in the graphics viewport to enable the F-keys.

All F-keys except F1 and F10 can be linked to open up any of the panels situated in the pages on the right side of the main window. The mapping of panels to F-keys can be defined in the configuration file. For example, adding “fkey2 = ptrim” to .lspostrc would cause the PTrim panel to open when F2 is pressed.

Command files can be run by holding the Shift key while pressing the function keys. For example, pressing Shift+F2 would cause the command file “F2.cfile” to be executed. LS-PrePost will look for this file in the following locations:

  • 1. HOME/.lspp/ – HOME is an environment variable
  • 2. WD – WD is the current working directory

If the file is found in location 1, only that command file will be run. If the file does not exist in location 1, LS-PrePost looks in location 2. If a matching command file is not found in either location, nothing happens. The command file names (F1.cfile, F2.cfile, etc…) cannot be changed.

© 2012 Livermore Software Technology Corporation

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