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Display options

Display options in general​

The Display options tool controls how FEM-Design visualises analysis results. The interface that opens depends on the selected result type and selected visual display options.

Display options tool

There are two different display option interfaces:

  • tabbed Display options window
  • graph Display options window

Tabbed Display options window​

Used for result types where values can be shown as colour fields, vectors or symbols. This window may contain several tabs depending on the result type, for example:

  • Palette – settings for colour palette or contour lines visualisation
  • Others – deformation, shape display and mesh options
  • Point / Line / Surface / Resultant – reaction-specific settings
  • Appearance – colour settings for reaction vectors and numeric values

There might be an additional tool palette that opens before the tabbed Display options window if the result type contains directional vector data. This additional palette is used to filter which direction component is shown.

Only the tabs relevant to the active result type are shown. Each tab and filtering palette is described below in detail.

Graph Display options window​

Used for graph-based results such as bar internal forces, translational displacements or other 1-dimensional diagram-type outputs. This window does not use tabs. Instead, it contains grouped sections for:

  • scale and maximum values
  • colours and pen settings
  • deformation graph options (when applicable)

There will be an additional tool palette Edit sections that opens before the graph Display options window if the selected visual display option is Section. This additional palette is used to define and manage section lines.

Each section of this graph type dialogue is described below in detail.



Vector direction filter tool palette​

For result types that directional vector data (for example Translational displacements), an additional tool palette appears before the main Display options dialogue window. This palette controls which directional component of the result is shown in the colour palette view.

Directional filter tool palette in Display options

Main tools​
  • Absolute value – display the full vector magnitude of the result
  • Global co-ordinate system – display the component of the result in a selected global direction. Use the Direction tool to select a direction (read below in more detail)
  • Object’s local system – display the component of the result in each object’s local coordinate system. Use the Direction tool to select a direction (read below in more detail)
  • Parallel with line – draw a line in the model space and display the component of the result parallel to that line
  • Perpendicular to plane – define a plane in the model space and display the component of the result perpendicular to that plane
  • Default settings – opens the tabbed Display options window with its full settings (read about the tabbed Display options window below in more detail)
Direction​

Use the Direction drop-down menu to select the direction of the result component you want to show. The directions depend on the selected coordinate system:

  • when Global co-ordinate system is selected, use the drop-down list to select one of the 3 possible options - direction is parallel with global X, Y or Z axis
  • when Object’s local system is selected, use the drop-down list to select one of the 3 possible options - direction is parallel with local x', y' or z' axis

These settings are available when either Global co-ordinate system or Object’s local system is selected.

  • Positive direction and Negative direction – use these buttons to use positive or negative direction of the selected coordinate direction
Apply options​
  • Auto apply – when checked, changes in the palette are applied automatically to the current view
  • Apply – apply the changes manually when Auto apply is unchecked
info

This palette works together with the tabbed Display options windows.



Tabbed Display options window​

Some result types (for example Bedding moduli, Shell internal forces, etc) use the tabbed Display options window.

This Display options dialogue may contain multiple tabs from:

  • Palette – settings for colour palette or contour lines visualisation
  • Others – deformation, shape display and mesh options
  • Point / Line / Surface / Resultant – reaction-specific settings
  • Appearance – colour settings for reaction vectors and numeric values

Palette tab​

Colour palette – Palette tab

The Palette tab controls how the result values are coloured and scaled. Similar tabs are used for both Colour palette and Contour lines display types.

Preview​

The preview shows the current colour palette with value ranges and colour transitions. Colour palette display types, the colors create a unified colour field. In Contour lines display types, the colors are only assigned to borders between the steps.

tip

You can drag any of the arrows on the right side of the preview to change the color division.

Colour schema​

  • Continuous / Discrete – choose how colours transition between palette steps

    • Continuous – colours blend smoothly between the defined step values
    • Discrete – colours change sharply at each step boundary without blending

  • Step number/value – defines the number of colour steps between the minimum and maximum and displays the value interval between them

In case of Contour lines display types, there is an additional setting:

Contour lines pen width

  • Pen – set the pen width for contour lines

Below the colour schema buttons is a table for setting colour values:

  • Value – the result value at which the specified colour appears
  • Colour – the colour assigned to that value

Below the colour table are buttons for managing colour schemas:

