visualdynamics.gui.mesh_panel

mesh_panel

Add Block and Add Plane, typed into a pane beside the 3-D view.

The pop-up windows these replaced (plane_dialog, 2026-09-26 and 2026-09-30) took a corner and two or three edges; Brandon wanted no window at all, and the box described the way it is thought of — where its center is and how wide it is along each axis — with the preview in the view turned and slid by the same gizmo that turns a coordinate system (2026-10-02). So the pane holds a center, three widths and an element size, in the display unit, and the window holds the frame the box is drawn in: the rings turn it about its center, the arrows slide the center along its own axes onto the grid. The rotation is also three fields, degrees about the geometry's X, Y and Z, for an odd angle the rings' whole degrees do not reach (Brandon, 2026-10-02); the rings write the angles back, so the two never disagree.

A block takes three widths. A plate lies in a plane, and the plane is named by the one width left at zero — a width of zero along Z is a plate in the frame's X-Y plane — so a plate and a block are typed the same way.

The pane holds no rule of its own. The window turns the fields and its frame into the corner and edges the project's add_block and add_plane take, asks the core what they would make, and draws it; Add is the project verb, so the journal line is the call a script makes.

Classes:

Name	Description
MeshPanel	The fields for one box or plate, and its Add.

Classes

MeshPanel

MeshPanel(parent: QWidget | None = None)

Bases: QWidget

The fields for one box or plate, and its Add.

Methods:

Name	Description
open_for	Set the pane up for a block or a plane, in the display unit
values	The fields as typed, in the display unit.
set_values	Fill fields by name — center=(x, y, z), widths=(x, y, z),

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

def __init__(self, parent: QWidget | None = None) -> None:
    super().__init__(parent)
    self.kind: str = 'block'
    self.title: QLabel = QLabel('Add Block')
    grid = panel_grid(self, self.title)
    self.group: QComboBox = QComboBox()
    self.group.setEditable(True)
    self.group.setToolTip('The element group the elements go in: one '
                          "of the geometry's, or a new name")
    grid.addWidget(QLabel('Element group'), 1, 0)
    grid.addWidget(self.group, 1, 1)
    self.center_label: QLabel = QLabel('Center')
    self.center_label.setEnabled(False)
    grid.addWidget(self.center_label, 2, 0, 1, 2)
    self.center: list[DoubleSpinBox] = []
    for row, axis in enumerate('XYZ', start=3):
        box = _box(0.0)
        box.setToolTip(f'{axis} of the center, in the display unit; the '
                       'arrows in the view slide it onto the grid')
        grid.addWidget(QLabel(axis), row, 0)
        grid.addWidget(box, row, 1)
        self.center.append(box)
    self.width_label: QLabel = QLabel('Width')
    self.width_label.setEnabled(False)
    grid.addWidget(self.width_label, 6, 0, 1, 2)
    self.widths: list[DoubleSpinBox] = []
    for row, axis in enumerate('XYZ', start=7):
        box = _box(0.0, minimum=0.0)
        box.setToolTip(f'The width along the frame\'s {axis}; a plate '
                       'leaves one width at zero, which names its plane')
        grid.addWidget(QLabel(axis), row, 0)
        grid.addWidget(box, row, 1)
        self.widths.append(box)
    self.angle_label: QLabel = QLabel('Rotation [\u00b0]')
    self.angle_label.setEnabled(False)
    grid.addWidget(self.angle_label, 10, 0, 1, 2)
    self.angles: list[DoubleSpinBox] = []
    for row, axis in enumerate('XYZ', start=11):
        box = _box(0.0, minimum=-360.0)
        box.setMaximum(360.0)
        box.setDecimals(2)
        box.setToolTip(f'Degrees about the geometry\'s {axis} axis, '
                       'applied X, then Y, then Z; the rings in the view '
                       'turn it too, a degree at a time')
        grid.addWidget(QLabel(axis), row, 0)
        grid.addWidget(box, row, 1)
        self.angles.append(box)
    self.size_label: QLabel = QLabel('Element size')
    self.size: DoubleSpinBox = _box(DEFAULT_SIZE, minimum=0.0)
    self.size.setToolTip('Each edge is divided into the whole number of '
                         'elements nearest this size')
    grid.addWidget(self.size_label, 14, 0)
    grid.addWidget(self.size, 14, 1)
    self.square_button: QPushButton = QPushButton('Square Up')
    self.square_button.setToolTip(
        "Turn the box back to the geometry's axes, keeping its center")
    grid.addWidget(self.square_button, 15, 0, 1, 2)
    self.reading_label: QLabel = QLabel()
    self.reading_label.setWordWrap(True)
    grid.addWidget(self.reading_label, 16, 0, 1, 2)
    buttons = QHBoxLayout()
    self.add_button: QPushButton = QPushButton('Add')
    self.add_button.setDefault(True)
    self.close_button: QPushButton = QPushButton('Close')
    buttons.addWidget(self.add_button)
    buttons.addWidget(self.close_button)
    grid.addLayout(buttons, 17, 0, 1, 2)
    grid.setRowStretch(18, 1)
    commit_on_enter(*self.center, *self.widths, *self.angles, self.size)
    for box in (*self.center, *self.widths, *self.angles, self.size):
        box.valueChanged.connect(lambda _value: self.changed.emit())
    self.group.currentTextChanged.connect(lambda _text: self.changed.emit())
    self.add_button.clicked.connect(self.add_asked.emit)
    self.close_button.clicked.connect(self.close_asked.emit)
    self.square_button.clicked.connect(self.square_asked.emit)

