Edit Menu

The Ansys Orbit Determination Tool Kit (ODTK®) application Edit menu includes the following items, among others, for creating and rearranging objects in the Object Browser:

Edit Menu
Item Description
Cut Move the selected object (and its subobjects, if any) from its present location to the clipboard. Use this when you want to move the object from one location to another. For example, you could move an IOD object from one satellite to another.
Copy Copy the currently selected object (and its subobjects, if any) to the clipboard without deleting it from its present location. You can use this copy as a basis for creating another object of the same type. For example, you could create a new satellite with attached LS and IOD objects from a satellite you have already defined.
Paste Attach the cut or copied object to the object selected in the Object Browser. This option is disabled if the selected object is not eligible to receive as a subobject the type of object that you cut or copied.
Delete Delete the object selected in the Object Browser.
Find Displays a window that enables you to search for objects in the Object Browser with specified names or containing specified characters or alphanumeric sequences.
Preferences Displays the Preferences window that enables you to set application preferences (see below).

You can also access some edit options by right-clicking an object in the Object Browser. This menu includes an option to rename the object.

Edit menu items not included in the above table, to the extent they are implemented in the current version of the ODTK application, operate as in other Windows applications.

Preferences window

Select Edit -> Preferences to display the Preferences window, which contains the following tabs:

Preferences Window
Tab Description
File Find You can specify the paths for the ODTK application to search for types of files, such as help files. To view path information, select the file type of interest from the drop-down menu and then examine the list in the Directories area. Where more than one path is given, the ODTK application searches them in the order listed.
To edit a given path, double-click it. To add a path, click New/Insert and enter or browse for the desired path. To remove a path, select it in the Directories area and click . Use the (Move Up) and (Move Down) buttons to reorder the priority of multiple paths.
General

Use this tab to define certain behavior of your ODTK workspace. The following choices are available:

  • Splash Screen - Select this check box to have the product splash screen appear each time you start up the application. This check box defaults to selected.
  • Use "New Scenario" wizard when creating Scenarios - Select this check box to have the application employ the New Scenario wizard when you create a new scenario. This check box defaults to selected. For more on creating a scenario, see the description for the "New" table entry in the File Menu topic.
  • Reopen Generated Graphs - Select this check box to have the application, upon reopening a scenario, display graphs that you had open when you last saved the scenario. This check box defaults to not selected.
GNSS

You can select which GNSS data types to load. Use and to change the loading order. The default is to load all types except Custom.

You can also choose a default ANTEX file for use in locating the antenna phase centers and defining the antenna phase center variations for GNSS satellite antennas. The file you select becomes the default ANTEX file selection in newly created GNSS constellations.
Message Viewer You can determine which columns to display in the Message Viewer. Use Add and Remove to move headings back and forth between the Columns not shown and Columns shown areas, or simply double-click an item to move it from one area to the other.
Plugins

This tab enables you manage the types of tracking data files to be used in your orbit determination tasks. Listed here are the file extensions, a brief description, and the PluginID, which is a tracking data file loader implemented in a programming language compatible with a COM interface, for each type. You can add and remove file types. If you use only one or two of the types that are shipped with the ODTK application, you may find it convenient to remove the others, since it will simplify the process of selecting tracking files.

You can also create and add your own plugin scripts for the loading of tracking data files.

See below for a suggested procedure for editing a tracking data plugin entry, which you may have unintentionally removed or invalidated, without losing changes that you have made in other entries.

Python Settings

You can select the Check Python Version to direct the ODTK application to check the version of Python you are using and compare it to supported versions listed on the Python website. If your version does not match a supported Python version, then ODTK processing issues a warning to the Message Viewer.

You can also set how the ODTK application invokes Python, using the following choices for Python Executable:

  • python
  • python3
  • use custom path

If you choose "use custom path", then set the location of the executable by clicking next to the text box for Custom Executable.
Runtime Settings

You can set the following runtime options:

  • Do Not Persist - Selecting this tells the ODTK software to use the configuration file for the current session only.
  • Use Optimized Math Library - Select this to use Intel MKL. Specify how many threads MKL should use; entering 0 lets MKL do dynamic control.
  • You can choose to Enable quiet mode for report generation.
You can control these preferences via scripting interface as ODTK.Application.RuntimeSettings.
Simulator Use the Default File Extension option to specify the tracking data file format that the simulator will default to when simulating measurements.
UI Plugins

You can manage all registered plugins.

