Creo Simulate > Getting Started with Creo Simulate > User Interface Basics > Using Dialog Boxes and Message Boxes
  
Using Dialog Boxes and Message Boxes
Dialog boxes and message boxes are the common communication tools for Creo Simulate. You use dialog boxes to define items such as modeling entities, analyses, design studies, and results. You use message boxes to answer prompts that may be displayed as you work. Message boxes also inform you of problems with your model or provide you with information pertinent to an activity you are performing.
Dialog boxes are windows with entry boxes, lists of options or drop-down lists, buttons, collectors, and other items that you use to apply settings and values to entities, analyses, and design studies you create or modify. Because dialog boxes are windows, you can move or close them if necessary. Commands that use dialog boxes open the dialog boxes automatically when you select the command. Some commands may use more than one dialog box.
Here is an example of a typical dialog box. Note that this dialog box does not contain all of the possible items you might see on a dialog box, but does include the most common items.
1. Entry box
2. Option menu
3. Tab
4. Spin box
5. Check box
6. Button
7. Display-only text
To apply settings using a dialog box, enter or select values using the items on the dialog box. When you select a button on a dialog box, additional buttons or entry boxes related to your selection may appear on the dialog box.
The following list describes most dialog box items and how to use them:
entry box
Provides a place for you to enter a value, name, or comment.
option menu
Enables you to select one of several options. The dialog box displays the name of the currently selected option. Also referred to as drop-down list.
tab
Enables you to select an activity to perform on a dialog box. When you click a tab, the dialog box brings that tab to the forefront for you to fill out.
Spin Box
Enables you to increase or decrease a numeric value for a quantity by typing the value or by using the arrows to increase or decrease the value.
check box
Enables you to select an item. From a group of check boxes, you can select one or many.
button
Enables you to perform an action.
display-only text
Displays a name or value that you cannot edit.
list box
Displays a list of items with a scroll bar. You usually select an item on the list.
table
Lists a variety of attributes associated with an entity. You use dialog box tables to select entities that you want Creo Simulate to act on or that you want to define. You can insert new rows into dialog box tables and delete existing rows. In some cases, you can edit the contents of a table by right-clicking on an item.
Collectors
In addition to these dialog box items, in some instances Creo Simulate uses collectors and selection sets. Collectors guide you in making correct selections while selecting items such as surfaces, edges, and so on. The following is an example of a dialog box showing collectors.
1. Active collector
2. Empty collector
3. Collector allowing multiple selections
In this figure, items 1 and 2 are collectors that allow selection of only a single reference. Item 3 indicates a collector that allows selection of multiple references. The collector displays the selected reference. When you select the reference entity for a field that allows only a single selection, the next empty collector is activated. The active collector is yellow in color. For collectors that show more than a single reference entity, Creo Simulate provides the option of removing all the selected entities simultaneously.
After you select a reference you can right-click the reference in the collector and select Remove to remove the selected entity from the collector. Select Remove All to remove all selected references in a collector. Right click the reference and click Zoom Into to display the selected reference in the center of the graphics window.
A red dot in an empty collector indicates that the selection of one or more references is mandatory. A red dot next to a reference entity in a collector indicates that the selected reference is suppressed in the model. Right-click this reference to display a menu that provides you an option of removing the reference or troubleshooting. For references that include direction, the directions are indicated on the model by a yellow arrow. Right-click the reference to display a menu that allows you to flip one or all directions or reset all directions to the default.
For dialog boxes that include one or more collectors, right-click anywhere in the Creo Parametric graphics window, to display a menu that allows you to activate any of the available collectors. This menu also gives you the option to clear all references from the active collector. If you right-click a valid geometric entity, the menu that is displayed includes the usual selection menu items, such as Next, Previous, and Pick From List.
Message boxes
Message boxes provide you with important information that you need before continuing with a command. Some commands use message boxes to display a question or a message. If this is the case, the message box includes buttons that you can use to respond to the question. You select the buttons on these message boxes with the left mouse button. You can also select the default response, the button with the double border, by pressing RETURN. Like dialog boxes, a message box is a separate window that you can move or close.
Refer to the Creo Parametric Fundamentals Help for more information on using collectors and making selections on your model.
Return to Working With the User Interface.