The Project Panel (FLAC and 3DEC)

The project panel gives lists of project resources: data files ( ), plots, saved model states ( SAV files ), results files, and sets (sketch, building blocks, and geometry). The panel always shows lists for data files, plots, and save files, even if empty. The other lists are only present if resources of that type exist in the project.

Figure 1: The Project panel.

Table 1: Project Panel Legend

Icons	State	Explanation
	Open, Saved	The item is saved and currently open.
	Open, Not Saved	The item is open in and has been modified since it was last saved.
	Closed	The item is closed (i.e., it is not open in any pane).
	Missing	The item is tracked by the project but cannot be found at the location stored by the project.[1]

Tip

Bear in mind that only one model state at a time may be open, thus making it the current model state. Consequently, all other model states in the Saved States group will be shown Closed or Missing.

In addition to visualizing the contents of the project, the panel allows showing, closing, running, renaming, restoring, or deleting project items (as applicable by file/object type). These actions are available on the item’s right click menu as described next.

Working with the Panel

There are three actions with the objects listed in the panel: double-click, right-click, and hover.

Double Click an Item

On a data file : open the data file in the active workspace. This will move the data file to the active workspace if it is already open in an inactive workspace; it does nothing if the data file is already open in the active workspace.

On any model state (open or closed) : restore the clicked model state and close the current model state as needed (a warning dialog to prompt saving appears if the current state is not saved).

On a missing item : produces an error dialog for that item; the error message will indicate the full path where the item was expected to be found.

Right Click an Item

Data file provides a context menu with a list of commands:

• “Show” (show the data file in the the active workspace)

• “Show Left” (show the data file in the upper-leftmost workspace)

• “Close” (close the workspace containing the item; disabled if the item is not currently showing)

• “Remove from Project” (remove the file from the project without deleting the file itself)

• “Delete” (delete the file from the file system)

• “Call” (show the file in the active workspace and execute its commands)

• “Show in Explorer” (open the folder containing this file in the system file explorer)

Saved state: provide a context menu with a list of commands:

• “Restore” (only if the file is not the active model state)

• “Remove from Project” (does not delete the file itself)

• “Show in Explorer” (open the folder containing this file in the system file explorer)

Hover over Item

Hovering over an item will show a tool tip that displays the item’s location (full path) and state (open, closed, etc.).

Sorting

Clicking the column heading for a group will sort the items of that group alphabetically. Once sorted, an arrow indicates sort direction — an up arrow indicates ascending order (a-z), a down arrow indicates descending order (z-a). Clicking the column heading subsequent times will toggle the sort order between ascending and descending order.

Showing/Hiding the Panel

The button labeled “Project” ( ) in the status bar is used to toggle display of the panel. Display is also toggled with the keyboard shortcuts alt + z or Ctrl + 3.

Endnote

[1]

This may indicate a broken linkage to the file path. However, in the case of saved states, it may be that the saved state has not yet been created. The program’s example projects, for instance, are shipped without their saved states and so will show them as “missing” in the Project pane (try Help -> Examples…).