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Personalize the COMSOL Desktop^®

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As covered in the first part of this course, the COMSOL Desktop^®is the integrated user environment for creating and managing simulations in the COMSOL Multiphysics^®software. It includes the Model Builder, Application Builder, and Model Manager workspaces. There are many parts to each workspace, and in this part of the course, we will show you some examples to personalize the COMSOL Desktop^®.

Customizing the Layout of the COMSOL Desktop^®

The COMSOL Multiphysics^®user interface contains a number of windows, each with its own purpose. The following windows are always present:

• Model Builder, which provides a model tree with an overview of the contents of your current model
• Settings, which contains all settings for the selected node in the Model Builder window
• Graphics, which displays the geometry and mesh and also shows plots of the results
• Messages,Progress, andLog, which usually appear as a group of three tabbed windows at the bottom of the screen and provide general messages, progress for the solvers, and a log of the model properties and solver activities, respectively

Of these windows, only theMessageswindow can be closed. There are also a number of other windows that you can open from theWindowmenu.

An at-a-glance overview of the different ways you can customize theCOMSOL Desktop ^® as well as restore it back to the default layout.

Maximizing Windows

If you want to increase the size of theGraphicswindow for displaying a results plot, for example, you can maximize it by double-clicking at the top of the window. The window then becomes maximized and all other windows are hidden. Double-click again and the user interface is restored to the previous layout, before the window was maximized. You can maximize any window in the user interface this way.

Resizing, Floating, Hiding, and Closing Desktop Windows

To resize a window, click and drag the edges of the window to increase or decrease its width or height. You can also make a window “float”, or detach it, in three ways. One option is to drag the window outside of the desktop, or you can right-click the window and chooseFloat. Or, chooseFloatfrom theWindowposition menu at the upper-right corner of the window (the small downward-pointing arrow). This detaches the window, which “floats” as a separate window on the screen. You can move and resize a floating window as desired.

TheWindowposition button and menu.

To dock a floating window, right-click at the top of the window and chooseDock, or chooseDockfrom theWindowposition menu. The window is then docked into its previous location. You can also move a floating window on top of the COMSOL Desktop^®and click it to display a positioning guide. Then, you can move the floating window to the position relative the window that you positioned it above. The floating window is docked into that position (see the next section).

A screenshot of the Model Builder, with the model tree on the left, 3D Plot Group settings in the center, and Graphics window with a surface transistor model open and the positioning guide shown as an overlay.
The positioning guide for docking a window to the COMSOL Desktop.

To hide a window in the Linux^®operating system or macOS version of the software, right-click the top of the window and chooseToggle hideor click theToggle hidebutton at the upper-right corner of the window (the pushpin icon). The window is hidden, but its name appears in the left or right margin. To restore the window, move the mouse to the window’s name in the margin, right-click the top of the window, and chooseToggle hideor click theToggle hidebutton.

TheToggle hidebutton.


The cursor hovering over the Model Builder tab in the tray, yielding a preview of the currently hidden window.

Some of the most important windows, listed at the start of this article, are not closable. To close any of the other windows, click theClosebutton (the cross). To open a closed window again, choose it from theWindowsmenu.

Tiling Plot Windows to Show Multiple Plots and Graphs

You can use the flexibility of the user interface to tile several plot windows so that you can view them simultaneously. Doing this allows you to show multiple different results plots for a model's solution. We will use thesurface resistor tutorial modelbelow as an example.

To visualize multiple plots at once in theGraphicswindow, complete the following steps:

• Select the first plot node you want to display
• In theSettingswindow, open theWindow Settingssection
• In thePlot windowdrop-down menu, selectNew window
• Check theWindow titlebox and enter a name the window in the text field
• Click the + button next to the drop-down menu and then clickPlotat the top of theSettingswindow
• Repeat this process for each plot you plan to tile

TheWindow Settingssection, wherein the settings have been updated so that the stress results are displayed in a seperate plot window namedStress Distribution.

To tile the plots, proceed as follows:

• Click and drag on the tab for the new plot, which appears in theGraphicswindow next to theGraphicstab
• Alternatively, select the tab, click the carrot in the top right of theGraphics Window, and choosefloat
• Drag and drop the window into the position desired using the position guide
• Continue to drag windows into the desired positions

FourPlotwindows tiled to show four aspects of the model solution (clockwise from the top-left plot: temperature distribution, stress distribution, stress distribution in the solder joint, and isothermal contours).

Show Option for the Messages Window

If you want to hide theMessageswindow, you can have it reappear when you have a new message. You will see the optionShow on New Messagein theMessageswindow, which enables or disables the window appearing on top when new messages are added. The button for the option is shown below.

TheShow on New Messageoption in theMessageswindow.

Restoring the COMSOL Desktop^®to a Built-In Layout

After adding and rearranging a number of windows, you might want to return to the default layout. To do so, click theReset Desktopbutton. This will close any added windows and restore the size and position of the windows discussed previously.

There are two built-in layouts to choose from:

• Widescreen
  • Designed for larger, widescreen displays
  • TheModel Builder,Settings, andGraphicswindows appear side by side
• Regular Screen
  • Designed for smaller, regular screens
  • TheModel Builderwindow is placed on top of theSettingswindow, with theGraphicswindow on the side

One of these layouts is always selected, and it’s the selected layout that theReset Desktopbutton restores.

The widescreen layout (left) and regular layout (right) for a reset desktop.

The desktop appears in your modified layout until you select theReset Desktopbutton. You can use this ability to keep two custom layouts with aWidescreen Layoutfor one purpose and aRegular Screen Layoutfor another purpose. For example, if your desktop computer setup includes dual monitors, you can configure theRegular Screen Layoutso that the COMSOL Desktop^®appears in one monitor with theModel BuilderandSettingswindows (and perhaps other windows of interest). You can then have a floating and maximizedGraphicswindow fill the second window. Such a configuration can be useful for postprocessing and visualization of results. TheWidescreen Layoutcould then keep its basic integrated environment and perhaps be used for preprocessing and setting up the geometry and physics. You can then quickly switch between the custom layouts by choosingWidescreen LayoutorRegular Screen Layout.

Customizing the COMSOL Desktop^®for the Linux^®Operating System and macOS

The previous examples use the Windows^®version of the COMSOL Desktop^®. The Linux^®operating system and macOS version of the COMSOL Desktop^®are slightly different. The following differences are the most important:

• TheReset Desktop,Widescreen Layout, andRegular Screen Layoutoptions are on theDesktop Layoutsubmenu of theWindowsmenu
• There is no Quick Access Toolbar
• You can maximize a window by clicking theMaximizebutton in the upper-right corner of the window
• TheMinimize(left) andMaximize(right) buttons are in the upper-right corner of windows in the user interface for Linux^®and macOS
• There are noFloatorDockcommands, but windows can be dragged outside of the COMSOL Desktop^®to make them float and can be moved to new positions
• There is no positioning guide

Location of theMinimize andMaximize buttons in theCOMSOL Desktop ^®for macOS andLinux ^® operating systems.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. macOS is a trademark of Apple Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.