Hourglass class

The Hourglass class gives you access to hourglass cards in PRIMER. More...

The PRIMER JavaScript API provides many class constants, properties and methods. For Arup to be able to extend and enhance the API in the future any constant, property or method names beginning with a lowercase or uppercase letter are reserved.
If you need to add your own properties or methods to one of the existing classes then to avoid any potential future conflict you should ensure that the name begins with either an underscore (_) or a dollar sign ($) or the name is prefixed with your own unique identifier.
For example if company 'ABC' need to add a property called 'example' then to avoid any potential future conflict use one of:

Class functions

Member functions

Hourglass properties

Name Type Description
exists (read only) logical true if hourglass exists, false if referred to but not defined.
hgid integer or string Hourglass number or character label. Also see the label property which is an alternative name for this.
ibq integer Bulk viscosity type
ihq integer Hourglass control type
include integer The Include file number that the hourglass is in.
label integer or string Hourglass number or character label. Also see the hgid property which is an alternative name for this.
model (read only) integer The Model number that the hourglass is in.
q1 real Quadratic bulk viscosity coefficient
q2 real Linear bulk viscosity coefficient
qb real Coefficient for shell bending
qm real Hourglass coefficient
qw real Coefficient for shell warping
title string Title for hourglass
vdc real Viscous damping coefficient

Detailed Description

The Hourglass class allows you to create, modify, edit and manipulate hourglass cards. See the documentation below for more details.

Constructor

new Hourglass(Model[Model], hgid[integer or string], title (optional)[string])

Description

Create a new Hourglass object.

Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that hourglass will be created in

  • hgid (integer or string)

    Hourglass number or character label

  • title (optional) (string)

    Title for the hourglass

    Returns

    Hourglass object

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To create a new hourglass in model m with label 100: 

    var h = new Hourglass(m, 100);

    Details of functions

    AssociateComment(Comment[Comment])

    Description

    Associates a comment with a hourglass.

    Arguments

  • Comment (Comment)

    Comment that will be attached to the hourglass

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To associate comment c to the hourglass n: 

    n.AssociateComment(c);

    Browse(modal (optional)[boolean])

    Description

    Starts an edit panel in Browse mode.

    Arguments

  • modal (optional) (boolean)

    If this window is modal (blocks the user from doing anything else in PRIMER until this window is dismissed). If omitted the window will be modal.

    Returns

    no return value

    Example

    To Browse hourglass n: 

    n.Browse();

    ClearFlag(flag[Flag])

    Description

    Clears a flag on the hourglass.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to clear on the hourglass

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To clear flag f for hourglass n: 

    n.ClearFlag(f);

    Copy(range (optional)[boolean])

    Description

    Copies the hourglass. The target include of the copied hourglass can be set using Options.copy_target_include.

    Arguments

  • range (optional) (boolean)

    If you want to keep the copied item in the range specified for the current include. Default value is false. To set current include, use Include.MakeCurrentLayer().

    Returns

    Hourglass object

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To copy hourglass n into hourglass z: 

    var z = n.Copy();

    Create(Model[Model], modal (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Starts an interactive editing panel to create a hourglass

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that the hourglass will be created in.

  • modal (optional) (boolean)

    If this window is modal (blocks the user from doing anything else in PRIMER until this window is dismissed). If omitted the window will be modal.

    Returns

    Hourglass object (or null if not made).

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To start creating a hourglass in model m: 

    var n = Hourglass.Create(m);

    DetachComment(Comment[Comment])

    Description

    Detaches a comment from a hourglass.

    Arguments

  • Comment (Comment)

    Comment that will be detached from the hourglass

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To detach comment c from the hourglass n: 

    n.DetachComment(c);

    Edit(modal (optional)[boolean])

    Description

    Starts an interactive editing panel.

    Arguments

  • modal (optional) (boolean)

    If this window is modal (blocks the user from doing anything else in PRIMER until this window is dismissed). If omitted the window will be modal.

    Returns

    no return value

    Example

    To Edit hourglass n: 

    n.Edit();

    Error(message[string], details (optional)[string])

    Description

    Adds an error for hourglass. For more details on checking see the Check class.

    Arguments

  • message (string)

    The error message to give

  • details (optional) (string)

    An optional detailed error message

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To add an error message "My custom error" for hourglass n: 

    n.Error("My custom error");

    First(Model[Model]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the first hourglass in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get first hourglass in

    Returns

    Hourglass object (or null if there are no hourglasses in the model).

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To get the first hourglass in model m: 

    var n = Hourglass.First(m);

    FirstFreeLabel(Model[Model], layer (optional)[Include number]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the first free hourglass label in the model. Also see Hourglass.LastFreeLabel(), Hourglass.NextFreeLabel() and Model.FirstFreeItemLabel().

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get first free hourglass label in

  • layer (optional) (Include number)

    Include file (0 for the main file) to search for labels in (Equivalent to First free in layer in editing panels). If omitted the whole model will be used (Equivalent to First free in editing panels).

    Returns

    Hourglass label.

    Return type

    Number

    Example

    To get the first free hourglass label in model m: 

    var label = Hourglass.FirstFreeLabel(m);

    FlagAll(Model[Model], flag[Flag]) [static]

    Description

    Flags all of the hourglasses in the model with a defined flag.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all hourglasses will be flagged in

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to set on the hourglasses

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To flag all of the hourglasses with flag f in model m: 

    Hourglass.FlagAll(m, f);

    Flagged(flag[Flag])

    Description

    Checks if the hourglass is flagged or not.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to test on the hourglass

    Returns

    true if flagged, false if not.

    Return type

    Boolean

    Example

    To check if hourglass n has flag f set on it: 

    if (n.Flagged(f) ) do_something...

    ForEach(Model[Model], func[function], extra (optional)[any]) [static]

    Description

    Calls a function for each hourglass in the model.
    Note that ForEach has been designed to make looping over hourglasses as fast as possible and so has some limitations.
    Firstly, a single temporary Hourglass object is created and on each function call it is updated with the current hourglass data. This means that you should not try to store the Hourglass object for later use (e.g. in an array) as it is temporary.
    Secondly, you cannot create new hourglasses inside a ForEach loop.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all hourglasses are in

  • func (function)

    Function to call for each hourglass

  • extra (optional) (any)

    An optional extra object/array/string etc that will appended to arguments when calling the function

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To call function test for all of the hourglasses in model m: 

    Hourglass.ForEach(m, test);
function test(n)
{
// n is Hourglass object
}

    To call function test for all of the hourglasses in model m with optional object: 

    var data = { x:0, y:0 };
Hourglass.ForEach(m, test, data);
function test(n, extra)
{
// n is Hourglass object
// extra is data
}

    GetAll(Model[Model], property (optional)[string]) [static]

    Description

    Returns an array of Hourglass objects or properties for all of the hourglasses in a model in PRIMER. If the optional property argument is not given then an array of Hourglass objects is returned. If the property argument is given, that property value for each hourglass is returned in the array instead of a Hourglass object

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get hourglasses from

  • property (optional) (string)

    Name for property to get for all hourglasses in the model

    Returns

    Array of Hourglass objects or properties

    Return type

    Array

    Example

    To make an array of Hourglass objects for all of the hourglasses in model m: 

    var a = Hourglass.GetAll(m);

    To return an array containing the value of property 'foo' (for example 'x' for a node) for each hourglass in model m: 

    var a = Hourglass.GetAll(m, 'foo');

    GetComments()

    Description

    Extracts the comments associated to a hourglass.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    Array of Comment objects (or null if there are no comments associated to the node).

    Return type

    Array

    Example

    To get the array of comments associated to the hourglass n: 

    var comm_array = n.GetComments();

    GetFlagged(Model[Model], flag[Flag], property (optional)[string]) [static]

    Description

    Returns an array of Hourglass objects for all of the flagged hourglasses in a model in PRIMER If the optional property argument is not given then an array of Hourglass objects is returned. If the property argument is given, then that property value for each hourglass is returned in the array instead of a Hourglass object

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get hourglasses from

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag set on the hourglasses that you want to retrieve

  • property (optional) (string)

    Name for property to get for all flagged hourglasses in the model

    Returns

    Array of Hourglass objects or properties

    Return type

    Array

    Example

    To make an array of Hourglass objects for all of the hourglasses in model m flagged with f: 

    var n = Hourglass.GetFlagged(m, f);

    To return an array containing the value of property 'foo' (for example 'x' for a node) for all of the hourglasses in model m flagged with f: 

    var a = Hourglass.GetFlagged(m, f, 'foo');

    GetFromID(Model[Model], number[integer]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the Hourglass object for a hourglass ID.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to find the hourglass in

  • number (integer)

    number of the hourglass you want the Hourglass object for

    Returns

    Hourglass object (or null if hourglass does not exist).

