How to add scrolling option on component parameter GUI?

Question

I'm using Dymola but I expect OpenModelica might very well be the same (or at least similar).

For a given component model sometimes it makes more sense to have lots of parameters shown on one "tab" of the parameter GUI. This can lead to an excessively long GUI which, for many reasons including for psychological reasons in relation to how humans process information, is not a appropriate solution.

To solve this I would like to add a vertical scroll bar on the parameter GUI. I believe I saw it once though I cannot recall exactly where.

For illustrative purposes look to the right side of your web browser window. That gray bar that goes up and down is the scrollbar :). I know, obvious but you never know.

I assume I need to put some command in an annotation somewhere though where and what command I am not sure. For example, I found some reference to a verticalScrollBarPolicy but alas, I can not find any documentation on this.

Anyone know how to do this?

EDIT #1: Dymola (and Adrian indicated OpenModelica as well) will automatically create the scroll bar when the GUI gets larger than the screen. Unfortunately (at least in Dymola) there is little margin so if you GUI is a fraction smaller than the window the "OK" button will be covered by the ribbon on the bottom of the screen and the GUI will be needed to made slightly larger to make the scroll bar appear automatically. This is a reason why a manual option for a scrollbar would come in handy.

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 04 '16 at 13:09

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I think additional "tabs" might help?

answered Mar 04 '16 at 13:09

Hang Yu

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I appreciate the response but that is not an option that I am entertaining for this particular problem as I eluded to in the question. Cheers! – Scott G Mar 04 '16 at 17:51

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 07 '16 at 17:33

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As far as I know in OpenModelica we have a scroll bar for that dialog windows if the window would expand out of the screen.

answered Mar 07 '16 at 17:33

Adrian Pop

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Hmm.. Interesting. I was thinking that Dymola/OpenModelica would allow the user to control the GUI window size manually in addition to an automated response. Getting too close to the edge of a screen can be a problem sometimes (e.g., having multiple monitors with varying size). The search continues but I appreciate your feedback! – Scott G Mar 07 '16 at 20:29
For sure that would be desirable but is not specified in the Modelica Specification. You should maybe open a ticket in the Modelica Trac about it: https://trac.modelica.org/Modelica – Adrian Pop Mar 08 '16 at 07:17

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 28 '16 at 14:47

As of this posting my understanding based on feedback on this forum, my own experience, and from additional discussions with others there is no current manual control of the GUI (i.e., size, scrollbars, etc.).

Your best bet if you come across issues (e.g., you have a super small 2nd monitor) is to use lots of tabs and keep descriptions very short (which is probably appropriate for most applications anyways).

This is a Dymola and OpenModelica issue not a modelica issue as it is not contained in the modelica specification (as I understand it).

If this changes and I find out about it I'll remove or update this post.

How to add scrolling option on component parameter GUI?

3 Answers3