You can locate an entity by clicking the Show Find option within the context sensitive menu. This opens a new line of entries within the top of the browser; the additional options include a combination text/list Find:
box and arrow buttons for Find Next, Find Previous, Find All and Options for searching (represented by a downward-facing double arrow).
To find an entity, type a search string into the combination box and (if necessary) click the Options for searching button to reveal a list that allows you to specify search behavior:
Match Case Only entities whose names contain the search string with upper/lower case matching what you typed into the Find: box. For example, with this option active, a search for "chassis" will ignore an entity called "Chassis".
Whole Names Only those entities whose complete name matches what you typed into the Find will be found: box, rather than only part of the name. In other words, if you type "chassis" into the Find: box, entities labeled "chassis1",
"FrontChassis", or "RearChassis1" will be ignored.
Use Wildcards Wildcards allow you to search for any items that partially match the text you are searching for. For instance, you could search for "*pillar" and find components named "A-Pillar" and "B-Pillar".
Note that using wildcards is generally not compatible with searching for whole names!
By ID Using this option allows you to type an entity ID into the Find: box instead
of a text-based name.
Note that these options are on/off toggles; clicking one activates it (represented by a checkbox in the list).
To deactivate the option, select it again to remove the checkbox. In this way you can combine the search options, such as searching for whole names with matching case.
To find entities matching your specified string and options, click the up or down arrow buttons to search upward or downward through the browser’s tree. In this way, you can continue searching by repeat clicks of these buttons; for example, after clicking the down-arrow and finding the first match, you can find the next match by clicking the down-arrow again.
When the find function reaches the bottom of the tree it will start over again from the top, until it has performed a single full loop from its starting point. So, for instance, if the tree contains three entities matching your search string, clicking the down-arrow button finds match #1; clicking again finds match #2;
clicking third time finds match #3; clicking a fourth time reaches the end of the tree and starts over from the top, finding match #1 again.
To find all of the matching entries, click the Find All button (the double-headed arrow). This finds and highlights all matching entries in the tree list.
Once the entity that matches the entered string is found, it is highlighted in the Model Browser. If the entity is found inside an assembly that is collapsed, the appropriate assemblies are expanded to expose the entity.
Since this function works in combination with the filters, it only searches for items currently shown in the tree.
Dialogs
Whenever you create, edit, or assign properties to a new component, property, or material, you enter the relevant information in a dialog box that opens when you choose the desired function. For example, if you right-click on a component in Model Browser and and select create from its context-sensitive menu, the Create Component dialog opens.
Dialogs are dynamic, with different fields and tabs being enabled or disabled depending on the needs of the solver associated with your current user profile. Dialogs also retain the last set of information entered upon the previous create action; if you create a new entity, the details are saved for the next time you used the create dialog. If, however, you cancel the dialog without creating anything, these details are lost. Finally, due to the dependence on user profiles, changing your profile while a dialog is open has the same effect as clicking Cancel.
When you create a new entity, the dialog does not close unless you activate the Close dialog upon creation checkbox (or click the "X" in the dialog's title bar). This allows you to use the same dialog to create multiple entities of the same type without needing to go through the right-click menu to open a new dialog each time. By default, you must click the Cancel button to close the dialog.
When you access a dialog by right-clicking on an existing item in the browser, the dialog defaults to the same information as the item that you right-clicked on. This allows you to quickly create series of similar properties and components by changing only one or two variables without having to re-enter all of the common information for each item.
Even if you don't begin the process by right-clicking an item, you can still populate the fields in the dialog by activating the same as checkbox and picking an existing item from the list box. The color and other
properties will be set to the same values as the item you selected. Note that the same as field is disabled if there are no other entities in the database of the same type.
The material and property tabs of the Assign dialog allow you to type in a name for the desired material or property. When you type in a name that already exists in the database, the values associated with that
preexisting material or property automatically fill in the fields of the tab. This behavior appears on the Create Component dialog's Property and Material tabs, as well as in the Create Property dialog.
Note: If you attempt to assign properties or materials using names that already exist in the database, the pre-existing property or material will be assigned. Its values will display in the dialog as described above, but cannot be edited.