visualdynamics.gui.mate_panel

mate_panel

Mate Surfaces, as a pane beside the 3-D view.

It follows select, see, set, apply (principle 13). Two element groups or more are picked in the tree and Mate Surfaces opened on them: every patch where their surfaces mate is marked in the view, and listed here, one entry per connected patch. A patch is picked from the list, the side to pick nodes for is chosen, and a click on a node in the view adds it to that side or takes it away. Only that side's group's nodes are drawn, so coincident nodes of the two sides are told apart. The normal and the shear are each held rigidly, by a stiffness in the display units, or left free, every node in a frame of its own on the surface it lies on, and Keep adds the patch to the geometry's Mated Surfaces, where it can be picked, edited or deleted later. Opened from a set's row, the pane edits that set.

The pane holds no rules of its own: the window asks core.mates where the surfaces mate, marks it, and shows the result here.

Classes:

Name	Description
MatePanel	The patches, the side being picked, how the normal and the shear

Classes

MatePanel

MatePanel(parent: QWidget | None = None)

Bases: QWidget

The patches, the side being picked, how the normal and the shear are held and their stiffness, a name, what the patch makes, and Keep.

Methods:

Name	Description
open_for	Set the pane up on the element groups named groups: the
set_patches	The patches to pick from, each row's text, current picked.
picked_patches	The patches picked, by row, in the list's order.
current_patch	The patch whose nodes a click changes: the one picked, or the
set_sides	The side buttons named for the current patch's groups.
value	The tolerance as typed, in the display unit.

Attributes:

Name	Type	Description
side	str	'a' or 'b': the side a click on a node changes.
normal_held	str	'rigid', 'stiffness' or 'free', as picked for the normal.
shear_held	str	'rigid', 'stiffness' or 'free', as picked for the shear.

