Auto Contact Browser

The Auto Contact browser contains options for viewing and modifying the contact pairs identified in the auto contact process.

Naming Convention

During creation, a name is assigned to each interface and surface identified.

Interface:

Contact Pair example: CP:(comp name)_(comp_name)

Tie example: TIE:(comp name)_(comp_name)

Surface:

S:(comp name)

If more than one surface is selected, the naming convention uses S:(comp name):<index>

The Auto Contact browser contains the following columns:

Column	Description
Name	Lists the name of the interfaces, surfaces and surface interactions that were assigned. Underneath the interface name are the temporary surfaces included in that interface. Red indicates a slave surface, and blue indicates a master surface.
Accept	When the Accept box is checked, the Interface will be included in the creation process.
Type	Type of contact pair created.
Color	Color assigned to the interaction and surfaces
Surface Interaction	Opens the Auto Contact online help.

The Auto Contact browser contains the following icons:

Icon

Description

Options icon

This opens the Options dialog.

auto_contact_options_panel

Enter a new feature angle or customize the transparency for a selected entity. Click OK when finished.

Highlight Elements icon

Highlights the elements stored in selected entities in the graphics window. You can use the CTRL and Shift key to select multiple items in the table.

Review Elements icon

Review of elements stored in the selected entities. Elements are highlighted by color, all other components are grayed out. You can use the CTRL and Shift key to select multiple items in the table.

Review and Highlight are mutually exclusive. It is also possible to switch both options off. This is helpful when working with big models.

Fit View to Elements icon

Automatically zooms in to the elements stored in the currently selected items.

Display All Elements icon

In combination with the Highlight Elements or the Review Elements option, current contents remain unchanged on the screen.

Display Components with Elements icon

Highlights or reviews the elements referred by an interaction or surfaces and shows the components they belong to. All other components will be masked.

Display Only Elements icon

Only elements are highlighted or reviewed. The rest of the component and other components will be masked.

Select Elements Manually icon

Opens the element selection panel so that individual elements can be added/removed manually. Click proceed when finished.

Add by Adjacent icon

Adds the elements adjacent to the surface to the selected surface.

Right-click to undo one time.

Add by Face icon

Adds the adjacent face to the selected surface.

Right-click to undo one time.

Recheck icon

Opens the Auto Contact dialog to recheck the select interfaces. Recheck will either add more contacts to the existing contacts for modify the existing ones.

You can select interfaces from the browser, and the GUI will automatically populate the components that the interaction was based on. This helps modify an existing interface.