{"id":47171505,"title":"Show HN: Morsel – an open-source, web-based visual Modelica editor","points":1,"user":"nachawati","time":1772137274,"time_ago":"6 hours ago","type":"link","content":"

Hey HN,

I’m excited to share Morsel, a modern, web-based visual editor for Modelica that I've been working on. It's part of the broader ModelScript compilation, analysis, and visualization framework.

Modelica is a powerful, object-oriented language for equation-based modeling of complex physical systems (mechanical, electrical, electronic, hydraulic, thermal, control, etc.). However, tooling in the Modelica ecosystem has historically been heavy, proprietary, or desktop-bound. I built Morsel to bring a fast, beautiful, and accessible Modelica modeling experience right to the browser.

Key Features\n============

- Interactive Diagrams: High-performance visualization of Modelica connections and topologies using AntV X6.

- Synchronized Code Editor: Real-time, two-way synchronization between the visual diagram and the underlying Modelica code (powered by Monaco Editor).

- Intelligent Properties Panel: Easily edit component parameters, modifiers, and annotations through a responsive UI that directly manipulates the AST.

- Library Explorer: Navigate complex Modelica libraries (like the Modelica Standard Library) via an intuitive hierarchical tree view.

Under the Hood: ModelScript\n===========================

Morsel is powered by ModelScript, a custom compilation engine written in TypeScript. ModelScript brings its own modern toolchain to Modelica:

- Custom Tree-Sitter Grammar: Fast and precise parsing for editor integrations and tooling.

- Semantic Analysis: Full scope and name resolution for complex Modelica hierarchies.

- Model Flattening: Translating hierarchical component architectures into flat Differential Algebraic Equations (DAEs).

Why I built this\n================

I wanted an open-source (AGPL-3.0), modern front-end that could run entirely in the browser (or as a local web app) without sacrificing the power of the Modelica language. It's built on a modern stack (React, React Router, Vite, Tailwind, GitHub Primer) to provide a premium, responsive developer experience.

I am still actively developing Morsel and ModelScript and would love your feedback, bug reports, and contributions!

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/modelscript/modelscript

I'd be happy to answer any questions about the architecture, Modelica parsing, the tree-sitter grammar, or anything else!","url":"https://morsel.modelscript.org","domain":"morsel.modelscript.org","comments":[],"comments_count":0}