Source code in src/visualdynamics/gui/mate_panel.py

def __init__(self, parent: QWidget | None = None) -> None:
    super().__init__(parent)
    self.title: QLabel = QLabel('Mate Surfaces')
    grid = panel_grid(self, self.title)
    self.groups_label: QLabel = QLabel()
    self.groups_label.setWordWrap(True)
    grid.addWidget(self.groups_label, 1, 0, 1, 2)
    self.tolerance_label: QLabel = QLabel('Tolerance')
    self.tolerance: DoubleSpinBox = DoubleSpinBox()
    self.tolerance.setDecimals(LENGTH_DECIMALS)
    self.tolerance.setRange(0.0, 1e9)
    self.tolerance.setToolTip('How far a node may be from the other surface '
                              'and still lie on it, in the display unit')
    grid.addWidget(self.tolerance_label, 2, 0)
    grid.addWidget(self.tolerance, 2, 1)
    # how far from the mated surface a node can be picked (Brandon,
    # 2026-10-20: every node of the group was pickable)
    self.search_label: QLabel = QLabel('Pick within')
    self.search: DoubleSpinBox = DoubleSpinBox()
    self.search.setDecimals(LENGTH_DECIMALS)
    self.search.setRange(0.0, 1e9)
    self.search.setToolTip('How far from the other side\'s surface a node may be '
                           'and still be picked or unpicked, in the display unit')
    grid.addWidget(self.search_label, 3, 0)
    grid.addWidget(self.search, 3, 1)
    self.patches: QListWidget = QListWidget()
    self.patches.setSelectionMode(QAbstractItemView.SelectionMode.ExtendedSelection)
    self.patches.setToolTip('Each patch where two of the element groups mate; '
                            'pick one to change its nodes, or several to keep '
                            'them together')
    self.patches.setMinimumHeight(90)
    grid.addWidget(self.patches, 4, 0, 1, 2)
    self.side_label: QLabel = QLabel('Pick nodes of')
    sides = QHBoxLayout()
    self.side_a: QPushButton = QPushButton()
    self.side_b: QPushButton = QPushButton()
    self.sides: QButtonGroup = QButtonGroup(self)
    for k, button in enumerate((self.side_a, self.side_b)):
        button.setCheckable(True)
        self.sides.addButton(button, k)
        sides.addWidget(button)
    self.side_a.setChecked(True)
    self.side_a.setToolTip('A click on a node adds it to the side that follows, '
                           'or takes it away')
    self.side_b.setToolTip('A click on a node adds it to the side followed, or '
                           'takes it away')
    grid.addWidget(self.side_label, 5, 0)
    grid.addLayout(sides, 5, 1)
    # every node of the side back, or none, to pick a few by clicking:
    # a beam's end on a channel is 81 nodes and its bolts clamp 16
    # (the BARC, 2026-10-20), as the merge pane's All and None
    picks = QHBoxLayout()
    self.all_button: QPushButton = QPushButton('All')
    self.all_button.setToolTip('Every node the side had when the patch was found')
    self.none_button: QPushButton = QPushButton('None')
    self.none_button.setToolTip('Take every node off the side, to click a few back')
    picks.addWidget(self.all_button)
    picks.addWidget(self.none_button)
    grid.addLayout(picks, 6, 1)
    # the normal and the shear, each held its own way (Brandon,
    # 2026-10-20): rigid, a stiffness in the display units, or free
    self.normal_mode_label: QLabel = QLabel('Normal')
    self.normal_mode: QComboBox = self._modes(
        'How each node is held along the normal of the surface it lies on')
    self.normal_label: QLabel = QLabel('Normal stiffness')
    self.normal: DoubleSpinBox = self._stiffness_box(
        "Each node's stiffness along the surface's normal")
    self.shear_mode_label: QLabel = QLabel('Shear')
    self.shear_mode: QComboBox = self._modes(
        "How each node is held in the plane of the joint, across the normal")
    self.shear_label: QLabel = QLabel('Shear stiffness')
    self.shear: DoubleSpinBox = self._stiffness_box(
        "Each node's stiffness in the plane of the joint, the same both ways")
    for row, (label, widget) in enumerate(
            ((self.normal_mode_label, self.normal_mode), (self.normal_label, self.normal),
             (self.shear_mode_label, self.shear_mode), (self.shear_label, self.shear)),
            start=7):
        grid.addWidget(label, row, 0)
        grid.addWidget(widget, row, 1)
    self.name_label: QLabel = QLabel('Name')
    self.name: QLineEdit = QLineEdit()
    self.name.setToolTip('What the tree calls the set kept')
    grid.addWidget(self.name_label, 11, 0)
    grid.addWidget(self.name, 11, 1)
    self.reading_label: QLabel = QLabel()
    self.reading_label.setWordWrap(True)
    grid.addWidget(self.reading_label, 12, 0, 1, 2)
    buttons = QHBoxLayout()
    self.keep_button: QPushButton = QPushButton('Keep')
    self.keep_button.setToolTip('Add the picked patches to the geometry\'s Mated '
                                'Surfaces, joined as set')
    self.keep_button.setDefault(True)
    self.close_button: QPushButton = QPushButton('Close')
    self.close_button.setToolTip('Put the pane away; what was kept stays')
    buttons.addWidget(self.keep_button)
    buttons.addWidget(self.close_button)
    grid.addLayout(buttons, 13, 0, 1, 2)
    grid.setRowStretch(14, 1)
    for box in (self.tolerance, self.search, self.normal, self.shear):
        commit_on_enter(box)
    self.search.valueChanged.connect(lambda _value: self.search_changed.emit())
    self.tolerance.valueChanged.connect(lambda _value: self.tolerance_changed.emit())
    self.patches.itemSelectionChanged.connect(self.changed.emit)
    self.sides.idToggled.connect(lambda _id, on: on and self.changed.emit())
    for box in (self.normal_mode, self.shear_mode):
        box.currentIndexChanged.connect(self._mode_changed)
    self.normal.valueChanged.connect(lambda _value: self.changed.emit())
    self.shear.valueChanged.connect(lambda _value: self.changed.emit())
    self.keep_button.clicked.connect(self.keep_asked.emit)
    self.all_button.clicked.connect(self.all_asked.emit)
    self.none_button.clicked.connect(self.none_asked.emit)
    self.close_button.clicked.connect(self.close_asked.emit)
    self._show_stiffness()

Attributes

side property

side: str

'a' or 'b': the side a click on a node changes.

normal_held property

normal_held: str

'rigid', 'stiffness' or 'free', as picked for the normal.

shear_held property

shear_held: str

'rigid', 'stiffness' or 'free', as picked for the shear.

Methods:

open_for

open_for(groups: str, unit: str, tolerance: float | None, stiffness_unit: str, normal: float, shear: float, normal_mode: str = 'rigid', shear_mode: str = 'rigid', search: float = 0.0) -> None

Set the pane up on the element groups named groups: the tolerance in the display unit unit, or None when a kept set is being edited (there is nothing to find again), the distance a node may be picked within, search, in the same unit, and the stiffness boxes in stiffness_unit.

