OpenPlant Modeler Help

Model Expert

The Model Expert is a Component Viewer tool designed to allow the user to view and edit properties of existing components in a model.

Accessed from:

The default layout of the interface as shown below, provides a navigation tree where the model's components are listed and an Instance Display grid, which shows the property values for the component.

The Model Expert provides a tool ribbon along the top with four tabs:

  • Main
  • View
  • Filter
  • Export

See the descriptions for the tool options for each tab in the tables below:

Main Options

SettingDescription
Refresh All Refresh all the instances in the Model Expert to include any changes.
Refresh Selection Refreshes the selected element to include any changes.
Save Saves the changes made to the component properties.
Cancel Cancels any changes made if they were not saved.
Tree The navigation tree displays a list of objects (Components) in the current model. The format in which the objects are grouped and displayed can be modified from options in the View tab of the tool ribbon. (See the View Options section below.)
Instance Display When you click on a node in the navigation tree, the properties for the component(s) are displayed in a grid format in the Instance Display window. Certain properties can be edited while others may not.
Note: Columns shaded in gray cannot be edited.
A field can be edited by either typing a value into the field, or making a selection from a list.
Note: Use the <Crtl >+ Select method or the <Shift> + Select method to edit multiple fields in a column simultaneously with the same value. This option is not available if the grid view is set to Card.
Fields which have list of selections to choose from will display an arrow icon when you click in the field. Click the arrow to display the list of values to choose from, such as the one below from one of the fields in the Weld Spec column:
Make a selection from the list. Remember to Save any changes.

View Options

SettingDescription
Tree Grouping Options: The grouping options in the Tree section determine how the objects are grouped/displayed in the tree. The following view options for the tree are available when you click the down arrow on the far left icon.
  • Class: Groups objects according to their classes.
  • Object: Groups the components by object types (Riser Clamps, Support Clamp, etc.) When you click on an object type, all of the components of that type are displayed in the Instance Display grid.
  • WBS: Groups the components using the Work Breakdown System such as Service, Area, etc.
  • All: Removes the Tree and displays all of the components in the Instance Display grid.
Tip: Take a moment to navigate through the different views to see how each is displayed.
Count: When this option is turned on, the component count for each group is displayed next to the each node in the tree. The count represents all of the objects listed beneath the selected node as shown:
Layout There are two layout options which determine the position of the Instance Display grid in relation to the Tree.
  • Side: Displays the grid next to the tree as shown in the Model Expert image above.
  • Below: Displays the grid below the Tree.
Display
  • Zoom On: When you select an object from the Instance Display, it will zoom into the selected component in the active window of the OpenPlant Modeler interface.
  • Zoom Off: Does not zoom into the selected object but will select the object in the model.
  • Highlight: Clears the currently highlighted component.
  • Scale: Determines the scale for the zoom window.
Grid View

There are two ways in which the objects can be displayed:

  • Grid View: Displays the properties in a grid view as shown in the Model Expert image above.
  • Card View: This option displays the records as shown in the example below:

The same properties are displayed just in a different view. As with the Grid view, the properties which are grayed out cannot be edited.

The Customize button displays the following dialog allowing you to customize which property fields are displayed:

Click on a field to either check/uncheck it, which toggles the display of that field in the card view.

  • Save: Click to save the view settings.
  • Clear: Clears any saved customized layouts and returns to the default view settings.

Filter Options

SettingDescription
WBS Filter Allows you to group the display of the Instance Display grid by either Service or Unit. See the example shown below:
This same grouping effect can be achieved by simply dragging the desired column headers in to the empty area above the columns. Click Here for detailed information on customizing the grid view.
Clear Clears the filter and returns to the default grid view.

Export Options

SettingDescription
Export This tab allows you to export the current Instance Display to one of the following file formats. For example, if you only have properties for a certain type of Pipe Attachment, such as Riser Clamp, displayed in the grid, than only that information is exported.
  • Excel (Xls)
  • XML
  • PDF
  • HTML
  • CSV

When you click on one of the export options, you will be prompted to define a file name and a location for the exported file in the Export dialog.

Parent topic: Operations