Controlling the display of attributes

The Attribute display options in the Assembly Display Options dialog box allow you to control the display of symbols representing

  • interactions, constraints, and connectors that you create in the Interaction module,

  • loads, boundary conditions, and predefined fields that you create in the Load module,

  • engineering features that you create in the Property module and Interaction module, and

  • optimization attributes that you create in the Optimization module.

You can control when and how these attributes are displayed, and you can click Set all on or Set all off to display or hide all attributes, respectively. For information on the symbols representing each attribute, see Special graphical symbols.

Related Topics
Customizing geometry and mesh display
Special graphical symbols

Context:

For information on controlling the display of boundary conditions, coupling constraints, connectors, and point elements in the Visualization module, see Controlling the display of model entities.

  1. Locate the Attribute display options.

    From the main menu bar, select ViewAssembly Display Options. Click the Attribute tab in the dialog box that appears. The Attribute options become available.

  2. Click the Main tab to specify which attributes you want to display and in which modules you want them to appear.

    1. Select the Show attribute in option.

      • Select Module in which it was created to display attributes only in the modules in which they are created. For example, loads would appear only in the Load module and interactions only in the Interaction module.

      • Select All assembly-related modules to display attributes in all modules that support the display of the assembly.

    2. From the Show list, select the attributes that you want to display. Only those attributes that you select will appear in the viewport; for example, if you toggle on Loads and BCs, only load and boundary condition symbols will appear in the viewport. You can also select all categories and all types within each category by clicking Set all on, or you can deselect all categories and all types within each category by clicking Set all off.

  3. Click the Symbol tab to control the size and density of attribute symbols. You can also reduce the number of attribute symbols displayed on orphan mesh regions to a fraction of the maximum allowable number.

    1. Specify your Size preferences. The higher the size setting, the larger the symbols appear in the viewport.

    2. If you are working with geometry, specify the desired density of the attribute symbols. The higher the density setting, the more symbols Abaqus uses to represent each attribute.

      • Drag the Face density slider to control the density of symbols that appear on faces.

      • Drag the Edge density slider to control the density of symbols that appear on edges.

      The effect of changing a symbol density setting may vary depending on the size of the region in the viewport.

    3. If you want to reduce the density of attribute symbols displayed on orphan mesh regions, enter a value between 0 and 1 in the Fraction of symbols displayed on orphan mesh regions field. The higher the fraction value, the more symbols Abaqus/CAE uses to represent each attribute. Choosing the default density of 1 prompts Abaqus/CAE to draw symbols on every mesh entity within the region.

  4. Click the tab of the attribute of interest to specify which particular attribute categories and types you want to appear in the viewport.

    For example, if you click the Load tab, a list of load categories appears. If you click the arrow next to one of the categories, a list of all the load types within that category appears.

    Use the following techniques to specify the attribute categories and types that you want to display:

    • Click the arrow next to the category of interest. From the list of types that appear, select those types that you want to display.

    • Toggle the desired category. This action selects or deselects all types within that category.

    • Click Set All On to select all categories and all types within each category.

    • Click Set All Off to deselect all categories and all types within each category.

    The check box next to a category label becomes a black check mark on a white background when all types in that category are selected. The check box becomes light gray and the check mark becomes dark gray if only some of the types within that category are selected.

    Note:

    The attribute categories and types that you specify only appear in the viewport if you toggled on that attribute in Step 2.

  5. Repeat the previous step as necessary to display specific categories and types of other attributes of interest.

  6. At the bottom of the Assembly Display Options dialog box, click OK to implement your display settings in the current viewport and to close the dialog box.