  • Save schema – save the current colour schema
  • Load schema – load a previously saved colour schema
  • Save schema as default – store the current schema as the default for future use
  • Load default schema – restore the program’s default schema
Scale​
  • Minimum/Maximum – numeric fields for the visible value range
  • Reset range to min/max – automatically sets the range to the actual result minimum and maximum
  • Reset range to –|max| / +|max| – uses symmetric range based on the largest absolute value
  • Round min/max – valid digits – round the range to a chosen number of significant digits
  • Reset view – resets zoom and panning of the palette preview to reflect the changes made in the Scale group
  • Reset abs. – sets the colour range to the absolute maximum of all same-type results in the model
  • Reset rel. – sets the colour range to the maximum of the currently displayed result only
Behaviour​
  • Automatically reset to view when it changes – when enabled, the colour palette range is automatically rescaled to the current view (for example when parts of the structure are hidden or a new result needs a wider range)

Others tab​

Colour palette – Others tab

The Others tab controls how the structural shape is displayed when showing colour palette results.

Shape​

  • Original shape – display the result on the undeformed structure, without any displacement applied

  • Deformed shape – display the result on the physically deformed structure, using the calculated displacements as shape

  • Value – display the result as a 3D value graph, where the shape is raised or lowered proportionally to the result value (independent from the real structural deformation)

  • Scale/Max – set deformation scale (left field) and see the maximum value (right field)

  • Reset absolute – sets the deformation range to the absolute maximum of all same-type results in the model

  • Reset relative – sets the deformation range to the maximum of the currently displayed result only

  • Show finite elements – display the underlying finite element mesh

  • Mesh colour – choose a colour for the finite element mesh

Bar/Line​

Changes the visual style of bar elements

  • Resolution – set the distance for the colour palette color blending. A low value gives a smoother colour transition from one palette color to the next, while a large value gives a coarser transitions and looks more like the discrete palette. It is not possible to set the value to too coarse, as there is also an automatic maximum value for the colour palette resolution.
  • Pen – set the pen width for colors on the line elements
Solid​
  • Show solid minimum and maximum – show the soil minimum and maximum result values on the screen
  • Font – change the font for the minimum and maximum result value for the solid
tip

Solid minimum and maximum are a set of special values that are disconnected from the structure minimum/maximum values. At the moment it is only used for 3D soil, as it is the only analytical element that uses solid finite elements. Using the checkbox allows to show the soil values while you can add structural values with other tools like Numeric value or Automatic numeric values to show both at the same time on the screen.

The minimum value for the solid are shown in dark green, while the maximum value is shown in red.


Appearance tab​

Reactions – Appearance tab

Unique tab, that does not contain any common sections. Used to define the colours of reaction components.

Component colours​

Colours are defined separately for Positive and Negative values:

  • x', y', z' – set colour for each reaction direction
Numeric values​
  • Same colour as result component – match numeric value colour to the component colour

Point, Line, Surface and Resultant tabs​

Point, Line, Surface and Resultant tabs share many similar settings. Below are the common elements used in these tabs, followed by the specific content for each tab.

Common elements in Point, Line, Surface and Resultant tabs​

Reactions Display options

Components​

Select which reaction components are displayed. Depending on the tab, the available components are:

  • Fx', Fy', Fz' – reaction force components for support group elements
  • Mx', My', Mz' – reaction moment components for support group elements
  • F single – display values for single motion supports (not support groups)
  • M single – display values for single rotation supports (not support groups)
Resultant​

Select which components to include in the resultant vector display.

  • Fx', Fy', Fz' – resultant force vector components. Check the ones you like to include in the resultant vector
  • Mx', My', Mz' – resultant moment vector components. Check the ones you like to include in the resultant vector
Activation buttons​

The activation buttons next to the component groups control whether force, moment or resultant vectors are displayed at all.
When an activation button is turned off, all checkboxes in that component group become inactive and the corresponding vectors are not shown on screen.

  • Arrow button – activates or deactivates the display of force components
  • Circular arrow button – activates or deactivates the display of moment components
Scale​

Controls the size of the displayed arrows and symbols.

  • One size – display all arrows at the same size
  • Proportional – arrow size is proportional to reaction magnitude
  • Force – set scale or maximum value for force components
  • Moment – set scale or maximum value for moment components
  • Reset absolute – set scale to the absolute maximum of all same-type results
  • Reset relative – set scale to the maximum of the currently displayed result

Point tab - specific content​

Reactions – Point tab

Contains standard Components, Resultant and Scale sections. Adds an additional Others section.

Others​
  • Offset distance – result arrow distance from the object to illustrate which side the result is coming from

Line tab - specific content​

Reactions – Line tab

Contains standard Components, Resultant and Scale sections. Adds an additional Others section.