Methods:

open_for

open_for(kind: str, unit: str, groups: Sequence[str], default: str | None = None) -> None

Set the pane up for a block or a plane, in the display unit unit, with the geometry's element groups to choose from, opening on default; the fields open on the defaults.

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

def open_for(self, kind: str, unit: str, groups: Sequence[str],
             default: str | None = None) -> None:
    """Set the pane up for a block or a plane, in the display unit
    `unit`, with the geometry's element groups to choose from, opening on
    `default`; the fields open on the defaults."""
    self.kind = kind
    noun = 'Block' if kind == 'block' else 'Plane'
    self.title.setText(f'Add {noun}')
    self.center_label.setText(f'Center [{unit}]')
    self.width_label.setText(f'Width [{unit}]')
    self.size_label.setText(f'Element size [{unit}]')
    names = [name for name in groups if name]
    self.group.blockSignals(True)
    self.group.clear()
    self.group.addItems(names)
    self.group.setCurrentText(default or ('block' if kind == 'block'
                                          else 'plate'))
    self.group.blockSignals(False)
    defaults = DEFAULTS[kind]
    self.set_values(center=defaults['center'], widths=defaults['widths'],
                    angles=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), size=DEFAULT_SIZE, quiet=True)

values

values() -> dict

The fields as typed, in the display unit.

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

def values(self) -> dict:
    """The fields as typed, in the display unit."""
    return {'center': tuple(box.value() for box in self.center),
            'widths': tuple(box.value() for box in self.widths),
            'angles': tuple(box.value() for box in self.angles),
            'size': self.size.value(),
            'group': self.group.currentText().strip()}

set_values

set_values(quiet: bool = False, **values) -> None

Fill fields by name — center=(x, y, z), widths=(x, y, z), angles=(x, y, z) in degrees, size=..., group=...; how a test types, and how the gizmo writes the center and the angles back. quiet fills them without a changed.

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

def set_values(self, quiet: bool = False, **values) -> None:
    """Fill fields by name — center=(x, y, z), widths=(x, y, z),
    angles=(x, y, z) in degrees, size=..., group=...; how a test
    types, and how the gizmo writes the center and the angles back.
    `quiet` fills them without a `changed`."""
    boxes = [*self.center, *self.widths, *self.angles, self.size]
    if quiet:
        for box in boxes:
            box.blockSignals(True)
        self.group.blockSignals(True)
    try:
        for key, value in values.items():
            if key == 'group':
                self.group.setCurrentText(value)
            elif key == 'size':
                self.size.setValue(value)
            else:
                for box, number in zip(getattr(self, key), value):
                    box.setValue(number)
    finally:
        if quiet:
            for box in boxes:
                box.blockSignals(False)
            self.group.blockSignals(False)
    if not quiet:
        self.changed.emit()

Functions: