Advanced Editors · PDEStudio.jl

Deep Dive: Advanced Editors

The "Parameter & UI Editor" and the "Method Controls" sit at the heart of the interface. They expose the backend's data structures, so you can change solver settings, sweeps and styles without touching the REPL.

🎛️ The Hierarchical Editor

The editor uses three cascading dropdowns (Category → Scope → Parameter). Selecting a parameter shows its current value in the text box below.

Setting Values

Type a new value and press Enter. Input is parsed with the safe literal parser str2val: numbers, symbols (:upwind), strings, tuples ((64, 64)), vectors ([0.1, 0.2], Float64[0.1, 0.2]), dictionaries and ranges (0.1:0.1:0.5). Nothing you type is ever evaluated as code.

Text stays text: if a parameter currently holds text, whatever you type is stored as text, even if it looks like a number or a name (1e3, Float64, sin). Quotes are optional. <empty> stands for the empty string.
Booleans: click the gray Toggle button next to the text box.
default: typing default restores the built-in value of a UI option, the value of the bound configuration for a simulation entry (the one Reset Simulation returns to), or the built-in display name of a label.
Types matter for the cache: simulation results are stored under a hash of the parameters, and the hash includes the value's type. Any[:a, :b] and [:a, :b] (a Vector{Symbol}) are different values, so changing one into the other computes the simulation again. Keep the displayed format if you only want to change entries.

📂 The Categories

The first dropdown selects which part of the studio you edit.

1. Simulation

The PDEStudioCore configuration. Scopes:

Scope	Edits
Presets	Simulation presets: select one and click Apply; `create_new` holds the description of the next preset you save (see Presets).
Shared	`config.shared`, the parameters every run uses.
Sweep	`config.varied`, the swept values. A single value becomes a one-value sweep; in a sweep of text values, unquoted items stay text (`[upwind, lax_friedrichs]`). The sliders are remapped immediately. (A swept key only takes effect if it exists in the shared or method parameters.)
Config	`defaults` (the active methods), `reference` and `postprocess` (function names; `none` clears one), `sources`.
each method	The parameter overrides of that method (`config.methods[m]`). Only the active methods are listed; activate a method to edit it.

Trigger Behavior: physics changes alter the data, so any edit here turns Run Simulation yellow and locks the plot until you re-run. Edits are only blocked while a simulation is running.
Context-sensitive buttons: while this category is selected, the preset buttons read Save Sim Preset and Reset Simulation.

2. UI

The visual styles, layout templates and export settings of the renderer, plus Presets (the visual presets, applied with Apply).

Trigger Behavior: changes trigger a visual update; options that change the drawn data (e.g. the method index of a comparison) redraw the plot.
Titles and axis labels are set here under UI → Labels.

3. Labels (Display Names)

A dictionary that renames backend keys for the frontend: components (component_1, …), variables (dimensions and swept parameters) and methods.

Example: if your solver names a swept parameter :rho, the UI shows "Rho". Select Labels → Variables → rho and type Density: every dropdown, legend and slider label now says "Density". Labels are text; default restores the built-in name. Labels are stored in exports and visual presets.

⚙️ Method Controls

Below the editor is the method toggle, which hot-swaps the active numerical methods and analytical references.

Click the Mode button to switch between Activate (add a method) and Deactivate (remove one).
Select the method in the dropdown. This changes config.defaults, so the Run Simulation lock is set to compute the new method. (The same list is editable as Simulation → Config → defaults.)