Modifying Curve Options

You can modify the legend and appearance of curves in an XY plot. You can also associate one or several curves with existing, new, or common XY plot axes in the same chart.

This task shows you how to:

Modify Curve Options Except Associating Axes

You can modify the legend and appearance of curves in an XY plot.

Before you begin: An XY plot must be open.
  1. Right-click anywhere in the plot window, and select Options.
    The Options dialog box appears.
  2. Select the item Curve.
  3. In the Curve list, select the curve you want to modify.

    All your following modifications will be applied to the selected curve until you select another curve.

  4. To remove the selected curve, click Remove Curve.

    Tip: You can also remove a curve by right-clicking the chart and select Edit > Remove Curve.

  5. To modify the display unit for the curve, do the following:
    1. In the Unit column, click the unit for the curve.
      A list appears for the unit.
      Note: The default unit is indicated by the text Default after the unit.
    2. Select unit from the list.
    The display unit is changed in the dialog box and in the curve legend.
    Note: If you want to change the display units themselves, you do this from Me > Preferences > App Preferences > 3D Modeling > Multi Discipline Automated Engineering > Knowledge Basics, the Units tab.
  6. To modify the name of the selected curve, edit the text in the Name text box:

    The default curve name is, for example, in the case of a 2D display for a dynamic solution, composed of the number of the selected node and the selected component.

    • To change the default name to a new name, type the new name.
    • To revert to the default name, clear the text box.
  7. Optional: To remove the appended unit for the curve in the legend, clear Append unit.

    By default, Append unit is active.

  8. Modify the display properties of the line that represents the selected curve.
    1. Optional: To hide the line that represents the selected curve, clear Show line.

      By default, Show line is active. It must be active when you edit the below.

      Default curve display:

      Result if Show line is cleared:

    2. Modify the color, the thickness, and the line type of the curve line.
  9. Modify the display properties of the symbols that represent the values of the selected curve.
    1. Optional: To hide symbols on the curve, clear Show symbol.

      By default, Show symbol is active. It must be active when you edit the below.

      For result, see figures below.

    2. Modify the color and the symbol type.
    3. Activate Frequency to display the symbols with a selected frequency, and select the frequency.

      By default, Frequency is active with the value 0, meaning that no values are marked with symbols.

      Note: Frequency and When Y changes cannot be active at the same time.

      An example:

      Curve if frequency equal to 0 (default), or if Show symbol is cleared:

      Frequency equal to 1:

      Frequency equal to 2:

    4. Activate When Y changes if symbols should only appear when the Y axis change.

      By default is When Y changes cleared.

      Note: When Y changes and Frequency cannot be active at the same time.

  10. Optional: Associate axes. For associating axes, see below.
  11. To confirm the modifications and close the dialog box, click OK.

Associate a Curve to Axes

You can associate one or several curves with existing, new, or common XY plot axes in the same chart.

This association is useful when several curves are displayed in the same chart with different magnitudes and different axes.

It allows you to:

  • Associate curves with existing or new axes and to create additional axes with the same magnitude. Thus, each curve has its own associated axis.
  • Associate curves with common axes and to use axes without units if the curves have different magnitudes.

Before you begin: An XY plot must be open.
  1. Right-click anywhere in the plot window, and select Options.
    The Options dialog box appears.
  2. Select the item Curve.
  3. To specify the curve(s) whose axis/axes you want to associate, select it in the curve list.
  4. In the Axes section, associate the curve you selected with an X-axis and/or Y-axis.

    Important: You can either:
    • Associate curves with the same magnitude with existing, new, or common XY plot axes.
    • Or associate curves with different magnitude only with common X-axes or Y-axes.
    The Title field is only available for new axes, except if you want to associate several curves with the same magnitude with those new axes.

  5. To confirm the modifications and close the dialog box, click OK.
    The curves you selected are associated with the axes you chose.

    If several curves are displayed in the same chart with different magnitudes and different axes, when you pass the cursor over a particular curve, the curve and its associated axes are highlighted.

    Example of a plot with a curve associated with a new Y-axis named Displacement 2:

    Example of a plot with a curve associated with a common X-axis :

    Note: Common XY plot axes have labels by default. If deactivated, see Modify the Axis Display and Labels.