Creating Add-ins

To customize the workflow in the Model Builder you can use a Method Call or a Settings Form. However, these are associated with a specific MPH-file and you may want to reuse them between sessions or share them with colleagues. To make this possible, you can create an add-in, based on one or more method calls and settings forms that together implement some custom functionality that can be useful when creating model in the Model Builder. Such add-ins can then be stored in a user-defined Add-in Library. In addition, COMSOL Multiphysics comes with a built-in Add-in Library, which includes some example add-ins that you can use and explore. For the add-ins in the built-in library, you can review their Application Builder settings, including forms and methods, to quickly learn how to build your own add-ins. In a typical Windows installation, the built-in add-in library is located at

Creating an add-in is similar to creating an application, with a few differences:

To create an add-in, starting from a form that you have created in the Application Builder, click in the ribbon or right-click the root node in the Application Builder and then select to add an node. You can then right-click the node or click the menu on the ribbon and select , , or to add one or more corresponding subnodes for the definitions of the forms and methods that the add-in should provide in the Model Builder or for creating user-defined form templates. A minimum (and often sufficient) is to add a Form Definition for the form that will be used as a settings window for the add-in. When you are done, click the button (

) or press F8 in the node’s window or click . You can also add such nodes from the ribbon. See the following sections for details about the settings for the add-in definition nodes.

You can also right-click the node and select to create user-defined form templates.