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Edit / Add Family...   ('Edit / Add Family...' icon)

Operating Systems: All
Window Types: All
Simulation Types: All

Summary

Adds a new family of objects to the frontmost simulation.

Description

When you select this command, the new family editor will be displayed, allowing you to specify a new family of objects in orbit around a parent object. At the top left of the new family editor, there are Parent and Family Size fields in which you can type the name of the parent and the number of objects that you want in the new family. At the top center of the new family editor, there is a Quick Setup menu that allows you to choose a particular type of family, whose values will then be automatically placed in the fields below. At the top right of the new family editor, there are Open... and Save As... buttons that allow you to open and save new family settings in small XML files. The fields below are divided up into two boxes - the physical elements at the top and the orbital elements at the bottom. You can edit these fields and then choose OK to accept your edits, after which each of the frontmost simulation's open windows will be updated to reflect the change.

The entry of the physical elements and orbital elements is more complicated than in the case of a single object, because a distribution of values is required for each element. This is done by having from and to fields to specify the ends of the distribution, together with a bias slider to specify the bias in the distribution, and a random checkbox to specify whether the distribution is to be random or even.

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