Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Controls

Default keyboard shortcuts and mouse controls.

Assembly

To do this Press
Organize O

Browser

To do this Press
Show selection A
Hide selection H
Isolate selection I
Delete Delete
Duplicate Ctrl + D
Rename F2
Review Mode Q
Organize O

Common Across Tools

To do this Press
Cycle through guide bar selectors Middle Mouse Click
Exit a tool Esc

Right-click and mouse through the exit control

Double right-click

Display

To do this Press
Show/Hide tool D
Show selection

If there is no selection, show all of the current entity type

 A
Show entire model Shift + A
Hide selection

If there is no selection, hide all of the current entity type

 H
Hide everything Shift + H
Hide and clear selection

(Idle mode only)

 Ctrl + H
Isolate selection and turn off all other entity types

If there is no selection, isolate the current entity type

 I
Middle Mouse Click with entities selected (Show/Hide tool only)
Tip: Middle mouse click again to reverse the isolated display. This is useful if you want to append to your selection and isolate more entities.
Isolate selection and retain all other entity types Shift + I
Show entities adjacent to selection

If there is no selection, show adjacent entities that are the same type as the entity selector

(Idle mode only)

 J
Reverse display of selection

If there is no selection, reverse the display of the current entity type

 R
Switch the display from mesh only, geometry only, or both

(Idle mode only)

 G
Toggle visualization mode X
Find tool Shift + F5
View simplification Ctrl + Shift
Toggle on/off IDs of a selection

(Idle mode only)

 Ctrl + Q
Review Mode Q
Toggle between Mesh Lines, Feature Lines, No Lines

(HyperView only)

 Shift + M
Toggle on/off Transparency

(HyperView only)

 Shift + T
Tip: To show elements only, press E to switch the entity filter to elements, then I/Shift + I to isolate all displayed elements. To add loads to the display, press L to switch to loads, then A to show.

Edit

To do this Press
Delete Delete
Undo Ctrl + Z
Redo Ctrl + Y
Perform an action
This is akin to clicking Apply on a guide bar.


 Middle Mouse Click
Cut

For HyperView, cut the active model

 Ctrl + X
Copy

For HyperView, copy the active model

 Ctrl + C
Paste (into new component)

For HyperView, paste the active model

 Ctrl + V
Paste (into current component) Ctrl + Shift + V
Quick Edit F11

Elements

To do this Press
Smooth Shift + F12
Split Shift + F6
Create F6
Replace F3

Entity Selector

To do this Press
Set to components/connectors C
Set to elements E
Set to laminates/lines/loads L
Set to materials M
Set to nodes N
Set to plies/points/properties P
Set to solids/surfaces/systems S
Set to attachments T
Set to all Esc + Esc
Tip: For entity types that have the same first letter (solids, surfaces), continually press the keyboard shortcut to alternate between entity types.

File Management

To do this Press
New Ctrl + N
Open Ctrl + O
Import Ctrl + I
Export Ctrl + E
Save Ctrl + S
Save as Ctrl + Shift + S

Geometry

To do this Press
Create points/nodes F8

Home

To do this Press
Move Shift + F4
Measure F4

Selection

To do this Press
Window select Left Mouse Drag
Append selection Ctrl + Left Mouse Click
Deselect Shift + Left Mouse Click
Select displayed Ctrl + A
Select all Ctrl + Shift + A
Select adjacent Ctrl + J
Select attached Ctrl + T
Select similar (based on type and config if applicable) Ctrl + M
Reverse selection Ctrl + R
Save selection Ctrl + W
Retrieve selection Ctrl + Shift + W
Advanced selection "."
Quick selection Alt + Left Mouse Click
Quick selection menu ","
Selection search (Entity Editor only) "/"
Adjust feature angle when selecting elements By Face or By Edge Alt + Scroll
Edit Double Mouse Click
Suspend snaps Alt
Clear active selector Backspace
Clear all guide bar selectors Esc
Quick Selection Menu ","

2D

To do this Press
BatchMesher F12
Create elements F6
Replace F3
Smooth Shift + F12
Split Shift + F6
Normals Shift + F10
Open BatchMesher tool F12

View

To do this Press
Rotate Middle Mouse Drag

Arrow Keys
Incrementally rotate clockwise, counter clockwise Ctrl + Right Arrow

Ctrl + Left Arrow
Flip the model Ctrl + Up Arrow

Ctrl + Down Arrow
Set rotation center Ctrl + Middle Mouse Click on model
Reset rotation center Ctrl + Middle Mouse Click in space
Pan Right Mouse Drag