Others​

  • Distribution – choose how the reaction force or moment is drawn along the line element

    • Calculated – uses the actual distributed reaction values from the analysis
    • Linear – draws a simplified linear interpolation between end values
    • Constant – draws a constant value along the entire selected line
    • Constant by element – the value is constant within each finite element but may differ from one element to another
    • Constant by sign – displays constant positive and constant negative regions based on the sign of the reaction

  • Offset distance – result arrow distance from the object to illustrate which side the result is coming from

  • Hatch distance – spacing of hatching when displaying distributed reaction

  • Display graph in screen plane… – if enabled, graphs are rotated to face the screen when perpendicular to their original plane


Surface tab - specific content​

Reactions – Surface tab

Contains Components, Resultant and Scale sections, but with fewer components and restrictions.

Components​

Only force components are available, no moment is available for Surface supports.

  • Fx', Fy', Fz' – only reaction force components
Resultant​

Only resultant force is available, no resultant moment is available for Surface supports.

  • Fx', Fy', Fz' – only force vector components
Scale​

Settings apply only to force, since no moment is available for Surface supports.


Resultant tab - specific content​

Reactions – Resultant tab

Contains Components and Scale sections. Adds an additional Display section.

Display​

Choose how resultant reaction vectors are grouped and displayed:

  • Display resultant by members – show the resultant reactions separately for each member
  • Display resultant by signs – group and display resultants based on positive or negative sign


Edit sections tool palette​

For section-type results, an additional Edit sections tool palette appears before the main Display options window. This palette is used to define and manage section lines along which section results are evaluated and displayed.

Edit sections tool palette

Main tools​
  • New section – create a new section definition
  • Delete section – remove the selected section
  • Default settings – opens the graph Display options window with its full settings (read about the graph Display options window below in more detail)
New section​

When New section is selected, one of the following methods can be used to define the section:

  • Polyline – draw a polyline section by defining multiple points in the model
  • Line by selection – create a section line based on selected objects or edges
  • Select labelled section – select an existing labelled section to show the results on
info

This palette works together with the graph Display options dialogue that follows.

note

To read more about the Labelled section see the topic:

User interface ➔ Tab menus ➔ Analysis ➔ Panel Auxiliary result objects ➔ Labelled section



Graph​

Some result types (for example Translational displacements) can be displayed as a Graph.
The Display options dialogue for graph-type results contains settings for scaling and appearance.

Graph display options

Scale​

Depending on the result type, the scale section can have following options:

  • One size – display all graph values using the same fixed size, independent of magnitude
  • Proportional – scale – scale the graph proportionally based on the result magnitude
  • Maximum – see the maximum value for that result
  • Scale/Max – two numeric fields. On the left for setting the deformation scale and on the right to see the maximum value for that result
  • Reset scale – only for mass results. Resets the scale back to default
  • Reset absolute – set the scale to the absolute maximum of all same-type results in the model
  • Reset relative – set the scale to the maximum of the currently displayed result
Appearance​

Depending on the result type, the appearance section can have following options:

  • Result colour – choose the colour of the graph, for graphs that can have only one colour (for example, deformations)
  • Colour 1, Colour 2, Colour 3 – choose the relevant result colour for graphs that can have multiple colours (for example, soil stresses that have 3 principle directions)
  • Mass colour – choose the colour for the mass results
  • Positive values – choose the colour for positive side of the graph (for example, in bar internal forces)
  • Negative values – choose the colour for negative side of the graph (for example, in bar internal forces)
  • Step – set the distance of the hatch grid on the graph. Smaller step allows to place more numeric values
  • Display graph in screen plane, if it is perpendicular to the graph's original plane – select if you want the graph to turn to screen plane in case the screen is perpendicular to the graph. This option allows to see the graphs even if they are looked from the side
  • Distribution – only for Sections display type. Choose how the graph is drawn along the section element
    • Calculated – uses the actual distributed result values from the analysis
    • Linear – draws a simplified linear interpolation between end values
    • Constant – draws a constant value along the entire Sections line
  • Pen for bars – set the pen width for bar elements in the graph
  • Pen – set the symbol line width for the results that display symbols on the graph (for example, shell internal forces - N1/N2)


Settings >​

Many dialogues that open with Display options tool, have a Settings > button in the bottom of the dialogue window. This button opens a small menu for managing display settings:

  • Save – save the current display settings
  • Load – load previously saved display settings
  • Save with scale – save the settings together with the current scale values
  • Save as default – store the current settings as default for future views
  • Load default – restore the program’s default display settings

Last update: 2025-12-01