Source code in src/visualdynamics/gui/mate_panel.py

def open_for(self, groups: str, unit: str, tolerance: float | None,
             stiffness_unit: str, normal: float, shear: float,
             normal_mode: str = 'rigid', shear_mode: str = 'rigid',
             search: float = 0.0) -> None:
    """Set the pane up on the element groups named `groups`: the
    tolerance in the display unit `unit`, or None when a kept set is
    being edited (there is nothing to find again), the distance a
    node may be picked within, `search`, in the same unit, and the
    stiffness boxes in `stiffness_unit`."""
    editing = tolerance is None
    self.title.setText('Edit Mated Surfaces' if editing else 'Mate Surfaces')
    self.groups_label.setText(groups)
    self.tolerance_label.setVisible(not editing)
    self.tolerance.setVisible(not editing)
    self.keep_button.setText('Save' if editing else 'Keep')
    self.keep_button.setToolTip('Save the set as changed' if editing else
                                'Add the picked patches to the geometry\'s Mated '
                                'Surfaces, joined as set')
    if not editing:
        self.tolerance.blockSignals(True)
        self.tolerance.setSingleStep(max(tolerance, 1e-6))
        self.tolerance.setValue(tolerance)
        self.tolerance.blockSignals(False)
    self.search_label.setText(f'Pick within [{unit}]')
    self.search.blockSignals(True)
    self.search.setSingleStep(max(search, 1e-6))
    self.search.setValue(search)
    self.search.blockSignals(False)
    self.normal_label.setText(f'Normal stiffness [{stiffness_unit}]')
    self.shear_label.setText(f'Shear stiffness [{stiffness_unit}]')
    for box, value in ((self.normal, normal), (self.shear, shear)):
        box.blockSignals(True)
        box.setSingleStep(max(value / 10.0, 1e-6))
        box.setValue(value)
        box.blockSignals(False)
    for box, mode in ((self.normal_mode, normal_mode), (self.shear_mode, shear_mode)):
        box.blockSignals(True)
        box.setCurrentIndex(box.findData(mode))
        box.blockSignals(False)
    self._show_stiffness()
    self.side_a.setChecked(True)

set_patches

set_patches(rows, current: int | None = 0) -> None

The patches to pick from, each row's text, current picked.

Source code in src/visualdynamics/gui/mate_panel.py

def set_patches(self, rows, current: int | None = 0) -> None:
    """The patches to pick from, each row's text, `current` picked."""
    self.patches.blockSignals(True)
    self.patches.clear()
    for text in rows:
        self.patches.addItem(QListWidgetItem(text))
    if current is not None and 0 <= current < self.patches.count():
        self.patches.item(current).setSelected(True)
        self.patches.setCurrentRow(current)
    self.patches.blockSignals(False)
    self.patches.setEnabled(self.patches.count() > 0)

picked_patches

picked_patches() -> list[int]

The patches picked, by row, in the list's order.

Source code in src/visualdynamics/gui/mate_panel.py

def picked_patches(self) -> list[int]:
    """The patches picked, by row, in the list's order."""
    return sorted(self.patches.row(item) for item in self.patches.selectedItems())

current_patch

current_patch() -> int | None

The patch whose nodes a click changes: the one picked, or the list's current row among several picked; None with none.

Source code in src/visualdynamics/gui/mate_panel.py

def current_patch(self) -> int | None:
    """The patch whose nodes a click changes: the one picked, or the
    list's current row among several picked; None with none."""
    picked = self.picked_patches()
    if not picked:
        return None
    row = self.patches.currentRow()
    return row if row in picked else picked[0]

set_sides

set_sides(first: str, second: str) -> None

The side buttons named for the current patch's groups.

Source code in src/visualdynamics/gui/mate_panel.py

def set_sides(self, first: str, second: str) -> None:
    """The side buttons named for the current patch's groups."""
    self.side_a.setText(first)
    self.side_b.setText(second)

value

value() -> float

The tolerance as typed, in the display unit.

Source code in src/visualdynamics/gui/mate_panel.py

def value(self) -> float:
    """The tolerance as typed, in the display unit."""
    return self.tolerance.value()

Functions: