A Simulation Application runs on various modules, such as Graphics, Dynamics, SlaveDynamics, Joystick, etc.

These modules need to be configured to fit with the system hardware and the overall application. For example, you may have a license for a specific add-on (such as Vehicle Systems). By default, add-on modules are not enabled, so you must edit the application setup in order to enable it.

In addition, some modules require or recommend certain parameters to be set in order to achieve the desired effect, so you must edit the application setup in order to set these values.

In the Editor, you can choose which modules to enable or disable, and you can set parameter values for those modules. For example, you can set the following parameters for the Dynamics Module:

Configuring the Application

You can use this procedure to enable or disable modules and specify any parameter values to configure enabled modules in Vortex®.

For example, if you want to enable one of the add-on modules, such as the Joystick module, follow these steps.

Note Remember to make a backup copy of the default editor.vxc file before making any changes to it with the Editor.

1. From the Vortex Studio Editor Home page, select Options. In the resulting window, in the Setup tab, make sure the appropriate Application Setup (.vxc) file is loaded.
2. Click the Editor icon to open the Setup file. By default, the graphics and dynamics modules are already loaded.
3. Select Modules in the Toolbox. Double-click a module to add it to the configuration.
4. Most of the time, enabled modules do not have parameters that need to be set. To see whether any parameters need to be set for a module, select the module in the Explorer panel and set its values in its Properties panel.
5. Save this configuration to file and make sure the file is loaded as the Application Configuration if you want the same configuration for subsequent Editor launches.

Loading an Application Setup File in Vortex

Your application setup settings can be saved to a special .vxc file which Vortex® can load each time it launches.

This procedure explains how to tell Vortex which setup file to load.

Note If you haven't already created an Application Setup file, follow the Configuring the Application procedure before starting these steps.

1. From the Home page, select Options. The Options window opens.
2. Select the Setup tab and click the Browse... button in the Application Setup section. A system browser appears where you select the .vxc file you want to load.

3. Select a file and click Open.
   The browser window closes and you return to the window where you can see the full path and filename of the .vxc file you chose.

   You must restart the application before any changes will take place.
4. Click OK.

Using the Setup Editor

The Setup editor allows you to customize network and processing configurations through the Vortex® Studio Editor GUI. After creating or loading a Setup file, the document exposes some unique items in the Toolbox, in addition to extensions:

• A configuration node can contain a subset of the objects that the application configuration can contain, namely modules, extensions and textures.
• A seat is naturally linked to the Setup file, since a seat refers to a set of modules in one or several nodes (in a networked application). In a realistic setup, all computers in the network have different hardware and have a different configuration node associated, as well as having one configuration node per physical computer. We can have a seat that will reference instances of modules in a specific node.
• A module is a runtime plugin which is required to update parts and extensions. The module consumes the extension(s) that are associated with it and is a top-level object that powers the extensions.
• Reference 3D models and Reference Graphics Gallery: You can insert a graphics model or Graphics Gallery as reference objects to be used with the 3D Display extension. The 3D Display extension displays the monitors that are used when setting up a multi-screen configuration. The reference Graphics Gallery or reference graphics model, along with the 3D Display extension, allows the user to easily align the display with the inserted graphics which represent the actual positions of the screens that will be seen in the simulator.
  Since these objects are inserted only as references, they will not be saved with the document and therefore will not be in the VXC file.
  To access the model or Graphics Gallery, click the 3D Models tab at the bottom of the Explorer panel to view the graphics nodes.
• Presets: A preset is a grouping of modules, extensions, nodes and seats. Presets simplify the creation and modification of VXC files by allowing the user to select a specific type of object to include inside their setup.
  The available options are:
  
  • Master with dynamics
  • Slave with 1 window
  • Slave with 2 windows
  • Slave with no graphics
  • Standalone
• You can add textures to the document, which can be useful when creating the picture-in-picture extension.