Model Preferences dialog box

Use the Model Preferences dialog box to select the visual characteristics of the model diagram on the Map and Model layers.

To open this dialog box, choose Model Prefs from the Model menu (on the Map or Model layers).

Diagram Size

Use the options in this section to specify the size (in pages) of the model.

• Width ___ page(s) – Type the number of pages you want to appear on Map and Model layers in the horizontal direction.
• Height ___ page(s) – Type the number of pages you want to appear on the Map and Model layers in the vertical direction.

Total Pages

Displays the total number of pages on the Map/Model layer, as determined by the values specified for the diagram size.

Page Sequence

Use these options to select the page order for the pages in the model.

• – Select this option to have pages ordered horizontally, row by row.
• – Select this option to have pages ordered vertically, column by column.

Diagram Grid

Use the options in this section to specify the size of the invisible diagram grid. The grid allows you to align your model entities and other items neatly with the Align To Grid command (available on the Model and Interface menus when one or more model items are selected).

• Width ___ pixels– Type the width of each cell in the grid, in pixels.
• Height ___ pixels – Type the height of each cell in the grid, in pixels.

The default grid size is 20 pixels wide by 50 pixels high. The minimum grid size in either direction is 4 pixels. The maximum is 250 pixels.

Options

• Show pages – Select this check box to display page numbers and page boundaries (displayed as dashed lines) on the Map and Model layers. When page numbers are shown, they will also be printed when the Map or Model layer is printed.
• Disable Posters – Select this check box to disable any message postings built into your model. For more information about posting messages, see Defining messages for building blocks.
• Hide Poster Titles – Select this check box to hide the title ("Message from: buildingblockname") that appears at the top of messages displayed by message posters.
• Division by Zero Alert – Select this check box to stop the current model simulation run and display an alert message when division by zero occurs during the run. The alert message indicates which model entity caused the division by zero. If this check box is not selected, the model continues to generate data when division by zero occurs.

• Enforce Unit Consistency – This option is not available in the current version.

• Use Lettered Polarity – Select this check box to have the software display "s/o" labels rather than "+/-" labels when polarity is shown. For more information about polarity, see Assigning polarity to building blocks.
• Disable Discrete Animation – Select this check box to disable the discrete animation for conveyors and queues.
• Hide Module Prefix – Select this check box to hide the module prefix in an entity's name when the entity is used in a graph or table that is outside of the module that contains the entity.
• Name Only Modules – Select this check box to have the software display module names only, instead of both module names and icons. This option is useful when you are creating causal loop diagrams that contain modules. For more information, see Creating CLDs.
• Module Inputs Show Local Names - Select this check box to have the software display both the local name and (in parentheses) the fully-qualified name for cross-level ghosts. When this option is enabled, equations will use the local name instead of the fully-qualified cross-level ghost name.

Converters

Select the size for converters used in the model: Large, Medium, or Small. To have just converter names appear only, instead of both converter names and icons, select the Name only option.

Animate

Select the types of building blocks (stocks, flows, and converters) that you want to be animated during model simulations. By default, all three building block types are selected for animation.

To select a building block for animation, click its icon once. A rectangle around the building block icon means that the building block will be animated. To de-select a building block, click it again to remove the rectangle.

• – Select this option to animate all stocks in the model.
• – Select this option to animate all flows in the model.
• – Select this option to animate all converters in the model.

Name Font

Select the font style for building block and object names.

Name Size

Select the font size for building block and object names.