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To get the Hourglass object for hourglass 100 in model m 

    var n = Hourglass.GetFromID(m, 100);

    GetParameter(prop[string])

    Description

    Checks if a Hourglass property is a parameter or not. Note that object properties that are parameters are normally returned as the integer or float parameter values as that is virtually always what the user would want. For this function to work the JavaScript interpreter must use the parameter name instead of the value. This can be done by setting the Options.property_parameter_names option to true before calling the function and then resetting it to false afterwards.. This behaviour can also temporarily be switched by using the Hourglass.ViewParameters() method and 'method chaining' (see the examples below).

    Arguments

  • prop (string)

    hourglass property to get parameter for

    Returns

    Parameter object if property is a parameter, null if not.

    Return type

    Parameter

    Example

    To check if Hourglass property n.example is a parameter: 

    Options.property_parameter_names = true;
if (n.GetParameter(n.example) ) do_something...
Options.property_parameter_names = false;

    To check if Hourglass property n.example is a parameter by using the GetParameter method: 

    if (n.ViewParameters().GetParameter(n.example) ) do_something...

    Keyword()

    Description

    Returns the keyword for this hourglass (*HOURGLASS). Note that a carriage return is not added. See also Hourglass.KeywordCards()

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    string containing the keyword.

    Return type

    String

    Example

    To get the keyword for hourglass h: 

    var key = h.Keyword();

    KeywordCards()

    Description

    Returns the keyword cards for the hourglass. Note that a carriage return is not added. See also Hourglass.Keyword()

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    string containing the cards.

    Return type

    String

    Example

    To get the cards for hourglass h: 

    var cards = h.KeywordCards();

    Last(Model[Model]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the last hourglass in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get last hourglass in

    Returns

    Hourglass object (or null if there are no hourglasses in the model).

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To get the last hourglass in model m: 

    var n = Hourglass.Last(m);

    LastFreeLabel(Model[Model], layer (optional)[Include number]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the last free hourglass label in the model. Also see Hourglass.FirstFreeLabel(), Hourglass.NextFreeLabel() and see Model.LastFreeItemLabel()

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get last free hourglass label in

  • layer (optional) (Include number)

    Include file (0 for the main file) to search for labels in (Equivalent to Highest free in layer in editing panels). If omitted the whole model will be used.

    Returns

    Hourglass label.

    Return type

    Number

    Example

    To get the last free hourglass label in model m: 

    var label = Hourglass.LastFreeLabel(m);

    Next()

    Description

    Returns the next hourglass in the model.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    Hourglass object (or null if there are no more hourglasses in the model).

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To get the hourglass in model m after hourglass n: 

    var n = n.Next();

    NextFreeLabel(Model[Model], layer (optional)[Include number]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the next free (highest+1) hourglass label in the model. Also see Hourglass.FirstFreeLabel(), Hourglass.LastFreeLabel() and Model.NextFreeItemLabel()

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get next free hourglass label in

  • layer (optional) (Include number)

    Include file (0 for the main file) to search for labels in (Equivalent to Highest+1 in layer in editing panels). If omitted the whole model will be used (Equivalent to Highest+1 in editing panels).

    Returns

    Hourglass label.

    Return type

    Number

    Example

    To get the next free hourglass label in model m: 

    var label = Hourglass.NextFreeLabel(m);

    Previous()

    Description

    Returns the previous hourglass in the model.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    Hourglass object (or null if there are no more hourglasses in the model).

