This topic describes how to create groups of properties using the elements <PropertyGroup> and <PropertyTable>. In the XML extension definition file, you use these two elements to create groups of properties with a given caption. In this way, it is possible to manage dependencies between properties and to create worksheet views from a property.

These extension AdvancedProperties demonstrates how to use the elements <PropertyGroup> and <PropertyTable>.

Assume that you want to create a group of properties with a caption and that you want to be able to collapse and expand this group. The following figure shows the caption Simple group with caption.

This group is created with the following XML code:

<propertygroup name="Group1" caption="Simple group with caption" display="caption">
  <property name="Prop1" caption="Prop1" control="text" />
  <property name="Prop2" caption="Prop2" control="text" />
  <property name="Prop3" caption="Prop3" control="text" />
</propertygroup>

The element propertygroup has a special attribute, display. In this case, display is set to caption, which indicates that all child properties are to display under the caption. If caption is omitted, display defaults to hidden, which indicates that the property group is hidden.

Assume now that you want to show or hide properties according to the value of another selected property. In the following figure, the visibility of the properties depends on the value of the property Group Select.

This group is created with the following XML code:

<propertygroup name="Group2" caption="Another group" display="caption">
  <propertygroup name="Group3" caption="Group Select" display="property" control="select" default="Option 1">
    <attributes options="Option 1,Option 2,Option 3" />
    <property name="Prop1" caption="Prop For Option 1" visibleon="Option 1" control="text" />
    <property name="Prop2" caption="Prop For Option 1 and Option 2" 
     visibleon="Option 1|Option 2" control="text" />
    <property name="Prop3" caption="Prop For Option 3" visibleon="Option 3" control="text" />
  </propertygroup>
</propertygroup>

In this case, the attribute display is set to property. The element propertygroup named Group3 defines a standard ACT property that provides additional capabilities for all child properties.

Each child property can specify an attribute visibleon, which can take a value or a set of values. If the current value of the parent property fits with the attribute visibleon, the property is displayed. Otherwise, the property is hidden.

You can also create properties that open a worksheet in which to access the content for properties. You use the type PropertyTable if you want to create a worksheet that exposes a set of properties for your customization. To facilitate development, ACT provides two different types of predefined worksheets:

Time-Dependent Worksheets

In a time-dependent worksheet, the row number is initialized with the number of steps defined in the object AnalysisSettings. When time steps are added to or removed from the object AnalysisSettings, the worksheet is automatically updated. Consequently,this type of worksheet represents an efficient way to manage time-dependent data within an extension.

The following XML code creates a time-dependent worksheet:

<propertytable name="TimeDep" caption="TimeDependent" display="worksheet" control="applycancel" class="Worksheet.TimeFreqTabularData.TFTabularData">
  <property name="Step" caption="Step" control="integer" readonly="true" />
  <property name="Time" caption="Time" control="float" readonly="true" />
  <property name="Temperature" caption="Temperature" unit="Temperature" control="float"></property>
  <property name="Pressure" caption="Pressure" unit="Pressure" control="float"></property>
</propertytable>

In this example, the attribute display is set to worksheet. In addition, the attribute class specifies the name of the IronPython class that manages the worksheet. This example uses the class TFTabularData, which is defined in the function library TimeFreqTabularData.py. This library is installed with ACT and located in %ANSYSversion_DIR%\Addins\ACT\libraries\Mechanical\Worksheet.

The properties Step and Time integrate a specific treatment, as they are automatically populated with the information specified in the object AnalysisSettings. These two properties are optional.

Non-Fixed Row Dimension Worksheets

In a non-fixed row dimension worksheet, the array is empty by default. You can add a new line by clicking the top left button.

The following XML code creates a non-fixed row dimension worksheet:

<propertytable name="Worksheet" caption="Non-Fixed row count" display="worksheet" control="applycancel" class="Worksheet.PropertyGroupEditor.PGEditor">
  <propertygroup name="TempOrPres" caption="TempOrPres" display="property" control="select" default="Temperature">
    <attributes options="Temperature,Pressure" />
    <property name="Temperature" caption="Temperature" unit="Temperature" control="float"  
     visibleon="Temperature"></property>
    <property name="Pressure" caption="Pressure" unit="Pressure" control="float" visibleon="Pressure"></property>
  </propertygroup>

  <property name="Scoping" caption="Scoping" control="scoping">
    <attributes selection_filter="face|edge" />
  </property>
  <property name="FileName" caption="FileName" control="fileopen">
    <attributes filters="Command files (*.bat)|*.bat|All files (*.*)|*.*" />
  </property>
</propertytable>

This example uses the class PGEditor, which is defined in the function library PropertyGroupEditor.py. This library is installed with ACT and located in %ANSYSversion_DIR%\Addins\ACT\libraries\Mechanical\Worksheet.

You access the content of the worksheet in the same manner as you do any other standard ACT property.