Left + Right Mouse Drag
Zoom Middle Mouse Scroll
Circle zoom Alt + Middle Mouse Draw

Z, then Left Mouse Draw
Fit (and fit selected) F
Go back to previous view B
Save a view Ctrl + Numeric Key (0-9)
Recall a view Alt + Numeric Key (0-9)
Tip:
  • Quickly save a custom view by pressing Ctrl + number. For example, pressing Ctrl + 1 creates a custom view and assigns it the name Ctrl + 1. To then recall, press the corresponding number used to save the view. For example, if you pressed Ctrl + 1 to save the custom view, press Alt + 1 to quickly recall this view in the future.
  • Right-click on a view to recapture, rename, delete, and control the display state of the view.

Workspace

To do this Press
Open context sensitive help F1
Open the Demo Browser F7
Search tool Ctrl + F
Capture the API Ctrl + F8
Previous page Ctrl + F1
Next page Ctrl + F2
Add page Ctrl + F3
Expand window Ctrl + F4
Advanced screen capture Ctrl + F5

Topology

To do this Press
Align/Project F7
Create Points/Nodes F8
Split with Lines F9
Split with Surfaces Shift + F9

Validate

To do this Press
Edges Shift + F3
Model Checker F10

Edit Keyboard Shortcuts

Use the Keyboard Shortcuts Editor to introduce new shortcuts or overwrite existing ones to run functions from ribbons and toolbars. It is also possible to run Python or TCL scripts with a shortcut.

The Shortcuts Editor is currently accessible from the View menu in the HyperMesh client.

Shortcuts can consist of letters, numbers, and a set of special characters (see the detailed list below) combined with or without the following modifier keys:
  • Ctrl
  • Shift
  • Ctrl + Shift

Shortcuts can be exported and imported from an .xml file so that you can save a backup of the latest status or share definitions.

Functions Tab

The Functions tab provides a tree structure of the tools available for shortcut assignment. The Hide Empty checkbox reduces the list to the functions which currently have a shortcut assigned.

To enter a shortcut, highlight the desired function and click on the field in the shortcut column. Then, press the keys you want to use as shortcut.

All newly applied shortcuts are highlighted in blue until you click Apply or OK.

You can search for functions (not shortcuts at this point) and sort alphabetically by clicking on a column header.

A warning is given if you try to overwrite a default shortcut.

Figure 1.


Scripts Tab

In the Scripts Tab, you can register your own Python or TCL scripts by clicking in the top, right of the table. Right-click on a script to change its name.

You can also delete one or several scripts at a time from the context menu.

Figure 2.


Supported Keys

The following can be used with or without the modifier keys Ctrl, Shift, Ctrl + Shift:

  • Function keys F2 ... F12
  • Numbers 0 – 9
  • Letters A – Z
  • ~ ` ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) - _ = + [ ] { } ; : ’ ” , . < > / ? | \

Protected Keys

For some keys, a warning message is given, while other more exotic characters are not accepted without a warning:

  • F1: Online help
  • Ctrl + F: Search tool
  • Esc
  • Delete
  • Enter and Return

Known Limitations

  • You can overwrite existing shortcuts. The new shortcut will work, but in most cases the old shortcut will keep working, unless used elsewhere. It is intended to enhance this behavior.
  • GUI focus: Custom shortcuts only work if the focus is on the GUI, which can be ensured by a click on the GUI. Should a shortcut be used to open a browser, the focus shifts to the browser and the shortcuts there are executed.
  • Number keys in combination with Shift are be registered the same as used in a text editor (for example, ‘Shift + 1’ as ‘!’ or Shift + Ctrl + 1 ends up as Ctrl + !)
  • There is a limitation to using shortcuts to jump to a different function while already executing another one. For example, using F4 for measure while using meshing will not return to the meshing tool after leaving Measure. A workaround for now is to click on the second function to execute. The product returns to the previously open function after closing the additional function.
  • The tooltips and other shortcut hints (for example, in the context menu) will not update to user-defined shortcuts if you overwrite them. This will be addressed in a later release.
  • There may be issues sharing an .xml file with others using keyboards of a different nationality.
  • Shortcuts need to be defined separately for each Solver Interface.