Managers

PointManager

Starts a general purpose PointProcessManager for specifying a location and defining what kind of point process should exist there. Any number of these managers can exist simultaneously. It is more general than the Electrode below in the sense that you can choose any point process and has a much cleaner implementation.

PointGroup

Starts a PointProcessGroupManager for managing a collection of related point processes. If all the members of the collection are of the same type, then the values of their variables can be changed “globally” and all the values of a single parameter can be displayed.

Electrode

Starts a general purpose Electrode voltage/current clamp (with some voltage clamp families) that can be moved to any position in any section. Any number of these may be present simultaneously. When one is dismissed from the screen, it is also removed from the neuron and the point processes it manages are destroyed. This widget is pretty much superseded by the PointProcessManager.

Viewers

PointProcesses

Menu of possible pointprocess’s. Selecting an item pops up a panel that contains a browser of the locations of a particular type of point process, and, if global parameters exist, a button for popping up a panel showing the global parameters for this type of point process. Double clicking a location on the browser pops up a panel showing the values for a particular point process instance. See Point Processes and Artificial Cells for details about built-in point processes. The corresponding .mod file must in general be examined in order to understand the particulars about a given point process type.

PointProcessManager

Create a Point Process of a particular type at a particular location. Each instance of a PointProcessManager manages a single point process.

The items in the SelectPointProcess menu are used to specify the type of the point process. After the selection, the Show menu is used to make the lower portion of the panel to display either the “Shape” (to indicate the location with a blue dot) or “Parameter” values of the point process. The type and location of the point process are also displayed in the upper portion of the panel. The location is changed by selecting the “Section” tool in the shape scene (right mouse button) and then clicking on a location (left mouse button).

Note that when one point process is replaced by another the parameters are saved in a MechanismStandard. When the point process is re-installed, those parameters are restored.

If the panel is saved in a session, the MechanismStandard’s are saved as well.

Python usage:

p = h.PointProcessManager([xplacement, yplacement], sec=section)

p.pp is the point process currently installed in the cell.

PointProcessGroupManager

Specify point process types, locations, and values for a set of point processes. Although the set may consist of different types, if all the types are the same then variable values can be changed “globally” for all pointprocesses in the set, and all values of a single parameter can be displayed at once.

The panel consists of a control area at the top and a horizontally arrangement of three subpanels on the bottom.

The middle subpanel (list browser) shows the names of the point processes in the managed set. Select a name by clicking on it.

The left subpanel (shape scene) shows the locations of all the point processes in the list marked as blue dots. The selected name is marked as a red dot. When the “Section” tool of the shape scene menu (right mouse button) is selected, clicking on a location on the neuron will move the selected point process (red dot, highlighted name) to that location. The label in the control area shows the name and location of the selected point process.

The right subpanel shows parameters in one of three styles determined by the PanelStyle menu. ViewSelection shows all the parameters for the selected (red dot, highlighted name) point process. The name of the selected point process is also shown at the top of this subpanel.

The remaining two “PanelStyle” items work only if all the point processes in the list are of the same type.

GlobalSpec is similar to ViewSelection but any change to a parameter (or clicking on a value button) causes that value to be assigned to all the point process of the list. Note that NO assignments are made when the GlobalSpec panel is constructed. The user must press a value button or enter a new value into the field editor. This helps prevent accidental changing of values in the individual point processes. The default values in the global spec panel are those values in the currently selected name. In this mode, the top of the right subpanel shows the label: “All PP’s set to these values”.

When the ViewOneName item of the PanelStyle menu is selected the right submenu shows a list of names of parameters. Selecting one of these names shows this parameter for all the managed point processes (each button label indicates which point process is referenced).

In the control portion of PointProcessGroupManager, the New menu is used to add a point process of the indicated type to the list of managed point processes. The Remove button destroys the selected point process. The Copy button clones the selected point process