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To get the hourglass in model m before hourglass n: 

    var n = n.Previous();

    RenumberAll(Model[Model], start[integer]) [static]

    Description

    Renumbers all of the hourglasses in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all hourglasses will be renumbered in

  • start (integer)

    Start point for renumbering

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To renumber all of the hourglasses in model m, from 1000000: 

    Hourglass.RenumberAll(m, 1000000);

    RenumberFlagged(Model[Model], flag[Flag], start[integer]) [static]

    Description

    Renumbers all of the flagged hourglasses in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that all the flagged hourglasses will be renumbered in

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag set on the hourglasses that you want to renumber

  • start (integer)

    Start point for renumbering

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To renumber all of the hourglasses in model m flagged with f, from 1000000: 

    Hourglass.RenumberFlagged(m, f, 1000000);

    Select(flag[Flag], prompt[string], limit (optional)[Model or Flag], modal (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Allows the user to select hourglasses using standard PRIMER object menus.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to use when selecting hourglasses

  • prompt (string)

    Text to display as a prompt to the user

  • limit (optional) (Model or Flag)

    If the argument is a Model then only hourglasses from that model can be selected. If the argument is a Flag then only hourglasses that are flagged with limit can be selected (limit should be different to flag). If omitted, or null, any hourglasses can be selected. from any model.

  • modal (optional) (boolean)

    If selection is modal (blocks the user from doing anything else in PRIMER until this window is dismissed). If omitted the selection will be modal.

    Returns

    Number of hourglasses selected or null if menu cancelled

    Return type

    Number

    Example

    To select hourglasses from model m, flagging those selected with flag f, giving the prompt 'Select hourglasses': 

    Hourglass.Select(f, 'Select hourglasses', m);

    To select hourglasses, flagging those selected with flag f but limiting selection to hourglasses flagged with flag l, giving the prompt 'Select hourglasses': 

    Hourglass.Select(f, 'Select hourglasses', l);

    SetFlag(flag[Flag])

    Description

    Sets a flag on the hourglass.

    Arguments

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to set on the hourglass

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To set flag f for hourglass n: 

    n.SetFlag(f);

    Total(Model[Model], exists (optional)[boolean]) [static]

    Description

    Returns the total number of hourglasses in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model to get total for

  • exists (optional) (boolean)

    true if only existing hourglasses should be counted. If false or omitted referenced but undefined hourglasses will also be included in the total.

    Returns

    number of hourglasses

    Return type

    Number

    Example

    To get the total number of hourglasses in model m: 

    var total = Hourglass.Total(m);

    UnflagAll(Model[Model], flag[Flag]) [static]

    Description

    Unsets a defined flag on all of the hourglasses in the model.

    Arguments

  • Model (Model)

    Model that the defined flag for all hourglasses will be unset in

  • flag (Flag)

    Flag to unset on the hourglasses

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To unset the flag f on all the hourglasses in model m: 

    Hourglass.UnflagAll(m, f);

    ViewParameters()

    Description

    Object properties that are parameters are normally returned as the integer or float parameter values as that is virtually always what the user would want. This function temporarily changes the behaviour so that if a property is a parameter the parameter name is returned instead. This can be used with 'method chaining' (see the example below) to make sure a property argument is correct.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    Hourglass object.

    Return type

    Hourglass

    Example

    To check if Hourglass property n.example is a parameter by using the Hourglass.GetParameter() method: 

    if (n.ViewParameters().GetParameter(n.example) ) do_something...

    Warning(message[string], details (optional)[string])

    Description

    Adds a warning for hourglass. For more details on checking see the Check class.

    Arguments

  • message (string)

    The warning message to give

  • details (optional) (string)

    An optional detailed warning message

    Returns

    No return value

    Example

    To add a warning message "My custom warning" for hourglass n: 

    n.Warning("My custom warning");

    Xrefs()

    Description

    Returns the cross references for this hourglass.

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    Xrefs object.

    Return type

    Xrefs

    Example

    To get the cross references for hourglass n: 

    var xrefs = n.Xrefs();

    toString()

    Description

    Creates a string containing the hourglass data in keyword format. Note that this contains the keyword header and the keyword cards. See also Hourglass.Keyword() and Hourglass.KeywordCards().

    Arguments

    No arguments

    Returns

    string

    Return type

    String

    Example

    To get data for hourglass h in keyword format 

    var s = h.toString();