Deep Dive: File Operations & Execution

The top section of the control panel is the command center for serialization and execution. Because PDE simulations and 3D graphics can be computationally heavy, this region works with a lock system that keeps the UI responsive.

🚦 The Reactive State Machine (Triggers & Locks)

To keep the Makie rendering engine from stuttering while the backend computes, the studio uses hierarchical locks: Simulation → Layout → Plot.

The three execution buttons (Run Simulation, Apply Layout, Update Plot) are your traffic lights:

• Green (Synced): The plot matches the backend data and your UI settings.
• Yellow (Pending Action): You changed something, and the studio waits for you to confirm it with a click on the yellow button.
• Coral / Red (Locked): A higher-priority action is required first. For example, after changing a physics parameter, Apply Layout and Update Plot stay locked until you click Run Simulation.

Simulations that already exist on disk (same parameters, same hash) are loaded instead of recomputed.

📂 Loading a Saved State

Type the path of a CSV into the filename box and click the load button at the top, or simply drop the file onto the window. A bare file name (with or without .csv) is enough: the studio searches the working directory, <save path>/figures, <save path>/animations, the preset folders and ./Experiments (each including one level of subfolders). The same works from code: set_sim_config!("my_run.csv").

The load button turns green when the file was read; press Run Simulation to compute and show it.

If the file needs more parameter sliders or other physical dimensions than the open window has, the buttons turn orange: the configuration is staged, and the next click on Run Simulation rebuilds the whole window with the new limits, applies the file and runs it. (Save your current look as a preset first if you want to keep it.) Without an open window, the limits are applied directly.

💾 Exporting (Images & Animations)

The filename box is also the gateway for saving your work. Exports land in <save path>/figures (static frames; with the export option create_savefolder, in a subfolder per name) and <save path>/animations. A path in the name (study/run_1, or an absolute path) is honoured.

The Direct Format Trick: By default, Export saves the figure in every format listed in the export setting save_formats (UI → Export in the editor, usually png). Typing an extension into the filename bypasses that list:

• Static formats (png, jpg, jpeg, pdf, svg, eps): my_figure.svg exports exactly that one file.
• Animations (mp4, webm, mkv, gif): select a variable in the Anim Target dropdown (e.g. t), type my_video.mp4 and click Export. The studio locks the camera and records the target's whole slider range (duration and frame rate: animation_time and animation_FPS in UI → Export).
• Anything else is part of the name: run_dt0.5 exports run_dt0.5.png (and the other listed formats).

Note: All exports are pristine. The studio renders a fresh copy of the plot for the export, so UI artifacts (slider handles, unapplied states) never appear in your files.

🎨 Presets vs. Full Exports

Presets are listed in the editor under UI → Presets and Simulation → Presets; select one and click Apply. Clear Presets restores the default look, Reset Simulation the configuration you bound with set_sim_config! (or loaded from a CSV). See Presets for the file format and the API.