Plugin Settings

The Plugins table displays the following information for all registered plugins. For more information on how plugins are registered, see Plugin Registration.

Name - This is a read-only field that displays the name of the plugin.

UiPlugin - Click the button in the UiPlugin field to view or modify the settings for the selected UI plugin. To modify a property, double-click its value.

Active - A check indicates that a valid UI plugin is running. For the plugin to be running, the following must be true:

  • The assembly must be registered for COM Interop.
  • The XML manifest must be properly formatted, named properly, and stored in the proper location. For more information, see Manifest Location.
  • The ProgID and DLL in the XML manifest must match that of your UI plugin.

If you did not select the Active check box and all the above statements are true, open the Message Viewer and look for any related error messages.

Advanced Options

To display user-specified version information from the XML plugin registration file for the selected UI plugin, click Details.... For more information on the location of the XML plugin registration file, see Manifest Location. For information on adding version information to the registration file, see Plugin Registration.

UI Integration and Recovery

To reset any toolbar currently edited using the selected UI plugin, click Reset Toolbars.

Manifest Location

When the ODTK application starts, it searches for XML files contained in identified folders and registers all plugins declared in each XML file found. Any changes made to these files after startup will not take effect until the next time the application starts. The ODTK application looks at the following folders for XML plugin registration files:

  • <Install_Dir>\Plugins.
  • C:\Users\<username>\Documents\STK_ODTK 13\Config\Plugins
Units

You can specify the default units for date and time for the ODTK application to use in any new scenario. The options are GPSG and UTCG. This setting does not change the units in an existing scenario. To change the default units in an existing scenario, change the Scenario.Units.DateFormat attribute.
Web Browser

You can adjust the following settings:

  • Home Page - Indicate the location of the file or the URL address of the page to display in the Web Browser by default.
  • Search Page - Indicate the URL address of the search engine that the Web Browser will access when you click the Search () icon.
Workbooks

Use this tab to define the behavior of your ODTK workbooks. Use workbooks to save your specific workspace settings (custom toolbars, etc.). The ODTK application uses the following types of workbooks:

  • Application workbooks define the default workspace for the ODTK application to use when creating a new scenario. The ODTK application saves the settings for application workbooks in your user configuration area.
  • Scenario workbooks are tied to a scenario and save your specific workspace settings with the scenario so that the next time you open the scenario, the ODTK application restores your workspace configuration. The ODTK application saves scenario workbook settings in a separate file but in the same directory as the scenario.

See below for step-by-step instructions for configuring workbooks.

If you want your settings on this page to remain in effect during subsequent ODTK sessions, select the Set as Default check box at the bottom of the Preferences dialog box.

Workbooks settings

To configure additional workbook features, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Turn Off All Workbooks check box if you do not want to work with workbook files. With workbooks disabled, you cannot save workspace configurations for the ODTK application to use on loading of specific scenarios or creation of new scenarios. When enabled, Select the Application Auto Load and Auto Save options to automatically save and load application workbooks. Select the Scenario Auto Load and Auto Save options to automatically save and load scenario workbooks.
  2. Toggle the Show Transition Graphic check box to show or hide the transition screen that displays when you open or close a workbook.
  3. Select the Logging check box to log each time you use a specific workbook.
  4. Click Apply to save your changes or OK to save and close the Preferences dialog box.

In the Application area of the Workbooks tab, the two buttons are disabled (grayed) after a scenario loads. The ODTK application loads the application workbook when it is loading and when closing a scenario is closed. The ODTK application saves the application workbook before loading a scenario and when it is closing, if a scenario is not currently loaded.

Editing a removed or invalidated tracking data plugin entry

Normally, if you make a change to the Tracking Data File Providers list, the ODTK application restores other entries in the list to default values when you exit the application. To prevent the loss of any settings you made to those other entries, follow this procedure:

  1. Before exiting the application, go to your ODTK home directory (usually ..\ Documents\STK_ODTK 13\Config\) and save the preferences file (ODTK Prefs.xml) under another name, such as ODTK Prefs.bak.
  2. Save your changes to the Plugins tab and exit the application.
  3. Use a merge tool to compare the backup file to the newly created preferences file, so that you can identify any settings that were restored to default values. Copy those settings from the backup file into the appropriate location in the preferences file.

If you do not have a merge tool, you can display the two XML files side by side with a text editor and compare them visually.